I’ve been knitting a lot, but not taking a lot of pictures. I finished knitting my first pair of socks: just a simple pattern from a new book. They are cute and fit my tiny feet perfectly! Unfortunately, I haven’t had the heart to wear them yet for fear I will wear them out too soon! Oh well. When it finally cools down and feels like Fall, I’ll slip them on.

I sent off my Secret Knitting Pal’s second package last Friday. It’s been so much fun finding yarn and goodies for someone I’ve never met. I don’t even know what she looks like, but it doesn’t matter. I like knitting stuff for a knitter because I know that she will appreciate the gift on a different level from non-knitters. I’m still waiting for my second package from my secret pal. I’m driving my mom crazy because I’m constantly asking “did you check the mail today? did I get anything?” Oh package, where art thou?

I think my classmates might consider me crazy. Last Wednesday for my Writing and Being class, I took an afghan with me that was crocheted by my Grandma. I had written a poem about the Christmas that I received my purple afghan, and I wanted to bring the afghan with me to class. So I did. I passed it around so that people could feel it and see it as I read the poem. It felt good just to have the afghan close.

Here’s a picture and my poem:

Purple Afghan

I remember
waking up to my grandparents ringing the doorbell
then sitting in the family room; the Christmas tree,
blinking multi-colored lights hidden behind
hundreds of ornaments and mounds of presents.

I remember
sitting on the floor in my nightgown with my sisters,
lined up in a row like bread rolls baking in the oven,
anticipating each package as Mom handed them to us
one by one, watching our expressions until they were
glowing, golden brown.

I remember
seeing three lumpy packages off to the side
hidden in the office, separated from the others,
knowing that they had only just arrived that morning.

But mostly, I remember
ripping off the green decorated wrapping paper
to find a purple, lilac, and creme afghan,
my favorite colors lined up in rows of yarn,
hand-crocheted by my Grandma.