I’ve started 2013 off with a lot of knitting… and my first project is very special to me.
I’m about 85% finished with a beautiful shawl for one of the daughters of a dear friend, Stephanie Ann Schrom, who took her own life right before the New Year. I worked with her years ago, and we became very close during the dissolution of our first marriages. She was a very talented woman, with an eye for capturing amazing photographs, and a passion for Egyptian culture. Stephanie fought with depression for a long time, and she lost her battle on December 29, 2012.
A group of women who have known Stephanie for many years has gotten together and decided to shower handmade treasures on her six children, so that they have something to cuddle and wrap up in when they’re missing their mom. I am making one of three shawls for her daughters, two other ladies are making the other two shawls, and three other talented ladies are making blankets for her three sons.
This shawl pattern, Faraway {So Close}, is designed by Carina Spencer, and I am really enjoying it. It’s a very simple pattern to follow, yet still looks complicated. I mean, you can’t get much better than that, you know?
I’m using a washable wool/acrylic blend yarn in bright (hopefully teen-friendly) shades of red, pink, green and blue. I love watching the colors shift into one another and find myself looking forward to the bright royal blues and lipstick reds the most. I have noticed that I knit faster when using yarn that color shifts from one to the next… I’m always hurrying to get to the next color.
I feel honored to be knitting this lovely shawl for such an important reason, and I hope that it brings comfort and healing to its’ recipient. My wish is that this girl will know how much her mother loved her and how much her mother meant to so many people. I know (all too well) how much anger, blame and guilt is left behind in the wake of death and suicide, but I believe that anger and blame should only be directed at the terrible depression (fucking depression!) that makes things feel so hopeless, and colors the decisions that we make.
Stephanie was a beautiful woman, inside and out. I am grateful to have known her, to have been close to her for a time, and to have had her friendship in my life.
Rest in peace, Stephanie. Nothing can hurt you now.
