Sometimes good things happen to good people.

Take me, for example.

I've experienced my share of difficult times. I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I worked two jobs to get through college. I spent twelve years teaching public high school. I've had loved ones die suddenly, been through trying family times, and borrowed trouble from tomorrow when today's troubles were more than enough. Just like many of you.

And I've also turned around and seen the writing on the wall, the writing that was never apparent when I needed it to be, but that time and experience illuminated. Most often, the writing looked like an outstretched finger, marking a direction that I didn't want to take but did anyway, not knowing it was going to someday be for the better.

Yesterday was one of those days. One of those days when you feel like the universe coalesced into something good, something good for a good person.

Yesterday a realtor quietly slipped me the keys to the house I've been dreaming about for fifteen years -- a bright, inviting old house with gobs of natural light, hardwood floors, a yard just begging to be gardened, and the type of quirky charm that you just can't find in houses built after a certain time.

Sometimes good people do get to move back to their hometowns, open a yarn studio and buy a house five minutes from Grandma.

The purpose of this post is really two-fold: 1) to tell you that sometimes good things happen to good people. If you're about to give up hope, don't. If you spend all your time thinking you can't catch a break, stop.  If you're borrowing too much trouble from tomorrow, knock it off. Let tomorrow worry about tomorrow.

I also want to tell you thank you.

Without all of you reading this and supporting my little endeavor by buying yarn from me, none of this would've happened.

Is this getting too mushy?

Here, I'll distract you with some pictures.

This is my new kitchen in my new old house as of today:

I ain't no fool, I've got three kids. It will never look this clean again, I know.

I should frame this picture and hang it on the kitchen wall or something.

But starting tonight, this kitchen is going to change. I can't abide by the beige walls, I just cannot. Even though the cabinets are brand new, they're going to be changed, too. The wreath on the right? It's going bye bye.

Here's another view:

My kids call these the secret stairs. They go up to what had to be the maid's bedroom once upon a time. (I've informed my boy that he is going to have to be the new maid. You sleep in the room, you clean the house. Right? Of course right.) On the right is the back entry way, which has a lovely coat area, with lots of hooks for handknit scarves, hats, and mittens. Of which we will need plenty living here in the frozen north.

At the top of the secret stairs is something I need your help with.

What is that little window? It goes into the maid's bedroom. The window appears to be original to the house -- the glass is old and wavy. If the window were for light in the hallway, why not put one at the top of the stairs? (It's an exterior wall, after all!)

Here's a view of the weird little window from inside the maid's room:

Why is this window here? I'm dying to know. Any ideas? There's also a fireplace in my unfinished basement (original to the house), but that's a story for another day.

My house has an extra room off the dining room that was probably a parlor at one time, but that we're going to use as a library. I can't tell you how happy this makes me. I love libraries.

I'm going to put a daybed in front of the windows, paint the room a deeper shade, deck it out in books, and spiff up this old fireplace:

Coal burning, at one time. I think it needs a more substantial mantel, don't you? Someday.

I can't wait to pass a winter Sunday snuggled in my handmade knitwear, reading a book on the daybed in my library.

While my children scrub the kitchen floor and prepare a small assortment of baked goods for my teatime.

The thing I love about this house is that we can enjoy it today as it is, and we'll be able to enjoy it more each year as we fix it up, stamp our personal (colorful) touches on it, work magic in the garden, and watch our babies grow. As they are wont to do all too quickly. I am certain that my youngest child was born about a year ago, and she informs me that she's three. How is this possible? Tell me.

What have we learned today?

1. Don't give up hope -- sometimes good things happen to good people.

2. You need warm clothes in Minnesota.

3. Y'all are the best peoples in the worlds. All of them.

4. Old houses are quirky. I intend to get quirkier with age, how about you? (A friend's mother said to me yesterday: "Just wait until you get old, and then you'll get a really weird sense of color -- you'll be painting your bathroom bright purple!" I did not tell her that I already intended to paint my bathroom dark pansy purple.)

5. Yarnista's son is her maid.

6. I hate beige. I am missing the beige part of my brain.

7. Children of all ages grow too quickly, and try to lie to their parents about their ages.

I will be sure and update you with more house pictures and on how my kitchen progresses in the next week. Move-in day is seven days away!

P.S. Thank you again for everything.

Whew!

Many, many club packages were shipped today. Many many.

It was a good day.

winner of the spring rainbow mini skein set!

We had 314 entrants in our contest. Yay! Here's proof:

I asked Random.org to choose a number between 1-314.

It picked #20!

Who's the lucky winner?

It's Cathy!

Cathy, I fully expect to see the most adorable sweater and sock set in the universe in short order!

Thank you all for entering. I know it's disappointing if you're not the winner, but rest assured that this is not our last giveaway!

 Go forth and knit things that are full of awesome!

*time's up!* I want you to have this.

*Time's up!* Winner will be announced shortly...

Really, I want each and every one of you to have this.

Unfortunately, I don't have 30,000 of them, I only have one.

It's a rainbow mini skein set. One ounce each of our nine new spring colorways: Brandy Alexander, Cosmo, Mimosa, Creamsicle, Mojito, Agua Vida, Curaçao, Ice Blue Raspberry, and Passion Punch. That's 2-1/4 skeins of yarn.

These sets are pretty irresistible, and the possibilities are endless. You can use them to make stripes, you can use just a couple of colorways together at a time, you can use them for trim, for contrasting heels and toes, or for a project that requires small blocks of color.

I would LOVE to see a log cabin pillow top, or a chevron scarf with skinny color changes. I would ADORE seeing a sweet striped sweater for a little one. It would THRILL me if someone made these into knee socks or a stocking cap.

The set I'm giving away is dyed on Springvale Sport, which can be knit like a heavy fingering weight for socks, or as a true sport weight for sweaters and scarves and such. It's delishy and squishy.

Don't mind me and my made up adjectives.

These sets are currently available only through retailers, but here's your chance to win one. 

To enter, please leave a comment describing what you would do with this set if you won. I will use a random number generator to select a winner tomorrow, Wednesday, May 26th, at 1:00 pm, Central Time. The winner will be posted here. One entry per person, please. 

Good luck!

I have lots to tell you.

1. I like numbered lists.

2. I have this on my banged up filing cabinet here at the studio. And I like you. Thank you for being here.

3. We have a new retailer to welcome to the fold. If y'all are ever down Texas Way, be sure and check out The Sassy Spinster in Lancaster, on Historic Town Square. You can also reach them via telephone at 972-218-5335. Welcome, welcome!

4. This colorway is like a little piece of heaven peeking through the clouds. Not unlike a silver lining.

When you see it initially, you may think, "Wow, I love that!" or you may think, "Hmmm... I'm not a bright yellow person." Yellow tends to have that effect on people. But I'll tell you what: this colorway knits up like nobody's business.

It has very short color repeats, with multiple shades of yellow, ranging from butter to daffodil, ivory, and several shades of grey. If you get a skein of it, your feet will thank you.

This colorway is available exclusively at  The Backwards Loop, another one of our Awesome Retailers. (You can request it from them on other yarn bases: I love this as a gender neutral baby option -- it's delightful on Springvale!)

5. Speaking of awesome, The Backwards Loop has our new spring rainbow instock on Kells, and a big selection of instock fabulosity Wexford Merino Silk.

6. Last week it was 86 degrees. Today it is 52. (For you Celsiophiles, it went from hot to cold.) There was so much fog this morning that you couldn't even see Lake Superior. The biggest lake in the world. Couldn't see it.

7. Minnesotans love to talk about the weather. Especially Duluthians. Lake Superior causes the weather to change quickly -- rarely do we get a long stretch of the same thing. I think the meteorologists earn their living here.

8. The Minnesota state bird is the Common Loon.

If you're from Canada or Alaska, you don't need me to tell you any more about this bird, as it lives nearly everywhere in your fair land. But it only lives in a few places here in the contiguous US, and even then, you don't see them that often. Last night I went to dinner with a friend and we saw two loons on Lake Superior -- my first sighting since returning to my hometown.

Loons can dive 250 feet and stay underwater for five minutes, and they can fly 75 miles an hour. (For you kilomophiles, that's fast.) They have red eyes because it helps them see underwater, not because they're scary.

I think you should click on this link and listen to the loon call. (Right underneath the appearance information.) It's very unique.

But hey, I'm just a yarnista, don't listen to me if you don't want to.

Don't click the link, that's fine. It's your choice, really.

Click it or don't. It's no skin off my back.

But you should click it.

9. Remember this colorway, the one I loved so much? Gulf of Mexico?

It was created before the horrible oil spill in the Gulf. But rather than just wring our hands, we've teamed up with A Good Yarn Sarasota to donate a portion of the proceeds of the sales of this colorway to the National Wildlife Federation, which will help rescue animals impacted by the spill and assist in cleanup efforts. It feels good to do something instead of just reading news stories about who's to blame and how horrible it is. If you buy Gulf of Mexico, the benefits will be threefold:

• You'll get an awesome colorway (It's currently instock on a huge variety of bases, including Springvale Bulky, Adorn Sock, fabulosity Wexford Merino Silk, Galenas Merino, Springvale DK, and Springvale Worsted.)
• You'll be supporting two small businesses: Three Irish Girls and A Good Yarn. Our businesses in turn support our families, our employees, and their families.
• You'll be doing something to help the wildlife that's been so terribly affected by the oil spill.

You can order it by emailing info@agoodyarnsarasota, calling 941.487.7914, or by visiting the store in person. Directions are on their website.

10. Don't forget about our open call for original knitting and crochet designs! Submissions are due June 13th, and more information can be found here.

11. And just for good measure:

The end.