What a weekend!

Well, I can definitely say that I don't feel rested after this weekend! But it was soooo worth it! On Friday me and Thomas went to dinner at our good friends Jenny and Tomas (very original name combo, don't you think?). Jenny moved to Amsterdam this spring, and I haven't seen her since and it was so much fun to catch up! The other guests were Klara and Micke, and Klara has been living a year in Liverpool, so I don't see her very often either. Seeing the both of them made me realize just how much I miss them! We sat and chatted and laughed until 2 a.m., which is really late for me! Especially as I get up at 6 a.m. to get to work... I forgot to bring my camera, so no photos from this evening.

Yesterday I slept in a bit, and in the evening me and Anna went to visit our good friend Ulrika for a knit night. We had wine (well, I drove my car, so I didn't have any wine) and lots and lots of great cheese and crackers, and knit a bit too. It was so much fun, it seems like I haven't seen either of them in way too long! Ulrika is just the most giving and generous person I know, and she had gotten me a belated birthday gift. It was a beautiful, silky project bag, filled with goodies!

First, I got two skeins of GORGEOUS silk yarn that I'm still a bit overwhelmed about. They are just amazing! It is Alchemy Silk Purse yarn, in colourway Persephone's Pomegranate. It is 100 % silk, 150 meters/50 grams.

Isn't it just to die for! The colour name is really great, as it really looks like pomegranate juice. I'm thinking of turning it into this:

Marmalade shawl

Photo borrowed from Ravelry

The next thing I picked up out of the bag was a very cute pattern keeper! These are two magnet strips that are covered in fabric, and you clamp them aroud your pattern chart to know where you are. I've been eye-ing these at various Etsy stores, but haven't gotten around to buying any yet. This is awesome!

Then there was a very pretty fragrance pouch filled with lavender, that immediately went into my yarn stash:

Next there was a needle case in a very pretty, pale green silk fabric. I've put all my KnitPicks Harmony dpn's in it, and it is just perfect! I love that I don't need to bring my big plastic bag that I got from KnitPicks along with the needle set everywhere I go! This case is so much more portable and a lot smaller.

Finally, there was a super-cute key-charm: The VooDoll Princess Lalita. 

There was a card with the doll that explains what she does: "Princess Lalita will give you fabulous magnetism. She is hot and mysterious like an arabian night. She can be seductive and adorable but also ruthless against her rivals. She is an exotic Femme Fatale who always appear in men's dreams. Her beauty will make them mad with desire." Then there is a spell that you can read while holding her, to transfer her powers to yourself. Absolutely awesome! It's currently attached to my cell phone, but I think I'll put it on my purse strap instead as I tend to put my phone in my back pocket and it kind of hurts when I sit on the doll :) Plus, I don't think that she will lend me her powers if I sit on her all the time!

I just felt completely overwhelmed by all these gifts! We had a blast the entire evening, just chatting about everything and even managing to get some knitting done too! At the end of the evening Ulrika's 13 year-old daughter Kajsa sat and chatted with us too, we talked a lot about the Twilight books and movies as she's a die-hard fan. I listened to the audio books a while ago, very reluctantly, but I have to admit that they kind of grew on me. I'm not much for that kind of pining romanticism, but the vampire parts of the story was ok. So we discussed those books, and vampires in general (as I really love vamp-lit, I'm a sucker that way). It was a real treat, and we ended up staying until almost 2 a.m. (again!). So another late night for me.

Cheese and crackers galore!

Ulrika and Anna knitting away

When we were just about to leave Ulrika remembered that she had a bag of yarn that she wanted to give away, and Anna immediately said that she didn't wear that colour. So I went home with seven HUGE skeins of 100 % Bamboo yarn in a lovely, lavender colour!

I think this might be South West Trading Company Bamboo yarn, as that is the only bamboo yarn on Ravelry that fits the information on the bag! The bag is bought at discontinued yarn brand store, and there were no label bands on the skeins. It's 1600 meters in total, and I'm going to use it for the Tunic Dress that I got the pattern for in the summer edition of Debbie Bliss Magazine.

Photo borrowed from Ravelry

The pattern is written for a 100 % silk yarn, but that would be a bit out of my price range. bamboo seems to behave a bit like silk, and I swatched this morning to see if it would be a good substitute. I had to go down a needle size (from 4 mm to 3 mm), but that just made the knitted fabric look better. It is going to be soooo pretty, I'm almost itching to cast on right away! But I think I want to finish the Paper Dolls top first.

Today has been a slow day, but we managed to get to the cabin for a few hours to mow the lawn and just check on it. It seems like the rain we've been having hasn't leaked through the roof too much, which was good. I also picked almost two litres of gooseberries, so tomorrow I'll make a pie with them (I've been too tired today). 

When we got home Thomas made the best fish soup that I've ever tasted, which was absolutely awesome! I crashed on the couch and slept for an hour or so, and now it's almost bedtime for me. It's been a busy busy weekend, but I think I haven't had this much fun in ages!

I'll be back later next week with some knitting-related news!

/ Jenny