The Amiras descended upon Sharjah last Friday.

It was a late birthday treat from me to them and I can’t believe that, one week on, we are still talking about my birthday! Jackie baked me an awesome chocolate peanut butter cake with smarties spelling out my age with a huge exclamation mark. Best birthday cake ever. Thanks, Jackie.


Friday was also the day of the swap reveal for the UAE Amiras. After catching up and a spot of late lunch, we gathered round our small living room and Debbie started off the swap. She picked Shyma who picked me who picked Ruth who picked Jackie who picked Louise who picked Melissa who picked Debbie. That’s a nice rounded group. Hala, who was a part of the swap didn’t go home with a package since she was included in the international swap. Caroline was the first one to receive her most excellent swap package from Dieuwke.

My swappee, Ruth gave my own hand-dyed skein of Bugga! base a nice squeeze. I knew she loved reds, cherry, cranberry, rich reds. This was the closest I could get it to the shade she wanted.

I got her another skein of reddish yarn, Malabrigo Worsted in colourway Geranio, which suits her fair complexion really well.

The delight in her eyes is priceless! These are the stitchmarkers I hinted at recently which were exclusively handmade by Rain on my request. Ruth loves cherries so this was a no-brainer. I also got her a cherry printed project bag from Gritty Knits.

Here are some of the skeins that ended up in the swap packages. Melissa’s yummy cappucciono colourway from Louise. She said she searched all over for this and was an awesome find. It’s a bamboo, cotton, nylon blend which is perfect for Dubai weather.

This is Lou’s reward got being such a great swap giver, a skein of Indiecita in Malabrigo Sock. It’s got rich hints of purple against the greens and browns and it looks divine in person.

This is Melissa’s first ever skein of Malabrigo Sock which she will knit up into a Swallowtail Shawl. I’ve seen this in Silky Merino and it is lovely.

Jackie received her final Loopy Ewe Sock Club shipment and it included a skein of Bugga! and a skein of DiC Starry, which she asked me to wind for her. See the shiny flecks? That is a fine thread of sterling silver plied with the superwash merino. This base is coming soon to Magrudys.

My own swap skein from the lovely Shyma: Painted Lady in Posh Yarn Martha fingering. Yummiest red colour. I do not have this base so this is wonderful. I’ve already queued this skein for a Clothilde.

This is the rest of my swap package from Shyma: hand creme, soap, chocolate, a nifty thread snipper and Dylon dyes. Thanks again, Shyma!

It was a great meeting, not as long as our usual one and without our much-needed caffeine. Sorry, ladies. I have not invested in a cappuccino machine yet. Hala and Marion stayed behind as they waited for their taxi so we ended up chatting and knitting for a bit longer. After they all left I decided to wind my Smokey Orchid in MadTosh 80/10/10 Worsted, destined to become my Honey Cowl. It’s all the rage these days!