Of threads that go and memories that come.

For my 14th birthday, a long time ago, I decided to learn embroidery, this initial curiosity would later become a little practiced but very intense passion. Embroidering, sewing, creating lace with different techniques, everything was "an art to put aside".

So, during one of these summers of deadly boredom which I have already mentioned, I ended up learning macramé from a lady who lived across from the library and the church of San Leonardo.

Tia Peppe was sitting on the doorstep, with the natural light filtering through the tall trees, she spoke to me exclusively in Sardinian, and with her wrinkled hands she tied small and precise knots, with the speed and skill of someone who has done this work for many years and for many threads.

So I learned the importance of choosing the right thread, counting knots and measurements, putting a pin on the blouse to secure the carrier thread.

"Kust'est su chi annada," she told me, "it's the one who moves forward."

The thread that determines the direction the knots will take and therefore what pattern will come out of them. 

Like many things in life, "the one who moves forward" must be kept tense, straight and in order to ensure an excellent end result.

Otherwise you have to arm yourself with a pin and undo everything, to redo the work, a long and particularly tedious process.

I also learned that a few variations can generate hundreds of different patterns, provided you know where you want to go with your yarn.

So in this month of September full of appointments, crazy races, waking up at dawn and going back to school, I try to keep the thread straight by moving forward knot by knot, because whatever happens, if you know where it wants to go, it will get there when the time comes.