First Person
The More We Get Together, the Happier We’ll Be
Dear Kay,
I’m feeling a pang right now that is small in the scale of the heartbreak engulfing the world, but it’s still a pang to see on my calendar “MDK One-Day Knitting Getaway” for May 9.
Saturday was supposed to be a great day at MDK. We had plans to bring Cecelia Campochiaro to town for an epic day of marling and sequence knitting. We had a bunch of superfantastic knitters set to come hang out. It was going to be a highlight for us, to spend time in real life with people who love to knit as much as we do. Cancelling this was such a disappointment.
What We Had Been Planning
At the start of this year, we set a goal for something we have craved for a long time: gatherings. Literal gatherings of knitters, in real life. We have a brilliant person on our team, Janet, working on this idea—her job title has the word “event” in it.
By early March, we had cooked up a lot of ideas for things we wanted to do in order to make this virtual MDK community into something less virtual. Gatherings, workshops, travel with knitters.
The May 9 One-Day Knitting Getaway was all set.
Our June Knitting Getaway in Sewanee, Tennessee was likewise ready to go, with 100 knitters signed up. The teachers were incredible: Cecelia Campochiaro, Karida Collins, Sonya Philip, and Vilasinee Bunnag. Canceling this event was a sad, sad thing. I’m still shuddering a little at the void this leaves.
We had a group trip ready to announce in March for a September voyage to Ireland for workshops with Carol Feller, a ramble around Donegal, and general exploration of a place we’ve always wanted to visit. We had to pull the plug on that, which was a painful decision given that our tour company had been extraordinary in helping create the trip for us. And Carol was so game for it.
And in what now seems like something wildly impossible, we’d been working on a river trip through Europe. AS IF.
One of the most beautiful things to watch evolve over time in the knitting world has been the phenomenon of knitting gatherings. Knitters love to be with other knitters. And whether it’s at a local yarn shop, a local fiber festival, or a big convention, there’s just so much love in the air. So much falls away when we’re in the same place, together.
So What to Do Instead?
Don’t worry about Janet not having enough to do. She is busy! We are not giving up on the idea of gatherings. It’s just that for the moment, they will need to be virtual. In other words: we carry on as we have carried on for a long time, right here in this virtual space.
That headline is a Raffi song that was bored into my brain when the lads were young. By the end of their toddlerhood, I had consumed a possibly brain-altering dosage of Raffi. But Raffi really nailed it when he said “Your friends are my friends/And my friends are your friends. The more we get together, the happier we’ll be.”
Of course, I don’t see this happening anytime soon. We will socially isolate for however long it takes. But I really need to know this is going to happen, that Diana Ross is right: “Someday we’ll be together.”
Love,
Ann
PS In the gallery up top, good times at the Knitting Getaway at Shakerag Workshops at St. Andrews/Sewanee School. Plans are coming soon for 2021, so we’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, Shakerag Cookies.
oh *sigh!* so many familiar beautiful faces. i miss them all – even if i didn’t get to know them well. one day again . . .
I knew those title words were familiar. Rafi. How quickly we forget. Much sympathy for those pangs of disappointment. Knitting plus travel. Pure paradise. But we will be with you all the way in Virtual Land. And if we stay busy a happier 2021 may arrive faster than we think. Chloe
Seeing all those faces again simultaneously brought a tear to my eye and a smile to my face. I look forward to big hugs and Shakerag cookies in 2021!
I’m one who would’ve been in Nashville this weekend, was so looking forward to having an in person experience with MDK
But still grateful for everything about it that continues to enrich my life, stay safe and well everyone.
My husband and I love Nashville (we already had restaurant reservations!) and when the workshop is rescheduled I’ll be there. In the meantime I’m thankful for my daily MDK missive.
Love seeing all those Shakeragettes together In these photos.
Our Saturday Zoom-Ins that Pennie Has organized through Instagram have been wonderful. We have heard how different parts of the country are faring. JM’s adventures and challenges in running her restaurants, Sarah’s hiking and all about how wonderful The Make A Wish organization is, and just taking care of each other. There have been glasses of wine and lemon cookies.
❤️
“Next year in Sewanee” reverberates in my mind.
There’s probably a word in French for the feeling these pictures evoke- joy, tinged with sadness, and nostalgia. If I bit into a Shakerag lemon cookie I’m sure it would come to me.
I understand! This isolation wears on many of us. Much as I love my husband and son being around 24/7, I need some new faces! I get out to the grocery store twice a week but I’m mostly in the company of strangers there. My neighborhood is growing closer,though. When this is all over, I’m hoping for a celebration picnic! And I’ll ask if anyone wants to start a knitting group, too!
Until then, we’ll all have to pick p our knitting, have a little snack handy, and keep on keeping on!
Your messages are a daily delight and are helping us all make the best of these times (and lots of sweaters and scarves! ).
For those of us with limited $ and abilities to travel places, something virtual would not only be welcome but wonderful!
Absolutely. I’d have been gutted to know you were just over the little bit of water in Ireland and I couldn’t afford to join in! At least virtually I can be part of things:-)
I can’t sing that song without smiling. Looking forward to all forms of getting together again. Love to you guys.
I was going to come! Then I didn’t get in. But then I did! But by then, I was scared, and things were getting super weird with my work (flying), so no. I even emailed just a week or so (what is time anymore) just to see if y’all were doing it (I knew, just wanted to connect). It was to be my birthday, Mother’s Day (which is how Mother’s Day should be in my mind- a break for the self). Sigh. I miss travel. I miss people. This will pass, but yea.
I have never been able to attend these events but now I am retired and getting to one of them is a bucket list item. I keep thinking thank goodness for technology!!! (I can’t believe I’m saying that.) Even if the events can’t run this year, your email every day and the community here is such a gift. So THANK YOU for all you do. You have given me a wonderful gift.
Well said!
The MOMENT that I saw this headline, the music memory exploded in my head and I cannot stop smiling at the absolute appropriateness! Thank you –
What a pang for my knitting peeps those pictures produced. Arrgggh!
Zoom knitting! Not the same as actually being with others but the sense of camaraderie and support could be wonderful. Look at the Arne and Carlos daily visits during quarantine. Soothing, fun and great insight into knitting and just – well being at home…
I love the idea of travel and knitting, or gathering and knitting, or just gathering. BTW I think unless Ravi was around in 1679 he was not the origin of that song. It was also popular at Brownies in the early 1950s. It has well-earned staying power !
Here’s a thought, while not the same as being there I just finished a 3 day ceramics conference. 15 instructors from around the world all on Zoom. It was great! This is something I have done for the last 8 years. Now I’ll Zoom attend a 1 day 2 instructor for $50. All instructor logged in from home (around the world Italy & London) while someone at the Conference was the MC.
Perhaps you can do the same. 3 or 4 instructors or even 1 great instructor. People will attend. You folks are way more technical than the potters or ceramic folks at this conference. It would be great and more could attend. Just a thought.
I love going to knitting events. Now all of my meeting with knitting friends is virtual. We will meet again, the old and new friends. I was supposed to be on a Caribbean beach with my best friend from nursing school (a long time ago) starting this week… We have optimistically rescheduled for November. Fingers crossed. Stay well everyone. Keep knitting.
Oh my gosh, IRELAND! I would’ve loved that.
Oh well. We’re still here, virtually gathering! I love the community here on MDK!
Heavy sigh.
We all miss getting together by now… but knitting & crocheting have been my go to inside activity and have gotten me through hard times before— I have finished one knit log cabin “pandemic blanket” (so dubbed by my housemates) and now I’m crocheting another pandemic blanket . I haven’t crocheted much in years and I’m enjoying the change..
I’m sure I’m revealing my age here but I don’t know who Raffi is. We sang that song as young Brownies/Girl Scouts many decades ago. Didn’t know it had acquired a new life!
Raffi is a children’s music singer, very popular in the 80s. I still periodically get his song “Baby Beluga” stuck in my head from my kindergarten days!
Thank you for this – even though I’m having a tiny cry right now over what will not happen and how wonderful each of those events would have been, I’m incredibly grateful to have attended my first MDK in-person event last December. Ok, that actually makes it a little bit worse in this moment, to know what might have been this year – because I know how phenomenal it is to gather with this wonderful group of fiber lovers. Love the photos – seeing old and new friends – and friends not yet made. Looking very much forward to seeing you all through chat in the Lounge, zoom, and the very next time we can get together in person!!
Except for the various “props” in some of the images, these groups could be gatherings of other fiber fans at other workshops and conferences–sewers, weavers, quilters, etc. It is wonderful when a shared interest (um, common thread?) is the impetus for bringing people together, most of whom would otherwise not have crossed paths. Like MDK. One amazing example of this are the dozens/hundreds of lacemakers who gather in Spanish communities for the festivals honoring the local patron saints–there are bobbin lacemakers at rows and rows of tables along streets or filling plazas. (See https://tinyurl.com/ybbjvnt4 or https://tinyurl.com/ybmgr7uf) Your photos remind me of past fun gatherings (and current cancellations of many programs I spent the winter planning), but I’m glad to have been introduced recently to fruityknitting and Carlos and Arne as virtual stand ins for now!
OMG! I saw that headline and immediately got an ear worm of the Raffi song, which was “on repeat” for too many years! We all look forward to MDK get-together-real or virtual-as they are scheduled!
Now I am sitting here dreaming of Ireland. We will all just have to be patient. I am so sad to cancel my flight to Sewanee next month — I’m hoping to see everyone next year.
At this point I’m feeling like the cure is worse than the disease. I miss people!
Oh man, Ireland, European river trip (I once long ago did a barge trip in Burgundy with my parents…..) how fun to add to the Sewanee experience. The Saturday Zoom meetups have definitely helped, but I do miss these smiling faces live. Looking forward to hear what you have in store for us next!
Oh my goodness, I haven’t heard the name Raffi in a long long time! I remember the song “Yo Brush your teeth”! I miss seeing knitters! Hugs