as kim demands: i need to show off the loot from my SP!

yesterday, as i wandered home from the bus, eyeing the slightly ominous clouds overhead (and mindful of the morning’s forecast calling for rain, which prompted me to take my umbrella to work), i paused to check my mailbox, whereupon i spotted:

(Side note: what is up with the post office correcting the zip code on the return address?? I mean, it didn’t get returned… How strange!)

so it was actually very good that i had taken my umbrella to work, you see, because if i hadn’t taken it, it would have rained, all over my fantastic goodies from my SP!

inside, i opened it up to find a whole bunch of cool stuff:

first off is the Fiber Trends Spring Blossoms Shawl pattern, which is a really lovely pattern and looks like it should be a relaxing pattern to knit up.

on top of the pattern (so you can actually see them on my white table…) are two braids of really incredibly soft white roving. i’m not sure what the fiber is, but it’s very soft! there might have been a little snuggling. i’m just saying.

then there’s a skein of Twinkle Toes handpainted sock yarn in the ‘Ocean’ colorway, from Joslyn’s Fiber Farm in wisconsin. it’s a superwash wool/mohair/nylon blend, so it’s soft and just the tiniest bit fuzzy. check out the colors:

i really like the colors on that! i’m not sure what pattern to knit up with it, but i did pick up two sock patterns that the Midwest Fiber Fair back a few weeks ago that i haven’t had a chance to play with, yet, so … who knows? (also, let me just say that today i finally figured out why i haven’t been able to take halfway decent photos of dark-colored yarns — which was a real issue for me while trying to upload my stash to Ravelry. i have apparently had the white balance set to something-other-than-neutral since, well, i don’t actually know how long, but it’s possible that it was since my last big road trip. which was in 2005. sooo….. never mind my being a dumbass, let’s all celebrate the fact that i was able to take photos of this yarn (at long last) where it looked dark blue like it is, and not bright sky blue, which it emphatically is not.)

and last, treats for my sweet tooth: licorice gumdrops and dark chocolate! i’ve never seen Crows before, but they rock. it’s like a whole box of black jellybeans, just for me! this chocolate bar is actually kind of cool, too; rather than giving you one big bar of chocolate, inside the packaging are five smaller individual bars, each of which is just exactly the right amount of chocolate — not too much and not too little. yum!

so there you have it! the first official post o’squee. thanks to my awesome SP for such a thoughtful gift, and i can’t wait to get started with these goodies!