Day 5, belatedly

I missed posting about day 5 of the Blog Hub Swap yesterday because I spent the whole day trying to drown a sudden cold in herbal tea and soup. Things are well in hand today, but I'm going to keep up the tea guzzling just in case. Also, the weather was terrible yesterday and there was no light for photographing things. But today, there's even a little sun!

So. Day 5 in the package from Stephcuddles contained fun gadgets.


(Yes, the backdrop is my ironing board.)

A knitting spool and a row counter. I had a knitting spool when I was little and had so much fun making a family of snakes. I have visions of super-fast i-cord happening with this one, though. What fun!



A closer look at the row counter reveals that it has a handy stitch-marker attachment. I've had row counters before, and they always seem to run away, (okay, so I lose them), so maybe the little ring will make it stay put for longer. Brilliant!

Blog Hub Swap Day 4: Embellishments!

The fourth package from Stephcuddles brings goodies related to embellishments.


A button tin! I definitely need one of these, as I fear I will quickly amass a large button collection.


And inside, the beginnings of a button collection! Little clay elephants that have stolen my heart - I do love elephants - and some sweet little shell hearts. Other than these, I currently own two buttons, which will soon take their place in the tin with the rest. I also love the green spotted ribbon. What shall I use it for? Hmmm. I know I'll save the cute strawberry label after I find the use for the ribbon, though.

Close up of the adorable elephant buttons:

Blog Hub Swap Day 3

First order of business:

Soxonfox, aka Pip of the Sock Yarn Shop has received the package I sent her in the Blog Hub Swap and is blogging about it here complete with really great photos. I'll admit I was a bit intimidated when buying yarn for a sock yarn connossieur who sells it for a living! The legendary K1 Yarns came to the rescue, since they stock some really beautiful yarns.

Second: I survived 8 hours on the coach to Birmingham, 8 hours following my boyfriend around a bit cluelessly at UK Games Day (we both have life-consuming hobbies and obsessions - one day I'll take him along to a knitting festival), and 8 hours on the coach back to Edinburgh. Whoosh.

Third: Swap day 3!

I think Stephcuddles is determined to destroy me with sweets. Heh. (This is clearly not a bad sort of destruction). Day 3's bundle contained one large chocolate bar...



And several teeny tiny ones in the form of cute stitch markers. Aw.



Now little chocolate bars will garnish my knitting. A good combination, I think. Thanks, Stephcuddles!

Blog Hub Swap: Day 2

As it turns out, package #2 is the squishy one, so I didn't have to wait long before encountering exciting new yarn.

Contents:



1 ball of Zauberball in the Cranberries colourway. So pretty! And soft. I've wanted to try Zauberball for a while, so this is excellent mind-reading on the part of Stephcuddles. (Or rav-stalking, whatever).

I also received Eskimimi's lovely Simple City scarf from Stephcuddles directly in my ravelry inbox yesterday, which calls for one ball of Zauberball... Brilliant. I see where this is going! I actually have a load of Noro Kureyon Sock that might work for this scarf as well, but it's not nearly as soft and neck-friendly as the zauberball. Decisions, decisions. Maybe I'll make it with both!

But there was more:



Haribo! Yum. I'm going on a long long long coach ride tonight, so I'll bring this along for when I need a bit of sweetness.

On that note, Day 3 will have to wait until Monday, because I'm spending all night on a coach to Birmingham... And then much of the following day on the coach back, it seems. Quite possibly the longest coach ride of my life so far - we'll see how it goes.

Blog Hub Swap: Day 1

Today has been awesome, especially in terms of mail. This morning, our router came finally, so I am on the internet in our flat for the first time since moving to Edinburgh. Excellent. Then, this afternoon my swap package from Stephcuddles arrived! Extra exciting.



I eagerly opened the box to reveal several numbered colourful parcels, and a note from Stephcuddles saying that I could eschew the order and open the squishy one first if I wanted... Heh. Tempting, but I decided to follow the order Stephcuddles has set up.

Package number 1 contained these goodies.



Candy and a fun little notebook! Candy is always welcome. Mmmm. I find blank books very useful, and small ones like this are perfect for carrying around with me everywhere. Unfortunately I have a habit of forgetting to look at the lists I've written... but it's a start, right?

I'm excited to see what number 2 contains tomorrow!

Thanks Stephcuddles! And thanks again to Eskimimi for organizing the swap.

Swap!

I'm participating in a swap in the Blog Hub group on Ravelry, and have finally gathered together all the various things for my swap partner. I hope the recipient enjoys this as much as I have!

Here's the pile before being stashed away in their box.


Peruse a pile of polkadotted packages!

Off it goes, at the mercy of Royal Mail. Cross your fingers for me...

I had lots of fun with this, my first ever swap. Shopping is not my favourite activity, but shopping for knitting things, bits, and things that are not strictly required is quite fun. It also gave me a chance to poke around and discover shops I might not have found right away. A good introduction to more places to spend money in Edinburgh. Maybe that's not a good thing, after all.

Yarn!

Enfuriatingly, I still have no internet access at home. I am considering taking matters into my own hands somehow. I'm also still unemployed, but that's to be expected at this point.

But! A friend came up to visit me last week, and she gave me yarn from the Isle of Skye. It was really good to see her, and it was fun to have someone to hang around with now that my boyfriend has started working fulltime. (I will get a job soon, I promise)

Anyway, about the yarn:


It's greenish-black, tweedy, and wooly. The yarn label says Skye Knyts, but the internet doesn't yield a whole lot of information about this company. Does anyone know anything about them?



Still, very pretty! I don't know what I'll use it for, since it is fingering/sport weight and quite rough - maybe something with a lining. Any suggestions?

WIP tease

Still no internet access at home, but I have been testing out the flat as photography space. Here are some teaser images of my current WIP. Socks: two at a time, toe up, and knit in Tanis Fibre Arts Blue Label.


Looks grayer than real life. Imagine Vibrance!

This is the sole: these will be a gift, so I don't want to ruin the surprise.



This is my first use of Tanis Fibre Arts yarn, and I'm really enjoying it so far. The colourway is Mallard, which of course gets distorted since I photographed it on the kitchen table. It's blue, teal, green, and even pale yellow-green in spots. Mmmm hand-dyed semisolid goodness! Am kicking myself for not buying more than one skein when I was in Montreal, but there are more lovely yarns on this side of the pond to discover.