Greetings fellow readers! As I look out on this day I see gloomy skies, fog and drizzle. As the day wears on the fog gets thicker and thicker. It’s so dark outside! I am keeping cozy by the fire with plenty to do however. My pumpkin pie is in the oven baking, filling the house with a wonderful aroma, the cranberry sauce is done (in my Mom’s crystal bowl).
With a few of the Thanksgiving tasks taken care of I’ll be settling down now in front of the fire to have a mini marathon of my favorite Christmas movies. Have you seen any of these?
They never fail to jump start my holiday mood. Since Thanksgiving is so late this year, I need all the help I can get. Why is it that I don’t ever really start thinking about Christmas until Thanksgiving? I wish they would insert another month in-between. That would be much more to my liking. That way you’d have plenty of time to gear up for the holiday season. Yikes! Christmas is in just a few short weeks!
I’ll also be working on these while watching the movies: Rick’s slippers. Don’t worry, I know they look big enough to be clown shoes but they get thrown in the washer and felted down to a normal size. Cozy and warm, and my favorite pattern of all to knit! (More on that later.)
I might even get to start this:
I need a thriller right about now!
Hope your holiday is cozy and packed full of all the things you love!
My very first ever giveaway! Do you have visions of sugarplums dancing in your head in anticipation of the coming holidays? No? Maybe you need a little help then. A nudge in the right direction, shall we say. Look no further than this yarn:
Interested? Well, it can be yours! 80 yards of scrumptiously soft candy-cane-colored handspun yarn. I believe it’s wool plied with mohair and a thick-and-thin consistency. Super soft and fuzzy! Enough to make that little something for the girl that has everything, or use it as trim or edging on special handmade Christmas presents.
Spun with tiny glass beads sprinkled through out ...
little “gingerbread” ornaments ...
tiny glass sugarplums ...
candy canes and peppermint balls.
I bought this yarn a few years ago from a seller I was hooked on. I tried her website the other day and it seems that she is no longer selling her handcrafted yarn. I had always planned to use it on something Christmasy, but now I am thinking it would be better off with someone who could put it to better use. So, I am offering it up to a lucky “someone” out there in blogland.
If you are interested, please leave a comment for me and tell me you’d like to be in the drawing for the giveaway. If you’d like to tell me what you could or would do with the yarn if you won that would be wonderful! Leave your comment by Thanksgiving and I’ll draw names the day after.
Good luck!
Well, technically this is a goat, so this is a doe rather than a ewe. Isn’t she cute? I was sorely tempted to take this one home with me.
On Saturday we drove up to Rhinebeck, New York to visit the New York State Sheep & Wool Festival. We had never been before. Somehow something else always coincided with the weekend it was happening on. Rain and cold weather were predicted, but the rain held off and only gray leaden skies showed up. The weather forecast didn’t stop anyone from coming though—it was very crowded!
The very first building we went in had a rug hooking vendor. I was hoping there would be one there. As it turned out there were lots of rug hooking stalls and those dedicated to the materials used in hooking. Why should I care, you might ask? Well, it’s all Julie’s fault over at Hookworm. Seeing her lovely project made me want to know more, so she graciously sent me links for more information. I knew immediately that this was one craft I needed to try. How creative you could be in your choice of materials! I was hooked, shall we say.
Anyway, I had told Rick about how I was going to ask for a rug hooking kit to get me started for Christmas. He was a little skeptical because he had never seen rug hooking before. When he saw the finished products he was just as impressed as I was. So, when we walked in the first building and the very first stall was Hooked on Ewe with gorgeous starter kits, how could I not buy one? Here is what the kit I bought will look like on completion:
Should be fun! So, Julie, it’s your fault if I become a hooker!
Here are some more photos involving rug hooking, from the materials to the finished rugs.
I have never seen so much yarn in my life! Yarn, yarn, yarn everywhere! And people decked out in their knitted finery! Rick and I were appropriately dressed as he wore a scarf I knitted for him last year and I was wearing my Lovely Leaf Lace scarf (newly seamed together). Ours were not quite as grand as some of the creations, but we fit right in. Frankly, I thought Rick might be bored with barn after barn of yarn goods, but he wasn’t. There were lots of beautiful crafts and wares to look at as well. I was hoping to take more photos of all the gorgeous hues of yarn but it was just too crowded in most places.
How about joining in a big knit-in? I don’t know for sure what they had planned for this project ...
We also went to meet some goats. Rick and I have this romantic notion (well, me more than Rick I think) to keep a few goats once we “retire.” I have never been around goats before but I’ve had people tell me that they are more intelligent than sheep. Obviously the goats at the Festival are not the kind that you could milk, but they are goats just the same! I talked to both the goats and the sheep. I didn’t get much out of the sheep but a few of the goats connected with me. Here are some of them.
The sheep didn’t want to be left out, so they agreed to pose for me too.
We had to laugh at the people grooming their show entries. They reminded us so much of the dog show world. This was one handsome guy.
hey, I’m trying to chew here!
Love these locks!
A big highlight of the day for me was finally meeting fellow blogger Jane of Not Plain Jane in person! We had arranged to meet before we went so all we had to do was get in touch by cell phone and designate a place to meet. It was wonderful to meet the person behind the blog and give her a hug! Jane, you are just as wonderful as I knew you would be.
I can’t believe I didn’t buy any yarn! I didn’t go with any project in mind which I think was a mistake. It was so totally overwhelming that it all started to look alike after a while. I think next year I will have a specific pattern in mind instead of thinking to myself when I saw a yarn I liked “I could do this or that with this yarn ...”
pssst, let me tell you a little secret. try not to look so darned cute and maybe those people will leave us alone! if only our fur wasn’t so soft ...
okay, never mind, that plan totally failed.
Coming home we drove through my old hometown of Hyde Park. Very nostalgic.
We had a great time and we’ll definitely be going back again next year!
I don’t know about you, but today I need some warmth so I am posting this photo taken yesterday of the turning colors at Monksville Reservoir. Doesn’t it warm you up? Right now the temps are in the 30’s, it’s dark and gloomy, and the big “S” word is predicted for later on in the day. SNOW. Already? Tell me it’s not so! Please don’t ruin these lovely fall colors Mother Nature! What can you be thinking?
We have plans to visit the Rhinebeck Wool and Sheep Festival this weekend and the weather is supposed to be nasty both days. boo-hoo. But we are East Coasters now and will just bundle up and take our umbrella and wear suitable shoes. We don’t let the weather stop us anymore. I am so looking forward to it!
Remember this scarf? I still haven’t had the courage to seam it together but I so want to wear it this weekend. I practiced and practiced the kitchener stitch until I had it down pretty good, but now I’ve lost the skill of it all because I waited too long. Since the weather is going to be so nasty over the next two days and Rick has a business dinner tonight, maybe I’ll practice yet again (and again) and get up the courage to just finally DO IT. It doesn’t have to be perfect, right? The scarf is doing me no good in two unwearable pieces! Wish me luck ... I’ll keep you posted on the progress.
Jan over at Just-A-Mere was having a vintage apron giveaway, and just look what I won! It arrived just the other day. I had forgotten all about it until I saw the package in my mail box!
Isn’t is fabulous? This little Mexican couple was lovingly appliquéd and embroidered by someone in some moment of time. We can only speculate about its original origins.
I love the fabric used for the basket on her head, as well as the embroidery work on the flowers that go with it. And, given my new found passion of embroidery it makes me appreciate it all the more!
The stitches are tiny and the appliqué has all been done by hand. The apron itself is very soft to the touch and is a unique light gray color. The bias tape at the top and bottom adds a pop of extra color.
Thank you so much Jan for choosing me as it’s new owner! What a great giveaway!
Here is the link to the original giveaway post.
