Friday, November 27, 2009

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!

Friday, November 20, 2009

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.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

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".

Monday, November 16, 2009

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!

Friday, November 13, 2009

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.

Saturday, November 07, 2009

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!