{Capturing December} Day 25: "Morning"

Presents wrapped and ready under tge tree. Breakfast being made. Then it is time for the reading of the Christmas Story!

{Capturing December} Day 27: "Night"

Cozy by the fire with my tea and some spinning. The lights of the Christmas tree are so pretty after dark!!

{Capturing December} Day 24: "Favorite Part of Christmas Eve"

Attending a midnight candlelight service. Twas amazing and awe inspiring. The postlude organ piece of "Joy to the World" was simply phenomenal. It was a beautiful way to begin Christmas morning.

{Capturing December} Day 23: "Scarf"

I forgot about the photo challenge until late in the evening.  The only scarf handy was the one I had tied my hair up in.

{Capturing December} Day 22: "Tradition"

Watching old Christmas movies together as a family.

{Capturing December} Day 21: "Peace"

{Capturing December} Day 20 "Tree Topper"

{Capturing December} Day 19: "Candy Cane"

{Capturing December} Day 18: "Stockings"

{Capturing December} Day 17: "Presents"

{Capturing December} Day 16: "Outdoor Christmas Lights"

{Capturing December} Day 15: "Favorite Holiday Song"

{Capturing December} Day 14: "Christmas Tree"

{Capturing December} Day 13: "Family"

{Capturing December} Day 12: "A Beautiful Sight"

{Capturing December} Day 11: "Green"

{Capturing December} Day 10: "Wrapping Paper"

This Week's Projects

This week I started a new and quick spinning project. I carded together two of my colorways, "CHESTNUT" and then a small blue and green braid from one of my samplers. I also added a little bit of angora to the mix. The resulting yarn is a heavy worsted, almost bulky in parts. I have a gift in mind for it. We'll see. I only carded about half of it. So this is roughly two ounces.  I love carding together special combinations of fiber to spin. They always come out so unique and beautiful.

I'm also doing some crocheting. I ordered this yarn during Knit Picks Cyber Monday sale for a gift I am making. I haven't done any crocheting in quite awhile. I can certainly tell because after only two evenings of steady crocheting this past weekend, my wrist was cracking constantly while I was crocheting! However this pattern goes fairly fast so I am hoping it is done soon. I prefer to knit.
Speaking of gift-making, Christmas is fast approaching!  I still feel like I have so much to do! How about you? Are you working on any projects for your friends and loved ones?

{Capturing December} Day 9: "Something You're Reading"

{Capturing December} Day 8: "Ornament"

{Capturing December} Day 7: "Bright"

{Capturing December} Day 6: "Shopping"

{Capturing December} Day 5: "Today's Temperature"

Yesterday's photo challenge....

"Capturing December" photo-a-day challange

Day 1: "Your View"

During the month of December I am doing this {Capturing December} photo-a-day challenge. So far it has been a lot of fun. I am using Instagram for this photo challenge as it is fast, easy, and portable. Then I can just transfer the photos to my blog. The day after Thanksgiving our phone server was having a stellar black Friday deal that I couldn't pass up. My old blackberry curve was on its last leg anyways. So needless to say, I have been having way too much fun with my new phone! But besides the all the fun stuff, it is also very useful from the business side of things. All the apps, and technology that make a business run that much smoothly are really quite amazing. I am very grateful and blessed to be able to get a phone that is capable of so much. So without further ado, here are the first 4 days of the photo challenge! 

Day 2: "Favorite Holiday Movie"

Day 3: "Red"

Day 4: "Joyous"

Sale in the Shop this weekend!

Starting right this very minute, I am running a store-wide 10% off "Black Friday through Cyber Monday" sale! I have no idea how this idea will float, or if I'll ever do it again, but I figured it was worth the shot. So if you have a hankering to stock up on roving, spindles, or yarn, now is the time and place to do it! Be it gift giving, gift making, or just splurging on yourself, feel free to come on over and browse to your heart's content!
Visit my shop for more information and details.

I am just popping in to say a quick hello. This last week and a half has been very crazy and VERY busy. Last week I was gone on our annual Christmas project week with my sister-in-law. But at the end of the week we had a Christmas craft fair to attend, so hence we didn't quite get all our Christmas projects done as we were preparing for the craft fair. I wasn't nearly as prepared for our annual week as I should have been. So I still have a lot to do before Christmas  Thankfully there is still a month and a half left in which to finish up my projects, maybe even start and finish some! Hmm. We'll see.

This past Sunday through tomorrow I am staying with some friends and helping out for a few days. They have a deer processing business and things get very busy during opening week. So I am helping with the children, making meals, keeping up with the dishes, etc.

Speaking of food, I'd better run. The menu for tonight is Mexican Chicken Chowder and cornbread and it smells amazing. The perfect meal for a wet, chilly evening such as this! 

Have a blessed evening!

P.S. The photo is from last weekend; Saturday night to be precise. I was on my way home from my sister-in-law and brother's home and had to slow down a few times to snap some photos as the sun set.

Inside Out:: Two

 Inside:: Saturday afternoon at the bookstore with my brother, a stack of reading material, a cup of chai tea, and a tasty dessert! It was a lovely treat. A few hours in the bookstore is such an enjoyable way to spend part of an afternoon. 

Outside:: My fiber, which was not due to arrive for another two to three weeks, showed up on my doorstep this past Wednesday! And so I happily carved out a slot of time in my schedule to do some dyeing. It was especially important to me to have a dye session or two as this weekend was extremely windy and very warm. High 60's, low 70's to be precise. Perfect weather for drying fiber on the line!
I dyed fiber late on Saturday, and I hung 8 ounces outside to dry over night. But I was unsure if it would rain so I decided to keep the rest inside to hang out in the morning. Well, the wind picked up during the night and when I woke up around 5am and heard it I resigned myself to my 8 ounces being lost or in a sad snarl. I had forgotten to put the clothes pins on. 
But, lo and behold, I looked out when the sun came up and the fiber was still on the line with only one tail blowing loose in the wind. I was so very thankful! So Sunday the rest of my fiber blew in the wind, fluffed up beautifully, and is now waiting in a box for me to braid it. I did braid a little last night, Lord willing I can finish it up tonight and then list some tomorrow!
I was extremely happy with the way the colors came out. I dyed some of my regular colorways, plus also created a few new ones. I'm looking forward to sharing them!

Inside Out:: One

Inspired by House Wren Studio, I have decided to do an "Inside Out" post every now and then. Mine may contain several pictures, not just the usual two. It seemed like a fun and inspiring idea that should help me blog more spontaneously, and might even occasionally get me out of a blogging rut; though that's certainly not to say I am in a rut every time I decide to do one! 

Inside:: My projects for today. I mainly worked on my rug hooking. That is to say, of the projects shown the rug hooking is what I concentrated on. I did not spend the whole day rug hooking however! Though I will be the first to admit, I am very slow at it. It is not one of those projects that I can just work on anytime. It doesn't work very well for watching a dvd, I have to always be looking at what I am doing and I miss half the movie. I haven't tried working on it in the car. Lately anyways I have been the driver, not the passenger, on many of the longer trips. But I DO work on it occasionally. And it makes teeny bits of progress each time. One of these days it will be finished and framed. And I DO greatly enjoy working on it. Though there are times when I wish I had chosen a kit with 1/4 width wool strips instead of 1/8 inch........

Outside:: The ladies were all in a huddle, fluffing out their "cowls" (as we like to call them), against the chilly breeze. Alas, they have ceased laying for the winter. I'm already missing the daily fresh eggs.

Spinning For A Pumpkin Sweater

I know I was planning on showing you fair isle today. And I know I had no intention of starting a new spinning project, after all Christmas is fast approaching. But we "happened" to be at a fiber mill today. And I just "happened" to spot this gorgeous pumpkin colored roving. And I did it. I bought a whole pound and a half for a sweater. Gulp. I did not plan on that. But there you have it. 
And you know what? I am very happy with my purchase. It was an excellent price, I LOVE the color, and I have been longing to spin and knit a sweater. So the sweater is now in the very beginning stages. I must say its very fun  to spin this roving, but I am sure by the time I get to the bottom of the bag I will be just a wee bit tired of it. No matter, it will be gorgeous. And I'm looking forward to wearing it!
It's our last night on Holiday. I need to hustle to bed, morning comes early when you have to be packed and out by 10am!

Knitting On Holiday

 This week we are on our autumn family holiday. I haven't done a whole lot of knitting as of yet. But last night I pulled out all these skeins and started winding them while watching Sherlock: The Riechenbach Fall. I got them all wound and today I cast on for Gayle Bunn's "Fair Isle Tam". I have been admiring this tam for a while now, dithering back and forth over which colors I could use, and slowly spinning up small amounts of fingering here and there as time allowed. I finally just decided to dive in, sometimes I over-think a project, trying to get it to be just so, and either it doesn't get started at all because I want it to be perfect, or I start second guessing my decisions. So I decided just to wind it all up and start knitting. I have a pretty good idea of what I want. I know the design will not be as defined as shown in the picture because I'm not using solids.

Nevertheless, I think it will be gorgeous. I love knitting with handspun yarn, and it has been quite awhile since I worked on a fair isle project. Winter is just around the corner and I am nowhere near ready for it. My handknit collection is woefully short of where I had hoped for it to be by this time. Of course many unexpected things arose late summer and early fall. The last of which was my Grandma moving in with us. It was quite sudden, and we only had a few weeks to decide where we were all going to be, then clean, sort pack and switch the whole house around. Grandma moved in this past weekend but I already had a previous commitment Thursday through Monday, so I had to be moved out of my old room and into the new by Wednesday. It was lots of hurry and flurry, and I was so glad to be done with my room and out on the road, driving the three hours to our friends home on Thursday afternoon. It was nice just to sit still for a bit!
We arrived back home on Monday, packed up and headed off on holiday. It has been a slow, quiet, restful week thus far. Despite the chilly weather and rain we are really enjoying ourselves, especially the slower pace and lack of pressing duties. This holiday arrived at the perfect time for us. Lord willing we will go home recharged and ready to get back into the swing of autumn busyness. 
I'll hopefully be back soon with some knitting to show you!

The best way to dry fiber...

 .......is on the line, in the sunshine and breeze!

 The view from my window. It was nice to see the fiber on the line and the fields in the distance. Even in the autumn there is such pretty prospect, so much scope for the imagination.

One of these new colorways is up in the SHOP already. Stop by and check it out if you have a chance!

Misty Autumn Morning

The other day I took a break from my cleaning to run outside and take some pictures. It was misty and the sun was just breaking through the clouds, it was just lovely. The boys and ladies were out in the damp, having breakfast. Most ignored my presence but Mounty watched me curiously. He has always been such an inquisitive little guy. I do have some sad news to share about the boys. But I shall save that for some other time.

There was still a gentle misting of rain lingering on the grasses and leaves. Most everything is dead, and trodden down with autumn rains, but these few grass heads were bobbing in the early morning light.

 But the sky was blue, showing promises of a warm, sunny day later on and as I was finishing my walk the sun came out and brightened up the grey morning.

Most of the leaves have fallen, but there was a lovely patch of yellow leaves in the front yard that were just calling my name. They were also a bit misted with rain, and blowing about in the breeze. But there was a few that held still so I could photograph them. Autumn is always so lovely to experience, so many different and unique colors. It is a blessing to be able to enjoy the beauty of the creation God has made.