Threads of Friendship

Dear Alice,

As you well know, George is holding the sale of all sales yesterday and today, and then again next weekend in an attempt to disperse your huge yarn stash. My gosh, Alice. I knew you had a nice stash, but there are things that we Chicks had never seen.

Mary, Ellen and I helped out yesterday (well, yes, both by reducing your stash and helping with customers) and I came home with several cones of beautiful cashmere and cashmere blends, wool, silks, cotton, linen, ramie, and some fun novelty yarns. One of the yarns I am anticipating using the most is that wool cashmere blend. Big cones...two of them...and almost 4 pounds each. Yummm. You had some linen that will make some placemats that will go nicely with our Mason 'Pink Vista' dishes! I have put that task off for too long a time.

It will be back to East Lansing next weekend to help again. We had put the word out to Michigan League of Handweavers and as many guilds as we could. We had good traffic, but there is a lot more to disperse, so I hope that folks who couldn't come this weekend will make time next weekend.

One of our customers was a volunteer spinner and knitter at Greenfield Village, who promptly put in a call to Chris and Richard Jeryan, the restorers of the jacquard loom at the Village. They made it at the end of the day, but since we three were tired and had loaded our yarns, we left before Chris and Richard checked out. George had some cards for them. Richard was looking for some 40/2 linen, which was gone. Some very nice heavier linen is still there. (I wish I had seen that the new Weavecast audio features Richard and Chris before I had gone to Lansing yesterday!)

One of the nicest comments we heard was from the woman who works at 16 Hands. A friend of hers said this when her mother had passed away and she asked all her mother's friends to come and take her mother's art materials with them as her gift. It was as if everything was going out into the world to be seen and appreciated, just as her mother had intended.

Alice, your legacy is infusing the world in many ways. I hope that there will be a nice recoup so that it will help to preserve your wonderful collection of books, papers, samples, and fabrics that are going to MSU's Museum.

Hopefully,
Nancy

ps Anyone out there who lives in or is vacationing in the lower peninsula of Michigan and needs more information on the sale of Alice's yarns, please be in touch with me for the location, dates and time of the sale.