Fairy tale yarn swap

My knitting group had our yarn swap last night, which was a fantastic evening.  I didn't take part this time because I have so much yarn already in my stash that I couldn't really justify joining.  At this point I would normally link to Sheryl's blog here because she often takes photos of our yarn swaps.  Unfortunately there was a camera malfunction, and there are no photos.  All the yarns were really well dyed and the gifts that went with them were lovely and really well thought out for the fairy tales.

In fact, Sheryl's blog shortly stitches is definitely worth a visit, lack of yarn swap photos notwithstanding.  She has some really nice patterns for sale, and lots of interesting posts, mostly about knitting (she's a bit of a knitting guru) and she's also involved with Blogtober.

More knitting

I took part in a yarn swap several months ago and I received this gorgeous yarn from my swappee. The theme of the swap was "I love you", and all participants had three words that had something to do with love to use as inspiration for the swap. The word my swappee used was "Aotearoa". The wool is entitled "misty morning" and I also received a lovely tuatara puzzle for P with it. At first glance the wool seemed to be semi solid, but actually there were several different colours that all complemented each other really well - greens and browns.
I decided to knit this cardigan (you need to log into Ravelry), and it was as fast and easy as the pattern promised. The bottom is knitted in one piece, with the moss stitch border done at the same time. I love the way the wool knitted up - not always a given with variegated wool. The only problem I found was the decreases on the raglan sleeves. Because I'm left handed, the decreases at the beginning of the row didn't match the ones at the end, so when I joined it they weren't the same. This bothers me because I like everything to be 'right'.Notice the incredible brown carpet in our living room - its awesome!

I finished knitting my first yarn swap jersey and I'm quite pleased with how it came out. I'm still not 100% sold on the verigation in the yarn, but it looks nice in the jersey. The pattern was Baby sock sweater by Amy King, and it was really easy to follow. The sizing is on the small side, I did 3-6months but really should have done larger. However that did give me plenty of yarn to do other things with.

I received an amazing swap. My wool was not only hand dyed, but also handspun. It was thick and thin merino dyed in shades of blue and green. My partner chose waves as her kiwiana theme.

Not only did I receive the great wool, but I was also very spoilt to receive some awesome gifts as well. I got a cloth nappy making kit, all the fabric and notions I would need, a hair clip for P and some gorgeous hand painted breast pads.


The red and yellow is my buzzy bee swap. My swappee was really pleased with it as well.

I have already wound my yarn into a ball and started knitting a headband for myself out of it. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

I had a fantastic yarn swap last night, with my knitting group. It was based on 'kiwiana' and I got some amazing yarn (and gifts). But I can't find my USB cable so no photos are as yet forthcoming. However, you can read all about it, and see wonderful photos of it here

So this is the yarn that I received from my painting yarn swap. I also got a whole lot of goodies (despite there being no requirement for presents). My painting was the Adoration of the Magi by Gentile deFabriano. I saw this at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, and it was just stunning and magestic - encrusted with beautiful gems and gold leaf. Like all my favourite art, it is so much better in real life than in pictures.

My yarn is 4ply Merino, dyed with cake gel dyes, and it looks stunning in the ball. It also came with a pattern for a baby jersey and I've started knitting it up, but I'm not so sure that I like the combination of colours in the finished product. I'll post photos of how its going and I'll decide whether I like it once its all finished and seamed up.

So I wanted my first post to be about my Rhododendron that has just started flowering, and looks gorgeous out my kitchen window - but I can't find my camera so I'll have to start with something equally interesting, but not as picturesque.

I was involved with my first yarn swap a little while ago, and I dyed the wool (also for the first time). It was really cool. The swap was based on a favourite painting. My swapee's painting was "Hylas and the Water nymphs" so I dyed my wool green and yellow to go with the waterlilies in the picture. It was really exciting dyeing the wool - my Mum was super sceptical that it would work, but it turned out fabulously. I can't wait to see how it knits up.