Question: Is It "Popular Demand" When Only One Person Asks?

Answer: If you are me, the answer is Yes.

If you have read this blog for more than a minute, you likely have seen this photo every single year, one way or another:

This is the cardboard wreath that we bought the first year we were married, and which is always the first decoration for Christmas (taped to the door every December 1st) that gets pulled out and displayed. And every year I take a photo of it. So I have many photos of this cardboard wreath, on several different doors, depending on where we were living at the time.

This year, I thought, Well, everyone has seen it, probably ad nauseum, so although I took the photo, I didn't post it. But then in the comments from yesterday's post, Kim actually mentioned that she *needed* to see the wreath in order to really enjoy Christmas (OK, those weren't the exact words, but it was the meaning ... at least to me). 

So to Kim and any others who were missing this vital part of Christmastime, I hope this arrives in time for you to now enjoy the season. 😊

And for those who don't care, or are thinking "Ugh. AGAIN??" - maybe this will make you smile.

Kindness

(From the comic strip, "Mutts.")

A few years ago, I chose "kindness" for my word of the year - actually I chose it two years in a row.  Because I found that telling myself to consciously be more kind was good practice, and I hoped that by using that for my word two years in a row, it would become more of a habit than something I needed to remember to do or to be.  And to some extent, I've succeeded, though admittedly, I could probably keep it as my word for the year and never reach the place I would hope.  We are all human though, so we can only try our best.  

I cannot tell you how much all of your kind comments, notes, snail mail cards and letters, and small gifts have meant to me after posting about losing our sweet Hamlet.  Loss makes you feel so terribly alone, and when your friends surround you with kindness and love, it doesn't make the hurt less, but it does provide comfort.  And when many of those who are the kindest are people you actually either barely know or don't know in real life, it makes you realize that friendship is it's own kind of love.  So thank you so very much for *your* kindnesses to me, and by extension to The Tim and the kitties.  We are still in shock, but we are also grateful for so much, in particular that for Hamlet, the end was quick and not a lingering, painful time.  True, it makes it a bit harder for us. because we were not even thinking it would happen anytime soon, but I would rather we had to deal with that, than him having to be sick or worse for any length of time.  

Please know that if I have not responded to you, it's either because I don't have your e-mail address, or because I have not gotten myself together enough to be able to write snail mail notes yet.  But I'll get there - know in the meantime that your thoughts were received with gratitude.

I would have written all of the above at some point anyway, but was prompted to do it now by a couple of things I saw on social media.  A young man (we'll call him Dr. S.) who worked in the Entomology Department while he was a master's and Ph.D. student managed to successfully defend his thesis last year, and very fortunately obtained a teaching position at a nearby college.  This guy is truly one of the nicest people I have ever met - I guess you could say his mother raised him well (his father apparently died when he was about 6 years old).  He is friendly and personable, but also really caring.  Whenever I was on medical leave due to surgery, or illness, I always received a note or an e-mail from him, saying that he hoped I was doing better, or that he missed talking to me, etc.  And he is the kind of person who you know means it, and is not simply saying it because it's the right thing to say.

So the other day, when he posted this on Facebook, I was not surprised at all:

A student asked to submit a paper a day late because...

She was "overcome with joy and excitement and cannot focus!" because her family's "first child of the next generation was born!"

You can take the whooole week,

congrats

!!!

-- COMMENT: Very kind. My son asked for an extension bc of severe anxiety and a total cloud fail when he submitted a paper and got a “no”. Always be kind.

And there you have it - the difference a small bit of kindness can make.

Now I know that there are always people in school, at work, in life, who try to take advantage and always ask for special consideration.  I don't think they deserve to have exceptions made for them, though it often happens anyway.  And I'm sure a lot of professors would have told the girl whose family had a new baby that it was wonderful news, but you still need to meet the deadline.  I think the fact that Dr. S. not only gave her the grace she requested, but then posted about it happily on social media shows the kind of person he is and wants to continue to be.

Then there is the other professor, mentioned by a current colleague in the comment.  I'm sure this professor has heard several excuses leading to a request for an exception, and are probably pretty savvy at fishing out the fakes (or maybe I am giving them a benefit of the doubt that they don't deserve).  But I think the larger problem here is that for people who have never dealt with true, often crippling, anxiety, it's not a legitimate excuse.  Most people see it as a temporary feeling and something that you can easily "just get over."  Sometimes, it is.  Mostly - at least in my case - it's not.  Oh I am still able to function for the most part, but not really in an optimal way.  I wish more people understood how seriously true anxiety can affect a person.  And I hope down the road, my colleague's son will not only have help with his anxiety, but find a more considerate professor.

In short, as she says at the end of her comment, "Always be kind."  It means more than you'll ever be able to understand.

Again, thanks to all of you for your kindness, especially in the last couple of weeks. 

It Was Nice While It Lasted

Last week was so incredibly enjoyable, being able to stay home and not deal with my horrific co-workers!  As you may have noticed, I didn't even post here, though to be honest, a lot of the reason was because nothing much was happening worth showing you.  :-)

It was an excellent blend of getting things accomplished and relaxing, and the weather was very cooperative, which I appreciated A LOT.  I didn't get all the things on my to-do list taken care of, but I hadn't really expected to, so I wasn't really upset with myself.  But the things that were done gave me the chance to feel like I had finally made a dent into a lot of things!

The weekend topped it all off nicely, with the New Jersey Sheep and Fiber Festival on Saturday, and the Eagles winning their football game on Sunday. 

The fiber festival was so much fun!  One of the nicest things about this festival is that it is very approachable as far as size is concerned.  Which is not to say that it is not as much sensory overload as the larger fairs and festivals - trust me, there's A LOT to see!  Of course, I spent a lot of my time talking to and petting the sheep (whether or not they wanted me to - spoiler alert: most of them didn't care), and I even got to kiss and hug one of the sheep which was THE BEST THING OF ALL.  The Tim even took photos, but as my camera and my computer are currently not on speaking terms, I'll have to show you that later.  Even Instagram isn't speaking to me, so I can't send you there to see any photos at the moment either.  Oh well. 

It was very difficult to not buy a whole bunch of beautiful yarns.  But I managed to restrain myself and came home only with a bar of goat's soap, with Franckinsense and Myrhh scent.  It's put safely away until Christmastime. 

I did get the chance to see some people that I had hoped to see, including Dee, Vera, three good friends from Philadelphia that I follow online but don't often get to see, and Kathleen Dames.  It was so nice to run into people to briefly catch up, and to live vicariously through their purchases.  It was especially nice to meet Kathleen, as we have been friends online for approximately 15 years, and had never yet met in person!  We'd come close, but it just never worked out until Saturday.  She was there with Kay Gardiner (one half of Mason-Dixon Knitting), and introduced us.  Kay was as nice and as funny as you would expect her to be.  One funny thing was that when I was talking to Kathleen, I mentioned that I ran into her when I was looking for The Tim.  She said, "Oh my God - THE TIM is here???"  I got a huge chuckle out of that.  (And eventually I did locate him, well after the fact.)

You may also enjoy this exchange, which occurred over breakfast that morning.

The Tim:  So ... is this one of the big fiber things?
Me:  It's relatively small, if you remember.  [He has gone with me at least 3 times in the past.]
The Tim:  When did it become smaller?
Me:  As far as I know, it's always been smaller.
The Tim:  When did they move it?
Me: What?
The Tim: Well, didn't it used to be in Maryland?
Me:  That would be Maryland Sheep and Wool, which happens in May.
The Tim:  Oh, I wondered about that.  I guess I'm talking about a whole other state.
Me (in my brain):  !!!!!!!
Me (in person):  Ya think??

Anyway, then yesterday I just hung out at home, worked on some laundry and some stitching, and watched the football game.  What a nice way to finish my week of vacation.

And how sad to have to return to work.  Such is life.  At least tomorrow, we have our lunch hour craft group meeting.

Again, sorry for no pictures here today - hopefully I can show you some things soon.  Have a good week!

In Which I Get To Meet Another Blogger in Real Life!

As you know, I have had the chance on more than one occasion to get together with Dee - I even got to meet Giroux! - both for knitting and just for hanging out.  She and I hit it off really well, and it's great to meet someone in real life and have it "work," if you know what I mean.  Let's face it - some people are completely different in their online personas, and then you meet them in person and it's a quick trip on a bullet train to Dudsville.  (Perhaps it works the other way, but not in my limited experience.)

Since Dee moved back to the area, she has asked me on more than one occasion to join her and Vera for an afternoon of knitting, chatting, tea/coffee drinking, etc.  Each time, it was when I had something else I already had committed to doing, and so I'd miss out.  But the stars aligned, and this past Saturday worked for all of us, so I packed my tote bag, bought my train ticket, and headed to Beautiful Downtown Lansdale, PA, to spend the day.

The train ride back and forth was both crowded (people heading to/from the Philadelphia Flower Show), and also enjoyable.  I read my book for a while, but mostly I looked out the window, and enjoyed both the scenery, and making up stories about people I saw.  For instance, I saw a guy lugging a large trash bag out of his garage towards the open trunk of his car.  A body in a bag?  The bloody carpet from the crime scene?  Small children who once too often said, "I'm boooored"?  Only time will tell.  :-)   (Spoiler alert: It hasn't.)  Then there are also the people who are full-grown adults, and say things like, "Excuse me - I've never ridden the train before, is this where you get on?" even though you are STANDING on a platform NEXT TO TRAIN TRACKS with signs that say "BOARD TRAINS HERE," and I wonder to myself, how can you possibly be a grown person and have never ever ridden the train?  (Though Dee said her husband fell into this category.  But he's at least ridden the subway/el, so that's a variation on a theme as far as I'm concerned.)  I will excuse people who have just moved to the area, but other than that, I often wonder.  However, this is largely because growing up, my parents were not likely to drive us anywhere and so buses, trains, etc. were the way to go if it was too far to walk or bike.  (Edited to add: I am also someone who is more likely to try and figure it out myself or ask the ticket seller or conductor.  They are to the point and don't expect me to chat with them.  But maybe that's just me.)

But I digress.  Back to my destination of Beautiful Downtown Lansdale.  Dee and Vera met me at the train station, which was very nice of them.  They had said that the coffee shop where we were heading was nearby, and I'm sure I could have found it even though suburbia is often puzzling to me (would it kill them to have signs??), so I didn't have to waste any time wandering in the wrong direction.  (Also, Lansdale has sidewalks, which one cannot always assume in the suburbs, so that was nice.)  So we headed down the street to a place called Backyard Beans, which was lovely.  It's an oddly shaped spot that makes the most of the space.  Both of them recommended the Ginger-Turmeric Steamer, so I gave that a try.  It was sooooooo freakin' good!  Also - at the place they were selling Girl Scout cookies!!!  I bought a box of shortbread and Thin Mints - score!

Whoops, another digression.  Back to the story at hand.  Well, let me tell you, Vera is so much fun!  The three of us knitted, drank, and laughed for a couple of hours, and it was like we'd known each other forever.  It was also funny, because Vera was wearing a really pretty sweater.  I asked her if she'd made it, and she told me the story of buying someplace, at which point Dee joined us after getting her drink and immediately asked Vera if she had knit the sweater she was wearing - perhaps when knitters meet, they should have small cards to hand out to each other explaining any knit item they are wearing!  Then we headed across the street to a really lovely restaurant/pub called Stove & Tap for lunch.  Our waiter was SO nice - he showed us pictures of his kids and dogs, told us about a friend who had gone to the Super Bowl, and told us that he couldn't give us separate checks because a law had just been passed forbidding it.  ;-)  He was so nice, and I'm pretty sure he got a big tip from all of us ...

Then it was time for all of us to head home.  They walked me over to the train station, and we said our goodbyes.  I gotta tell you, when I got home, I was pretty tired!  I think because I am seldom that social and I used up more than my quota for the weekend!  But it was just The. Best.  To use a phrase of my mother's "It sure beat spittin'!"

Yesterday, Kathy asked the question:  If you could sit on your couch and knit with anyone today, or a few folks, who would they be?  Well, I had that chance over the weekend with Dee and Vera, and it would have been hard for it to have been better!

So, when/if you have a chance to meet others that you know in cyberspace in real life, I would suggest taking a chance!  Even if you end up in Dudsville, you can always say you have to head home at a certain time, and make the suffering less.  But I'm betting you'll have at least as enjoyable a time as I did.  Even if you don't go to Beautiful Downtown Lansdale ...

And since I have no photos to prove we were together (because of course I don't), here is a picture of Milo the Koodle from Sunday morning, which was the morning of his 6th birthday.  He is the only cat we've ever had whose birthday has actually been known to us.  :-)

The In-Between of Christmastime

(Fortunately, not like the "Upside Down" in the TV show Stranger Things ...)

This has been a good week, as any week that begins with Christmas Day should be!  This year I was able to take the week between Christmas and New Year's off (long annoying work-related story, but the ending is happy!), so it's been extra nice.

And yes, it's been frigidly cold and today it is snowing, but a) I like wintertime, and b) I'm fortunate to have warm cozy clothes and kitties to cuddle.  Lots of tea, knitting, wine, reading, laughing, yummy food and treats, seeing friends and making new ones.  For such a crap year, my end of year has been perfect.

I knew things were going well when I ventured over to Loop earlier in the week to return some yarn, and had the chance to have a fun chat with friends who work there.  (Yes, I returned yarn - after I bought it for a specific project, it just didn't speak to me when I pulled it back out.  It hadn't been wound, and I had the receipt, so now I have a store credit, which will be very exciting down the road!)  When I left there, I decided to wander into the used book store two doors down to poke around.  I asked the guy if by any chance he had any books by Barbara Pym.  She is one of my fave authors, and most of her books are out of print.  And it's even hard to track them down via the library, so I figured it was worth asking him.

SCORE!!!!!

Behold - two hardcovers, one paperback, all in nearly perfect condition!  Even better?  All of them combined cost me just over twenty dollars!  To say it made my day was an understatement.

Then on Thursday evening, we went out to the 'burbs to have dinner with Dee and her husband Steve, and it was wonderful because a) now they live close and we can see them, b) we love them both, and c) WE GOT TO MEET GIROUX!!!!  Oh my God, he is so adorable, and he was showing off his new Philadelphia Flyers nametag, and he is perfect!  Needless to say, he was not as impressed with us (as one would expect of a cat), but he did let me kiss him and hug him, so even if he was just being polite, I was in 7th heaven!  We had a great evening, and got to see their really lovely and festive townhouse.  They took us to dinner at this AH-MAZING Indian restaurant, and then we had some of the best cherry pie ever at their house afterwards.  It was so much fun, and it's so nice that they moved up here from Florida. 

Also, The Tim's fingerless mitts were finished after a small (HA!) blip and he loves them and they fit!

(I'll write a post about them, including the story of the blip.  It's amusing so nothing to worry about.)  I also finished my Holly Berry Socks, and today will finish my For the Birds top, as all that has been left to do for a while now is the neckline, and between being busy with other stuff and then forgetting to wind another skein of yarn, it's just been patiently waiting. 

I didn't manage to knit 12 pairs of socks for my Box o' Socks this year, but I did knit 11 pairs!

Although, according to The Tim (Mr. Atheist), I did knit twelve, because I'm the sort of person "who would knit a pair of socks for Baby Jesus to keep his feet warm, and they don't need to be corporeal" ... I have to say that amused me greatly!  I think he thought I was feeling bad that I was one pair off, and was hoping to make me feel better.  :-)

Today we are staying put and just doing things around here that we are in the mood to do.  The Tim is baking olive bread, so the house smells really wonderful right now.  I'm getting ready to fold laundry and make our cheeseball for tomorrow evening.  And we're watching/listening to "Carols from Kings" which we recorded on Christmas Eve, so it's a very pleasing day.

I hope your week has been a good one as well.  If you are in the cold/snow snap, I do hope that you and yours are all OK.  Enjoy the rest of your New Year's holiday weekend!

OK Here Is an FO Post for You

Hello Friends.  And I mean Friends - you guys are really the best.  Words cannot express how much your kind, sweet, and heartfelt comments to my post about having to say goodbye to our Jetsam meant to all of us.  It's still awful, and all of us are still hurting.  But life is for the living, cliche though that his, and to use another cliche, it does go on.  It only makes sense to continue and keep going.  I am also firmly of the belief that none of our loved ones would ever want their loss to be the complete and total end to our worlds.  I know that for myself, when I depart this mortal coil, I want my friends and family to miss me, yes, but not stop living and enjoying their lives.  Even though it sucks.

So in the interest of that, I'm doing an FO post.  After what seems like a long time, I have finally finished my shortie socks, which are "shortie" only in descriptive terms!

Project:  Berry Mixed Up Bashful Socks
Pattern:  Not really a pattern - just made a plain pair of socks much shorter ...
Yarn:  Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the Mixed Berries colorway (leftover from these); cuff/heel/toe is Knitted Wit Gumballs Fingering in the Bashful colorway that I bought in a mini-skein to try.
Needles:  Size 1US
Modifications: Well, I modified a plain sock to make it shorter, but otherwise just kept knitting.
Notes: I like these.  And the end of the second sock was nice enough to keep my brain occupied after the events of last week. so that was good.  The Knitted Wit yarn is really nice, and comes in lovely colors, it was nice to be able to try it without breaking the bank.

I'm still a pair behind on my sock quest for 12 pairs for this year, but if that's how it turns out. I'll survive, you know?

In other news, my Scattered Wishes Shawl (aka Sonora) is growing and is now just about too large to fit in the project bag where it has been living.  It's also too big to photograph easily, so I shmushed it for a photo.

I continue to really enjoy knitting this, and am loving the way it's looking.  I *think* I'm about 2/3 of the way through the pattern.  I'm not in any hurry, but it is becoming a bit unwieldy!

This weekend I am hoping to cast on another pair of socks, and wind some yarn for another project I'd like to start.  It's supposed to be really rainy here starting tonight into tomorrow, so one or both of those may actually happen. :-)

I hope all of you have a good weekend!  And thanks again for being such wonderful and kind friends.

Package Deal

This post is very belated, but I wanted to wait until I could really tell you about it and not just do a quick LOOK post.

 About a month ago, Araignee wrote a post saying that with warm weather coming, she would likely not be making as much soap as usual.  She also mentioned having some of the stuff she had made leftover, and decided to do a giveaway.  All you had to do was send her a message on Ravelry, saying what kind of scents you liked, and give her your address.  It was a lazy person's dream giveaway and I contacted her immediately.  

A few weeks later, a package arrived in the mail (which in and of itself is just the best!), and when I opened it, all of this was inside!

Amazingly, even with my poor photography skills, you can see everything.  First of all, the handmade card.  I love the puppy and the kitten who is chasing a ball of yarn, but "You are pawesome" is the best - it made me laugh when I received it, and makes me smile still when I see it.

But as you can see, besides the card, so many goodies!  A set of dainty stitch markers, and to the left of that, Glycerin Facial Soap.  The label says it contains Coconut Milk with Olive Oil, Aloe, Honey, Colloidal Oatmeal, Kaolin Clay, Activated Charcoal, and 24 Carat Mica.  All of which sounds very glamorous to me.

Below the card, is Nantucket Briar, containing Coconut Milk, Aloe Butter, Sesame Seed Oil, and Kaolin Clay.*  It looks so pretty, like it has waves from the ocean washing over it.

The little pink round package is a tin of Mango Papaya Lotion Bar, with Beeswax ,Coconut Oil, and Cocoa & Shea Butter.

And finally above that is Night Sky, with Coconut Milk, Aloe Butter, Sesame Seed Oil, and Kaolin Clay.

Not not only are these things pretty in and of themselves, and packaged in such a lovely way, but OH DO THEY SMELL DIVINE!!!  I haven't started using any of them yet, because I am currently hoarding them to enjoy looking at, and sniffing them all for a while.

I am amazed that someone made all of these themselves!  I always enjoy reading about her soapmaking adventures on her blog, and love the pictures she posts, but seeing them in person is completely different.

Thank you so much, Araignee!  My package was so much more than anything I was expecting, and I know I'll be enjoying all of it for a long time.

What a nice thing to do, right?

*everytime I see the words, "Kaolin Clay," I think of Kato Kaelin from the O.J. Simpson murder trial.  He was such a weirdo, and I am amused all over again.  (Clearly it doesn't take much.)

Report From Last Week

Well, I didn't mean to be incommunicado for so long - I didn't even realize until today that it had been a week since my last post!  I'm guessing that you all managed to survive nonetheless, so that's good ...

Since I couldn't come up with anything even close to ten things for this week's Ten on Tuesday, I decided to tell you about the highlights from my birthday week.  Due to a clerical error at work, I suddenly had five days of vacation I didn't have before - however, the catch was that I needed to use them before the end of March, or I would lose them.  The thought of LOSING vacation days is a complete anathema to me, and since I was planning to take my birthday and St. Patrick's Day off anyway, I decided to use last week for my five days.

It was amazing.  Not in any way that is thrilling to report, but it felt like a nice long time, and I found that I was sleeping better, not having anxiety attacks, not stress-eating - you get the picture.  What a lovely break it was, you know?  I just wish I had more vacation time in general so I could do it more often.  But I enjoyed it while it was there!

My birthday was lovely, if a little weird.  First of all, it turned really cold, and rained pretty hard all day long and into Tuesday morning.  Ick.  The Tim was not able to take the day off with me, which in and of itself was not a big deal, but he had to work inventory at the bookstore, which had been scheduled months ago, and no one was excused.  So he worked from 4:00 p.m. on Monday until about 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning!  As a result, we went out for a lovely birthday lunch instead of dinner, and had birthday cake before he left for work.  Then on Tuesday, he slept for a while (obviously) and then had to work the closing shift that night (3:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m.) - so I was on my own for most of Tuesday.  But I got a lot of reading done, got a haircut, and hung out with Dug and the kitties. Very nice.

Thursday I made a batch of Irish Soda Bread, which turned out particularly well.  I also met a friend whom I seldom get to see for lunch, and we had such a great time catching up!  She can really only meet during the week until about 2:00, and not on the weekends at all, due to being the primary caregiver for her husband, so we don't get to talk in person very often.  We had a lot of laughs and some pretty amazing food.

Saturday, it was St. Joseph's Day, so we headed to Termini Brothers in South Philadelphia to get a couple of zeppoles.

SO YUMMY!!!  (We had ours that night with a cup of hot tea.)

After that, I stopped at Loop to see the spinning exhibition they were having.  I am fascinated by spinning, and would love to know how.  They are having a three-Saturday spinning class since there was so much interest, so I signed up.  I sincerely doubt I'll ever become an amazing spinner, but I would at least like to know the basics.

Then on Sunday morning I met with another friend for coffee and some knitting.  After which I went home and watched a couple of March Madness basketball games.  Some of my favorites were already out of it by Sunday, but some advanced, so it was a good day overall.  :-)

Now of course, it's back to the usual, though Easter is this weekend (how is it here already?), and my niece and her husband will be visiting from Baltimore, so I have something to look forward to; plus, I am trying to come up with designs that are actually doable for me for the Inappropriate Easter Egg decorating that will ensue.  I have lots of ideas, but since I am not too great at drawing, I end up letting most of them drop by the wayside.

I hope someday that I will have the chance to take an unexpected, nice long break again.  Sometimes not having all kinds of things planned for every minute makes the time even more enjoyable, you know?

Finally, a huge THANK YOU for all of your kind birthday wishes!  I so enjoyed reading them, and it was a lovely bright spot on such a rainy day.  Thank you thank you thank you!!

The Kindness of (Sorta) Strangers, Part 2

Last month, I showed you a pair of socks that a blog friend knit and sent to me when I was recovering from surgery in July.  That post is here, in case you didn't get to see it.  As I mentioned in that post, receiving those socks was one of the things that made me feel so happy while I was otherwise feeling awful.

Lorraine is not the only blog friend who took the time to be thoughtful and let me know someone was thinking of me and wishing me well.  Amazing.

I have been reading Lorette's blog for years, and we have become really good online friends.  We have a common love for wine and cocktails, knitting, food, music, and reading, just to name a few things.  Through Facebook, her husband John has also become a friend.  So when a package arrived with their return address, I was really curious to see what might be inside.  I opened it, and it was a gorgeous skein of Eidos yarn from The Verdant Gryphon.  The colorway?  The Kidney Heist!  Let me tell you,  The Tim and I got a BIG laugh out of that - and it hurt me to laugh!  The Tim almost immediately said, "That would make great socks for me," and I said something to the effect of, "Excuse me?"

Fast forward to last October.  Our anniversary was coming up, and The Tim is a really hard person, present-wise.  He usually buys things he wants for himself.  So I decided to actually go ahead and use "the kidney yarn" (as we called it) to make him a pair of socks - I mean, it's the only thing he had actually requested.

The details about the socks and their making will be in another post. but I can tell you that they finally got finished, and that knitting with that yarn was a truly wonderful experience.  So soft, and so pretty!  Here's one of the pictures I have of the finished pair:

Again, how lucky am I to have a friend like Lorette, who - even though we have never laid eyes on one another, or even spoken on the phone - sent me not just beautiful yarn, but yarn with a colorway name that was a) appropriate, and b) hilarious?  I still find it astonishing that she took the time to send it to me.

Thanks, Lorette and John!  You gave me a happy feeling and a good (if somewhat painful) laugh at a time when I needed it more than just about anything else, and I will always remember your kindness.

Kindness is never a bad thing.

The Kindness of (Sorta) Strangers

I realized the other day - with a bit of shame to be honest - that I have been extremely remiss.  This past summer, when The Big Fall led to the Partial Kidney Removal, I was the recipient of some wonderful gifts from fellow knitters.  Some were friends and acquaintances who were local, but the things that surprised me the most were amazing packages that arrived from those I know only through my blog and theirs.

It's a surprisingly good feeling to come home from the hospital and find such things awaiting you.  You feel incredibly crappy, but even just getting the packages makes you smile.  Then you open said packages, and you realize that people can care a lot, even if you have never ever been in the same room with them.  At a time when I was wondering just what the h--- had happened and why, and felt like I just wanted to take pain meds, and go to bed forever, I received things that were unbelievable then, and appreciated even more, now.

One package was from Lorraine, in Toronto, Canada.  (International!  Canada! One of my favorite places in the universe!)  I was thrilled with them then, and even more so recently, during a pretty dramatic cold snap here in Philadelphia.

Look at the wonderfulness of these socks!  Lorraine took time to knit a pair of socks, and send them to me, hoping that their warmth and coziness would make a difference.  From the moment I opened the package, I loved them - the color, the squishiness of them, the fact that they are a little bit heavier than my usual socks, and therefore perfect for wearing when my feet are cold.  

I wore them a couple of times when I first got home, because even though it was hot outside, my feet got cold at night sometimes.  They fit perfectly, and are so cozy, I would happily never take them off.  In the past week, the temperature has dropped to single digits at night and early in the mornings, along with the ever-popular wind chill factor.  

But it doesn't matter to me, because my feet are cozy, warm, and comfortable, due to the kindness of Lorraine.  (And in case you were wondering, I'm not a complete Philistine, only getting around to thanking her now; I did write a her a thank-you note shortly after I was able to put a coherent sentence together.)

Even better than being the recipient was the reminder that it's not hard to do something that will brighten someone's day, even if you have never met them in real life.  I am trying and want to continue trying to keep this in mind, so that the next time someone I know could use some happy, I will actually think to act on it.

Thanks, Lorraine - you're the best!