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.



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!

Thou Wretched Cable Needle...

Where Art Thou???? Why must you play tricks with me? I have loved you and cherished you. Sure there are other needles I could use in your place. Admittedly I do have a collection of needles that would fill in on a moments notice, but they mean nothing to me like the way you do. They are meaningless fill-ins. You... You are my true love. The one I turn to for the twists and turns that I stumble across in my knitting path. Together we conquer those tricky roads together. Or should I say, we did!!! (insert dun, dun, dun!!!! sound effect here please - Thank you, you're most kind) Now, you have abandoned me. I turned my back for one moment and you took your chance and fled. Are you hiding? Is this some cruel game? Or have you left for good? Am I now left to wander alone through the cabled road without by my side? Won't you please give me one more chance?!!!!

Cable Needle, if from your hiding place, you observed that this afternoon I used another needle to satisfy my need of cabling on my Hand to Hand Cardigan, please know that it wasn't the same. I was just going through the motions, but I had to progress on the cardigan and you knew that.





I now have the sleeves and yoke completed on the cardigan. Now, I just have to sew up the sleeves seams and then start on the body, then it's LOTS of garter stitch. This will be the perfect cardigan for our chilly Wisconsin Fall and Winters.

I hope Cable returns to my side by Fall.