Socks. Another pair knit. But these were not quite like others. Knit while life around me, my life as a mother, began it's steady shift away from all that it had been. Soon that movement will be greater, in September, the nest, our nest, once so full and crowded, with just be for the two old birds.
It's been a summer of reading about Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane. I'm not quite sure what keeps pulling me to find out what made them tick. Perhaps it's the closeness of their archives, housed down the road in West Branch Iowa.
Studying new picture books, I have found I really love Mo Willems. And I adore his early readers. Thank you, Debbie Dunn for introducing me to them.
So what does this all have to do with shawl Friday? Sketching lions for the new Lion Brand healing shawl cards (http://cache.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/pg.fcgi?page=prayerShawlCards.html ), I looked for a visual guide. The lions were my first attempt at anthropomorphizing. I thought Maurice Sendak and his Little Bear illustrations would be most helpful, but it was the spareness of the Mo Willems elephant and pig that guided my hand.
The days are long and the years are short. Last night was the last orchestra concert. Saturday night graduation. My to-d0 list is long. At the top will be to remember to enjoy the present.
Thanks for dropping by. This summer I hope to post more regularly. And with some luck, my Etsy store will be open for those who have asked for cards and posters from my books and knitting life. Soon.
Here's the thing about blogs, they are often started with the loftiest of intentions. Take mine, for example. I had planned to post every Friday. No matter what. I was positive I would post more often than that. But books have a way of taking over the nooks and crannies of your life. My last post was in January. And now it's May.
There's just a bit of last minute work for me on the knitting book due out next Spring. The Hanukkah Trike will be out this Fall. I'm back at my desk now with a head full of stories and a summer packed with ideas. Stay tuned.
Thanks for visiting.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
With some help from Photoshop and an very old photo, looking back to an early birthday, this week I celebrated a momentous one!
It's Tuesday. Mostly sunny here in Iowa. The kind of late summer day that makes one feel empowered enough to think this might be the day to meet all sorts of goals that would seem down right foolish on a gray, rainy day. A goal like maybe updating one's website.
I did try. I did make one change. But this blog has become my escape route, my backdoor. Visit me here, I wrote on what became the only entry I made on www.michelledwards.com/ I had wanted to write something about my book Alef-Bet, now back in print after many years. The above illustration is from the book. Ah well, you did see it here. And it's on Amazon. And wherever fine books are sold, as my husband is so fond of telling those kind enough to inquire.
Knitters, check out this week's Lion Brand Newsletter for my latest story, Back to School.
Other news to report has to do with owls. The one who showed up in the woodpecker's tree the other night. A glorious specimen. Huge. Commanding. And I think maybe a sign of something grand to come. When I was rewriting Jackson Friends, hoping that Harcourt would finally offer me a contract, I spotted an eagle on my walk. Now an owl. I know what I hope it means. Stay tuned.
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