Monday, June 18, 2007

"It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all"*



I received my package from Gina, my delightful scarf pal from ISE4. How I love my sweet pink ripply scarf. I wonder if she made a ripple pattern on purpose, because of my ripple obsession. Well, it is divine. A true, cheery pink alternated with a beautiful pink variegated yarn, so soft, the stitches so pretty, the scalloped edging so true...there is something unbelievably touching about receiving a bit of coziness from a total stranger! And handmade just for me!

My new scarf posed for some glamour shots. As you can see, it has many moods.

Languid:



Insouciant:



Bold:



Introspective:



My pal sent along as well the generous amount of leftover yarn (I can't wait to see what it becomes), some dainty stitch markers, a terrific little knitter's reference to tuck in my workbag, and some calling cards she ordered from Moo.com, which came to me all the way from England. These cards are so magical--tiny little fairy calling cards--with a picture of my ripple afghan on one side, and my info on the other, with a quote from Laura Ingalls Wilder*. But the really nice thing about this gift is the reason for it: my pal noticed my love of Laura, and because she herself is a fan, remembered the bit in "Little Town on the Prairie" when Laura's ma and pa allow her to buy "name cards"--costing a whole quarter, they were truly a luxury item for the Ingalls family--so that she can have the things of other girls her age. So my lovely pal found me my very own name cards!!! But how could she have known that this is probably my favorite part in all of the Little House books? I am so incredibly touched. I often muse on the differences between my modern life and Laura's old-fashioned one--and compare them unfavorably--maybe I romanticize the past, but our world is so noisy and fast and somehow corrupt...yet, my new calling cards are the way I want my life to be--of necessity, modern ("new-fangled," Pa Ingalls would say), but like my knitting and crochet, rooted in the good things of the past.

Here are the special gifts:






Thank you so much, Gina.

3 comments:

Too Little Time said...

How wonderful and exciting - The little name cards were always one of my favorite also - very similar to the calling cards left by visitors in all my english romance novels.... which I have attempted to create for myself in the past. One of the nicities of a bygone time. Karrie

Tracy said...

What a beautiful scarf and I love how it vogued for you showing off so many moods! What a special scarf indeed ;-)

Team Jolias said...

OK, this restores my faith in humanity. At least the portion that stitches.--Megan