UK Swap parcel goodies plus a project or two

Things have been a bit overwhelming recently, what with blerch weather which makes walking the dogs like a military excercise (waterproof coat..check, baseball cap...oh, never mind, the sun is shining...then it pelts down); losing my anti-inflammatories and spending a couple of anxious days without; a nice box of goodies is the perfect antidote. Of course, Royal Mail in its infinite wisdom thought to hold on to a first class (next working day delivery) package for a whole week so by the time it arrived we'd pronounced it lost and gained a few grey hairs. I mean, stuff gets here quicker from the Hebrides than this package from South Wales, I know which one I'd prefer to drive to!

Still, the joys of postal services aside, by the time it arrived it was a new surprise all over again.
I'm afraid I can't show you the neatly wrapped little packages in their black tissue 'cos a) it was early when it arrived and b) I have no self control at that hour! Anyway, look at all these luscious goodies I've been treated to...




...the squidgy bag is some lurvely soft alpaca roving in two different colours (I so want to find out where you got that from!); peeking out in the left hand corner is a bag of luscious Summer berries coated in white chocolate..never tried them before but they're yummy! Then there's some stripey sock yarn that may get an outing sooner than expected as there's a pattern in sock madness that calls for stripes and 3 balls of Twilleys Freedom Spirit in a somewhat familiar colourway but more of that later..

....Then there's 2 balls of a yummy Alpaca yarn that from the instant it came out of the wrapping screamed to be those sort of fingerless gloves with just the tips of the fingers missing...perfect for the 1 hour wait in the cold for the RSPCA clinic so I can knit and not have icy fingers. My conundrum is whether they get run thru the dyepot first, decisions decisions!

...Isn't this mug sweet? there was a nice sheepy card too but it escaped the photo shoot somehow. Perfect for the days when only a fruit tea will do.

And finally, not one but TWO issues of Spin Off magazine which I always lust after but refuse to pay Borders inflated prices (and the petrol to get there) so normally just have to want. I can't wait to have a good in depth read and put in some heavy duty spinning time.

Thank you so much, Luci for all your thoughtful gifts, I hope you've had fun stuff too and enjoyed the whole experience, last-minute blip notwithstanding.

In other news, I finally finished the Twilleys Freedom Spirit Jacket...

...All that is left is a suitable button choice (hopefully solved swinging by Abakhans this afternoon) and it will be well and truly completed. My collywobbles about the fit seem unfounded and despite the extra grey hairs it's construction has produced, I am pleased with the final outcome. Being wraparound it will also be flexible in relation to any weight gain/loss issues so unless it falls to bits, it should be a keeper for a while. I'm smiling 'cos the dogs are snuffling on the other side of the door!

The bittersweet part is that I had to buy another ball of yarn in order to complete the collar and sew it up a day before the parcel appeared! However, there's plenty of yarn for a pair of gloves and hat so that might end up in the autumn to do list. Using 3 different dyelots in a garment is not recommended but the colour difference is probably not so noticeable to an outsider. I was terribly twitchy on Saturday though as hub and bro had hijacked the laptop hence no lace knitting and I needed to knit something NOW!

I have also begun reviewing the UFO pile..it's a long way off yet but I have begun with a frogging...

...Remember the Spring Surprise Shawl? (scroll down for the tale). It never got any further and on viewing the completed shawls, I felt that maybe it wasn't my thing after all. I loved the individual motifs and would like to take some time to rearrange them into something a bit different one day but not now. So, it has returned to the stash and there's one less monkey on my back (rather too many right now).

I have picked up the Secret of the Stole again, Posh yarns cobweb weight deserves respect and I will complete this one but it's a bit like pulling teeth. It appears the ennui is reserved for lace knitting and as there's a Mystic Light clue waiting in the wings, I need to get past it. I reserved 3 of those yummy berry chocs to get me thru a few rows but then blogging took forever so they needed replacing, so there's 4 more to incentivize me!

This week I would like to pull out all my UFO's to catalogue them and sort thru my yarn supplies ready for ebay listing but then again with Sock Madness round 2 starting on Tuesday, who knows what time I'll have left for other stuff?

Gotta leave you with a pic. of the poochies, patch of sunlight and they're dead to the world!