A Week In My Life

Monday morning started off with one of my favorite things ~ a package on the porch full of New Yarn!!! I decided to get a real early jumpstart on a at least a couple of Christmas presents. I know, it's hard to even think of Christmas when all we're really wanting at this point is the freshness of SPRINGTIME! But, since I will have a year full of trying to keep my Etsy shop stocked, filling local orders and introducing others to the wonderful world of fiber fun, I know I'll have to work on gifts here and there along the way.

This beautiful assortment of fingering weight yarn is from Knit Picks. Other than my local yarn shop {always, always, always my first love!}, this is my other favorite supply source. The yarn and needles are fabulous, the shipments are very fast and there is no shipping charge for orders over $50.oo.
This time I chose 3 shades of "Imagination" yarn, which is a blend of superwash merino wool, superfine alpaca and nylon. The color names are fun: Looking Glass, Frog Prince, & Mermaid Lagoon. I have a specific project in mind for all of them, but I can't tell what it is now because that would ruin my Christmas surprises! Monday evening took me back to my girls at Eli's, where we sip tea or coffee, swap stories, & play with yarn. I have a new student {this was her 2nd week} who is learning to knit. Erin, who is left handed, has never tried to work with yarn before. I am right handed and it is far more challenging for me to teach a lefty to knit than to crochet. So, she decided since she was "all thumbs" feeling anyway that she would learn to knit right handed. She's doing a GREAT job! I'm always amazed at how well lefty's learn to adjust in a right~handed world. {My Chelsea is left~handed also}.

Tuesday morning I mailed off the surprise gift to Kar and am anxiously awaiting news that she's received it so I can have the unveiling for all of you! Then on tuesday evening I got an interesting request from someone on my Etsy shop. She likes my tea cozies and is wondering if I can make something similar for her to cover the box she keeps her mothers ashes in. I told her I will certainly give it my best shot & that I'm honored to be asked. Anything that helps her honor the memory of her mother works for me. I'll keep you posted on the progress of this endeavor.

Wednesday morning started off with a trip to Ewenique Yarns {my beloved yarn shop!} to give a one on one crochet lesson. Cindy wants to make a beautiful granny square afghan {Hmmm.... reminds me of someone else out there ~ how's it going Patti Cakes?}. At the end of the lesson she had one big beautiful multi~colored square finished. She went on her way happy and ready to tackle the rest of the squares. She said she will probably call me when it comes time for the border. I just love that single moment when I can see it "click" for someone. I LOVE passing on something that has continued to give me such pleasure over the years.

When I returned home yesterday, Little Miss Gabby greeted me first thing with 10 toenails painted bright pink. Mommy delighted her with this girlie treat. Gabby seems to finally be over her fever and perked up pretty good now. Nothing quite like a fresh pedicure to perk a girl right up!

Anyway, the rest of my week and weekend holds the plan to crochet at least one more washcloth and one more scarflette for my Etsy shop. Then I may add some knitted sterling wire and glass bead jewelry to my list of things to do.

The Scripture on my sidebar for today seems appropriate right now:

"Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished, but he that gathereth by labour shall increase."

Proverbs 13:11

Guess I'll just keep working away. If that's what you want to call something I have SO MUCH FUN DOING!

May God bless your hands and all they have to do today. May he also bless those who are touched by your hands along the way!

Mums The Word

Ah! she is not a "Summer Friend",

She stays when all the rest have flown,

And left us flowerless and alone;

No singing birds, or blooms to lend

Their brightness to the autumn haze,

Tis' she who cheers the dreary days;

Tis' joy to know so sweet a friend;

No fairer flower blooms 'neath the sun

Than autumn's queen Chrysanthemum."

Hattie L. Knapp

Although I much prefer gentle Spring and sweet~ sweet Summer to Autumn any day, one thing I do love about Fall is the beauty of mums. Of course, as I'm sure you have all gathered by now, if it blooms ~ it's working for me! But, back to chrysanthemums. I love the delicate fresh scent and compact frilliness of them. I like the fact that they stand up tall and crowd in close to each other. And I especially love that they show up just as I'm starting to mourn the loss of my beloved summertime. They bring with them the fresh promise of hope. They tell me that after the earth and its living flora take a winters nap, there will be new life blooming just around the corner.

When I stumbled upon this vintage pattern for a crocheted dishcloth with a lovely mum blossoming up from its center, I knew I HAD TO make one! Instead of using the cotton I would normally use for a dishcloth, I crocheted it from my favorite Debbie Bliss cotton yarn. It's 100% pure cotton and NOBODY makes a cotton yarn as soft and lovely to work with as Debbie Bliss {you may remember I have mentioned before that Debbie Bliss is my favorite knitting designer and I always love her yarns}. I chose this yarn especially because, in my opinion, the design is just too pretty to stick down in a sink full of dirty dishes {funny ~ I seem to remember mentioning a sink full of dishes in my last post ~ now you know where you can usually find me ~ I'm at the kitchen sink! When my nephew was little he asked me, "Auntie, why are your clothes always wet down the front?" I told him it's because I'm ALWAYS washing dishes!!!}. Anyway, I used a better quality, softer yarn and made this one a face or body cloth {or just a "look pretty"!}.

And with Spring knocking at our doors {HOPEFULLY~ because I, for one, am sure ready to let it in!}, I went with my favorite springtime color combination of soft pink, celery green and cream.

This was so much fun to make and is SO ~ SO HEAVENLY to touch and look at that I'm going to play around with the color combination and crochet some more. This one will be on my Etsy shop pretty soon. What a lovely gift these cloths would make with some bubble bath and scented soap!

One last tidbit~

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my last post. You all warm my heart so much! Gabby is doing better and we all got a full nights sleep last night. What a difference that always makes.

May you all have a warm, happy evening with your loved ones.