Itty-Bitty Knits Let's Start at the Beginning Swap Package

Hello Knitters,

Today I got the best surprise in the mail!  It was my swap package for the Itty-Bitty Knits Let's Start at the Beginning Swap.  I just have to say a huge THANK YOU! to the wonderful and amazingly talented Eliana (Elly). 

Everything came packaged up in this beautiful bag that Elly sewed special for me!  It's just gorgeous and is a nice, big size that I always like in a bag :)  She made it specifically for my WIPs!! 

It has a sturdy bottom on it so it can stand up on it's own, which is great for when working on a project.

This is what I seen when I peeked inside!!  Squeeeeeeeeeeee!!  I see two gorgeous skeins of Tahki Cotton Classic and two balls of Regia sock yarn in lovely pinks and purples!!  (she added this for my sock knitting addiction! lol).  I'm so excited to knit with these yarns!! 

There was some yummy candies: two tins of coffee flavoured candies since I'm a big coffee fan :), a package of Now and Later apple candies, a box of Arizona Catus Candy, and a package of really good apple hard candies.

Close-up of the Cactus Candy

This swap had some required knitted projects: an apple hat, an apple finger puppet and an apple wash cloth.  These are the ones that Elly knit using really gorgeous yarns like Spud and Chloe Sweater and Fine, Mission Falls 1824 Wool, The SRK Collection Truffles, The Unique Sheep Sushi Socks, and the leaf on the hat is knit from her own hand dyed yarn!  They're all so beautiful!!

This is a skein of Elly's own hand dyed and handspun yarn that she made just for me!!  I'm so excited to find a special project for it!!  I'm amazed that someone would spin yarn for me!!  Isn't the colour fantastic?  It's so me!!  I'm so wowed by how gorgeous it is!!

She also made me some lovely shell stitch markers and a matching bracelet!  She also made a "message in a bottle" stitch marker that demonstrates yarn art: from fiber to yarn to knitted swatch - it's all in the bottle!!  Isn't that amazing?  It's so gorgeous!!  She also made me a little stitch marker pouch that matches the bag - you can see it in the first picture; for some reason I didn't get a close-up of it.  It's so cute!

Wow, I'm so overjoyed with everything!!  This package really brightened up my whole week!!  Again, thank you so much Elly for this amazing package!!  I feel totally blessed and spoiled!! 

Have a great week everyone :)

A is for Apple

Hello Knitters,

Over the weekend we were told what the theme is for the newest Itty-Bitty Group Swap.  It's called "Let's Start at the Beginning," and since A is the first letter in the alphabet, that's the letter we are starting with.  The theme is "A is for Apple."  I think this is such an inventive way of doing a swap!!

The projects we are required to make are:  The Apple Washcloth by Susan, the Apple from the Finger Foods pattern, and the Apple Hat from Spud Says!  We are also required to make one more thing that has to do with the "A is for Apple" idea, and include a few other goodies for our swap pal. 

I started almost immediately on the apple washcloth and the apple finger puppet.  I had suitable yarn in the stash so it worked out great!  Usually I have to order the right yarn and wait for quite a while before I get to start a swap project, so being able to cast right on this time was very exciting :-D  I ended up starting and finishing both the washcloth and the finger puppet on Saturday.  I had all day to just knit and do what I wanted so that's what I did. 

Here's my finished washcloth. 

The pattern was very fun and fast to make.  I haven't made a lot of washcloths, but this one made me want to make more and more! 

You seen my apple finger puppet at the beginning of the post, but it has a little surprise you haven't seen....

Since I didn't have any brown sock yarn, I knit the inside with Stroll Hand-Paint in Cartoons.  I think it makes the project a little extra special :-D 

Well, that's as far as I've gotten on my swap knitting.  I thought it would be ok to share these with you all since everyone participating in the swap has to make them, but for the extra little bits, those I will keep a surprise so as not to spoil anything. 

I hope you all are having a great Monday!!

Happy Knitting :-D