Back in the Land of the Living

And it feels good. Yes. It. Does.

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Thank you all so much for your kind wishes, both about Andy and my long hours working. I wanted to add that, although Andy was the son of my husband's classmate and friend, I was never lucky enough to meet him personally. And, well...it just shouldn't be this way. So much has been lost in Iraq. I will forward your kind wishes on to his family.

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Well, all my book materials are in! Wooooooohoooooooooooooo! Although the day I blogged about was a particularly long one, that's about what happens when you try to squish the workload from a book into an already busy life! And like Junie said, that's why I've disappeared.

So, I'm on to the most important past of my post: my kind, patient and wonderful Secret Pal, SpinningJenny, who spoiled me rotten, picked amazingly wonderful gifts, and is a complete sweetheart. Even when I got completely overwhelmed and dropped off the face of the Earth. Thank you Jenny!

And now since I have had the time to fix the camera software finally, here are some pics of a hank of absolutely amazingly gorgeous laceweight she sent me from Cherry Tree Hill.

Mmmmmm.

I might have gone a little overboard to make up for lost time here. :)

And then she sent me a package with my very favorite candy that I completely forgot to mention in the questionnaire (duh) but that she ferreted out of me in an email exchange: Ritter Sport marzipan bars. She sent me two. The second one didn't make it to the photo session. Heh. Or I should say "urp."

And the hank of yarn? Her handspun. Yes!

Is it not delectable? I wish I could do it justice! It has these gorgeous strands of shiny stuff spun in and it is so soft and lofty. I need to come up with the perfect pattern.

Thank you so much Jenny!!! I so enjoyed meeting you!

Next, we have my only holiday knitting: for my little ones. I used Cascade's Eco Wool + (my favorite yarn now for almost three years running!) with the Fiber Trends kids' felted clogs pattern. Here they are before felting.

And after.

I am always amazed at the magic of felting, no matter how many times I do it!

And believe me, I've been doing a LOT of it!

Here is the requisite modeled shot.

And last of all, I wanted to thank everyone who has written me kind notes about Ice Queen (queue it here on Ravelry)! I am so glad you all like it - and you absolutely make my day when I get those notes. It's been a huge (much needed!) energy boost. Thank you thank you!

And now, I have a lot of catching up to do in my life! Have a great weekend y'all!