My Secret Pal Rocks!

Yesterday, the mailman brought me a box of treasures. The girls crowded around as I opened it, and oohed and aahed at all the pretty wrapped rectangles:

(And if my Secret Pal notices that maybe the packing looks different, it’s because I was so curious about what the box of treasures contained that I unwrapped with wild abandon, all the while warning the girls to “Let me do it, this is MINE!” Only afterwards did I think I should have taken a pre picture, so I rewrapped everything for a photo op.)

The unwrapping and finding out what was there was half the fun (well, maybe a quarter of the fun, but enjoyable, whatever the percentage). Can you see how much my Pal was able to stuff into a cardboard box?

There are books—for me and the Imperatrixes-in-Training (Trixie has already claimed Mr. Popper’s Penguins). There is a set of cute blank notecards, as well as a chic photo brag book. There are desk supplies (I love desk supplies, particularly post-it notes; I use them in my work, I leave post-its on packages to mail, I take down the name of books or CDs I come across that I’d like to get from the library on them … although I’ve never left a nagging note on one [I like them too much to use them in such a manner: they should bring joy, not frustration]). There is an innovative (that's what hte publishers call it, and I agree) vegetarian cookbook (wow, this Pal does the homework!) that has a chile-ginger parsnip recipe: I love the sweetness of parsnips, and I’m always hoping to find different ways to prepare them! Plus, when you’ve been vegetarian for 18 years, it’s hard to find recipes that seem new and snazzy, but this book is full of new and snazzy ways to prepare vegetables; innovative!

Of course, this is a knitting-themed exchange, so I also got two skeins of 100% yak milk protein fiber (you can make yarn out of yak milk? I did not know that!), a book on crocheting beaded bags, plus the pattern, worsted yarn, double-pointed needles, and cable needles (!!!) needed to make a very cool-looking hat.

And then, there was the chocolate decadence cookie, as well as a variety of fruit leathers. (Was. Notice the “was”.)

Secret Pal, thank you! I am very excited to get cracking on all this bounty. In fact, I believe I will be finishing that second lace sock that has been languishing for a while, so I can cast on that hat. Maybe even by this afternoon!