Made My Day

My sons, L and K, have been taking violin in school. For the first few weeks of summer vacation, private lessons are available from the teachers they had the previous year. L's teacher, Nate Strick, is the son of Strickwear designer and book author, Candace Eisner Strick.

I met Candace briefly over a year ago, when I attended The Ewephoric Knitter's weekend, hosted by Marji's Yarncrafts. I introduced myself to Candance because I had two of her books on my bookshelf - "Sweaters From a New England Village" and "Sweaters From New England Sheep Farms." I found out then that Nate was going to be L's violin instructor in 5th grade. Small world! When I met Nate that September, I mentioned I had met his mother the previous spring, probably branding myself as one of those nutty knitters.

This morning was our last summer violin lesson, and when we arrived, Nate handed me some reading material - "Beyond Wool," Candace's book published in 2004, and one not yet on my bookshelf. At first I thought he was giving it to me for the duration of the lesson - until I opened the cover and found an inscription made out to me. I must say - this made my day, and I spent the next thirty minutes listening to wonderful violin music, learning about various non-wool-fibers, and deciding what to add to my Ravelry queue (the Heavenly Blue Cardigan). For someone who had once dreamed of becoming an alpaca rancher before my husband's job took us from New Jersey to a wooded property not suited for alpacas in Connecticut, and whose father raised angora rabbits for their fiber as a boy in Hungary, the book is a real treat!

I'm still smiling....