Just a note

To say hello and catch up.  I did have such a  nice Thanksgiving break and was quite lazy on Friday and Sunday.

Got lots of knitting and spinning done, and some photographs of things I have finished recently.  I really had to do that because I wanted to get some of them listed for sale on the Etsy shop.

I took these hats to work and some sold, but some have made it over to the shop.

So slowly I am restocking the shop, and of course, as always my timing could be way off.  Need to get the ornaments on there so that they have time to sell this season!

I did finish spinning my October Challenge yarn, and will share it with you when I can, again, in January.  It turned out to be more of a challenge than I thought, and did not come out as I expected it to, but it came out as yarn and I will use it, so that is good!  All I can show you is how it started.  Which is pretty!

For knitting, I worked out the pattern on some custom ornaments that a friend ordered, and got started on knitting them.  She ordered two, and I am halfway through the second one.  She also ordered a hat, and I will pick up the yarn for that this weekend, and see if I can’t knock that out.

It is also time to think about making the Christmas cards!  Especially as some are going overseas.  I have a vague idea what they will be, but need to settle into that project. I was hoping to do some of that this past week, but it just didn’t happen.

 

A is really busy with her new venture.  She has a deadline to hit, and it is turning out to be a longer process than she originally thought, so she is working hard each and every day.  She works in the living room on Sundays so that we can spend time together, but it isn’t; the same as being able to do things together.  Still she is getting paid by the piece, so the harder and faster she goes, the more she earns.  And this project will be done in a month or so.  Then I am sure she will find another one to launch into.  At least, I hope so, since she is now self employed.  But I hope that she can figure out a schedule and pricing that let her have a day off each week!

 

That’s about it from here –  hope you are having a good week!

Friday list late!

Sorry! With all the holiday eating I forgot to give you my Friday list!

It’s pretty short.

Hang out and knit

Hang out and spin

Eat leftovers for lunch

Make turkey broth

Probably nap after that, making broth is so taxing!

Hang out and play on Ravelry

Create listings on Etsy for craft fair leftovers.

Hang out and veg.

Get cleaned and dressed to meet mom and B for dinner with step brother J, remember him from amazing yard work this summer? He is visiting again for the holidays. No yard work but he is putting up Mom’s tree and putting the lights on for her. The guy is a rockstar!!!

Anyway, as you can tell it is a pretty low key day. The last few were crazy as we went from chaos in a fairly grubby house to holiday ready.

From this

To this

(Although it looks like no one is speaking, they actually were lining up nicely for food. 😉)

To this by the time went to bed:

No point in wasting all that “clean”!

Here’s another great shot from Wednesday night –

Yup, Allie Cat was watching TV. She loves Hallmark’s Happy Yule Log, watches the kittens and puppies very carefully in case they escape the TV and come into her house. Like watches them intently like that for hours. Pretty funny. We taped it in case she needs entertaining later this week.

Well, as much fun as it is visiting with you, I have to go stir the turkey broth and go hang out and knit. I already did some spinning today so I can cross that off, too.

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Here’s the only photo of my table that I got! Not very close up, but you can see the shawls and jewelry pretty well.

The day went very well. Lots of lookers but enough shoppers that it was definitely worth the effort. A few friends made purchases and a few strangers did, too. Lots of interest in the blue beaded shawl but no takers on shawls or scarves. A few people couldn’t believe I made everything. One lady said “where did you get all of this?” and I don’t think she believed the answer! I said I didn’t make it all last week but I still think she thought I was lying! I got orders for three more ornaments and a hat, so that feels good, too. I totaled it up and counting the pre-sales and the orders, I am committed to making more than 20 hats for charity! Wow!

However, in spite of doing very well financially, it was so completely exhausting, I nearly passed out doing the grocery shopping later in the evening. So yesterday was a low key day with puttering on strange chores that needed doing (like descaling the coffee pot) between knitting and spinning and Hallmark movies. Glad this week is a short week!

I finished these socks, a few weeks late (due for October) and I haven’t yet started the November sock- going to fall way behind if I am not careful!

I decided to frog this hat:

Because even though I like the design and colors, it is the wrong yarn for the pattern and came out too big. I ripped it back and have cast on a smaller hat, different pattern. More of a striped hat.

I also did some knitting on the ornament on my needles so I can clear the needles for the three custom ones.

And I finally started spinning my challenge yarn. It is going so fast, I should not have trouble meeting the January deadline. Felt good to be back on the wheel!

This week is a short work week, just two days… but Wednesday will be spent getting ready for the feast. We are seven this year, just some of A’s sisters and parts of their families. I think I can cope. Got a huge bird so everyone can share leftovers. And will make copious mashed potatoes per request. I’ll work on a list for you for Wednesday, but it will mostly be boring, I think… you will have to tell me!

Until then-

What if?

I think I am pretty well set for the craft fair. I have to print a few more signs, and finish up a few tiny things like sewing a clasp on a necklace. Put the earrings on hang cards.  Then I am ready.

Set up is tomorrow afternoon.

I set up on a table at home which I KNOW is smaller than what I will have at the fair.

My table seemed crowded.

I want to go for light and abundance, not crowded and cluttered.

I feel like I am not there yet, though I think I can do it.

 

But what if I can’t?

What if no one likes my things?

What if no one buys my things?

What if I run out of change?

What if what if what if

 

Can’t wait until Saturday is over.

Wish every weekend was three days long!

Well, that nice long weekend is over.  Sigh.  It felt really good to have three days off.  Just what the doctor ordered.

I feel like we were busy in spurts, and of course, I did not do all I intended, but I chose not to, in favor of knitting time.

I did get the bedroom and our bathroom dusted and basically cleaned, and A did vacuum them.  I am most proud, though, of the closet change over.  That basically means that I  empty the whole closet onto the bed, pack up the summer clothes, get out the winter clothes, wash them all (no matter how tidily I pack them, they get dusty) and put them all back.  I did that, and all the ensuing laundry, as well as the regular household laundry AND the bedroom curtains.

A and I also did return the trundle bad and have a short visit with SIL.  She is doing very well!  Ankle is extremely stiff, and it does get tired and swollen, but she knows how to manage that.  She can walk and she can drive!  Life is good. We put the bureau back in the guest room, and all the porch plants, too.  It is looking more normal in there now.

We brought in the last ton of what I like to call sawdust – we now have 6 tons of sawdust stored in the cellar!  Actually, it is 5 tons of pellets  and 1 ton of bio-bricks – all sawdust compressed into different shapes which we will burn up all winter long.  We can now park in the driveway again!

I also went to Whorls and Purls on Saturday, and just kept knitting away on ornaments and hats.  The ladies seemed to like how the ornaments came out, which was gratifying, and they helped me sort out my pricing for them. I think I will have at least 8 ready for sale this weekend, maybe a few more?  Depends on how the evenings go.

(I think this is one of my favorites.  Can you spot the red bead on the nose?  🙂 )

I did NOT set up my display or do any signs or tagging, MUST work on that this evening, so I have time to tweak as needed before set up on Friday afternoon.  Debbie at the Purple Fleece was kind enough to lend me several Styrofoam heads and a torso (named Violet) to display things, she is making my display ever so much better than it would have been otherwise – since I only have one head!

I managed to do a couple of small things around the yard – like cut back the asparagus, and pull a few weeds.  Nothing too arduous.  🙂  The pool was frozen over yesterday, so I can’t scoop out any more leaves until it thaws.  Might be spring, but it might not be that long, right?

Oh, and yesterday I pulled out all the yarn and fiber that I have tucked around my seat in the living room so that A could vacuum that room, too.  (She calls it my nest.  🙂 ) I tucked it all back in again neatly, much to her dismay.  She seems to think I should get rid of it or something.  I guess it is almost time to move some of it upstairs to the craft room closet, but then I don’t have it where I use it, lol.  I think I will just keep knitting and spinning and pretend that someday it will be gone.

So, as I hoped, it was a weekend of puttering about and getting things done in spurts, interwoven with long bouts of knitting.  A perfect weekend!

Three day weekend, with a Friday list

“Today is my Friday!” is what one of A’s former coworkers liked to say at the end of a short week. It always makes me laugh. And today IS my Friday, tomorrow is a holiday. I am so excited for this time to get our house cleaned and put back together, and to spend time with A and the cats.

SIL got a great report at the doctor yesterday. Cast is gone, she has a referral for PT, clearance to drive, and go to work next week. A got her moved back home and settled in yesterday afternoon. 

I put some of our living room furniture back where it belongs, since we don’t need wheel chair clearance. Allie Cat came out of seclusion and was very active. We all had a nice evening.

Today I have a relatively normal day so should get out before dark- yeah!

Here’s what I have planned for tomorrow:

Deep cleaning our bedroom (except for vacuuming, I leave that to the pros) and bathroom.

Change over my closet and get out the winter clothes. And I mean it this time. Been putting it off for weeks but now it is cold out!

Laundry

Grocery shopping

PO

A trip over to the Purple Fleece to pick up the fiber for the ornaments. I want to do that ahead of Saturday W and P so I can stuff a few and get a feel for how much is needed, then get more Saturday if I need to. I also want to get more of the white yarn so I can do more colors, lol. And a jar of a gold dye. I have yellow and should be able to mix gold but I can’t seem to get it how I picture it.

That actually should exhaust me completely so that I spend the evening knitting. 😂

Also this weekend I need to set up my display table, tag my things, make some cards to sell, and create my table signs for next Saturday’s craft fair. 

And I am going to make sure we run over to see SIL and return her trundle bed. Then I can work on getting the guest room back in order.

A busy weekend! Good thing it is a long one!

Three day weekend, with a Friday list

“Today is my Friday!” is what one of A’s former coworkers liked to say at the end of a short week. It always makes me laugh. And today IS my Friday, tomorrow is a holiday. I am so excited for this time to get our house cleaned and put back together, and to spend time with A and the cats.

SIL got a great report at the doctor yesterday. Cast is gone, she has a referral for PT, clearance to drive, and go to work next week. A got her moved back home and settled in yesterday afternoon. 

I put some of our living room furniture back where it belongs, since we don’t need wheel chair clearance. Allie Cat came out of seclusion and was very active. We all had a nice evening.

Today I have a relatively normal day so should get out before dark- yeah!

Here’s what I have planned for tomorrow:

Deep cleaning our bedroom (except for vacuuming, I leave that to the pros) and bathroom.

Change over my closet and get out the winter clothes. And I mean it this time. Been putting it off for weeks but now it is cold out!

Laundry

Grocery shopping

PO

A trip over to the Purple Fleece to pick up the fiber for the ornaments. I want to do that ahead of Saturday W and P so I can stuff a few and get a feel for how much is needed, then get more Saturday if I need to. I also want to get more of the white yarn so I can do more colors, lol. And a jar of a gold dye. I have yellow and should be able to mix gold but I can’t seem to get it how I picture it.

That actually should exhaust me completely so that I spend the evening knitting. 😂

Also this weekend I need to set up my display table, tag my things, make some cards to sell, and create my table signs for next Saturday’s craft fair. 

And I am going to make sure we run over to see SIL and return her trundle bed. Then I can work on getting the guest room back in order.

A busy weekend! Good thing it is a long one!

Putting my time to good use

If I must live in a place where it is dark by 4:30, well then, at least I can sit by the fire and knit each evening.

These little ornaments are almost knitting themselves! They are like potato chips, once I finish one, I jump right into the next one!

I can’t wait to get to the Purple Fleece and get some plain wool to stuff them with.

(There is at least one more green and white one, I didn’t get a picture of yet. Maybe two…)

When I got tired of knitting with just the green and white that I had on hand, I got out my dye pots and made a few more colors.

I immediately cast on a peppermint pig.

I think that the blue will be nice for the anchor design in the book,  and some of the others will look great on the tri-color design in the book.  So many options now!  Like I said, potato chip knitting!

I also am working on a color work hat, but it goes slower, with longer rows.  Still, I should finish that this weekend, if I can keep my fingers off the ornament knitting.

 

Today is the day my SIL goes to the doctor and gets her cast off.  They promised her at the start that this day she would be able to walk on the ankle and drive.  She is incredibly nervous that it won’t be true, and I can’t blame her for that!  It has been a long 6 weeks.  But either way, she will go home today.  A will get her settled in again, and tomorrow Sister S will head over and do her grocery shopping again. Unless she is mobile and can do it herself! Deja vu from two weeks ago. We all hope this time it goes better than last time.  She has started thinking about a plan for getting some kind of back up heat for power outages, which is a good thing.

 

There is a long weekend coming up for me — I get Friday off for Veteran’s Day.  I see some deep housecleaning and closet changeover in my future – it has finally gotten cold here, and so I can put away the short sleeved shirts and get out the turtlenecks.  It seems very late this year! And the house is a disaster, with schedules and routines knocked sideways. We will get things under control and get back into our slightly less slovenly ways.  🙂 And maybe I will make you a Friday list?  Bet you can’t wait for that.

It has been a long couple of weeks at work, but we got through our big signature gathering project at the polls yesterday, hit all of our goals – yeah!  Now I have to follow up with the towns on that, and then get a grant out before next Friday.  I had better rest up this weekend, huh?  🙂

 

Longest weekend and no real plans!

This is my favorite weekend of the year. Although I don’t love the end result of rolling the clocks back, I do love the long Sunday!

We have no real plans this weekend, and due to the power still being out in the area, no Whorls and Purls today.  That makes me sad but means I will get some other chores done. 

On the agenda:

Laundry, of course. 

Make jelly with all the thawed berries. And maybe a cranberry duff because I have loads of cranberries thawed now, too and don’t need more cranberry sauce.

Bring in some of the three tons of pellets and bio bricks that are in the driveway.

Dye some bits of yarn different colors for knitting ornaments.

Knit some ornaments.

Clean the bathrooms

Mop the kitchen floor (AFTER I make the jelly!)
That seems enough to do for one weekend, even of it is a long one!

I already have the blackberries dripping for jelly, and some red yarn in the dyepot.  And A and her sister are off to Belfast to go the “big” grocery store to replenish the freezer and fridge. That gives me a quiet hour or two to relax and putter at my own speed. 😉

I think it will be a good weekend!

Longest weekend and no real plans!

This is my favorite weekend of the year. Although I don’t love the end result of rolling the clocks back, I do love the long Sunday!

We have no real plans this weekend, and due to the power still being out in the area, no Whorls and Purls today.  That makes me sad but means I will get some other chores done. 

On the agenda:

Laundry, of course. 

Make jelly with all the thawed berries. And maybe a cranberry duff because I have loads of cranberries thawed now, too and don’t need more cranberry sauce.

Bring in some of the three tons of pellets and bio bricks that are in the driveway.

Dye some bits of yarn different colors for knitting ornaments.

Knit some ornaments.

Clean the bathrooms

Mop the kitchen floor (AFTER I make the jelly!)
That seems enough to do for one weekend, even of it is a long one!

I already have the blackberries dripping for jelly, and some red yarn in the dyepot.  And A and her sister are off to Belfast to go the “big” grocery store to replenish the freezer and fridge. That gives me a quiet hour or two to relax and putter at my own speed. 😉

I think it will be a good weekend!