My name is Brenda Bell and I live in Henniker, NH where I'm owned by two very unique cats, two exceptionally large dogs and one VDH (net-speak for very darling hubby).

I was born May 28, 1956 at Saint Luke's Hospital in Richmond, Virginia to Native American parents and am a card-carrying member of the Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe. My grandfather was a chief, my uncle was a chief and my father served as acting chief for several years. The older I get, the more I realize how important my heritage is and how much it has shaped my life and value system. Having two older brothers who struggled through reservation life during the 40's and 50's has taught me a great deal about cultural tolerance and the real value of opportunity.

My mother, now 89, became a seamstress in her early teens. I think having my crib positioned next to the sewing machine was the hand-writing on the wall; I sewed my first button on a scrap of fabric before I was 2, made clothes for my dolls when I was 4 and made my first dress for myself at the age of 8. I continued to make my own clothes through high school and college.

At some point during my sewing education, I developed my first quirk. Whenever my mother would notice that I was about to take a short cut that would result in less than perfect results, she never said anything to me directly... she would quietly recite a poem to herself just loud enough for me to hear:

If a task is once begun,
Never leave it 'til it's done.
Be the labor great or small,
Do it well or not at all.

I don't think any of my family or friends would say that I aim for psychotic perfection, but to this day, these words have encouraged me to always do my best.

I started taking piano lessons when I was 6. When I wasn't studying or sewing, I was practicing -- hours upon hours. In 1979, I graduated from Shenandoah Conservatory with one bachelor's degree and just a hair shy of the requirements for a second one.

In the early 80's I learned to do counted cross-stitch and began to limit my sewing to household items -- pillows, quilts, curtains and upholstering furniture. Around the same time, I discovered my first love -- anything and everything having to do with computers. I've now been a software engineer for better than 20 years and have loved every minute of it. I still love it and openly admit that I am a technology junkie.

In 1993, I found myself on a 6-month TDY in Fairfield, CT and decided to take a weaving class for something to do. I think it was after the second or third class I bought a 36" 8-harnass Mighty Wolf. I still have it, but it has seen more than its share of inactivity in recent years. It seems like every household move means moving most of the toys to a spare room and setting up my Pfaff sewing machine in a more permanent location for a couple of years while I do more pillows, curtains and quilts.

In 1997, I got married at the age of 40. It was the first marriage for both me and my husband who was 42 at the time. I think the best description of our relationship is that I married my best friend and we're still best friends. If I had to pick the one thing we do more than anything else, it would be laughing. It's nice to still know how to play when you've reached the era of black-balloon birthdays. Yet another reason to be thankful for my native heritage -- at 48, my waist-length mane is still as dark as it was when I was a teenager... good thing, because I don't believe in face lifts, breast implants or hair dyes.

A few years ago, one of my husband's family friends called and said "we're cleaning out the attic and found a knitting machine... do you want it?". Sure, why not? So a few weeks later, here come these boxes that contain an unidentifiable machine I know nothing about and there's not a manual in sight. I poked around for a bit and ended up putting it away for fear that I'd break it. Over the course of the next several months, I was able to identify the machine as a Singer 2200 -- a French machine manufactured by S.I.T. I later figured out that my Singer was the old pegboard version of the White 1602/Superba S48. About a year later, the machine was still sitting in a spare bedroom when I get a package in the mail. The previous owner had found the manuals and I was up and running before I went to bed that night. I spent weeks practicing and doing swatches and on Thanksgiving Day 2003, I made my first sweater.

When the Singer's pegboard went kaput, I invested in a used White 1602. It sufferred a little damage during shipping, but I was able to repair it for about $75 and now have a like-new knitting machine with a working selection box.

The next acquisition was a Bond Ultimate Sweater Machine. I didn't think I was going to do all that much with worsted and bulky yarns so it made sense to buy something inexpensive. This was probably one of the best decisions I've made during my short machine knitting experience. Working on the Bond forced me to experiment with hand-manipulated stitches which ultimately led to my belief that any pattern -- even hand-knitting patterns -- can be done on any knitting machine in one form or another. I did recently sell my Bond and purchase a Studio SK-155. VDH is of the impression that I gave up my Bond because I "don't need 4 knitting machines". That's not true -- I need 4 knitting machines just like he needs 10 TV remotes, 2 DVD recorders and 3 computers. But selling the Bond did give me some extra funds for buying yarn.

The rest of the story remains to be written. I now dabble with drafting my own patterns and converting HK patterns to MK. I finally have a yarn stash, but it's not yet to the point where I have to hide it in the freezer or at my neighbor's house. I have a collection of patterns, magazines and books -- mostly old and out-of-print to complement my vintage machines. When we moved to New Hampshire, we were lucky to find a large house for a ridiculously low price, so I'm slowly managing to acquire a sewing room, a weaving room and a knitting room.

I'm still amazed at how things have a way of just happening if you simply keep an open mind and soak up each of life's little experiences as if you'd never have another opportunity. In addition to being one of my favorite musicians, John Lennon is also the author of my favorite quote:

"Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans."

Copyright 2004, Brenda A. Bell Unless otherwise stated the content of this web site, including text, graphics and downloads, is the property of Brenda A. Bell and is protected by current copyright laws. It may be reproduced and redistributed free of charge in electronic or printed form provided that this copyright notice is included exactly as written. The content of this web site may not be sold, nor may it be included in any for-sale publication or product without the express permission of the author. All inquiries regarding copyright restrictions should be submitted via email to the . The "cat" graphic appearing at the top of all pages is owned by Microsoft Corporation and available for download from Microsoft Office Online.
	Home | Feedback |  Report a broken link