Baa baa black alpaca, have you any wool?
Tuesday October 09th 2007, 8:19 pm
Filed under: "Wrapped in Comfort",Friends,Knit

Rabbit Tracks Bigfoot variantI finished it in time! This is the Bigfoot pattern, but with the variant that I continued the Rabbit Tracks pattern all the way down the body of the shawl, not just in the yoke. Since I was knitting it in black, it was way easier to tell where I was if the second pattern row was five stitches across a repeat rather than eleven.

My friend Karin (watch the e’s and i’s in this post to keep people straight) had a half-pound hank of black baby alpaca yarn she’d bought from the farmer who’d raised the animal, and she felt it needed to go to me.

I thanked her, told her I felt there were a lot of people who needed yarn more than I did, and that my eyes just didn’t like to knit black–but a few days later she came back to me with the idea, saying she just still felt it was meant to go to me.

And so it arrived in the mail awhile ago, lovely, very soft stuff, so much of it, and I was just in awe that she would offer it up like that. It was definitely black. Looking at it, I just had the feeling that I would be glad I had it in spite of my reservations, and that Karin was right, I would find just the right person for it–and it would tell me when.

In anticipation of my trip, I asked my friend Karen of the Water Turtles shawl fame what color shawl to knit for her daughter.

Black, Karen answered. Definitely black.

Now, I would never have had any black yarn in my stash had it not been for Karin’s gift. It turns out that Karen breaks out in hives if she touches wool, a true allergy, not just that the stuff is itchy, and she mentioned that her daughter was allergic too. But they have no problems with baby alpaca.

Heh. Guess what I had on hand to play with.

Karin was right. This yarn did find where it was meant to go to, and with her help it’s about to arrive there.

(Okay, back to packing.  And yes, I know I’m blowing the surprise here, but a few days of anticipatory happiness on the recipient’s part makes that worth it, I decided.)


12 Comments so far
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“a few days of anticipatory happiness on the recipient’s part makes that worth it”

Totally! …meep.

Comment by Amy 10.10.07 @ 6:34 am

You clearly have “way too much fun”, both knitting and giving! You’re a good person, Alison. Now, have a good trip, and enjoy all those knitters who want to meet you!

Comment by Barbara-Kay 10.10.07 @ 6:43 am

Wow! I’m amazed that part of the gift is coming from Karin, too! And to have such a gift for my daughter…I’m blown away and so grateful to have friends like this.

Comment by Karen 10.10.07 @ 6:50 am

The shawl is just gorgeous. Wonderful story, too.

Comment by Toni 10.10.07 @ 7:27 am

It is a beautiful shawl! things always find where they are meant to be.

Comment by vicki 10.10.07 @ 2:26 pm

What fantastic fate.

Comment by Amanda 10.10.07 @ 6:47 pm

Oh what a beautiful shawl you made out of that yarn. Now I am even more glad (twice over!) that I decided you needed to have that yarn.
Yay!

Comment by Karin 10.11.07 @ 5:46 am

Have you read the Harry Potter books? They keep telling him that “The Wand choses the Wizard” not the other way around. I suppose you could say that “The wool choses the wearer.” This wasn’t actually wool, but I haven’t thought of anything that would alliterate with alpaca.

Comment by Laura 10.11.07 @ 7:40 am

How do you do it? This kind of thing happens tp you a lot!

Comment by Carol 10.11.07 @ 11:03 am

Alison, you know better than anyone not to question the yarn. With your help that yarn became something truly beautiful.

Comment by Sonya 10.11.07 @ 11:40 am

You’re right. Anticipation is the best part of any gift or adventure for me! Safe journeys, and what a gorgeous black shawl…

Comment by Joanne 10.11.07 @ 12:37 pm

[…] who gifted me with the black baby alpaca that became my friend Amy’s shawl, holding Lucy, and Kristine, Lucy’s mother, who took Jennie some Ben and Jerry’s […]

Pingback by SpinDyeKnit 11.19.08 @ 4:27 pm



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