Further Lovely Connections

Remember when I told you about the Beckoning of Lovely event? Well, the video of that day is now available! It is great fun to relive the day in this 11 minute and 11 second format. And, of course, now it means you can share the experience, too!

You can see me cast on the red scarf while Amy talks about the project at 3:40.

I have been waiting for this video to be available so that I could share it with Gale Zucker. If you are a knitter, you may know Gale by her sheepy photos in Shear Spirit: Ten Fiber Farms, Twenty Patterns, and Miles of Yarn. In 2009, I met Gale when I took one of her knitting focused photography workshops. Through the wonderful world of the internet, we have crossed virtual paths many times since then. It was from Gale that I learned about the Red Scarf Project. I knew I needed to let her know what a wonderful trickle down effect her suggestion caused.

The red scarf that you see me casting on in the video is currently on its journey. We knit it that day at the bean, I knit on it a bit when I brought it home and now it is out there in the world. A series of lovely knitters are each taking their turn knitting a part of the scarf and then mailing it on to the next knitter. Our goal is to have it finished and to the Red Scarf Project organization by 12/12/12. I contacted Gale to thank her for her part in providing my little bit of Beckoning of Lovely with a fitting end.

So, what did Gale have to say about the project? She was excited and, to add another delightful happenstance to the mix, Gale's newest book is called Craft Activism: People, Ideas, and Projects from the New Community of Handmade and How You Can Join In . I had no idea that the timing would match up so wonderfully! Gale shared my letter to her on the Craft Activism blog.

The number of links in this post is representative of the wonderful connections, virtual and physical, I felt surrounding my involvement with this project. A little bit of reaching out to connect has ended up circling back in a most smile-inducing way. Serendipity is a wonderful thing and I am so grateful I was open to letting it work its magic.

You know, if you feel like it, you can honor the spirit of Beckoning of Lovely by doing something to bring a little lovely to someone's day. After I shared this project with her, my sister went to the supermarket and bought a few bouquets of flowers. She and a friend headed to a city sidewalk and offered them to strangers along with a wish to have a good day. She said the reactions she got and knowing that she helped make a part of that person's day out of the ordinary were well worth the money she spent on the flowers. So, go ahead! Be playful!