Revitalized and Blog Hub Swap, Day 1

This weekend, I participated in the Craft Yarn Council Certified Instructor’s Program in Knitting.  This 3-day, 15 hour workshop was led by the fabulous Arnetta Kenney (who was also the instructor in 2007 when I went through the certification training for crochet).  She is a wonderful teacher, who is very generous with her feedback and with sharing tips.

I also had the chance to meet about 20 other knitters, including one reads this blog.  Awesomeness!  And, of course, I had 15 hours where I could knit without offending anyone or implying that I wasn’t paying attention.  All of this got me a bit more excited about knitting – you know I’m much more of a crochet gal.

I mentioned that I decided to pull out my version of A Hat Fit for a Fella by Shana Kreikemeier.  The needles I was using were giving me too much trouble.  Now I am breezing along with these Chiaogoo Red Lace needles instead.

I haven’t been doing much reading for pleasure lately.  You may remember that several weeks back I was reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  I really enjoyed it but now there is an enormous waiting list to take the second book out from the library.  I’ve tried to pick up other books since then, but I haven’t been hooked.  Do I need to just buy the book already?  (As much as I love my Kindle Fire, the idea of spending $10 on a book that I can’t later resell or give away doesn’t really appeal to me.  I guess in the end, I do prefer “real” books.)

To add some further excitement to my week, when I arrived home last night, this was waiting for me!

A mystery box this large could only mean one thing – my Blog Hub Swap has arrived!  I mentioned in these posts that I’m participating in a swap with other bloggers through the Blog Hub on Ravelry.  Each of us had to assemble seven items (one a day for a week) for another blogger.  My swap partner was Stitched Together, and she blogged about the goodies I sent her a few weeks back (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, and Day 7).  It was great fun watching her open up her goodies, but I knew it would be even more fun to get my box .

Ok, so once this box arrived, I checked it for clues.

Obviously, I would need to open the package to find out the details.

My swap partner is Heather (also known as nude-ewe on Ravelry) from The Nude Ewe in Bedfordshire, England.  She is actually Canadian (from Ottawa) but was born right here in Manhattan at (the now closed) St. Vincent’s Hospital, where her mom worked as a nurse!  You can check out her Nude Ewe blog here.

Heather included a wonderful welcome note, explaining a bit more about her current home town and apologizing for “the inevitable cat hair.”  Little does she know that I never apologize for those inevitable cat hairs .

Heather explained that the fleece is from a Jacob sheep, an ancient breed that she thinks is one of the most attractive breeds.  Apparently, this is easy to spin and recommended for beginners like me.  This sheep is also from Charlecote Park, where young William Shakespeare poached rabbits and was brought before the magistrates.

I am so excited to have this fleece and the drop spindle – as Heather noted “in a NYC apartment, I’m guessing you’re short of space so a spindle should fit in nicely!”  I really like knowing where the fleece is from and learning about the history of Charlecote Park.  I confess it has me a bit nervous because I’d like to spin it into something fabulous that I can actually use.  (Can you imagine me responding to the famous, “Did you make that?” question with a story about Jacob sheep; Carlecote Park; and my swap partner who was born in New York City, raised in Ottawa, and now lives in the U.K.??)  I doubt that my first spinning explorations will be that fantabulous, but I will give it a shot anyway.  If you have any suggestions for a book on learning to use a drop spindle, let me know!

I’m looking forward to the next 6 days of mystery.

For more Works in Progress, visit Tami’s Amis.  For more Yarn Along posts, visit Small Things.

Tags: a hat fit for a fella, bedfordshire, blog hub, blog hub swap, cables, certified knitting instructors program, charlecote park, chiaogoo red lace, craft yarn council, cyc, drop spindle, england, hat, holiday crafting, jacob sheep, knitter's pride dreamz, knitting, needyl, nude-ewe, ravelry, shana kreikemeier, small things, spinning, spinning yarn, st. vincent's hospital, stitched together, tami's amis, the nude ewe, william shakespeare, wip wednesday, wips, wipw, yarn along