Black Friday...

It even sounds scary! I make it a point to stay safely tucked in at home and away from the madness. I can't imagine getting up in the middle of the night to go out into the crowds of shoppers. There is nothing that I want THAT bad! Some people love it!  I don't get it.

One week to go until the sale in Battle Lake. I have been busy spinning up yarn. Mostly, I have been spinning worsted weight yarn out of naturally colored wool. Beautiful shades of brown, fawn, white, grey and silver. While I am spinning I think about all the possibilities of each yarn. I have to squeeze it, smell it, feel how soft it is once it is spun, wash it, and then measure and price it. It surprises me that I ever allow myself to sell any if this! I am also working on a few gifts. I did not take on any knitting projects for other people this year.

 It seems that no matter how well I plan, or how much I think I am keeping to a schedule, this time of the year I always feel like I am behind and desperately trying to catch up! I have finally gotten so that by about the 20th of December I call it quits. What is done is done, what is not will be late. I make myself slow down and enjoy the season. Spend time with family and friends and take a look back on the year that was. I try to decide what is important to me for the coming year. This way, when the season has passed I don't feel like I have missed it!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and or Hanukah. We spent the day with my husband 's family. It is almost impossible to get every one together. We did pretty good this time. We were only missing nephew John and his wife Katy. That is understandable, though, since they live in Russian Mission, Alaska. It takes several plane changes before they even get to Anchorage, let alone back down to Minnesota. Hopefully they will be here at Christmas.

Sorry, no pictures this time!

Glamping Here I Come!

I don't know if you have heard of it, but Glamping is BIG stuff right now. We have a big camper for camping with me, my husband, and the three dogs...size is important there. But, I have wanted a smaller camper for me for a long time. I want one I can pull with my car. I want one that I can easily pull, park, and set up myself. When I started looking at pictures of camper re-dos and "Glampers", I got a little excited. I showed my husband some of the pictures and explained what I had in mind,. He thought the vintage campers that are all dolled up were kind of fun. There are a whole bunch of photos and ideas on Pinterest.

I started looking for a small, older camper and today I bought one. I drove 250 miles roud trip to get it and bring it home. My buddy Gus rode along for company. He is a good traveler, but I had to give him half my chicken nuggets!



My new old camper is a 12' 1969 Forester. The outside just needs some paint. The paint on it isn't that bad, but it is not "glamorous'. I am thinking of white with turquoise accents. The inside is a different story. There is one broken window across the front.  And the door needs some work. I also will  'pretty-up' all the trim somehow, not sure just yet. Window boxes might be nice...There is a rack on the back of the camper that could be revamped for extra storage for traveling to shows and sales (or could carry a small motorcycle). The baby moon hubcaps should shine up nicely. An awning would be a nice touch as well.

The inside is a different story. The floor plan is set up so there is a dinette/bed in the front. The bathroom is across from the door. Next to that is the sink and stove. Next to the door and across from the stove is the fridge and next to that is the furnace. There is a sofa that goes across the back that makes into a bed as well. I like the floor plan, I think...but that is the extent of it. I plan to replace the walls, floor, ceiling, and some of the built-ins. I will be making new curtains, painting, building a new table, maybe new benches for the dinette, and pretty much gutting and starting from scratch. I may have a source from some bigger windows. I would like to have a lot of windows and light. The interior will match the exterior. I have seen a lot of cute pictures of vintage camper re-dos and I will have to figure out the best way to fix this to meet my needs. I will post before and after shots of the whole thing so stay tuned!

All in all, I am pretty excited. I think that this will be a lot of work, but should be fun and I know that I will enjoy camping in it. I have a lot of time to think about it...and to do the work. It is November. It snowed here today.  Won't be camping for a while now! But..sisters of the road...Here I Come!

By the by, the one major thing missing from this little gem is a name. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

New Mittens!

Not all my yarn gets sold...My sister, Sara, is an addicted knitter. She makes beautiful things and can actually finish what she starts! She can finish a lace shawl or a sweater seemingly in no time. I am always amazed by her. Another thing about her is that she is meticulous in what she does. She is a process knitter and so has no problem frogging if something isn't perfect.

My niece is coming back to Minnesota for the holidays. Sara is making her a slouch hat and wanted some nice fluffy yarn to make it with. She told me she wanted it to be a soft grey. I just happened to have a lovely, silvery-grey roving that I thought would be perfect. I spun the wool into a two-pli yarn that had a lot of loft and softness to it. In return, I got a pair of wonderful mittens that are hand knit in a fair isle pattern. The mittens got done just in time for the perfect weather to wear them. I love my new mittens!

I also thought I would share another pattern. I have been making a few things to display as samples of  what some of my yarns look like knit up. I designed and crocheted this hat in a very short time using about 40 yards of white mohair and 60 yards of wool. I will be posting the pattern as soon as I have it written up.







I look forward to seeing some of you at the Battle Lake High School at the Craft Sale on Dec. 7th. If you get there, be sure to say hello!

Working on some New Yarns

I am busy spinning up yarn for the next sale. This time I will be in Battle Lake, MN on Dec. 7, 2013.

This is the latest. It is a wool and Mohair blend. I did he color blending on the blending board. I have 440 yards of this. It is a worsted weight yarn. (Color 261).

I have also been working on new patterns and knitting up some samples. This is my newest pattern. Fingerless mitts with a thumb gusset using less than 60 yards. I knit these out of mohair on size 8 straight needles. The side seams are sewn. They are very simple to make. Very warm! Great for a last minute gift or for using up your stash.

I will be posting this pattern on my pattern page. I will also post photos of more of my new yarns. Keep watching. Hope to see you in Breckenridge!

Made it to the Wheaton Sale

Well, we got to the sale! Had a wonderful time. We got a great spot. I already reserved the same spot for next year.  The products we had were well received. One of the best things about going to events  like this is meeting other people who appreciate what you are doing and have their own stories to tell. I saw one piece of information stating that there were seventy vendors. I think it must have ended up being more than that. This sale was huge. I saw several of the vendors and demonstrators from Rosholt there. Some venders have been to this sale several times. Others are first timers like me.

There were all sorts of things for sale. Embroidery, quilting, knitting sewing, soap making, jewelry making, baking to name just a few.  The woman in the booth next to me was selling mittens made from wool sweaters. They were lined with flannel or fleece and some had leather patches sewn to the palms. They were very pretty and extremely warm. I wanted to buy a pair, but got too busy! Another vender was selling woven rugs that were really nicely done, including some woven with core-spun alpaca (that if I had, I would have to sleep on it...Mmmmmmm).

My friend Susie was with me. She is the person I have mentioned here before that makes paper. She had a selection of hand folded "keeper boxes", hand made cards, booklets and more.

She also had book markers, books and cards that folded into tree ornaments and more. There was nothing else like it at the sale and people seemed intrigued with her product. People often don't get past the folded crane when thinking about Origami. There is so much more to it. Plus, she had some beautiful handmade paper.

I had all the racks full of yarn in the beginning as well as baskets of skeins. By the time the sale was over the baskets were nearly empty and the racks were getting bare! I have a lot of spinning to do before the next sale in Battle Lake, MN on December 7th. 

I had a lot of fun demonstrating the spinning process and blending wool with the blending board. I sold most of my blended yarn so I am already busy making more! People seemed to enjoy seeing how the colors were blended and the wool was prepared for spinning. They are always amazed at the magic of a fluffy piece of wool turning into a strand of yarn! It was fun to explain the whole process from shearing to spinning and dyeing. 

I want to thank the Wheaton Area Schools Community Education for hosting this event. Janet Koch did a wonderful job of setting things up and making sure everything ran smoothly. I can't imagine the amount of planning and the work it must take to pull something like this together. The whole event was a lot of fun and I think everyone there was enjoying themselves. I am certainly looking forward to being a part of the 2014 Holiday Craft Fair!