Magic Monday....

I've been taking part in a swap group on Ravelry for about 9 years now. Today I received a  swap package, I had chosen a neutral palette as my colours.

My secret swap partner was from Scotland and she sent me a beautiful skein of Old Maiden Aunt cashmere blend sock wool along with a British Breed Fibre Sampler pack. I'm really looking forward to spinning all of these different fibre samples very soon.

A zippered project bag, some mini skeins of sock yarns, hand cream, a new cord for my hiyahiya needles and some wool wash samples. Ribbon and lace and yummy treats (chocolate, tablet and macaroon) completed the package.

Blue Faced Leicester
Manx Loaghtan
Shetland
Herdwick
Swaledale
Suffolk
Jacob
Masham
Wensleydale
Black Welsh Mountain

This is going to keep me busy for a while!







I've also started knitting a sweater and a hat for my husband. The sweater isn't actually that far from being finished:

The yarn is Naturally Drift, a 100% merino yarn. It's very soft and lightweight and I'm really enjoying knitting with it. The pattern is so simple, a top down raglan with a bit of garter stitch detail down the sleeves.
The pattern is called Flax.













I'm loving the way my grey hand spun is knitting up into this simple stocking stitch men's hat. Not that we need hats today, it's just like a beautiful Summers day here.