Here's the package it originally came in. I did all I could to stop myself from opening the package right away--I was so excited! But I somehow managed to snap this shot.
The first thing I saw was this beautiful silver and blue tote bag that Clidonia sewed herself! I love it! It's huge, perfect to hold all of my knitting and craft stuff inside. And it has stars on it, which I love! They make it look very magical, like a bag a Hogwarts student would really have.
Next up is yarn. I was so lucky--Clidonia gave me TWO beautiful skeins of yarn! The one you see above is Plymouth Yarn's Rockin' Sox yarn. You can't see well in the picture, but the colors are light blues and silvers--again, Ravenclaw colors! I can't wait to make socks out of this--they'll be a nice addition to my Ravenclaw attire for the new movie coming out soon!
And here's the second skein of yarn. Clidonia bought this from http://www.vedabliss.etsy.com/, and it's 440 yards of hand-dyed, yarny goodness! The colors are very summer-y: golds, whites, light violets and purples. They remind me of August, the lazy last few days of summer, the heat wave that just came through here. I think I'll make socks out of this to remember summer 2008 by.
And here's the second skein of yarn. Clidonia bought this from http://www.vedabliss.etsy.com/, and it's 440 yards of hand-dyed, yarny goodness! The colors are very summer-y: golds, whites, light violets and purples. They remind me of August, the lazy last few days of summer, the heat wave that just came through here. I think I'll make socks out of this to remember summer 2008 by.
Okay, what next? Hmmm, I think I'll go to the M&M stuff. You might be wondering why Clidonia sent me this--well, I have a collection of M&M merchandise! I have a lamp, a few cookie jars, little figurines, etc. So I laughed when I saw the swirly notepad, journal and cards--I thought it was so generous of her to hunt down M&M-specific items and add them to my swap package. I'm so happy that I have more things to add to my collection! They all will come in handy with school starting soon.
You'll have to turn your head sideways to see this--sorry! These are the sock patterns I was sent. They are the Peak Experience Socks from Fiber Trends, Mona Sock Pattern by Cookie A, and the Twisted Flower sock pattern. They are all very intricate and delicate-looking designs, and I have no idea what pattern I'll try first!
Here are some pretty awesome knitting tools! On the left is a funky green tape measure (with ladybugs on it! Awww...) that is definitely going to aid me in all the hat knitting I'm doing. And on the right is the coolest thing ever--it's a keychain stitch marker/ crochet hook, the perfect size for a knitter to carry around on-the-go. Seriously, it's soooo cool! It's from http://www.robynsnest.ca/, in case anyone wants to know.
And I saved the best for last. This tote is handmade from Greenlotus' Etsy shop! I absolutely adore it--it's the perfect size to carry a sock project in, or even a hat project! There's a card inside of it with a hand drawn picture of it and says the tote is called "Cherry Covered Chocolate"--yum! I've already stored some of my knitting inside of it.
