Are all Virgos this lucky?

I know that you all wanted to know what was inside of that BoxFot that the girls decorated so beautifully for their grouchy mother. Much more than I deserve, that's for sure. That's right. All 30 luscious shades of Knit Picks "Palette" fingering weight wool. My favorite? Tan, of course. Another Fair Isle goodie in my future?

Tan - second column over, fourth row down. Underneath? Twig. My second favorite. Like tan, only twiggier.
Then came something nice from Jessica and Mark, who does not yet knit. Thank goodness she's open again, after her summer of playing hookie.....No, really, after dealing with the LusciousGraciousClan for a year, even a saint would need time off, so we are just happy that things are back to normal for us here in the desert, with woolly goodness available for Steve on his way home from work (Jessica Knits is a little like Cheers for the guy). She has tons of new yarn and other knitterly must-haves, all artfully arranged to tempt me. Who needs groceries?
This is GGH's "Soft Kid", 70% superkid mohair, 25% nylon, and 5% wool. It's a pretty dark rose color (#073), and there's enough to make anything my heart desires from the special Rebecca mag put out to sell the stuff. I love that magazine. I also got two Rowan magazines, but I am too lazy to hunt them down just to tell you what numbers they are....one is the vintagey one, and the other is the new one. You get the idea. The magazines and my yarn purchases of Koigu and Blue Sky Alpaca Silk are thanks to Stephen and a homemade gift certificate. Thanks to Jessica for honoring it. Like printing your own money! For me anyway. I think that for Stephen it involved the check card.
And what's this? That crazy foxbot Illanna gave me two varieties of Noro laceweight. It's a crazy Noro, with a crazy wrapper. It's called MIHO, my favorite Japanese name, after Mami. There's enough of each color to make, well, whatever I want to make. She's the best....how did she keep it hidden for all of these months? She picked it up (I assume she also paid for it,) when she was summering in New York City in this quaint little area called Queens. It's where all the people with dual citizenship inside a novelty greeting card escape to during the dog days of summer.
pretty.....................
I call this one "Freckles". It looks like my veiny skin and freckles.

And here is the Koigu (PPPM #P714) and Blue Sky (Alpaca and Silk #I33 soft pink). They are married now. Yep, I've started another sweater. It's piece-y. I hope that Mamie Mary likes it.

And look at this. Illanna, ever prolific, made me this sweet little bag. The yarn is called Lily and the color is called Grace (or the other way around. It doesn't matter, it's still my baby's name). It is the perfect size to house the gift-within-a-gift....Yarn Harlot's book. Signed. On page 197(everyone go read that), my favorite page, and the one I e-mailed to Illanna the second I read it. Isn't it nice to share your passion for knitting (or rooster collecting, or bungee jumping, as the case may be) with a dear friend? I know that my entire little family also adores the sticks and string, but Illanna doesn't steal my yarn and then pretend like I gave permission (NOTE TO FAMILY MEMBERS -- Don't take advantage of the memory-loss game. I am crazy enough without thinking that I actually encouraged you to knit with my good stuff, let alone felt it in a hot washing machine. Really now. This means you...).
What else, you are wondering, no? How about this ultra-hip bag that Lucy made for me that holds a fancy 12-ink pen. Lily presented me with a keychain Sharpie, in green. It's mini. And, the gambling addict that she is, also made sure that I had a PowerBall ticket (we didn't win, but if you ever need to know what the Jackpot is up to, ask Lil. She knows). The girls also made sure that I had lovely hand-made cards and special decorations, and we went to share Green Tea Crack at that neighborhood coffee shop. You know, the one on every corner. Even in Paris.
You would think that was enough for any girl, but NOOOOOOOOO. Here's the icing on the non-existent birthday cake (I am NOT bitter, pastries at Starbucks filled in quite nicely). For the first time in our sixteen years together, Stephen managed to really surprise me. He made this beautiful Calla Lily for me, just like the ones I carried in our wedding. He made it up, this knitting. Of course it is dyed with Kool-Aid, and it is felted. Don't worry ladies. It's only Point 5.

I look a little grouchy in this photo (a recurrent theme?), but I was not. I imagine it had something to do with looking directly into the sun for lighting. Anyway, we were trying to go for something like this old picture. And look, a Big Green sighting. Really, these people that I love, they make life so sweet.

Phew....I am exhausted. And since then, so much has happened. Stuff involving Sweaters, and Socks. Even Spinning by the Pool. And Baby Things. Also coming soon, Kent: The Update. Stay tuned, fellow Bloggers.

Knit on,

Sincerely,

kikiluscious, who got sunburned while sitting in the shade today. Just so you know.