Lloie Schwartz petting a black nosed sheep with farmer in Italy

Dear Knitters,

As an obsessive knitter for nearly all of my long life, one of my most repeated remarks has been, thank God for knitting. And it was my closing statement at recent workshops in Florence: Grazie a Dio per il lavoro a maglia. Like many of you, during the past weeks my gratitude for knitting has intensified. Recently I finished an allover patterned sweater for my grandson Eli, and it was complex to the point that I had no plain, mind-wandering sections during which I usually plot my next series of projects. So for several days after I darned in the final end, I was somewhat bereft. When inspiration finally hit, and I cast on a new seamless yoke sweater idea, the wave of relief to be knitting again was palpable. 

Many different people have written about the great therapeutic effect provided by hand knitting, and I venture to say that all of us have had direct experience with this soothing and comforting (and often exciting and energizing) aspect of our craft, and I needn’t go on about the benefits we all glean from knitting. This is just a note of appreciation and solidarity, as we all hunker down for an unknown length of time. How could EZ’s words in her sign-off note from Wool Gathering #10 - in 1974 - be more apropos? 

Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises

Recently, I remembered a video we had intended to post, but never did: Back in Blog #2, Jan 2016, I wrote about our Knitting Camps, and my first workshop trip to Northern Italy. I travelled there with my sister Lloie, and we arrived a week early so we could ferret out the elusive little Blacknose breed of sheep that are native only to a specific canton in Switzerland. After a concentrated and disappointing search, our eventual discovery of a small flock of the beauties, high up in the small alpine village of Zeneggen in the Valais canton resulted in the video below. The sheep are very vocal, but you can still hear Lloie and the shepherd speaking Schweizerdeutsch in the background. 

With 29 blogs, many of which include videos that Cully & I taped together, I encourage you to scroll through and enjoy a look back. 

Good Knitting to all, in solidarity, and with love from Meg, Michelle, and Cully