Swapping Can Be Tiring

My weekend was a nice long 3-day one thanks to the state of Rhode Island for celebrating Victory Day. I dislike what the holiday is about, but I am not going to ignore a day off!

Thursday was not a good night for me, since my sinuses ended up feeling ill thanks to the ever changing weather. But Friday greeted me in the afternoon with a fabulous package.

I knew the package was going to be fabulous because it was from Oregon — where my Sockapalooza 4 Spoiler is. My heart began pounding and it was all I could do to contain my excitement. Rich asked, “Don’t you want to wait until tomorrow to open it for pictures?” My answer was, “Sure, but I want to open it NOW.” While watching the O’s game, I held the box in my lap debating on whether to open it or not. I decided that if Sock Monkey took all that time to make socks for me, then I should check them out to ensure they (ahem) fit. So open the box I did…

Holy smokes! The box was heavy, yes, but I was not expecting all of this generous goodness. A pretty royal blue fabric with all sorts of tea helped the contents from moving and offered a perfect way to “seal” the box. Underneath was an awesome Starbucks mug for the city of Portland. (I really must find a way to go visit my cousin in Sunriver and Sock Monkey!) The Oregon Soap Company‘s soap in Forest is divine; I cannot stop smelling it. The Moonstruck Chocolatier box’s contents have been greedily devoured. The PearBars and Dagoba Dark Chocolate/Lavender bar also have been eaten and I am going to get more! The box of Tazo Green Tea was snatched up and quickly put into the tea cupboard. There was no way I was going to bring that one to work. Upon closer inspection of the yarn wrapped in blue tissue (remember I already opened the box so no wrappings in the photos!), I gasped. The yarn is BMFA’s STR in Mustang Sally. It is one of the colorways that I have secretly wanted for quite some time but never figured I would get it unless I went to Rhinebeck or MD S&W. Wow! To top off the rest of the contents, were two Sockapalooza bags. I love the brown!! Sock Monkey gave me a great package once again. Still no socks, and I started to think they were hidden in the giant mug. But then there was this card at the bottom of everything.

I was puzzled, and opened the envelope. (Okay, I am waiting for everyone to see this card, so click on the last two links…) I feel so awful for my pal!! Sock Monkey, please do not worry about the socks. Take as much time as needed. I will be happy no matter what. She also provided a cute photo of the future socks going to the docter and wrote her doctor’s stern words on the back of it.

With Sockapalooza 4 ending and SP11 just begun (my questionnaire is HERE), I decided to participate in a couple of one-time only swaps. I have joined four Ravelry-based swaps: Yarn Stash by Kyle, NY Sock Exchange by Invisible Insanity, Summer Camp 2007 by Baseball Knitter, and the Scarf Exchange 2007 by Modern Elegance. I will have more information soon on them because my first swap package arrived on Monday, but I wanted my Sock Monkey to have a post on her own! Until then, I leave you these photos from the Ravelry get together in Sakonnet Purls this past Sunday. I met with CalicoKitty, Sunidesus, LickMySticks (please give her a virtual hug, her kitty Val is sick), and LMS’ pal Kelly for some Sale Shed raiding and knitting love. We all had a fun time, and I took advantage of the swift and giant ball winder to get my gosh-only-knows-how-much-it-is skein of wool fingering weight wound up into a pretty cake. I now present a wedding cake sized goodness of wool fingering weight yarn in its natural glory, and yes that is an empty TP roll in its middle. =:8