That moment right there

There are a lot of things about knitting that I like. I like that I’m making something, I like that those things are (mostly) beautiful.  I like that it’s good for my brain, I like that it’s good for my sanity (mostly) and I like that my ability to make clothes gives my fellow humans a fairly decent reason to help me stay alive after the zombie apocalypse. Those are the big things I like.  This morning, drinking coffee and planning my day, I was knitting on the cowl and I looked over at the ball of yarn, and my heart leapt a little for just a moment, and I thought of a small thing about knitting that I like.

almost 2015-08-28

It’s that moment that comes after you’ve ripped back a bunch of knitting, and you’ve wound the yarn that you pulled from your work back around the outside of the ball.  You start knitting again, and you’re using the yarn you used before. Pulling it from around the ball, gaining back the ground you lost. You keep knitting, and knitting, but none of it really counts, and then you happen to glance at the ball, and see that there’s only a little bit wound around the outside anymore. Another few rounds, another few wraps disappear, and then it is that moment. It is that great moment when you’ve knit up all the yarn you knit before, and suddenly you’re knitting fresh yarn, yarn that’s never been knit before, and the whole world opens up again.

newyarn 2015-08-28

No matter what came before, everything from that moment forward, is progress. I love that moment.

Since I’m making progress on all manner of things today, not just the cowl (by the way, I’ve updated my gig page again. Check in if you’re near Boston, Calgary, Lethbridge, Vancouver, St Andrews By-the-Sea, or The Dalles. A bunch of you have asked about Rhinebeck, and yes, I’ll be there, but just as a knitter. I’ll be around, but have no events scheduled. Cuts into the wool time.)  I thought I’d tackle the Karmic Balancing gifts again. I know, I’m horribly behind to have that still going on, but it’s amazingly time consuming – and I keep needing many hours free to catch up. Today I have two hours to throw at it, so let’s see how many I can get through! (I’ll keep going as I have time. I promise. If you’ve sent me an email with a gift, you’ll hear from me when its your turn.)

First, some gorgeous patterns from Susanne Visch. (You know, one of the best parts of this is getting to see patterns I hadn’t noticed.  I love these.) Susanne has very generously donated at ton of them! She will be sending her Gladiool hat and cowl set to Beth J.

Gladioolhatanccowl 2015-08-28

The Ijskristal hat and cowl set pattern goes to Susan.

ijskristalhatandcowl 2015-08-28

Zoel hat and scarf pattern to Rosane M.

Zoelhatandscarf 2015-08-28

The very beautiful Schelp Shawl will be going to Kathleen P, Karen W and Colynn H.

schelpshawl 2015-08-28

Moerbei is for Hannah S, Crystal R and Helen O.

moerbei 2015-08-28

Bloemen in het gras (I don’t speak Dutch, but I bet that means “blooming in the grass) shawl is for Mary M, Amy F and Stephania F.

bloemenshwl 2015-08-28

Her charming Zeeglas Cowl goes to Susan H, Rose M and Ashley F.

Zeeglas 2015-08-28

The Flits! Cowl is off to Monique G, Sally O and Miriam E.

Flitscowl 2015-08-28

and last, but certainly not least, Kay B, Victoria L, and Elizabeth A will be enjoying a copy of the Ayamaru Cowl.

Ayamarucowl 2015-08-28

Carolina has two generous gifts, a stocking kit with all the fixings for Jennifer D.

stockingkit 2015-08-28

and 14 skeins of beautiful Alpakas yarn for Jesse K. (14 is a lot. I wonder what Jesse will make?)

lotsalpaca 2015-08-28

From Shannon (delightful person in real life, and friend of the show) her fantastic bundle of knitting apps.   Knittrick and Knitamus for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. (I actually use these, and love them) for Arlin C, Elizabeth C, and Maro B. (All their emails were sent from Apple devices, so I know they can use them!)

knittrick 2015-08-28

If that wasn’t enough, Six skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas Metalico, Cinnabar colorway.  50% baby alpaca, 50% raw silk. Delicious stuff, and it’s enough for Katy A to make the Etched Rio Wrap (which is what Shannon planned it for, but it would be awesome for anything.)
metalico 2015-08-28

Whew! I know that doesn’t look like much, but that’s 27 gifts! More tomorrow, I promise.  Joe’s out of town, and when he’s not around, my whole world opens up. For now, I’m off to the sailboat. Midge beckons, and there won’t be many more days like this.