There’s a passage in the book Julie and Julia that really got me thinking about blogging and friendship. It goes like this:

It is a comfort to have friends, maybe especially friends you will never meet.  Think about it this way: as I awaited a ferry amid thousands of other disheveled Queens secretaries, a woman named Chris in Minnesota was thinking not, “Oh, poor New Yorkers!” but, “Oh, poor Julie!” As I cooked chicken livers with a flashlight under my chin, some guy down in Shreveport was trying to remember if Julie had a gas or electric stove.  Around the country, a small scattering of people who had never been to the city, who had never met me, who had never cooked French food in their life, heard about the blackout and thought about me.  That’s sort of incredible, isn’t it?  Aside from its being an ego-boost, I mean.  Because people who would have looked at this as a disaster happening to other people were suddenly looking at it as a disaster happening to one of their own, to a friend.  I don’t mean this to be arrogance; in fact, I don’t think it has a whole lot to do with me one way or the other.  I think what it means is, people want to care about people.  People look after one another, given the chance.

To put it in context, I think . . .

It means that when Cheryl has her baby, we think about her and send good thoughts her way.

It means that when Carrie’s husband unexpectedly passes away, we rally around her and her kids.

It means when I’m trying to choose pictures for Hannah’s year book I can count on all of you to help me out.

And it means that when my dear friend Margene faces open heart surgery I knit her a shawl.

The pattern is the Celtic Hearts Shawl and I specifically chose it because of the hearts along the border.

I wanted hearts to not only remind Margene of her heart surgery (not that she’ll ever forget) but to also remind her that I love her very much.

And the yarn is Sleeping Dragons Laceweight that I actually bought the last time I visited Margene. I couldn’t think of a better use for this yarn.

The color reminds me of Margene’s blue skies and my blue ocean – the perfect combination of both of our worlds.

Margene is such a dear friend to me and I just wanted to be able to reach across the miles and give her a big giant hug.

My arms aren’t quite that long, though, so this shawl will have to do.

When I first started reading blogs I remember seeing people post about gifts they received.  Little packages with goodies and treats were sent, randomly it seemed, to popular bloggers.  I wondered if I’d ever be the recipient of something like that.

I didn’t have to wonder long and over the years I have received some wonderful gifts from wonderful friends like Margene and Kathy and Norma and Hillary and others that I’m not mentioning here.  No matter how often it happens, though, it’s still a wonderful and thoughtful thing.  And when someone knits for you it’s even better.

Behold the tea cozy that Cookie knit for me as a birthday present.  I was so excited when I saw the box with the name Cookie! as the sender – I just knew it would be something fabulous.  I was right!

Cookie says to tell you that the pattern is called Rosy Posy Tea Cozy and it’s available free on Ravelry.  It was first published in The Knitter magazine and that’s when I exclaimed over it and apparently inspired Cookie.  She used Patons Classic Merino Wool from her stash in Olive Green, Bright Pink and Bright Red for the roses.  Less than a 100gr skein was used of the green.  And for the rest of the specs:  US 7/4.5mm needles for the cozy and a US 9/5.5 mm tip for the cast off, US 5/ 3.75 mm dpns for the rose bed and an F hook for the roses.

It fits perfectly on my favorite tea pot.  I’ve actually been meaning to make a cozy for this tea pot  and I’m thrilled to have this extra special one from my extra special friend.  Since this is the teapot I use when I brew a pot of tea for Dale and I, you know we’ll think of Cookie with each cup of tea we share.

Thanks, Cookie!  I love it.

My heart and my thoughts are in Utah today as Margene undergoes surgery.  I talked to her over the weekend and she sounds great.  She is strong and positive and in excellent health, other than this heart thing.  She is , of course, anxious for this to be over, and you should know that Susan will be posting an update to the Zeneedle blog once there is news to share.  I know I’ll be checking repeatedly and I bet many of you will, too.

So, with Margene and Susan on my mind so much today, it seems this is the perfect time to show you my finished Featherduster Shawl.  I wouldn’t have knit this at all if it weren’t for Susan’s talent and Margene’s persuasion!

Susan’s pattern is fantastic, as always.  The chart is easy to follow and the beauty of the design really shines through when using this Rowan Kidsilk Haze.  It’s truly light as a feather.

The flowers in the photo shoot are courtesy of Dale.  He brought them home from a wedding the band played the other night.  I can count on one hand the number of times he has done this over the years but I love it when he does.  I especially love it when it provides such a beautiful back drop for my shawl.

I haven’t had the chance to wear this yet (plus, I have a rule about not wearing hand knits until they have been blogged) but I know I will reach for it over and over again.  It will go with everything.

It’s super soft and truly gorgeous and I love the scalloped edge, too.  So many of my shawls have had pointed edges that I truly appreciate the soft roundness of this edging.

And even though it’s too warm to wear it today, I brought it with me to work.  It’s right here, by my side, reminding me of the friend who designed it and the other friend who knit one for herself at the same time that I was knitting this one for me.  It’s keeping me company as I think good and healing thoughts for my friend Margene.

Sometimes our hand knits provide comfort in ways we never imagined.

Remember that Baby Chalice Blanket I posted a few weeks ago?  Yesterday I was finally able to give it to the mom-to-be when I had the privilege of attending a baby shower at Terry’s house for my dear friend Cheryl.

What a wonderful afternoon we all had!  We ate yummy food and had lots of time for chatting and relaxing.  And Cheryl got a plethora of hand crafted gifts.

Blogless Sharon made her this quilt and she received 2 other quilts, too.

There was also the infamous Baby Bee Blanket from Kim.

And the cutest little dress from Kathy.

And so much more – baby sweaters and hats and socks and booties.This is going to be a wonderfully warm little baby.

I’m not just talking about the wool here.  The love my friends and I have for Cheryl, shown in such a tangible way yesterday, is deep and full.   And I know we can’t wait to surround this new little life with all that love.

And wool.

This past weekend Dale and I headed north to go to New Hampshire Sheep & Wool.  It was our fifth year in a row of attending this festival and we weren’t disappointed.

We checked into our hotel on Friday evening.  We had a great room with a balcony.  They wouldn’t give us chairs so that we could actually sit out there but that didn’t stop us from enjoying the beautiful sunset.

On Saturday morning we headed for the festival.  It wasn’t crowded at all, in fact, it felt like there were fewer people than usual in attendance.  There were definitely some favorite vendors missing, too.

That didn’t stop us from having a great time, though.  We shopped with our friends for the morning and gathered for a bit of a pot luck lunch at noon.

Claudia and Laurie agree that lunch is serious business.

We spent the rest of the day gabbing and walking and visiting the booths.  The animals never fail to entertain us.

Like these two little goats who kept climbing up on the hay.

And this beautiful alpaca who started posing for Kim, Jean and I the minute we pulled out the cameras.

Cheryl’s afternoon snack included a pickle – of course!

Do you want to know why Manise is smiling?

Check out this fleece she bought!

The day at the festival was over too quickly but the evening was just as much fun.  We had dinner with Jean and her husband Dan as well as Kim and her husband Ken.  We laughed a lot and really enjoyed each others company.

Sunday we took our time driving home through rural New Hampshire.  We celebrated Mother’s Day with pizza from my favorite pizza place in the evening.  It was a great way to end a really terrific weekend!

Sharon and I decided on the way home that this was the best SPA ever. Of course, I think we say that every year! I guess that means that it just keeps getting better, though, and that’s okay by me.

We went up on Thursday this year and that was a really good decision. We had a whole extra day to spin, relax and just hang out. By Friday afternoon most of our friends had arrived and the party was in full swing! The rest of the weekend flew by, punctuated by uproarious laughter, excellent food, fine tequila, and lots of spinning.

I want you to know that I carried my camera around all weekend. And I never took a single photo. Talk about camnesia! I guess I was just having too much fun being in the moment to try and capture any particular moment. I did take one picture when I got home, though.

This is the spinning I did over the weekend. Two bobbins of Crown Mountain Farm Sock Hop (from back in the Teyani days) and one bobbin of Foxfire Farm cashmere/silk. I told you I did a lot of spinning. Apparently it was all purple!

The rest of the weekend you’ll just have to imagine.

Last night Dale and I had the opportunity to meet Gale of She Shoots Sheep Shots for dinner. Gale and I have tried to meet before and it’s never worked out so I was really excited about finally getting to meet. I was not disappointed! Gale is smart and funny and full of great stories from her years as a photographer. We had an enjoyable evening of good food and even better conversation, confirming again my opinion that blogging has made my life so much better.

In the meantime, the tulips are just about dead.

But they are still pretty photogenic.

Ahhh, Rhinebeck. Those of us who go can’t get enough of the recaps and those of you who don’t go are probably sick of hearing about it. Too bad.

I left on Friday morning and drove out to upstate New York by myself as Blogless Sharon couldn’t go this year. It was strange to be on my own and driving that far (it’s about a 3.5 hour ride) since I don’t even drive myself to work these days. Anyway, I arrived at the hotel just before check in and bumped into Julia and Brandt. I settled into the room and started texting Cheryl and Kathy to see when my roomies would arrive. I also texted Terry to check on the status of her class and I texted Sandy to see if she was there yet. It wasn’t long before I had a roomful of friends and the real fun began.

The highlight of the weekend is spending time with all these wonderful friends but the festival is pretty good, too. The sheep are cute.

And the foliage is gorgeous.

There is oodles of fiber and yarn to shop. Of course, that assumes you can actually get near it! It was quite crowded on Saturday and I didn’t feel that Sunday was that much less crowded. It sure didn’t seem like the economy was tanking given the number of people shopping.

Really, though, it’s all about the friends. I did take a few snaps of people I was with but there were many many more who never got into any of my photos.

Here is Cheryl and Jennifer at the Spirit Trail booth.

And Jackie and Elisa, two blogging friends who now live way too far away, I feel.

Of course this is Scout, Kathy and Margene with me. I was so happy to meet Scout and having Margene there was just the frosting on the cake of the weekend.

I also shopped with Jessalu and Risa and Jean and Kim and bumped into lots of others, too.

All too soon it was time to head for home. Having Margene ride back with me was such a bonus, though, as it felt like the weekend wasn’t really over yet. We had a nice time Sunday night and Monday morning and then it was time to head to the airport so she could fly on back to Utah. Come back, soon, Margene!

It was a fabulous weekend and I’m already planning for next year!

Thanks so much for all the good dentist mojo.  It worked!  My dentist is very kind and gentle and he took excellent care of me and I didn’t feel any pain at all.  Well, until they gave me the bill.  $730 caused quite a bit of pain to my wallet! Now we just have to wait and make sure that I don’t have any pain or sensitivity so think good thoughts for that if you can.

Like any trip to the dentist, the best part was when it was over.  And guess what?  When I went outside the sun was shining!  Yay!

Just as soon as I got home I headed out into the sunshine with a couple of things to photograph for you.

I knit these fingerless mitts for my friend Wendy’s mom.  She lives in Maine and those winters are mighty cold up there so when Wendy asked (and gave me the yarn) I was happy to oblige.  They were fast and the pattern is free and a great way to use up a small skein of sock yarn

Speaking of sock yarn, check out these beauties.

I cast these on last week with a very specific purpose.  You see, the yarn is Judy’s and I thought it would be most appropriate to knit socks with her yarn while wishing for speedy healing for her broken foot and the Wooly Babe’s hip issues.  Turns out that Mr. Etherknitter is having some issues these days, too, so I’ve included him in my healing-knitting-mojo as well.

Finally, in case you aren’t aware, the deadline for this year’s Red Scarf Project is rapidly approaching.  Don’t fret it you don’t have time to knit a scarf as they are more than happy to take your money!  Just be sure and tell Norma because she’s running a nice contest with some pretty sweet prizes.

So that’s what I’ve been noticing around the blogs.  What about you?

I can upload photos again! Yay! So now you get the rest of the random stuff – this time with pictures.

~ I bought a very cool tea thing the other day at L.L. Bean. You put the loose tea in top and then add the hot water and it brews it right in the cup for you. Remove the tea and you can drink. This will make brewing tea at work so much easier. I wonder if Terry has one of these.

~ Speaking of Terry, I decided to try her breakfast of choice. She’s right – Fiber One is delicious and satisfying. It’s especially good with fresh blueberries on top. Just saying.

~And speaking of Terry again, Tuesday night Dale and I joined her and some other blog friends — Claudia, Sandy, Kate and Carol – to meet up with the visiting Norma. We had dinner at Durgin Park and went to watch Shakespeare on the Common for a bit. I feel so Bostonian.

~ My good friend JessaLu sent me the prettiest box bag. She made it herself and I just love it. I’m a spoiled blogger, that’s fer sure.

That’s all the random I’ve got. How about you?