This past weekend, Debbie Macomber received the Nora Roberts lifetime achievement award for her contributions to the Romance genre. In addition to her wonderful stories, Ms. Macomber also has a number of knit-along books where the patterns from her Blossom Street stories come to life in exciting new dimensions. I have always loved the idea of people inspired to craft by their connection to a story, whether it’s dedicated propmakers replicating Dr. Jones’ Grail Diary or items from the ill-fated Dyer expedition to Antarctica to the wide assortment of musicians and makers that flocked to Catherynne Valente’s Palimpsest and added their own touches to its wonder and magic.
It taught me why I continue to knit whenever I get the chance – as I’ve said, it keeps me calm in difficult situations (like surrounding an introvert with 2500 new people). Even better, it provides an instant connection with other people who knit or do other crafts. No matter where we may be with our projects, there we suddenly had a common ground as Makers of Things discussing our passions.
These thoughts spawned an unusual thought in my head – for too long, my knitting has been the unwinding act that I use to step back from my job or my writing and immerse myself in something else for a while. Instead, I wonder if I should use it to draw myself deeper into my craft. I’ve new ideas in the wake of RWA, and plenty of things that make me more excited about my craft (and my crafting) than I’ve been in ages.
Tags: Knitter Pride, knitting, my methods, RWA
