As I mentioned briefly on Monday, I had a chance to meet the very gracious Kate Jacobs this past weekend. I was thinking I'd just slip into the library, listen to her presentation and say a quick hello to her as she signed my copy of Comfort Food. (GREAT book, btw, and I loved the story's heroine, Gus, who's such a wonderful, beautiful, well-developed character. :) I was trying not be too much of a geeky fan girl, but Kate and her husband were truly welcoming. And, when one of my favorite librarians, Debbie Hoffman (who's standing to the right of Kate in this photo*), called me up to introduce us, I felt immediately at home chatting with them both.Having read and loved her writing, I wasn't at all surprised that Kate's talk was delightful. She spoke a bit about her hometown in Canada and about her writing process. She told us about her friends and the characters she created for her beloved Friday Night Knitting Club series. Knit Two came out late last year and Knit The Season was released just this month.
I do have one confession: Although I've read and enjoyed more than one of Kate's stories, I'm terrified of knitting. I've fancied myself "crafty" on a number of occasions and, while I did a passable job with fabric painting, not completely dreadfully with Sculpy baking-clay jewelry and even showed some potential when it came to beading, I failed at knitting. If Twitter has a trending topic somewhere called #knitfail, my "work" ought to be featured. I have some perfectly horrid and misshapen woolen projects I could show you as proof--but I won't. I also still have a half-full trunk of untouched yarn for the "cute pastel vest" I'd intended to make once. Skeins in a very pretty pink, light blue and cream. They have been safely stashed in that trunk for, oh, about 15 years. Yeah. It's a testament to how much I liked Kate that I'm actually considering pulling them out again... I also have needles. I'm scared of them, too.
But for those people who have fewer issues and more talent when it comes to knitting, Kate's involved with a FABULOUS program right now, in conjunction with Lands' End. It's a project called Warming Families, and they're trying to get 25,000 caps made for families in need this fall. I know my skills fall short when it comes to making anything complicated, but Kate said on Saturday that scarves were welcome, too. So, there may be a weirdly misshapen pink, light blue and cream one added to the growing pile soon... Maybe some of you will join me in the attempt?
*I snagged the picture from Kate's blog, and I believe the photo credit goes to Kate's husband :-).
13 comments:
I'm so jealous! I want to meet Kate Jacobs too! I actually have a funny story about knitting.
As a kid I used to suck my thumb. Once I hit school, I only did it in "private" (which means at home) but my mom was really getting worried. I remember her taking me to the pediatrician. Afterwards, she took me to a store and bought me some yarn and knitting needles. That evening my mom taught me to knit. I began to knit like a banshee! It was so much fun. After a few weeks, my mom asked me when the last time was that I'd sucked my thumb. I honestly couldn't remember! I'd "kicked" the habit!
Years later, as an adult, I asked my mom what the pediatrician told her. She said he told her that I was "bored" and needed something to do with my hands. My mom was the one who came up with the knitting idea. Brilliant!
I wish I still knitted...
Yeah--I'm a potholder/scarf/carpet runner kind of knitter (and that's if you overlook my dismal edges) so I may just have to stick to reading Kate's books instead!
Maria~I *love* your story!! I was a thumb sucker, too, until about kindergarten--but my parents didn't come up with a creative solution like that. (I mostly remember dire warnings about how terrible my teeth would be if I kept it up...) How cool that your mom was so creative!
Pam~LOL about the "dismal edges" :). I can relate to that, unfortunately, all too well! And, as long as I live, I'm going to be confused by this whole casting off thing...
Oh Marilyn! You're so funny.
Thank you for the great post about Kate Jacobs. Also, put me in the room with you and the others who are terrified of knitting, but not of reading Kate's awesome books where it provides the theme and subtext.
What a lovely encounter!
I used to love knitting, but I haven't done it in ages... I liked to knit very complex patterns. :-)
There's a little award waiting for you at my blog. :-)
I applaud anyone who has any knitting abilities. Sounds like you had a great time, M :)
Oh, BTW, you won over at my blog. Your number came closest!
Pamala~Thanks for helping me feel not so alone ;). And you're right about the theme and subtext of knitting--I really love it in a literary sense. It's just the tactile part that scares me!
Vesper~I truly admire anyone that can do it, and I'm not at all surprised that you loved the complex patterns! THANK YOU, also, for the wonderful blog award--I've just added it to my sidebar :).
L.A~yessss!! Well, that makes my day ;). I've been offline for hours wrestling with this proposal, and I thought only brownies would cheer me up...but your prize is even better--thanks!
I'm so happy you got to meet both Kate and John - it's crazy to think that a bestselling author is still so kind and gracious (though I expect you not to change either when you make that elusive list!).
Also, already speaking of "trending on Twitter" and including the hash tag - you are a natural my dear! so proud of you and sooooo eagerly anticipating your next book!
Aw, thank you, Lydia! :-) I'll admit, I'm proud of myself picking up some of the Twitter lingo--"some" is the keyword, though. I know it's a GOOD thing, but I don't know why, exactly, tweeters make all of these lists on Wed. and Fri. #WriterWednesday? #FollowFriday?? And everyone's thanking everyone for mentioning them... It's like this ritual from a foreign culture, and I'm trying to be polite, so I mimic it back, but I don't know what it MEANS--LOL!! I pretty clearly still have a lot to learn...
Dear Marilyn,
I'm reading 'According to Jane', on Amazon Kindle version, and I'm very excited about Ellie and Sam. I love your book so far, very creative, very interesting. I'm an avid Jane Austen's novels reader, I do love her!, and feel glad to see the writer as a character in your contemporary book. Unfortunately, books on Kindle version don't give us further information about the authors, so I googled and find your site :)
Congratulations! I'm very fond of your literature!!
Rosangela~Thank you so much! I'm very pleased that you are enjoying the Sam and Ellie's story and that you took the time to find me online! I hope you'll like the rest of the book, and that you'll visit my blog again :). It's so nice to "meet" you!
What a worthy cause. I'm like you, Marilyn. My only purpose with needles to stave off intruders. Really, there's nothing recognizable when I finish. It's unique, all right. Think the movie, The Blob, and you have the right connection.
However, glad to hear that many with the talent are doing what they can for those who need so much.
LOL, Sandra!! Well, you've certainly convinced me to pull out my old knitting needles so I can have decent weaponry on hand. All I can do to fight off intruders now is pitch author pens and the occasional hardcover novel at them ;).
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