I'd like to tell you about Ruthanna. Everyone who meets her wants to grow up to be just like her. She is 87 years young and she continues to amaze all of her friends and family. A couple of years ago she had a knee replacement and since "that went so well" she had the other knee worked on this past winter. She has no fears. It would have taken me months to make that decision. Not her, without hesitation she scheduled that surgery and was ready to go within a couple of weeks. It was no big deal. She just took care of business.
She was raised on a farm. She married Jim and they raised their family on a farm. She told me once that she was so happy to have lived that life. She said she learned so much on the farm. I think that must have been true. She is as wise as any women I know, but in a quiet, unassuming way.
Ruthanna has knitted for more years that I have lived on this earth, but I think the secret of her youth is the eagerness to learn something new and to ask for help if she needs it. Here was a woman who could knit and crochet circles around all of us and yet she often signed up for a class just to learn a new way of doing things.
Her winning smile and quick wit won her many admirers in the yarn shop. She was helpful and gentle with new folks who would wander in the store, making them feel quite at home. She is an encourager and good knitting companion.
I always could count on her to pop in to see the latest shipments each week. Nasty weather did not detour her...In fact, I always suspected that bad weather just made her antsy to get out and about.
When I announced the closing of my shop she was gracious, but I knew that she would surely miss the camaraderie she found at the cottage. She came in several times a week to stock up on supplies and patterns for what she thought might be a fiber drought. She thanked me and others for always "being so nice". But here's the thing...she treated everyone with consideration. I can not imagine one mean spirited bone in her body. She seems to find the best in everyone and isn't afraid to tell them so .
Lucky are we that have come to know this charming woman...and is it any wonder so many aspire to be just like her?
I will check in on her. She came to love Baby Twist and bought several large hanks. She said she couldn't help herself. I understand that and I imagine she will have them worked up into quite a masterpiece.
My sincere wish is that you have someone just like Ruthanna in your life ~
Cathi
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Those nasty detours!
Alpaca With a Twist is on the move!
After spending the last fifteen years of my life sequestered in a couple of small businesses, I now find myself trekking over roads and highways visiting yarn shops in all corners of the country. We determined that I will stay within Indiana to begin with, to get my feet wet, so to speak. Needless to say, my navigation skills within a yarn shop are a bit more fine-tuned than my road skills. But hey, just another life chapter, right?
So now I get to do the fun stuff...take this wonderful fiber to shops who host these events. I love the excitement that each guest brings, and I can't wait! The car is packed, the tank is full, and I am ready to roll.
After four weeks of "retirement," I began my first adventure of taking the Alpaca With A Twist Cash and Carry Trunk Show to a yarn shop located about 40 minutes away from my home. That would be 40 minutes if the roads are all open, the google map is updated, and I wouldn't have to bypass a bridge that is under construction. Of course, those were the exact complications of my journey!
You know even that would not have been too bad, had it not been for my "quick stop" to my bank prior to leaving town. As I am sitting at the drive thru I hear then see a firetruck racing into the bank's parking lot followed by an ambulance. I'm not sure what the trouble was, and I didn't ask. As you can imagine, this was not a quick stop, but no worries, I just made a quick call to let the shop owner to let her know that I may be a few minutes late.
No time for that breakfast stop...but that banana and water I tucked away for lunch would tide me over. I gobbled it up before I left town. Michael Buble's latest CD was playing loudly and I'm thinking..."now this, it is good." (You know those kind of moments when the sun is shining brightly and things look really fine.)
And then it happens. Only 14 minutes later I have no idea where I am going, as the road is closed. The bridge is out, and I have a choice: left or right. I choose left. I should have known by the way my morning began that could be a wrong call.
I saw places and burgs that I didn't know existed. I followed a tractor that was in no hurry. I was getting nervous and I had to make a pit stop...but there were no pits to stop. Needless to say, I wasn't making very good time. However, as you might have guessed, I finally made it to my destination and jumped out of my car.
And what to my wondering eyes should appear but two familiar faces who had come to support the trunk show and to say "hi". As they helped me unpack we caught up on what they had been working on and we began planning their next project.
I met with many fine folks that day and left feeling happy to have spent the afternoon inside a world of color, fiber and creativity. Every yarn shop has a different feel, created by the vision of it's owner. That is what makes each visit seem like an adventure. That is why we knitters and crocheters scout shops all through our travels.
So why do I tell this tale? It just goes to prove these truths that I have known for many years.
They are:
1) You never know what is just around the bend.
2) Always be ready for a change in plans.
3) Friendly faces and places can make our days seem A-OK.
The new chapter has begun.
Cathi
After spending the last fifteen years of my life sequestered in a couple of small businesses, I now find myself trekking over roads and highways visiting yarn shops in all corners of the country. We determined that I will stay within Indiana to begin with, to get my feet wet, so to speak. Needless to say, my navigation skills within a yarn shop are a bit more fine-tuned than my road skills. But hey, just another life chapter, right?
So now I get to do the fun stuff...take this wonderful fiber to shops who host these events. I love the excitement that each guest brings, and I can't wait! The car is packed, the tank is full, and I am ready to roll.
After four weeks of "retirement," I began my first adventure of taking the Alpaca With A Twist Cash and Carry Trunk Show to a yarn shop located about 40 minutes away from my home. That would be 40 minutes if the roads are all open, the google map is updated, and I wouldn't have to bypass a bridge that is under construction. Of course, those were the exact complications of my journey!
You know even that would not have been too bad, had it not been for my "quick stop" to my bank prior to leaving town. As I am sitting at the drive thru I hear then see a firetruck racing into the bank's parking lot followed by an ambulance. I'm not sure what the trouble was, and I didn't ask. As you can imagine, this was not a quick stop, but no worries, I just made a quick call to let the shop owner to let her know that I may be a few minutes late.
No time for that breakfast stop...but that banana and water I tucked away for lunch would tide me over. I gobbled it up before I left town. Michael Buble's latest CD was playing loudly and I'm thinking..."now this, it is good." (You know those kind of moments when the sun is shining brightly and things look really fine.)
And then it happens. Only 14 minutes later I have no idea where I am going, as the road is closed. The bridge is out, and I have a choice: left or right. I choose left. I should have known by the way my morning began that could be a wrong call.
I saw places and burgs that I didn't know existed. I followed a tractor that was in no hurry. I was getting nervous and I had to make a pit stop...but there were no pits to stop. Needless to say, I wasn't making very good time. However, as you might have guessed, I finally made it to my destination and jumped out of my car.
And what to my wondering eyes should appear but two familiar faces who had come to support the trunk show and to say "hi". As they helped me unpack we caught up on what they had been working on and we began planning their next project.
I met with many fine folks that day and left feeling happy to have spent the afternoon inside a world of color, fiber and creativity. Every yarn shop has a different feel, created by the vision of it's owner. That is what makes each visit seem like an adventure. That is why we knitters and crocheters scout shops all through our travels.
So why do I tell this tale? It just goes to prove these truths that I have known for many years.
They are:
1) You never know what is just around the bend.
2) Always be ready for a change in plans.
3) Friendly faces and places can make our days seem A-OK.
The new chapter has begun.
Cathi
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