It wasn’t enough that I got a TON of birthday wishes via email, blog comments, and my very own threads at the Knittyboard and Ravelry, but I also got lovely thoughtful gifts.

I don’t have a picture of it, but Kiddossk sent me a little surprise from the Fat Witch Bakery (tell me that’s not the best name ever) – an assorted box of their Brownie, Walnut, and Blonde Babies, and a bag of hot cocoa mix. Let me tell you, these are some of the most incredible brownies EVER. And keep in mind, I usually make the Barefoot Contessa’s “start with a pound of butter” brownies – I know good brownies. Thank you, sweetie – it was a lovely surprise. And yes, I did share with Kris. He got one.

While I was at my regular Thursday knitting meetup today, the lovely (although blogless) Kathy gave me a huge box of assorted teas – I totally didn’t expect that, and it was so sweet of her! I will smile every time I have a cup.

Today, an envelope arrived from my Crafty Sister herself, Ms. Turtlegirl. Now, I knew this was coming, mostly because I’ve been getting daily text messages from her asking if it had arrived yet. (In her defense, she mailed it LAST Wednesday from Charlotte. My mother mailed my card from Las Vegas on Thursday, and it arrived on Monday. So I see why she was anxious). I opened it up to find these:

(Oh, and if you are curious, the markers are from Seahorse Designs over at Etsy. She’s got some fun stuff over there!)

When I pulled off the wrapping, I found this, which just tickled me so much that I had to take a picture:

Yes, that’s right – for you, my dear readers, I even broke out the blocking wires. (OK, and I really, really wanted to see what it looks like so far.) It’s a GORGEOUS pattern – I can’t wait to see how it continues to progress. There are all sorts of theories about the theme bouncing around out there, but I have no idea what it is.

That and Norberta are about the only things I am working on right now, so that is it for the WIP portion of this post. Now, we move on to some overdue thank you pics.

WAAAAAAAY back when, morgsarah and I struck up an agreement to do a fiber festival swap. I picked up some things for her at Maryland Sheep and Wool, and she picked up some stuff for me at… erm… Taos? Damn, now I don’t remember which festival it was. These are the gorgeous goodies she sent me:

In the front is some hand-dyed Wensleydale roving dyed by a friend of hers, behind that is some merino-tussah and some Navajo churro, and in the back is a Corriedale-alpaca blend. All so, so beautiful!

I also got a lovely, thoughtful gift from Bezzie recently, tucked in a box of hats. (And yes, I swear I will update the Hats for Alex blog soon. Hopefully tomorrow.)

It’s a Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign, and it has some very personal significance that I’m not getting into here. Just let it be said that I cried when I saw it, I’ve worn it every day since, and I am unbelievably touched by her sweet gift. Not to mention the 19 (!) hats she sent.

I won a blog contest over at AKKnitter’s blog, and check out my prize:

8oz. of beautiful alpaca, and a grow-your-own pet.

Finally, my lovely, lovely Knittyboard SP9 pal “Marie Dent” (who also goes by “Mostly Harmless”) sent me my first package last week:

We have a Wizard of Oz mini activity book, Koigu’s “Take Along Socks” pattern book with three hanks of gorgeous Koigu in front to make a pair of socks from the book, Pez and a cute-as-a-button lamb Pez dispenser, and a Hemp for Knitting kit. The pattern is called Kathy’s Fingerless Gloves, and the yarn (one ball is next to the kit) is Cashmere Canapa in that awesome green. It’s a cashmere/hemp blend and is just so soft. I can’t wait to work with it! Thank you, my dear Marie! You clearly know me really, really well. And I have NO CLUE who you are.

I also picked up some yarn recently for a new crochet project, but I think we’ve had enough pictures for today, so that can wait for tomorrow.

An adorable Woodstock card, a mini photo album with my initial on the front, a notepaper cube (with a little drawer in the bottom), chocolate (Lindt Milk Chocolate with wafers… mmmm), some Peaches ‘n Cream cotton in a lovely dusty pink, plue, and white mix, and some bright red Paton’s Classic Wool. Thank you thistlerain!!!

Another package arrived while I was dealing with the Comcast mess – my sock swap package from Jenneke!!!
My bee-YOOOOO-tiful socks (which fit perfectly, but I wasn’t putting my feet up on the table, so I’ll have to get a modeled shot later), the pattern for said socks (in case I needed to re-do any part of them), a zipper case with some artwork from a Dutch kids’ book, THREE skeins of sock yarn (all gorgeous), a Grolsch beer postcard (clearly, Jenneke knows me well), and some Dutch goodies – some caramel waffle cookies, salty licorice (apparently a love-it-or-hate-it thing – I’m intrigued but haven’t actually tried it yet), honey vanilla chamomile tea, and Kruidnoten (sp?) – cookies that are only available around Christmas. Thank you so much for everything, Jenneke – it’s lovely, and it’s been a blast getting to know you!

I’ve made some good progress on my Fair Isle cardigan (on stripe #14 of 18 on the body) – I’ll try to get a picture tonight or tomorrow.

And for Jenneke, the current state of her Swap Socks:
We’ve passed the heels and are working our way up the gusset. Woo hoo! (Mountain Colors Bearfoot in “Juniper”)

And I can’t believe I almost forgot this! If you like Kris’s yarnography… how about owning it on a mousepad, or a mug? He opened a CafePress store: The Digital Arcana Shop. More stuff will be going up all the time, and if anyone has ideas or suggestions or requests, let us know!

ETA: The establishing shot of the Fleece Artist Merino Sock yarn:

See – all of those colors in just one skein! It’s nice bouncy stuff, too. I look forward to working with it. Eventually. After my eight million other to-do projects.

Thought I’d post a progress pic of your socks, so you can see that I really am working on them.

Two toes, happily hanging out on the needles:

Obligatory pr0nny shot of the stitch pattern:
It’s a fun pattern* to work. I’m enjoying it, and I’ve got it pretty much memorized (I think I’ve done 4 or 5 repeats so far), so I was actually able to work on them during “Heroes” last night. (YAY for a continuing-arc show that I can love, since “Lost” now disappoints me so)

So, now I have another question for you: how tall do you like your sock cuffs? Obviously, I’m not there yet, but I want them to be the length you like.

*And Kir, yes, I know that Miss Berardi is cringing somewhere. I’ll just give myself a “D” for this post.

Oh – and I forgot. I mentioned it in the last post, but the pattern is “Small Capitals” from Sensational Knitted Socks.

Aaaaaaanyway. I’m participating in the Sock Swap over on the Knittyboards, and the yarn I ordered for my swap pal Jenneke arrived yesterday. One of the advantages to getting (luckily) paired with someone who likes the same kinds of colors you do? You can order more than one and know that the one she doesn’t pick, you will like! Case in point:
Mountain Colors Bearfoot in “Steelhead” on the left, and “Juniper” on the right. Both great colors, and I think Jenneke will like them, but I wasn’t sure from looking online which she would like better. So… I got both. And since I like them both, I’ll happily add whichever she doesn’t choose to the, um, kind of large (although not as large as some people’s) sock yarn stash.

So, Jenneke, what do you think? Steelhead, which has some bits of nice sagey green mixed with blues and greys, or Juniper, which is more aggresively green with dashes of blue and purple?

The next question of course – which pattern do I make? Off to think about that!

And Jenneke has spoken – the Juniper is hers!

In other news, I promised pictures of the RAK that Ali sent me, and I finally have one for you.
As you can see, the woman went crazy sending goodies to me! There is a pair of candles in “Asian Musk”, which smells absolutely lovely, a box of Hazelnut Praline Godiva biscuit, a Godiva chocolate bar (72% EXTRA Dark with Almonds – woman knows me well!), a pair of Swarovski sheep magnets, which are too cute to be believed, a bar of Coconut soap (yummy!), a magnet that says “Ever notice how ‘What the hell’ is always the right decision?”, and two hanks of Blue Sky Alpacas Cotton, in pale blue and a raspberry pink.

Thank you, Ali!!! You are too sweet, and I meant what I said about hoping to meet you one of these days! I owe you a huge hug for this!!

In other mail news, Mary, Mary had a little destashing goodie bag giveaway a couple of weeks ago. I joked with her that I thought about throwing my hat in the ring, but thought that I had plenty already. She told me to go for it, and tempted me with sari silk. Being the strong-willed type that I am, I completely caved. *blush* This arrived the other day:
The aforementioned sari silk (10 hanks!) and a cloud of undyed mohair, which she thought would make a nifty throw dyed to coordinate with the sari silk and alternating the two. I am seriously considering that idea. Thank you Mary!!!

Finally, yesterday’s mail brought me the last package from the BMFA Rockin’ Sock Club 2006.
On the left, the December yarn – STR Lightweight in “Mustang Sally” – and on the right, my bonus skein for doing the full-year club – a hank of mediumweight “Rare Gems”, what they call mistakes that they overdye to come up with something unique. I got a perfect skein for me – lots of greens with some blues and golds mixed in. I’ve really enjoyed the club, and I’m looking forward to next year!

And I realized something today. Tomorrow is my two-year blogiversary. I started out over on LiveJournal on Dec. 18 2004, and moved to Blogger on October 10, 2005 so that I could play with the layout and stuff a bit more. (And no, I didn’t move the first couple of posts over from LJ. They were completely lame.). It seems weird that I’ve been doing this for 2 years already!

**Clearly the stocking thingy hates me. So much for that plan. **

Speaking of gifts, my mailman brought me a surprise today. There was a box for me from the lovely, darling Ali. I’ll take and post pictures tomorrow, but for now, let me just say that this woman ROCKS, and I adore her. I really hope she comes to the DC area for a visit sometime, because I would LOVE to meet her in person!!!

Oh, and if you are wondering (because I know you are all waiting with bated breath for my decision), I think I am leaning toward the Simple Knitted Bodice for my next “me” project, although I have been working on Kris’s Shamrock Henley sweater for the last day or so. And I might take a little time to make the lovely Red Light Special hat for me, since that’s a little portable project for holiday travel. (Yes, I ordered the yarn the minute I saw the hat, although mine will be, shockingly, green.)

I am not worthy. You are the most amazing SP. You have sent me such thoughtful, creative gifts, and this one just blew me away.

THANK YOU!!!

-Trillian

Seriously, folks. Check out the loot! Per the postcard, this is a “bath relaxation” themed package. All sorts of bath goodies, including a Lush Bath Bomb that smells absolutely amazing, the funniest purple devil rubber duckie, a tea light, and a face cloth that Cheapie knit for me! It is so soft and yummy (I have to know what yarn she used in it – I need to make myself about a billion of these.) Also, a skein of gorgeous, gorgeous Misti Alpaca Lace yarn (Per Cheapie: “Lace can be forced meditation, if not always relaxing.” Hee.), that is so soft…

Also, Cheapie either has traveled all over the place lately, or has a whole lot of compatriots on the board helping with sending these packages – every one has come from somewhere different.