Second RAK... Already?!

Surprise RAK! For me that is! Yesterday I was up the town in the morning and nipped into the library to pick up the books I'd ordered in. The lady at the desk confessed she'd been rifling through the crochet books and that her daughter was expecting a baby in 6 weeks. One thing led to another and that afternoon when I headed back up to collect my prescription I dropped off three balls of baby yarn for her - plenty to make a wee jacket/hat/booties/mitts set. So there's 2 RAKs done already. :-D

First RAK

In the past couple of years I have learned to crochet and spin and - mostly through Ravelry - I have been fortunate enough to recieve many blessings. On Rav, these are often referred to as RAKs - Random Acts of Kindness.

To receive a pattern I had put on my wishlist would cheer me up considerably. To get a parcel in the post of some carefully considered item would keep me smiling for days. Sometimes the treasure would so touch my heart that every time I saw it I would feel the genuine kindness of the person who sent it. In a year in which my struggle with depression has been particularly bad, these moments of kindness have often formed a supporting web to buoy me up. And this year I very much wanted to pass on those feelings to others.

My first RAK of the year has been successfully completed. A Raveller, struggling with the rising costs of fresh foods in the USA, got us talking about growing your own. I wanted to send her seeds from my collection, but the import regulations and postage costs were truly baffling to me. So I found a seller on etsy who was in the States himself and whose lineup of seeds were organic heritage species. I let my enthusiasm over the photos get the better of me a bit and selected not only the mixed lettuces, but also the rainbow chard and the mixed tomatoes! And altogether it was still less that the cost of postage would have been from Scotland. The Raveller received her seeds yesterday and is planting some of the lettuce on the windowsill while she waits for spring to warm up her garden for the others!

I don't plan on limiting my RAKs to just Ravelry. But for the first one of 2013, I am pleased with the result.

Have some photos of the gorgeous organic heirloom veggies, available from Box Garden Organics.

All Star Gourmet Lettuce Mix Seeds Heirloom Organic

Swiss Chard Rainbow Mix Seeds Heirloom Organic

Super Surprise Mix Tomato Seeds Heirloom Organic