I started knitting back in 2001, whiling away the time between calls at a call center for the American Cancer Society. My first piece was supposed to be a rectangular scarf, but it grew into a cattywampus triangular mess. (In my defense, I used a dark grey splitty acrylic yarn with no stitch definition and couldn't have been able to see the stitches clearly enough to do any better.) As a beginner, I made up my own patterns, knitting lots of hats, a very cute bikini, some socks, lots of scarves, even a couple men's thongs...mostly garter stitch or stockinette in the round with a few increases or decreases here and there.

The first shawl I remember knitting came 14 years later. I presented it to my friend Melanie. I was not aware at the time that I had found my passion. Today, I am most fluent in the language of lace and shawls.

It wasn't until 2022 (at least 41 shawls later!) that I realized that there was not a thing stopping me from knitting a shawl for a man. My muse, with the sensitivity of an artist and a huge heart, opened my eyes. I was overjoyed to knit a mix of Lynette Hulse's Festivity and Cally Monster's Graceful for him (I never could leave well enough alone!). I use a beautiful single ply silk-merino, Manos del Uruguay's Fino. The colors are so scrumptious that I might carry it at Yarning at some point.