Bernadette Murphy - The Knitters Gift: An Inspirational Bag of Words, Wisdom, and Craft

The

Knitter's

Gift

An inspirational bag of words, wisdom, and craft

Edited by

Bernadette Murphy

Adams Media
Avon, Massachusetts

For John, Jarrod, Neil, and Hope,
who give the fibers of my life shape and meaning.

Copyright 2004 by Bernadette Murphy.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

Published by
Adams Media, an F+W Publications Company
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322. U.S.A.
www.adamsmedia.com

ISBN: 1-59337-100-4

Printed in Canada.

J I H G F E D C B

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The knitter's gift / edited by Bernadette Murphy
p. cm.
ISBN 1-59337-100-4
1. Knitting. 2. Knitters (Persons) I. Murphy, Bernadette.
TT820.K69455 2004
813'.0108357dc22
2004009166

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Adams Media was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters.

Interior illustrations by Eric Andrews.

This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases.
For information, call 1-800-872-5627.

Contents

Leah Buturain Schneider

Melissa Garrison Elliott

by Bernat

John P. McCann

Brenda Miller

Rebecca Margaret Kuder

Kathleen Lohr

Nancy Rabinowitz

E. M. Ritt

Jennifer Jameson

Robyn Samuels

Norah Piehl

by Barbara Selesnick for Stitches from the Heart

Liesl Jobson

Linda Urban

Deborah Robson

by Deborah Robson

Libbie Greer

Mary Anne Mitchell

Ellen Chavez Kelley

Helen Wright Davis

Juleigh Howard-Hobson

by Juleigh Howard-Hobson

Joan Bond

Tara Ison

Cindy Dorn

Joanne Catz Hartman

by Joanne Catz Hartman

Jennifer D. Munro

Bruce Bauman

by Karen Damskey and Leslie Stormon

Suzanne M. Cody

Gayle Brandeis

Amana Nova

Rebecca (Bekka) Gnewikow

Irene Wanner

Karen J. Gordon

Peggy Hong

Elisa Merkl

Catherine Davis

BJ Nathan Hegedus

Leslie Petrovski

by Leslie Petrovski

David Starkey

Michelle Huneven

Acknowledgments

A HUGE THANK-YOU TO ALL the writers and knitters who shared their stories with me and made this collection possible. I am honored and humbled to have served as the midwife birthing your stories, poems, and experiences into the world. Thank you for your trust in me.

Thanks as well to all the usual suspects: the Tuesday night Tao ladiesMichelle, Cathy, Kate, Tracy, and Cindywho remind me of what's important in life; my writing circleMarjorie, Kitty, Michelle, Tara, and Davidwho keep me sane and returning to the keyboard; the editors of the Los Angeles Times Book Review, whose regular assignments keep me reading and solvent; the administrators of the UCLA Extension Writers Program, who continue to ask me back to teach, thereby allowing me to enrich my life by giving what I have received; to my intrepid agent, Bonnie Nadell, who talks me down when I need it; to my editor, Kate Epstein, who keeps me on track; and to all the knitters and writers who have come before me. My needles are raised in salute to you.

Introduction

T wo years ago, I released a book about my own spiritual and creative experience as a knitterZen and the Art of Knittingthat allowed me to look into aspects of knitting I'd always been curious about and to express my own perspective on this graceful and venerable craft. When that book came out, I was amazed by the number of knitters who'd identified with my experience and then wanted to share their own. Knitters approached me in bookstores, over the Internet, at seminars, wanting to share with me the most precious gift they had: the tales of their own adventures, tribulations, coincidences, and anecdotes of knitting.

This collection represents some of those stories, as well as insights from other knitters and writers generous enough to offer what they, too, have to share.

It is my fervent hope that, whether or not you're a knitter, you will find some aspect of your own story reflected here. Pull up a chair, drape an afghan over your legs, and enter this world. It is a realm in which a pair of needles and a single strand of yarn ties the generations together, a place where the wounds of the human condition are salved, a source of warmth on days when our souls shiver, and a moment to remind ourselves of the importance of the small things in life.

One: Knit with the Past

Most people have an obsession: mine is knitting.

ELIZABETH ZIMMERMAN,Knitting Without Tears

H and-knit sweaters, booties, socks, shawls, afghansthese items, often delicate and painstakingly created, are not simply functional objects that serve a particular purpose. The things we hand-knit are greater than the sum of their parts; in many ways, they are so much more.

First, there's the wool from which hand-knit items are made bringing with them an ingrained story of sheep life, before this current incarnation as cloth. Then there's the person who carded and spun the wool, whose own relationship to the sheep we may know well, or just speculate about. Maybe the yarn was mass-produced; still, someone selected the dye colors, someone tested the machines, and someone threw the switch to set the spinning into motion. Then there's the person who made the item, knitter, who trails behind her the thread of a unique history. Her own experience of learning to knitthe relationship between knitting teacher and pupilis a connection inherent in each stitch and every cast-off. Finally, there's the dance of give-and-take between the knitter and the intended wearer of the item: One provides warmth and love in the form of the knitted garment, while the other plays just as important a role by a willingness to receive the gift. Each of us must be both, givers and receivers, for the cycle to continue.

Hand-knit speaks to relationship. It's no coincidence that a family may be characterized as close-knit. From the sheep to the spinner, from the knitting-shop owner to the knitter, from the creator to the intended wearer, knitting is about strengthening ties, about acknowledging connectedness. Knitting is about family, yes, but also about embracing those not related by blood or law, but by love and choice, celebrating the people who have become friends-that-are-like-family, or framily.