yarn
I took part in the All in One Color swap in the Ravelry Ten dollar swap group this month, and was through and through spoiled! My spoiler was Nicola from Wisconsin, and she had really though about the package - it was so great! Take a look:
First of all there was a skein of Lamb's Pride bulky wool and mohair yarn. It's so soft and I love the shade of red! But that was only the start. There were all kinds of candy which I really like like the Twix, Baby Ruths and Reese's peanut hearts - and Hershey's Kisses, which I got to taste for the first time!
There was also green jasmine tea, cranberry tea and a ginger herbal drink sachets, some Kool Aid, a spice which I can't wait to try, nail and lip balm (really good ones too - I had to try them right away).
I took part in another swap before Christmas, the Finnish Christmas swap, Jouluvaihto.
My partner received her present and liked it, and I like mine too! I waited for a long time before unpacking them, as I wanted to wait until Christmas (well, almost, as I was away over actual Christmas so I opened them on the 21st).
Anyway, take a look: a lovely, very warm cowl from a merino blend yarn, a skein of Finnish, handdyed 100% wool and two skeins of Cascade yarns in reddish pink! Not to mention the cute sheep measuring tape and a lovely house scent. There was also a ceramic piece included, on which the scented oil could be used on, but I was so eager to use it that it was already in use by the time I took this photo!
Thanks a lot, Tui!
Yesterday was the day - we finally had the big yearly "knit day"! Last year was the first time I organized it... but as I was ill, I was not able to participate! This year I actually made it to the event :)
From 1 pm (well, I was there half past 11!) to 10 pm we knitted, knitted and knitted! Chatted and knitted, swapped yarn and knitted, were interviewed for television and knitted, ate and knitted... and some crocheted, too!
It was a real blast, and I got some new lovely yarns in the various swaps:
First, Polar from Wolle Rödel, Schoeller & Stahl sock yarn, sock yarn from S&S, and still more sock yarn, Hot Socks Rainbow by Gruendl. I few I may knit into socks for the animal shelter, some yarns I think I will gove forward as they are, and some will be all for me!
After my last successful swap I decided to join a few other swaps too, as it is so much fun making and receiving presents!
The Keeping it simple swap is group with different kinds of swaps going on, and this time it was supposed to be all from your stash. Love the idea!
This swap present is from Alison whose Ravelry nick I don't know (yet), all the way from Scotland!
The present was waiting for me when I got back from grocery shopping, and I had to open the present before I could proceed to putting what I bought into the fridge! On opening the present, everything was nicely packaged.
The Third German Ravelry Meet is currently underway - I was able to go yesterday with four other ladies from our knitting group in Essen. As Frechen is only an hours drive from here, it wasn't too big an effort.
We arrived too early and drank a coffee in a cafe nearby, then headed to the Meet. It was already crowded, especially around the yarn stands, so I quickly ran through the area to get an overview, and then sat down with a friend to knit.
At some point the Finnish Delegation arrived (three Finnish ladies living in Central Europe) and so I sat with them, knitting, for a few more hours. We then had a bite to eat and the Finns took off to Cologne.
And whoops, it was already 6 pm! So we decided to head home.
I'm trying to knit down my stash, but sometimes new yarn is just absolutely necessary. Like this month, when I went to Lankamaailma with my Mum and my sister - the first visit there for all three of us.
Needless to say, we stayed for more than an hour and looked (and fondled) everything over and over again! My Mum and sister also got nice yarns, but this is my haul, let me give you the grand tour!
My main purchase was 12 balls of Gjestal Foen in blue and 3 in red. This worsted weight bamboo/cotton mix is going to be a summer cardigan sometime in the future. It's really soft and thick enough to make a garment quickly (a quality I'm sure you know I highly appreciate!)
Happy Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2011!
Of course, it has to be a busy busy week at work, but I will certainly try to participate as much as I can - I don't want to miss all the fun!
Today (Day 1 - tag 2kcbwday1) I am going to tell you a tale of one yarn (the renegade that I am, I have to stretch the rules, don't I?). It's a blue cotton yarn with some shiny blend in it I bought from Lidl in the early days of my knitting years. It was called Zettl Cotton Sheen Effect and was pretty, shiny and cheap.
There's one annoying thing about Novita, the largest Finnish yarn brand: they change their selection very often! I read about the lovely new yarns on Ravelry or get a few balls from my sister to try them out. I plan to buy (more) of this yarn the next time I visit Finland. By the time I get to visit Finland, they've discontinued the yarn! The bad thing is that I then can't get the yarns or colourways I want. But the good thing is that if I do find the yarns, they'll be in the marked down bin!
As I said in my last post about the WWKIP in Bochum, I also visited the local yarn store there. I have been keeping a strict yarn diet this spring, so I thought a few new nice yarns won't do me any harm, and anyway I just wanted to try some new things. So here they are!
First the lovely Artesano Arans, which were just so beautifully dyed and soft I had to have them, even though they were a bit over the price I would usually pay for yarn (they were 10.95 € each).
Next we have the Lana Grossa Linea Pura Organico (Rav link) organic aran weight 100% non-mercerized cotton. So lovely and soft! I've never knit with cotton this thick, but I'm really looking forward to it!
The Knitting & Crochet Blog Week is over, and as much as I loved posting every day, I just can't keep it up. So here I am returning to my 2-4 posts per week.
I'll start by showing a recent, very happy FO or actually two - the recycled green baskets! Why are they recycled? The yarn which I made them from is called Novita Flip Flop and it's made out of 80% recycled plastic bottles! The rest is acrylics. And why are they green? Well, because they're recycled - and beause they actually are lime green! Here are the specs:
