Melville Sally - Mother-Daughter Knits: 30 Designs to Flatter and Fit

Andy for learning to knit, for giving his knitting over to Caddy, and for being a brilliant husband to my girl. Rosy for knowing that a dual-generation book would be wonderful and for helping us find its focus, the staff at Random Houseall a joy to work withfor a job well done, Sandi Minnes for her insight, Michelle Brock for her knitting (and for asking for the hoodie), Lynn Philips for her knitting, Stasia Bania (my rock) for her knitting, Pat Scott for asking for a gray cardigan, Sandra Whittaker for her quick but patient editing, Shannon Moore (my grandson!) for his graphics (despite not knowing what looked like a lamp was actually a sleeve!), the Moores, my loving and extended family for whom I am always grateful, my students and my friends who inspire and lead me, all yarn companies (and their reps) for their help and their stuff, the moose for his goodness and comfort, my son, Jeremy, for being so creative yet so proud of his mom and sister, andfinallymy daughter, Caddy, for her wit, her humor, her intelligence, her work ethic, her company, and her blessed being. SALLY

The man of my dreams, my husband Andy (I still cant believe my luck), Bridget, and Christina for their encouragement and understanding, Rosy and the staff at Random House for their tireless work and enthusiasm, Sandra for her great editing, the yarn companies for all their wonderful help, the Sheshkos, the Moores, and especially my nephew Shannon for his brilliant work on the schematics (and for reminding me how important it is to take breaks and play video games with him), my unbelievable and unbeatable friends and family for being the kind that everyone wishes for, my brother, Jeremy, whose heart is so big it could carry the world (and I believe it has on a few occasions), and my mom, Sally, whose strength, patience, wisdom, and laughter keep my feet on the ground and the corners of my mouth turned toward the sky. CADDY

BUT DO TRY TO KEEP THE SAME NUMBER OF STITCHES ON YOUR NEEDLE. SHE COULDNT manage to keep the stitch count the same, and so gave it upfor the next twenty years! (The lesson here should be that we be very careful what we say to our childrenand to watch for the reaction to what we have said.) But then, as you will read later, she found me teaching her fianc to knit and realized that, through years of watching, she knew how to knit. The real surprise was that she loved it!

Fast forward to me with an idea for a book. In speaking with the folks who ultimately became my publisher, I mentioned that my daughter was now teaching, writing, and designing. A two-generation knitting book had been a dream of theirs, and here we were! Well, almost. I was there; my daughter was at home, working full time. Our publisher asked if I thought Caddy would write a book with me? I joyfully and optimistically said I would ask.

That phone call was, indeed, amazing more than a dream come true because it wasnt a dream that had occurred to me. We got immediatelygratefully, excitedly, and energeticallyto work.

Most of the work for the bookthe concepts and designswas done independently. Caddy relied on me less often than I expected. (And isnt that so typical of what a mother might say?) But some of the work we did together. For example, we both adhere to accepted standards for the sizing and writing of patterns. Because I had more years of experience writing patterns, this felt like the moms usual jobto tell the daughter what she needs to know in order to follow the rules that need to be followed. But its also the moms job to let the daughter live her own life within those rules. So great variety may be found within the design and execution of our work, and who would want it any other way?

But while we recognized our different choiceschoices that are reflective of the demographics we representwe also appreciated our common ground. We wanted garments that flatter and fit. No matter our age, no matter our size, no matter our style, we knitters deserve to make garments that we wear well and proudly. And so we wrote the of this book and designed projects that are designed to flatter the female formwith all the help we think you need to make this so.

Perhaps the greatest lesson of our experience is to celebrate both our similarities and our differences. And then be patient as life unfolds.