Happy Thing #2: Celebrations!

Don't you love a good party?

I'm so lucky to knit with such wonderful people, people who've shared their talents, passions, and friendship with me over the past two years. I deeply appreciate you, SLC SnBs!

Although we're all missing David, and talked about him quite a bit, we also had reason to celebrate this Tuesday. We had three Birthdays, Susan, Eileen, and me. And we grrls and I do like to celebrate! There was cake, cookies, pie, and brownies--thanks Val, Gwen, Susan's husband, and Jessamyn.

There were gifts, too, and some of them were for me. I've carefully composed a picture of them atop the piano. Pretty, no? Although the piano is kind of a dark background, the tiers were very useful for getting all this bounty into the frame. I tried to balance the composition so you could see everything. Shall we take it from the top?

Gwen gave me two skeins of Kaffe Fassett designed Regia sock yarn, the stripey version. Isn't it fun to try out the new stuff? I love it! I am thinking some plain socks to really show the color off, but I'm open to suggestions.

Mim gave me two skeins of Reynolds Whiskey which will look great with my black winter coat, and two patterns to consider. One of them is for mitts, wouldn't that be fabulous? The other pattern is for a child's hat, but I will save that for another yarn as I'm knitting the Whiskey for me!

Eileen, whose husband kicked her out of his hospital room so she could come to our party, gave me some beautiful chocolate which I have resisted opening so I could photograph. We call that willpower, ladies! It was great to see you at SnB, Eileen!

Laurie gave me some soap and a hand-crocheted facecloth of the type Mim's sister sells on her Esty shop. The soap is "Sachet", and it smells heavenly. Laurie's got such a gift for mixing scents. I just love her soap.

Cheryl gave me an assortment of tea and the pretty blue Trekking yarn, which I love and will make socks with in the near future. Thanks, Cheryl! I love it and will really enjoy knitting it up! I am thinking something with some texture, maybe garter rib or even another pair of Conwys?

Margene gave me some beautifully soft pink and green hand-dyed sock yarn from Seacoast Handpaint and a very clever IKEA bag which zips at the top and bottom and has a handle on the side. She made a fantastic card as well--I draped it over the bag so you can see it. She stamps a little Margene seal on the back and everything, very cool. I love bags, and I love pinks and greens. I notice that the yarn slid further down inside the bag before I took the picture and you can't really see it well, but trust me, it's gorgeous.

Anne (does she have a blog? I don't think so, but please let me know if I'm wrong) gave me a skein of stripey blue Supersocke 100 cotton-wool-nylon blend sock yarn in the cleverest hand-sewn gift bag. I couldn't get a good picture, but the bag's constructed like a pyramid and has ribbon ties, very clever. I've heard the bag is good match for Anne's new curtains. The yarn will make great summer socks!

Susan spun and dyed me some incredible Blue-Faced Leister; I'm sure you saw it on her blog today. Did it blow you away? It's even more amazing in person. I am not sure what I'm going to knit for myself with it, except that it will be mine and belong to no other, and that I will enjoy every stitch. It's beautifully spun and the color's amazing. She also gave me the very cool straw bag AND a Wool Cabin gift certificate. Thanks, Susan!

Isn't that amazing? I don't know what to say to such generosity, except THANK YOU! I really appreciate the gifts and will think of you all when I'm knitting.

I also feel as if I received two other gifts on Tuesday: Anne and Gwen both brought in things they'd knit from the yarn I gave them on their birthdays. Anne made a gorgeous lace scarf with the green Opal yarn I gave her, using a viney pattern. It's just beautiful and the pattern suits the yarn so well. Anne has a great eye.

On her birthday, I gave Gwen some bright pink and green cotton elastic yarn. Maybe it had some bamboo? I can't remember the exact fiber content, I just thought it looked like a fun colorway for baby things, and Gwen had told me her first grandchild was going to be a girl. Anyway, she made the cutest wee lacey baby socks. Gwen, you should reactivate your blog and post a picture. They're adorable! Also, thanks for showing me the baby pictures. Your granddaughter is quite a cute baby!