Chickenlips Knitting

I'm one of those people who never wins anything, so imagine how jazzed I was to find out I'd won a random drawing for knitting a helmetliner for the troops. SP9 participants were challenged to do so by Kerry, our hostess. Thank you, Kerry! Buttery soft baby alpaca. This fiber calls to me to knit a nice warm hat, and maybe a pair of mitts.

Lucky Me

I've been thinking lately on how knitting has impacted my life...you may be thinking, "oh no, she's about to wax philosophical" in which case you might be more entertained by this. But seriously folks--I've not only found an activity with limitless capacity to keep me fascinated; even color alone can absorb me to no end, but through my love of knitting I've met the most amazing people, both in person and online. I'd like to tell you about just a few of them. First of all, there's Jami, who owns one of the Portland metro area's charming yarn shops, Knitting Bee. Before I found my current job, I spent a few months working there, and enjoyed it a great deal, and also the Bee has been my mainstay for stash-building. Due to concerns ranging from the mundane to the unpleasant, (mainly my health issues,) I haven't been knitting lately with the Wednesday-night crowd at the Bee, but I miss the regulars and semi-regulars: Trish, Malia, Rosemary, Elaine, Cindy, Shelley, Charlene, Stephanie and Becca, to name a very few. Being in the company of these ladies is affirmation that I am, indeed, at home and with kindred spirits.

Also special to me is my monthly shawl-knitting group. It's been wonderful to start out with one other interested person, and the basic pattern laid out in the book Knitting Into The Mystery, and watch the movement take shape. We now number three to five regulars, and thanks to a wonderful knitter named Trish, we are amassing finished shawls and a variety of stitch patterns.

Then there are friends I've made through this very blog: Flutter, kay, my secret pal Meg who spoiled me silly, and Nikki, whom it was my pleasure to spoil. I've learned that I don't necessarily have to meet someone in person to establish a significant connection--what is shared electronically is every bit as meaningful as with a face-to-face chat; sometimes even more so. I appreciate all who stop by here and leave a comment. The "girl with kaleidoscope eyes," whom I only know as "F.", took the time to send me a postcard from her home town of Palmdale, Calif. That was so cool--it absolutely made my day!

I guess the upshot of all this is that I'm in a reflective, count-your-blessings sort of mood, and looking back over what I've written, I can see that in every way that knitting has touched my life, it's made it better.

# posted by Sharon @ 7:34 PM