It’s time for some cheer!
With so much rain (and little bits of snow) and so many unsettling events, it’s time for a little fibery uplift.
This weekend, I’ll be hosting a giveaway for any yarn in the Knitcircus Yarns shop; just leave a message with one thing you are grateful for/that makes you happy/act of kindness you have recently done or heard about. Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels, paying for the coffee of the customer behind you, the smell of a cherry tomato just picked from the vine, a vibrant turquoise color, a loved one recovering from a concussion, the feeling of waking up on a summer morning with no big plans….please share so that we can all remember the good, kind, beautiful things of life. The winner will also get to pick a yarn for a randomly-chosen knitter on Ravelry who lists Boston as home.
Two runners-up will both receive a pdf of my e-book, Knitting Recipes: Hats and Cowls.
Stay safe, stay dry, and enjoy your loved ones and your knitting this weekend,
Jaala
knitcircus 
This week, I have been grateful for the sound of boys playing baseball.
I’m grateful to live in a small town where neighbors look out for each other.
I am grateful that a friend who was in Boston for the marathon is now safe at home. Thanks for the giveaway!
I’m grateful for good medical news in my family this week.
I’m grateful that my children and their friends are amazing, caring people. We lost our dog this week and the circle of support was amazing. Thank you for this lovely gesture.
Since the first of the year I have been keeping a journal and recording every RAK I have done in an attempt to remind myself to try to do something nice for someone every day. I haven’t gotten one done every day, but I have done at least four a week.
I am greatful that I will get to see my daughter on Mother’s day. She lives across the country and this is better than Skype or Facetime!
Recently paid for the person behind me in a drive-thru to honor the memory of my daughter’s friend who died of cancer three years ago. I explained to the cashier that I wanted to pay and asked her to relay the message of “Ashton’s Angels,” she burst into tears. I often think of Ashton when knitting since she donned some awesome knit hats when she was undergoing treatment. Thanks for the opportunity to win…I believe I will create something to pass along in honor of Ashton!
I was just able to spend a few days with my sister in Colorado. I haven’t seen her in about 2 years. Even better, our parents were able to be there too! It was great to have the family together; given their age and the distance separating us, I don’t know how much longer we’ll have that opportunity. It was a real treat and brightened my April, even though I did fly into a blizzard!
What a fun giveaway. I am grateful that my basement hasn’t flooded. So many friends and family have flooded basements. It’s awful watching the news and seeing how many people have lost everything in their basements and now have the horrendous clean up too.
What a fabulous thing to do! I’m grateful that all of my Boston friends and family are safe, for the two loves of my life, my hubs and our son, for the unabashed love from two hounds, and for my knitting that always gives me something good to focus on.
I’m thankful that we finally have rain here in NZ, even if it has interrupted my painting of the house. I’m also greatful that I got 3/4 of the eaves finished before the rain started.
I am thankful that all of the people I know who either live in the Boston area, or were there for the marathon, are safe.
What a sweet way to pay it forward! I am thankful for the stranger who gave me his bone arrow that saved my life ! Without that gift I literally would not be here. I’m thankful for the person that talked them into taking the test. I’m thankful for the good kids who decided to become nurses,doctors etc. thank you thank you for your help and knowledge and dedication. Thank you Grandmother,mom,aunts who taught me how to knit,crochet,sew,embroider and cook. Life is great!
I am grateful for my wonderful husband who makes me coffee to go every morning, even though he doesn’t drink coffee himself. It’s so great to sip my still-warm coffee when I get to work and think of him as I start my day.
I am truly grateful for my family, they may be crazy but they they love me and I fit right in! (Obsessive knitting and all)
I am grateful. Every day.
I have not always been so.
I’m thankful for little miracles! Knit a pair of baby booties to give a friend, for a friend, with a newborn in Minne-SNOW-ta!
Today I’m grateful that the sun is shining and melting the 10 inches of snow we got last night. Yahoo – I don’t have to shovel.
I’m grateful for the way my cat runs to the door to welcome me home whenever I’ve gone anywhere.
I’m grateful for a warm, dry house. A friend’s basement flooded in all this rain; I helped pull up carpet & shift things, though only for an hour. (I’m so out of shape!)
I am very grateful that the flooding in Chicago yesterday missed us. No power and I had to bail the sump pumps all day – but we had NO water damage. SO lucky. Someday we will have the sense to buy an ace-in-the-hole for each sump – and maybe a generator!
Today I am grateful for the way my youngest says turquoise. It comes out Qouiseqouise and I love it.
I am so grateful for my husband and my friends, who put up with my many recent breakdowns, and are always there to prop me back up.
I am thankful and proud to be an American and see how my brothers and sisters step up when people need help and love and have someone close to them. We are a great people
I’m thankful that the end is in sight for my master’s degree. I’m defending on May 10th. I just have to survive until then.
I’m grateful for two ladies in particular, seniors I knit with at a care home. Many of the women in the group have dementia. The first woman has already passed away, and I am grateful to have known her. Violet was her name. She was so kind, happy to see me always, appreciative of even the cheapest acrylic yarn and the “ugliest” uneven plain garter stitch squares that these seniors worked on. In her last months, she would join us but not knit, sometimes reaching over to squeeze a skein of yarn and say something complimentary.
The other woman who I really enjoy knitting with is Lillian. She’s 96, happy and full of laughter for no reason when we knit. She tells me about the argyle socks that she used to knit for her little brother, she loved him so much. Se doesn’t have dementia like so many of the others, her memory always surprises me, especially when she asks me, months after she saw me working on a sweater or other project, whether I still wear it. One purple sweater in particular, I remember when I was working on it, she looked at the yarn colour kind of sideways and wasn’t sure she liked it, wasn’t sure it was purple (it’s a grey-ish heathery purple). She still brings that up and laughs, saying “I didn’t think that was going to work!” But she loves to see me wear it.
knittingwithwords on Ravelry
I am grateful I live in a country (Japan) with really low crime and genuinely helpful and kind people. I am homesick for the US, but we have a pretty charmed life here.
I am thankful for the stories of all the angels in Boston who helped people in need this week.
I taught my friend’s son how to knit! She was pretty sure she’d wind up strangling him with the yarn if she tried. Actually, he was easy to teach!
I’m happy that I found a niece that I long lost track!
I’m grateful for my loving family and caring friends especially in the midst of so much grief and sorrow and pain this week.
JavaPurl on Rav
I got goose bumps when I read you were giving yarn to a Boston resident…so sweet! This week I set up a computer station at our church for unemployed people to use in their job search…I can’t believe how well received it has been!
I’m grateful for having a job that I love where I get validation for the work I do.
I am grateful that my sister and her family who live outside Boston are safe. I am grateful that my daughter is a cancer survivor! I have, and will continue to support and fight for stronger, common sense gun laws. I pray for kindness.
This time of year, the gangs of little kids on bikes in my neighbourhood makes me happy. And today specifically, I am grateful for cross-country visitors!
I am grateful that it’s spring and tomorrow is the first farmers market of the season.
I am grateful that I got to spend the day with my 17-year-old son, just hanging out after he had his wisdom teeth pulled. There won’t be a lot of days like this before he goes to college in the fall. Although there was tense news on TV, we watched a movie and bonded. So lucky to have two wonderful children.
I am so grateful for my family. And yesterday at my knitting group,I realized (again) just how grateful I was for my friends.
I am grateful for my happy healthy grandson and his caring, wonderful parents. Thank you Jaala. I look forward to your posts.
I am so grateful for strangers helping strangers. And waking up to another day.
I am thankful for a warm home in the cool spring weather. It is truly a shelter in the storms of life.
I am thankful for each day as I am a 14 year breast cancer survivor.
I am thankful everyday r all the natural beauty that surrounds us.
I’m grateful for the good weather lately in my area. News has been terrifying but at least I’m not hearing it on rainy days as well.
I live just outside of Boston, was raised in Watertown. Right now I’m super grateful that this reign of terror has ended, and I’ll be grateful to get back to my happy and peaceful home, family and routine.
I’m grateful for a spring where I can blow bubbles with my son and watch come fly up and over the rooftop.
I am grateful for my friends and family! I am grateful to have close friends with whom I share child care and we help each other out when needed. I took my friend’s little boy to the art studio this weekend so he could paint a travel mug for his mom for a surprise Mother’s Day gift- can’t wait to have him surprise his mom (my special friend) with it. Thanks for the give-a-way! Love your good cheer for Boston knitters!!! Stephanie (indigodogmt on Ravelry)
I am grateful for the students who ask me to knit a hat for them this past winter.
I am grateful for the first flowers of Spring pushing up through the earth even in troubling times.
I was able to treat two friends each to her choice beverages on Wednesday and Thursday. I know they appreciated them but doing the deed was much more valuable to me.
Thanks for reminding me to focus on the good and the gratitude.
I’m happy that I got to spend some time at my wheel today. But other than that, I’m happy that the weather has been cooperative here in “northern” California.
I am thankful most of all for my family, our health, and my God.
I am grateful for the peace I felt listening to the birds outside my window this morning.
I’m grateful for my two best friends who I have known since grade school. They have both known me so long that they are like family. I can’t imagine my life without them.
I am grateful to have two beautiful and healthy children that behave (most of the time anyway) 🙂
This may seem strange but I have terrible panic disorder and I had a drs appt with my psychiatrist. Well it was snowing and sleeting badly and his office is at least 25 miles away. What made me feel so good was that the dr called me and told me he didn’t want me out driving in this weather and that we should reschedule. He knew that by the time I got there my panic would be so out of control. Okay, I know this isn’t the kind of answer that you are looking for but it made me so happy and comforted that he was almost acting like my dad to look out for me.
I’m grateful for people, the joy they give me everyday. It would be so hard to be alone.
Bought a friend an autographed copy of a yarn harlot book just because I found it and she’s a huge fan.
What a great giveaway! I am so thankful for spring this year, even though I am suffering from allergies for the first time I am still so thankful for beautiful weather
I have been teaching crochet and quilting for free at the library this year for the senior ladies in my neighborhood.
Reblogged this on reWOLLuzza and commented:
Aaaaand… there’s another giveaway this weekend! Jaala Spiro is spreading some cheer after this less than perfect week and asks everyone to tell what they’re grateful for today. Just to make us remember the good things in life.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with the Make A Wish foundation. Last weekend we painted a backyard enclosure for a hot tub so two sisters with cerebral palsy can do their aquatherapy in their very own yard!
the sun and the birds waiting patiently while I filled the bird feeders
I’m thankful that I will get to see my son and granddaughter next week.
The Farmer’s Market is OPEN. Spring has to be on the way.1
I’m so grateful for my son and his sweet wife, and my little granddaughter. They have helped me in many tangible ways, but also in ways that bless the spirit and heart.
I am thankful for dinners with good friends. During times of stress, it is important to spend time with one’s people.
I am so very grateful for having the best students and their wonderful supportive families!
My last blog post was a whole list of basics I’m suddenly very grateful for, but today I’m particularly grateful for the spectacular sunshine that’s reappeared after several days MIA. I’m also loving the idea of brightening a Boston Raveler’s day. What a sweet thing.
When we found out that one of the coffee baristas at the shop that we frequent was pregnant I started a blanket for her. This week I showed it to her for the first time and she almost cried. I felt pretty good about my knitting and the ability to share it with other people.
I’m grateful for my dad, who turned 80 years young this week.
I am grateful that my daughter is back at school after missing a year due to illness.
lindarumsey on Ravelry
My husband remembering to keep the car windows closed because Spring is my enemy!
I am so grateful for family that banded together to clean out the flooded basement in my father’s house while he was gone.
I am thankful for the life I have. I have a great husband, son, home and job. I am quadrupially blessed!
I am grateful for every day and for the love of family, especially new grandchildren, who are such a blessing.
On my first visit to Five Guys for a burger, there were a couple of guys outside looking for something to eat. I offered to buy them both burgers. Once inside they both ordered what they wanted, and then the guys at the counter gave my son and I free drinks!
I’m grateful to have many friends and for my wonderful family.
asteride on Ravelry
I am very thankful that my mother and I got a very rare opportunity to “go away” for an overnight trip together. We live a few hours away from one another, and it was great to have the chance to spend time with her. What a fantastic giveaway… Thank You!
I’m grateful for the daffodils in my yard, a beautiful reminder that we have the resilience to survive the harshness we sometimes face.
I am so thankful all of my friends who live in my computer. There are days when nothing seems to go right and while my family is a blessing and they try, it’s my online friends from my crafting communities who seem to ‘get it’ and are always there to lift me up. We don’t know each other from Adam but we all have such a connection. They are my family of choice and I am so very thankful that I have them in my life… online or otherwise.
I’m grateful everyday for this family I have. My baby boy is five months old and waked almost every hour all night and still I can’t get enough of his smiles, his laughs and the way he holds meant snuggles in during cuddles and sleep.
Rencently, I’ve received some compliments from women who are strangers to me. I’m so use to women being mean and competitive with eachother that these compliments really made an impression on me. They were kind and genuine and no reason for these ladies to tell me what they did other than they meant it.
I’m grateful lately for those quiet moments alone with my husband, when we do absolutely nothing but sit together. He may be on the computer and I’m probably knitting, but we’re together. We’ve been touched recently by the West, TX, tragedy, living so close and knowing so many who were affected.
Our communities have really come together to help out in any way we can. My husband and I dropped off a lot of items for donation the morning after for the victims. Others volunteered their time this weekend to clean up campus housing so that those who lost their homes could have a roof over their heads for a little while. It’s just been amazing and sad at the same time. I’m glad to see how we’ve come together, but I wish there hadn’t been a need.
I am so grateful for my family and close friends, not just because they are lovely and delightful, but because they are loyal and trustworthy. They’ve seen me through thick and thin, and I appreciate them for it every day.
Thanks! I’m grateful for the way the Internet can connect people. I read about someone who wanted to make love blankets for a couple of people impacted by the Boston Marathon bombing, and it allowed me to do something small but significant to show them that the entire country cares about them. I love that technology can do that!
I am grateful for my family everyday, even when they are exasperating. The one thing that makes me smile every time is the way our puppy greets me at the door when I get home. She is so happy that she doesn’t just wag her tail, the whole butt wiggles in delight.
Im grateful that most people in the world are good people, the smell of freshly washed wool, and getting snuggles from my pets.
I’m visiting in Boston! What a great town! I’m grateful that the tour driver told me that when Bostonians honk at you, they are saying hello! I think everytime I hear a horn honk, I’ll think kindly of Boston & smile just a little!