Treasures II

My secret pal loves me. She is generous, kind, very attractive, and extremely intelligent. She must be.

Today I received my second excellent package from Secret Pal. Look at the treasures it has!

Mrs Beetons! Yes, those are two handmade gifts--Mrs. Beetons and handmade beaded stitch markers--from my Secret Pal in the first picture! Secret Pal, how incredibly kind of you! I slipped my Mrs. Beetons on straight away after unwrapping them, and they're perfect! Lovely small beads on the outer knitted cuff, and the cable detail on the inner cuff is stunning! I'm so pleased! And they'll serve two purposes: one, as Mrs. Beetons that'll tuck into all my jacket sleeves, and two, as the model for all my future Mrs. Beetons! Also in the most excellent package were handmade beaded stitch markers! They come at the perfect time: I just reached the decrease row on my purple sweater, and I have my stitches marked with--gasp--safety pins! How uncouth! How uncultured! My Secret Pal has saved the day with her beautiful jewel-tone stitch markers.

The Package from Across the Sea also included a beautiful hank of russet colored yarn, which just happens to coordinate beautifully with a tweedy-type yarn I bought the other day! Very nice, SP! And my Secret Pal infused my package with sandalwood incense sticks, which I've already lit to infuse my home with the same scent. It's wonderful! And a packet of body rub, a very nice card, and a knitting magazine with a set of beaded stitch markers included! Can you believe it? And the magazine's stitch markers are silver and russet and amber!

Secret Pal, you've made my first SP experience wonderful. You're so thoughtful and generous. Thank you, thank you! I'm so charmed by everything. I can't thank you enough (but I'll try!)

Treasures from another land!

Today the mailman brought me a package from my Secret Pal across the sea! And, oh, the wonders it contained!

My Secret Pal is absolutely wonderful! SP knitted a beautiful lavender face cloth (upper left) in an intricate pattern (nicely done!) and a lovely weight yarn and included a handmade coconut soap. She also sent a British flag pin, pictured here at the top center but which has since been affixed to my coat lapel; several people have asked about it and I take every opportunity to tell them about my wonderful angel SP!

A beautiful book of Favourite Cake Recipes was in the package, too, and I plan to bake the Coffee Butterscotch Cake as soon as possible; maybe for Sunday coffee. The recipe book is illustrated with scenes of cottage life (my favorite is the image of a woman at a spinning wheel).

My Secret Pal must be very wise and good; she also generously sent a counted cross-stitch of an English hare. My SP must be very intuitive, otherwise how could she have known how much I enjoy counted cross-stitch, or how much I enjoy bunnies and their relations? (Last spring, I had baby bunnies in my backyard. They've grown up and out, but we see the mum every day. I'm hoping for Bunny Watch 2006 this year!)

I have a counted cross-stitch project going at all times. I think it's fun to switch between quilting, cross-stitch, and knitting, to keep one's mind happy and engaged, and to see something different in order to keep liking the long-term projects.

Also in my package was a fortune-telling fish, a postcard of the Magna Carta from Salisbury Cathedral, and a pamphlet describing the cathedral!

But the most wonderful item is a hand-beaded, wide, silver clasp bracelet! I gasped audibly when I opened it, Secret Pal! I'm so touched, and honored, and thankful for such a gift. I very much appreciate all the work and care you took with it; it's beaded exquisitely, and I love the colors! It fits perfectly; I've worn it all day, and I'll wear it tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that. Thank you, thank you, so much.

I am honored, SP. I think of you touching these things, creating them, selecting colors (especially the heathers!); I place you in my mind in that wonderful English countryside, and in the cities. I remember fondly visiting cathedrals there, St. Paul's, Westminster, and I place myself in my mind with you in Salisbury. You've touched my heart, SP!

How generous is my Secret Pal! How astute! How gifted she is!

I think the only thing to do is to nominate her for Best Secret Pal Ever.

JP for the House cookies

By day, I'm a candidate for the Montana State legislature. By night, I'm a knitter. (Well, I'm a knitter whenever I can be!) I just had to share today's campaign effort with you!

My friend Karen has baked JP for the House cookies for a Democratic function tonight! Aren't they GREAT?

I and my campaign committee have been thinking up campaign-related stuff, like slogans, give-aways, etc. and Karen thought of house-shaped cookies for campaign events. This is the inaugural batch!

They'll debut tonight. I'm so proud! The JP for the House cookies will surely trump chips 'n' dip.

I love that they're so creative and clever! (So is my friend Karen. What's more, Karen's the one who oh-so-patiently TAUGHT ME TO KNIT!

Yay, Karen!

I'm sorry, fellow knitters/bloggers, that I didn't have a knitting project to post today, but I am knitting! The purple celtic braid sweater is coming along, and so is the heather sage cardigan back. That one's taking longer than I expected, but I have to campaign, and that takes precious knitting time away!

Thanks for the messages, Secret Pal! I think of you all the time. I have your wonderful postcard on my desk, right by my computer monitor. I see it many times a day. Thanks for spoiling me!

Antibodies, and new yarn

Whatever flu-like sickness I contracted has knocked me flat and worked me over, but I'm on the mend. Today I woke up and felt almost human again! So much so, that I could enjoy some of the new yarn from the Tacoma trip this past weekend. It's cotton, and lovely; soft, but not too limp, which should knit up into a nicely-bodied scarf or Mrs. Beetons (although I haven't finished the first set yet. Did I tell you I reversed the right/wrong side when I joined the piece, so that the cuff is formed, but with the purl side out (not what I intended) and the knit side in? aargh)

Thanks to my Secret Pal for the very nice comments on this site; it's so nice to hear from you! I think of you often, knitting in the U.K.

Stay healthy, everyone. I resumed knitting on my purple sweater last night, and how nice it was to get back to it!

I've been away, and new yarn

It's been a while since the last post; sorry, blog readers. Bob, my better half, and I went to the coast for a music festival. We heard great music and I found a yarn shop that had wonderful stuff. I bought three different combinations of new yarn, one of which is pictured here. The purple palette is for me, definitely; not sure yet who'll receive the sage and lavender or sage and pinks palettes.

I got new yarn, and oh, such a head and chest cold. It's not bird flu, but I doubt I could feel worse if it were. I'll spend today drinking tea and dozing whenever I'm not using tissues on my rubbed-raw face. Aargh. I may not even have the energy to knit!

It's a good thing I'm not communicable via the blog. I can share my pic of the new yarn, however.

Oh, and my koi fabric was waiting on the doorstep when we arrived back home! The koi/lily pad pond quilt will take even more shape, when I'm physically able to put koi in the pond!

I hope everyone's well, figuratively and literally. I've developed quite an impressive cough over the last two days, too. I can still find comfort in yarn, though.

Intercontinental!

United Kingdom, baby! yeah!

In the mail today came this postcard from my SP, posted from the United Kingdom! I'm so charmed! I'm also burning with questions: is my SP a Briton, or a Scot? From Wales? Ireland?

I've been to the U.K., Secret Pal! I've visited London a few times (for work and for holiday), and Windsor, and I've been to Wales, and to Scotland (Edinburgh, Stirling, and through the Highlands). I'm a big fan of the tube in London, the countryside in Wales, and the lochs in Scotland. You're so thoughtful to send a postcard about the WWII knitting effort; I love the imagery of the women knitting at top, and belaying a zeppelin (lower left). A woman's work is never done!

Lovely gesture, Secret Pal! Thank you, thank you!

Mind the gap!

(Indirect) Contact

Oh, my Secret Pal is enticing me! In an email today, my SP asked for my wrist measurement. Wha? Wrist measurement?! For what wonderful thing, I ask myself?

SP, you're El Mysterioso!

6 1/2 inches, 7 with a little bracelet-y wiggle room. Just in case anybody else in the virtual world wanted to know. Kee hee!

Curvy quilts

I've just finished teaching a quilting class (did I mention that I quilt?) called Show Off Your Curves. It's my own "invention", in that curved elements aren't set into square blocks, but rather are featured in their own curvy wonderful ways. It all came about because of the quilt to the right, which I called "Orbital". It won a quilt challenge and spurred a class, and many more ideas for quilts!

The quilt I'm creating now has manifested itself as an abstract lily pond. I made curved arcs in green and blue, and when I pieced them together and set them on the background fabric, I started seeing rings on the water of a lily pond.

The leaves lend themselves to an abstraction of water lilies, so I added flower and dragonfly appliques and then hatched another idea: koi pond! I'll add some koi fish, swimming over and under the leaves, as though the quilt is a snapshot of a koi pond, from a person's perspective of looking down into the water.

I've been knitting, too, as time allows, on the celtic braid purple sweater. It's going well, but building the body of the sweater takes time. I was so gung-ho on the first couple projects, and they went so fast, that now that I'm knitting just occasionally, this sweater's taking a while. Good thing I like the color, or it'd be going really sloooooooooowly!