Secret Summer Swap

I mentioned earlier that I was participating in a Yarn Swap this summer with the wonderful people at the KnittingHelp Forums. Here is the stash that my secret pal spoiled me with:

My camera did not at all do justice to the amazing colors of these yarns. The Wool of the Andes is an incredibly deep purple (Hyacinth). It is very regal. I love it! The Shadow is a fantastic burnt orange (Campfire) that is going to be a beautiful accent that pulls out the red in my strawberry hair. (I'm thinking in maybe a shawl). And the Andean Treasure is a strong earthy green (Moss). Not only do red heads love green, but this is so soft that the best idea that I've got for it right now is to knit a swatch to lay on my pillow and rub my cheek on every night before bed. I really would like to make something with it that I can wear near my head. I know that sounds a little weird but it would really bring out my eyes. Do you guys have any pattern ideas that only take 110yrds of sport weight? I haven't found anything yet. I may end up doing a pattern with two or more colors and buying some more.

Knitter Coffee Swap

The Secret Knitter convinced me to participate in a color swap ages ago. That inducted me into the world of knitting swaps, and one of the most recent ones that I joined/completed was the Knitter Coffee Swap. I had a great pal, and she sent me a wonderful package!


It was all somehow crammed into a shoebox (albeit, a big shoe box). Here's it all laid out on the kitchen table:

Yarn, yarn, coffee, the project bag in the upper right hand corner is awesome (I think it's handmade), books, sock knitting pattern--everything she got me was wonderful. So if you're looking for something new and fun for knitting, try swaps. I've just finished up the scarf exchange swap, which was also tons of fun--I'm still waiting for my scarf from my pal, but she's been in touch, so I'll see it soon!

Details

The baby blanket was a fantastic first project, because it taught me so much. Prior to this blanket gage an yarn weight meant nothing to me. Now, they are my new religion. My blanket was suppose to be 36"x36" but since I bought the wrong weight yarn and never even considered making a gauge swatch, it turned out to be about 18"x30". Oh well, instead of a baby blanket for Iona, it has become a stuffed animal/doll blanket for my friend's triplets. There was a slew of other mistakes that I made through out the process, but with the exception of the size issue I think it turned out pretty good.

Next I'm working on a travel pillow. It was a very tempting project for the girl who learned to knit so she could keep herself occupied on road trips. Here is a picture of the top half (without the clouds). If I have room to take some knitting stuff on the plane to Europe with me next week I plan on working on these ponchos for the triplet's birthday.

I've also joined my first knitting swap. It is just a summer swap with no theme. It is being organized by one of the members on a forum that I have been reading. I made our little graphic. Don't tell my currently unassigned secret pal, but I'm hoping to pick them up some lace work from Brussels while I'm there.

Knitterly Letter Swap

I've become a big fan of swaps. Mostly because I keep finding cool blogs and reading them, and also finding inspiration/ideas for projects.

Domesticat is running a Knitterly Letter Swap, if you'd care to participate. I just ran across her blog from a friend's, and it's fun and full of cool projects that she's done. She's interesting to read!

That's the thing with this whole online knitting world. There really are a lot of interesting folks out there, knitting, offering to share with readers. I like that. I'm glad we get to be a part of that. Unfortunately, the more I read, the more I find to read...

Anyone out there have any cool knitting blogs/sites they've discovered? Share! Share!