Swap swag

Admittedly, I'm late in posting this. I got my wonderful stuff from Meg(aphone) more than a week ago and I've already plowed through both the coffee and the chocolate. Both couldn't have turned up at a more fortuitous time as we were out of coffee (and I'd forgotten to stop by the store) and there was not dessert in the house, either!

Without further ado:



Coffee is a wonderful Costa Rican organic bean that is wonderfully mellow, but a very *round* flavor. Nice change of pace from the Indonesian varieties that are usually in the house! (Chris likes Costa Rican - that's his usual Trader Joe's bean). Next is the chocolate from local favorite, Ghiradelli. It's got (had) little nibs of espresso beans in a really rich dark chocolate. That stuff lasted moments. Best of all, a great skein of Trekking Natura (with bamboo) that is destined for a pair of socks for Chris and a cool skein of laceweight. I'm not sure what I'll do with this one yet - I need a nice black little scarf, so maybe the Dolphin Scarf or something just made-up. Regardless, there's a good quantity of mohair in there so it'll need to be something that will benefit from the texture.

Anyway, I'm back in the land of ginger and noodles - and I've nearly finished the scarf that my dad is getting for Christmas. He doesn't read the blog so there's no risk of him seeing it - but I do have the camera (clearly) so a pic or two is due tonight. What better way to spend the night than blogging? Heck, I sure don't sleep while I'm over here ...

Coffee Swap Three!

Once again, I'm lucky enough to be participating in the Knitters Coffee Swap. Last time around, my partner was Jenni over in Scotland and she gifted me a whole box full of wonderful things.

So, without further ado, here are the answers to the questions for this round:

1. Whole bean or ground? - ground - for sure!

2. Fully-loaded or decaf? - fully loaded. While I like the occasional decaf, if it's of good quality, I don't *need* it so I'll stick with the normal stuff

3. Regular or flavored? - regular. No doubt. If I want flavor, I'll add some syrup or spices.

4. How do you drink your coffee? - generally with cream and sugar in the mornings, but often black or just with cream if I'm having a particularly luscious dessert!

5. Favorite coffee ever? - Aged Sumatra from Peet's

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? - generally, I'm fussy. I like a coffee with good flavor. Bad coffee is, well, just plain bad!

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? - molasses or butter cookies, biscotti, simple pastry

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? - I prefer low-acid coffees from Arabia, Indonesia or Central America. Kona, while good, just can't compare to a Sulawesi or an exquisite Moka-Java. Flavor. It's all about depth of flavor.

9. Yarn/fiber you love? - Anything wool, silk, natural fiber, or a combination thereof. I also love Wick from K1C2. If it's hand-dyed or hand-spun, I'm sold. You can find me on Ravelry to check my stash. That's a good indication!

10. Yarn/fiber you hate? - I generally don't like novelty yarns, though I've used them on occasion. I also tend to stay away from 100% acrylic, though some man-made is ok. Majority of the fiber needs to be animal/vegetable.

11. What's on your needles? - pair of socks, afghan, two sweaters. I'm now three weeks behind on the latest mystery shawl, but that's because I'm moving house! Actually, just check the queue to your right ... that'll tell you everything!

12. Favorite colors? - greens, browns, reds, deep blues. Yep, I'm an "autumn" girl

13. Allergies? - not that matter here - unless you're sending a bottle of Sulfa!

14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest? - I'm just happy to be a part of this. Knitting is a huge stress reliever for me and it also lets me do things for people I love. Coffee gets me started in the morning and also keeps me warm on those ridiculously cold days. When I can combine the two - what could be better! I'm also looking forward to meeting another new virtual friend. My last partner was a real dear and I can't wait to get started!

So there it is. Answers abound. Back to moving!