Thursday, August 04, 2011

Joyce Williams

At 12:25pm, our dear Joyce Williams passed away. She will be sorely missed. I met Joyce five years ago at Schoolhouse Press' Knitting Camp and was instantly drawn to the little elegant lady in green (which I soon discovered she had a love for, as her partner in crime, Amy Detjen, had a love for purple). Although small in stature, she had a larger than life spirit and passion for knitting. I admired her desire to continue growing and learning in her craft, and love to hear the stories she would tell.

I'm a night owl and have struggled with insomnia over the years, and was delighted to find a fellow knitter to knit away the midnight oil. We also are such loose knitters that we have to go down usually 2-3 needle sizes and it felt good to find someone who enjoyed knitting on size 1 and 2 needles or smaller.

A few years ago, she asked me to model the Morocco sweater from Latvian Dreams and I don't think I took it off the rest of camp, I was in love with it. This year, Meg asked me to model The Star cardigan from Latvian Dreams and again my heart was stolen. However, it was a little more than that. I felt a little closer to Joyce and her absence not so harsh with the sweater on.

As I was thinking about Joyce this morning, I thought about that sweater and the little bit of comfort it had provided me, and pulled the Latvian Dreams book off the shelf. I opened to the front where I knew that Joyce had signed the book and read what she had written, my finger slowly tracing where her pen had traced. I then turned to the page that had The Star sweater on, thinking that maybe I should consider knitting that sweater now while thinking of her. I was surprised to find that Joyce had actually signed my book a second time and was deeply touched.

IMAG0189.jpg

It reads "Kim, Knit Your beautiful dreams, Joyce Williams 7/07"


(A picture of Joyce next to her dear friend, Meg Swansen.)

Joyce will be missed my many. For such a petite gal, she sure did make a big impact. Dream on!

5 comments:

Carrie K said...

Oh, that's so sad! Latvian Dreams has some amazing patterns and motifs and she sounds like she's more fabulous than they are. That's so sweet what she wrote! Are you going to knit it? I'm so sorry for your loss.

alisonc said...

Sweet tears. I'm so glad I got to meet her, too.

alisonc said...

Joyce before Latvian Dreams
http://www.monticellowi.com/textiles.htm

Denise said...

I didnt'know...I'm crying my eyes out right now......

I'll miss you Joyce....so much!!!!!

Miller500 said...

I have such great memories of Joyce and Amy and Meg and the whole Schoolhouse Press group. What a loss! Haven't been to camp in a couple of years. It will be a priority for me in 2012. These connections are so strong and so fragile at the same time. Joyce will be sorely missed by legions of knitters.