Mary: reader, knitter, and friend

My wonderful friend Mary Preisinger died a few weeks ago, just a month short of her ninety-first birthday and my world is definitely poorer for it.

Mary was my very first not-related-to-me reader. She sent me my very first fan letter back in March 1983. (You'll have to excuse the number of times I use the word "first" in this post but there's no way around it. It was a time of firsts for me.)

Let me set the stage. LOVE CHANGES was one of the launch books for Harlequin American and had come out in Reader Service but was still a few weeks from hitting the book stores. I was published . . . but not really. Somewhere out there I hoped people were reading me but if they were they were being very quiet about it.

We were living in North Babylon on Long Island at the time and every morning I would drop my husband off at the LIRR station in Babylon then stop by the post office at Sunset City (a strip mall on Deer Park Avenue with, among other delights, a video store and the wonderful Italian Food World) and check my PO box for mail. I don't really know what I was expecting but I was a brand new author and hope truly springs eternal. So can you imagine my absolute shock when I unlocked the box that morning in late March of '83 and found one small letter waiting for me!

It was from Mary Preisinger who was living in West Islip at the time, written in bright green ink, and her words made me cry. "I loved your book," she wrote. "Reading it took me back to the time when my husband was still alive and we would drive out to Montauk and walk the beach. Thank you for giving me back those memories."

I'm telling you winning the Pulitzer Prize (For romance? Not likely!) or hitting the New York Times could not have made me happier than that one small letter did. My words had touched a stranger's heart! It was the most amazing, wonderful, powerful, exhilarating experience of my life.

Now here's where it gets a wee bit weird. I turned into a stalker. Not in a bad way (don't all stalkers say that?) but West Islip was just one town over and I was really, really thrilled about my fan letter so I ran home, looked Mary's phone number up in the directory and called her. I know I should be embarrassed but I'm not. I didn't know a thing about author etiquette back then. I definitely didn't have a clue about how to be cool. I just did what my heart told me to do and thank God! That impulsive phone call resulted in a twenty-five year friendship that enriched my life in ways I can't begin to count. She knitted some gorgeous afghans for me. I fumbled my way through shawls and lap robes for her.

Mary and I talked like old friends. She invited me to visit her one day for lunch and I did. Over the years we shared books and laughter, secrets and tears. I moved to central NJ. She moved to Salem, Massachusetts, then back to Long Island and then finally to Ohio. But we never lost touch. Not for a minute.

I'm sitting here by the front window, watching the rain. I have a cup of tea on the table next to me and Mary's pale celery green, soft yellow, and ivory afghan draped across my shoulders like a hug. She's there in every stitch and always will be.

The Prodigal Knitter

The thing about prolonged silences is that they usually seem much more mysterious than they really are.

I was going to tell you that I had been plucked off the streets of central NJ by the captain of an alien spaceship and whisked off to the rings of Saturn where I participated in a marketing research survey for an advertising company interested in tapping into the earthling consumer base but I figured you probably wouldn't buy it.

See that book cover? That's what I've been up to. It took longer than I expected and took me to places I never thought I'd go but I finally reached the end a few weeks ago and am now feeling my way through chapter one of the sequel. The unnamed sequel. Right now I'm calling it CASTING SPELLS 2 which, all things considered, is a pretty crappy title. Let's hope I come up with something better soon!

CASTING SPELLS will be on the stands around Halloween and I'll be posting an excerpt on my website in June so please stick around.

More tomorrow.

Really.

Why are you looking at me like that? Don't you trust me? Just wait. I promise I'll make it up to you.

And while I have your attention, did I mention how much I missed you guys? I've been reading you faithfully but extracurricular typing was more than my hands could manage.

It's so good to be back.

Trouble with the end

O ye goddesses of knitting, I need your advice!

I went by your excellent suggestions and made my sister-in-law's scarf match her height. Of course, I did this partly to avoid starting a third skein of cashmere so I really wanted to end it quickly.

The only problem is: I didn't have quite enough yarn to do the entire border on the end. I had to shorten it by two rows. Here's the photo showing the two ends together. The top one is the "short" end. The bottom is the beginning. I honestly don't think anyone but me would notice the difference.

However, if I decide I want to make them match, is it possible to open up the cast-on end, rip out two rows, and then bind it off somehow? If so, can you point me to some directions? Or is this risky and foolhardy?

How long should a scarf be?

Ginny and I are crying in our cheer towels: the Devils got eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The good news: I got a lot of scarf knitting done as I watched my team go down in defeat.

In fact, I got so much knitting done (I needed to soothe my nerves as the Rangers harried Brodeur) that I'm pretty close to finished with my commissioned scarf. However, here's my question--and I always have this issue with scarves: how long should a scarf be?

Currently, this one is 63 inches long (unblocked). If I make it any longer, I will have to start a new skein of very expensive Mongolian cashmere (which I have in my possession but it's returnable). So what do the pros on RTY think?

How long do you make your scarves?

(Ginny, there's always next season, right?)

We have a winner!

Christy Hawkes won the knitty mysteries. Thanks to everyone who entered.

Cindi

Distractions

Here are some of the reasons why I haven't been getting much knitting done lately. I was setting up a photo of the current project on the needles. A puppy squeaked, and of course I had to go see why. Just because they're so cute. And sweet. And soft.

So I set the knitting down AWAY from the puppies and rescued the one who'd wriggled out of the dog bed. They all woke up. They all heard me. It's amazing how fast they can scoot. I rescued the yarn before they could do too much damage or the needles could hurt one of them.

The project - a neck cozy from Patternworks, free with purchase of a skein of Koigu Premium Merino. If it works out, I plan to make lots of them. The older I get, the more careful I have to be about keeping my neck muscles warm. This nifty little neck cozy is just what I need when a regular neck scarf's too bulky or too warm. The pattern is simple, the yarn's awesome and knits so smoothly without splitting.

I'm taking this and an extra skein to a writers retreat this weekend. With luck, I'll come back with two finished neck cozies. That means a warm neck, protected from the breeze, in those early morning gardening sessions. Warm neck, less neck pain, more time at the keyboard, more writing. It's a win-win situation.

Sock Yarn Winner!

Well, I can't upload the pic of the sock yarn again so you'll have to scroll down a couple posts to see it, but - ta da! - the winner is:

JILL E. JOHNSON

Congratulations, Jill! If you'll send me your mailing addy, I'll send you the Cascade sock yarn.

Now I've kept the names of everyone who entered this contest because my LYS owner called and said she's got a bag of sock yarn for me if I'll come and get it. She didn't say how big the bag was or how many pairs could come out of it but I'll get down there and get it sometime this week or early next and I may be pulling some more names out of the hat when I do.

Fran

P.S. Cool present, Cindi! Those look like books I'd enjoy. Which means a trip to the bookstore, too.

Book Giveaway

Since this is a blog of writers who knit, I thought it would be fun to give away fiction that relates to knitting. I have the first three volumes in the fun Knitting Mystery series by my friend Maggie Sefton. These are new, signed copies. The books are set in Colorado and center around an LYS. Each book contains a free pattern. If you'd like to win these books, send your name and address to me at CMyersTex@aol.com. Be sure to put Contest in the subject line of your email.

Sock It To You!

This Cascade Fixation sock yarn was too good to pass up. Not only was it a steal (I got it out of the sale basket at my LYS), it encompassed some of my favorite spring colors: new grass green, lilac, and peony pink.

So here's what I did. I bought two balls for one of you and two balls for me.

I'll draw a name for the yarn on Monday, April 21, so if you're interested, send an email to Fran AT FranBaker DOT com and put Cascade in the subject line.

Good luck!

Fran

P.S. The yarn is 98.3% cotton and 1.7% elastic.

Full disclosure: This has nothing to do with knitting

In spring, a middle-aged woman's thoughts turn to...THE HOCKEY PLAYOFFS!!!!

Yes, that's me with my "cheer towel" (you wave it around to encourage your team and it sheds white fuzzies everywhere) at Game 1 of the playoffs. Alas, my beloved but offensively challenged Devils were defeated by the New York Rangers 4-1. But it's only the first game of a "best of seven" series so there's plenty more action to come.


Here the Devils take the ice.


The world's greatest goalie Martin Brodeur watching the action at the other end of the rink.


Your basic hockey scrum.


The best the scoreboard looked all night: tied 1-1 at the end of the second period.

I know there are other hockey fans on this blog. So who are you rooting for this spring?