International Craft Day


Did you know that today happens to be "International Craft Day"? Well...'international' may be a stretch. Truth be told, it's not even "National Craft Day"...but it is the first Sunday after Thanksgiving, which means it is "Craft Day" in our household!

When Joe and I were just dating, I taught him how to knit on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The two of us sat all day working on our projects. By the end of the day, Joe had a very tightly-knit pot holder(which never actually made its way off the needles). At the time, we jokingly called the day "Craft Day", and have acknowledged this day as a holiday ever since!

Today marks the sixth annual Craft Day and crafts are certainly a'plenty here! Besides working on slippers, I will be using the oatmeal colored yarn above to work on my next pattern. In case you were wondering, the yarn is Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky in Porcupine. Joe plans on expanding his knitting repertoire by learning how to knit cables. This way he will be able to test knit my new pattern- what fun!

I realize that I should have given a head's up to my readers beforehand to announce Craft Day, but at least I didn't let the day go by without posting! So today it's me, Joe, warm mugs of Chai tea, a fire, the rain, and knitting- perfect!

With a Heart Full of Thanks



There is no doubt that I have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. God has blessed me with a wonderful and supportive husband, a loving family, and great friends.

This year took an interesting turn for me. At the beginning of 2009, it had been a while since I had even picked up my knitting needles. In February, I started getting the itch to knit again. Perhaps it was the fact that we kept our house at somewhere between 55-60 degrees due to high propane costs. I decided I wanted to make myself a cowl to wear around the house and started looking for patterns. When I didn't find a pattern I liked, I decided to just play around and figure something out.

By March I began getting ideas for an Etsy shop with knitted goods. I spent time on the forums and got myself all set up. By March 31st, I was up and running (I didn't want to launch on April Fool's Day, after all!).

I never thought about making my patterns available, but that seemed to be what I was getting contacted about the most. I joined Ravelry soon after Etsy, but was scared off. I'm not sure why it intimidated me, but it did. I still regret that decision- Ravelry is AMAZING!

A few months ago I decided to take the plunge and try to put some project pictures up on Ravelry. Soon after posting my French Press Felted Slippers people began to contact me about a pattern. This was when I decided it was time.

On October 12th, I launched the pattern. I was ecstatic to get home from work last week to see this:
I couldn't believe my slippers were the #1 "New and Popular" pattern on Ravelry. I have all of you to thank, and I will say "thanks" with a free pattern!

This is a pattern I promised before, I just worked extra hard to get it our earlier than expected! It is a simple newborn hat that is meant for the hospital. It is made a bit smaller than other newborn hats I have found(which say newborn, but end up being too large). The idea is to give baby a new hat on their first outing- from hospital to home. So I introduce you to "Bring Me Home Hat".

~A simple knitted hat in a true newborn size. Made with the softest organic cotton, perfect for the little one’s delicate skin. This hat is worked in the round on double pointed needles. It starts with a seed stitch brim that is followed with a row of eyelets. It is perfect for expectant parents who do not know if they are having a boy or a girl. They can bring both the pink and blue ribbon with them and have the perfect hat to bring baby home in.~

You can download this free pattern on Ravelry here. Not on Ravelry(you should be...it's free, and as I said before: AMAZING!)? You can download it here.

Besides this wonderful surprise on Ravelry, I also hit 500 sales in my Etsy shop last week. Maybe I'll even hit 50 blog followers today? So, as a second token of my appreciation, I have been working hard to get another pattern available for purchase on both Etsy and Ravelry. My goal is to have it up by next week.

Again, thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU! This has been so exciting for me and I have loved all the encouraging notes and support.



Fall Decor





I love fall... I believe I touched on this subject before! It is a beautiful season, the outdoors are truly at their finest.

It should therefore be no surprise that I also enjoy when my indoor decor echos these outdoor hues. Houses look so beautiful in warm and comforting tones. I even make sure I have candles that smell like pumpkin pie burning 24/7.

But not this year. This is as far as I got.

About two months ago I took my fall decor out of our storage room and moved it into the upstairs hallway. I really thought I would get it all set up... turns out, I was wrong!



Between work, the slipper making, and trying to work on some patterns, the decor was neglected. I even bought little pumpkins for my mantle that never got put to use. So sad... sorry, little pumpkins!

I did, however get my favorite fall picture up:


I fell in love with this picture when I first saw it in the Martha Stewart Living Magazine last fall. I immediately ripped out the page and framed it. Who knew a torn out magazine page could make such a statement!


At this point, I figure it's time I put the fall away and just let my Christmas decorations take their turn in the hallway. Who knows, maybe I'll get around to putting them up this season!