Wednesday, March 28, 2007

The Perfect Gift from a Perfect Husband

I can remember a time when the perfect gift would have been, say, a new kayak paddle or wet suit booties. Unfortunately, I can barely remember those days. Time motors on, leaving tire tracks on my brain.

Of course, it would have been difficult (but not impossible!) to knit with a kayak paddle, and it's equally unlikely that I will paddle a river with this lovely stuff:


Note: The closest I've come to paddling with yarn was a float down the Mekong last year in Laos. On the boat with me was a ball of Schaefer Anne and two circular needles. We were somewhere in the middle of this leisurely cruise when I decided that Anne made lousy sock yarn and was thenceforth transferrred to the lace yarn bin. Of course, none of you believe that I would be knitting socks while floating down the Mekong in blistering August heat, so here's a travel picture. Really. It's true! I did that!



In any case, this anniversary gift was your basic perfect present. For those of you who are just tuning in, Roy called Sue at Little Knits and gave her a credit card number, plus a primitive instruction consisting of No Brown. Sue and her coworkers did all the rest.



At the top, we have a Lantern Moon basket, a #1 circular Addi Lace needle, and four scrumptious balls of Bollicina Cashmere/Silk. From left to right below we have Handmaiden Sea Silk in Paris; Baruffa CashWool in burgundy, Schaefer Trenna in Jane Addams, and Schaefer Anne in the most wonderful shades of dark purple.

I forgot to place the two turquoise skeins of Jade Sapphire Cashmere/Silk in the photo, because while I was arranging the lineup, Roy strolled into the kitchen, grabbed the potato masher, and announced that he was going outside to do some yard work. My brain immediately went into overdrive, trying to envision what sort of yard work anyone would do with a potato masher. Don't ask.

Also included in the package were two charming patterns for a shawl and a reversible cable scarf. The latter looks like the Sea Silk would be perfect.

So folks, after you have finished sighing in envy, forward this page to your SO with a note that says Yes! The Perfect Gift!


19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! Can your husband give my husband a few lessons? :-) What a wonderful gift!

lori said...

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! Our pics were a little fuzzy, so thanks for the close up! That pattern on the right, that looks interesting. Will have to requisition higher resolution equipment, or your credit card history, so I can see what it is. Or you could make it easy and tell?
I'm off to the Schaefer web site...and to a judge to get an order of seizure for yarn/research purposes. That Roy, he's a keeper! Ya'll could do his & hers classes--while you're teaching knitting, he could teach the SO's about proper gifting for the knitter. Think of how many marriages you could save! It would be a public service, really.

fleegle said...

The pattern on the right is appropriately called "A Girl's Best Friend" from Jade Sapphire.

Giving husbands lessons in anything is akin to braiding water. But I will ask him and see if there's anything in The Husband's Manual that might be useful for persuasion purposes.

Lori, we keep finding bugs everywhere. I didn't appreciate finding one inside my toothpaste tube. Did you really want to hear the sounds of a scrubbing toothbrush?

Lori said...

Lucky you! It truly is the perfect gift. Perhaps in time my husband will learn to buy me yarn... this year for both christmas and birthday, I received NO WOOL! He said he didn't know how to pick the right stuff, and that I already had so much... *psh-aw!* Looking forward to seeing you work knit magic with it :)

lori said...

Be glad you gained our attention just recently. It took years of sensitivity training to convince "the boys" that feminine hygiene product boxes were not "appropriate" or "funny" places to hide surveillance devices.
And your lace is even more amazing, now that we know you don't know "left" from "right!"

fleegle said...

Lori, that's the Japanese left. That is to say, the Jade Saspphire pattern is on the American left. Or, on the right as you look from the bottom.

lori said...

Er, does your concept of "Japanese left & right" apply to those crazy cables from the other day? If so, no wonder the sounds of heads exploding could be heard all over the blog-o-sphere! Maybe I should ship my mom to Japan. She'd head in the right direction for once in her life. "No, Mom, your OTHER left." If I had a nickel for every time...

Big Alice said...

Mmmm, lucky you! The yarns are gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

oh, well done, Fleegle's Perfect Husband! mine could definitely use some lessons, although he is open to the "just let me pick out my own yarn gift" gift-giving concept.

I know you said not to ask, but I'm kind of curious about the potato masher...

Anonymous said...

The round kind of potato masher or squiggly kind of potato masher?

fleegle said...

THe flat kind of potato masher with slits in it.

And Roy says he'd be happy to host a class for any SO that can be pursuaded to attend.

But perhaps we can get Lori to record a lecture and beam it to everyone instead.

Lorette said...

Lovely haul! And I totally can understand knitting on the ride down the river.
Every time I suggest "yarn" when my husband asks what I want for a gift, he replies with some paraphrase of "you already have it all". Silly man. Clearly I don't. I don't have any of those yarns.

Lynn said...

Does your husband have any unmarried male relatives of similar wisdom and generosity in my preferred age range [45-60]? I am stunned well past the point of envy, having recently completed numerous small projects in "Anne".

Anonymous said...

Lovely lovely new stash additions. You have a Keeper. Backing up to the float down the Mekong (I can only imagine the pleasures of that in August), please tell me about the Schaeffer Ann for socks. Their colors are so gorgeous, but I just haven't gotten around to knitting socks with it yet.
And what kind of bugs made it into the toothpaste?

fleegle said...

Dear Angeluna:
I found Anne a bit too slippery for sock yarn. I am a loose knitter, and even on sizez #0 needles, I couldn't get a nice, tight sock fabric.

And the bugs are courtesy of Lori, at the NSA. she and her colleagues appear to be closely watching this house, for some reason. Perhaps it's the Patriot missile by the garage?

fleegle said...

Dear Lynn:

I am so sorry, but Roy's brother is married and I don't think he has the same attitude towards knitting that Roy does. However, if one does pop up, we will let you know. In the meantime, you can ask your husband to enroll in Roy's American Husband Training class. Details to be worked out, depending on class size.

Lacefreak said...

Dear fleegle,

What a wonderful and considerate spouse! All those gifts are just terrific and no doubt will be giving you alot of pleasusre in the months to come. Having such a treasure trove can't help but be fodder for your creative knitting Muse. It's the gift that keeps on giving! Happy Anniversary!

Anonymous said...

Thank you Fleegle for the comments on Anne. I'm a tight sock knitter, but when fingering (pawing?) Anne, it seemed flimsy. Guess that's why I haven't purchased her yet, albeit seduced by her colorways.

lori said...

Am busily filing the appropriate forms to get the "Training of the American Husband aka Never Try to Teach a Pig to Sing" satellite broadcast underway. Must be filed in triplicate, with each triplicate copy also filed in duplicate.*sigh* And we all know you hollowed out the Patriot to use as a "secure yarn stash." Good thinking!