Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

Jan Stephens (7 December 1931 - 22 September 2018) was my friend and mentor. I was asked to speak at her memorial service last Saturday, 10 November, which was also Skacel's day to create 10,000 new knitters. Below is a version of my comments. Knitting is about turning something that is intangible — love — into something tangible. You can feel love, but you can't see it. It isn't as if you can sit love on a table in good light, take a picture of it, and post it on Instagram. When we knit a scarf for the child going off to college — in the school colors, of course — or an heirloom baby blanket for that precious new arrival, or a chemo hat for a stranger going through one of the toughest years of his or her life, we are turning love into something that can be seen. We are saying, "You are loved. You are important to someone. You are cared about." Jan loved two things — people and knitting. It isn't surprising, as the one followed logically from the other. ...