• Finishing Details

Finishing Details

October is national Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Since breast cancer is being detected sooner as doctors find errant cells at earlier stages, I urge you to have a mammogram and do self-exams on a regular basis to be vigilant against this disease. Because of family members and dear friends who have battled this menace, I have seen how it ravages both body and soul. It's no fun trying to knit while receiving your chemotherapy! If you have difficulty paying for an exam, check with your local health department for free or low-cost mammograms.

When the knitting of a project is complete, it is time for the part so many knitters put off: the finishing details. With a newsletter, the details are easier: say "goodbye" and sign my name. So until next time, make the most of your knitting time. Think kind thoughts, add prayers for others, relish the peaceful flow of fiber through your fingers and know that 17 million others share your passion and pleasure! And you thought you were knitting alone!

Yours in yarn,

Barb Bettegnies
editor, Creative Knitting magazine

As a very determined 4-year-old, I convinced my mother to teach me to knit. I recall clearly my eureka moment at the age of 12, when flicking the yarn the way Mother did made sense to me, and I have been knitting ever since. The home arts of sewing, baking and cooking have always held my interest. After years of co-owning an agribusiness (grain warehouses), I began teaching knitting independently. This led to becoming the editor of Creative Knitting magazine. Perhaps my mother is the only person who was not surprised at this turn of events; she always knew I could achieve more than I had tried. I have grown sons and several grandchildren nearby and knit for them only when asked.

I continue to teach knitting in an informal manner, gathering groups of people together who become friends. The classes are less structured than the norm, with each person working at her own pace on her own project. It''s unusual for two knitters to be making the same project; each learns from the successes of others, and we have a great time. I am blessed to be doing what I love!

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