Mail Santa

I enjoy getting fun things in the mail. Today 2 packages came for me. The first was the T-shirt and tote bag that I ordered from City Knitting this past Monday. Cheryl has the shirt and wore it to Stitches. It really is a cute shirt, perfect for a knitting enthusiast like me. It has the words Know Your Cuts of Lamb above a sheep divided by perforated lines. Within each part of the lamb, words like sweater, scarf, and purse (items you can make with wool). Very clever. The tote bag has the same design. What pushed me to buy it though was the great price ($15 for the shirt and $12 for the tote). I do not find screen printed shirts like this for less than $20, so this was an awesome deal in my opinion.

The second package came from New Zealand. I swapped my Second Treasury of Magical Knitting with yarn from a nice gal from there. She gave me a full skein of Vintage Purls yarn, plus a few extras. I haven't heard of this dyer before (and to be quite honest, I just realized that yarn from New Zealand must be spectacular because they have tons of sheep!) but now want more of her yarn. The colors are deep and rich (can you say gorgeous??) and sooooo soft. She must be one of those little known but fabulous dyers out there who are eclipsed by Wollmeise and Sundara. I am now very excited for the other skein on my way, from the three-way swap with Melissa.

Will I miss the book that I swapped? Nope. When I received it, I was looking forward to knitting the bags and wraps that I've been seeing on Ravelry. I just thought the way the projects looked were so cool. However, the CO is awkward for me and I felt clumsy...After a few tries, I decided that this type of knitting would not work for me. Besides, I can make tons of other garments and bags, and if I want them to twist, I can twist them afterwards and just seam them with the kitchener stitch. The frustration at the beginning of each project was not worth it for me. I gave it a shot; now I can chalk up to experience. I'm truly glad that I was able to give it to someone who really loves the technique; besides that I can say that I have a knitting friend on the other side of the world, and look, I have wonderful yarn from her too!