Early Birthday Gifts

Today I got some early birthday gifts in the mail! And I have absolutely no self dicipline, so I pf course opened them right away. They were all from myself anyhow, and I just couldn't wait! The first package came from Wollmeise, and it is almost impossible to get any yarn from their online store. It is updated early on Friday mornings (European time), and on Saturday afternoons, and within five minutes all of the yarn is gone. I'm just so thrilled that I managed to snag a lace skein last weekend! I had no clue what colour it would be, so it was a huge surprise to open this package!

This is my HUGE skein of Wollmeise Lace-Garn, in Colourway We're Different (although the label under the We're Different label says Sanguinello):

Hobbe liked this yarn too! This skein contains 300 g of lace-weight superwash Merino (1592 m in total), and it is sooo big! I've never seen such a big hank before! I LOVE the colour, although it is really not my colour. I can't really wear red against my skin, as every blemish sort of blooms up to match the red piece of clothing. I'm contemplating trying to trade it for another colour, but I can't really make up my mind about it. I think I'll just keep it for now, and let it mature in the stash :)

The second package came from UK, for Chopped Tomatoes' Etsy store. I got two skeins of lace yarn in colourway Sister Sister:

And one skein in colourway Forever Young:

This yarn is 85 % wool/15% cashmere, 500 m in a 50 g hank, and it is incredibly soft! I can definitely see myself buying more of this yarn in the future. The colours are a bit paler in real life than what I saw on my computer screen when I ordered them, but they are still gorgeous so I don't care. I'm just happy that I'm happy about them, it's always a bit of a gamble buying yarn you haven't seen or touched in real life!

And can you believe I'm turning 30 on Sunday?! It sounds so old! I wonder when you start feeling grown up and stop feeling the same as you did when you were 20? Well, I think I might have matured a bit the last ten years, at least I hope so, but I still feel young! Maybe that has something to do with me having studied my whole life, up until now I've never had a regular job. 

And speaking of jobs: My new job is great! On Friday and today I've been allowed to draw blood from actual patients! I always ask everyone if it's ok that I do it, as I'm so inexperienced. That way all the people who are afraid of needles or such can say no, and then my lab supervisor takes the sample from them. But I'm really impressed at how many people agree to let me practice on them. And it's not as hard as I had imagined either, although I don't find the vein every time. But I'm getting better, and it is SO much fun! I just wish I could stay at this place for the whole summer, but I bet that the other primary care unit that I'm going to work at for the second half of the summer will be great too.

Oh, and are you waiting for an update on the socks for Christine? Well, my stomach gave up on me this Saturday, and completely prevented me from going to her party! I almost cried when I realised I wouldn't be able to go, I had been looking forward to it for a long time! Instead I spent Saturday here in Linköping, just hanging out on the couch and feeling sorry for myself. Unfortunately Christine herself came down with a migrane that very same night, so they had to cut the party short as she had to go lay down. I felt so sorry for her! I'm going to send the socks in a package in the mail for her this week instead.

At least now Thomas is back in Linköping, I picked him up at the train station tonight. He came home from England on Wednesday, but he stayed in Borås the rest of the week to go to Christine's party. He's been away from Linköping for almost two weeks, so it's great to have him back. Also, he can now help me take a better photo of the socks for Christine :)

His grandmother loved the Sari Lace shawl, by the way! I got to speak to her briefly on the phone on Tuesday, and she said she really loved how warm it was. She particularly liked the triangular shape too, so I'm happy. My father-in-law took some photos of her wearing it, so I'll try to get my hands on some of them soon!

On my own knitting front, things have gone slowly forward. I've knitted most on the Guinevere gloves, and I'm now knitting the cuff (which is knitted last, after the hand is completed. I was thinking I would post a photo of the construction of the glove, but now I'm thinking that might be copyright infringements? I think the designer is on Ravelry, so I'll see if I can't PM her and ask her. I love the pattern and the yarn is just incredibly vibrant (which doesn't really show on the photo), and they are so much fun to knit!

I've also knitted a lot on the Kai-Mei socks, but I'm still knitting only ribbing. The main part of the leg is just 3x3 ribbing, and I haven't reached the heel yet. These have turned out to be great work knitting though (I only knit at the coffee break, it would be a bit creepy to bring my knitting into the lab), as I don't need to concentrate at all. I haven't gotten a new photo of the sock yet, I'll show them to you once the lace pattern begins.

The Haruni and the Owls sweater are both beeing a bit neglected for the moment, but I'll get to them soon. Me and Thomas are going to Stockholm for the weekend to celebrate my birthday, and I need some knitting to bring on the train. I think the haruni will be perfect for that, so I think that will be my travelling project.

Now I'm going to spend some time with my newly-arrived husband! We're sort of in mourning today, as Ronnie James Dio (among other things he's been the lead singer in Black Sabbath after Ozzy Osbourne left) died today.  The Holy Diver will be sorely missed!

/ Jenny