A very special day

Happy Birthday to me
I'm feeling crab-by
I'd like to shower a-lone
So please let me be!

Today is a very special day indeed! It's my birthday! I haven't decided what age I'm going for this year. I "turned" 27 last year. So I suppose I should be turning 28 this year. But I think I just might stick with 27. It's almost believable right? How long can a woman hang onto her twenties before it becomes just pathetic?

What did I get for my birthday? (cue music) Dun-da-da-DAAAAAAAAAAAH!

A New Transmission!

But wait, that's not all! I also got a new torque converter, pump, solenoid/solenoid block, transmission fluid and a filter/deep pan! Just what I've always wanted!

So this was the most expensive birthday EVER. But our car, our only car. runs, that's the important thing. So what if I can't knit with a solenoid.

Actually, The Greatest and I pooled our birthday, anniversary and Christmas gifts for the year last month so we could buy an X-box 360. I wanted it solely so I could play Halo 3 when it comes out later this month (which we have already pre-purchased). So all moving events must be completed by the 25th.

But do not worry. There was still lots of yarny goodness on my birthday.

Have you met Katrina? You should all go to her blog and bother her until she starts blogging again. She is amazing. She is one of my best friends, truly. I have never met her in person, but I will. We met through our blogs and she is a constant source of light, laughter, support, and inspiration in my life. I cherish our friendship and emails. And she sent me the most amazing birthday package.

Being who she is, she knew I couldn't open the package alone, so she sent these, right on top, to distract the little ones (and a sausage for The Greatest).

Her favorite chili recipe, which just might make a special birthday dinner tonight!

Yummy goodness from my favorite store (in the prettiest gift bag I've ever seen). Being pregnant most smells make me sick, but this is just light enough to be wearable. I've been searching for a lotion I can wear for weeks now. How did she know?

A zipper bag with the coolest stitch markers (they've got the kitchner directions right on them, no more google searches when I want to finish a sock) and a nifty little beaded row counter.

A beautiful new holder for my dpns, mine are currently being stored in a ziplock bag *blush* They'll feel spoiled and loved now.

A lantern moon bag in the best shade of sherberty orange

Inside of which there were three skeins of Claudia's Handpainted yarn in Red Wagon, so pretty, reminds me of Knitpicks discontinued Flower Power, but better, with shades of pink.

And she sent me two books on sock knitting. In case you haven't noticed, all I seem to be knitting recently is sock and baby patterns.

Not to brag, but the Cat Bordhi book? SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR! How cool is that. I thought I knew how to knit/design socks. But this book truly takes a new approach to the shaping of socks. I can't wait to get started knitting these patterns and learning the new ideas. Sometimes I feel like I've seen most of what the knitting world has to offer. It's exciting to encounter something truly new to me. My favorite part of college (besides the drugs) was learning all these new ideas that I never knew existed, especially in my Music Theory classes. I loved looking at the world in new ways. And now I get to look at my old friend, the hand knitted sock, with a new perspective and design technique. I'm so excited.

Isn't that a great birthday package? I feel so loved. But the best part, the part that brought me to tears was in a box in the bottom.

It says "Open me last." Inside I found this.

On the right are two skeins of "Topeka." They were handpainted by Ruby Sapphire Yarns based on the colors of Katrina's blog "Here in Topeka." Aren't they pretty? And those two skeins on the left? Can you guess their name?

NEGLECTED! Katrina commissioned this yarn, to be dyed for me, and named after my blog. She choose, not the colors of my blog, but colors she knew were my favorite to knit with. Not the colors I would tell you are my favorite if you asked (who says brown is their favorite color?) but truly the shades I am drawn to when I pick out yarn. Colors I love to watch flow between my fingers and take form. She knows me so well. Look at those gorgeous shades of brown, and smoky charcoal blue. Does yarn get any more perfect than that?

One yarn is 100% merino wool

The other is 50% wool, 50% tencel.

They were dyed with the same dyes. I love how different the same colors look on the different fibers. And if you could feel them....heaven. I love them so much I changed my blog colors. As Katrina and I tend to do, we plan to knit these yarns in our own private knit-a-longs. She'll pick the pattern for Topeka, and I'll pick the pattern for Neglected. I can't wait.

It's already the perfect birthday and it's only 9:30 in the morning. I'm going to be lazy with the kids for the rest of the day. We're going to bake a cake. Possibly make some chili? Organise my DPNs. Paint our toenails. And I'm going to knit. I know I'm not supposed to be casting on new projects (have you seen my sidebar?), but really, could anyone blame me if something from New Pathways for Sock Knitters magically appeared on my needles?