Vivian finished her
Muir. When she started it I looked at the cool pink yarn and wondered what inspired her to buy it. You see I'm nuts for pink (have you noticed?) and Vivian's, well...not. So I watched her work on this shawl. When she finished it I saw that she had some yarn left over, so I made some snarky remark about how she must be sick of it and she offered to trade. Hmmm, trade. It's wool/cashmere. I countered with perusal of my sock stash...I mean, I have tons of sock yarn -- surely I could give some up for wool/cashmere...in pink no less! And we made a date for her to come see the stash.
On Thursday, our guild night, she came in and dropped the remaining ball and an extra skein totaling nearly 1400 yds in a pile in front of me. It felt yummy in my hands and we've already established that I liked the color. A few people came by to pet it and I proudly beamed, "It's mine". So around the table we went, doing our usual show and tell. It was Vivian's turn and she modeled her beautiful Muir. We oohed we ahhed and I pet my yarn with a smile. It was a very big meeting and it took an hour and a half to hear everyone. Afterwards I got up to mingle. I was discussing my RoundTrip sweater (which I wore that night) with some others when Vivian came up to me and handed me the bag containing her Muir. I don't even remember what she said (something about me loving pink). The room became a blur (because I was near tears) and the next thing we're hugging. OMG. Vivian GAVE ME HER MUIR! Not just the leftover yarn -- the whole dang thing!
Now it's one thing to give away baby sweaters and hats to perfect strangers, or even knit special items for family and friends for their birthday or as holiday gifts. As knitters we know the time and effort involved and it's no small thing to receive a handknit item on any occaision. But this, 3-4 months out of her knitting life, just because I like pink. Well, ok it's more than that, I mean, we are friends, but still! We're talking handknit...cashmere...lace! There are no words. I was truly honored.
I brought it home and the next night wore it around the house and I made up my mind that when she came she was welcome to whatever she wanted. She came over the next day. She hadn't seen the stash before. I think she may have been overwhelmed. I showed her around the room and she dug through the sock stash that was spilling over at her feet. I told her I'd be happy to pull a bin out, any bin, they have their contents listed on the front. She took a cursory glance, but stuck with the sock stash. I think at this point I was relieved. I wasn't sure how'd I'd feel once she found something and actually took it. I was grateful for the Muir and the yarn but this was getting scary. I was letting someone other than a blood relative a shot at my stash. She found 1 skein of some handpainted yarn I got on eBay, and I offered her another. She also found some fingering weight merino I had dyed myself and asked, a little hesitant if she could have one. I could refuse her nothing. I have the Muir. Thankfully she stopped there and happily left with her newly acquired stash.
Here's me with the Muir, I'm wearing it upside down because it makes the trees look like hearts. I re-skeined the leftover ball (for easier storage), and it and its mate are sitting back there on the desk. Does it look like it was worth the hole in my stash? It is, however, that was filled with a few clicks on eBay.
Up next: Another meme...
