The Kindness of Knitters

::It was such a lovely surprise when Lisette my online knitting buddy wrote to tell me she had put a surprise package in the post for me::

::When it arrived I was delighted to find a lovely ball of Louisa Harding Kimono Angora Pure from Lisette's stash in the wonderful teal colour that is her favourite.  Lisette suggested I might like to try one of Louisa's scarf designs the Juliet scarf::

::But that was not all - also in the package was a knitting kit for a cupcake pin cushion by Spud & Chloë, a "knitted" china mug with some Downton Abey "downton estate blend", a classic earl grey black tea with vanilla, from The Republic of Tea which has now become my favourite blend of all time::

Box of delights

::It was absolutely the most considerate and exciting package that a knitter could open and I would like to say a big thank you to Lisette for her kindness::

Progressing well so far

::I have also been trying my hand at sewing again lately and have these projects on the go::

• A table top quilt
• A lap quilt
• A trial scoop neck top 

::The little table top quilt was something I started many years ago using the paper pieced method and hand stitching::I finished it and then used my sewing machine on the edging and backing and also for the simple quilting::The other quilt was made from a bundle of Liberty Print fabrics I bought many years ago at the Knitting & Stitching show for about £12 and I used a free Amy Butler pattern too which makes it a very economical project::

Amy Butler's "Brick" quilt

The reverse view

Hand pieced and machine quilted table top quilt

The back

The practice top which I hope to make just as soon
as I find the perfect material

::I have also been spinning and have made up some Fondant Fibre "Penny Sweets" colour way fibre with co-ordinating colour for heel and cuffs for some socks::

"Energized Singles" part of The Knitgirllls Expand Your Horizons Spin along
in Fondant Fibres MCN blend

::The strangest knitting project I did this month was a teeny tiny bobble hat which my daughter asked me to make as part of a picture she was making to give to a friend on his birthday::

This has to be the smallest item I have ever knitted
it probably measures 2.5cm (1/2") at the most

::A long catch up and now I am off for a cup of the delicious Downton Abbey tea and some more sewing and knitting::

Christmas Swap

::Sara of SarasTextureCrafts organized a Christmas swap::You had to spin 100g of yarn and pass it on to the next name on a list of participants::

::I choose some lovely Fondant Fibre in BFL Merino and Silk as Sara lives near Dartmoor - a place I love::I also made a felted collar for her dog Patch and some travel slippers from some more of my handspun for her partner Darrin::

::I really enjoyed working on this project and putting together a package I hoped my swap partner would enjoy::Now we will be having a knit-along in December with the yarn we received::I received a very special skein of handspun from Sara and I am planning to use a Louisa Harding pattern to make a bag with this beautiful wool::