I should be working on these:

The May Day Socks.

Or this:

Ellie’s romper.

But instead I’m making a surprise for the individual who sent me all this:

I think I’ll keep Ellie’s stroller as a yarn tote when she outgrows it.

My friend, Judi, was brim-full of generosity in high school and one of the best gift-givers I’ve ever known. It’s nice to know that some things never change even when when friends move to the other side of the country and build whole new lives. You’ve heard my theory that inertia is really the most powerful force in the universe*? Well, inertia carried us straight through the past 15 years or so. This was a high school reunion year so the class officers have spent quite a bit time trying to locate everyone. (If you know who I married, I am the first google hit. If you don’t know, it is slightly more complicated.) Judi, who I haven’t seen in ages and ages although we were tight back in the day, packed an enormous box of fun stuff for Ellie (adding some chocolate and a book of Safe Baby Handling Tips) but decided that wasn’t enough and went in search of yarn. I can only hope she signed up for lessons while she was at her Local Yarn Shop – the selection must be amazing and Judi clearly has an eye for fiber. I have no idea what I am going to make yet (I may just keep it all here on my desk and pet it and reminisce for a while).

Knitters say “thank you” with wool. She is probably peeking, so I won’t give away the surprise. I do offer this hint:

That is all for now, I hear waking up sounds from this baby:

I should wipe her face before I take pictures.

*I just searched “inertia” in my archives and it turns out you haven’t heard my theory. In a nutshell: Inertia (that is, resistance to change) gives everyday life predictability and structure. Inertia is what causes ruts (I love predictability so I really don’t mind ruts). Inertia is why I haven’t written a long note to Judi, hate to travel, have yet to call Frank to fix the leak in the upstairs chimney and can’t seem to get outside to prune the crepe myrtles. Well, some of that might be due to my recent reduction in free time, but you get the idea.