Monday 2 January 2017

#stitchingsanta Reveal 2016

This Christmas, I once again took part in the #stitchingsanta swap which Sheila hosts on her Sewchet blog. It's a great swap for crafters as the gifts are to be, mainly, craft related. There's two categories, knitting/crochet and sewing and I opted for the first.

Instead of Sheila allocating swap partners, it's done as a secret swap, so I knew who I was to send a gift to but didn't know who was sending one to me. It turned out that Rosina at Zeens And Roger blog was to send me a gift and I received a lovely parcel of squishiness.

I've never used Paintbox Yarns before so I'm looking forward to trying out this lovely yarn. Rosina has chosen three colours which compliment each other so I'll have to think of a special project for it.


Rosina had also made me some wonderful tree ornaments, a crochet bauble, two sparkly felt Christmas trees and a toadstool, very cute.


Along with the above I received this cute cherry brooch.


Thank you so much, Rosina, I love everything you sent.

The person I was to send a gift to was Kim at The Material Lady blog. I hadn't come across this blog before so it was great fun looking through Kim's past posts to find out more about her and the things she likes and enjoys.

These are most of the gifts I sent.


I saw from Kim's blog that she enjoys knitting socks so I chose a skein of Knitglobal sock yarn and two balls of Drops Fabel for Kim to knit herself a couple of pairs of socks.


Kim isn't just a knitter, she enjoys sewing too, so I thought she might enjoy Mollie Makes magazine which showcases lots of different crafts. There was also a cute dachshund brooch kit with this month's issue.


I popped another kit in Kim's parcel, this time for a knitted purse.


When I saw The Great Christmas Knit Off by Alexandra Brown on the shelf in the bookshop I knew I had to include this in the parcel. Kim's emailed me to let me know that she's read and enjoyed it over the Christmas period and she's offered to send it back to me so that I can read it myself. How lovely is that?


Eleanor bought me one of these row counters for my birthday and they're so handy so I thought I'd include one, as well as a spool of ribbon and some Made With Love charms.


I wrote about the shawl I'd made in my Nurmilintu post but I didn't mention who it was for just in case my #stitchingsanta recipient was reading. I can now reveal that this is who the Nurmilintu shawl was for.


No parcel would be complete without a little chocolate so some Green & Black's Miniatures were also popped in the parcel, and some flavoured tea too, though I forgot to take a photo of that.


Kim sent me a lovely email letting me know how much she liked everything and she also thanked me in her Yucky/Lovely December post too. If you haven't discovered Kim's blog I can recommend you go and take a look.

So that's the #stitchingsanta swap over for another year, it's been great fun again, thank you for organising it, Sheila.

I'm still opening the wonderful gifts I'm receiving in the Twelve Days Of Christmas swap so I'll show you those later in January. I've thoroughly enjoyed taking part in some Christmas swaps again this year.


38 comments:

  1. Lovely gifts Jo - I hope that you and your family had a great Christmas. Sending lots of best wishes for 2017. Hopefully I'll keep up with your news as I have (yet another!) go at blogging. Jx

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    1. I'm afraid our Christmas was rather stressful to say the least this year but things seem to be on the mend now. Thank you, nice to see you blogging again.

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  2. You are a very lucky lady, I am enjoying the 12 Days of Christmas swap, thank you for your hard work in sorting it. HNY xx

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    1. I'm really pleased with the gifts I received. You're welcome, I'm so glad you're enjoying unwrapping your gifts each day. Thank you, happy new year to you too.

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  3. What lovely things you both sent and received. That book is just made for a craft swap isn't it and how kind to offer to send it back to you so you can read it too. Love the brooch and purse kit!
    Lisa x

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    1. I thought the book would be ideal to include with the swap gifts and so kind of Kim to offer to send it back, I'm sure it will be a book I enjoy too. I had a hard time letting the dachshund kit go, isn't it cute?

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  4. What a lovely selection of gifts you put together. And how nice of Kim to offer to return the book for you to read! I'm off to have a look at her blog!

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    1. It's really kind of Kim to think of me, I'm sure I'll enjoy the book too.

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  5. Lovely gifts you received, but what you sent your recipient was amazing. She is one lucky lady receiving that shawl along with everything else. I only sent cards this year as our postage went up once again and it actually costs me less to talk on the phone for an hour to UK, than send a card. Amazing. Enjoy thinkin up something to use the wool on & take care.

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    1. Postage prices are sky high here too, I often use an alternative carrier these days rather than Royal Mail. I'm not sure what I'll use my new yarn on yet, I need to give that some thought.

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  6. That's a great selection of gifts you've given and received, Jo! Great choices all round. :o)

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    1. I'm really pleased with what I received and I know the gifts I sent were received well too so I think we were all happy.

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  7. Lovely parcels received and sent. You are very lucky.

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  8. Great goodies you both chose for your partners.
    The book looks interesting, will have to check it out.
    Hope your dad is improving.

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    1. My dad's a little up and down at the moment which is to be expected after everything he's been through. I'm hoping he continues to improve. Thank you for asking.

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  9. Your stitching santa swap sounds a brilliant idea - I must look out for that one next year. What some brilliant gifts you parcelled up for your partner. I love it that you included a Christmas themed book as well, must look out for that one. xx

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    1. The #stitchingsanta swap is great for anyone in to crafts, it's lovely to receive a parcel full of crafting goodies. I grabbed the book as soon as I saw it, I thought it was perfect to include in the parcel with it being both Christmas and knitting themed.

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  10. Such wonderful gifts both sent and received. Hope your Dad is improving, take care.

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    1. Thank you for asking, I've been in touch with the doctor today, my dad's up and down at present but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll improve in time.

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  11. What a lovely lot of swap items, it looks really fun to do. I was so sorry to read in your last post about your dad being so ill. It's so stressful I know. My lovely Father in Law passed away last May and we have missed him so much this Christmas. In addition, DD's FiL came to Christmas dinner and was throwing up due to a stomach ulcer problem. None of us could eat our own dinners then. How could we when the poor man was suffering. Hope your dad is feeling much stronger now. Happy new year x

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    1. It's such a fun swap to take part in. I think Christmas is a time when we miss those no longer with us the most, especially if they've been a big part of our Christmas in the past. I'm sorry that you had your own troubles on Christmas day, it's been such a bad time for many of us. Thank you, happy new year to you too.

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  12. What a lovely exchange Jo, it's nice to open something crafty put together by someone who understands this obsession of ours :-)
    Hope you feel better and that your dad is on the mend now.
    x

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    1. That's so true. I think someone who's a crafter themselves can get it just right. Thank you, I'm starting to feel a little better and though my dad's still up and down, I'm hopeful that he'll start to improve soon.

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  13. Oh, that shawl - what a treat for your lucky recipient! Love those little heart tags, too - where can I get some?

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    1. I really enjoyed knitting the shawl so I can see one in my own future. I got the Made With Love heart charms from Ebay, I think there's quite a few sellers on there which stock them.

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  14. Sounds like a wonderful swap! Lots of lovely goodies received and sent! All the best for 2017

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    1. It's a lovely swap, it's so nice to receive a parcel full of crafty goodies. Thank you, wishing you and yours all the very best for 2017 too.

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  15. What a lovely swap, I love the colours of the paintbox yarn. Thoroughly enjoying opening my 12 days swap each evening xx

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    1. I like the colours of the Paintbox yarn too, it will make something really pretty. Glad you're enjoying your Twelve Days swap, it's so much fun, isn't it?

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  16. Happy New Year. What an amazing shawl and wonderful swap gifts.

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    1. Thank you. Happy new year to you too. I really enjoyed knitting the shawl, it was nice to include it in my swap parcel.

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  17. What a lot of lovely items you both put together for the swap! It must have been fun making some of the gifts to include in the parcel. Glad to read in the comments that your Dad is a lot better.

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    1. It's a lovely swap made up of both bought and hand made gifts. My dad's much better than he was, thank you.

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  18. What a lovely selection of gifts, thanks for sharing them with us.

    I hope your Dad continues to make good progress ...

    I hope that you are back to 100% too, or at least fairly near!

    All the best Jan

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    1. Thank you, both my dad and I are feeling better now. Thank you for asking.

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  19. How lovely seeing what you received and sent out, I can imagine how enjoyable it was putting it all together, especially after doing a little digging on her blog. Such a fun idea.xxx

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    1. It's a lovely idea. I enjoyed the swap from start to finish.

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