Swappity Swap Swap

I am such a sporadic blogger. I just have too many pots in the fire to do this consistently! One thing that I have been involved in lately is a SecretPal Swap organized by Crochetville. I send goodies to someone and hopefully make their day brighter and someone else sends me goodies and spoils me rotten!

Here are some photos of what my pal sent me for her big REVEAL package. Thanks a million, Aunty M. You are a doll!







Aunty M sent me:
~~ One solid chocolate bunny, not the hollow kind! My kids swooped down on him immediately!
~~ A lovely crocheted angel made with a clothespin and pink thread.
~~ Some bayberry potpourri that made the whole package smell nice!
~~ My very first ever thread cutter pendant. That will definitely come in handy with my sewing and finer needlework projects...I am always loosing my scissors!
~~ A small cross-stitch kit that makes a little miniature quilt and another one that is like little pumpkin seed packet.
~~ A "Little Pot Pals" kit in which you decorate a miniature flower pot. I am thinking that will be something I can do with one of my daughters.
~~ Some relaxing bath salts and a blue body puff.
~~ A skein of lovely deep purple Lion Brand Homespun.
~~ A ball of 100% cotton chenille.
~~ Some salad "hands" for tossing and serving salads. (How did she know that we have managed to break every set of salad tongs that have ever entered our house?)
~~ A pattern for making a colorful striped knit bag. (I love to knit too!)
~~ A vintage Old Time Needlework Patterns and Designs magazine.
~~ A sweet little crocheted purse that my 10-year old immediately claimed.
~~ A beautiful, carved rosewood crochet hook in size "O" This is my first wooden hook and I have been drooling and longing for one.
~~ Another wooden crochet hook...this one is bamboo and size "P" I love my bamboo knitting needles and so I am sure I will like this too!
~~ Aunty M sewed up a crochet hook case for me too! I have been needing one of these...however I am struggling. You see, the pockets are nice and long, so it is perfect for my double pointed needles too! Right now it is holding all my hooks, but if I want, I can switch it out and use it for my DPN's instead!
~~ She also made me the most exquisite, gorgeous red shawl. It is soooo pretty! The photos do not do it justice at all! I was so thrilled that I wore it for two days straight!

Like I said, she spoiled me rotten!

I sent my secret pal, Kimbo, a package full of goodies at the beginning and another package at the end of the swap. Here are a few photos of some of the things I made to put in the last package. Her favorite colors to wear are brown and green, so I crocheted her a humongous tote bag out of variegated wool in those colors and then felted it. This was my first felting project.

Here is is being held up by my 5 year old before felting:


And after felting:


I also made an amigurumi bunny for her.


See the cute little cotton tail?


I know, you think it looks just like the one I previously blogged about, but my 5 year old promply adopted that bunny and I had to make another. This time I used an "F" hook rather than and "H." Isn't it amazing how big of a difference a fraction of a milimeter in hook diameter can make in the overall size of a finished project. See the latest bunny hanging out with its bigger sibling for some quality time before they were parted:



I also took some incredibly bright and colorful thread and made my first ever thread crocheted bookmark for my SP:




I also included some sterling and Swarovski crystal earrings I made for her as well as a pound of Starbucks coffee beans, so hopefully, she felt pampered a bit.

Swaps are great fun.

Nifty Stuff From My Secret Pal

I have a wonderful secret pal from Wyoming. Just look at what she sent me last week! I still haven't figured out exactly how she made the first item.





And check out how perfect her stitches are!




Thank you, Secret Pal. You're the BEST!!!

Fiber lovers will understand!

I am sooo excited!! I confess, I am a yarn addict. I love rich, touchable fibers. For years now, my only local options have been Michael's Craft Store, Hancock Fabrics (which only carries Lion Brand) and WalMart (choke! choke!) Don't get me wrong. I am thankful that I have any store in my town that sells yarn, but I just have not been able to get my hands on the stuff that dreams are made of. However, that has ended! We now have a small, independent yarn shop in our area...well in a nearby town less than 25 minutes from my house! Huzzah! Huzzah! (Oh, and for those of you who do not have boys who are into historical books and stuff, and that would be pronounced "huh zah" with the accent on the last syllable.)

Because it is close to my local, independently owned bead shop, I have had the opportunity to drive past this yarn shop multiple times wondering when it would finally open its doors, always to be disappointed. On Tuesday, I was thrilled when I saw the owner's van parked in front. FINALLY, I would get to browse. I just about wet myself I was so excited. But alas and alack! They were not open! She was just there vacuuming the shop. I peeked in the windows and wanted to cry. I walked past the door 2 or 3 times and then finally marched up to it and boldly knocked. She opened and I begged for a brochure or something with their hours, etc. I was secretly hoping she might invite me in, but she was there on her lunch hour from another job and was in a hurry. Needless to say, I was back the next day during business hours. As luck would have it, friend of mine who is an avid crocheter also happened to be there. The only thing better than drooling in a yarn shop is drooling in a yarn shop with someone else who also appreciates yummy yarns. I am sure that the owners got a big kick listening to us "Oooooo & ahhhh!" We were like kids in a candy store..."Oh! Look at this!" and "Come see!!" The owner's also probably got a big kick out of the fact we both bought yarn! I confess, I spent every single penny that I had in my wallet! In fact, I had to borrow six cents from my friend! But it was worth it! Not only does this shop carry nice, manufactured yarn, but also handspun, hand-dyed, and hand-painted yarn!! Photos can not do it justice, the colors are much prettier in real life, but have a peek:

This is 250 yards of 100% wool that has been hand-dyed. I wish you could see and touch it! It has a lovely sheen and is very soft, not rough like some wool.

I also got two 100 yard skeins of this, also hand-painted 100% wool:


Aren't they simply scrumptious? Yummy?! And, the owner wrapped it all in pretty tissue paper, put it in a bag with a bow and candy cane and tucked a little baggy of candy inside as well. You just can't beat small, locally owned businesses! Now my new yarns sit where I can see them. I am waiting for them to speak to me and tell me what they want to be knit (or crocheted) into!

And, lest you think that I have been unproductive these past few months...
let me set your mind at rest! Here is a shot of the afghan I crocheted for my Autumn Secret Pal. I don't think I have shown it here yet. I did not post it earlier because I did not want to ruin the surprise. She wanted purple and yellow, and so that is what I made! I have the hardest time getting the color purple to look true with my photos! But this will give you a general idea.



Here are some other items I have been making and selling like crazy! Can you guess what they are?



They are headbands! I make them out of cotton in all kinds of colors. The nice thing about them is that they are totally "ouch-free!" The crocheted cotton has a bit of stretch to it and it also does not tend to slip. I make them with ties so each person can adjust it to fit their head perfectly. I often forget I am wearing one.

And for my friend, Anna, here is a "fun shot."



I have also made a ton of earrings, hair sticks and necklaces in the past month or so. I will save those for another post (which can be interpreted as: I don't have any photos of those and so you will have to wait!)

I am feeling the LOVE!!!

Over at Crochetville, I have participated in a few swaps this Fall. Basically, a swap is where you send goodies and handmade stuff to your partner and you get goodies and handmade stuff from your partner. Goodies? Handmade stuff?? Packages in the mail??? What could possibly be more fun?!?!?

I was in a tea cosy swap and also a secret pal swap. My tea cosy partner made a great wool cosy for my teapot and then felted it. Let me tell you, that bad boy keeps my teapot hot for over an hour!! She also enclosed a bunch of goodies in my package, but when it arrived, it was mangled and torn and there was nothing in the envelope but the cosy! Thank goodness the cosy made it! Well, a few days ago, even though it was not required, that dear lady sent me a new package and look at what I got:



She sent me...

~a crocheted pot holder
~a crocheted mesh bag (YES! A bag she crocheted for me!! It is awesome!)
~a crocheted book mark
~a beautiful note card
~oodles and oodles of herb tea
~some imported chocolate from Holland (which is totally yummy!!!)
~a votive candle that made the whole box smell like flowers!
~some pretty floral tissues
~a ball of gorgeous yarn (with wool and cashmere in it, no less!)
~some L'occitane samples (which I have never had a chance to try before)
~a mending set (compact needles and thread for any emergency)

There were even more assorted tea bags that made their way to my kitchen before I took the photo. Also, the candle is not in the picture because my daughter swiped it. Oh, and the chocolate?? Let me just say, if anyone wants to make me a happy person, just send me some of this:



Here is another shot of the mesh bag:



Thank you, Joanne!!! I really appreciate your thoughtfulness and going WAY beyond the call of duty!!


AND JUST LOOK AT WHAT MR. POSTMAN BROUGHT ME TODAY!!!



My Autumn Secret Pal, Anna sent me a box bursting with goodies!! It included:

~4 balls of Sugar'n Cream cotton yarn in 4 colors that I do not yet have!
~a bag of Hersheys Special Dark chocolates in the shapes of leaves
~a bag of assorted candies (Smarties, Sweetarts, Tootsie Rolls, Atomic Fire Balls, jawbreakers, bubblegum and lollipops)
~Ferrero Rocher Hazelnut Chocolates
~a BIG bar of Cadbury milk chocolate
~a bag of Sour Bears
~Vanilla Caramel Truffle tea
~a tin of Cafe' Vienna
~some Stash tea bags in the Chai Spice flavor (her personal favorite and I can't wait to try it!)
~some pumpkin pie candles (spicy scents are my favorite!!)
~some Holly Hobbie stickers
~a pocket calendar
~a pad of stationary (or is it spelled "stationery?")
~some post cards
~a set of turkey taper candles (I can't wait to use these on Thanksgiving!)
~a Tom Turkey candle (adorable!!! Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday!!)
~and the BEST for last...a tote bag that she designed and crocheted just for ME!!!

Here are some close-up pictures of the turkey candles:





I told you they were precious!!

And here are some photos of the tote bag she made for me. I can not imagine all the time it must have taken her to not only design the pattern, but then all the hours of work!!! She not only crocheted the bag, but then, she crocheted the lining!!! The pictures just do not do it justice!! The blue lining is more of a grayish denim blue and not as bright as it appears on my computer.





I would also like to point out that during this Autumn Swap, Anna moved across several states, continued to run her online business (http://www.lullabiesandlace.com/) bought a new home and painted it all by herself while keeping up with her toddler, and still found time to spoil me rotten! Thank you, sooooo much, Anna!! I am awed!!