My SP rocks, and I have been lame (and also a turtle)

I've been very lame about posting, since I've just started a new job that has me commuting to another city this month, and the company-provided accomodations (while lovely) lack internet access. The neighbors are very kindly sponsoring this post. This post will also be 100% picture-free, since my camera is in Boston.

Anyway, text is better than nothing, and it's been WAY too long since I sent a great big thank you to my SP (not to mention an update on my knitting et al), so here goes.

SP, you rock. Not only do you send me presents (which doesn't GUARANTEE that I'll like you, but doesn't hurt), and not only do you pick out really cool and perfect-for-me things to spoil me with, but everything you have sent (presents, letters, emails, blog comments) feel like a form of encouragement. I mention that I'm curious about spinning, and BAM, you send me a spindle. Both of us being belly dancers, you send me a book on the history of dance in the Arab world. I love all of the things you've sent me, but what I love most is the silent "I want to support you in this thing that interests you". That is a truly wonderful thing.


For the rest of you, guess what my SP sent me!

Box 1 (my birthday present, which arrived in Boston on my first day in DC):
- Serpent of the Nile by Wendy Buonaventura
This is a book on the history of women's dance in the Arab world, and particularly about western Orientalists' fascination with it. I have wanted this for a long, long time, and my SP didn't even know it!
- Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Absolutely hysterical, and it can come in handy when trying to explain certain knitting-related things to certain husbands.
- a bar of the best sugar-free dark chocolate I've ever had. (Trader Joes, baby!)

Box 2:
- KnitPicks Shadow lace yarn in Grape Jelly, to be used for
- the pattern for Sivia Harding's Hanging Garden Lace Stole
(gorgeous, and looks like FUN)
- a packet of Russian Caravan tea, which I haven't brewed yet, but smells like a really nice lapsang souchong (my favorite!)

and I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but since it's late and the boxes are five states away, I hope she'll forgive me.


In other news, ZigZag is done! I finished it a week and a half after the Knitting Olympics ended, and then lamed out of snipping the ends until this weekend. Turtle Power!

I also started Snowflakes and Arrows, and have done four repeats of the arrows. Fair Isle is FUN!