WOW and THANK YOU!

Thursday started out as a yucky day. I felt ill all morning, and was in a mood to match. So I made use of sick leave and went home to rest and recuperate.

But guess what was waiting on my doorstep to brighten my mood? My Sockapalooza socks arrived!


There were so many treasures inside, I was struck wordless for several minutes. Mr. Hipp was home as well, and all he heard was shrieks, gasps, and giggles.


My sock pal - Katrina at Here in Topeka - was amazingly generous. The package and lovely note were full of sweet thoughtfulness. Katrina really made an effort to personalize this package for me and I am so grateful for it. It made me feel much better after my yucky morning!

The socks were packaged in a super-cute Sockapalooza-themed bag made by The Knitting Ewe On The Go (it is the perfect size to be a project bag for a sock-in-progress). And the socks themselves - wow. They are made from Sunshine Yarns superwash merino wool in the Tulips colorway. She made them from the Conwy pattern in Knitting on the Road because she saw that I had been to Conwy during my trip to Wales and Ireland last year and had fond memories of the place.

The photos of the socks here are of them drying on sock blockers today. That's because my camera conked out after I took the photos of the package and before I could get photos of them on my feet. I wore them during my feel-better nap on Thursday afternoon, and then all day at work on Friday (the fit is perfect!), so I figured I should wash them before showing you Katrina's beautiful handiwork. I got my camera running again today, so here are two closeups - they really don't do the socks justice, but hopefully you can get the idea of how much she spoiled me with these.


There was also whole skein of Sunshine Yarns sock yarn in Fiesta - love the bright colors - because she saw that I am a yarn diet and thought I might like something new to play with. (So sweet!) It also came with a copy of Knitting on the Road, which I have been drooling after for ages, so now I have the Conwy pattern she used to make my socks, plus a whole bunch more! Socks made from these patterns are all over the internet and look like a great way for me to learn some new techniques. I've already marked the Denmark socks for Mr. Hipp, who studied there while in college.

And I have no idea how Katrina managed this, but the book is SIGNED by the AUTHOR HERSELF! That's right, Nancy Bush put a note in there just for me! Here's another peek at the socks, too.


But that's not all...Katrina also met famous knitter/writer The Yarn Harlot and took a picture of her holding my socks-in-progress! And - I think this is so cool - Katrina entered these socks in the Washington County (Oregon) Fair and won first place in the cabled socks division. OMG - my socks are not only touched by fame and greatness, they are also prize-winners!


Check out Katrina's blog for more details on the story behind these socks and news from the life of this truly wonderful woman.

Thanks, Katrina, for transforming my Thursday from totally yucky to one of the coolest days ever!

(BTW - the socks I made for my pal arrived too! Check out Hippezippe for the results, as well as pictures of her many hand-knit socks. She must be the most prolific sock knitter in Europe!)