Saved the Best for Last!

My swap buddy (ShadKitty) was interrupted mid-swap by life, but it didn't stop her from sending me an awesome swap box! It started off with a t-shirt from CafePress to keep my Dark Passenger riding shotgun until the rest of the goodies arrived. And then today I got the big box of good stuff.



See?















The lovely ShadKitty, despite sick kids & a husband returning home ( :D !!) put together:

A Clean Kill Kit: latex gloves (powderless, equally perfect for keeping hands blood, dye or onion free), a poncho (going to be serving double duty since I live in rainy Seattle), a shower cap & a syringe.
Cough drops (have to make sure I don't drop any wrappers)
Lots of dark chocolate (very important)
And the fibery goodness: Fibranatura Yummy sock yarn, two skeins of Crystal Palace Taos, a braid of Traveling Rhinos wool roving, and a braid of moss green roving (feels like wool).


I think my favorite thing about swaps is either the anticipation or getting gorgeous fiber I would never pick for myself. My stash was getting a little too purple/blue lately, ShadKitty provided it with a much needed infusion of spring!

THANK YOU SHADKITTY!!!!
And I can't wait for the next swap!

NO, MYYYYYY swap partner was the best!

I just got back from Germany (I created a Dexter sock pattern! Details later) and this was waiting for me!

My pal was Becca, aka Knitfink and she included two skeins of blood red Panda Cotton. I've never used it before but I can't wait to go to Ravelry to look for some ideas. See the paper just to the right of that? It's a gift certificate for WEBS!! I admired Knitfink's colorwork mittens that she'd done and thought I'd like to try a little more of that so instead of her choosing colors for me, she oh so generously sent me a gift certificate so I could pick colors on my own. Way above and beyond! There are handmade soaps in a delicous smelling variety of scents including Dragon Blood and Creme Brulee and lip balms in candy flavors that I can't wait to break into! The lotions here have already been broken into. I had the DRYEST skin when I was in Germany.....like scaly flaky skin, it was the weirdest thing. How could I be at sea level ON THE BALTIC SEA and have dry skin? I was so itchy and this lotion was just right, moistureizing but not greasy :) How did you know ;) There were tiny red and black BonBon nail polishes that will be going on my toes as soon as I am coherent enough to paint them (stupid jet-lag) and my second favorite part of the gift.... the DEXTER Soundtrack has already been uploaded to my itunes!!

I was just absolutely thrilled with every single thing but the final box inside absolutely tops any Dexter gift that anyone could have thought of. Now, I thought I was pretty creative in my own gifting (go here to Ninabeenas blog to see what I gifted to her...she's all squeeley too :) but WOW! This idea was awesome!


A Hand made "Slit throat" necklace! It's Fimo baked onto wire and Holy Cow I just LOVE IT!! The finding s on the back of the necklace that you cant see (and there is the clear 'fishing line' type thread connecting it so it really looks like a gash) are sterling silver and the earrings (blooddrops) are sterling too! How awesome is that!?

Becca, I almost wish you could have figured out how to do a cheek slice (souvenier) sort of jewelry too! Kidding, kidding.....

Wow, Thank you so so so much for every single item. This was a really fun and fabulous swap! You rock!
(as a small ode to you, my avatar is especially gruesome today!)

Awesome Package Arrived

My awesome package arrived yesterday from

Megan aka asyasky.

I can't stop looking at my goodies!

The package was quite heavy. So heavy that I wondered if my dear friend Megan included a few real body parts in there. LOL! When I opened the box the first thing that greeted me was the Barbie doll head and the saran wrap and I thought.....Oh yeah this is going to be good. The next layer revealed the rest of our friend Barbie complete with rainbow painted finger nails. LOVE THAT!!!! I got a much needed notebook with pen. I usually have something like that very close to my knitting bag for notes and whatever else needs to be jotted down. The final layer revealed a mysterious wooden box. I stared at the box wondering what could possibly be in there. I lifted the lid and squealed with delight. My new best friend Megan gave me everything I would need to hand dye my own yarn. LOVE LOVE LOVE that! I took a class on dying at a local yarn shop last summer. What did we use? Wilton Icing Colors. What did Megan send me? Wilton Icing Colors. Hooray!!! She included notes here and there through out the package. On one side it would relate to the show and then when you opened it you would get a hint on how to dye the yarn and take care of it. I also got a wonderful little baggie with chocolates, some much needed hand lotion from one of my favorites....Burt's, and some kick ass hot sauce called Arizona Gunslinger. Yummy!!

THANK YOU MEGAN!!!

The best swap partner in the whole wide world:-)

I got my Dexter swap package yesterday and have been dying to take pics and tell y'all about all the cool stuff I got. I didn't have much time today so I took my items with me to the tax office and took pics while I waited. I know those people thought I was crazy...whatev.
My swap partner is the absolute best. Everything she sent me was so thoughtful, snazzy/cool, and just plain great. I had so much fun with this swap. I can't wait to do the next one. This is def. my cup of tea as far as the knitting community swaps and KAL's go. Anyway without further ado...

My partner made me the coolest bag. I will have to take another pic so you guys can grasp the full scope of things. Nevertheless, its the coolest bag with little skulls all over it. Definitely my new knitting bag-permanently

Check out these stitch markers! They are body parts and the fingernails on the hands are even painted just like the ITK's victims. Note that the hands are black! love it.

My partner included a custom pouch that had not 1, not 2, not 3, but FOUR skeins of custom dyed merino wool (worsted-my favorite) inside. Do you know what colors those are? Ice Truck Killer colors my friends

Here's a shot of the other cool stuff that was in the package. She made me a custom Dexter flip book that included quotes and stickers from the show. She even sent me the barbie head keychain (in sistah version). Also included were cool stickers, a notebook, mints, earrings, not to mention a really heart felt and lovely necklace. Just a freaking awesome package. Love it love it love it. :-) Hope everyone else has had as great a time doing this swap as me. So much fun! Thank you so much for everything.

Dexter Goodies

Alright, I know the goodies are pouring in! I've gotten my package from my awesome pal, Eva Mae (warning: Ravelry link!). Here are a few pictures of the awesomeness.



A skein of Tempted Handpainted Sock Yarn in "Intrigue", two balls of Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy (it's purple, I know it doesn't look it, but it is a deeeeeep deep purple. It's unbelievably soft and gorgeous), an ice truck, a doll head keychain, a sheep tape measure, and Reese's peanut butter cups. Random interesting bit: I'm amused that she chose the peanut butter cups (I love all things chocolatey) because I remember watching a Forensic Files episode once where peanut butter cups were a clue. Okay, it was the wrapper. Either way. It's super awesome! Thanks!

2 more days!

Till the mail out date for packages! I hope everyone had fun shopping for this, and I can't wait to see pictures!

Also, I'm thinking of running a second round (probably with a sign up date starting in May and ending in June), and well, I just wanted to know if anyone thought it was a good idea. :)

Thanks again for participating in my first ever swap...well, that I've run anyway, and I really hope you guys had a blast! Please let me know if you do not recieve a package by April 10th so I can figure out what happened with your partner, and uhmm...other than that, yay! Happy swapping!

It's that time again!

Time for another reminder that is! We have approximately 10 days (if you don't count today) to start getting our packages together and get them sent out. Remember folks, the deadline for MAILING OUT packages is April 3rd, and that'll be here sooner than you think. ;)