I clearly remember my 7th summer of life,
when Mom taught me to knit at Grampy’s home on Squam Lake in Holderness, NH. We were sitting in adirondack chairs on the flagstone patio overlooking the steps to grass, fern, birch trees, sand and two docks on the lake. Two straight wooden needles and a carefully wound ball of heather green yarn from Revere Knitting Mills, I was ready to create a scarf. The process always looked so easy watching Mom’s hands.
Learning to hold those two wooden sticks, position the strand of yarn (over/under/over) the first 3 fingers of my right hand seemed daunting…then came the “how to knit a stitch”?! Mom said once I learned to knit and purl I could knit anything. It all seemed magical. Mom’s calm voice and patient way of teaching, still echoes in my mind when I pick up needles to knit, create, design, or teach.
Knitting intermittently entertained me during childhood, teen, and college years. As a young Mom and RN, knitting became a portable lifeline to cherished moments of self creation and sanity. The juxtaposition of caring for my young, beautiful, healthy, playful daughter, contrasted with the ICU patient chatting one minute—then cardiac arresting the next minute, beckoned a bit of “time out” and knitting answered. Knitting became a haven for my creative, calming and reflective space. Playing with colors, yarn textures, patterns always fascinated me and combining these elements, became a passion.
Birch Tree Knits grew from a desire to share the knitting experience in a relaxing, peaceful, and playful space. Hope you’ll join me in the adventure of knitting through lessons, purchasing one of my patterns, or knitwear designs.
Giving Back
“Birches” by Robert Frost has been a favorite poem of mine for a long time. The themes of reaching beyond the earth, looking for freedom only to realize that “Earth’s the right place for love” resonates with me. To me, they speak about the wisdom that we gain with age, and the need to make our home a home for all.
I believe every individual (regardless of race, sex, gender preference, age, religion), has the right to be a swinger of birches…as well as the right to public health, food, and safe haven. To that end, I donate a portion all profits from each sale of products and patterns to Bread of Life to help their work to address food insecurity.
Bread of Life is an organization serving communities north of Boston with a mission to feed the hungry, homeless, needy, and isolated. It is located in Malden, MA, and distributed one million meals in the past year. Food insecurity affects people in every age group and exists in every community in the United States. If you’d like to learn more, donate or volunteer, please visit them online.