It's Christmas Time!

We are in the final days before Christmas.  Anna came home last Thursday and will be home for 3 weeks.  Today is Emily's last day of school.  I will have Thursday and Friday off both this week and next.  Let the festivities begin!


I didn't knit much this year for gifts.  I did make a hat for my sister,

 I think she will like it.  I need to add the braids on the side, they will mostly be made up of the fun bright colors.  My sister loves bright crazy colors.  I took a simple Scandinavian hat (Susan B. Anderson pattern) and changed it up by using my variegated handspun.  I think MK will like it.  It is very her.


I'm also making a hat for her husband, Steve, but that had a bit of an issue.  I decided last Friday to make it for him.  Not a problem, plenty of time to make it before Christmas Day.  I had the perfect charcoal grey yarn I spun from Shetland fiber.  I found a simple pattern and whipped it up in 24 hours.  However, when I tried it on, I decided I needed to add a couple inches to it so it will securely cover his ears.  They live in the northern wilds of Wisconsin and shoveling and snow blowing is a big past time (most winters) so having all of your ears covered is a must!  This morning I unpicked the woven in end at the top and ripped it back past the decreases, got it back on my needles and started knitting again.  I'll finish it tonight and it will be better with the additional length to it.

My nephew and his wife recently announced they are expecting their third baby!  Which means I get the pleasure of knitting (hopefully) a new baby blanket for Baby J.  I just spun up a bright fun colorway called Frog and Carp dyed by Ginny at FatCatKnits.  I love how clear and strong the colors are.  I spun it as a 2 ply gradient and was thrilled with how it turned out.  I will have more dyed for me in a Merino Superwash and I think I'll do a 10 stitch blanket ((Ravelry pattern)  It will be easy to use my handspun in it and it is forgiving.  Sounds like a perfect fit to me. 

I'm working on my schedule for next year's Fiber Fests and at this point will be attending 4 shows.  I'll be at Yarnover in April (their 30th anniversary and I'm having special fiber dyed for me by Polly at Lila and Claudines to celebrate), Shepherd's Harvest in May, a new event for me in September, we will be at North Country fiber fair in Watertown, South Dakota, and finally the Fall Fiber Fest in Hopkins in November.  Toss in keeping my yarn shops happy and filled with stock I will have lots of spinning to day.

On that note, Merry Christmas everyone.  Can't wait to see what the new year brings!

What happened!

As you can see, I've been silent for a really long time.  Lots of things have happened in the last year.  My mom, who lived with the girls and me, passed away the day after Thanksgiving.  The girls and I were blessed to have her living with us for the last 10 years.  We miss her every day but know she has been reunited with my dad and they both are happy to once again be together.  Then Anna had her 18th birthday and Christmas came and went.  The winter was spent sorting out the house and making changes so it completely became the girls and my home.  Then we had to put our beloved old pug, Gadget asleep in early spring.  More changes in the house as we painted the whole downstairs.  Emily turned 13!  Anna graduated from High School in May.  I took the girls off for a big vacation, we were in Maui for 2 weeks.  That was an amazing time for the three of us.  We left laughing and returned laughing.  I can't ask for more than that.  In the next two months, we had Anna's grad party and last week took her to college in Ely, MN.  Now Emily and I are figuring out life as 2.  In that vein, we got a new dog.  My wonderful friend had a lovely Brittany Spaniel named Virginia.  My friend has a large loving family filled with siblings with small children and Virginia struggled with all the little ones who wanted to love her.  So we took Virginia into our much quieter home.  Slowly but surely she has settled in, loves to go on walks and when she returns promptly hops into my bed, burrowing amongst the pillows before snuggling into a long nap.  She is good for us.  The last 10 months have been filled with sorrow yet much joy.  I just may be returning to this place to fill it with my thoughts for no one other than me.  If others read, great, but if not, it will be for me.

As far as my spinning and yarn, I've been blessed this year to continue working with my stores.  I am scheduled to head to Yarn Harbor in Duluth, MN on October 10.  I'll be bringing lots of yarn for Kathy to select from and spend the day spinning with my many friends there.  I can't wait to see Kathy's new location. 

I'm also going to be a vendor at the Fall Fiber Festival held in Hopkins on November 7th.  That is a great venue.  Each year there are more and more vendors and I'm really looking forward to heading there again this year.  The last two years it has been such a challenge for me as Anna had a Cheer competition that same day right down the road, but this year that is no longer an issue.  Although if Emily has anything to say about it that will change next year.  But I'll enjoy this year as a bit calmer.

Finally, I will be at Needlework Unlimited on November 21 for a spinning day as well as bringing in new stock for Karen.  Whew!  As you can see my next 3 months are busy ones.  But with all the stress this year, I've found solace in my spinning.  I may not have spun quite as much as in years past, I still have some absolutely beautiful yarns in my basket ready for stores or fiber fests.

And before I forget, one more store is stocking my yarn, head to Double Ewe in Circle Pines.  Kelly started stocking my yarn and picked out some really pretty selections.  And she has several of my samples to show how things will work up.

I just noticed something, apparently I only work with yarn shops that have owners with names that start with K!   Even Lila and Claudines follows the trend with Kirsten.  Makes me smile.

Well that is enough for now.  hopefully a few people are still reading this, maybe mention it at an event I'm at, I'd love to chat with you.  But for now, must keep spinning!