We laugh about how she “stalked” me on Ravelry, a wonderful knitting, crocheting, and handspinning community. I would have done the same thing. See, on the Portland message board, a wahine named Nancy had just moved to Damascus with her husband. So I posted a message saying that I’m in Damascus, welcome to the area, etc. Everything that anyone posts on one of the public Ravelry forums can be seen by everyone, so Nancy checked my posts to find out wat kine wahine I am. Cuz u neva know, right? I could have been more weird than I am, or always hūhū, or a troublemaker. It happens.

But she saw that I’m not mean or nasty, and friended me, and we met for the very first time at Sock Summit in Portland several years ago. We then began to meet for some knitting time at our local coffee shop, which soon turned into a weekly get together. Our friendship flourished and grew.

Nancy is an amazing knitter, always willing to help me if and when I run into pilikia with a pattern or giving me helpful hints, and generally being a wonderful encouragement to me. She taught me how to block lace shawls and because of her, today I’m a far better knitter than I used to be.

When Nancy and her husband go on a trip, I always go by and check on their house every few days to make sure that everything’s secure. In the summertime, she generously shares with me the abundance from their huge garden. Our friendship has developed into one that I really treasure.

Two weeks ago Nancy surprised me with a magnificent pair of socks. I should explain that Nancy’s sockknitting abilities far surpass anything I could knit, and she’s knit over two hundred pairs of the most beautiful socks I’ve ever seen; and she makes it look so easy! So we’re not just talking about any old pair of socks here.

The socks fit me perfectly, they’re in colors that I just love, and when I wear them my feet are warm and cozy. Nancy gave them to me in a bag, but not just any bag. The gift bag and tissue paper matched the socks!

But over and above the beautiful socks is this: Nancy likes her socks to match. Stripes, patterns, and colors, they all match perfectly and look wonderful. But because of my above-mentioned weirdness, I don’t like my socks to match. And the wilder, the better. But for me, Nancy made non-matching socks, and she chose a flower pattern because she knows that my name is the name of a Hawaiian flower. She jumped out of her comfort zone to knit me what she knew I’d love, and that speaks volumes to me.

I am blessed to have Nancy for a friend. I love the companionship that we experience, love the give and take of our relationship, and love that our friendship is knitted together the way it is.

Here are my new socks… my special gift from a very special friend.

These are fraternal socks, knit in opposite colors.

I love how they start at the bottom and gradually become flowers. Kinda like an Escher painting, yeah?

Mahalo nui, Nancy. For your friendship, for your gift, for being you.