Yarn Along 2015.8: Rosamond, and a Surprise Gift

Joining with Ginny and the Yarn Along on a beautiful sunny Wednesday today.

Still working on my Rosamond socks for the KAL I'm participating in.  Don't be afraid of the lacy pattern, it is very easy to follow and knits up incredibly quick.  So quick, in fact, that I have the first sock almost complete all ready. Just a few more inches of foot to do, then it's on to the toe and I'll be grafting the end by this weekend.  :0)

Rosamond, lovely Rosamond

For the past month and a half, I have been part of a secret scarf swap on a forum that I've been a member of for several years now.  The Forest Glade cowl that I knit was for that swap. The person I knit it for had no idea that I had her name (and color preferences) for the swap, at least not until the day it arrived on her doorstep via the USPS with my name on the return address.  The cowl turned out quite a bit longer than I had thought it would (why I didn't envision the correct length, I don't know).  I took a few pictures of it draped over the newel post on my stairs before boxing it up and sending it off.  I think I'm going to make another one, at a future date, to keep for myself as I really like how it turned out.

full length

wrapped once

wrapped twice

The Sunlight Shawl went to a lady who had initially signed up to be part of the swap, but, due to being diagnosed with cancer, had to back out right before participants were assigned who to knit for.  She had been in remission for almost two years when she received the unwelcome news that the cancer had returned.  I knit the Sunlight Shawl for her, saying prayers with every stitch.  I mailed it out late last week, and received a beautiful message from her on Monday.  I'm hoping that wearing the shawl gives her strength and comfort as she again battles for her life (she is young; still in her twenties I believe).

Participating in the swap didn't just mean I was knitting for someone else.  It also meant that someone was knitting for me!!  While my packages were being received by others on Monday, a box also arrived on my doorstep.  And inside the box, I found a wonderful wide infinity scarf/cowl in a most interesting color that appears as blue, deep blue, dark aquamarine, or gunmetal gray depending on the light; as well as a drop spindle and bit of roving! I had known when I signed up for the swap that I would get a scarf or cowl of some sort at the end.  But I never expected my secret knitter to send along a drop spindle and roving--I had mentioned on the forum earlier this year wanting to learn to spin but didn't think that with the grandkids living here I had time, money or space to invest in a spinning wheel.  So the drop spindle is just the perfect thing; I can try spinning without needing much storage space or any outlay of money!

my secret swap gifts

As far as reading this week, I've made a lot of progress on The Nourishing Homestead, but I still have over 200 pages left to read and the book is due back to the library on Friday.  Because of the number of holds on it, I won't be able to renew it and keep it another three weeks in order to read the entire book at my leisure.  I've read enough to know that I don't want to try to rush and skim through the remainder of the book in order to finish it before the library closes on Friday evening.  I've also read enough to know that I don't want to add my name to the long request list for it (I was lucky #1 on the list, so got it hot off the presses!) and wait a few months for it to come back to me.  Guess I'm just going to have to buy a copy for myself.