The lovely case my SP sent me ages ago, and that I’d completely forgotten to post a picture of. She made it herself, along with two other similar items — I absolutely loved the little cowboys on this one:

And then, of course, there was the double pointed needles, that particular size (4.5mm) in which I own only one needle.  I think there used to be a pair of them, but not anymore, it seems. My SP sent me these gorgeous (and not at all splinter-y) needles:

I really have to try them out soon.  Very, very soon.  Thanks so much, SP! (I still call you my ’secret’ pal even though I know who you are now ;))

Yes, I’m pretty late in posting this… but here goes, anyway.  I think the package reached me last week, when I was on vacation and unable to pick it up.

Anyway… I will post pictures very soon (when my camera has decided Fedora is a friendly system), but until then, let me just say that I was very pleasantly surprised (as always, dear Pal) when I opened the package and found a needlecase, and another case, and a bag full of seven CDs (that I absolutely must listen to; they looked really great) — all homemade by my Pal (I presume) in these absolutely madly patterned fabrics.  I love them.  The little cowboys are so cute!

(I think I’ll go off and look for a USB cable for my camera now.  I suspect my blog needs some pictures of cowboys.)

Actually, I think the correct quote from Pride and Prejudice is “A whole camp full of soldiers!” (uttered by Lydia).

Why is there not a single online bookstore in this rotten country that sells this book? Argh! I want it! (And preferably yesterday…)

I’ve had dealings with the Swedish post today. They’re why this is a rotten country. At least today; maybe I’ll think better of them if and when they deliver a certain package to a certain person.

As some of you know, we’ve recently moved to a new apartment. It is slightly smaller than the old one, but has several advantages nonetheless, one of them being that the mail is delivered considerably earlier. At our old place, we would get it anytime from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Now, we usually get it at 10 or 11 a.m.

However, whereas our old mailman would usually bring us even the larger letters/packages and ring the bell for us to come and get them, the new one just leaves a notice for us to pick them up at the local GAS STATION. (Yes, we do have a weird postal system here. There are hardly any post offices anymore.)

Anyway… as I mentioned in my last post, I got one of those notices on Wednesday. I had completely forgotten that my Pal had sent off a package recently, so I was convinced it would be some books I ordered last weekend. It wasn’t.

When I got home, I tried to open the package. I say ‘tried,’ because there was so much tape around the place where I assumed the opening was. Masses of tape. And, of course, the Customs Declaration from which my boyfriend read me the contents before I’d even started with the tape. Argh.

(I know I’m not getting anywhere with this post yet, but have patience!)

I got most of the tape off, not wanting to cut into the envelope for fear of destroying some of its precious content. Here’s what was waiting for me inside (and probably screaming out my name in terror during the horrible PAR AVION ride):

Tissue paper. Lots of tissue paper.

Yarn! Five balls Peruvian Collection Baby Silk in a light green color called (very appropriately) “Peridot”.

More yarn! Two balls Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud in the loveliest of warm browns (”Autumn”). But that wasn’t it:

Two knitting books from 1951 and 1952 (I was practically jumping on the couch when I found these), a tapestry needle set (which I sorely needed), and finally, a 4.5mm circular needle (bamboo!) which I’ve been using to swatch for Forecast. Which is why it isn’t pictured.

I’m so happy! Secret Pal, you made my day. And thank you so much for winding the laceweight into balls! Winding thicker yarn by hand is no problem, but laceweight can be a real pain. And I refuse to spend money on a yarn winder right now.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Pal!

Or so it feels, anyway. I received a really lovely package from my Secret Pal today (more on that later) and was instantly inspired to compose the next package to send my spoilee. Well, that’s where it ended. No idea whatsoever what to send. I mean, I have a few ideas of yarn to get her (okay, so now you know she’s a she, but aren’t about 95% of all SP participants) but, um, that’s basically where it ends right now. Argh.

I just remembered, I’m always like this around Christmas. I can never think of what to get people. I usually rely on last-minute shopping. Argh.

Anyway, I’ve complained about this to my knitting buddy Linster more than once, and she always comes up with great suggestions of what to get my spoilee. Unfortunately I rarely take note of them and in any case feel it’s my duty to come up with ideas of what to send. I really should get over myself.