A couple of months ago I got an email from Margene that thrilled me. She said she was coming east for a family gathering on Smith’s side and that she wanted to see me while she was here. I quickly realized she was talking about Easter weekend and I immediately told my family that if the only day we could meet up turned out to be Easter Sunday then they would just have to make their own damn dinner. Heh.

As it turned out, Margene had a very small window of availability last Friday afternoon. Plans were made to gather at Terry’s house since Margene had to be in that area for her other commitments anyway, and Terry happens to be sort of in the middle for Kim and I. We had a wonderful mini-reunion of our September 2007 trip to Salt Lake City that also included, at the last minute, another frequent Utah traveler, Laurie.

We ate yummy food and chatted and knit. We laughed and told stories and reminisced of our trips out west. Best of all was that Dale finally got to meet Smith, something I’ve been wanting to happen since the first time I visited Margene in June of 2006. They hit it off as well as I knew they would and made grand plans for a visit to Yellowstone together.

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again – the friendships I have made since starting this blog are amazing. Kim, Terry and  I are in contact all the time, ever since bonding on that trip together. And even though Margene lives over 2,000 miles away we still talk frequently, email daily, and text regularly. We have worked on building a friendship that lasts despite distance and that grows despite busy lives.

Getting together in person every couple of years, though, that’s the gravy.

You may have heard that some bloggers are participating in The Month of Letters Challenge. It’s a very simple concept: participants promise to mail something (a letter, a postcard, a newspaper clipping, etc) every day that there is postal service. And they also promise to write back to everyone who writes to them.

I didn’t commit to this project myself but so far I have been the lucky recipient of 2 letters, one from Kathy and one from Margene. I cannot tell you how happy it made me to receive these little notes in the mail. Such a simple thing, really, but it made me feel loved and cherished to know that my friends took the time to sit down, select a note card and pen, and write to me. It doesn’t provide instant communication the way an email or facebook message does but I think that’s part of the charm.

And of course I have written back to both of them.

I think I first became aware of blogs around the year 2002. Certainly political blogs were starting to play a big role in the way we receive information around that time. It wasn’t long after that when I became aware of knit blogs. I started reading a few popular knitting blogs and I found the concept really intriguing. I did a bit of research into the whole process and, as you know, I took the plunge myself in January 0f 2005.

During my research I read that many people who write blogs receive unsolicited gifts from their readers. I thought that was pretty cool and I wondered if it would ever happen to me. Sure enough, as my blog gained a little fame and my readership expanded, I did occasionally win a contest or two – and I still do on  a rather frequent basis. In those early days there were a lot of swaps and I participated in those and had a lot of fun with that, too. Eventually, as I became friends with some of my blog readers we started to occasionally surprise each other with gifts and packages.

The outright gift, though? The surprise package from a blog friend you’ve never even met? That is still a rare and wonderful thing and that’s why I was so excited to receive a package from my dear friend Kym last week.

She has been encouraging me on my exercise path and she sent me a gift of an awesome t-shirt and a very supportive and thoughtful note.  The shirt is soft and bears a sentiment that I am learning to embrace but, truth be told, that note means more to me than any gift. It speaks to my heart and shows a depth of understanding on Kym’s part that would be eerie if it weren’t so awesome.

This blogosphere we have created is a very good thing and I’m grateful to be a part of it.

Do you remember that Cookie pledged to knit with handspun for all of 2011? And did you happen to follow the pools and see who thought she’d keep to her pledge? Yes, that would be me. And on Saturday my prize package arrived. It’s been a long time since I won anything on a blog but let me tell you, this was worth the wait!

It was packaged beautifully and done up in pink and purple. No surprise there, right? I opened it up to find so many pretty and practical goodies!

There was the beautiful calendar of all island photos. And island sounds awfully good right about now.

And there was the pretty little notebook with a poppy on the cover. Poppies are one of my favorite flowers, you know.

There was a package of cupcake wrappers with a crafty theme and there was the sweet smelling candle. It was about then that I picked up on the Caribbean them of the package. Cookie has been paying attention and she knows my love of all things beach-y!

There was candy. Malibu flavored candy. Hello, lover.

And there was the awesome bag with a dolphin on one side and a pelican on the other. It will be great for grocery shopping but even better for the beach. I just have to make sure my stepdaughter, Jessica, doesn’t steal it. She has a thing for pelicans, you know.

The best part of the whole package, though, were these 2 gorgeous skeins of Cookie’s handspun. Yes, that’s right, she sent me her handspun. Over 1500 yards of laceweight handspun. Ahem. Only a real friend sends you their very own handspun yarn. I’m already looking at patterns and making plans to knit it up.

Thanks for the inspiration and all the awesome goodies, Cookie!  Looks like I’m going to make good on that goal to knit with handspun after all!

There’s nothing quite like coming home from work and finding a package waiting for you. It’s especially wonderful when the package is from a dear friend.

The package felt squishy so I figured Margene had sent me some yarn. And she sort of did. It’s Madeline Tosh merino DK. And it’s in the form of mitts.

That’s right. Margene made me mitts. (say that 20 times fast!)

They are lovely and squooshy and perfect for this time of year. And they were designed by Susan, another special friend.

They are a gorgeous shade of deep red which just happens to be my favorite color. Margene knows me so well.

A new pair of mitts is a great thing. A new pair of mitts knit especially for me by my dear friend is a wonderful and fantastic thing. Every time I wear them I feel like she is with me and it just doesn’t get any better than that.

Thanks, Margene.

As I mentioned on Friday, Saturday was my 6 year blog anniversary. I celebrated by hosting a gathering of fiber friends at my home and we had such a great time! We had a potluck lunch with some really yummy food – black bean soup and couscous salad, macaroni and cheese, spinach and mushroom pizzas, delicious meatballs, salad, spinach pie and more! We had Bloody Mary’s and wine and beer and (eventually for those that stayed long enough) Pomtinis. There was delicious apple tart and chocolate cake for dessert.

Better and more important than all the food and drink, though, were the friends. Close friends who have become a part of my life in a way I never anticipated when I started this blog. Friends who teach me things and inspire me. Friends who are always there when I need them, whether it’s for a good cry or a hearty laugh. Real friends who share my passion for all things fiber and who were excited to come and hang out with me for a day.

I love all the laughing going on in this photo.

I love that there were bags being purchased by credit card, right in my own living room.

I love that there were spinners and knitters wearing orange.

And I love that there was crocheting and spinning and knitting, all at the same time.

I couldn’t ask for a better way to spend a Saturday.

On Saturday I had the honor of attending and photographing the wedding of my dear friends JessaLu and Roger. Dale and I got to JessaLu’s house nice and early and I set up my camera and took photos of Jess and her attendants getting ready. It was fun to hang out and eat chocolate, to meet Tina and get to know the other attendants, and to help Jess get ready – even if I did cry when I saw her in her dress.

Before I knew it we were ready to go to the wedding site and Dale and I drove the bride – how special is that? We arrived at Baldwin Hill Farm right on time and it was a glorious afternoon.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the colors on the mountains were beautiful, and the elm tree was ready to bear witness to this momentous occasion.

Our JessaLu looked gorgeous in her dress and the veil made by our Cookie was stunning. Jess arranged all the flowers for the wedding herself – some 600 roses – and they were wonderful, but none more so than her beautiful white rose bouquet.

I tried to be all professional and not get emotional when Roger laid eyes on Jess for the first time but it wasn’t easy, I will tell you that. The love these two have and the joy at this particular moment was palpable.

And the scenery was perfect. The mountains made a gorgeous backdrop for the photos. I took 615 all together but I managed to narrow them down to just these few that I’m posting – with Jess and Roger’s permission, of course.

It was great to see the bridesmaids all wearing the shawls in Tina’s signature Sin colorway. Becky is there next to Jess and she’s wearing the Cascata shawl that I knit for her. And that’s Amanda, JessaLu’s sister, on the other side of Tina. They made a beautiful group of women.

After the ceremony Dale and I (again feeling honored) drove Jess and Roger back to their home for a quick change of JessaLu’s hairdo and a moment to catch our breath before heading to the fire station for the reception.

And can I just tell you, this was a fire station transformed. I had no doubt that Jess would do a fabulous job but until you have seen 1100 pom poms made from dyed coffee filters, well, you just don’t know how gorgeous that can be.

There were twinkle lights strung everywhere and red roses by the hundreds. Each table was named for one of Jess and Roger’s favorite movies and on the tables were cards printed with their favorite quotes from those movies. There were hand made envelopes filled with chocolates and there were glowing tea lights and it was just beautiful.

There were also cupcakes. They were wrapped in paper wrappers handmade by Jess and they were delicious, as was the dinner which included perhaps the best scalloped potatoes I have ever eaten. There was salad and chicken and roast beef and green beans, too, but oooooh, those potatoes were heavenly.

It was truly a fabulous day full of love and special moments and best wishes. I never dreamed, when I started this blog nearly 6 years ago, that I would make a friend like JessaLu. And I never dreamed that our friendship would lead to me being so blessed as to be a part of her wedding, as her friend and chauffeur, as her photographer and helper and confidante.

I know that there were thousands of weddings on 10-10-10 but I’m pretty sure Dale and I were at the best one of all.

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.