the brightest week

It may be cold and gray outside, but in my mailbox it is bright and sunny! Look what arrived Saturday from my stupendous Secret Pal:


orange you glad I didn't say apollo?

She is so awesome! Here we have ten - count 'em, TEN! - balls of Filatura di Crossa Ad Hoc, a lovely pair of size 9 needles and a cool card with a block of gold on it, all wrapped in bright orange tissue paper! I am in heaven! Some lucky girl is going to get a soft, lofty, bright gold sweater out of this deal (and it might be me...). What a great prize! Thank you Secret Pal, whoever you may be!

Double bonus: the yarn coordinates perfectly with my new bright Bugheart orange frog book cover. Maybe the frog book will become the journal of my knitting adventures with funky bright colors...

And finally, the update from Day Ten at Team My House. I spent Saturday evening with my folks & Sis eating sushi, playing board games and working on my Olympic project while watching ski jumping. Damn, those Austrians are amazing skiers! Hoch lebe Morgenstern! Hoch lebe Kofler! Hoch! Hoch! Hoch! On Sunday night I got some more work done on the sleeves and collar while watching some freaky psychedelic underpants swirl around the screen during the ice dancing competition. I was sorry that Kerr & Kerr didn't advance further - they seemed to be the only skaters who had any sense of what a Latin rhythm meant. The rest of them looked like cheerleaders on skates (not that there's anything wrong with cheerleaders) - but no rhythm at all.

So, ahem, here's a shot of the sweater from Sunday AM:



I finished that sleeve but still have a long way to go - a big collar, another sleeve, some edgings and a couple of I-cord flowers, plus a button & button loop. Can I do it by Sunday? I'll be wearing my neon orange underpants for good luck!