A Little Behind

Somehow I got behind.  I'm sure I had time during the day to post, but it just didn't happen.  Which leaves me with a lot of stuff to share from the Advent swap.  Instead of a post a day about what I sent and received, I'm going to share it all at once.  Today I'll share what I received and over the next couple days I'll share what I sent (which may take a few posts since I knit several things...).

I left you with Day 8 last time, so we start here with December 9.  Smarties and Kinder chocolate.  Not the Smarties like what you find in the US - oh no! :)  Much like M&Ms, but just a little different.  They're very yummy and I've only had them twice.  These didn't last too very long in our house!

December 10: A Wiggles Christmas CD which is great for traveling.  Squishy loves listening to music and although he doesn't know anything about the Wiggles, he'll still enjoy the songs.

December 11: Christmas buttons!  Stockings and teddy bears.  These remind me of the buttons on a dress I wore as a little girl.  I will smile every time I see them!!

December 12: A set of felt Christmas tree ornaments - a Santa, a star, a penguin and a reindeer.  Mandie told me she found these at a country market, made by an older woman.  They are beautifully handmade and fit my tree perfectly!

December 13: My day for notions!  Duck stitch markers, marking pins and a retractable tape measure.  These are terrific - I always love having more notions!

December 14: Two little bags made with Christmas fabric - fun and festive, one can never have too many!

December 15: 2 skeins of Rowan Handknit Cotton in two shades of pink.  I've got some of this in my stash in a pretty blue - I think combining them all together will be very pretty.

December 16: A barrel of monkeys for Squishy!  'Nuff said!

December 17: A plush toy for each of the kids.  Squishy received a holiday puppy and Lovebug got an Eeyore toy. :)

December 18: Baby's First Christmas bib for Lovebug and a holiday elf hat for Squishy.

December 19: A della-Q "The Que-i" needle case.  I put my DyakCraft interchangeable needles in right away!

December 20: Christmas tree kitchen towels - these are pretty and practical.

December 21: An Aussie Christmas coloring book and book of sparkly Christmas stickers for Squishy. :)

December 22: The Santa Baby Ornament - one of the required swap knits.  Squishy immediately found the perfect place and hung it on our tree. :)

December 23: The cutest little reindeer snow globe.  Squishy played with this all day long.  Unfortunately, it got dropped and the globe broke.  The inside was not damaged, though, so we've save it and put it on a higher shelf where we can still admire it and remember where it came from. :)

December 24: Two pretty red stockings to decorate for the holiday season!

And the grande finale....December 25!  Mandie sent me two skeins of Knit Picks Imagination in Mermaid Lagoon along with the pattern Cedar Leaf Shawlette.  This is a lovely pattern and will be beautiful in this yarn!

Mandie - you made this swap so much fun!  You included something for everyone and Squishy loved helping me open the gift each day.

Day 7 & 8

This is going to be short and sweet...I am behind on posting for the swap and want to get it done before Little Man's bedtime and before Lovebug gets hungry again...  So here goes!

Dec. 7: Nina received a set of Christmas window clings.  She mentioned she has some glass at her place of work and so she was going to take them in to decorate a bit.  I'm really pleased that they'll be getting use!  They looked so fun!

I received a reindeer dishcloth on the 7th. :)  The yarn is the softest red yarn and the cloth is beautiful. (A knitted dish/washcloth was a swap requirement.)  These dishcloths I've received are so pretty it makes you not want to use them...but I love me some knitted dishcloth so they went straight into our kitchen linen drawer. :)

Dec. 8: Another requirement was "something with snowflakes."  I found a fun little metal pail with a snowflake cut-out.  I think it's fun to have little containers like this.  Nina mentioned that her daughter has just gotten some new markers and they were trying to decide how to store them and then she received this.  So perfect!

On Dec. 8 we received 2 new ornaments.  A reindeer and a polar bear.  They are soft and loveable and they talk and sing to you. :)  Squishy really enjoys playing the music (when you push their belly).  They're great because they're kid friendly - it doesn't matter one bit if he takes them off the tree and tosses them around a little bit (as he's prone to do...)

Thanks, Mandie!

Days 5 & 6

I decided it was probably silly to have a separate post for each day, they're small enough I can combine them. On with the show!

Day 5 brought "something yummy" to the holiday cheer.  I love looking through the Christmas candies (Easter is fun too).  They always have such neat and different things that you can't get the rest of the year. I debated between a lot of things but finally settled on a hot chocolate cone, filled strawberry candies, a peppermint Christmas tree, a chocolate reindeer ornament, and some flavored hot chocolate packets.

Our day 5 brought us the Tiny Elf.  He's so cute!  He's still waiting for his smile...I've been meaning to do so but trying to stay caught up with some other stuff has me forgetting that it needs to be done.  I was planning on keeping him for myself and maybe situating him in the tree to guard the pretties and the presents, but Squishy has already found him in my knitting bag once and inquired as to whose it was.  I fear that even if this little guy WAS taking up residence in our tree, he wouldn't stay there for long!

On day 6, I sent a little gift for Nina's daughter.  A cute little cup that you can shake and watch sparkles & snowflakes fall (sort of like a snow globe).  She may not be ready for using the cup yet - I'm not sure if she's using open cups or still using a sippy cup, but this will remain fun for the future.  Otherwise, it's hers to play with!

My day 6 brought the pattern, Jingles by Debi Birkin.  I've been eying this pattern for awhile and I've even considered purchasing it in time for the holiday season.  I'm glad I held off for just a little while!  I can't wait to knit him - he's just so darn cute!

Day 4

Day 4 gave Nina her "something red" to open. I found a neat peppermint pot holder and snowman pot holder & dish towel.  :)

Day 4 on our end included a set of Holiday Greeting Cards.  I haven't opened the package yet but I've seen Christmas stockings and Christmas trees...I look forward to finding out if there are more designs!

Day 3

Marching forward in the Advent Swap, we have arrived at Day 3.

I hope Nina's little girl enjoys this one as much as she did her mom's knitting.  Another requirement is the Santa Baby Ornament by Susan B. Anderson.  Nina's daughter had adorned Ken Doll's head with the one her mom made - perhaps he'll have a new hat soon?

Knit with NaturallyCaron.com Country in Claret and Cascade 220 in White, this little hat ornament was finished in a matter of a couple hours (not even!).

For Day 3 in our house, Mandie sent the book "Happy Christmas, Spot!"  A wonderful flip book that Squishy is enjoying. In fact, it went to nap with him the day it was opened!

Great pick Mandie!

Day 2

I'm playing a bit of catch-up since my package was a few days delayed in arriving. So I'll be adding a couple posts a day until I've caught up.

So Day 2 you ask?

Another requirement for the swap was an ornament of some kind.  Nina received a little painted Santa jingle bell.  There were a couple different designs and I thought they were all neat - with a rustic look which I think looks phenomenal on a Christmas tree. :)

And for me?  Well, Mandie is already showing us how much we'll be spoiled.  I got an Australia magnet (oh yeah, did I mention that Mandie's from Down Under?), an Australia keychain and a package of pink baby mittens for Lovebug.

Thank you, thank you, Mandie! :)

Advent Swap 2011

Yep, that's right, I'm joining in another swap.  Some might think that's crazy after just having a baby, but I couldn't resist.  (And can you believe that Lovebug is now 1 month old?!  I am having a hard time coming to terms with that!!)

So the point of this swap was so send a package to your partner to arrive at the beginning of December.  Packages are to be numbered and one package opened at a time, one for each day leading up to Christmas Day, with one big package for Christmas Day.  So I figure I'll combine posts and I will share what I sent my swap partner and what my partner sent me. (No, it's not the same person.)

The package I put together went to Nina (Maegwin on Ravelry).  For Day 1, I sent her a handmade Advent Calendar.  I'm pretty proud of this one.  I put a lot of time into replicating the Advent Calendar that my grandmother made for our family.  I chose to put a different backing on it and to do the pockets differently, but I think it turned out beautifully! :)

The tree & ornaments are felt pieces.  The ornaments are put on the tree one day at a time (24 ornaments) leading up to Christmas.  The pieces are held on by velcro.  Grandma's version had sew-on snaps but I knew sewing on 24 pairs of snaps would drive me crazy.

Most of the details on the ornaments are made with fabric paint - wonderful stuff!!

With a holiday fabric creating the back of the calendar and the pockets to hold the ornaments, I can't wait to finish my own. :)

And what did I receive on Day 1?  Well, my package came all the way from Australia.  Mandie (MisMoo on Ravelry) has done a spectacular job identifying things we'd all love.

Here are all the goodies wrapped and waiting to be opened.

And the card that accompanied it all.  (The pooches are knit - which is awesome!)

So Day 1...the Christmas Mouse!  I loved knitting mine (knitting this mouse was one of the requirements) and knew Squishy would hate parting with it.

So it was no surprise when he snatched up this one and claimed it as his.  As much as I'd love to set him on the shelf with my other knit friends, watching Squishy enjoy him and play with the mouse is just a great!

Come back soon for Day 2!