My Swap Partner Got the Box!

My Spinning/Roving swap partner got her box yesterday so I can put up some photos of what I sent her. The contents included two different colors of Alpaca, and a bit of Suri Alpaca, all purchased directly from an alpaca farm just south of the Twin Cities.

VERY nice stuff. This farmer has the ability to spin (mechanically) yarn so the roving is really, really nice. She has some sort of machine she runs the fiber through which makes the roving a bit thinner and very uniform and even. I bought some for myself too, of course, so I can't wait to spin with it. I also included a pattern for a headband made from natural alpaca colors (which I want to try myself!), one for fingerless mits and one for wristlets. I also made her three beaded stitch markers and included some Wizard of Oz bookplates. I read in her blog that she really likes Wizard of Oz stuff.

The really fun thing about my first ever swap partner is that our families are very similar. She also had a son with her partner, so we have that in common. That was one reason why the manchild decided to send her son a little gift too. [It's a small world, after all...it's a small world after all...it's a small world, after all, it's a small, small, world...it's a small world, after all...it's a small world, after all, everybody now, it's a small world, after all...] Ok, sorry about that, and now you'll have that stupid song going through your head all day.

In the knitting department, I'm working on some fingerless mitts. It gets really cold in my office during the winter months, so I'm looking forward to having something to keep my hands warm. The pattern is one from my favorite LYS, Borealis. I'm using Knit Picks Sock Garden in Hyacinth held with one strand of a kid mohair/silk blend, just enough to put a teeny bit of fuzz in the finished fabric. The colors aren't what I usually go for (pinks, purples) but I got it from a Knit Picks clearance bin thinking I would make socks for a gift. I like the way they're turning out so far. The pattern stitches up really fast too, I made the first mitt in a little over an evening. Now if I can just find time to make the other one. From the looks of things, I'll have more than enough yarn to make a second pair.