Saturday, August 27, 2011

The Doctor is In (and Out)

As many of you know, I entered my very first Ravelry swap--the wonderful Doctor Who Swap. Surprisingly enough, my swap partner turned out to be...my sister! (She laughed out loud when she logged on and saw that of all the people who entered from the US and abroad, we were paired up together.) It certainly had its pros and cons. On the plus side, I knew that I was making it for an amazing person. On the down side, we couldn't work on it together and collaborate.

My swap package was amazing and very exciting! I got the best stuff.
The fun notes on the packages were very fun. The cross stitch Tardis was a wonderful surprise and is now decorating my desk.
I love my new Doctor Who project bag. It is currently holding my shrug and still has room for an extra skein and pattern--definitely bigger on the inside. I'm going to need to make some more project bags. Who knew they were so useful?
I got gifts from the ninth Doctor (beautiful Geek Chic "The Ninth Doctor" yarn), the tenth Doctor (Scottish Shortbread), and the eleventh Doctor (Jammie Dodgers!). So cool and a great find. The yarn was one that we found when we had been shopping together before the swap and both loved. Since she picked it up first, it was only fair that she got it. How lucky am I that she got it as a present for me? I have been reminiscing about the butter salt seasoning we used to have when we were growing up. I got some microwave popcorn with--butter seasoning! Yay!

I also got beautiful, handmade stitch markers. The Tardis marker can mark the beginning of the round and the graduated blue crystal markers can mark increases and other parts of the pattern. 

My swap present looked a lot like hers when wrapped.
I would not have done a banana for a swap with anyone else, but since the travel distance was VERY short I felt it would not have any chance to spoil.
We both love tea, and the Doctor shares our love of a good cuppa.
Puppy chow seemed like a delicious and decadent snack.
I thought Doctor Who address labels would be very useful and fun for someone who likes stationary. (No pictures of the address. Go away creepy stalkers!)
We go through a lot of popcorn so it's always nice to have one stashed away for when you get to the bottom of the box too quickly. (And she's very particular about how long the popcorn is allowed to stay in the microwave. I'm not sure if it ever gets to finish out the timer on the popcorn cycle.)
This yarn was ordered and dyed just for her! The "Waters of Mars" color is named after the Doctor Who movie of the same name. Geek Chic, of course. Hey, it's almost like we shop in the same places ;)
And I had to include a stitch marker with the cover of the Waters of Mars movie to go with the other Doctor Who markers.

Undoubtedly, the most time-consuming and frustrating thing to make was the Tardis project bag. Since it is lined, I decorated it before it was sewn together. That involved quite a bit of math to get everything where I wanted it! I would keep saying that it would look better if I added extra embroidery here or there. It was a bit of a love/hate relationship between me and the bag. I hated it as I was struggling with it and saw no end in sight. Now I love it! (I admit that it was a little hard to part with it.)




I thought the timing was a little interesting, but right after finishing the swap I finished reading Brisingr, the third book in the Eragon/Inheritance series. I was amused and appreciative to find a hidden nod to Doctor Who!

"Adrift upon the sea of time, the lonely god wanders from shore to distant shore, upholding the laws of the stars above. ... The trickster, the riddler, the keeper of the balance, he of the many faces who finds life in death and who fears no evil; he who walks through doors." (204, 207)

And for those of you who think this CompLit girl is reading too much into it, the author says this is indeed a Doctor Who reference. Go Doctor Who fans!
On the whole, a very successful first swap. I'll have to do another one!

1 comment:

JHNickodemus said...

You two are so crafty! I loooove the cleverness.