The Synchronicity Thread ...

Have you ever wondered how the Universe works?  You'll be talking about a certain subject and within days the stars and planets in the sky will align just right so that a chain reaction happens ... some call this fate, or luck, or in this case synchronicity...

Definition of synchronicity by Merriam-Webster:
"The coincidental occurrence of events and especially psychic events (as similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a mental image of an unexpected event before it happens) that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality."

On Tuesday I enjoyed being Mary Beth's guest on her Internet radio show called "Getting Loopy."  One of the topics we discussed was Rose Wilder Lane.  Rose wrote the book,  The Women's Day Book of American Needlework, in which she wrote, "Long before recorded history, Pima Indian women in America did the first crocheting we know."

In leaving the topic of crochet history behind for now, following the thread of synchronicity, let's look at who Rose was ... she was a former resident of Danbury, Connecticut, and the daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the famed children's book author of the Little House on the Prairie series. Aside from both mother & daughter being well established authors, they were both crocheters.

On Wednesday evening I enjoyed chatting Grace.  Grace is my good friend and thread-crochet champion.  She creates beautiful pieces, including the recreation of one of Laura's doilies, pictured here on the left.  In fact, we used Grace's doily recreation for one of our library displays last year that received much attention locally as well as online.  One of the online conversations that took place is that the free chart that was once available here is now gone. 

On Thursday afternoon I found in my mailbox the latest issue of PieceWork magazine (May/June 2008).  PieceWork is one of my most favorite magazines that I enjoy reading cover to cover.  In flipping through it, on page 17, I found an article by Belinda Carter entitled "Laura Ingalls Wilder's Doily to Filet Crochet."  Consequentially cool?

Now stay with me on this ... you'll see the wonderment of synchronicity in just a moment ...

Yesterday I decided to give the magazine to Mini~Lois.  Mini~Lois is one of the girls in my daughter's after-school "Hooks'n Needles Club" who is skyrocketing in her crochet abilities.  Knowing she is a fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder, and wanting to fuel her thirst to learn more about crochet, I thought Mini~Lois would think it cool to learn that Laura was also a crocheter.

Only the lesson was on me.  It turns out that yes, Mini~Lois was very tickled to learn that Laura was a crocheter.  And it was at this moment that Mini~Lois informed me that she is in the Ingalls family tree.  In their family tree Mini~Lois and Laura are cousins!  Synchronicity.