Package #2

I must warn you all today.  You know me.  I love to post pictures of FOs (finished objects). I can't help it.  When I see a project, I love seeing it from every angle.  So today was really difficult because I have several projects to share with you from swap package #2 and I want to share so many pictures with you all!  BUT, I don't want this post to be pages and pages long, so I used discretion.  I still have a lot of pictures! :)

Package two required another element from the swap to include.  To refresh your memory, the items that were required by the time the swap was done included: a yarn kit for 1 element, a teddy bear, play food, a picnic blanket, a tea set and some real goodies.  One element had to be a Susan B. Anderson design.  Any of these items could be knit, sewn or store bought.  And then of course, any extra goodies you'd like to share.

I chose to include a few knit elements this time, which included knit food and Baby Bear from Itty Bitty Toys.  Let's start with the food.  I had so many knit patterns "faved" on Ravelry that all seemed perfect for a picnic.  Alas, I ran out of time.  I did manage to knit some strawberries though!  And they turned out great! The pattern is Knit Strawberries by Pezdiva.  This was the first time I'd ever had to do any kind of real colorwork, other than stripes.  It was fun to learn something new.  These strawberries were SO quick!  I ended up with 6, but wished I had had the time to knit 10.  Ten is a better, rounder number.  :)  I used Knit Picks Shine Worsted in Laurel and NaturallyCaron.com Country in Claret.  Both were just from my stash and took very little yarn.

Next, I made Salad Sandwiches.  Salad Sandwich is designed by Craftbits.   Again, using bits of my stash, I was able to knit two of these puppies!  I used Bernat Alpaca Natural Blends in Wheat for the "bread" and bits of Berroco Vintage, Tahki Cotton Classic Light, and Knit Picks Shine Worsted for the veggies (lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers).  These were so quick!  When it came time to knit the little veggie circles, the pattern was unclear and confusing.  After looking at a few user projects, I came across this post by cygknit that detailed her modifications to the pattern.  This was SO helpful.  The entire pattern could be knit from her post.

And what's a picnic without something to carry it in?  No, I didn't knit a picnic basket, but I did knit a Brown "Paper" Sack!  This pattern is called Brown Bag by Frances Swiecki.  I knit this pattern using Berroco Peruvia Quick in the Dragon colorway.  This yarn felt a bit scratchy to me, a little hard on my hands.  But I thought the color was intriguing and worked well for this pattern. I needed to felt the item and this yarn worked beautifully!  I only had to run it through the wash twice, and the second time was just for good measure, not because it really needed it.  With a little shaping after washing, I let it dry for about 3 days.  Then I attached the flower button using my sewing machine.  Because this is felted, it acts as insulation for food, so this could be used as an honest-to-goodness brown lunch sack to take with you to work.  It will keep your warm food warm and your cold food cold.  I think that's so neat!  And the pattern was nicely written.  I think Knittingrandma's grandmunchkins will get a lot of use out of this when playing! :)

So you see, just with those 3 projects, there was a lot to share.  And no, I'm not finished yet.  Remember?  I said I also wanted to knit Baby Bear.  Well, I did.  This was a knit-heavy swap package.  I really wanted to use Noro for this project.  But by the time I got to this little guy, I had already ordered yarn and forgotten to add any Noro to my cart (and I didn't mention earlier that I ran out of yarn once for the lunch sack and had to order more!!).  And I couldn't justify spending the money on shipping. I will have to knit one for myself out of Noro, I think.  Instead, I found some great self-striping yarn at Hobby Lobby called Omega Sinfonia.  I was hesitant about whether I would like this or not.  I had a specific look in mind and although the yarn looked pretty in the skein, I wasn't so sure it would look as good when knit up.

Luckily, my fears were unfounded.  The yarn striped beautifully! (IMO) Baby Bear seems to have a little spunk and character with these stripes.  I struggled some with the embroidery, but he eventually came out happy. :)  As I mentioned earlier, this is a Susan design from Itty Bitty Toys.  Such a great book!

And I just have to show you his tail. So short and stubby and maybe my favorite part of the entire toy!!

And if you'd like to see him being loved, check out Debby's project page for this swap!

Whew!!  I almost feel like I need to take 2 days to get through this package. :)  Anyway, moving on.  The rest of the package just included some extra goodies.  I felt as though I wasn't providing enough food for the picnic, so I found this little plush cupcake set at Target.  It's got 4 cupcakes, as well as the "stuff" to make them.  How fun is that?!  I heard from Debby that this was well received. :)

And remember yesterday when I said I sent scissors and a tape measure to Debby, but that I had originally had other plans for them?  Well, I sort of took care of that problem.  Betz White (blog) has a couple really cute felt patterns for storing your sewing accessories.  One of her patterns includes a little ladybug cover for your tape measure, and a little leaf pocket for your scissors.  Since this fit in with the theme of a picnic, I sent a sewing kit for these items.  It included the necessary felt, buttons (ladybug spots), and the pattern.  This would make a neat gift for any crafter in your life, and is pretty simple.

As for knitting, I sent some Malabrigo Silky Merino, colorway Arlene's Purples.  This is a lovely skein of yarn.  It'll be fun to see what Debby makes with it. :) I also sent a bag of polypellets (they can be hard to find) and a couple Knit Picks US 3 circular needles in Nickel-Plated and Harmony to replace the needles that broke awhile back.

Overall, this was a craft-intensive swap package.  And because the cupcakes were packaged in such a large box, I couldn't find anything to put it in that wasn't ginormous!  So instead I smooshed everything into the empty spaces of the cupcake packaging, cut apart a diaper box and taped cardboard around it all to keep it together.  Wrapping it up with a brown paper sack and I was set to head to the post office!  So, Debby, I apologize for all the tape and mess from this package!

Stop by tomorrow for the conclusion and final package! :)