Clara's Window

An open letter to the person who stole my shawl

On Friday morning before the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival was officially open, you happened to be next to the Brooks Farm Yarn booth as they were finishing setting up. The booth was full of yarns and samples, but for some reason your eye fell on the Optic Waves Shawl, which Sherry Brooks was carefully putting on a hanger for display. I had loaned it to her expressly for this occasion.

Suddenly, you were overcome with the desire to have this shawl. Not by making it, which is what knitters do, but by taking it. A minute later, pulse racing, you made your move. You snatched the shawl off its hanger, stuffed it in your bag, and left.

Did you hear the announcement over the PA system minutes later? Were you there when the police came? Did you see just how upset Sherry Brooks was? Were you there when I arrived and she agonized over how to break the news to me? Did you see the anger and the tears?

I don't know. By then, the deed was done and the police were on alert. There was no easy way to undo the damage.

I'm guessing you've discovered by now that having this shawl in your possession doesn't make you feel as good as you thought it would. In fact, it carries a heavy weight of sadness from all the people whose hearts you've broken. This is not yours, nor was it made for you.

The Howard County Sheriff's Department has circulated color images of this shawl, and the knitting community is on high alert. The shawl has several distinct features that make it completely unique and easy to identify as the stolen item—which means that you'll never comfortably be able to wear it out and about.

In your heart of hearts, I know you know you did something very wrong.

And it's only going to get worse.

So I ask you do to the right thing. When you're ready, put that shawl in a USPS box and send it back to me, COD. There will be no questions asked, and I know—as I think you know—that you'll feel much better as soon as you've done this.

You can send the shawl to:

Knitter's Review
P.O. Box 1617
Blue Hill, ME 04614

Thank you.