Buying Gifts for Strangers

I just finished my first knitting gift exchange - Ravelry Summer Camp. It was fun, but kind of weird. A total stranger sent me a skein of Sea Silk - a yarn that I have been coveting for over a year, but everytime I went to a website to look at it, I couldn't justify buying it. It seemed so decadent.... I have so much yarn already..... it's so expensive.....what would I make out of it....
Like that. Now, I'm not the kind of knitter who routinely denies herself yarn. There have been many, many occasions where I bought a skein or two of gorgeous yarn despite the price, lack of project - whatever. I bought it because I had to have it. That whole instant gratification thing. It's a bit different with online yarn though. That takes a week or two to arrive. I've been able to resist the temptation when I can't touch it, pay for it and take it home with me.

But I gotta tell ya, when my bunkmate sent me that skein of gorgeous Sea Silk I was suddenly the world's happiest camper! And knew instantly what to make - Montego Bay from IK summer issue - of course. I haven't cast on yet - too many WIPs to finish first. However, I look at my Sea Silk every day and it makes me so happy. Add to the beauty of the yarn the fact that it was sent by someone I don't know and I must say I feel a little like Blanche DuBois.

As for the giving part of the exchange, that was nervewracking. My bunkmate lives in Rhode Island, but the rules of the exchange said "goodies from home" so I wanted everything I sent her to come from southern California. A trip to the farmer's market, a lys, and a fiber festival provided me with an array of treats and yarn that represented SoCal quite nicely. She received her package today and seems happy with it all.

I'd do another exchange in a New York minute. Something about connecting with strangers through the love of knitting and yarn makes the world a tiny bit sweeter, don't you think?