A Very Warm Welcome

Thanks for your messages everyone, I did make it to campus safely and have settled in quite nicely, but I made sure to snap a few photos of the blooming Dahlia in my back yard before I left on Sunday morning.

This thing is huge, it's got to be at least four feet tall.  As I commented to someone earlier, I have always been secretly afraid that it was going to lean over and eat me whole one of these days... but I made it out of the state safely, no worries.

It really was quite pretty though.  (don't mind the dead bugs - it really bothers me that we had that trap in my back yard.  You know how I am about bugs...)

(I don't know why this picture is so grainy, it looked fine before I uploaded it)

My post title refers to two things about my return to campus.  The first one being the heat.  Holy freaking quiche!  As soon as I say that I'm ready for colder weather to return, it decides to skip on back up the 80 degrees with enough humidity to make you think you're drowning.  Of course, it doesn't help that my windows face the perfect direction in order for the afternoon sun to turn my room into a sauna, but seriously.... this is ridiculous.  I may start begging for colder weather pretty soon.

The second warm welcome I received was an unbelievably generous package from Joan.  (You may know her as "Cookie's Joan" or the "Fairy GodKnitter", which is so incredibly accurate I can't even begin to describe).

So, classes started yesterday and between my classes in the morning and my placement audition in the evening, I was greeted with the most fantastic package I have ever seen.  Not only did it include wonderful "back to school supplies" like pencils, post-its (I don't know how she knew about my post-it abuse problem), T-pins, stitch markers, a notepad..., but there was also just, well, here - I'll show you:

You see, she said she was going to send me some cashmere.  I thought she was kidding, but apparently she was very, very serious.  This is a 50g/354 yard skein of Plymouth Earth Ecco Cashmere, and it is absolutely to die for.  I think I'm going to knit this one up as soon as possible.  I'm thinking Anne Hanson's Fernfrost would be nice (I know we have some mixed opinions about her patterns in our midst, but I love this one).

Continuing on, there was also this:

Yeah, more cashmere.  2oz./400 yards of Jojoland Cashmere in a beautiful Burgundy color.  This is the perfect amount for Fernfrost as well, but I think the neutral color yarn would show the pattern better.

...and then there was this 100g/600m skein of Handmaiden Fine Yarns 2-ply cashmere.  This is breathtakingly gorgeous and the color variation is impossible to capture in a picture.  This one I'll be saving for that super special project.

Isn't this just way too much to handle?  I can't believe that she sent this all to me.

Also, because it probably wouldn't be a good idea to wear cashmere on your feet, she also sent this:

A skein of Socks That Rock mediumweight (a yarn that I think doesn't even need a link because it's just that well-known) in the most perfect colorway I have ever seen - Terra Firma.  It is just too perfect for words and I can't wait to use it!

Joan, I can't thank you enough for this unbelievable package!  It will certainly bring me joy all year as I knit with these yarns and I will constantly be thinking of your generosity.  Thank you so much!  (as an aside, Joan has asked that I warn anyone who doesn't know her that she actually hates people.  Beware.)

Now, if only I hadn't forgotten my ball winder and swift at home (I know!) I would be knitting all of this up right now.  I feel so helpless without them.  I don't know how they even managed to leave my sight, but somehow they're still sitting at home among my DVDs and frolf discs.  Oh, water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink...

or if it suits you better, Oh!  Woe is me! (although the origin of that phrase isn't nearly as relevant, although I guess I'm not really sailing on a ship either... but I digress)

Thanks again Joan!

(Sorry Delain, you may have to wait a while for your second sleeve to get finished.)