Lyn
Monday February 25th 2008, 2:39 pm
Filed under: "Wrapped in Comfort",Amaryllis,Friends,Knit,Life

Cris’s Julia shawl in Jade Sapphire black cashmereThis is Cris in her Julia shawl in Jade Sapphire cashmere that she wore at the banquet Saturday night.

Meantime, a few weeks ago, when I couldn’t get the computer to accept my camera card for https://spindyeknit.com/2008/02/berry-time-for-bigfoot/, it was a warning sign that the computer itself was about to blow. Which it did. (This is the WIP I was trying to show.) I quietly posted from a different one for a little while till the hubby fixed it, and laughed that, oh, well, maybe I was supposed to leave this shawl more of a surprise than that.Lisa Souza’s Berry Poppins in alpaca/silk

Which it was.

Lyn used to manage Creative Hands, a yarn shop in Belmont. She moved to North Carolina after living here for forever and was sorely missed by her friends when she left. She came back this month to see a new grandchild and to hang around for Stitches, and you know the amount of time spent with an old friend is never enough.

Meantime, I had this Lisa Souza alpaca/silk yarn that was lovely but that was a bit towards the gray side for me. And yet it leaped with glee onto my needles two weeks ago and announced which pattern it wanted to be when it grew up, and it felt so joyful to finally be letting it become itself that the knitting worked up very quickly. I had a great sense of anticipation as I played with it, wondering… Who?…

Lyn set up a–well, a play date is the best description I can think of–at Creative Hands for people who wanted more time to visit with her. Two, actually, and I got to go to the first, but for the second, I just couldn’t make it. There was an eye doctor who teaches at Stanford who had volunteered to speak that day to the lupus group I attend, and it was imperative to me that I be there. Crum.

But that disappointment helped clarify what I needed to know, and then it just felt so obvious: that Berry Poppins colorway, how the pink and the purple melted into those soft fibers, those were exactly perfect for Lyn; I’d seen those colors on her many times. She loved handpaint yarns. And I knew.

Nancy Weber, who used to work with Lyn at the shop, was in on it with me. I was trying to figure out the best way to get it to Lyn but I kept missing her at Stitches. After we took our seats at the banquet, my last chance before she flew home, Nancy said, “Here.” (Since I just wasn’t very mobile.) And she took it over to Lyn’s table as if she were at a bar, telling her, “The woman at that table over there wanted to offer you this.”

Lyn, stunned, opened it, stood up in slow motion, came over and threw her arms around me, wiping tears and saying it would be a comfort to her when she went back to North Carolina.

Which is exactly what I’d wanted. For it to be a comfort and a reminder of her friends’ caring.

Who were all about to pull off something major themselves for my own sake, and I just truly had no idea either till it happened.imgp4400.JPG


8 Comments so far
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For me, this is what knitting is all about. Friends and caring.

Comment by Linda W 02.25.08 @ 4:14 pm

Cris’s shawl looks great, what fabulous drape!
Love the pink & purple, but the story is even better. Berry wonderful post!

I got your message at my blog… my email is practically none existent, but I’m going to remedy that today hopefully so blogger can act right for me. Thanks!

Comment by Toni 02.26.08 @ 6:20 am

I made it to row 17 of your Julia shawl this time before messing up. That is better than the last couple of tries. And I can see where my mistake is. The question is, can I get back there to fix it? We shall see.

Comment by Laura 02.26.08 @ 7:08 am

i love it when knitting has in it’s mind what it wants to be and who it wants to be knit for. lovely. truly lovely.

Comment by marti 02.26.08 @ 8:07 am

Yep, I got 2 shawls and the yarn telling me what and who all the time, only problem is I have socks doing the same thing 🙂 Have a nice day and keep on knitting

Comment by Danielle from SW MO 02.26.08 @ 12:43 pm

A friend sent me here, upon learning I’d purchased your book. I’ve had a great time reading along while the CPA was doing his thing at my computer!

Comment by Channon 02.26.08 @ 2:08 pm

Wonderful shawl–I’m sure she will treasure it!

Comment by Toni 02.26.08 @ 10:57 pm

All of us at Creative Hands had such a wonderful time when you came to play with Lyn. Working at the shop that day I couldn’t just sit, knit and visit like I would have loved to do, but simply having you there for a few hours was such fun!:)

Comment by Yvette 02.28.08 @ 9:39 pm



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