expressions of love

This was February's theme for Ravelry's Spindler's group. I just posted the following...

I didn't go with a Valentine theme, mine is more personal expressions.

I spun the blues with a bit of glitz for the sapphire ring my husband gave me (in a Cracker Jack box) when he proposed.

I spun the mohair for no other reason than to hold the pearls

that are scattered throughout the finished yarn.

The pearls are because, while dressing for an important holiday party just before our first Christmas, the string of pearls that was to complete my carefully chosen outfit broke. I was already sooooo stressed out, it drove me to tears. My husband saved the evening--he hung one of the larger pearls on a silk thread and tied it around my neck. Then, on Christmas, he gave me a set of pearls--double strand necklace (in case I broke one ;-), bracelet and sapphire (to match my ring) earrings with pearl drops.

This didn't come out quite as I'd visioned--I planned a 2 ply with the blue a little chunkier/fluffier single (a little uneven), the mohair a bit thinner. I ended up making it a 3 ply with 2 plies of the blue. It's 6-7 wpi (between the pearls), about 2.5 oz, I haven't measured the yardage. I like it but I have more of everything so I'm going to try again to get a little closer to my original vision.

I tried to keep it brief in the post but there's a little more to this that makes it maybe not quite so materialistic...

Peter and I "met" online. We were very quickly drawn to each other on meeting in person. Right after we met, I spent a much planned week in NYC with a friend. He was very upset with my "Peter this, Peter that"...What's wrong with you? You are usually so level-headed!? He told me I couldn't feel so strongly about someone I really didn't know. Well, of course I knew him! Do you know what he does when he's mad? What his favorite color is? Does he read? What does he like to read? What are his favorite foods? Have you talked about the kids (his and yours?)? Practical matters like money, insurance, your finishing school?? On and on he went, putting a damper on my elation.

Finally, I sat down to write Peter a long letter (email), asking him about the things Dan was asking me. I recieved a very long, thoughtful reply, ending in the same questions for me. While talking about our age difference (our birthdays are 10 years and 1 week apart--he's older!, both in November), I meandered off into mention of how much I hate our shared birthstone (gold topaz). How blue topaz is better but I really like sapphire because sapphire blue is one of my favorite colors.

Later (I'd like to say it was MUCH later, but it wasn't), another friend told me she'd been instructed to find out my ring size. I laughed nervously because I knew why...and then I told her I'd once married the boy down the street with a ring from a Cracker Jack box (we were 4 and 5 years old, an older neighbor performed the ceremony).

At the end of my visit, Peter flew me from NY to OH and met me at the airport with a box of Cracker Jacks and a marriage proposal. Inside the box, the carefully substituted prize was a sapphire ring that he'd designed and had made while I'd been in NY.

Sapphires have sort of become "our thing." Among other things, he gave me a sapphire diamond ring when we learned I was pregnant with our twins (who were due in October, we hoped we would make it to September...coincidently making sapphire their birthstone...but they arrived in August, five days after our first anniversary) and a channel set sapphire toe ring (seriously) for our fifth anniversary.

We celebrated our tenth anniversary in August. Unfortunately, the pearl necklace didn't make intact...one of the twins broke one of the strands.