A Gift of Many Colors

Last night, I got home from work late; it was after 10 pm when I saw the brown box that had been delivered. Seeing as the hubby is out of town, I am the only one on dog and cat duty. So, I placed the box on the counter until I had the time to open it. It was difficult to not just say "screw the animals, I'm opening my package!" But, I went about my duties of changing out of my work clothes, taking 4 dogs out to do their duty (no pun intended), and then feeding 4 dogs and 3 cats. It was now after 11pm when I grabbed a glass of wine, my brown box, and headed into bed, accompanied by 2 dogs and 2 cats.

When I opened the box the first thing I saw was an envelope telling me to wait to open the letter until I had unwrapped everything...very mysterious. But, generally being good at following instructions, that is just what I did.

(sorry about the blurriness)

When I lifted out the envelope, and the shipping paper, etc., this is what I saw...



How beautiful! And, exciting, too! I carefully opened each individual colored wrap. I took my time and enjoyed every moment! It was so much fun...thank you Secret Pal for that!

A bounty of goodies awaited me. She sent 3 knitting patterns with the yarn to complete all 3 projects. Knowing that I am not a good finisher of larger projects, they were all for small accessory-type items...and there was more.



One of the 3 patterns was for a Textured Slip Stitch Dishcloth, and yarn for both a yellow-based and lavender-based cloth. The second pattern was for a Baby Feet Cloth (I'm not sure what that is but it looks like a fun, interesting pattern and I can't wait to start), and the yarn, and the 3rd pattern was for a beautiful lacey neck covering, with a skein of luxurious teal colored Alpaca to make it with. In addition, she sent some delicious smelling apple soap, a book on preparing Fingerfood, 2 packs of gum-sour cherry and sour apple-, point protectors for circular needles, and chocolate covered cookie wafers...yummy! And, the inside of the box smelled fabulous...I think it was from the soap.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! What a great package! I guess you did get to know me, after all.

Oh, back to the white envelope. The note inside explained how she decided on the items and revealed who she was. Even though it seemed to lull Patriot and Jonathan to sleep; for me, this package was so much fun to open.



So, once again, thank you! I really appreciate all that you did...Peaceable Imperatrix.

If It's You

Being that this is the first Secret Pal that I have participated in, I'm not sure what is considered appropriate protocol for the reveal. I looked through blogs of past participants; but, still am not sure if you are supposed to wait for your spoiler to reveal to you or guess who you think it is. I mailed out my final package to my spoilee last week without revealing anything. Yesterday, I mailed off a postcard to her finally revealing myself.

That being said...I think I know who my Secret Pal is. I have not received my last package yet (although I think she sent it around the 24th); but, the list has been up for a week. I figured it out right away; but, as my spoiler knows, I am a 'slow' blogger and I wasn't sure if I would be ruining anything by letting on that I know...so I think.

You were a great spoiler! And, if it's you, I totally agree with you about the power of receiving things in the mail. I loved receiving fun, special mail! The cards, the CD, the puzzle...all were very exciting to me...and, I do have a life; but, it's not often that people mail things anymore.

If it's you, I also agree about putting the packages together. I had so much fun doing that and spent the whole 3 months planning and gathering up what I would ultimately send to my spoilee. I put a lot of thought into what I truly thought she would like and I think I was a good spoiler. My spoilee certainly wrote about it as if I was, so I feel good about that.

If it's you, I know I have not been the best at blogging. But, actually, there were in total 10 posts (yes, 7 starting with the questionnaire) that would help you know me. Not everyone is as comfortable with words as you are. For whatever reasons that I don't even know, I have found myself to be very inhibited and intimidated to write. I seriously have probably 10 posts planned out in my head; yet, have procrastinated about actually posting the words. If it's you, good thing I didn't know you were a writer before it started or I probably would have been even more scared to write knowing you would be reading my words.

If it's you, I think you would make a great hostess...and probably, I should be in your group. I could use the kick in the pants for motivation. Stacyo was also a bit of a hardass (in a good way!) and it helped me to post.

If it's you, I have 3 cats; but, my cat Jonathan is a cat who thinks he's a dog...and, ever since "The Honeymooners" (hopefully you are old enough to remember that), I have loved the name Trixie...

So, if it's you, thanks for everything, so far! I will certainly let you know when I get the last package. Sorry, I didn't blog enough...I wanted to.

P.S. If it's you, sorry about your bushes...but, sounds like you have a plan should there be a next time.

Baby Groove

My secret pal spoilee (who, by the way, is due with her first baby any day now) has been knitting a plethora (I just love using that word) of baby items! It is unbelievable how many things she has completed recently...

This has definitely inspired me to knit baby things. At first, I didn't think I had any babies to knit for; but then I realized that I do. Best of all, I get the gratification of a finished item in a relatively short amount of time. I started by buying this book Itty-bitty Hats.

The first hat I knit was this "upside-down daisy" hat from the book.




I then remembered that I had never given a gift to a girl who I work with who was pregnant with twins. I started knitting hats and booties early on; but, got stuck when I got to the second hat. I seem to have that second-anything syndrome. She had twin boys. They just had their first birthday. Oops! Since the hats and booties were a 3 month size, it wasn't long before they were no longer a suitable gift. So, I looked in the book and made these hats in a 1-2 years size.




Now that I was in the baby knitting groove, I decided to try out a pattern from the One Skein book. I made the Baby Bolero which is a newborn size and I will be sending it in my last package to my spoilee. It is made out of Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton which is amazingly soft and free of any dyes.




Finally, since hats are probably my most favorite thing to knit, I knit one for myself. They are always for myself when I knit them, but since I already have so many completed hats "for myself," it is very possible it may end up being a gift at some point. This Droplet Hat is from the beautiful Knitting Nature book.

Since I can't take a decent picture of my knitting to save my life, it is hard to see the detail. The bobbles are supposed to represent water droplets running down a trail of leaves. It was a fun pattern to knit and I knit it out of 1 skein of Donegal Tweed.

My next baby project to complete is the hat and booties that I started for the twins. I know someone else who is expecting a boy mid September and I will only need 1 set so I should be able to get my act together to complete the booties on time.