Yarn is the Key to Friendship: The Concerto Cowl

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“You don’t have to do everything yourself,” Tom said. “No one will mind if you buy a present, instead of making one.”

How could Lynn explain? There were some people she just needed to knit for. Like Beth, her BFF. They’d been together through violin lessons, music camps, statewide youth orchestra. They’d been music majors at the same college–and they’d been in each other’s weddings. That’s how close they were — like sisters. Lynn just couldn’t buy Beth a present. She deserved something lovingly handmade.

During the summer, Lynn had planned to knit Beth a vest. Then in September, she changed that to a scarf. Now Christmas was just weeks away, and she still hadn’t begun knitting. Where had time gone? Guilt was setting in, and with it, stress. Maybe she’d counted too much on Beth’s relaxed nature. Lynn knew that whatever she gave her, Beth would be fine with it. Their friendship wasn’t about stuff.

The next day Lynn visited her local craft store, wandering around, looking for inspiration. She passed the yarn — Heartland — on display, surrounded by swatches and samples . . . and stopped. She reached up and squeezed a skein. It was luxuriously soft. Heartland’s nuanced colors reminded her of Beth — elegant, luminous, subtle. Lynn placed two skeins in her basket.

She knew this was the beginning.

The beginning of what? Thank goodness for Lion Brand’s Patternfinder! Smartphone in hand, Lynn used the Lion Brand app to search for patterns. There were more than a hundred for Heartland. Then she saw the Concerto Cowl, a composition in exactly the yarn colors — ebony and ivory, like printed music — she’d just pulled off the shelf.

* * *

Tom, coming into the living room, saw her curled on the sofa, knitting away.

“So you found something to make for Beth?”

“Definitely,” Lynn replied. “Except it was actually the other way around — I think this project found me.”

It was the first of many Concerto Cowls she’d knit — including one for herself. Quick to complete, and stunning in a variety of color combinations, the classic pattern was, like a beautiful piece of music, something she’d always love to replay.
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All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

A story by Selma Moss-Ward.

Selma Moss-Ward writes and knits in Rhode Island. You can find her work on our blog, as well as Lion Brand’s monthly newsletter, Pattern Journal, which you can subscribe to here.