A Shawl I Will Cherish

     Have you ever gotten something that you are so happy with you just have to share it with everyone?  That's how I feel about my shawl.  I'm sure many of you probably already know about this shawl, but while I was outside (in my nightgown and boots, of course) this morning Hon took some pictures of me wearing it.  Let me clarify I do NOT like getting my picture taken, but digressed for this, because I am so deliriously happy with it and really wanted to show off the beautiful work my friend, Kimberly McAlindin does.
     Let me take a step back and tell you a little story on how this shawl began...  This past summer was the Tour de France.  While that is going on, a website (http://www.ravelry.com), has a fun competition running at the same time called the Tour de Fleece.  Teams have friendly competitions and show off the fiber creations they have put together during the tour.  I was on Team Namaste Farms with friends from all over the country.  We had our own friendly competition among ourselves, also.  There were lots of great prizes from fiber and spindles to more fiber and the piece de resistance...the TdF shawl.  Kimberly graciously donated her talents to designing a shawl for the person that spun up the most fiber during the tour.  Now you might not know this about me, but when I see something I reeeeeally like, I reeeeeeally work to do my best to achieve the goal.  I pity the person at an auction that wants the same thing I do.  I spun my fingers off for three weeks, making sure to spin at least a hank of yarn a day and sometimes I got lucky and did a bit more.  I'm a slow spinner so it was a long day to complete the task.  My family was great about it and didn't really bother me, letting me spin and spin.  In the end, my spinning marathon paid off and I won the shawl.  I still honestly can't believe I did it.
     Kimberly told me she'd either knit a shawl from yarn she has or she'd knit it from mine.  Seeing as I've never had a shawl, I decided to spin and dye some yarn that would make the shawl even more meaningful to me.  I dyed BFL, Alpaca, Icelandic, and milk fibers shades of blues and greens then set off spinning.  After I mailed my box of yarn to Kimberly I really started to get nervous, thinking she was going to freak out at the hodge podge of yarn.  I could invision her opening the box and then throwing hanks of yarn at any family members that dared to walk by.  I was nervous for weeks.
     Then the day came that Kimberly gave a preview of my shawl.  It was a little itty bitty peek.  What I could see when I squinted was beautiful!  I had no doubts Kimberly would come up with something spectacular, but that little scrap of a picture showed me there was a lot more to her creation.  Finally the day came when she showed a picture of the completed shawl.  Oh my goodness, my jaw dropped on the floor!  I kept going to the computer and looking at the picture, figuring we'd have to get a new keyboard for all the drool I had deposited on it.  I was so unimaginably happy!  All I could do was wait impatiently for the mailman to deliver it.  Just as I was about to do a woogie woogie dance around the mailbox to get it here quicker, the mailman showed up...with my package.  Tadaaaaaaa!  My shawl was home...on my shoulders...where it was meant to be.
     So, there you have it folks.  My special shawl.  A shawl that truly means a great deal to me.  Kimberly said she knit it using a hairpin lace technique and a crochet edge.  She has truly blessed me with an incredible gift and I appreciate it more than my story can convey.  Thank you so much, Kimberly!  And thank you, Hon, for taking out the camera and clicking off some pictures even with me being fussy about it.  Smiling & Waving, Sharon 

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