Today we welcome Reba Linker to host on the LFI porch! She has just released her book, Follow the Yarn, a book she describes as “a celebration of the extraordinary through the ordinary”. Tell us more Reba!

I’ve always had big dreams: as a child, I wanted to dance, walk across China, travel the world. Over time, my dreams have changed, yet I have always intuited they were there for a reason, that they were treasure chests, waiting to be opened.

When I took Ann Sokolowski’s beginner knitting class, I heard a voice within me say “I want to write about Ann.” Nothing could have surprised me more, as I was neither a knitter nor a writer. Nonetheless, the voice persisted, and I decided to heed its call.

I thought to write a lighthearted collection of Ann’s knitting tips and quirky sayings, and maybe sell it at my local Y. All this changed when Ann passed away nine months into class. A year later my dad passed, and a year after that, my mom. These events swirled together and began transforming the book into something much more personal.

It was almost as if the universe – in cahoots with the voice within me – knew that this would be a much more meaningful project than was originally apparent. The book was daring me to go places I had never gone, places I needed to go if I wanted to grow.

About mid-way, I remember losing momentum. I felt overwhelmed by writing about Ann and just did not want to go on. At this point I could easily have shoved the manuscript in a drawer and forgotten all about it. However, I had a commitment to Ann that pushed me forward. Even more important, I turned to friends and mentors who encouraged me to put more of my own story in the book.

I took a deep breath. You mean, write about me, about my life, about my parents, in a knitting book?! Yikes. It just seemed wrong. Nonetheless, I realized that if I wanted to keep going – and I did – I had to follow where the project was leading me.

That was the key. When gave myself permission to ‘follow the yarn’ the project exploded for me, becoming richly meaningful in ways that I could never have imagined. I began to unlock the treasure that this dream held in store.

Paradoxically, by allowing myself to include my story as well as Ann’s, my appreciation of Ann’s gifts as a teacher grew tenfold. My gratitude to her for being the catalyst of this experience is written into every page.

Have you had an experience where following an unlikely dream yielded unexpected results?

When you get to a barrier, what helps you push through resistance to the treasure your dreams may hold?

Photo credit: Hedgehog Fibres’ Photostream