Swap Spoils and Other Pretties

I participated in a swap on the Rubberneckers forum on Ravelry. My swap spoiler, a blogless (afaik) Stanzi, was able to give me my presents in person because she was visiting her sister in Boston for a week!

Here we are at the Dogwood Cafe:



Stanzi looks awesome -- she looks like her! Me, well, I'm a little pasty and puffy looking, making me wonder if I ever look like that? Do I need to lay off the beer and ice cream? I think it's all in my smile -- sometimes a wide smile pushes my cheeks out and makes my eyes disappear. Yes, I've analyzed.

Here's some of the pretties Stanzi gave me:



Mmmmm. . . Sumdrama -- I mean, Sundara Yarns! The Rubberneckers refer to it as "Sumdrama" because of the drama that arises when some people get this yarn that other people think they're entitled to. It's exclusive, you know. This stuff IS gorgeous, and a color that could be in danger if ZMrK decided to pick up the needles.



Lovingly handmade project bag! I love that it's shaped like a ballerina slipper case (well, sort of) and it has a handle to slip over your wrist. I have no idea how to make this style project bag, but I like it.



Two Rubberneckers themed badges, and a cute sheepy zipper pull. Dollipede is something the mods threaten us with when we're bad (if you think that's freaky, don't ask about the Lotus Bewb). And WANK because so much of the drama the Rubberneckers watch is just WANK WANK WANK about [pick a subject: the disagree button, copyright, exclusive yarn, acrylic vs. wool, breastfeeding, politics, and Whatever Wank Hasn't Even Been Thought Of Yet.] If it exists, there will be wank about it.



Some amazingly soft fiber from Hudson Valley Fiber Farm. This stuff rocks. I'm tempted to keep it natural when I spin it, to have some beautiful off-white handspun fiber. I'll probably get dye-happy with it though.

Not pictured: homemade Buckeyes (they were eaten more of less that night), incredible Belgian Waffles from a shop in her hometown (they're awesome warmed and topped with ice cream), BEER from Cleveland! (Burning River!), some Columbus and Ohio related magnets and postcards, and something else that I can't recall right now because it was about two weeks ago. Amazing I remember the Buckeyes and waffles.

I put together a lovely package for my spoilee, Jennatonnix. I included some handmade stitch markers, which I was smart enough to photograph before shipping off:



I also sent her the purple blue and pink sock yarn, second from the left:



Okay. I have to tell you about this etsy seller, Sharing. Yes, that's her Etsy shop name. I ordered three skeins of sock yarn -- the two on the left, and the one on the far right. The second from the right skein, in the autumn colors? She sent that free. As a thank you. I'm not kidding. Oh, and the content? MERINO/CASHMERE.



The Neon Lights in the front came caked (which is good, because I plan on knitting up that stuff SOON). I tried to find a sock pattern called Angel, because I'd like to call them Neon Angels on the Road to Ruin (after the Runaways song of the same name). But, nope! So I may make monkeys.

Speaking of monkeys. . .

Well, he's not a monkey, but he does like yarn a little too much:



We came home from a hike on Friday night to that. Thankfully it only took about 15 minutes to rewind, and thankfully it doesn't appear he ate any, even though he did chew through a couple of spots.

Yarn needs to be locked up now.

Inspired by Stanzi's project bag, I made myself a project bag (to go with my many projects) with some fabric I had a small amount of:



In case you can't see that too well, yes, those are pink kittens:



I used the tutorial at this blog (which I've had bookmarked forever) and added the handle myself. My handle could use some improvement, which I'll work with on bags I make later (because I will).

Hope everyone is having a great summer!