Springing into Summer

A couple of months ago, I signed up to a swap on Ravelry in the UK Swap group. Moving house and events sort of got in the way of things, so the posting deadline of next Wednesday really crept up on me unawares! Unlike previous swaps I have done, this one was organised in such a way that we were paired up, and each sent a parcel to the person we were receiving from. So we knew right from the start who was putting our parcel together, and were able to chat fairly openly about it with each other to get an idea of what to put in the box.

I posted my parcel off to my partner today, and also picked up my parcel from her from the sorting office, as it had been posted early and arrived on Wednesday.

My swap partner was Sotoyoshi, and it was her first ever swap. She sent me a wonderful parcel!

The requirements for the swap were yarn, a pattern, a food item, something to pamper or play with and a local item. My local item is the purple table runner, which is Japanese (my swap partner's husband is Japanese, and she lived there for a time herself).

The yarn is gorgeous! It's The Natural Dye Studio Sheherazade in the colourway Wisteria. It's a silk/camel blend, which is beautifully soft. I love the colour; it's the perfect shade for the pattern I was sent on Ravelry, the Cwtch Shawl.

I haven't tried out the bath in our new house yet, so I might treat myself to a relaxing soak over the Jubilee weekend using one of these bath foams.

I was intrigued as to what was inside this pretty little notebook, and pleasantly surprised to discover it contains a reference guide for knitters.

Each card details a different technique or stitch, and will come in really handy as it's small enough to slip inside my knitting bag and carry with me.

I also received this beautiful tatted mat, which will look great on the round antique coffee table I have.

What a great parcel for a first time swapper! I hope she likes what I've sent her as much as I like what I have received.