Party Like It's My Birthday

Though it was on December 16th...

Well, I just wanted to say a special thank you to all the kind friends and family who thought of me, wished me happy birthday and gave me lovely gifts! We had a family birthday party yesterday, and a little bit of early Christmas presents as Pierre and I will be in Quebec and away from my half of the family for this holiday.

And what a fabulous treat it all was (some of these are bday and some are xmas surprises)!

My sister surprised me (with her generosity even if I did know what the actual present was!) with a set of Denise needles!

Those of you who are in the know, will know that these are a special set of needles… uhm, think like a super-duper complete ratchet/wrench set, but for knitting needles.

Interlocking, interchangeable, and perfect for saving the budget conscious knitter on buying needle after needle!

I was so excited to see that even if I need to add to my set with spare needles or extra sizes I will still be paying about 1/3 of buying a whole new set of normal straight needles!

They work like a dream and I've already got 2 of my three on the go projets on them!

AND a membership in the Canadian Knitter’s Guild. If you don’t know and you care they have started (just this year I believe) a real “guild/apprentice” type program.

This means you can work through a series of things, mail them in, get critiqued and helped and get some real knitting street cred!

I can’t wait to get started. Canadian knitters, join up! See http://www.cgknitters.ca/

I also received from Meredith, a fabulous pair of grey knee-high socks with THE coolest black kitties – not cutes pootsey kitties, like black Halloween “Don’t cross me or I’ll hex you” stylized kitties. And a great book of short stories of Christmas cats from Clare, which will come in handy big time when I am away from MY kitty and missing him a lot!

Some lovely clothes, a nice beaded pullover, and a cardigans from my parents. The wool on the cardi is a wonder – it is all acrylic except about 10% kid mohair, yet my first reaction on touching it was “Wow! This must be a super-expensive all natural fibre!” I only wish I had some to knit with too!

From my granny I got some great socks and the cutest pair of knitted slippers that fit like a glove and look like little elfish shoes!

And, the sneaky Pierre surprised me with a plaque mounting of an ancient gig poster (signed, no less) from a Billy Bragg show that I went to way back in high school – I thought we threw it out, but no, he saved it and has had it hidden at work forever! It totally revived the sorry poster, and now looks great!