Yarn Gifts

About two weeks ago I recieved a lovely gift on Vikkie Day from my lovely Knitty Otter friend and Miss Monkey Socks (she doesn't have a blog yet...but we keep pushing her because she is a talented knitter and lots of fun to play yarn with and she show it off! hint hint to her!). I have been re-miss in posting about their generous gift and was reminded today when I recieved yet another gift of yarn.

They surprised me with this lovely Brown Sheep's Handpainted Original (colorway is Stormy Skies) that I was eyeing at our LYS had recently added to their inventory. I love the Handpainted Originial....yes I know its mostly Mohair and Mohair gets in the nose and tickles...but Brown Sheep just has a way with yarn and colors...it is really soft to work with, they yarns has this nice high quality yarn sheen, and when you wash and block the finished item the Mohair sort of "sits down"...which gives the finished piece an upscale look. If you haven't tried it yet...it really is worth it...at least once. They are the sweetest....they better watch out because I will be getting them back for pulling a surprise on me and catching me off gaurd....WAAHAHA (evil laugh!) BTW...this is the first yarn gift I have ever recieved...seriously...which makes it all the more special. Of all the things I have made (years of crocheting included) I never keep things for myself...Whatever I make from this IS MINE! :-D

Now for my second yarn gift...It is a gift from the Round 3 Sock Madness designer, Tricia Weatherton. She generously gifted me and Mt. Mom (a competitor in SM) with some sock yarn. Her lovely and generous gift arrived today. GREAT GIFT! This is the first time that I have recieved yarn in the mail which I did not order myself. It was so much fun to open the package to see what it was...I had no idea what she was going to choose (though she did ask us to give her some color choices...which I left mostly open saying that I really didn't have any solid colored sock yarn). This is what I recieved:


She enclosed a lovely note...with a picture of a knitted piece. The teal colored yarn is Panda Wool ...I have been WANTING to try this yarn, after seeing it mentioned online...none of the LYS sell it and I like to see/feel (umm well lets be honest MOLEST) yarn before I buy it. lol...So I have held back from ordering it online until such time as I could see it first hand. Well I have may chance now not only to see it but to try it out! YEAH ME! The picture doesn't show it up very well but its sort of graduated in color...so its almost solid and ....I LOVE IT! I couldn't have picked a better color for me! :-D The other skein is Trekking...in a colorway (#80) that I have not seen before...I really enjoy knitting with Trekking...its really great not only for socks but lace projects...the colorway is a variety of light purples, violets and lavender with a grey/teal stripping...super nice (here is a picture of the Trekking knitted up by one of my fellow SMers. It would make great socks but I think it would work up really nice in lace so I think I will save it for that. As with the other gift I WILL BE MAKING SOMETHING FOR ME from this! :-D MINE MINE MINE MINE........


Well, now after recieving these gifts I realize that I want to share something as well...so I am going to contribute to the LOOT for Sock Madness. I have a set of ebony needles that I am going to share. They are wonderful to work with and I think someone else would enjoy them. They are brand new, not used...lol.

These are from Susanne's made in Germany, US 7, 4.5 mm, 8" Dpns. The super nice thing about them is that brand new they have a mat finish/look but the more you use them the more they shine. The yarn polishes the needles. The other nice thing about them is that they are not as sticky as Birch, Bamboo and other wooden needles but not as slippery as metal or plastic. The tension and frabric I get from using these is really nice. I hope whomever gets them will enjoy them as much as I do! I have a short set for socks, a long set like these and a circular set. These are my favorite needles and great for all sorts of projects and yarns. My LYS carries a very nice selection, they are a bit on the expensive size but worth every penny!

Ok thats all for now...the next post will be about my Round 4 socks...promise!