When I got home from my trip on Sunday night, there was a package waiting for me. It was my apron, from Stephanie! I was super excited when I saw that she made my apron, because she posted a picture of the fabric she was using a while ago, and I LOVED it. Here’s the finished apron… very cute!

My favorite thing about this apron is the ruffle… it’s cute, but not too cutesy, and made from perfect little pleats. I’m sure those took a while to make!

And in lace news, I managed to make a lot of progress on the stole over the weekend. It’s amazing how much you can get done when you have a few extra hours on your hands at the airport. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my iPod with me (it’s my preferred method of avoiding chatty people when traveling), so I had to explain to no less than 10 people what I was doing. No, this is not the same as cross stitch. Crochet only uses one needle. No, I don’t crochet. The lace is made from holes in the knitting. Yes, they are supposed to be there. No, it isn’t hard. Yes, I have to count my stitches (so SHUT UP!). Yes, you could make doilies this way, or you could crochet them. The cord between my needles is to hold them together so I don’t lose one (ha! not really!). No, I don’t think that I could take over the plane with my knitting needles. Yes, it is OK for me to have these on an airplane. Oh, your [insert elderly female relative here] knits… that’s nice. AAAARRGH! That is the last time I travel without the iPod.

Anyway, I managed to get through the nupps section and onto the final border on the first side of the stole. I only have about 10 more rows to go on this side, then I have to go back and knit the border on the other side. Almost done!

I’ve been looking for smaller green beads for my Malabrigo sweater too. Shopping for beads on the internet is impossible. I think I may just start knitting the sweater and keep looking for beads until I get to the lace section.

It is so true. Very good things come to those who wait. Unfortunately, patience is not a virtue of mine.

My sock pal, Andrea [no blog], read my post, and sent me an e-mail today to let me know that my package was indeed in the mail. She mailed it priority mail a week ago, and was very surprised that I had not received it yet, as she is in southern California. Andrea, who is a super sweetheart, volunteered to make me another pair of socks, since it appeared that my package had gotten lost in the mail. Fortunately, it did not come to that, because I got home from work tonight, and saw a package by my front door! (I think perhaps the local delivery people must all read my blog and have it in for me!)

I ran inside, tore open the package, and saw this:

Ok, I was hoping for a nice pair of socks as a result of the Sockapaloooza sock exchange. That’s all. Not only did Andrea send me gorgeous socks (Mountain Colors Bearfoot, Yellowstone, in a lacy rib pattern), she also sent chocolate (yum!), a Burt’s Bees kit, a cute pen/notepad set, and MORE sock yarn. Self striping Sock It To Me Puzzle sock yarn! I love me some self striping sock yarn! Andrea, thank you so very much!

The Yellowstone yarn is beautiful, and… NO pooling! The funniest thing about these socks is that I was *this* close to making my own pal’s socks out of Bearfoot Yellowstone, but I got outbid for the yarn on eBay. Andrea, any chance you got this yarn on eBay around the time Sockapaloooza started? ;)
I wish it weren’t 90 degrees outside (and 80 in my house), so I could wear these right now. Aren’t they pretty?

Update: My sock recipient, Deb, received her socks yesterday too!� Yay!� And she likes them!� I’m so relieved that they arrived safely.� But what is up with the Post�Office?� Are they just overwhelmed by all the socks being sent?� Priority mail should not take over a week to arrive!

I must admit, I had high hopes for Sockapaloooza. Alison did a great job organizing it and keeping things running smoothly with weekly sock updates. Ashley was a great sock sister, keeping track of our progress along the way. And, I enjoyed knitting my pal’s socks and watching what others were knitting.
But.

I’ve been anxiously waiting for my socks to arrive. And, no socks. They may still be on their way to me, so I’m holding out hope. However, if my pal fell through and didn’t finish my socks, I don’t want to burden anyone (ie - the sock angels) with knitting me a pair of socks simply so that I receive a pair. If my own sock pal comes through (please?), that’s great. But, if not, no hurt feelings. It was fun anyway.

And, on the other side of things, I sent my own socks off last Tuesday - right on schedule. My pal lives just north of me several hundred miles, and should have received the socks by Thursday, or Friday at the latest. Unfortunately, I do not know whether the socks arrived. I don’t know whether the chocolates that I sent melted through their packaging and tissue paper, ruining the socks. I don’t know whether she opened the package and was so thrilled with the socks that she went into a state of extreme euphoria, so overcome with joy that she was unable to shoot me a quick e-mail to let me know that the package arrived. I don’t know whether she opened the package and was so overcome by disappointment that she sunk into a state of deep depression and did not want to let me know what I had done to her.

I just want to know if the socks arrived safely to their new home. Please, sock pal, let me know.