Speaking of Rainbows

A little sunshine peeked through the snow clouds today and everything seemed a little more vivid and cheerful. But sunshine is a mixed blessing in the midwest in the winter. The absence of grey is wonderful, but it also means a cool down since the protective cloud layer holding in the warmth (and what little humidity we have right now) disappears. Coming back from our date night dinner, the car thermostat said 6 degrees Farenheit!

So, of course, I came home and fondled the rainbow of warmth that arrived from Wales last night from Marie. I sent her some goodies from this side of the ocean and this is what made the return trip:

Colinette Skye: Florentina, CopperBeach, Velvet Bilberry and Lapis (from left to right)

I absolutely love Colinette's aran weight yarn. It's soft and springy and is exquisitely colored (this picture is a little dark). I can already imagine a sweater for my mother out of the CopperBeach -- which is a little lighter in person and has the most beautiful cominbations of brown and red and green. I am just stunned at the difference between the Florentina Giotto and Florentina Skye. And as a lover of almost all things blue I can't help but want to get started with something in the Lapis. A cowl perhaps?

Not too long ago I bought Jenna's Rogue pattern. I love the cabled hoodie idea and even if I don't knit it this year, I wanted to have the pattern in my library. It calls for aran weight yarn... and I'm thinking that maybe the Velvet Bilberry would make for a lovely comfy weekend hoodie.

Velvet Bilberry Skye Up Close and Personal

There's definitely color variation, but I think it's subtle enough not to obscure the pretty cable work. I'd love to hear other people's opinions.

But that's not all that was in the very fab box Marie sent me. Here were the other goodies that came along for the trip:

The Mahjong Cushion Kit in Opal, Some Awesome Sock Yarn and Some Delightfully Soft Striping Eyelash

I must have Giotto radar... I had no idea that the needlepoint cushion kit was stocked with three different colors of Giotto to use as "thread". Yum. I'll be starting that one soon. I think it will be a good carry along project. This will be my first stab at needlepoint.

And you can't tell from the picture, but that lovely big ball of sock yarn has the most wonderful sparkly thread in it. The little fuzzy bundle is a skein of Brazilia, made by the same folks who make Regia sock yarns. According to Marie it stripes! And it is very much against the skin soft. Do I need another scarf? Of course not. Will I make another one out of this stuff? Most definitely!

Thank you so much, Marie! What a wonderful way to warm up a cold January day!

And speaking of warmth... I started knitting the first sleeve of the BRDP. I just couldn't resist since the knitting goes so darn fast. Sorry, Dad... I'll be picking up the LoTech again just as soon as it is finished.

P.S. to all you Chicago folks -- the KIP at Letizia's is tonight at 7pm. Hope to see you there!