Monday, August 11, 2008

Just Thought I’d drop into to see you on my way back from Ireland and other tales

Jane & Jo: old friends meet at last

A long time ago when the earth seemed new and I was a bit newer myself, I had a vision. Yes, this was an honest to goodness, lightning- bolt-brain-wave-straight-out-of-the-movies type vision, the kind that causes one's inner world to tremble and the eyes to blur. Driving along a rural road en route to visit a school at the time, the event had such a powerful effect on me that I had to pull over. I sat there in my car seized in this strange state for several moments trying to figure out what was happening.

A multidimensional scene played out inside my head, a multimedia montage of globes and maps and computers and faces. What did it all mean? Once I recovered enough to function, I called up my friend, Colleen, to describe the event but my attempts were woefully unadequate, reducing my larger than life experience to a fumble of words. Try describing a vision, something that effects you on several dimensions simultaneously but which defies the encapsulation: it's like reducing life to a cartoon. I couldn't do it and Colleen on the other end of the phone didn't know how to help me.

I wasn't to understand it that day or for many years to follow. In fact the faintest glimmer of understanding is only reaching me now. Here it is: I believe my earth-trembling vision had to do with...KNITTING! All right, not just knitting, but global knitting and connecting with like-minded souls across the world , forging friendships based on positive life forces linking together to help in some small way towards making the world a slightly more cohesive place. So, every time I receive an email, such as I did on Ravelry while Knit a Beaching down in Nova Scotia last week, that goes something like: 'Hi, it's me. I'm here from Ireland, mind if I drop in,"  I say yes.

Which brings me to Celtic Jo, owner of Celticmemoryyarns in Ireland, who just happened to be in the Nova Scotian neighbourhood last week so just happened to drop in to sing spinning songs and tell Irish tales to my knitters. And, as so often is the case, I feel as though I've known her all my life though we've only now met making it perfectly natural for us to plot and plan a Celtic evocative knitting excursion in the near future.

Ilga admires a shoreline

But, speaking of friends, Jo wasn't my only guest last week. I had invited my good friend and fellow designer, Ilga Leja, to lead the knitters on a foray into beachy, wave-like stitches. A wonderful teacher as well as a designer of gorgeous knitwear ( Ilgaleja.com ), she spent the day showing the Knitabeachniks artful ways to evoke the waves. The trunk-load of yarn she brought along went over well, too.

Years ago the two of us had fought many a stereotype together: two masters degree students fighting the fossilized notions that one can't be serious and knit, too. Ha! Have I got a vision for them...

To come....the beaches wait to speak.