Well toast my toes, what have we here?

Finished Toasty Toes Socks, just in time for “>Socktoberfest. And they’re ready almost a whole month early, too. Because you know how I hate the deadline knitting.

Now I know you all won’t go back and check the details that I’ve already posted as I knit these, so I’ll tell you again.

The pattern is called “Best Foot Forward” and it’s from the book Knit Socks! by Betsy Lee McCarthy. This is the 4th time I’ve knit this particular pattern and it’s wonderful. It makes for a great gift sock because it’s stretchy so if you’re size is off by a bit it should still fit the recipient. In this case my sock pal’s measurements and my own measurements are the same so I’m pretty confident these will fit her. And this book itself is great. It not only has basic sock knitting information for the beginning sock knitter but it’s also got more advanced patterns for the experienced sock knitter. Go look. NOW.

The yarn is Sophie’s Toes Yarn, custom dyed for my sock pal by Emily. I can’t tell you enough how wonderful this yarn is. The colors are fabulous and Emily captured exactly what I was looking for – autumn leaves and sky and flowers. And soft! Oh my goodness, this yarn is a treat for the feet. She’s got some gorgeous new colors in her Etsy Shop and she’s offering free shipping on 2 skeins or more in honor of Socktoberfest. Go look. NOW.

And the sock blockers I haven’t showed you yet so pay attention, this is new information. These were custom made for me by Becky in a library motif. I absolutely love them and they make blocking socks a lot of fun. Becky will make you custom sock blockers, too, but the ones in her shop, Leggy Creations, are pretty terrific. And so are the sheep. Go look. NOW.

Now I just need to find autumn goodies to put in my pal’s package along with the socks. I’ve already got a skein of sock yarn to include for her, custom dyed for me by Scout. I’d show you but it would give away the identity of my sock pal too easily so you’ll have to wait. I can tell you, though, that Scout did exactly what I asked and this gift yarn is perfect for my pal. If you haven’t tried Scout’s yarn yet, it’s great. She has a shop, you know. Go look. NOW.

Have fun shopping, y’all.

I’m nupping, yes indeed, I’m nupping . . .

Oh, Hi! You’re here! I was just doing a little singing along to Fats Domino. Can you guess what’s on my needles right now? Sigh.

And as long as we’re playing guessing games, would you like to guess who arrived at my house at the end of last week?

Yup. Mr. Marco Polo himself in the form of a Yarn Aboard Box from the very generous and super sweet Cynthia.

When I tell you I was completely spoiled by what Cynthia sent me, well, I mean it from the bottom of my heart. There was fiber and chocolate and candles and goodies and Jacquard dyes and . . . here, let me show you.

Baby Camel and Silk (from Crown Mountain Farms, of course) and more silk. Clearly, Cynthia thinks I’m a more talented spinner than I am if she’s sending me silk. But I’ll do my best by the silk.

And look at the colorful stuff from Canada! There’s Fleece Artist and other Canadian fiber, too. And the most gorgeous beaded orifice hook I’ve ever seen. And chocolate. Because what’s a swap package without some fabulous chocolate, eh?

So many good things, all for ME.

Well, me and Mason, apparently. At least he left the fiber alone and just went after the tissue paper.

There was also a very thoughtful and kind note which really touched my heart. Thank you so very much, Cynthia. Amanda sure did right by me when she hooked me up with you.

And now, Mr. Marco Polo has left Chez Carole Knits for the next leg on his adventure. I wonder where he’ll turn up?

My Better Pal sent me my first package last week and it arrived yesterday. I know everybody says this but, really MY Better Pal is the BEST!

That there is the loot. And, I’m a dope and I didn’t take a picture before I unwrapped everything because I’m a little kid when it comes to presents and I got way too excited and there was newspaper and tissue paper and wrapping paper all over the kitchen. Ahem. I’ll describe it for you so you can picture how cute it was – the red yarn (alpaca, dude) was twisted up and wrapped in green tissue paper, with part of the red peeking out. There were 2 double pointed needles stuck through the middle of the whole thing and it was placed inside the martini glass. It was a yarn olive. How cool (and clever!) is that?!? Really, really awesome. And blue cheese stuffed olives – which I love and have only been able to find at The Cheesecake Factory – and Knit Lit the Third and a complete set of double points. Sigh.

Clearly, my pal has been reading the blog and paying attention to what I really love. I love you, Pallie. You ARE the best!

Secret Pal 6 has finished and I had a great spoiler! Remember this?

And this?

A few weeks ago I received this:

I was bad and I never showed you that one but it’s all purple and it’s all fiber to be spun. Yummmy.

My final package arrived on Monday and included this:

The snowman is mine but the book! And the yarn! Knit Picks shimmer and Sally Melville’s new book right off my Amazon.com wish list. Woot!

My pal was Cecily and she was great. She sent thoughtful gifts that she researched and knew I would enjoy. Thank you, Cecily. I’ll be working on your purple socks very soon!

My spoilee was Cheryl and I had lots of fun sending her packages. Turns out, she knew who I was from the get go, but she never let on. I’m hoping now she’ll be a regular reader of the blog.

Begin rant.
While I had a great experience with Secret Pal 6 I know that in such a large group people do get burned. I don’t really understand how this happens, though. I mean, really! You sign up for this program and you participate. The end. You don’t sign up and then not send anything. Or not spend enough. Or whatever. And yet, there have been posts all over the place on the Secret Pal 6 blog, asking participants to let their hostesses know if they never received anything or if they received gifts that weren’t up to the standards. I think it’s terribly rude and I can’t imagine dropping the ball like that.
End of rant.

It’s unseasonably cold around here today. It makes me want to say:
And that’s all the news from Lake Woebegone.