Happiness, delivered by USPS

I love shopping online; it's fast, it's convenient, it's cheap. And I love getting stuff in the mail, even though I ordered it and paid for it and was expecting it; it's still like Christmas when I see a box in my driveway! So, I was the usual amount of excited to see a box lying in my driveway when I was waiting for a particular shipment, but this one had a secondary surprise inside. Well, maybe only for me, because I happen to like this sort of thing. I am really big into textures and colors; sometimes the right combination speaks to my soul. It's why I like webdesign, cooking, and costuming; all three endeavors require matching textures and colors to get a particular effect. And when I get it right, it's just so... right! It's rewarding on an artistic level that is hard to put into words. When i opened the package, I saw that same amount of pleasing 'right'.

It is 100% Peruvian yarn, in a mink heather. Even the name is perfectly delicious. I am so excited to work with it.  Normally, I do like to pick up yarn and fabric in person, because I love shopping for it, and looking at all of the options, but this yard is in a finer weight that isn't very common at most chain stores, and I particularly wanted a wool yarn.  Why am I using an uncommon weight in wool, you ask? I'll tell you, and it has to do with another package of happy that USPS delivered the week before. It came from a new friend I met on Facebook, who I know through a longer time friend and website client, Cathy, who is also a greyhound owner. Cathy is one of the most positive and charming people I have ever 'met,' (while we've worked together for years, we've YET to actually meet in person!), and when she suggested I would like her friend and co-conspirator Dawn-Marie, of course I said yes. So I friended Dawn-Marie, and we became Facebook friends, and I admire her artwork and projects (she is a fine artist, you can see her work on her website, The Art of the Home.)  Dawn-Marie took pity on me for being unable to button the buttons on the back of the regency gown so I could take pictures, and so she said she had a buttonhook laying around that she would send me.  I don't think she had any idea how excited I was, I've never even seen a buttonhook in person, nevermind OWNING one??? She put it in the mail that same day, and I had it two days later. I came out of my house and saw the USPS priorty mail envelope lying in my driveway, with a beacon of light shining upon it, and angels singing in the heavens above. No, really. Swear.  I picked up the package, cradled it gingerly in my arms, and carried it inside.  Where I had to fight off the dogs, who all thought it was for them and they wanted to open it themselves. Because they are faster at that sort of thing, you know. ; ) I opened the envelope, and when I saw what else was inside it, I forgot about the buttonhook for a minute. I mean, completely forgot. It was as if Dawn-Marie sent me a holy grail. Or at least a really really awesome thing that absolutely blown me away. Now, I know what you're thinking, a box of yarn really isn't as awesome as I think it is, so how great can this holy grail be? Well, if you aren't me, or at least like me, you might be really disappointed. But I was speechless. And I think my jaw was hanging wide open.

Did you see the price? 10 cents??? How amazing is that???  It's full of sweater patterns, page after page.  I found the publication date inside, 1940!!! I think my eyes left my head for a minute when I spied that!  Not only is this just a cool awesome vintage magazine, but the 1940's were the knitters heyday. The patterns are very intricate and finely worked, and of a quality to rival custom knit pieces, unlike the larger yarn and needles many of us use because they are faster.  As I flipped through the magazine, one more surprise remained:

I have been searching for a basic, normal cardigan knitting pattern with a round collar and buttons up the front since JANUARY.  I would have thought this was the most common pattern to find, but it is so not! Many now feature relaxed necklines, or v-necks, or a boxier shape, and I so specifically wanted this exact pattern.  And here, five months later, in a package from a new friend that was really to mail a buttonhook was this amazing magazine with the perfect sweater pattern I had been searching for. What are the odds???

Once I was able to set the magazine down, I pulled out this:

This is seriously so super cool.  And it works!!!! I haven't tried the dress on and used this yet, mostly because I'm afraid I'll get stuck in the dress and I'll have to go to one of my neighbors and ask for help and that will be really, really mortifying. So instead, it sits by my sewing desk / antique thread spool holder that is perched on a picnic table bench (don't ask) and I pick it up and cherish it every day when I pass by. I am going to try the gown on. One day when I know my neighbor is home. ; )

In the meantime, I researched using modern knitting yarns and needles to work vintage patterns, and found the correct conversions, ordered enough yarn for a sweater, and picked up the right needles, and now I am ready to start! It will take me a long, long time to knit this, because of the small yarn weight and needle size, but I won't be able to wear it until this winter, anyhow. What a fun, fun project to work on!

While I joke about happiness being delivered by USPS, this is so much bigger. I am so fortunate to have friends that I've never met in person that make my life richer, and to receive a package with a buttonhook and vintage knitting pattern magazine that is just so perfectly me by someone who has never even met me is truly an amazing gift. I feel so very lucky, and the world seems a little smaller now. : )