Two parcels in one day!

Coming home from swimming in Pakenham with Jane and the kids, swung past the post office to get the mail, and blow me down if there's not TWO schmancy parcels all for me!

I knew what this one was - fun Little Red Rding Hood Rosapomar ribbon for more skirts...

But the second one was my package for the Christmas swap! I saved it up til after the kids were in bed! This...

...became this! Wow! I was so excited! I felt like Christmas had come early, which it had!!!

A handmade card, chocolate candy, hot chocolate, fabric, a ceramic heart made by women in Sth Africa, quilting pins, sock yarn, bamboo dpns, a sock pattern, a bag pattern, a story, AND....

...my very first ever pair of hand-knit socks! I feel bowled over by Kristina's generosity! I love them! They fit me perfectly, so much so that I feel like Cinderella wearing the glass slippers!

I haven't taken them off yet! Thank you soooo much, Kristina, my Norwegian friend - you're ace!

Swap package ready!

As I mentioned a while ago, I signed up for this Christmas swap, and seeing as the deadline for posting is today, I have finally pulled together my package! In doing so, it did strike me as odd that I was doing this for someone I don't know at all, and not for my friends, but there you go. Perhaps I can pull together something as bitsy and fun for said friends for Christmas...

For my unknown Norwegian friend, I brought together:
> Jo Sharp Alpaca Kid Lustre in Verona and Ripe
> DPNs
> Kiwi rock candy from the Gembrook Lolly Shop
> Lipton Chai Latte packets
> Toast/toasty fingerless mitts pattern from A Friend to Knit With
> A description of an Aussie Christmas
> And a handcut snowflake tree ornament from a bloke who works at the Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada.

Pretty global gift, in the end, with stuff from Australia, Japan, the US and Canada! Maybe that makes for too many airmiles!

Ready to be posted to Linda... Hope you enjoy!

Christmas Swap

I signed up for this Christmas Swap recently. It involves sending your swap partner:
> Yarn, needles and a pattern
> Something warm to drink
> A Christmas story from your country
> Christmas candy
> And a personal gift.

Around $20 to spend. Should be doable, and, of course, fun to get a package in the mail...

A Swap and a Clean Sewing Space!

Here's my package to Christy for the Favourite Things Swap - good fun to pull together:

• Celestial Seasonings Vanilla Maple Tea
• Alba Mango Vanilla Shave Cream (love the scent)
• Two lace hankies (love collecting them from the thrift store)
• Two pre-loved copies of Mixtape zine (love a taste of home)
• And chocolate (which I added after this photo was taken)

I'm looking forward to getting a surprise in the mail sometime soon!

This was my effort yesterday and today: cleaning up my sewing space, and the rest of the space, in the basement, in preparation for my Mum coming to stay with us for around two weeks next week. SUCH a nice feeling, having a clear sewing table. Sew often (ha - I really did write that without thinking!), I sew amidst a great mess. I am dying to finish that flirty skirt for Piper on the table there (from this summer edition of Quilts and More), but I really don't know if I'll get to it before the kids and I leave for Edmonton tomorrow (to meet my Mum and visit my rellies - whoo!).

Lookithat space!!!

Piles of red for the next project coming up - some kind of red and white quilt.

I know it's not perfect, fabric stacked on a disused microwave, but hey, they're kind of colour-coordinated and neat, so I enjoy looking at them!

This morning began at 7am, when Jasper decided he was done sleeping. So I took my two thrifted jars of buttons upstairs, and he kind of helped me sort them out. At least, he enjoyed hitting them and making them bounce with two thrifted knitting needles! Is it okay to let a one-year-old play with knitting needles? (Hey, at first I wrote kneedles! Must be that glass or two of wine I had after dinner, combined with a week of detoxing and eating remarkably healthily!! Hit me hard, I must say!)


The end result!

Favourite things swap

I signed up for this last night:



Should be fun... Got a few ideas...