A few weeks ago I happened upon the forums of the website that helped me learn how to knit really well - http://www.knittinghelp.com/ - it's an incredible site with videos that take away all the sophistry and teach you just how to make beautiful things. And so I joined up on the forums, looking to further my knitting a bit, and for some inspiration.
I happened to ask about variegated yarns one day, that weren't made from wool or other animal yarns - I'm horribly allergic - and got lots of helpful replies and some beautiful links to yarns I wish I could afford, among them the Handmaiden Seasilk, made from Silk and seaweed. It appeals to the mermaid side of me ;-)
And a wonderful lady sent me a private message, offering to send me some that she wasn't going to use, as her first internation RAK - Random Act of Knitting. It arrived this morning, and is the softest, silkiest yarn I've ever seen - it's so beautiful I can't wait to work with it. But more than that, I'm humbled by how kind she was - I'd only been on the forums a couple of days, it's expensive yarn and I know how difficult postage can be, and she'd taken to time to find a perfect card to go with it, that's sitting above my computer desk now.
This is what she sent, beautifully packaged, and here's a close-up,
And a close-up of the card - pefectly chosen :
So thank you Gail, for giving me the inspiration to be a better knitter, and a better person :-)