Waterwoman Knits

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” ~ MLK, Jr

Each year on this federal holiday, I review MLK, Jr’s speeches and soak in the wisdom and leadership of a transcendent being who left this world when I was almost two years old. Today in watching a recording of his speech to young people in a school nearly 60 years ago, I find it striking how glaringly absent such leadership is (at least that I am aware) with the capacity to encourage and provide hope to the young people among us.

I do not think people of that time could envision a day when all public schools would hold routine active shooter drills and daily fear of gun violence is nearly universal in the U.S., beyond the confines of specific communities.

The quote above I have relied on in many contexts, including completing walking a full 26.2-mile marathon to raise funds for a cancer organization, and crossing the finish line alongside a 90-year-old male runner. My walk was his run. And that to me was an incredibly beautiful lesson. We will all get to our own finish lines, and there is no shame in how we get there as long as we keep going.

I found myself in the woods today on this momentous day in my country, the perfect place to be to process and compost feelings. And some tears later, to my delight, I happened upon the first frost flowers I have seen of the year!

Knitting News

I taught someone to knit yesterday, and that was such a joy! Perhaps they will allow me to share their work in the future to encourage others there is no such thing as “perfect” and we all start at the beginning.

I also finished the colorwork chart of my Lumme pullover in Martina of We Grow Wild’s knit-a-long or KAL. It is in a color I rarely am drawn to, which looks almost yellow in bright light but like a café latte in low light. The main yarn color is called Chai from Cascade Yarns and it is Sari Nordlund’s gorgeous pattern she designed in Cascade that looks pretty much fabulous on each person’s version I have seen.

The white yarn I had on hand from a previous project is Navia Trio, which is a company based in the Faroe Islands and is a large economic force for those tiny islands between Norway and Iceland. The wool is affordable, is part Faroese sheep, part Australian lambswool, and part Shetland wool. It’s very soft and cushy for untreated wool and I adore it.

[An Aside Story] Speaking of Cascade Yarns, when I was in my 20s and living in Seattle, I answered a newspaper ad for a production hand-knitter. I never knew that was a “thing” in the U.S. and just thought I was an odd duck wishing I lived in a culture that celebrated knitting. I am, but that’s beside the point.

I took a bus to a nondescript warehouse in Pioneer Square, the heart of downtown Seattle and two women asked me to take a seat. They looked at examples of my knitting and decided it was strong enough for me to be a knitter for Cascade Yarns, then a fledgling yarn company in Seattle, now a global workhorse of yarn. For about a year, I would get home from my day job in admin of a healthcare center and would knit until 2 a.m. on sweaters that would be given away to any shop owner who purchased their yarn, so they could display a sample in their store.

A book I am loving by an economist whose Italian grandmother
taught her to knit, which she used as a metaphor through life.
A great overview of global knitting history as well.