Thursday, July 06, 2006

Thankyouthankyouthankyou!

I can't say "Thank you" enough to my One Skein secret pal! On Monday, this arrived in the mail:



My secret pal spun it herself, for li'l ol' me! It's 400 yards of two-ply, fingering weight, superwash merino. And it's handpainted, too! The yarn is so soft, but my pal says that it's very durable. This yarn is going to make a very special pair of socks. It's going to be such fun finding the perfect pattern for it. I only hope my sock knitting skills can do it justice.

The yarn wasn't the only thing in the package. My pal also included a bar of Dagoba organic chocolate, chai flavor. This description on the label says "rustic grown organic milk chocolate infused with crystallized ginger and chai essence." I had a little taste earlier. Oh...my...god...I've never, never had such yummy milk chocolate. It's going to take all of my will power not to devour the bar in one sitting. If their milk chocolate is this good, I wonder what their dark chocolate is like.

Thank you, Secret Pal. I am honored and awed by your gift.

Knitting Progress
I was hoping that I'd have some time to knit on the Fourth of July. But, that didn't happen. I didn't get any knitting in. I did, however, get a 6-mile walk in. The Trek with Me sock stayed in the car while I walked. (I'm not doing so well with this knit along. One sock is almost completed, but I haven't taken any hikes with said sock.) Coffee afterwards at the local coffee shop, and then home to knitting. Or not, as the case might be. When we got home, there was an invitation on the answering machine to an impromptu cookout at a friend's house. The afternoon was spent doing that, which was a lot of fun, even if it didn't involve knitting. And then it was back to Leesburg to meet up with the Loudoun Road Runners at Ida Lee Park to watch the fireworks. I must say that the town puts on quite a nice display, even though there was no knitting involved.

My other knitting projects are stalled. The blanket still needs to have its ends woven in and then I can start on the French knots. Do you think I'm not weaving in the ends just so I don't have to do the knots? The Jaywalker is languishing on the needles. My other UFOs are still, well, UFOs. The bright spot is that I've started knitting my One Skein gift for my giftee. It's a handpainted silk yarn and I'm trying out various lace patterns for a small scarf. I thought that I'd enjoy knitting with silk, but I'm finding it difficult to work with. I started with wooden needles, but the yarn just wouldn't slide, so I switched to Addi Turbos. The Addis are working much better, but the points are a little blunt. I'm finding that the yarn is splitting. After I get into the pattern a little more, I'll post a picture.

In Other News
Today did not start well. I hit a deer on the way to work which put both the deer (which is now one of the "deerly" departed) and my Volvo out of commission. I really wasn't expecting a deer to come streaking across a busy highway at 9:00 in the morning. But streak it did and it did a number on my car's front end. Fortunately, it didn't come through the windshield (which was the thought that flew through my mind as I collided with the deer) and I'm not hurt. So most of the morning was spent dealing with insurance, body shops, and rentals. I won't get an estimate until early next week and the shop expects to have the car for at least two weeks. I don't have a rental yet because the car rental place didn't have any cars ; hopefully, they'll have one come in this afternoon.

Okay...That's it for now. This turned into a longer post than I anticipated. I really ought to post more often!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

My goodness! I'm glad that hitting the deer didn't damage more than just your car!! When I was in college I had a friend who hit a deer, and she ended up with a broken neck (and was in a halo for 6 months while it healed).

Anonymous said...

Oh -no! I'm sorry to hear about the deer, your car, and your morning. But your one skein giftie looks beautiful. I can't wait to see it knit up. Too bad e-touch isn't invented yet!

And that chocolate you described sounds loverly. I may have to search for some around these parts.

Good luck getting some motivation and action on the knitting. I, too, am having troubles with the Trekking sock. It just doesn't want to be knit as much as some of my other yarn does.

Sheepish Annie said...

Yikes!!! Glad to hear you're ok! We have something of a "moose problem" up here from time to time and people actually end up seriously injured after hitting one of those big boys.

I also had issues with silk on the wooden needles. I actually had the best luck with inexpensive Walmart type aluminum ones. But don't tell... ;)

msubulldog said...

Oh, my goodness! Glad you're okay after your run in this morning. How scary.

Cerridwen said...

Wow. Last summer, I spent the 4th of July visiting a friend in the Deleware/New Jersey area. I saw deer (I also saw a wild turkey. That was awsome)!!! They were soooo big!!! We have deer here too, but they are itty bitty compared to the behimith I saw in NJ. Disney lied when they said deer were small and cute. I am glad you are alright. And better the car gets smashed than you do!!

Knit on your new one skein wonder, and feel better!!