Friday 19 August 2011

Delicious squishiness ... by post!

Good afternoon! I can't believe that this is the fourth week of the school holidays! The days are just whooshing by. I'm trying to put of the moment when I have to think about school again, by filling my days with yarn-related things. Today I'd like to share with you the contents of two squishy parcels that I've received recently.

The first is from Melissa. She was my swap partner in a recent Ravelry swap. We decided that we'd like to do an additional swap between ourselves. I was very excited when the postman delivered this little lot on Wednesday!

Melissa's swap parcel 002


There were three different yarns - a skein of Bugga! in beautiful, vibrant greens, a skein of merino and cashmere yarn from the Plucky Knitter in more muted greens. I haven't come across this yarn before - it feels gorgeous! There were also two skeins of Shepherd's Wool in royal blue. As well as the yarn, there were lots of extra goodies packed in! These gift labels made me laugh - I wonder who will be the recipient of one?!!


Melissa's swap parcel 003


I love these yarny earrings too - each one is made from a mini-skein of Bugga! yarn. They could be my 'emergency yarn' earrings!


Melissa's swap parcel 004


There were lots of other wonderful gifts - teas, lip balm, soap, needle holders, sweets and a magnetic pattern marker. It really was a lovely parcel, thank you very much Melissa. I hope you like your parcel too!


The second parcel actually arrived just over a week ago, but I have held back from showing you until now. The reason is that it was the first parcel from the Fall in Full Color club run by Knitspot, and US parcels were only posted this week. Everyone ought to have received theirs by now though, and the pattern was released on Monday, so I think I'm safe to share!! There was a project bag (which you've already seen!) along with a skein of Nona yarn from Spirit Trail Fiberworks. The yarn is 50% merino, 25% cashmere and 25% Bombyx silk, in a beautiful bluey-purple colourway called Autumn Aurora.


Fall in Full Color August yarn - Nona Spirit Trail Autumn Aurora (4)


The pattern was released on Monday. I kept logging into my account throughout the day, and finally in the evening, the link to the pattern came up. It's a beautiful lacy scarf with a leaf motif. It's knit in two halves and then grafted together. So far I have done almost five repeats. It's a lovely rhythmical pattern, and the yarn is a sheer delight to knit with - it is so soft and buttery! I'm afraid that I am turning into rather a yarn snob!! Here's how it looked after three repeats.


Long Shadows 3 rpts wip 001

Isn't it gorgeous?! Here's a close up of the leaf motif.

Long Shadows 3 rpts wip 003


The pattern was included as part of a 26 page download all about the design, the yarn, and how the project came into being. It was rather like an extension of the Knitspot blog, which is one of my favourites. If this is the first month's treat, I can't wait to see what's in store for us over the coming months! I shall leave you for today, as I have a VERY needy cat sat right by me. Florence is very demanding of human attention when she's awake, wanting you to play with her and stroke her. Elsie, on the other hand, is still keeping her distance! I'll be back very soon with some dyeing and spinning adventures to share! Bye for now. xxx

6 comments:

Chrissy said...

What wonderful stuff. I love the gift tag, I may have to try making some myself! The scarf is looking beautiful. Being a yarn snob is inevitable when you start knitting with the good stuff. Then you start to remember that the cheap stuff has it's place too and it all evens out.

Northern Monkey said...

What a lovely package, I love those gift tags! Also the lace is just gorgeous and such beautiful yarn. You always knit with the loveliest yarns.

Louise Tilbrook said...

Gorgeous parcels - I've been admiring your Fall in Colour project. I wasn't able to join in with this but have been having fun checking out all the projects.

Jo said...

What a wonderful swap parcel, those earrings are so cute. I love the pattern on the scarf and the yarn looks perfect for it. Hope the cats are settling in, we used to have a cat who looked very like Elsie.

Lynne said...

What great goodies! I really love the sound of the Nona yarn, and the scarf looks gorgeous. Hope the rest of it goes well. :)

Anonymous said...

what a fun swap!

i love your leafy scarf - it's absolutely gorgeous!!