Package from my very own sockaPALooza

So sorry to leave you all hanging. Remember this?

Of course you do. Ok. The story. Our neighbor above us had just stepped out, and 10 minutes later we were drowning in our indoor tropical storm. About 5 minutes after that, we heard someone go back into the apartment, and then a flury of running about and a shop vac was clearly heard.

A little later, the neighbor (whom we had yet to meet) came down and knocked on our door. Severely embarrassed, he told us how he had balanced a Styrofoam tray of steak over the sink and started water running over it to thaw it out. Then he had to run out to the store to get something....and forgot the water running. He apologized many times as he watched the water run and splash down into our kitchen, then went back up to his apartment to try and get things cleaned up.

The water dripped for over an hour, and my husband emptied those two buckets 3 times each. That's a heck of a lot of water. The matainance man came over yesterday and painted the water-stained portions of the ceiling.

Everything has dried out, and thankfully, we were home to put the buckets in place and clear the area. My knitting bag was sitting right up there on the breakfast bar when the water started, so everything in it may have been ruined, had we not been there. (Makes my heart jump just thinking of it!) So we're fine, the ceiling didn't fall down on us, and our kitchen has been restored to it's former state of clean and dry. An interesting thing to note: we assumed that there wasn't much insulation in the ceiling since we can hear the neighbors clearly upstairs. Now that we saw the water running out of the holes where the light fixture wires are run, we realize that there must be pretty much none at all. At least there won't be any mildew and awful smell, since it was able to all drain out and then dry quickly!

Ok, on to knitting content.

My sockapalooza package has arrived! When I got the mail last night, I found a blue bubble mailer, and immediately tore into it. This is what my incredible sock pal, Anita, sent me:

I have got to be the luckiest sock pal around. One skein of Bearfoot Mountain Colors! Four ounces of silky, pink/peach/purple Merino! And the absolutely gorgeous Simply Lovely Lace Socks. Check out the detail of the heel. Didn't she do a perfect job? I love these! Even though it was hot last night, I wore them until bedtime (I admit I was tempted to sleep in them!) and showed anyone who cared to look (and probably a few who didn't). Thank you, thank you!!

Here is the card she sent me with a little family of Suri Alpacas on it:

Finally, I "get" all the excitement surrounding a swap, or in this case, a round-robin. While planning the socks for my pal, I started reading her blog to get a feeling of what, exactly, she would like. She wasn't very specific in her preferences, so I chose a colorway based on things she's chosen to knit for herself. Then I picked out a pattern that seemed to suit the yarn and the occasion (knitting for a skilled knitter!). During the nights and days spent knitting them, the places I took them, the people I visited with, the stores I shopped, I imagined these stitches hugging the feet of someone living across the ocean from here. This knitted fabric, this carefully chosen pair would be walked in, on soil I may never see. Exciting, interesting, inspiring.

Now, a week later, I have opened my very own package, and slipped my feet into a pair of socks knitted especially for my feet. Someone knit socks for me! (Did I note that this is a pattern I'd intended to knit anyway?) Not to mention, they took time to find out about my favorite things -- sock knitting and spinning! Thoughtfulness, all around.

This, my friends, is the beauty of sock swapping.