Last week my sister gave me an unexpected present that completely floored me! There was no special occasion for her to give me a present, it was a completely spontaneous act of love. She had heard me say in one of my recent Periscope broadcasts that I would love to have a copy of Jane Gaugain’s first book, the ‘Lady’s Knitting, Netting & Crochet Book’, and she decided to make it so. What an incredibly loving sister I have!
She gave me it at the monthly meeting of the Huddersfield branch of the Knitting and Crochet Guild, anonymously presented in the postal envelope that she had recieved it in from the seller. When I took it out of the envelope and saw what it was I was so shocked and overwhelmed that I couldn’t speak for several minutes. Of course, I also had tears in my eyes.
To understand something of what I felt, I can direct you to how Franklin Habit felt when he found a copy of this same book in a bookshop in Cambridge. It’s a very funny, and also very communicative post!
My copy, being a second edition and published in 1840, is even older than the copy that caused such great emotion for Franklin. Like Franklin’s it is very beautiful, with the same hand-coloured illustration of netting.
Thank you Marie, you truly are the best sister in the world!
