Where have I been? TURNING 30!!!

So I'm not really 30 until Wednesday the 22nd. My big surprise party was this past weekend; Spinal Optimization drove in, my sister flew to Boston from Chicago, my friends Amy and Aaron drove up from New York, Hannah made her way over after retrieving her samples from Windsor Button (including the Kaffe Fassett design Brocade, yeesh), and Mom and Dad Bergh came and represented Nana Bergh (I call her "The Nan," and we bond over the fact that she used to knit, crochet, and sew at an exceptionally high level, even owning a yarn store for a while), who is a little frail and would be a bit overwhelmed at such an event.

In sum, 10 of my favorite people around one table. A few couldn't make it, but it was fantastic. Chris managed to keep the secret, only letting me in on the date. By the way, note the handknit he wore that night!

Have I been knitting? Yes, yes... the Mermaid body is done. I have nearly completed a pair of short socks for Chris to wear while biking and working out, made from Claudia Handpainted (available at Windor Button, albeit a Hannah-less Windsor Button... she's moving to Chicago), which is AWESOME. If I didn't have enough sock yarn for the next few years, I would buy some in every color. It's strong and a little nubbly, and the colors are so, so deep and rich. No pooling, either!

In reaction to all this small-needle knitting, I started a BAS (big-ass scarf) for a Christmas present. It's made of some Lopi that I got in Iceland a few years ago, some Rowan Big Wool, some Cascade Magnum, and some handspun. It's going to have Ozark Handspun fringe. Who will be the recipient??? No one knows. It's on size 15 needles, and I did all that in one day.

Finally, a note on Spinal Optimization. My dad severed his spinal cord between T6 and T7 (above the navel) about two years ago. Since then, he has been back to work full time, weight training, hand cycling, traveling all over, pretty much living just like anyone else, aside from the fact that he uses his arms as his arms and his legs. So calling my parents Spinal Optimization, which is really their mission, allows me to send them the occasional letter or make the occasional phone call from work (I do work in Neurosurgery as Administrative Secretary II, you know). And something created out of necessity just stuck. Every day they are out there disproving notions of what people who are handicapped can do, optimizing the upper spine! Doing more than most people who have all the spine at their disposal!

So that's the story. Back to the knitting!