Sockapalooza Update

First things first, let me say that I loved the Harry Potter (no spoilers). I got a bit of a slow start with it, and had some trouble getting really into it, which I think was due largely to the fact that I didn't want to finish it and have the whole series be over. That changed around midnight Sunday night, when I became obsessed and ended up staying up until 3:30am reading and 4:15am thinking. And then I dreamt about it. In my dream I was reading extra chapters, which all fit in quite nicely and would have made good additions. Too bad I didn't write them down! Anyway, I loved the book and will be rereading it again soon - I was reading so fast at the end that I'm sure I skipped some interesting stuff in my desire to find out what was going to happen. Yesterday was thus a bit of a wash, due to the fatigue...

I have been working diligently on my Sockapalooza socks. I finished the first one on Friday, and today I turned the heel of the second sock: For a recap, this is the Angel's Rest pattern from Fiber Trends Peak Experience Socks, knit with Angora Farms Monarch sock yarn, in Ivy. Sorry for the lack of links but it's late and I've linked them before. I'm hoping to finish these this week because I'm going to Utah for vacation on Saturday, and although I don't intend to mail the socks until I get back (a couple of days late - I will let my pal know so she doesn't worry), I'd like to have them done so I don't have to worry about them on the trip. I have other knitting plans for my vacation, which I'll hopefully share before I go. A quick question for the Sockapalooza veterans out there - is it customary to mail other gifts along with the socks? This is my first swap of this nature, and I don't want to send only the socks if my pal is going to be expecting other little gifts as well. Please advise. I have no qualms about including some goodies, and would do so happily, I'm just not sure what the standard is for this type of swap.

Ooh, ooh, ooh, I finally got my Ravelry invite last Friday!!! Happy dance, happy dance! It turns out I got my invite on June 20th, but my Hotmail spam filter ate it, and until recently there wasn't an easy way to find out where you were in the Ravelry waiting list. Just Friday I noticed the 'type in your email and we'll tell you where you stand' function, and in minutes I was raveling away. It's SO great, I love it. It has been sucking up a fair bit of knitting time, but it's worth it to have everything organized so neatly. I love organizing and making lists. Ravelry is perfect for me. I couldn't be happier. I'm eemarsha, if you want to come find me!