A Penny for his thoughts
Thursday April 14th 2011, 10:40 pm
Filed under: Friends,Knitting a Gift,LYS

A new picture of my grandson Parker–he smiles now! And here’s what he looked like about the time we saw him two months ago.

So here’s the shawl story.

A few months ago I was at Knit Night when Sandi, one of the owners of Purlescence, handed me a bag of yarn and said quietly, “You’ll know what to do with this.”

Four skeins of sparkly Kidsilk Night and some Fino baby alpaca/silk laceweight to match.

I near-instantly did–all I had to do was glance around the room and see Penny in her soft shade of purple, her favorite color: Penny is one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet. It would be so cool to get to surprise her with something and blame it all on our mutual good friend.

I got Sandi to the far side of the room a little later, knowing that my idea of what other people can hear or not is always a little shaky but I gave it a try; I wanted to make sure she thought it was the right choice for what was, really, her yarn.

She was thrilled. Perfect!

Between chemo caps and all kinds of other things with more of a deadline, it waited. That and, I kept swatching cool new lace ideas using other yarns, wanting to make the most bestest perfectest wow-iest shawl ever, not wanting to waste the Kidsilk but not knowing how it would look in it either, then. You can’t frog Kidsilk–whatever you do, that’s what it is.

So in the end I decided enough with this indecision and went with lace patterns I already knew well, and it was the right choice.  It’s perfect.

Sandi was again thrilled tonight as I handed the finished shawl around the room. Penny wasn’t there, though; she had a cold and she was being careful not to share it. But her husband, who spins and weaves, did come, and after his turn holding it up and admiring it he stood up and came over, holding it out.

“What are you giving that back to me for?”

I looked at him steadily as I said that.  He did a doubletake. I got the delight of watching it dawn in his face and then to see the joy in his eyes as he suddenly looked forward to sharing it with his beloved wife when he got home. I got a glimpse of the deep love that defines who that good man is.

I could not have asked for better than that. I felt almost an intruder in the moment, and blessed for it. I owe him my thanks.

Later in the evening, another couple came in, new parents who’d gone through the process of becoming certified to be foster parents, who were surprised instead with a call by their social worker offering them a newborn for adoption. Which is what they’d most wanted but never dared dream for.

I got to meet their new daughter tonight. Six pounds something is just so tiny. And so perfect. And they are so in love with her!

As were we all all around the room.

Y’know, she might need a tiny hat or something… (Superwash, superwash. Well, I know I’ve got some in blue…!)


13 Comments so far
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You again! Always with the good works! Always!! So very cool. (and me, first comment, again, go figure 🙂 )

Comment by Cathy 04.15.11 @ 12:05 am

Alison, I want to be a whole lot more like you when I grow up 🙂

Comment by Lynn 04.15.11 @ 4:23 am

So good to see you last night! And while I wasn’t there to witness the actual giving of the shawl, I’m glad I got to check it out in person – it’s gorgeous! As is that teeny little 6-lb adorable baby. 🙂

Comment by (formerly) no-blog-rachel 04.15.11 @ 5:45 am

Oh! I love the smile! How that must warm your heart!!!

Comment by Jody 04.15.11 @ 6:16 am

Beautiful. I’m almost glad you didn’t get to hand it to Penny in person…

And you know, blue used to be the color for girls. My British grandmother was furious that I wore anything but!!

Comment by Channon 04.15.11 @ 8:39 am

Parker, first pic — Singing at the top of his lungs.
Parker, second pic — “You like my singing?”

Comment by Don Meyer 04.15.11 @ 8:41 am

Love the Parker pics. . .what a cutie. 🙂 And the squirrels, oh the squirrels! I don’t pop in to say hi as often as I used to, but I still love to read your blog whenever I can. . .I love your writing, and your oh-so-generous knitting. I hope that you are well. 🙂

Comment by Pam 04.15.11 @ 9:35 am

What a charmer Parker is!!!

Comment by Diana Troldahl 04.15.11 @ 12:55 pm

That sweet boy is getting so big and cuter every day, as if that’s even possible! My heart leapt when I read about the adoption. A girl…? Hmmm…let’s see what soft yarns I have sitting here…

Comment by karin maag-tanchak 04.15.11 @ 5:37 pm

Shall I send my leftover pink baby yarn?

Comment by Sherry in Idaho 04.15.11 @ 5:46 pm

babies grow really, really quickly. Can’t believe how big Parker is now. And that smile! A real charmer!

Comment by Lene 04.15.11 @ 5:52 pm

Why, I believe Parker is growing into something of a little ham. I am sure he is winking at the camera in that second picture!

Thanks for sharing the delights of the shawl and the newborn. Happy thoughts for bedtime!

Comment by twinsetellen 04.15.11 @ 6:17 pm

Love the smiling baby…I got to gift MY shawl tonight, too. It’s a good feeling.

Comment by Ruth 04.16.11 @ 12:12 am



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