"Gone, Gone, Gone, She's Been Gone So Long, She's Been Gone, Gone, Gone, So Long"

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Firstly, I apologize for my lack of blogging and commenting these past few weeks. Grading in the last weeks of the semester got a bit crazy: final papers, journals, presentations, AND final exams for three sections--all that got the best of me, and something had to give. I know, I know, many of you still managed to post and do your grading and knit and design beautiful (Marigold!) socks and sew beautiful quilts (TWO quilts! or is it THREE??), and beautiful dresses and frocks! but I just felt so tired and overwhelmed, that I decided to take a wee break from it all.

But all grades are in, and now I'm back with much to show. First, however, I must take this post to say THANK YOU to so many of you, and I'll show you why...

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My mailbox has been brimming with so much goodness lately. I received my letter from my Knitterly Letter Swap pal, Marie. (Go have a look at her beautiful flowers!) Marie's wonderful letter is tucked in behind the beautiful letterpress (and wood block?) images created by the very talented Andrea.
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Andrea has been exploring so many wonderful pursuits lately: basketweaving, spinning, and what I'm most interested in--I'd love to do it!--letterpress. She's also been providing so many useful links for anyone also interested in letterpress. Thanks, dear Andrea for being so generous--for sending the beautiful calendar and cat print--and thanks also for having such an informative, thoughtful blog for us readers to visit.
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Speaking of generous souls: what you see above is the glorious bounty of a package mailed to me recently by the kind Megan of Woolly Interlude. I entered her blogoversary (sp?) contest , and my goodness, it's the first knitting-blog contest I've ever won! And boy was I shocked when the package arrived, because the box was full to the brim with so many wonderful things, not only the Rowan Kidsilk Haze that she said she was sending(which I've always wanted to try but never have!). It was like Christmas as a kid... Thank you, dear Megan. I'm so overwhelmed by your generosity, and I'm going to cast on for a shawl this weekend. I have a wedding to attend in early June and I definitely need a shawl (especially given that I sent Kiri away to a church auction last month.)
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And would you believe that just a couple of days later, I found out I was chosen for another contest? Having entered contests for over a year, and never to have won, and then to find I'd also won some beautiful green sock yarn from Elinor, well, I was considering going to buy lottery tickets next. I've never been so lucky. Seriously. Plus, dear Elinor sent a beautiful Carte Postale of Paris along with the sock yarn. I was so excited by the beautiful green color that I cast on immediately for the Denmark Socks in Nancy Bush's _Knitting on the Road_. Thank you, dear Elinor, and thank you also to dear Ashley who mentioned my blog in Elinor's great (and useful!) contest. I was so flattered, Ashley.
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Lastly, do you see that beautiful stich marker. That was made by Wendee, my other Knitterly Letter Swap Pal. Thanks, Wendee, for the beautiful markers (they're already getting used!), and for the yummy looking recipes.

So to all of you wonderful knitters-bloggers, I shout out a huge, warm, heartfilled

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(that's more of Andrea's beautiful printing)

To end, let's just say that the knitting community has overwhelmed me in so many ways, and during these past few weeks of slogging through grading, there were so many wonderful things to brighten my days. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Now, I think it's only right to give back to this wonderful community from which I've received so very much--so much friendship, advice, feedback, suggestions, information, inspiration, letters, yarn (!), tissue holders (from Craftapalooza!), stich markers, yarn (!), letterpress images, etc. etc. What do I mean give back? I mean, there's a CONTEST coming up chez Kodachrome! Watch for it in the coming week! There is going to be some giving back, y'all...