Tying tzitzit with Hannah

When Hannah and I first met it took a little while for us to speak the same language design -wise. She was very clear about what she didn't like and had a harder time explaining what she did want.

After our initial meeting, she went home and emailed lots of images to me. That was incredibly helpful. Once I understood what she wanted I could go about making it happen.

I have friends in the sewing world who detest sewing for others. Some of them complain bitterly about having to take direction from prom girls or from brides. I could see why some people might find it annoying to be taking direction from an almost twelve year old. I actually find the process of collaborating with a kid to be a blast. i like helping them think about what they want and don't want and figuring out how to express ideas that might be difficult to put into words.

Hannah is a deeply thoughtful person. When she walked into my dining room and saw her completed tallit for the first time she said nothing but her face expressed everything. I knew that I had done what she had hoped for.

Unlike me, Hannah is a numbers girl. she loved the reasoning behind all of the numbers of wraps and knots. If I had left her to it she probably would have wrapped up all of the numbers into a really interesting equation, but we didn't have time for that but had to tie the tzitzit instead.

Before long, she was done.

I especially love this image because although most of her face has been cropped out the set of Hannah's chin and her entire posture show her happiness.

Here she is, in our synagogue, as she will be tomorrow morning reading from the Torah. This photo was taken by the family's photographer and appears here with their permission.

I have no doubt that she will be excellent. I also assume that her words of Torah will be unexpected and worth listening to.

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