Birthdays in September

Last week, our SnB group had its annual birthday swap. The way this works is that we all are given one person to spoil completely, while someone else spoils us.

We don't have an idea who our spoiler is, not until the party, anyway. My spoiler was Andi (knitbrit) who is an artiste with needlework of all kind--sewing, embroidery, knitting, crochet...you name it, she does an amazing job! So of course, I was thrilled when I opened my gift bag and saw this:

In the bag was this gorgeous blue bag that she made and embroidered herself, using a knit pattern that I adore as inspiration. (This pattern is this neat looking paisley sweater from a japanese knitting magazine that I cannot find, but I look at the pictures of the knitted garment on Ravelry). The bag is lined with a cool paisley print, too. In the bottom of the bag was a red and black laquered box, which held some chocolates, a small bag, sheep clips (so cute!) a pincushion, Noro Kureyon sock yarn, and gorgeous yarn that Andi spun for me. Seriously, I adore these presents!
My swapee was Devona (over at http://www.clevernesting.com/), and since she mentioned The Owl and the Pussycat a few times in her questionnaire, I knit her her very own Owlie Cowlie (which happens to be one of my favorite patterns). Devona was also a lot of fun to shop for, as she loves vintage and vintage-inspired things, so I got a copy of the Ohio Knitting Mills pattern book and some vintage fabrics, and some great alpaca yarn in colors that she likes. (I forgot to take pictures of those!)