Knitting Gifts!

I have been blessed with a cousin who has also become a best friend over the past several years, as we shared an obsession with rubber stamping at first, and now with knitting. She lives just a block or so from me, and we get together frequently over coffee to discuss our hobby and families, jobs and life. She is a great friend, and one of the highlights of my holiday is always our gift exchange, because I know that she will gift me with things that my family doesn't - when I was stamping it was stamping goodies, and now that we are both knitting, we exchange knitting gifts. This year was no different! Look at the fabulous stitch markers she made! She says she made these from things in her stamping stash. She is just about the most creative person I
know! Aren't they adorable?














I also received this wonderful Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn in the Indian Summer colorway. (Click the photos to enlarge it . The color is amazing.) She and her husband had gone to Duluth on an anniversary trip and she told me that he actually picked this out for me and it is his contribution to my gift this year. Isn't that sweet? Her husband is such a thoughtful man, I continue to be astounded. Can you believe he will go to her place of work and move her car up by her building in the evening so she doesn't have to clear all the snow and walk in the cold? This was his own idea, and he just started doing it one day unannounced. Unbelievable! Anyway, the color is wonderful, and I'll be anxious to knit it up.














She also put together (in the white box) an Angel Kit for me. The angel is an ornament made of mohair and roving and oddments. She made the head (multi-talented) out of polymer clay and included everything I need, including the pattern, to make myself an ornament. Our local fiber guild had made these ornaments and although I had wanted to participate, I didn't make it, and so it was such a fun thing to find this in my gift from her this year. In this picture you also see the sock blockers from Fiber Trends. I don't have sock blockers yet, and really had been wanting a pair in the worst way, so this was also a delight to find in my gift assortment.














And there was more! Some mohair in black, the Fiber Trends Hedgehog pattern, a knitting journal to keep track of my projects with photos and yarn labels, and details. And if all of this was not enough, it was all in a beautiful sage green collapsible knitting tote that has a plum lining and wooden handles. The tote is the perfect colors for my living room, and I love it. I will use and enjoy everything, and was so excited to receive it.