OMG OMG OMG!

Like many other Aussies (or Australian based others!) on Ravelry, I signed up for the Aussie tea cosy swap, a fab idea which allows us to go crazy on stuff and not have ridiculous postage costs which is what often happens with overseas swaps.

And man, oh man, was I ever spoiled by my pal, Fitknit!! I was so excited I got a bit snap-happy, so there are lots of pics in this post (and I didn't even use all of them!!). My pal has been stalking me good and proper!

Let's start:

Everything is packaged inside a clear shoe box! A shoe box! The only thing that could have been better to find inside might have been a pair of Manolos! It was truly the magic pudding of shoeboxes, I felt like the bounty would never end!

And here it all is, arrayed (hopefully) so you can see all the fabulous features:

There was biscuits (mmm white choc and macadamia), a little chocolate pudding, tea, lots of tea - 5 different black teas, and almost best of all, a RED SHOE STITCH MARKER!!And check this out - Red Rose tea! I've never seen rose tea made of actual rosebuds! Wow!And a fab-o tea cosy and matching doily/pot mat - fits the cosy perfectly, look at those cool woven bead thingys and the fab leaf edging on the cosy - and the colour is gorgeous, matches my dinner set perfectly.
And if one tea cosy wasn't enough, there's another tea cosy! Now you see the teapot:Now you don't!And (I know I keep saying "and" - that's just how I felt when opening - "and there's more, and more, and more!") vintage crochet patterns, for edgings and doilies! Check this out - obviously my crochet teacher had this book when she was giving us patterns (I learnt when I was about 15, I went to a night class at tech):And just for completeness, as there's a few more things in the pics which I haven't also raved about (too much raving can be bad for one's health, yes?) my package also included 4 egg cosies (check out this for the funniest picture of these!), a shoe horn which is a woman knitting (!! shoes and knitting!!), fabulous red organza gift bags, including the loveliest beaded one, red silicon mini cupcake moulds, a shoe card, and did I mention a RED SHOE STITCH MARKER!

And, in case you've forgotten, my lovely pal Fitknit also sent me a Knittery voucher for my birthday! With which I purchased this, which arrived on Monday:

(mmmm passionfruit merino cashmere sock yarn...) Thank you thank you thank you Fitknit! You have chosen such perfect, fabulous things, you really have set the bar high!