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The package arrives in the afternoon. I let it lay next to me for over an hour, unborn it its vanilla Fed Ex envelope. Though the book is printed, and I can’t change anything inside that package, I enjoy a strange calm in the waiting period – before opening – to see that book baby for the first time.
Shibori Knits is here.
(At least my advance copy arrived; on sale date is still a few weeks away, on 8/26).
Though I have seen grainy, black and white dummies periodically over many months, this is my first viewing of the book I spent years researching and over a year writing. It’s the first time I have ever seen my name on a book spine. Potter Craft/Random House did a beautiful job in publishing; in particular, Chi Ling Moy’s art direction is breathtakingly original and fresh. Lise Metzger’s principal photography is awe-inspiring, and shows in great splendor the shibori garments against a stunning Northern California coastal landscape.
So many things come up when taking in one’s first book for the first time – listen to me, it’s been less than 24 hours since this happened, opening that question of a package. Still, I am amazed by the intensity of the experience and all that is set churning inside me when I turn the pages.
On the very day I signed my contract with Random House, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. So I wrote the book on Shibori – the knitting equivalent of letting go – while I underwent two surgeries and treatment, while my two teenage daughters learned to cope with a life-threatening illness in the family, and my partner of some glorious 20-odd years was strong, positive and unfathomably loving. It was a time when everything was redefined in my life. I am so grateful to have had the process of making the book to keep me centered, grounded, and creative during a time of immense challenge and change. Maybe one day I will be able to separate the process of making the book from the book itself – but not yet.
Shibori requires a certain surrendering to not knowing. Any act of felting has risks associated – as we all know, with great risk (or even a little risk) comes comparable reward. I have learned, over and again in the process of writing the book as well as in my personal healing -- incredible transformation happens when we can let go of what we expect to happen, and instead, be rewarded with something more rich than we ever could have imagined.
I hope you will enjoy
Shibori Knits.
Love and light,
Gina
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