Receiving is Pretty Good Too

You know the saying that it is better to give than to receive? I firmly believe in that, and like many of you, I get a whole lot of joy from giving. I mean real grin-a-kool-aid-smile kind of happiness. In fact, I'm such a fan of giving, that I started a whole blog adventure about it. One of the things I like best about giving someone something out of kindness is that moment when they realize that, at some point, you stopped alllllll the other things going on in your life to think about them. And then you didn't just think about them, you acted on that thought. You put your feelings into something tangible. In the case of giving something handmade, you put your time, your energy, your creativity and a little piece of YOU into that gift. And when you see that they appreciate it, or that it does them some good - man oh man. It's hard to beat that warm and fuzzy.

Well it's by that same token that I would now like to celebrate the wonderfulness of receiving...Yesterday I received two packages and you can just guess what was in them....

Mmmmm hmmm - some of my favorite stuff to give AND to receive. Yarn! This gorgeous, colorful, Knit! Me! Now! kind of yarn.

This one is Grandma's Blessing from Briar Rose fibers.
I received this as a Thank You from Kim - the wonderful organizer of the Hope Lodge Charity Blanket Knit-a-Long. I told her that being a part of something so meaningful was definitely thanks enough and I took that as my gift when I took part. But this squishy lovely bonus?? Why thank you very much, I receive it humbly and with much gratitude.

This next one is a yarn I've heard about for a long time, and never actually tried (I believe that counts as a double gift - new yarn, new yarn knitting experience).



This came in the mail from one of my all-time favorite podcasters, Nicole. Get this - I actually won this as a prize for knitting from my stash and decreasing it by over 1000 yards in April's Spring Cleaning Challenge [ravelry link]. In fact, I think knitting from our stash is a gift we should all give ourselves more often. And adding back to the stash through the kindness of others like Nicole and the lovely Ceylun (our challenge administrator) - now that's just good receiving! Oh what to make??! Send your suggestions pleez! I welcome them.

Sigh...I'm happy as a lark. (Why don't people say that anymore? It's just so fitting.)