This is a rewrite of the post that was scheduled for early this morning.  I don’t know what happened to the draft of the original. Being that I am still figuring out WordPress I must have accidentally moved it to trash instead of published it.

I apologize the re-write is so tardy, it has been a busy day.  But the house is settling down and daddy has taken over bedtime tonight so I can have a few moments:)    I hope this comes out as well as the original!

I am a voracious reader.  Reading is another thing I really enjoy doing, and do to nurture myself  so I can nurture my family.  Any one who knows me in my “real” life will tell you that I always have a bag containing yarn, needles or hooks,  and a book.

I read a wide variety of book topics and authors.   My personal books shelf is not very large, so most of the books come from the library and are then returned from the library.  Or if I purchase a book, and read it, most of those are passed on to others who might enjoy them as well.

But there are a few books that I read where I really “connect” with the author, and feel that they “get me” when they wrote the book.  When I read these books, it is like uniting with a long-lost friend I have never had or finding a wise mentor who has walked the same path I am walking before and wrote their words to help me take the next step I need to take in life.  These authors and their books remain a permanent resident on my bookshelf and are frequently found on my bedside table as I re-read them.

When I first learned to crochet and knit, I found a yarn craft mentor in a woman I have never met through reading her books.  Maggie Righetti.

I first read “Crocheting in Plain English”, and then “Knitting in Plain English”.  I already knew how to crochet, but I learned so much more by reading her books.  I taught myself how to knit with  “Knitting in Plain English” using yarn and needles I bought at a thrift store.    Using her very straightforward way, only the way she could say it, she made crocheting and knitting very easy for me to understand.

Knitting has helped me get through some very tough times in my life.  There were seasons where life was more than hard, it was just plain painful, and knitting was the therapy that I believe God used to get me through.   If I didn’t have knitting, I am sure I still would have made it through the slumps and climbed out of the pits, but it would have been a much harder and longer climb.     I thank God that I learned to knit, and I credit Maggie for being my teacher when I had no teacher around.

I still have these books on my bookshelf, and pull them out frequently when I have a question or just need a different perspective on solving a problem.  Through the years of reading, and then re-reading topics in her books, she has helped me to broaden my knitting and crocheting horizon.  She became my mentor, constantly teaching me to think outside the limits of knitting by patterns and charts.

I am not saying that her books are the only ones I read when I need help. But her books are referenced first, and then I search other books for other perspectives in knitting and crocheting.

And her wisdom can help with more than yarn woes.

One phrase that she stated can be applied to every area of our lives:

 “When we know what we are doing and what we are supposed to accomplish, we can adapt and change to suit ourselves!”  

Another is

“You must know your own personality in order to cope with errors,

because the kind of person you are will determine what you will choose to do about the mistake.”

I still get a chuckle every time I see “Buttonholes are Bastards!”, or “The Dumb Baby Sweater”.

I wish I had known Maggie while she was still on earth.  I feel like I know her through her books, but I wish I could have met her just once and really thanked her in person and let her know what she meant to me.

I hope to really get to know her over some tea and scones and yarns and needles one day in heaven.

Until next time, Have a StitchTastic Day!

Angela