When My Worlds Joyfully Collide!

Hi Everyone,
I was thinking-- I know a lot of you readers are here regularly (thanks!) but to you newcomers, I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Spike. I work with Lisa & co to make the Monhegan Island Knitting & Yoga Retreat happen each year. My role-- I maintain this blog, and then the week of the retreat I'm your in-house scribe and photographer, documenting your trip so you can, if you wish, just knit around the clock. I'm always open to ideas for the blog, so if you want to share hints, tips, breaking knitting stories and/or photos of your projects, by all means drop me an email at spikegillespie@gmail.com.

Today I want to tell you about the joyful collisions of my various worlds. In addition to being a writer and a knitter, I'm also a wedding officiant in Austin, TX. Last year on the Monhegan trip, I coincidentally ran into a young couple whose wedding I'd performed a couple of years ago in Texas. That was some fun serendipity.

Recently I did a wedding here in the Hill Country and the bride, Linda, is a crocheter (and knitter) and the author of a couple of cool crochet books. Instead of having a ring pillow for the ring bearer, check out this transportation device:

Photo Copyright Sleeping Owl Photography 2013

The picture at the top of this post is a painting that hangs in the reception hall of another venue I've done weddings at-- I get excited every time I see that picture. And then, in my world of Passionate Reading, I just came to a chapter in Kate Atkinson's new book, Life After Life in which everyone is knitting. And you can tell from the description that it's very likely Atkinson herself is a knitter-- there are too many accurate details for her to have faked such knowledge. This, too, excites me-- encountering knitting in literature and film. It was just brought to my attention that Marilyn Monroe knitted. Check this out:

And then there are times when the knitting connection really casts a wide net. The other day I had coffee with Richard, son of Alison, who is a regular Monhegan attendee. Richard lives here in Austin and he is at the beginning stages of becoming an international superstar with his line of handmade jeans. As in, yes, he sews every pair himself. I had a great time chatting with him about his denim work and his leatherwork and if he ever decides to start a line of Mom Jeans with Comfort Elastic Waistband, I'm going to be the first in line to buy some. Meanwhile, you can check out his cool handiwork at his Paleo Demin website. Here's a picture of Richard who sadly wasn't wearing any of his mom's hand knits because it's already in the 90s down here most days.

And that's the full report for this time, y'all. I hope your world is full of overlapping knitting connections and coincidences, too.

Spike