stash karma
November 8, 2010
so i drew a winner for my contest on friday,
and i know you’ll join me in congratulating miss. jen
who has selected this lovely skein of socks that rock.
mo approves.
to those of you who didn’t win, thanks for playing.
i hope you’ll still keep me on your blogrolls.
if there was a particular skein that you were hoping for,
drop me a line. we’ll work something out.
however,
stash just doesn’t seem to want to leave!
in fact, as one skein of blue moon leaves my house,
three more have arrived.
does this yarn look familiar?
it should.
it’s luscious silk in the “manly yes, but i like it too” colorway.
a few months ago, i knit a shawl out of this very yarn
for the lovely tina newton
so why the hell do i have three more skeins of it?
here’s the scoop:
even though we’re both pretty busy,
(tina obviously more than i)
every now and then,
she drops me a line.
or i drop her a line.
sometimes,
i drop her a stack of post-it notes.
in our most recent exchange,
it turns out that she lost the shawl.
she was sick about it, and wasn’t sure if she should tell me.
being a knitter, i immediately offered to reknit it.
i mean, she loved it so much. how could i let her feel bad?
i said my finger was poised above “purchase” button on the BMFA website, and i was ready to dig up the pattern.
she wouldn’t hear of it.
she insisted she give me the yarn.
of course her generosity floweth over
since there is no way i’ll need three skeins.
apparently, the only real way to get rid of stash is to knit it.
any idea what i should do with the third one?
the story doesn’t end there though.
after i got the yarn tina wrote:
“I traced my steps that day over and over and realized that it probably dropped off my shoulders when I headed this toddler off at the pass because her mum was too far behind and not gaining the speed her little girl was.
So I went back to the grocery store that this had happened at a couple of days ago and was about to ask after it when I saw that one of the cashiers had it on.
She was showing it to a customer and was obviously in love and well I couldn’t, I just couldn’t.
I thought you’d understand.
You do right?”
can you believe that?
tina is a bigger knitter than i!
i would’ve snatched that shawl off that cashier
faster than a pissed off queen snatching a wig off.
still,
my answer was obvious.
of course i understand!
tina let the cashier keep the shawl
for the same reason i immediately offered to reknit it.
we knit, at least in part, because we love when people love hand knits.
clearly, the knitting gods work in mysterious ways
and that cashier was meant to have shawl number one.
this time around i’m making sure to say all the right prayers,
lighting extra incense, candles, and such
to make sure this one stays on the intended shoulders.
maybe i’ll send a shawl pin to be safe.
oh yeah,
she also hired me to be a test knitter.
can you say, “yarn support”?
can you say, “paid to knit”?!
i’m a lucky lucky man.
stephen houghton of hizKNITS may be the first man on the (blue) moon,
but there were 17 apollo missions, bitches!
November 8, 2010 at 7:21 pm
Karma is a wonderful thing indeed. I like to think I’d be as wonderful as Tina under the same circumstances and hope I really wouldn’t have tackled the afore-mentioned cashier to the ground. Yup, I like to think that.
My current fave bumper stickers that earned a place on my ratty ol’ Jeep:
Zen Buddhism: Don’t even think about it
Karma is as karma does
Yup, you’re living right, my friend. You’re living right.
November 8, 2010 at 7:47 pm
congrats miss jen on the skein-it was my favorite too!
you are quite the knitter to be so generous as to reknit- i ponder… what would i have done??????
but that cashier is feeling blessed so it’s all good.
November 8, 2010 at 8:37 pm
i love every word of this.
November 8, 2010 at 8:51 pm
That new grey yarn of yours is divine.
November 8, 2010 at 8:52 pm
Well…I’m sad I didn’t win but hey-ho I never win anything…
However. I had to chuckle a bit at this post but I am VERY impressed with you and Tina, But I agree with you Steve. I’d of ripped that thing right off her shoulders in the blink of an eye and ran out the door not looking back..haha
November 9, 2010 at 8:22 am
Thank you for starting my day off with a giggle and a smile.
November 9, 2010 at 5:08 pm
Wow! You and Tina both are very generous souls. That cashier is one lucky gal — I hope she treasures her shawl! May the knitting gods smile upon you and Tina both! 🙂
November 10, 2010 at 2:46 am
It is just plain right when you do the right thing. And it feels good all over, with you, with the other, with the rest of us, with the cosmos.
Enjoy knitting (and quilting when the urge hits).
November 12, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Bless Tina. I’m sure I wouldn’t have been as generous as she was. I’m also not so sure I’d reknit it. But that also might explain why I don’t have the best karma going…