September means school is beginning again (in spite of
delays caused by Hurricane Irene!) and fall knitting classes will begin
soon!
To let people who live in my area know about my classes, I am
putting an ad in the Towson Times, our local newspaper:
Speaking of what students have been knitting
over the summer, my youngest student, Faith, has just finished a sweater for
her Teddy Bear! She has now started
making a Plump (see August post to read about what that is…).
In my August post I mentioned one of my favorite authors,
Susan McGeown. She has been gracious
enough to let me interview her for my blog.
Here is her interview:
·
Who taught you to knit? How old were you?
My
mom taught me to knit and crochet. She was a talented seamstress,
too. On Christmas I would get boxes of handmade Barbie and Troll
clothes. It was usually my best “pressie”.
·
What was your first knitting project? Do
you still have it?
I
remember buying peacock blue and gold yarn and working diligently on a zig-zag
pattern crocheted afghan. I was probably about seven. I never
finished it but I worked on it for a long time. I was always faster
crocheting than knitting and, much to my mother’s consternation, I regularly
“made up” patterns when I crocheted – some successfully and some not.
Traveling
to England in my 20’s got me hooked on Fair Isle sweaters and I made a pile of
them for myself and as gifts. Had
great fun with the round knitting needles and watching the pattern slowly develop.
I think there are some still upstairs in the attic in mothballs.
·
What has been your favorite project you
knitted?
I
knitted my father a sweater for one of his significant birthdays. It had
pictures of things he loved: computers, kites, books … worked into the
pattern. I used graph paper and one of my Fair Isle sweater patterns that
I altered for my purposes. It was wild and out there but it
worked!!
I
knitted a sweater for my husband when we were first married. I made it to
his color and design specifications (black, grey, white with a v-neck). It
turned out horribly ugly. He still wears on cold winter evenings and all
of us who are forced to look at him wearing it cringe.
·
What are you knitting now or have finished
recently?
I
crochet Afghans now in the winter … huge, big, heavy ones. (Pictures
below) I chose the colors and make up the patterns and just crochet and
crochet until they’re too big to work with anymore. Then the kids and
friends and family fight over who gets them!
I’ve
been crocheting big sweaters, too.
I
can’t sit and “do nothing” with my hands. I’ve never claimed to be
particularly skilled or talented, either – I just need something to keep me
occupied!! (Ha.) I have to have a project that I’m working on but,
I need projects that don’t require a lot of thought; mindless work. I
spend so much time focusing on writing, that in the evenings, I just like to
“veg”: watch t.v., hang out with the family, and crochet or knit.
I
don’t knit or crochet in the summer. It’s too hot. I saw a
woman the other day working on a small knitted baby sweater and that
appealed. (Probably because of its ease of portability; you should see me
loading myself and my current afghan project in the family minivan when we are
going on a road trip!). I think I’ll try a little person sweater this
winter – with my own twist, of course.
·
Do you ever put knitting into your books?
I
haven’t put knitting in … yet. I’ll have to think of that for my next
one, maybe! In my book, Joining the Club, I made my heroine Elaine
a passionate quilter; she sewed to relieve stress. (I’ve done that,
too.) When her life started crashing down, she went to her work room and
sewed and sewed and sewed and lost herself creating gorgeous quilts. I
love how she pointed out that sewing was a lot better than drinking because she
could still drive afterwards. Ha J
·
How did you become a writer? Did you know
that’s what you wanted to do early in your life?
After
one of my close friends read my first story, A Garden Walled Around Trilogy,
she asked me where I got the story idea. I replied, “You know how you
have stories in your head? Well, I finally just wrote one down.” My
friend looked completely blank. It was on that day (I was about 45!) that
I discovered that everyone doesn’t have stories in their heads.
From the time I was a little girl, I would amuse myself with stories that I
would develop – sometimes over days and weeks. I honestly thought that
everyone was like me. Sometimes it takes a long time to discover the
gifts God has given you!
·
Anything else you’d like to say about your
writing and your books
One
of the things that I’m most proud of in my books is that my characters are
realistic. None are perfect; they’re all just trying to get it
right. I want the spiritual component in every one of my stories to be
realistic, too. I don’t shove it down your throat. I try not to be
preachy. My spiritual characters are realistic, too – they’re not
perfect, they’re just forgiven. My goal is to be a woman after God’s own
heart (see I Samuel 13:14) and make God smile with what I do.
Visit
my website (www.susanmcgeown.com).
All the first chapters for all of my books are available to read.
Leave a request in my Guestbook and I’ll send a free e-copy of any one of my
stories that can be read on e-readers or computers. I’m not looking to
become rich and famous; I just want people to read my stories.
Thanks
for asking such fun questions!
Sue
McG (Philippians 1:20-21)
Something that gives me great joy in the fall is
watching leaves slowly drift down. I
even have an app in my I-phone (appropriately called “Leaves”) where I can watch
autumn leaves swirling around at any time of year! So, dear readers, look out windows, sit
outside or take a walk, to experience the joy of the autumn leaves.
Mary
