When I was working on knitting for my book, just about everything on my needles was focused on that; I was making one shawl for my recipients, one for the publisher, shawl after shawl. Maybe that color would look better, better go make another. After I shipped everything off to Martingale, it was a relief to be able to just knit for the sheer joy of it, to be able to give my time and skill away for the love of it without having to put any of it off to the side.
And after all those shawls, I wanted some near-instant gratification. Now, if anyone had told me when I started out that I was going to end up knitting a lace scarf for every single woman who comes to our church, I would have run away screaming in protest, no way! But, starting off with a scarf or two and gradually coming to realize that I’d come to the point of no return where I couldn’t leave anyone out now, over a year and a half, that’s exactly what I did. Everyone. Except for the blind woman whose guide dog was far more interested in that exotic animal he could smell in there than she was; a scarf was the most impractical thing in the world, and she let me know it. You could just see the dog exclaiming “Dang!” with a snort as I put hers back away. That’s fine, I actually kind of expected that. I couldn’t leave her out, though, I had to at least offer.
So I was done (which felt weird). And I stopped. But living in a college town, people didn’t stop moving in and out, and the end result is, it’s been several months since I’d made the last scarf, but there were half a dozen or so new women here. Time to get back to doing at least one church scarf a week and play catchup. It’s not like I don’t have the yarn…
So, yesterday I walked up to a newly-married couple whose names I ought to remember and don’t, and said to the woman, “I *think* this is the color you were wearing last week,” as I pulled one out of my purse. “I was playing with some yarn this week.” I had the ball band tucked in there so they could read what it was made of if they were curious, without my having to play puff-it-up at them.
She and her husband were instantly surprised and delighted, and as she pulled it out of the bag, their faces were in perfect happy synchronicity. She put it on and kept it on. Elann’s Baby Cashmere, one skein, 19 stitches till it ran out, made up into what my mom calls a “yarn necklace.”
I went to my own seat, thinking at myself, remember that. Remember those expressions on their faces. THAT is why I do this. Get a clue. Do it again.
(p.s. After I did that, Jo kept trying to get my attention so she could wink and smile at me. Go Jo!)
8 Comments so far
Leave a comment
Yup, it’s about spreading the joy. Last year for Christmas I knit a bunch of string bags. Iw as working on one at a worksite and the technician saw me and said,”wow, those are really pretty colours”. So I decided, come Christmas, she would have this one. I gave it to her on December 27th (a post-Christmas present?) and her eyes lit up and she said,”hey that’s the one I said had pretty colours! ” She protested I shouldn’t give it to her. I insisted and she floated around the store for the rest of the day. THAT is why you give presents. For the joy.
Comment by Carol 03.17.08 @ 4:29 pmI got a note from someone who loved a shawl I sent to them. The kids took turns wrapping up in it and running around and around in the house (Playing superpeople I guess). :-}Love that image!
Comment by Diana Troldahl 03.17.08 @ 4:45 pmHappy Spring to you, Alison!
Thank goodness some folks know how to show their appreciation for hand knits, especially the special ones. 🙂
Love the daffodils & the “spacey” allium.
(We figure a squirrel or a bird dropped the seed there, thus the caption.)
Comment by AlisonH 03.17.08 @ 6:04 pmYour flowers are pretty and your soul is Beautiful. Have fun making the “Church Scarfs” and dont let the one naysayer get ya down! 🙂
Comment by Danielle from SW MO 03.18.08 @ 8:39 amWhat a beautiful thing to do for more-or-less strangers. I imagine your generosity has touched many.
Comment by Susan 03.18.08 @ 3:32 pmLeave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>