I am proud to report that the Monkey mission was accomplished! I finished the socks before the clock struck midnight on my birthday... In fact, around midnight I was wearing them while eating a big bowl of icecream. I had a lovely, lazy birthday, complete with blueberry pancakes, lots of knitting time while my sisters entertained the little one, a late afternoon on the beach, and then a glorious thunderstorm. Four days in a sleepy beach town is a good way to knit a sock... but I had a good headstart. My local knitting friend, Morgan and I traveled to Columbia to the Thursday night Stitch & Bitch at In the Loop on Devine Street. The Columbia knitters are so nice to host us when we are able to drop in to knit. I bought three skeins of Mirasol Nuna, a lovely merino, silk and bamboo blend to knit the Flower Basket Shawl for my friend Laura. I think I might cast-on today...

It's funny that the one thing I didn't request for my birthday was yarn... (A coworker and fellow knitter came through and gave me a ball of Noro Silk Garden sock yarn anyway!!!) This is very unlike me. There are a few knitting accessories I have been craving... I would like to try some of the Knit Picks needles (size 1 dpns for socks, of course-- nickle-plated and wooden, if you're out there reading, honey) and I love the Namaste knitting bags. But lately, I've been feeling like I have more yarn (and STUFF, in general) than I know what to do with. That said, the gorgeous ball of Noro is the only thing that got me through a long, busy day on the job. Four days off will ruin a person, apparently.