First Person
Letter from Paris: Through All Crises
Dear friends,
I’m sitting on the doorstep of the New Year contemplating a piece of unfinished knitting. It’s a sleeveless pullover. Or it will be, once I finish it.
I started it as a teaching piece, a means of demonstrating a pack of techniques to my Patreon patrons. It combines wool yarns from different sources, plucked from stash and worked in classic, simple broken rib. The armscyes and v-neck will be opened by cutting steeks. And, as part of our group’s ongoing discussion of body shapes and the eternal issue of standard sizes versus non-standard humans, I have been writing about the fundamentals of knitting to fit while knitting it to fit me.
The trouble is, I don’t know which “me” I am knitting to fit.
It’s been six months since I started chemotherapy. As this letter arrives in your box, I am likely sitting in a French hospital ward having what may, or may not, be my final treatment. All of the doctors are pleased with my progress, and compared to many cancer patients my experience has been a walk in the parc. Even if I could not walk in the parc.
Early on, the chief difficulty was crippling fatigue–days of being unable to stay awake, let alone get out of bed. Lately, severe brain fog has hampered my ability to know what I am doing, or should be doing, or have done. Sentences (in French or English) often dwindle and vanish before I can finish them.
Even so, when I consider those who are undergoing far harsher courses with far less promising prognoses, I try to count my blessings.
It doesn’t always work.
That’s why this pullover is still in the basket, and hasn’t been touched for quite some time.
Call me shallow if you like, but the worst side effect of chemotherapy has been the inevitable change in my appearance.
I was as hirsute as you might expect a fellow of mixed Middle Eastern and Mediterranean ancestry to be, with bushy eyebrows, a thick goatee, and moustaches that had lately been groomed into handlebars tended with wax. Over the course of seven days, I watched them vanish. What remained of my dark brown hair went first. I turned completely gray in less than a week.
Nausea, fatigue, and severe anxiety about catching something nasty that would derail my treatment schedule conspired to confine me more and more to home. No more long walks, no more working out–two of my greatest pleasures. Activity turned to immobility.
In no time, the person I have been accustomed to see in the mirror disappeared.
This is not, I need you to understand, a question of “getting fat.”
I have never been, and will never be, slender. I’m a blocky little thing, designed by nature more for rugby than ballet. That’s one of the reasons I learned to knit in the first place–to create garments that would suit me, because my proportions simply do not exist in the world of ready-to-wear.
This is about having learned over the years to accept–sometimes even to love–my eccentric face and fireplug physique, then having them taken away so quickly that I feel like I’m being forced to live in someone else’s body. To be blunt, right now I don’t know who I am.
For more than a decade, knitting has been my comfort in troubled times. Elizabeth Zimmermann’s immortal exhortation to “Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises,” hangs in a frame over my work table for a reason. But right now, holding up a half-finished sweater made to fit a person who doesn’t exist, I feel the opposite of comfort, confidence, and hope.
And Yet …
However, the person who does exist not only knits, but knits for a living. I must knit, and so I do. I can even announce with pride (and relief) that I have finished a different knit-to-fit project–for a Christmas tree.
My Christmas tree is small, about two feet tall, and is of the German feather species: made of wooden dowels wrapped in green goose feathers. I love how frankly fake it is.
I decided it ought to have a proper skirt, a knitted skirt, and was inspired to create one based on–of all things–Mrs. Owen’s Nervous Doily. For all the trash I have talked about Mrs. Owen and her awful book, I do seem to be obsessed with that doily.
I figured I could work on this, and share the techniques and modifications with my patrons, without being forced constantly to contemplate my mortality. This would make for a much jollier holiday season for all.
I finished it on Christmas day, and wish to share with you these highlights.
The knitting is all done using Clara Yarn created by my buddy Clara Parkes (who is so lovely, even if she does tend to get one kicked out of museums). The pattern is the Nervous Doily, enlarged to fit the tiny antique sewing table upon which the Christmas tree sits.
Because I am a sentimental thing, I decided to blend some of my own yarn with Clara’s yarn. I chose the first wool I spun after arriving in Paris, made from deeply gorgeous variegated purple roving by Foster Sheep Farm.
It is a wildly different weight (light fingering) from Clara’s worsted, and there wasn’t enough of it to hold it double throughout the knitting of the skirt. So I decided to use it to embroider duplicate stitch every third row throughout. I think it gives the fabric a lovely shot of visual energy.
Yet another yarn–the remains of a ball of dusty pink Traveler Aran from The Plucky Knitter–was pressed into service for the finishing touches. First, a gently scalloped crochet edging:
Then, as crab stitch piping to neaten to the raw selvedges along the opening; and finally as chain stitch button loops to hold everything neatly in place. I can’t be doing with a slatternly tree skirt that keeps slipping off the tree.
The buttons are from my grandmother’s button tin. I chose five that harmonize rather than match, because what is sadder at Yuletide than orphaned buttons who might never find a family?
Now my tree is nice and warm.
With those five buttons used up, there are only about two or three thousand in the tin waiting for Forever Homes. New Year’s Resolution?
Cordialement,
Franklin
Come Shop With Us
You are still wonderful you and your body will catch up.
Keeping a candle lit for you.
So good to hear from you! I literally yelped out loud!
Dear Franklin, I hear your pain. It is so tough to be chronically ill. As a double lung transplant recipient I mourn my past self. Knitting has given me so much joy, as you have will all your creativity and curiosity. Thank you for sharing your journey. I pray you find your happiness again.
Thank you for sharing your struggle with us – your unknown readers. If I lived close by I’d stop in to hug you and sit with you and knit a bit to help console you maybe or just to keep you company as you fight your fight. You are an inspiration. Thank you.
Missed you, so glad you are still keeping going through the treatment. My friend battled for two years and I tried to support her with her two young children now in their forties. God bless you.
All good your way. Thank you for taking time to uplift our spirits and share your warm, wonderful care for your feather tree. The best!
So lovely to hear from you.
It is so difficult adjusting to changes.
But yes we mourn for what we were and have to endure what we will become or are.
It is difficult to do whether the changes are for good or ill in our minds.
Knitting helps indeed! And your Christmas tree skirt is lovely now I want to make my Christmas tree a skirt like that as well!
Fond regards and hopes for better days.
Great to hear from you! Praying that your last round of treatment is a success. Now, what is this about you and Clara getting kicked out of museums?
As always, I love your writing. Your description of the nervous doily, aka tree skirt, made me feel warm and cozy, as if I had put on a favorite sweater. The feather tree is adorable. Thank you for sharing. Glad to hear it sounds like chemo is behind you. Take good care of yourself.
I love your sense of humor and spirit. I treasure the time I spent in one of your classes and your graciousness to be in a picture with me and my friends. Wishing you complete healing and continued hope and strength to carry on.
Sending you masses of love, prayers, support, and wishes for recovery and joy in 2024. You are a gift to us all.
I wish you healing ❤️ in 2024. Thank you for this heartfelt article of inspiration and soul searching. Now on my “to knit list” is a lil tree skirt and hopefully you have or will have a pattern available soon.
Blessings to you
Your letters and posts brighten my day. Keep creating.
As one of the Patreon members who has cheered him on from the cheap seats, this has been a labor of love and support, giggles and warm chatters. His adventures with Mrs. Owen’s Nervous Doily are a rich and welcome balm to the hurry scurry of our holiday preparations this year. With his help we all of us tried to date our oldest unfinished work in progress, I don’t know if I chimed in but it got me making a list of priorities, (it’s long, shamefully long) and that oldest one predates my 37 year old son by a margin, the large skeins were marked $2.48 from a long defunct store. My list also took me on a nostalgic ride through the years and who I bought this and that one for, who may get it now and deciding which is nwt part of an unclaimed collection that will now be open to new ideas and who may benefit.
Additionally, his battles with illness in a new country as he works through the necessities of establishing his credentials for citizenship are daunting to contemplate for those of us navigating it in our native tongues. Life has caught me unawares and slammed me a time or two so far and he has marshaled on and jollied us with his musings. A walk through the neighborhoods surrounding him in Paris have brightened our lives on dull days as I too worked through rehabilitation after a nearly severed Achilles. He is a treasure, a gift of inspiration and whimsy in such times as these.
As one of the Patreon members who has cheered him on from the cheap seats, this has been a labor of love and support, giggles and warm chatters. His adventures with Mrs. Owen’s Nervous Doily are a rich and welcome balm to the hurry scurry of our holiday preparations this year. With his help we all of us tried to date our oldest unfinished work in progress, I don’t know if I chimed in but it got me making a list of priorities, (it’s long, shamefully long) and that oldest one predates my 37 year old son by a margin, the large skeins were marked $2.48 from a long defunct store. My list also took me on a nostalgic ride through the years and who I bought this and that one for, who may get it now and deciding which is now part of an unclaimed collection that will now be open to new ideas and who may benefit.
Additionally, his battles with illness in a new country as he works through the necessities of establishing his credentials for citizenship are daunting to contemplate for those of us navigating it in our native tongues. Life has caught me unawares and slammed me a time or two so far and he has marshaled on and jollied us with his musings. A walk through the neighborhoods surrounding him in Paris have brightened our lives on dull days as I too worked through rehabilitation after a nearly severed Achilles. He is a treasure, a gift of inspiration and whimsy in such times as these.
The very air around you must be growing soft and warm with all the deep affection sent your way. Wear it like a garment. Oh, look! It’s a perfect fit. May it hold you close til you are returned to yourself.
So perfectly said.
Thank you for sharing this, Franklin. Your tree skirt is utterly amazing. The little purple stripes, the adorable buttons. It’s perfect. I hope you complete your course of treatment soon and start to feel better.
Dear Franklin,
You are now,and have always been, an inspiration!
I have the enormous pleasure of attending your class at Vogue New York several years ago, at which I learned, laughed,and listed after knitwear far more advanced than my meager skill could create.
Please know that there are fans like me out here who have a special place in their heart for you.
Cheryl
Sending you warm and healing wishes from the wild coast of Maine. Cancer tries its hardest to rob us of our dignity and sense of self. Wishing you strength as you climb up the other side of its depths. The tree skirt is perfect!
I so enjoy your letters and am glad you continue despite your health issues. I am also fighting to carry on while battling illness. You are inspiring. So I pick up my needles and knit on. All my best wishes for you
This writing is everything. Whatever you may have lost in the way of hair and bodyweight…you haven’t lost your way with words. Wishing you well. Thank you for sharing.
Take time to heal and get stronger. Eat as well as you can and be kind to yourself. When you need rest, rest, the world and knitting will wait, you are worth waiting for.
So glad to hear you are making wonderful progress. We all change in appearance, maybe not as suddenly as you, but it is the way of time. And knowing you are resilient, you will cope admirably. So love reading your letters.
I always love your stories. Please get better and regain your energy for walks in the parc and for knitting and for writing your delightful pieces.
Love Franklin! Love the tree skirt! I want to wear one just like it!
I echo the above comments. Hope you feel the love being sent your way.
The duplicate stitch adds such depth, and required such patience!
Great buttons, too.
Thanks for the inspiration, as always.
That EZ quote is a favourite of mine. Sending healing vibes from across The Pond.
I love these letters. The tree skirt is beautiful. Keep knitting, Franklin and keep writing.
You are such a dear man, bringing infinite richness to heart and soul. Thank you for cornering energy to write this post. Your tree skirt is lovely! Healing, Health, Wellbeing continue to surround you and comfort you in this New Year.
That is just adorable- so lovely. I wish you so many good things. Take care.
Love your posts! Know I am praying for you during this difficult time. Knit on! The Christmas tree skirt is beautiful!
You’re in the home stretch!! Then this will be in your rear view mirror. Then you’ll be amazed at how long ago it seems. You’ll be back to you, but yes, a little changed. So knit for who you are, whatever, however that is.
Be well Mssr. habit!:)
Franklin, Thank you for writing. I have been waiting to hear how you are feeling. You have had a tough journey and by this writing I hope the chemo will be completed. I wish you all the best in the New Year .
Franklin sending you healing well wishes. I know all too well anoint the crippling fatigue and brain fog. I have a muscle disease,Myositis. Elizabeth’s encouraging motto has been my strength as well. Good friends get your through these times and so glad that Clara is there for you with her beautiful yarn and amazing sense of humor…which truly is the best medicine.
Hi I’m sure you are as handsome as ever! My husband just finished chemo and like you looks somewhat different. I wish you a speedy trip back to yourself!!! Will you have radiation. We are getting ready for 5 weeks of 5 days per week.
For you, Franklin, all the strength of stitches knit together.
Dear Franklin, I wish you as quick a recovery as possible and that soon you will again be able to walk those beautiful Paris streets. Your tree skirt is gorgeous and it is obvious chemo has not dulled your rich creative spirit and attention to detail. Looking forward to the completion of that stunning sleeveless pullover. So far it is looking…sumptuous. The color combo alone is gorgeous.
Everyone I know who’s had chemo talks about “chemo brain”. I’m told it goes away post chemo. Slower than it started but isn’t that true of everything medical?
Good luck to you in the rest of your treatment!
So good to see your post and hear of your progress. I believe you will get back to your “self “ in mind and body. Thankful your spirit is there through it all.
The tree skirt is beautiful.
Please keep getting and feeling better!
Your wit has remained intact, I assure you! Trudge on, day to day, hour to hour please! Things will look up… and oh my ! the exhibition must have been wonderful (I read the article via the link… don’t know how I missed it when published). The Nervous Doily has been in my Queue since you first mentioned it via Patreon. (“via” must be my Word Of The Day). Prayers and happy thoughts… can’t wait for whatever delight you will share next! xo
Best to you in 2024!
How lovely to hear from you again! I have been thinking about you lately, wondering when we would get an update. Keeping fingers crossed that the treatments are indeed complete and have done their job. The tree doily is lovely and I hope that the warm thoughts of your readers are warming you as much as the doily is warming the tree!
Sure hope chemo is behind you! What a wonderful attitude you have in dealing with illness and moving beyond it! I absolutely love the Christmas tree skirt! Will you be publishing the pattern? The duplicate stitch made it so cheerful and welcoming! The buttons from your grandmother are priceless! Great article!
Franklin Habit’s Letters from Paris are the antidote for everything grim. Keep them coming, please.
Franklin,
Thank you for being an honest human being and an inspiration! Sending positive energy your way!!!
Best,
Dawn
I am reading this waiting for a death that that I hope will not come, yet know it must. Still, wishing it to end the suffering my 98 year old mother. Thank you for being the fireplug that you are and able to write about it so creatively. You bring joy and peace always. Thank you for being you! Shout out to MDK and to Clara Parkes!
Reading this on my last day of radiation treatment. Chemo was not fun, but my hair’s starting to come back and yours will, too! (Assuming you’re reading this, Franklin.) Your tree skirt is delightful. A work of art. Let it be a reminder that beautiful things can happen when we’re in dark places. Feel better and get well soon!
You are a chrysalis – a temporary form that with warmth, sun and time will emerge a butterfly. You will never be the same – you will be more free and heartier and wiser and continue to delight yourself and those around you.
Here’s to your continued progress and healing.
What a brilliant tree skirt and I imagine it was/is lovely. You are still stunningly creative, even in the brain fog and exhaustion of treatment. I am so sorry you’ve had this to go through and hope you’ve had good supports. Your letter gives me something to think about as a good friend will start her chemo in February, once her radiation is finished. I hope you are finished treatments and there are only better days ahead. Spring in Paris is on the horizon. Hope you’re completely yourself and out and about soon.
By the way, I, too, am of a sturdy build and don’t blow over in a strong wind. (I liked your rugby/ballet turn of phrase.)
You are amazing.
Hoping for a better 2024 for you. I’m sorry to read about your struggles, particularly with the physical side of things. Even with “brain fog”, you have been able to continue with your beautiful word-smithing and finishing that lovely Christmas tree skirt, embellishments and all. Such talent cannot be chemically removed! You are still you and that is the good news. Thank you for sharing your life with us avid readers. It’s such a treat to wake up and see a Letter from Paris. I always feel that it is written with such love and warmth and inspiration.
Dear Franklin,
Your letters are absolutely wonderful. Thank you for being so cheerful and witty in spite of the huge difficulties you are going through. The body changes, but the person remains. Sending you strength and fortitude and my best Canadian wishes for a sure and steady recovery. Stay safe, stay strong; this too shall pass. Refuah schilemah.
Ruth Ellen ❤️❤️
lovely and warm – lucky tree!
Franklin—I have reframed my ten years with metastatic kidney carcinoma as DANCING with cancer. So much better than the military metaphors often used. Hope this provides you with a chuckle and perhaps a new imaginary.
Here’s to getting yourself back in 2024!
Your post made me sigh and grin and energizes me to knit, yet again, through my minor, drab, stupid crises today. Be well, Franklin, and thanks so much for giving me all the feels today.
Stay the course, my friend. You are making progress. I had uterine cancer in 2016. After a total hysterectomy and 28 doses of radiation, I was well enough to visit Greece in 2017. Blessings to you.
The tree shirt is beautiful just like your soul. I love reading about your thoughts, challenges and inspirations. Sending healing vibes that cancer will be gone forever from your body. Thanks for sharing your journey with us. Take care and keep creating.
Wishing you continued recovery and strength. Remember you will always be you no matter what you look like.
You always brighten my day with your insights and humor.
Life is a journey…lots of twists and turns…you never know where you will land…wishing you a speedy recovery,,,deb
My dear Franklin. Your personality and wit are who you are. It is, along with your marvelous knitting skills, drew me to your classes time and again at Vogue Knitting Live in NYC. Cancer treatment is hard. As you said, the many changes one encounters are numerous and sometimes frightening. My prayer for you is that you will beat this dreadful disease, that you will come to love the “ new you” and continue to find peace through your knitting. Fight hard, the knitting world needs you.
Gloria Burgess
Love it!
I also have a “button” stash – thanks for reminding me to use it!
Oh Franklin don’t despair. I spent two months of the first Covid confinement in my bed knitting when I would wake up long enough and have energy energy to pick my needles up. I knit the Svensen for her pattern and I literally can’t remember knitting it. I was a stick when I finished it. But flash forward 3 years and I’ve got my curves back and my knitting mojo too. The whole cancer tunnel is just a distant blur. And being in remission gives me the opportunity to live my life in a different way, a more authentic way. I have no time for anything that doesn’t make my heart sing. In a way the whole ordeal was almost a blessing. Give it time.
What a brave soul you are. I missed you. May 2024 continue to see improvement in your health.
Wishing you good health and a Happy New Year!
Love you Franklin. I had the pleasure and privilege of taking a class from you at DFWfiberfest. Keep fighting. I too am fighting.
Knit òn!!
this post leaves me completely awed! Not the knitting, of course we all know you can knit. Not the imagination to design a Christmas tree skirt for a goose feather tree, I know you have the vision. But anyone who can duplicate stitch for more than the 3 to 20 needed to correct fair isle defects has me bowing down, oh mighty one!
Seriously…..if you have the vision and the energy needed to duplicate stitch all those rows to make it perfect, you are amazing. I love it.
You write and knit beautifully! Said a prayer for you. I hope 2024 will be a joyful one for you and wish you Gods healing and blessing.
You are remarkable. Thank you for sharing such a personal and honest story. You are an inspiration.
Dear Mr. Habit,
Great tree skirt!
I hope 2024 is a better year for you. Don’t worry about hair color, many of us are already gray. You’re just ahead of your time!
Wishing you renewed health in the new year and renewed vigor for life.
Lin
You have given so much joy to all who read your columns. I admire so many of your
“habits” and your strength and wit in the hardest of times. You are an inspriation.
Sending healing thoughts and angels to guide you.
What a lovely article to read and to start what promises to be a cold weekend in Minnesota!
Good health, good humor, good haunches and good hair! Some now, some coming soon to a Franklin near you! Much love!
I have much empathy for the medical issues you’re currently experiencing as you are living mine from a year ago. Two cancers at once though. Chemo did not agree with my lungs. Chemo brain is so frustrating. I chose to laugh. It helped. Take good care as we all love you and adore your articles. It does get better.
Lovely post. I wish you well but don’t worry about the grey hair. Looks distinguished and may even change back after you’ve recovered and returned to your old diet. Your energy will return too so just let your body rest and heal. I didn’t have chemo but did have a debilitating illness that left me immobile for a while and then a long recovery afterwards. I couldn’t even hold knitting needles let alone use my brain enough to follow a pattern. Lost lots of hair and what grew back was white but that allowed me stop coloring my hair after 30+ years and I revel in my greys now. Good luck with your recovery and stay positive.
I know how you feel…my husband had gastric cancer 2 years ago and like you, the chemo gave him brain fog, which he found difficult to say the least!! It was funny at times but crushing to him. Like you he was tired…not just sleepy but dog tired..and for an active man, whose wood turning is everything, like your knitting, was so hard for him, like loosing a best friend. Cancer was bad enough but leave my hobby alone!! Also like you, his appearance changed, loss of facial hair, any hair actually…and grey as a January day here in the UK. He was a large man and now very slender, unrecognisable to age old friends and in the early days of recovery, even to me…like having 2 husbands….
(He actually really loved that..started wearing much more flamboyant clothing and paddle boarding…for some reason..)
I miss the ‘old’ version of him, but he’s still in there, modified but some of the old bits are intensified…if that makes sense.
I am grateful for every day with this ‘ new’ person and the journey he is still on. There is a balance as tricky as a new knitting pattern, however , you will find it, in time….I love your letters and could think of nothing better than tea and french fancies with which ever version of you is around. When your treatment is over, there’s another chapter, vibrant, exciting and equally as satisfying.
All my love x x
So good to read an update from you. Keep soldiering on. Wishing you the very best of health for 2024!
Franklin, the tree skirt is great and these letters from Paris are fantastic! We’re all rooting for you. To quote an old TV theme song, “you’re gonna make it after all.” (Go throw your beret into the air.)
Thank you so much for taking time out of your discomfort to entertain us. Hoping you have turned the corner back to health.
AMLeukemia here, I am with you through your journey having a Bone Marrow Transplant in August.. Even my handmade knitted hats don’t fit anymore..but I am still me, (with all that you mentioned, hair, color, weigh, shape size gone) yet you are still your wonderful you-a warrior. I like you share my journey, you are an inspiration to others. While some days my knitting basket sits idle and I am slow as all get out, its a comfort as is my painting (I am still a little shaky to get back to painting -but knitting is a solace. Here is to YOU my unknown friend. I am with you, sending peaceful thoughts and calm and many healing days.
Simply lovely!
I am sending all my wishes for a very happy and more importantly Healthy New Year. Sending blessings
Thank you for this letter, Franklin. As a Patreon, I have been richly blessed by your journey and courage. The tree skirt is gorgeous and love that it has you and Clara in it. Rest well…
Franklin: So look forward to reading your musings. Hope last treatment is last treatment. Diane
You are so very adored, hirsute or not. Wishing you all the love & better health in the world.
Oh, Franklin. You continue to give us all the gift of your positivity, no matter what. Thank you for so much. May you feel the love from all of us, and be energized by the warm ethereal embraces coming your way! May 2024 be a wonderful year for you!
Franklin Habit, you are a beautiful writer and a lovely man. Throw a party and I’ll come (I live in the 11th)
How creative and inspiring you are! Your tree skirt is gorgeous, could you use the buttoned opening idea and your lovely duplicate stitching to create a sweater jacket of many colours. I would love to wear that masterpiece! Your Christmas tree is very lucky to be wrapped in such a beautiful garment . I wish you healthy, happy days full of great ideas and beautiful knitting! Cheers from .
I’m so glad you’re still here! Our shapes change over time, and this forced a rapid change. With the treatments hopefully done, I suspect it’ll take a bit of time to find your new normal, too.
Meanwhile, the Christmas tree skirt is great!
I love him!!!
Prayers for your recovery. Thank You for all your Paris stories. Your stories brighten my day.
Dear Frank,
You are loved .
Dear Franklin, Along with all the others I wish you a great recovery and a year ahead for many more letters to come to us from you in Paris. I send you an Irish Blessing:
May God grant you always
A sunbeam to warm you
A moonbeam to charm you
An angel so nothing can harm you
Laughter to cheer you
Faithful friends near you
And whenever you pray
Heaven to hear you.
Prayers for your full recovery and mustache and beard to bring you back to who you truly, really are.
Thank you for the lovely letter that you took time to write even as you are ill. I do appreciate your strength. I look forward to the letter that declares you cancer free. Cancer is just evil. the tree skirt is so creative and is just beautiful.
It’s lovely to hear from you here. I very much hope that this last chemo session does what is needed. (Fingers crossed very tightly, even though it’s difficult to knit this way.)
Here’s also hoping Dolores is providing the sickroom care you need, and that her natural bossiness is helping keep all the French doctors in line. (Though what they make of a Francophone sheep must be extraordinary to witness.)
When I saw photos of your now teen-aged niece, it made me realize how much time has gone by since you posted on the Panopticon blog! Now a Patreon, I have been following your adventures for over a decade and a half. I was so sorry to hear about your diagnosis and admire your courage and determination to continue to communicate with your followers despite the brain fog and debilitating fatigue of chemotherapy. I hope that 2024 brings back your health and an optimistic prognosis.
Your missives have brought joy and comfort to me.Wishing you the best!!
Thank you for this lovely post ❤️
Thank you for taking the time and energy to update us. Your letters always lift my spirits and I am so sorry you are having to go through all this but happy that your prognosis is good. I recently finished successful treatment for breast cancer which involved a bilateral mastectomy and chemotherapy and I understand no longer knowing yourself when you look in the mirror. Your positivity has been so helpful to me over the past months. I send hugs and many, many thanks.
Oh Franklin you are a Phoenix that surely will rise above the issues of hair loss/color change!! The smallness of statue is nothing to be concerned by as you possess gifts much larger! Wake each day thankful and give it an intention you’d like to see come to fruition!! So very many of us are sending healing prayers and continued knitting mojo! May all of your days in 2024 grant you more more more years of continued health merriment and beautifully crafted items to fit very special You!
Oh, Franklin, you just made my day with your witty, joyful, creative writing. I love Mrs. Owen’s Nervous Doily and your attempt to figure that thing out! The tree skirt turned out wonderful and I adore the mismatched buttons from the button box that have now found a home. Mrs. Owen would be so proud that something in her little booklet, that no one could possibly figure out, actually made a beautiful tree skirt out of a doily pattern, never the less❤️ I totally get the side effects of chemo and everyone’s journey is different and in the end you may be a bit rearranged , but you will soon be back to your fire hydrant self, sporting a fabulous new sweater! Cheers to a blessed 2024
Thank you so much for sharing your story and your marvelous knitting, Franklin. Wishing you all the best as you heal. Please know that you are not alone and that you are supported and treasured by so many.
Franklin, you are surrounded with virtual and spiritual love from all of us. Please don’t stress yourself trying to ‘produce’. Just be. And heal.
A good reason to keep this as a wip for a little longer. Look at it next fall and see what you think when your body looks a little different.
This time last year, a dear friend was starting her trip to chemo-land. I remember well when her hair fell out almost overnight, and knitting her many hats. She is on the other side of her cancer journey now, healthy and back to her most-loved pursuits. Her hair is coming back, amazingly thick and wonderfully curly, as if her hair is celebrating right along with her. May it be so for you!
And that vest is delicious, and I’m intrigued. My early morning brain can’t fathom turning a steek into a v-neck. I shall have to investigate. Bonne Chance!
I Get not knowing your body. For various reasons mine is foreign also. You are amazing and this too shall pass given enough time. I’m working to find a new normal and you will too. Hugs from Iowa!
You may have temporarily lost/misplaced aspects of your “former” self, but your teasing gene is still intact. It was asked on Patreon what the tree skirt looked like now that it was finished and you replied that it was packed away with the tree. I opened this up and whoopee!! there it was in all its glory.
I hope you’ve heard by now about any further treatments (hoping as much as you that the answer is “no more”) and looking forward to this coming Sunday’s Patreon house party.
I absolutely loved reading your article and wish you all the very best with your daily fight living with cancer. Enjoyed reading about your Christmas tree skirt, I too am an avid knitter and have done so since a young person taught by my mother, have been knitting for over 60 years. Keep on with the good fight . Margaret from Scotland
Franklin Habit, I love you, whatever you look like and whoever you are—and become when your treatment is over, and you start knitting a celebratory sweater.
Dear Franklin,
Happy New Year. Always enjoy reading your letters. Thank you for taking the time to share your creativity. Feeling your pain. Be well.
❤️ Gail
Aloha and kudos to you, you lovely human. You share your hope and ups-and-downs so freely and lovingly. Thank you for being you, however and whoever you feel outside. It’s the inside I adore and am gladdened to meet with each “letter.”
Your tree skirt is delightful and apropos.
Wishing you the best and healthiest New Year. So love the little tree and skirt, Franklin is in there throughout.
Oh Franklin, yours is the voice to me of a dear uncle. I worry for your return to health and hope it comes soon; please write that it has. I had to look up slattern and was reminded of its male equivalent from Swedish, slarvy. Both are loved and equally resisted. Most affectionately yours.
So lovely to hear from you, Franklin. Sending love all the way to France. Your tree skirt is a triumph. I will hoist a cocktail to the fates with the hope that you have completed your final chemo, and that your treatments are wildly successful, as your knits are. LOVE reading all your missives.
I so enjoy being one of your patrons on Patreon. I love your witty and insightful comments on your personal journey, your thoughts on being a creative person and lover of art, in so many forms, and I love how you make us a part of your daily life in such a marvelous city, Paris. My prayers are with you in this arduous journey. Having come through a long illness of my own, where I morphed from a plump person into a saggy, thin person, I know how hard it is to recognize the person you see in the mirror and mourn the loss of that comfortable, known body. I pray for you for the small battles in this large war! Take care of yourself, look to EZ’s optimism, cherish the daily blessings and gifts of joy that are there each day. God bless you!
Your tree skirt is as lovely as the way the components were so carefully chosen! I am wishing for you a peaceful and healthy 2024.
Franklin,
It is so good to hear from you. I love your knitted tree skirt and tree.
I am still praying for you, and that you are having your last chemo treatment.
Keep on knitting!
I commiserate with you, Franklin. About seven years ago, I lost a tremendous amount of weight, on purpose, for health reasons. No one could understand why it saddened me to lose all of my clothing to my size change. My clothes, many of them hand knit, were my friends, and they made me happy, even though it was nice to have new, slimmer things. I think I overshot a bit on size, because one does gain back a bit of the weight. It’s a normal occurrence. The hardest part was the hair loss. When you lose that much weight, your body goes through some things,and I lost about 75% of my hair. Some of it has come back, but as we age, it’s normal to have a bit less hair than when we are young. So, I get it. There is sadness in change, at times, even if the changes are for a positive outcome. Be blessed, Franklin.
We need you Franklin, to lift our spirits and keep us knitting through all life’s challenges. Hoping 2024 is a much easier year for you and we hear from you more often. So enjoy your columns.
Dear Franklin, your post is bitter sweet and so spot on. Congratulations and fervent hopes that this was your last treatment. We will continue to love you despite your grey hair (mine is white) for you will always be you to us. Knit on, a little at a time. Spring will come.
You’ll get a you back. Still might be a different you, but the sweater can wait. Love the tree skirt and the new use of the nervous doily. ❤️
I’m trusting that one day you will spot one of the green geese whose feathers fluff the tree. Meanwhile, warm New Year wishes for health and happiness!!!! XOXOX
What a cheering letter. Enjoyed all of it. Best wishes.
Franklin, you are so dear. ❤
Dear Franklin,
Although we’ve met once or twice, I am fully aware of the fact that I don’t actually know you. But I am so grateful to you right now. By sharing your crisis, you have given me the opportunity to truly care about a total stranger. And that changes my life for the better.
You have a ripple effect and I do believe that it is not just the goodwill that people are sharing with you but the fact that you have been brave enough to give us the opportunity to show a stranger love will come back to you in waves.
I send you hopes for healing and peacefulness.
Love,
Karen
Dear Franklin,
I appreciate your letters from Paris very much. Please know that I, along with many others Im sure, are sending healing thoughts and prayers for your recovery.
Thank you, Franklin, for your honesty and humour. I can’t express how glad I was to find a Letter From Paris this morning.
That tree skirt is mesmerizingly beautiful.
I love your tree skirt and your snoopy and Lucy ornaments. A little thing is a big accomplishment when you’re unwell. It’s easy to become discouraged but things will turn around for you. You always make me smile and spring is just around the corner. Good luck!
Wishing you well in 2024 Franklin, love your ‘letters from Paris’.
Hugs!! Hoping all goes well with your treatment and it truly is your ‘last’ one. Persevere (I know what else would you do!!) and hopefully the ‘you’ that you knew and loved returns to you and all of us. You have not lost your sense of humor and style throughout!! We are all here, virtually by your side.
Wonderful, Franklin!
looking at it made me smile, Franklin.
I loved this. It was life enhancing and life affirming. The power of knitting and needles.
A million thanks
Hazza, Franklin.
Thank you for your knitting, your humor, your inspiration.
Franklin! I had been thinking about you and missing your articles. Always enjoy every word you write!
Thank you for chronicling your difficult journey. Sending positive thoughts and prayers your way.
Love what you did with your tree skirt. Your tree is perfect.
Wondering how you and your friend managed to get kicked out of a museum There has to be a good story there.
Wishing all good things for you in 2024!!
Susan
Love and prayers for your speedy recovery. No matter how we look, love is guiding our hearts and hands as we proceed daily in His Love. I love your knitting and I love the tree skirt!! I love the precision of your knitting. You are able to see what the finished object should be. All that is gift!!
Blessings to you!!
Prayers for a full recovery.
I’ve heard it said that cancer steals many things but it cannot steal hope.
Changes can be daunting indeed.
Thank God for knitting and knitting friends.
I wish you the best for 2024 and beyond.
Hello Franklin,
Always so great to “find” you in my mailbox, Franklin! I’ve been following your move to Paris since the beginning and really enjoy your style of writing, humor and a gentleman’s perspective of knitting and what it means to you. A bonus for me has also been to live vicariously through your aesthetic and love for vintage, eclectic and antique ambiance in your “new” french home from 3,500 miles away. I love your beautiful photos…
That said: At my quickly advancing age I’ve known and known of many people who’ve also gone through your difficult journey and who’ve described their experience much as you do here. If it were only possible to share and take on some of the pain, fatigue and worry with our loved ones who are struggling along in treatment 100% know that we would.
So, dear Franklin please do share with your readers your feelings and experience as you are able, no matter what. So many people love you and have been thinking about you along this painful, lonely journey. It’ll be spring time soon and you’ll be able to open the windows and maybe push your comfy chair into a sunny warm patch and breath in some fresh, spring Paris air and knit. In the meantime take good care of YOU.
I hope your health improves with the new year. Your thoughts on knitting and living French really light up a dreary winter day and offer encouragement to a challenged left-handed knitter and spinner. May the force be with you.
SATIN. FOR 2024
I just ur dissertation’s
Jet iame
Brilliant skirt, impressive doily upscaling. And love your Peanuts Christmas decorations – I have a Snoopy on top of his doghouse moneybox that I possibly got as a Christmas present about 50 years ago!
You are simply wonderful. Wishing you a wonder filled 2024. Thank you for sharing your magic!
Holding you in the light, my friend – Tamsie
Franklin, yours is a lovely letter. I have not wanted to pester, but am grateful to know that you are moving through your cancer experience. Also, thank you for sharing the gray and body parts. I have found physically becoming old(er) a confounding change. The very lovely part of your letter is your tree skirt and it’s story. You are both an accomplished storyteller and knitter, and the details of your project created a perfect Christmas pairing to savor. Best wishes to you and a happy New Year.
My dear Franklin you will recognize yourself again .
Now you and Clara shaking things up in A museum would definitely be A sight to see!
I love your sentimental Christmas tree skirt , and Lucy? Perfection!
Wonderful tree skirt, the embroidery idea really makes it.
Remember, we are not our hair.
Marilyn, Chicago
Best wishes as you traverse this season, Franklin. You are perfect, even if new to yourself.
Franklin, as always, I’m happy to see a letter from Paris…from YOU! I love how you explained & express how you’re doing & how you’re feeling. I’m looking forward to read that you are done with your treatments. I pray for you very hard. Be strong my friend & knit on! God bless
Sending best wishes for healing and sincere thanks for your wonderful posts.
Glad your chemo is coming to an end. I so love your letters from Paris!
Hi, Franklin. Great piece. Really resonates with me right now as I struggle to make it 12 more days til my 6th and hopefully final chemo infusion for lymphoma. I’ve been knitting for 50 years and it has taken me through all of the many traumas of “normal”life — marriage, childbirth, divorce, breast cancer (28years ago), the loss of the love-of-my-life to leukemia (25 years ago), working in jobs I liked and disliked, my children leaving home for college and their own lives and marriages and children, and my moving to a new city in a new state to “start over”, and eventually retiring with not a clue what to expect next — and now this! Through it all, I knitting hundreds of sweaters and socks and hats and baby clothes and scarves and shawls— many of them your designs which I’ve always considered top of the craft. I feel even more connected to you now. Thanks for sharing yourself so openly and reminding me that I have a lot more knitting to live for.
Wishing you a healthy New Year, and r’fuah shlaima, a complete healing of body and spirit.
Your spirit is inspiring. Sending only good thoughts your way! Love the tree skirt. And love the tree. Take care, wishing you the best.
So sorry to hear that you are going through these health challenges! Your wonderful letter gives us so much. Many healing thoughts flying across the water to you!
I love your sweet little tree skirt, and perhaps will make one myself next year. Also I love that you used some of your grandmother’s buttons. I once embellished a simple grey hand knit hat with all sorts of unmatched small white buttons form the collection I inherited from my grandma, along with her knitting needles, 40+ years ago. I lived in Minneapolis at the time. I don’t get too many opportunities to wear it in Tucson but now and then I pull it out on frosty mornings.
May your healing be slow and steady!
Wishing you nothing but the best. You are certainly in a difficult time in your life. It is not easy to be going through chemo, trying to keep yourself buoyed but nevertheless realizing the reality of your situation and its limitations.
Keep thinking positive thoughts. I will be sending them your way as well as prayers. I hope you had your last treatment but if not continue on my warrior.
PS Franklin Your Christmas tree skirt was beautiful!
You never fail to brighten my day or make me pause and think or both. Thank you for being you, whatever you you are.
Thank you, Franklin. I learned about you from following Clara Parkes and because I have bought from MDK many times. Your love letters on my 2 favorite subjects (Paris & knitting) always cheer me up and make my day. You’re on this new path now as you recover & I truly hope as you heal that you know how many people you touch with your humor, truth & wonderful stories.
That skirt – nobody does it better! We makers make, always have and always will. Good times and other, timeless.
You are lovely.
Wishing you the very best in 2024. Beautiful tree skirt!
I thought and thought what to say to you after reading this letter and I can not come up with the right words, so decided to just say you are you no matter what and I got one am so happy you are here. I loved seeing the progress of the tree skirt in Patreon, it could not be better
I wish you well on this journey, and want you to know that this stranger has thought fondly of you for lo, these many years.
Dear Sweet Franklin;
I went through breast cancer 12 years ago – it was not fun but I well remember feeling many of the same things you are currently going through.
Hard to hold a thought, extreme fatigue – those were there but also the thought that I would FIGHT through all of it – I did and finally came through on the other side.
Know that you are LOVED by many people you’ve never met but are praying for thinking about you and hoping for the best for you.
I’ve been reading your words many years – you have made me smile, cry, laugh and IMAGINE. I’ll probably never go to France but I’m glad YOU did. I will probably never be the fantastic knitter you are BUT I APPRECIATE YOU, your humor, steadfastness and sense of whimsy.
HANG IN THERE!!! There is light in your future. Rest as much as possible (and yes, I know- sometimes that’s ALL you can do) and KNOW YOU ARE LOVED!
Just what I needed. Thank you ❤️
Absolutely gorgeous, like you!
THankyou for your letter.
Maybe embrace your new appearance as a Haloween costume or a new role on stage….
It will grow back……
I wish you well, my friend. It’s no fun at all when our bodies conspire against us.
Dear Franklin,
You are but a caterpillar in a cocoon awaiting to emerge as a beautiful butterfly. Never fear as transformation can be scary. Remember there are many that love you in any form. Deepest prayers on your healing and renewed health. ~T
Thank you for sharing your wonderful wit and wisdom through such a trying time. Everytime I see a letter from you has been included in MDK Snippets, my heart does a little happy dance. Best wishes to you for a speedy end to your treatments and a long term prognoses of knitting joy!
Franklin, I appreciate your wit, sarcasm, but most your determination and positivity. I am one who loves finding solutions to create original items, but often start a project only to lose interest once I have solved the way to reach my vision. It’s like the challenge is more enticing than completion. I decided to declare the month of Fed. As “finishing month” and concentrate on finishing as many projects as I can. Feb. can be a raw month weatherwise, so having a goal of accomplishment keeps me focused.
Best wishes for a healthy new year! I look forward to your next post, as I enjoy each one!
Carry on, Frank! Your tree skirt is wonderful but your voice is more inspiring!
So glad you’re on the road to recovery.
Always enjoy your letters
Sending peace and healing your way. Know you have fan-friends all the world over who appreciate the sparkle you bring to our days. I cherish meeting you years back at Fibre Space. Here’s to a better 2024!
Again! You nailed it! “I don’t know who I am” – but we know who you are – a kind, funny, inspirational, creative knitter. Your wise words resonate. On the last day of treatment, I felt like I won the lottery even though I don’t know what that feels like. Just keep knitting and keep on being you. Both of us are going to find ourselves. You are not alone, Franklin. ❤️
Your tree skirt is so beautiful! To have completed such a wonderful thing during chemotherapy was a terrific victory. And I hope you will have also defeated cancer. My sister did. About the body changes, Mr. Rogers said it well: “It’s you I like, it’s every part of you, your skin, your eyes, your feelings, whether old or new.”
The hardest thing is to keep believing right now that this will get better. Celebrate the smallest improvement, those little nubs of hair when your body starts to heal. It sucks but it’s a journey of small victories ❤️.
Light and love as you journey through the cancer paths ahead. Your work and words inspire so many- many who hold you in our hearts. ❤️
Yes, that old you is in the past, but the new you will morph into something close to that person at some point in time. It will take you by surprise! I always enjoy your letters.
Dearest Franklin, you might as well continue your sleeveless pullover (vest). I feel certain that your body will rebound after your treatments end, and will slowly return to normal. Soon you will feel more like walking and exercising. Thank you so much for sharing the journey of your tribulations. I had been worrying. Like many of those commenting, my sister and I took a class with you at VKL in NYC.
Ending your treatment in January is a very positive beginning of a new year! I’m sure you’ll make the most of it. And we’ll all be blessed with more stories from Paris.
Thank you for sharing your struggle with us – your unknown readers. If I lived close by I’d stop in to hug you and sit with you and knit a bit to help console you maybe or just to keep you company as you fight your fight. You are an inspiration. Thank you.
So glad to read your latest letter. I will be embroidering the EZ saying for my work area. You are a light in my life!! Positive energy sent to you from Ohio.
What a lovely post. I’m glad you’re on the mend and may your recovery be swift.
The purple does give a nice boost of interest to the tree skirt.
It will be the Year of the Dragon soon and may the 2024 be a good year for you and for us all.
You may not recognize yourself right now, but your eye for color, your talent and creativity are firmly in place. I’m in awe of your ability to take a pattern and layer it with touches that I would never think to do. You are an inspiration. This year as I knit, I’m going to pause and ponder, how can I make this pattern my own? Wishing you days of warmth and peace as you take your new self through healing.
Hi, I really like your treeskirt. It is so creative how you added a bit of this and that to make it what it is now. And I love the buttons especially. Only several thousand left? I envy your collection, as I only have a few hundred. New Years resolution indeed, I hope your 2024 is very button-ey!
Franklin, I am always warmed by your letters. What a beautiful tree skirt, full of beautiful connections. Praying you will feel more like it yourself soon.
Beautiful story
Wonderful knit project
Thank you for what must have been a Herculean task of putting together another missive. Would that diseases could be crowd cured. We would all step up to share your burden, and dilute it into nothingness. Grieve your appearance; we celebrate your presence.
Echoing all of the wonderful wishes of previous posters. You are an inspiration to so many of us. I can only wish you an excellent outcome and a continuing creative life in the very best of health.
Hugs to you! Saying prayers for you! You have such a wonderful spirit,I always look forward to reading your posts. Hang in there! Easy enough for me to say but it is a very heartfelt wish. You are so inspirational.
Love your beautiful tree skirt! And love your Christmas tree! Can you share your instructions for making that?
Wishing for daily improvement in your health, energy level, and body image all year.
The tree skirt is lovely. I understand your angst over the missing hair, but it will come back. Chemo brain caused lots of mistakes in my knitting during that tough time. That disturbance also goes away in time. I enjoy your posts and wish you good health.
Franklin —
First of all, continued good luck on your journey. The impact of cancer on one’s physique and psyche is profound. Prenez votre temps. 🙂
Secondly, I love your tree and you’ve already had my heart — but Peanuts too! Too on point.
Sending you patience with yourself.
Oh my gosh, I so loved reading this. Please share more. My thoughts and prayers are with you in your continuing adventure. I am also interested in your pattern or adaptation. Thank you for sharing your hope and strength, but above all your honesty.
Sending hugs and prayers for healing and wholeness in 2024. You are a treasure! It’s always such a delight to read your articles. You inspire me. I loved your tree skirt. Brilliant!
As you struggle to accept the other Franklin in the mirror, rest assured your original Franklin heart is shining through.
your body might not be back to normal, but your writing voice sure is! 🙂 anyone would be very happy to have that tree skirt–including me, tho it would have to go under my menorah.
best wishes for a happy and healthy once again 2024!
A fellow cancer person: Yes the hair is gone. Yes the hair will be back as grey and usually curly. Yes, then the hair will slowly evolve to what it used to be. And you will be alive and wondering how you lost a year to your mental fog. You’ll be you again. It will just take awhile. Here’s wishing you a successful journey
I always look forward to your letters, Franklin. Thinking of your in 2024.
I always look forward to your letters, Franklin. Thinking of you in 2024.
Sending healing thoughts and good vibes your way. And, please know, there is nothing shallow about caring about one’s appearance, especially at such a trying time. You are a beautiful soul and that will always shine through no matter what!
Cher Franklin, I was SO happy to see your letter once again in this edition of Snippets!! I have been watching for one and was concerned when there had been no word from you in a while. Please continue to steadily recover your health and strength. The rest will come in due time. And a new exterior version of you, I am sure will be as equally distinguished and unique as the previous. It’s the interior that counts most.
Best wishes and good health to you in 2024.
Oh, Franklin. I am amazed by your ability to write so gracefully about an experience that shakes one’s foundations. Sending all good wishes for 2024. May we knit on through it all, and may we welcome joy and delight this year!
I love your posts. I’m sorry you’re having such a rubbish time!
It’s a joy to read your letter. Your tree skirt is stunningly adorable.
I love it!!!
Love reading your notes
Be strong stay well & knit on!!!
Dearest Franklin,
When I rang the bell on December 30 of 2022, I rang it for you, I rang it for me, I rang it for all of us.
It is hard to find/recognize the self that was, but the self that is has a new resolve, and a wisdom that is rooted in the depths of our thoughts of mortality.
And yes, most of us see others whose struggle is harder, and feel guilty for being unhappy with our lot. It is a sign of our humanity. And our new-found knowledge of the bond that is formed by sharing levels of the same ugly disease.
Embrace that humanity. It is proof that we are still alive.
Love, Tina
Your tree skirt is stunning! What a wonderful use of your Grandmother’s buttons. (I have a cherished tin full from my Grandmother also.)
As for that sweater, if it does not bring you joy to work on it right now, then let it rest awhile longer. It will call to you when it is the right time to finish.
You are not “shallow”. You are human. You are going through something that nobody ever should. Be kind to yourself.
Sending you caring thoughts and wishes.
Dear Franklin,
As a patreon patron, I followed your math journey through the tree skirt opening lesson. If you can do THAT through brain fog and fatigue, I believe you can do anything!! Thank you for sharing so honestly and openly the struggles you’ve endured. Your fans already feel like we know you well and we appreciate you trusting us with your thoughts and feelings. The tree skirt is delightful and looks so happy under your wonderful little tree. I absolutely love the purple stripes and I’m in awe of the fortitude, patience and time you spent doing all of that duplicate stitching. Also, your wonderful “orphan” buttons are perfect. They’ve inspired me to start going through my many jars of buttons and to figure out what to use them for. I do make jewelry out of some of them. Time to do that again. I, too, wish you a speedy recovery and a return to full strength and knitting joy. If I lived nearby, I’d stop by to give you hugs and make you a pot of tea. Stay warm, rest a lot and keep in touch with your friends who are close by. ❤️❤️❤️
Lovely tree skirt! So many wonderful ideas and use of color. You are an inspiration. Wishing you wellness in the new year!
I have thoroughly enjoyed your letters but have missed the past few due busy schedule. I wish you best wishes in your health journey. Being a cancer survivor, I send my prayers. Keep knitting when you are able. Other than beautiful knitting, you are also quite a wordsmith. Good thoughts & wishes.
Such a moving and skilled presentation of your cancer patient transformation plus the power of knitting and writing. Thanks for pulling it together for those without your inspirational words. Sending warm wishes as you move forward in 2024.
What a beautiful thing you created during such an awful, challenging, and difficult time in your life. How amazing you are to not only keep going, but keep creating, when your treatments have so depleted you. Thank you for the joy and hope your writing and work brings to us all.
Wishing you continued courage and healing Franklin! I love how personal your tree skirt became, true creative expression
Dear Franklin,
Thank you for your ever-delightful post! I’m sending my prayers for healing and rest across the world.
The little tree’s skirt is a delight! Particular favorites are the combination of your own “found” objects, yarns and buttons.
Happiest and healthiest of new years to you. Sincerely, American knitter
There are many people you don’t even know who care about you and love you.
Dear Franklin, I send prayers that your chemo treatments have been successful and that you will soon regain your strength and physical well-being. After losing all my (then brown/gray) hair from chemo in 2005, my hair grew back pure white, but gradually returned to a more salt & pepper shade. As you grow stronger you should begin to recognize the outer you again, and your writing shows that your inner you will help guide you in that recovery.
Sending love and good wishes for a return to full health in this new year, and many thanks for sharing your challenging journey with us. Knit on, and may it bring joy to your path along the way.
What a good idea! I must try this for myself, and plenty of time until Christmas 2024.
What a lovely, very personal story. We are with you through these challenges, Franklin.
I love love love your missives. I love your observations and your knitting and your courage and your creativity. you make the world a better place. I am sending all the wishes I have to give and fingers crossed I come across you knitting in a cafe in Paris someday. sending warmth.
N
Here’s to a better year. A happy and a HEALTHY one.
Orphan buttons no more … lovely thought.
Get well soon! Always a pleasure to read your posts. Happy new healthy year to you!
I too had a trying holiday. My husband has prostrate cancer and I need a knee replacement. I think during troubled times, we think of loved ones who reside in our hearts and visit us to bring comfort as they once did. I love the memories.
I have my grandmother’s aluminum tree from the 1950’s in need of repair. We built a new trunk, and put a new led light in the rotating wheel.
We usually put up a lot of decorations, but this year it was a table top tree from my youth.
I am working on a sweater, like you, I am difficult to fit. I take after my grandmother’s family and I am 4’10” tall.
Good luck to you. Praying for speedy recovery.
Dear Mr. Habit,
Get better soon! Hope your treatments go smoothly and you are knitting up a storm in no time.
<3 <3 <3!!!
So glad that our beloved Franklin is on the mend. Do give him our very best wishes for a full recovery. His gentle, self-deprecating humour is a delight!
Best wishes, Janet