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…!)