Goodnight, Karrie. Rest well.

I never know how to write about these things. Today I got some sad news … well, the entire yarn community got sad news.  We’ve heard that Karrie Steinmetz, a.k.a. KnitPurlGurl, a popular blogger in the crafty community, has died suddenly.   I am so very sad about it, as I am whenever someone whose life touched mine is suddenly no longer here.  I feel such a connection to every person I meet, I don’t think you realize how people can affect you until their presence is no longer here.  And it’s apparent from reading reactions to her death that she positively touched many, many lives, either in person, or through social media.

I had the good fortune to meet Karrie a couple of times … she used to be fairly local to me before she moved to Vermont earlier this year.  We weren’t close, and I can’t claim to know her well, but my impressions of her were thus: friendly, open, enthusiastic, generous, spirited, energetic, good-hearted, warm.  I’m sure there are more words I’m forgetting right now.

My favorite memory is at the 2012 Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Show. There was a knit socks competition. The winner and 2nd place people had been selected, and for 3rd, IIRC, it was down to my Crabby McHappypants Some !@#% Snakes on Some !@#$% Socks  and another lady who had designed entrelac cuffs on her socks (who very deservedly won!)

Before the judge made her final decision, however, Karrie very enthusiastically campaigned for my socks to win.  She was so damn cute about it, her enthusiasm was just infectious. She really was just that generous that even though she wasn’t winning with her own socks, she was going to rally around someone else’s.  That is a very meaningful and happy memory, for me.  Thank you, Karrie, for giving me that gift. You gave me a lot of confidence in my knitting that night – I was still fairly new to socks back then. ( Heck, I probably still am, but I’m a lot more confident about them now.)

She also designed a free shawl pattern and very patiently helped me with my questions on it when I was new to shawls. It became my Halloween Shawl that I wear all the time.  I love it, and think I will wear it in her honor tomorrow.

So, with that said, I’ll leave you with some pictures that will always bring a smile to my face in memory of her:

These are the socks Karrie went to bat for.

This is Karrie’s design, Rustic Autumn Shawl. Really helped me be unafraid of shawls. 🙂

Rest in Peace, Karrie.  This world will miss you, but I’m sure wherever you are, you are making people smile there, too.

UPDATE:  I found out that on the Friends of KnitPurlGurl Group on Ravelry, they are making snowflake ornaments for Karrie’s family. She had started making snowflake ornaments for their tree this year because they had lost all of the family ornaments in the move to VT.  I guess a bunch of people are going to complete that project for her.   If this is something you would like to help with, details are on that group.