Kettle and Couch

One measure of friendship consists not in the number of things friends can discuss, but in the number of things they need no longer mention. --Clifton Fadiman
It's an interesting old world, isn't it? It's full of all kinds of people with all kinds of personalities and all kinds of interests. There are billions of people on this planet, and most of them I will never know. Some of them, I kinda wish I didn't know...

And then there are some that I am so grateful to know.

I was "faking it" when I first started this blog all those years ago. I did it in a desperate bid to try and get a job at Ravelry. "Share your profile, your projects, and your blog. Let us know how much you love yarn!" The thought of working in a yarn-related field was tantalizing to me. I wanted that job badly.

The problem was that I'd barely posted any projects online at that point, and I did NOT have a blog. So, I found Blogger, and whipped one up and started writing about whatever I could think of. I spent hours and hours out of my week looking for places to share my blog with like-minded people. And then, to my surprise, people started reading it.

One of them was YarnKettle. I can't even remember how long we've been reading each other's blogs. And, last weekend, we met in person for the first time.

You know that worry you get when you're about to meet someone that you've never met in person before but you've been in touch with for a time, either by phone or by email or whatever? I didn't have that. I was pretty sure that this was going to be like peanut butter and jelly: a great combo.

I picked her and her hubby up at the ferry terminal. I stood there, straining my eyes, worried that I'd do the super embarrassing thing of not even recognizing her. But there she was, striding straight towards me with a big smile on her face, walking so quickly that her hubby had to run to catch up.

Yarn people are like that, you know.

It was a great weekend. They stayed at the cabin we love to visit so much, and it was so great to be able to share all of the things I love about this place with them. It was even better to see that everything we liked, they seemed to enjoy as well. It's so rare that having visitors is so easy.

We went to The Loom, where we managed to get her a knitting project (imagine a knitter running out of projects, wink wink). We walked behind the shop to Leola's Studio, where we met this amazingly fluffy doggie:


And we also went to the Teafarm, which I knew she would love (her name isn't YarnKettle for nothing). We sat and enjoyed tea and treats and conversation, and a beautiful evening in the valley:


The next day, we had lunch in Chemainus, and then spent a rainy afternoon wandering through antique shops and playing my favourite game: Whaddaya-think-that-is? We both lingered at the kitchen things, and dithered over whether or not customs would allow them to take home an antique Chinese opium pipe (we thought no), and had lots of laughs.

The cool thing is that, every time her hubby asked me about the sweaters I was wearing (because, when you meet a knitter, you should always wear one of your projects), she knew the answer. She nodded along to everything I said, because she already knew the story. We knew all about each other, and I think we might have started sentences in the middle of the conversation a couple of times, much to the confusion of others around us. We're just that cool.

And, to my utter delight, she brought me these socks, which she worked on furiously prior to arriving and was even battling a greedy airplane passenger who wanted them while she worked on them on the flight over here:


We're both self-proclaimed Selfish Knitters, so I know how lucky I am to have someone think of me so highly as to spend the hours and hours it takes to knit two perfectly-fitting socks for me:


Seriously: how does someone who's never met me, much less my feet, make a pair of socks that fit so perfectly?


I'm trying not to "keep them for best," because socks are meant to be worn. I'll be wearing them today for a few errands, and I'm sitting here with them on. They feel so good. My feet feel hugged:


She brought me the leftover yarn, because, if someone knits you socks, it's always nice to have spare yarn in case you need to darn them:


And she brought me that mug, too. It's from Equinox Farm, where the Crazy Sheep Lady lives, whose blog I follow with equal vigour. I felt like I was getting a relic from some mystical place:


It even has Woolliam on it, which is the coolest sheep on the planet:


And she even brought me more yummy tea. Sigh, lovely:



I had a discouraging day at work the other day, when I learned some disappointing things about some people that I thought I could trust. I was disheartened, but as I sit here and write this, I'm so grateful that I've been lucky enough to meet someone like YarnKettle. It's such a relief to know there are people like her in the world.

She got some bad news today. And I know now, more than ever, that, even without speaking about it, my heart is with her. Some things you don't even have to say.

Many blessings from the Couch, my friend. Thanks for being in my life.

Comments

YarnKettle said…
Oh Adriene so much to say.
First thanks so much for being a wonderful tour guide, shuttle driver, tea lover and all the rest. We enjoyed the time you could spend with us.
I was so nervous to meet you. I too was afraid that I would not recognize you for some silly reason. I'm afraid I gave you the weirdest wave and laugh of my life. What can I say I am a dork!
The answer to your sock question "How could I knit you socks that fit?" Yours are approximately my 130th pair of socks. I've had just a bit of practice in that area. I still won't knit for greedy/demandy type people. I told you a while back you're sock worthy. I'm glad I could prove it to you! Go ahead an wear them when your feet need a hug, D says the same things about my sweaters and socks.
Thanks for understanding about Jack, we're recovering from the grief slowly. It is a long process as you know.
AdrieneJ said…
130 pairs are a lot of practice! Thank you so much again. And it was a true pleasure. I wish you were still here! I hope sometime to come and visit you in your neck of the woods.
Justonescarf said…
Someday we might meet irl, even though I don't really qualify as a knitter any longer. Lol
AdrieneJ said…
You still knit ONE scarf... two, technically. And well, if we meet irl, we'll be so entralled by how awesome we are that it won't matter if you've knit a scarf in the last three years or not! :)