Fairy Tale Swap

I love swaps. There is something magical about getting a box in the mail specially tailored to my tastes. Last week, I mentioned that Megan-Anne and I are participating in a Sherlock themed swap on Ravelry, which you can read more about here, but I had also joined a Fairy Tale themed one on Nerdy Swaps. And I got my box in the mail today!

My swap partner went with the Labyrinth as her theme, which is awesome since I freaking LOVE the Labyrinth. David Bowie in tight pants, catchy songs, fantastical creatures by Jim Henson, what’s not to love?

She sent some me some Lindtt dark chocolate with a touch of sea salt, cinnamon orange tea, adorable wall decals from Elephannie, a door hanger with one of the Door Knockers on it from the hedge maze in the Labyrinth, and a skein of Knit Pick’s Felici yarn. However, the absolute coolest items she sent was an original pen drawing of a gnome!

It turns out that my swap partner is actually a super boss artist and drew it herself! You can find more of her work on her website, online store, and web comic. She is currently taking commissions and I highly recommend you take advantage of it. You can find out more about it here. Personally, I’m going to hang mine in the new office. :D

The fairy tale package I sent for the swap had an Alice in Wonderland theme. I included tea,  a porcelain tea pot, Endangered Species Black Rhino Chocolate, a skein of yarn from Rowan, Perrault’s Complete Fairy Tales, and a tote with the White Rabbit on it.

I had a lot of fun designing the White Rabbit tote. I used Sir John Tenniel’s original illustration of the White Rabbit checking his pocket watch as inspiration for the color work. Tenniel illustrated the first edition of “Alice” and I’ve always loved them the most.

“There was not a moment to be lost: away went Alice like the wind, and just in time to hear it say, as it turned a corner, ‘Oh, my ears and whiskers, how late it’s getting!'” — Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

If you’d like to make your own White Rabbit tote, the crochet pattern is available on Ravelry here. The PDF also includes directions on how to line the bag with fabric like I did.

The absolute crazy thing is that the package I sent must have taken a detour through Wonderland, because the box didn’t show up in the same one I had sent it in! From the pictures she shared with me, it looks as if it was run over with a forklift and then the pieces were put into another box. The teapot showed up without the spot, the book was bent, and the candy bar was broken. There was even a bunch of stuff in it that neither of us could account for like bottles of used lotion.

I’m just happy the bag made it there in, more or less, one piece!

Now the biggest problem I have is deciding where to hang my gnome drawing in the office and what to make with the Felici yarn! My first thought was to make some pedicure socks to keep my feet warm this spring while I get them beach ready. Anyone have any other great ideas for 218 yards of fingering weight yarn?

~ Jac
Curiouser and curiouser!