Hot Luke and I are not moving to Montana, y’all.

Not that there’s anything wrong with Montana.

It’s just that, for more than a year, we’ve lived in a 300-sq-ft temporary space in South Florida where I didn’t know a soul, and he left each morning before sunrise and returned after sunset from the same high-risk, high-stress job that had kept him from having a real home for more than 30 years.

And every moment we longed to be at our home by the sea that sat empty, 500 miles away.

When that job wound up last month, his boss told us we were moving to Montana.

And yet here we are, living at our place by the beach. Finally, we are home.

I’m going to tell you how this happened, in hopes that it might empower you to make a change you’ve been hoping-dreaming-praying for in your own life.

But first, I’ll show you the sweater I cast-on to celebrate. 🎉

 “Balloon Cardigan” by PetiteKnit is on raverly.com
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I ran across “Balloon Cardigan” by PetiteKnit a few weeks back, but I wouldn’t allow myself to cast on until I had finished my “Trinigan.”

Then, when Montana didn’t happen I thought, it may be awhile ’til I need a warm sweater. Time to cast on something lighter!

I wanted to use a non-superwash fingering held together with something fluffy. So I went to the softest wool in our store – our custom “Sweet 16” from Urth Yarns. It’s called Sweet 16 because it’s only 16 microns. The lower the microns, the softer the wool. Even longtime yarnies can’t believe it isn’t cashmere, the hand is so light and soft! But it has the memory and springy-ness of wool. Win-win.

For the fluffy yarn, I was going to go with Moondrake’s Suri Silk Cloud but then Rachelle told me she has a new, similar base that’s even softer and fluffier. So I’m holding together Arupaka in Rose Quartz together with Urth Sweet 16 in Sand.

I just swatched and it’s going to be so perfect!

I’ll be sharing my progress as I go on our Instagram @knitstars, and I’d love for you to knit this along with me! Here’s another exclusive color combo we created for folks who prefer cooler color ways to warmer ones. It’s Urth Sweet 16 Non-Superwash in “Air” and anew Arupaka in “Whimsical Silver.”

You’ll need 6 (7, 7, 7, 8 ) skeins of Urth Sweet 16 Non-Superwash plus 4 (5, 5, 5, 5) skeins of Moondrake Co. Arupaka for sizes XS (S, M, L, XL).

Get your Urth Sweet 16 Non-Superwash skeins here and your Moondrake Co. Arupaka here.

If you decide to knit along with me, I’d absolutely love for you to post your yarn combo on your Instagram and tag me @knitstars !

Now, back to our Montana miracle…

In the end, it all came down to one little word. Two tiny letters. But it can be the hardest, scariest word of all.

“NO.”

We simply said no thank you to Montana. No to someone else dictating our life. We packed up our stuff and drove to our beach home and said “we’ll figure it out.”

It’s one thing to want a bigger, better life. You can dream it, you can even plan it. But getting past that one big, necessary NO can take months, years, decades. Sometimes it just never happens.

It’s been 30 years since I said that first NO, leaving my ad agency paycheck and starting my own copywriting business. It’s easy to forget how terrifying that was.

So I was honestly in awe, watching Luke gather the strength for that NO. But guess what happened?

Within just a few days, he had not one job offer, but four.

And the one he chose allows him to work from our home.

That’s how the universe works so often, right? A window is waiting to open…

But first you’ve got to shut a door.

What might you need to say NO to now, that allows you to say YES to you?

xoxo

P.S. I’ll still finish this “Trinigan” someday. It’s a great plane knit with its easy slip stitch pattern, and the Spincycle Dream State in our custom color “Starstruck” is so fun to watch develop with its long, slow color changes. I’m pairing it with LolaBean Cool Beans Worsted in Birthday Suit. Click through each yarn link to find the yarn amounts needed for your size.

My dear friend and Star Advisor Gaye Glasspie @ggmadeit is no stranger to the power of saying NO.

Heck, she turned me down for Knit Stars twice before finally saying yes to Masterclass Season 5! 😅

And when, years ago, a woman told her she should never wear orange because of the color of her skin, GG said WATCH ME. And she became the Iconic Orange Lady. You can’t help but see her coming in her head-to-toe-orange – and then you can’t help but smile!

In honor of GG, we’ve added an Iconic Orange Pop-Up Shop to our website.

It includes Loretta’s new classic design, “Dueling Skeins,” reimagined in our own, exclusive Dream Bean and Smoothie yarns. You just need one skein of each. The knitting is easy and meditative. And the result is an instant pick-me-up for your wardrobe!

For every yarn sold in the Iconic Orange Shop, GG receives a direct commission. So you’re not just getting a happy, sunshiny new project. You’re supporting one of the brightest, most inspiring Stars in our space.

Shop the collection here.

This week in the Yarniverse, we were treated to a farm tour with Meghan from Distelfink Fiber. We took a tour of her farm, saw some amazing sheep friends and then took her “mini-class” where she taught us all about the process of how her farm yarn is created from start to finish.

Each week in the Yarniverse, we welcome Stars, Star Dyers and Rising Stars in our industry, going deep with them on where they find their inspiration, their latest projects, their ups and downs, hopes and dreams.

There’s no place like the Yarniverse in the whole yarn universe. And you get instant access to 45+ Knit Stars Masterclasses, in personalized Tracks to help you make more progress, faster.

To join the Yarniverse at Founding Member pricing of just $39, click here.