I don't know what to say!

I'm the luckiest person ever! YowlYY send me so many wonderful things, I can't believe it's true!

Want to see some close-ups and find out more? You can can do so here!

Thank you Emily!

You can see Emily sent me all kinds of great goodies...bath salts, chocolate, a little tape measure, beautiful fall papers, ginger tea, gorgeous yarn that I can't wait to use (the colors are amazing), oh and a recipe for shepard's pie which I've been looking for a quite a while. There were so many wonderful treats. Emily was a great swap pal and I look forward to getting to know her better.

Making stuff with my swap yarn :)

~ I got my package too ~

Please forgive me for not posting this sooner. 1 ~ I didn't have a camera to show my lovely package, 2 ~ I was sick and it was my wedding anniversary weekend when I got it, and 3 ~ hubby got sick after me. I did leave a commit for my spoiler and post my rating on swap-bot. ;D

Here is the lovely before I unwound the ball of Banana Silk yarn:
Here is the after pic of all my goodies that were in the ball:

Thank you very much Bridget ~ I truly enjoyed my package and this swap.

I am so lucky!

I came home today to find my swap package patiently waiting for me. Lucky me, my partner was Jill from Bottle and Ball, and she really spoiled me with such special, lovely things.

I don't think I can list everything, but there was: pomegranate green tea, four skeins of gorgeous yarn, homemade plushies, cookies and a recipe booklet, fabric, trim, vintage handmade magnets, mushroom fluff, puffed millet balls, lip balm, candy, butternut soup, mulling spice, edible glitter, buttons, pompoms, cutie notepads, and it just went on and on...



Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and generosity, Jill!
I love everything you sent.

xo
kittee

I got my package!

My pal was Cass! One of my own veganknitblogfriends and one of our lovely hostesses. You can read all the details at my blog, but here is the gist:


(click to embiggen)

I know I'm going to miss something but here is my best attempt to list everything inside:

• A variety of yummy looking teas
  
• Mulling spices (I am so making the Hot Spiced Wine recipe this weekend!)
  
• A chocolate chocolate chip cookie from the Alternative Baking Company that I totally ruined my appetite with but I don't care it was di-vine
  
• More chocolate! Rainforest Cacao Chocolate with Brazil nuts and coffee, I am intrigued and can't wait to try it
  
• A Larabar and a Clif Nectar bar that I will stash in my desk at work for when I get the munchies
  
• French vanilla incense matches (I actually got some of these in Old Sacramento when I was in high school and it brought back all kinds of memories)
  
• An awesome recycled notebook that Cass made herself
  
• A tall mug that probably holds 12 ounces, I looove oversized mugs and hoard them
  
• A charming postcard with Beelzebub himself on it
  
• A brand of lip balm I'd never come across before (Dr. Bronner's & Sun Dogs Magic organic lip balm) in the flavor Ginger Orange. Totally useful because I get dry skin/lips in the winter and always lose my chapstick.

OH AND YARN

• Olive green cotton/lycra sock yarn from Greenwood Fiberworks
  
• Sheep of a Different Color cotton yarn in the handdyed colorway Chocolate Caramel

I love everything! I had a blast with this swap. Thank you SO much to Cass for being my upstream pal AND for coordinating this whole thing, and Ellie, too!

To JanKnit from Janice!!

My package arrived today!!!! My wonderful box of vegan goodies came clear across the country from Janice in New York!

When I arrived home to find the package waiting, I plopped myself right down in the kitchen floor to start unwrapping and unwinding! (I'm such a kid when it comes to getting things in the mail!) Here's what the magic yarn balls looked like when I liberated them from their box....

Janice was very generous. She included Bernat Bamboo Blend in Wicker, Lion Brand Organic Cotton in Pecan, and Sugar and Cream in Hot Purple. The chocolate bars are my new favorites! There were also several kinds of buttons, beautiful glass beads, autumn stickers and ribbons, a bunch of fun party favors and a great recipe for Pumpkin Muffins! Yumm! Thank you, Janice!!!

Thank you, Cass and Ellie for setting up this swap. It was fun, and was a great way to learn more about Veganism. I know it's heightened my awareness of what I consume. Thanks!!

My package arrived! Thank you Ninni!

My package from Ninni in Finland arrived yesterday. She was so sweet and sent it express post so I didn't have to wait too long for it. What a doll!

Here is my package before I unraveled the ball. Looked pretty great already with a whole box of chocolates and two more bars of Panda dark chocolate peeping out of the ball!

Contained were two pillow cases with a rad print, a card (Emily, help me out with what that is. I know you have a framed picture in your house) with some artwork I recognise and like very much, a recipe for Alexander Pastries, two skeins of 100% cotton yarn, one red and one black (might be the perfect entry to my first sock. Am I jinxing myself? My first PAIR of socks) and a delicious box of Wiener *giggle* Nougat. They are so delicious and soft. They look like milk chocolate, but they are actually still 100% vegan!

Here's the ball at various stages of unraveling.

Once I got through the ball I found myself with gold butterfly hair clips (I LOVE hair clips!), some little ghosts (Ninni sent me a message a few weeks ago warning me that Halloween wasn't really anything in Finland and I told her I was use to that, being from Australia) some more candies called "Marianne" and finally in the middle was some gorgeous vintage buttons from her Grandmother's stash! I absolutely love them!

The ball was so fun to unwind and I love surprises so this was a great swap for me!

Thank you Debbie!

Such an awesome package! Orange hemp yarn with a pattern for a spa and bath trio, a super cool owl, warm beverage cozy (such perfect cables!), fair trade organic coffee (smells sooooo good!), recipe for risotto, fruit leathers, lip balm, the much needed chibi (which I used this weekend at Maker Faire), and of course the gorgeously colored hand painted Tahki mercerized cotton magic yarn ball which was full of the cutest fall themed buttons and some delicious candy. Thank you Debbie!

Thank You Robyn!!!

When my hubby got home from work today, he had my Vegan package in tow. Robyn was my spoiler and she did such a fabulous job! I had so much fun discovering all the goodies in my magic yarn ball (and laughing about the "Ellie Pooh Paper"). Seriously guys...you should have seen the look on the hubby's face when he realized what the paper had been made from. ROTFL!!!

Here's a before pic of the yarn ball:



And here's a full view after the unwrapping:



Let's see, there's more "Ellie Pooh Paper" in the form of a notebook (check out the elephant butts...how funny!), a beautiful orrifice threader made by the lovely Robyn, the coolest DPN needle protecters ever, some Vanilla Sugar incense, body scrub, lip gloss, a pumice brush, a mesh scrubbie, recipe cards, tons of knitting buttons, an AntiCraft sticker, a vegan Pumpkin Spice cookie, a vegan recipe mini-mag, a tin of organic breakfast tea, and two balls of Patagonia Nature Cotton. Wow...I'm in awe! Thanks so much for putting together such a lovely and entertaining box, Robyn!

Note to hostesses: I promise to try to remember to update SwapBot first thing tomorrow! LOL Sic Cass on me if I forget. ;-)

Mine has arrived!

Thanks to Christel, my secret vegan pal, my parcel arrived today. Don't you just love receiving fun stuff in the mail?!

Here are the goodies as they came out of the box. A crocheted scarf (which I think is made from Lion Brand Homespun - nice and soft), a magic ball made from brown cotton yarn, a recipe for fruit salad with ginger-lime sauce, a jar of pumpkin butter, a packet of dried shiitake mushrooms, a sachet of Indonesian spices, Hawaiian coconut pudding.



Here is the treasure from inside the yarn ball which was actually three balls of yarn. Two teabags, two Bug Bites chocolates (quickly consumed), a magnet which I believe was made by Christel herself, two buttons (one says I love animals, and the other says Kiss me, I'm Vegan!), hemp lip balm (very useful for dry Okanagan winters), a pen, a wooden leaf pendant and an acorn cookie cutter (which is almost invisible on my carpet).

Thanks Christel, you made my day!

Yay, my package came today!

Thank you to Cheryl, the Knitting Knut!!! See my blog for details about my wonderful package!

Package Recieved!

I got a great package from Amber yesterday! Thank you! There is so much beautiful yarn. You can click on the picture to go read the notes.



She sent some mixed nuts, carob (sadly, real chocolate makes me pretty sick, but I have always liked carob too! I know, i'm weird.) and dates in the tin and I packed some of the almonds and carob chips in my bento for lunch today.

my package came, thanks Dawn!

Before unwinding:


After unwinding:


I got my Vegan Pal package from the wonderful Dawn yesterday. She's spoiled me with this wonderful assortment of gifts! Click on the picture for the descriptions of what everything is. Too bad there's no scratch and sniff internet, though, because those candles smell amazing!

Thanks, Dawn.

P.S. Not pictured is the recipe for a great-sounding potato soup.

Vegan Pal package arrived!

• 2 skeins of pumpkin hemp
• organic peppermint tea
• Lavendar soap
• pretty red glass buttons
• Peppermint lip balm
• T blocking pins
• chili seeds in art paper
• a nice handmade card
• recipe for a Thai sweet potato soup
• And some really tasty lemon cookies from Smart Treats that are all gone already

Caryn lives in Philadelphia and has just had a blog for a little while. She has some very nice knitting photos on her Flickr account, and a sweet cat. She tried to get me as many items that were made locally in Philadelphia as possible like the spa, buttons, seeds, and card. I am very happy with my package, and I hope Caryn enjoyed learning about vegan yarns.

Thanks Michele!

I got my amazing swap package yesterday from Michele, aka ekittie. More on my blog. I am so happy and can't wait to try out the recipes, the tape measurer, the yarn...the chocolate has been tried already! I really appreciate your hard work!

Ode to an Orange Buttercat.

My Vegan Pal 2 Swap package arrived! Thanks to one terribly generous and thoughtful Orange Buttercat. Check it out!

There's some beautiful soft Cotton from Blue Sky Alpacas (I've been dying to try this for so long!) - two skein's worth!

One of which was wound into a magic yarn ball. I couldn't resist unravelling it to see what goodies it held - a row counter, cute pin cushion (both green - this girl really pays attention!), a cat magnet (that just so happens to look a lot like our Roger), some 'soak' liquid detergent and a sewing kit, all tied up with a cute autmnal ribbon. As if that wasn't enough there's also a book (Margaret Atwood, who I've just started reading!):

And some absolutely divine pumpkin hand cream and a gorgeously scented soap. Love it!

And snacks! Fruit crisps - pineapple, strawberry and banana flavoured. As you can see from the first picture above these didn't last very long! Also included was a recipe for vegetable soup (which is perfect for me as despite the hot and humid temperatures I can't seem to get enough of soups at the moment - pumpkin, mushroom, lentil, you name it - whatever we have on hand soon finds its way into a soup of some description). And, to top it all off a very cute wee card with a note from the Buttercat herself.

Thanks so much Buttercat! You've made my week!

Got my package!!

Thank you Simone!!! I got the most awesome swap package in the mail last night. Three skeins of gorgeous fall-colored cotton yarn that is SO soft, a package of stitch markers, some tattoo fabric, a pair of cute earrings, passion fruit lip gloss, two CDs, an awesome lemon tart recipe, a vintage postcard and yummy chocolate (which is already half gone, me and my boyfriend took care of it immediately). Also a great handwritten note.



Close up of the great yarn and awesome fabric. Thank you for such a special swap package, I love it all!

Today is the day!

All swap packages should be in the mail. By tomorrow I should be able to log in to swap bot and see that you've all changed your status to "sent." If you're having problems meeting the deadline, please let both your pal and your hostesses know!

Thank you Michelle!!

I received an amazing box from Michelle Thank you so much for your kind generosity.....I have posted on my blog This has been a lot of fun....my Pal's box is ready to go in the morning....

Exploring Veg some more...

OK, this swap is almost over and I feel like I need to dig some more... So, though I am not sure where this is going to take me, I have decided to step up my exploration about "Veg".

I explain it all in my blog! :-)

Anyone intested in taking the 30 days plunge with me?
Also, help from Veterans "Veg" would be deeply appreciated... :-D

Thanks!

Isabelle aka Tricotine

4 More Days!

That's right! Just four more days to get your packages together and in the mail. Please contact your pal and your hostesses if you think you're going to be late! And remember to log back in to swap-bot and click that you've sent your package so you don't get nagging emails from me ;)

Thanks to everyone who has been sharing their package photos! You guys are great! Such lovely and thoughtful presents. Giftees please remember to log in to swap-bot and lavish praise on your spoiler in the ratings.

German Vegan Goodness

Just a quick shot of the awesome vegan goodness Nicole sent my way. Please pop over to my blog for details on this awesome package!

Thanks Ellie and Cass, for allowing the non-vegans to participate. I think my pals have taught me tons - can you put in a good word for Nicole on her final exams?? - and I've thoroughly enjoyed getting to know my new friends. Now, to try out these new recipes...

I got my Package

Here are all the goodies that my pal Kathy Marie sent me. I just loved doing this swap. I learned a lot about the vegan life style. Kathy put in more than she needed to with this package. So thank you very much Kathy!

Winding down

There's only one week left to get your package in the mail! (Items should be postmarked by October 15th.) Remember to leave extra time if you're shipping internationally.

Other things to remember:

Once you've sent your package, log in to swap-bot and click "I sent my items" so I know how we're doing. I see that some of you have already done this, and I thank you thank you thank you!!!

Once you've received your package be sure to log in to swap-bot and rank your pal and hostesses.

If you're having problems please contact Cass or me ASAP so we can make arrangements! I still have two or three people who haven't replied to any of my or Cass's nagging emails, but I have two volunteer angels waiting in the wings. If anyone else would like to volunteer to be an angel, please let me or Cass know.

And thank you all for a super fun swap! Rest assured Cass and I have plans for a Vegan Pal 3 in the works.

xoxo
Ellie

My package has arrived!

I got my package from Kala! :-)

Thank you so very much, Kala! I love everything! :-)

Details in my blog...

This swap is an interesting journey to Veganism. I haven't got converted, but I have learned a few things. :-)

All the way from Malaysia

I got my package from pen&purl!

She sent some Katia bamboo in a pretty blue. I've been wanting to try bamboo yarn! I also got some tea, some guava which were good--very different, had the texture of dried pears but were kind of sweet/salty/spicy--some postcards and a coconut cake candy (which I ate right away), some stickers, a bookmark and a wee little card that she made! The recipe she sent was for the best vegan brownies ever, and I have all but one ingredient at home. I haven't unwrapped the yarn ball yet, but I did pick some buttons and coins (another thing I collect) out of it! Thanks so much!

And the winner is...

First off I want to thank all of you who filled out the Google doc and who have contacted your pal. We're coming in to the last two weeks - remember your package should be in the mail by October 15th (earlier if you're shipping internationally) to arrive on your pal's doorstep no later than October 31st. Also, after you've sent your package, check back in at swap bot and click that you've sent your package.

And now for the no fun part: I have to admit I'm disappointed at the number of you who haven't contacted your pal or filled in the Google doc or replied to my nagging. Unfortunately you're probably not reading this either. I'm hoping it's because this is getting lost in a spam filter, but that doesn't explain why you're not checking the blog regularly. I'm sending this out via the blog, your blogger email, your blog (if you have one) and swap bot because those are the only forms of communication I have. If you flake on this swap you will of course be banned from future swaps, bad ranking on swap bot, etc., etc. And none of us want that. I'm fully aware life gets the better of us sometimes, but all it takes is a quick (anonymous) email to your pal to set things straight.

On that note, if you would like to volunteer to be an angel (hopefully just in case and not actually necessary) please let me know!

And finally, what you've all been waiting for! The winner of the secret prize: Emily at Vegan Knitting... and then some! Watch your mailbox and be sure to show us all what you've won!