When Pat Richards came face to face with the prospect of turning seventy, she pondered her life alternatives. Many senior citizens wonder what meaningful activities and accomplishments they can look forward to in years to follow. Who says a 70-year-old Nana should be relegated to the rocking chair? Not Richards, who assumes the moniker “Sassy” and seeks the next challenge.Seeking to journal her reflections on seven decades of living, and with a nudge from her daughter, a blog was born. A year later, nuggets of that blog were mined out to create her book, “Sassy Pat Knitting.” She cites as mentor, her mother-in-law, Mary Frances Richards, a life-long knitter whose knitting journal had challenged Pat. Richards writes:
She kept her journals/ in ten-cent memo pads./ Could I do less?/ I’m setting out on the path she blazed./ She died thirty years ago today on 7-7-77,/ one month shy of her 77th birthday./ Frances you are remembered.
Richards goes on to write about how knitting has inspired her blog and book, and shaped her outlook on life, all illustrated in her nom de plume:
I’ve chosen “Sassy” in reference/ to Moda Dea Sassy Stripes yarn./ Crush is my favorite color choice:/ lush with reds, pink, a hint of brown./ It knits into a random pattern that/ fools the uninitiated into believing/ the knitter planned all these intricate/ switch backs/ consummate design elements,/ when in truth,/ you just knitted along watching/ the drama unfold./ The same premise is inherent in my blog.
More than a book about knitting, this is a collection of playful and profound reflections on life shining in the mirror of knitting. Richards has a gift for brevity, using images to clarify our understanding many of life’s emotions, particularly those associated with aging. You need not be a knitter to enjoy “Sassy Pat Knitting.” Knitters will enjoy the references to patterns and yarns, but everyone will benefit from the sage life lessons Richards shares.
Title: Sassy Pat Knitting: a memoir
Author: Pat (Patricia L.) Richards
ISBN: 978-0-9675623-3-9
Publisher: Richards Studio Production
$10.95 Trade paper, perfect bound, 100 pages
Available: Richards Studio Productions,
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