Letters
The Franklin Festival: (Almost) a Year of Franklin Habit
Dear Ann,
Remember how aflutter we were last summer, waiting to hear back after we had asked Franklin Habit if he’d be an MDK contributor? It was a Garter Stitch Only moment, for sure.
If only we could have seen into the future to August 2017: here we are, fat and sassy and perched on top of a pile of Franklin’s pieces on MDK. Life is good. We are lucky in laughter.
Navigational Note
To find All the Franklin in one convenient, perpetually updated location, just click on his Contributor Page.
Confession: I use the Contributors button in the navigation bar up top to find much of what I’m looking for on MDK. I can almost always remember who wrote something, and it can be quicker than browsing via category or using a word search. (This is also how I find things on The New Yorker website. Coincidence?)
All the Books That Are Fit to Knit
From day one, Franklin has been MDK’s book lover-in-chief, introducing and previewing a steady stream of noteworthy books, including:
In the Footsteps of Sheep, by Debbie Zawinski.
Amy Herzog’s trio of books on knitting garments that fit and flatter our actual bodies.
The Joy of Color: Fair Isle Knitting Your Way, by Janine Bajus.
Master Your Craft: Strategies for Designing, Making, and Selling Artisan Work, by Tien Chiu.
What I love about Books with Franklin is that his reviews/previews offer wit and wisdom—because: Franklin—and they also give a reliable picture of what a book has to offer. I come away from his reviews with a strong sense of whether a particular book needs to be in my library, or in the library of another knitter I know.
Another Side of Franklin
In recent months, we were treated to Franklin’s hilarious, loving humor in an entirely different setting.
Franklin’s hit series, The Coy of Cooking, featured our favorite frenemy, Bettina, circa 1917 bride, and her stoic, Palm Beach suit-clad man, Bob. Our time with Bettina and Bob seemed all too short, just three articles:
The crowd roared for more Bettina, but alas, we will have to find our own copies of A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband, and convene our own Panel of Husband(s). (Some of us would settle for Frank Dixon, to be honest.)
Meanwhile, let’s hope Franklin has more in store for us.
Keep your butt in the chair, Franklin! Type like the wind!
Love,
Kay
Featured image: The Etcher, Stacy Tolman (circa 1887-89), Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In these stressful times, Franklin has made me laugh and really appreciate the hand made. He has made my life richer by his knowledge, skill and talent. I will never miss a Franklin article or blog. I have to admit that I love Roz, too.
I love all your contributors, but you, Ann, and Franklin seem, as Stephen Colbert might say, “like a freaky three-way [of knitting!]” that was just meant to be! You are all so wonderful. I also don’t think that there’s an end to the Franklin Habit skill set. He writes, he draws, he designs, he teaches, AND he’s funny…and I have seen through your blog that he reviews books as thoughtfully and well as anybody I’ve ever read.
Franklin is, indeed, always a joy to read. I appreciate MDK for the quality of -all- its writing and the lightness of heart it brings.
I not only own that cookbook, I indexed it!
Hi Kay,
The exciting news is that you can DOWNLOAD A Thousand Ways to Please Your Husband.
I believe that the following link will work.
minm
Oops, here is the link:
https://archive.org/details/thousandwaystopl00weav
I have the Bettina cookbook! It was my mother’s. Someone gave it to her as a wedding gift. The lemon pie is to die for.
Julie in San Diego