Christmas Swap Package from Danielle

Danielle sent me the most awesome Christmas Swap Package. 

When I opened the box this is what I found.   The plastic container was also filled with mucho wrapped little packages that when opened, revealed this:

Well, actually, there was a lot of really good candy, which my darling children inhaled.  While I should appreciate that since I am on a diet . . . hmmmmm.

The hat and fingerless mitts arrived just in time for our first Cleveland winter storm.  I love them.  My hands are always so cold especially when driving but I hate wearing gloves.  These are beautiful.

There was also two magazines.  One for Interweave Weekend Knits and one with bridal quilts. 

Thanks so very much, Danielle, for remembering about the upcoming wedding in my family.  I really appreciate all that you sent.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Favorite Ornament

How to decide? The Waterford ornament? The green Christmas bells that my parents had - and my mom use to put on earring wires and wear??? Balleek?


Then I thought about my mantel ornaments that I put up this year....the Holy Family that I bought one year when we couldnt really afford it....or the handmade ones here (the circular ones hanging) that I made for each of the kids one year...or the Santa collection which includes 2 that my mom made (she was REALLY into ceremics!! LOL). But then I decided. See at the top of the mantel clock??? That card that is kinda wrinkled, faded, and blurred??? My son made that years ago....we think he was in either 1st or 2d grade (why the heck didnt I write a date one it???!!!) and I found it again this year in one of my ornament boxes. So this year it is the card!

Thank you Mary Lynn!

Wow! I am so excited! I love any books that Melanie Falick does and I definitely did not have this one! Cant wait to finally find time to sit down and go thru it! And see those gorgeous mitts? What you cant see is the tag that states the fiber conten (ohhhh, I feel sooooo spoiled!!): ALPACA and SILK and MERINO WOOL!!! They are beautiful - they fit perfectly - and they are so soft!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

danielle

Thanks Karen!

Many THANKS to Karen for the lovely Christmas presents that I wrote about on the Yahoo site. Here they are with me in their new home.

My Favorite Ornament of 2009

This ornament was sent to me by a dear friend of mine. Her name is Maralyn Ducker and she lives in Poole, England.
She was in my DennisBears group from day one and went always kept in touch. The she had a huge stroke and was in hospital for 6 months adn finally she got to come home. She doesn't use the computer anymore but she still sends me letters and Christmas cards and a small gift each year. This angel is one of the gifts she sent me this year.

Favorite Christmas ornament

I had to take a picture and show you the new ornament that Terje bought me this year, it is so beautiful! He knows how I love angels! I guess this is going to be my new favorite :-)

Hello from Norway!

I am sick again, nothing serious, just a cold, but a bit fever, so this has to be short before I go back to bed ! :-)

But here is the great gift I got from Judi in Washington! Thaks Judi! (Needless to say, maybe, but the candy in the purple knitted bag is way gone!!! ) And the book is on my bedside.

And this is a picture of the 5 grandchildren that celebrated Christmas Eve (as we do here in Norway) with us! *Sigh*, they are just adorable all of them!! ANd I am sooooo proud! The 3 in blue are brothers, and the other to are brother and sister. The children of my 2 daughters.

My Christmas goodies!

I had the best Christmas package! Thank you so much Jane! My "before Christmas" goodies included two Patricia MacDonald books, "Secret Admirer" and "Married to a Stranger". I'm leaving tomorrow (12/26) for Washington to visit my daughter and meet my newest granddaughter and "Married to a Stranger" will be coming with me! It looks great! There was also the cutest crochet Snowman in there... Way too cute! Some yummy flavored hot cocoa mixes, a box of tea called White Christmas that has to be just about the best peppermint tea I've ever had, and a chocolate bar... which was consumed immediately!! My "Christmas morning" packages were the knitted cowl (I think that is what it is called!!) Perfect timing to take up to Brrr cold Washington! There were also two bumps of roving... oh what a spinner's dream they are! the green one feels like Merino... And the burgundy mix feels like a bit of merino, a bit mohair, maybe a bit of firestar!! All I know is as soon as I get back home, these are going to hit the spinning wheel!! I love it all. Thank you so much Jane for your generosity!

Holiday Swap

I received my holiday swap package from Chris Love (don't you 'love' that name!) last week. The open me now gifts were two books - Gruel and Unusual Punishment and Casting Off, some spiced tea mix, a sock blocker key chain, some yummy cookies, and a bag of candy. The other gifts went under the tree until this morning when I opened......

Three wonderful packages - the felted bowls (aren't they beautiful?) are made from a mixture of Silver Merino and Cormo firestar, silk and Mohair, handspun. And the yarn was spun from a Romney sheep names J.S. Thank you Chris (and J.S.) The color is gorgeous! Now to decide on the perfect thing to knit with it. The notecards are adorable!

Thank you so much Chris - it was great getting to know you!

Favorite Ornament Contest

Merry Christmas! My favorite ornament is this laser cut Skull and Crossbones from St. Augustine Florida. It was purchased for me by my new hubby on out honeymoon!
I hope everyone has Happy Holidays!

Vigdis yarn knitted up

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Originally uploaded by mlj1954ohio

Twice, when I have won something from the whoduknit prize locker, I have picked yarn from Vigdis.

I made the beaded scarf and the fetching.

My darling son, got to model for me! Doesn't he look too happy about the whole thing!

I am Thankful for..............Contest

Today we are celebrating Thanksgiving in the US, our Canadian friends already celebrated Thanksgiving, and I'm sure our international friends will join us in our celebrating the the things we are thankful for. Just leave a comment on this post by Friday, Dec. 4 (whoduknit members only please) telling us what you are thankful for and your name will go in a drawing for a 'thank you' surprise!

I am thankful for.....my very wonderful and supportive family, wonderful, yummy, glorious yarns and fibers, mysterious mysteries and my whoduknit friends who are like family to me!

TOT Swap Pictures . . . Finally!

On this day after Thanksgiving, I am very thankful for my patient WhoDuKnit friends, all of you who don't yet know what I received, only that I received it, and especially for very patient and generous Maureen. So now, here are the pictures my son, Bradford, took as I opened the box just after returning from my Utah trip. Thank you so much, Maureen, for making my welcome home so nice, and for making up for my missing Halloween with my family.

Here is the box as I opened it. Whew! I was glad to see no creepy crawly things, though that would have been funny. Instead was a tantalizing array of treats and yarn. I could hardly wait for my son to take the pictures before I unpacked the box.
Here are some of the treats, some wonderful chocolates (Maureen put a note on the See's chocolates that these are the best chocolates ever, and she was right. I loved them.), some red herbal tea, a beautiful mug, some soap from Australia (!), and you can see the corner of a very cute skeleton bag that I can tuck into my purse for later purchases. I think this was very tricky!
Here is the yummy yarn I received, two skeins of Patton's wool that can be felted, one for making a ghost and one for making a witch, and the patterns were found tucked neatly inside each skein, after the photo shoot. This will be fun to try! Maureen included several kinds of chocolates, and several treats, all of which were yummy. I would tuck them into my purse for times I just needed a little something to tide me over, and they were perfect.
Here is another bar of soap from Australia (I do love special soaps, and have my own soap dish in the bathroom for them.), and more yummy treats. My son (age 18, but still goes trick-or-treating) was concerned that I did not get any candy, but then I showed him what Maureen sent, and assured him that I was well cared for. I also received the next book in a series I'm reading, by Ann Purser, called Weeping on Wednesday. I'm really looking forward to reading it.
Here is a picture of all the goodies, posing nicely for you to see. The green bag holding the yarn is a "Stitch-n-Pitch", a folding container that you use for your supplies as you are working. I've seen things like this in use and thought how I would like to have something like this, and now here it is! I've seen them used by cross stitchers, but I've been using this one when I crochet an afghan that uses two colors at a time, and the side pockets hold scissors, my crochet hook when I'm not using it, a pencil, and the like. Also tucked into the side is a little packet of wool wash, which will be just right when I felt the projects. Thank you, Maureen! You really made my day with this wonderful box!

TOT SWAP FROM VALERIE

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to post photos of the wonderful TOT swap package I received from Valerie.

Just check out all these wonderful goodies she sent me.

Knowing orange is NOT a color I enjoy I received PINK and some red yarn instead.

This lovely yarn is called Fruity Toes Sock Yarn from Treasure Goddess and the colorway is called Vampire's Cocktail. Very apropo! There are 460 yds on the skein.
This Deborah Norville Serenity sock weight yarn is more PINK than purple despite its color way mane purple spice.
AND this Regia yarn is more PINK than the Deborah Norville sock yarn.

Heaven I am in heaven with such wonderful colors of yarn

I also received accessories for my knitting.

A sock knitting pattern,

A very cute tin with teeny tiny stitch markers inside.

Here are the teeny tiny stitch markers. I have so few this size it is nice to get more.


A chibi with two gold bent tip needles and some extra darning needles. I love the gold tipped bent needles.


The cutest little project bag.


I also received some delicious edibles.

First a container of flowering tea and an information sheet on flowering tea. Now I need to get a clear glass pot of put my flowering tea in so I can watch it open and bloom as it brews.

Two wonderful and yummy bars of fudge.

AND despite this looking like a pumpkin, it is cheddar cheese molded int a pumpkin shape and covered in wax that is decorated like a pumpkin.


Since this is TOT swap there were Halloween goodies too.


Are these not the cutest little plastic bags. Some of my goodies were in these bags?

A small Halloween TOT bag.

The front of a small deck of cards.


The cards.


Last but not least I also received two books


Again thank-you Valerie for such a wonderful TOT package.

Trick or Treat Swap

Many thanks to Kim in Ontario for this great package. Details are in the Yahoo group but I wanted to post a photo so everyone could see my swag.

Mystery CAL and KAL Revealed

Sherlock's Honey Bee ..........

And......

With apologies to Robbie and especially her DH for stealing this picture - (but what could be more perfect!) here is "Sherlock's Mustache".

Whoduknit 2009 Holiday Swap (member's only)

This Swap is for Whoduknit Members Only

Very funny Maxine - but if you were a knitter you would know that is not true! Who, in this group, wouldn't love to find a handknit or crochet, or any handmade craft under their tree?
And wouldn't it be great if we could all get together and exchange handmade gifts for Christmas? We could all sit around the tree, have an eggnog or two, and open up our gifts together, with oohs and aahs about how creative we all are!
Let's do it! Virtually, that is. For this swap you will be sending your pal a handmade gift. Not something huge and complicated (who has time for that at this time of year?), just something small, handmade and wrapped with love, with a note that says "DO NOT OPEN UNTIL DECEMBER 25!" That's right - when you receive your package, you need to put it under your tree, or in your closet, or wherever you won't be tempted to open it until Christmas. I
realize we are all in different time zones and it would be impossible for us to all open at exactly the same time - but you get the picture! In addition to being short of time at this time of year, many of us are also short on finances - so let's keep this swap affordable and place a maximum amount of $20.00 on it. Of course when you factor in the time and love it takes to make a handmade gift - the value will ....priceless! One more twist to this swap - it won't be a secret swap this time, it will be a mutual swap. In other words, you will be sending to the same person who is sending to you. It will be a chance for you to get to know another member a little better and make something small, but special, just for her or him. It's okay to include extra treats in the package, but please remember to stick to the guidelines.
Sign-ups begin today and will end November 9. Pals will be matched up shortly after that and packages should be mailed by December 15 so that they are sure to arrive by Dec. 25.

You will be sending your pal:

A small handmade gift.
A few other goodies may be included - some suggestions are:
A book (used is fine)
A Christmas ornament
Edible treats

Please e-mail me (grammieknits@yahoo.com) with the following information. (Even if I already have your info. it helps me to have it all in one folder)

Name:
E-mail Address:
Ravelry name if you have one
Blog if you have one
Allergies?
Smoking or non-smoking home?
Able to mail international?
If you have any other preferences please let me know and I'll try to accommodate you!

ToT swap..... Thank you Robbie

I am finally over the swine flu so I opened my package the other day. I know, I am way behind in posting. But wow, that flu hit me hard and had me down for weeks. I didn't even play my WoW! Anyway, I want to thank Robbie for an awesome package. It really made my day. I received a knitting book and a pattern to knit with the pretty yarn. A memo pad and a datebook. Some brains, hehe, and candy and a Pez. A cute scare crow that I have to keep away from my Coco, she thought it was for her! And a Steven King novel I haven't read, with a cute bookmark. Always need bookmarks. So many goodies, thank you very much!!!!

I also want to apologize to my swap partner Kim, whom I was sending to. I hope you will enjoy your package when you finally get it.

Laced With Magic Project

I still never got my hands on the book Laced with Magic, but I did knit a project inspired by the title. The yarn is from Alchemy, and the project is a lace cowl. I nearly forgot to post it!

October project

Here's my Octover porjects--felted candy corns and pumpkins! They don't really go with any of our books, but they do go with October!

Joan in West TExas

My Halloween Swap Package

arrived at my door this week. Heather sent me beautiful yarn, books, candy, a Katie Hat pattern, and a beautiful pumpkin decoration and fall towel. Thank you soooo much! What a wonderful surprise!

Trick or Treat Swap

I got a package, I got a package . . .

and if you want to see what I got, you are going to have to go to my blog . . .

trick or treat, smell my feet . . .

and this is a way to get you to come over to my blog . . . LOL

Halloween Swap

Here's my swap package from Nate.  I tried to get the headstone pic when it was lit up, but of course I can't show the light changing colors.  I've started the Batty dishcloth (since it is just too cute - see close up at right) and as soon as my mom leaves I plan to start reading Baby Grand.  That skull is really fun - it's a squishy stress ball and when you squeeze it, the eyes bulge out with the red "filling" of the skull.  Besides the Batty Dishcloth pattern, I also have patterns for a Frankenstein Head dishcloth and a pumpkin dishcloth, as well a a Cleopatra style wig, and then all the yarns to make each.  I put the ghouly bust by my computer, so I am not alone here in the back room.  My mom glombed onto the pumpkin spinner, so I'll have to wrestle that back from her when she goes back home!

Please note those roaches were part of the swap and not residents at my home, LOL.

Thanks, Nate! ~ Valerie K