It came!!!

I ordered a yarn swift last Thursday from Knit Picks. It came today! I am so excited to finally have a swift! I've already wound up a ball of hand spun yarn and I love it. It's so much easier than laying the skein down on the table and it getting all tangled up. Or having my poor husband hold a skein in his hands so I can manually wind it up into a ball. I am sure this will be used a lot!

I also made my first ever finger-less gloves. I made a hat with this same yarn, so decided to make a set with hat, gloves and a scarf. I think the gloves could have been longer? What do you think? I've never made any before, so I am learning. And I knit them flat and sewed them together. I think next time I'll go ahead and knit in the round. And make them a bit longer. But it was fun and I will be making more.

What have y'all been working on? It's just the right knid of weather for knitting. Or crocheting. Or quilting. Or just making. Right?

Hand knits. And more soap.

Yesterday, I got to make 3 batches of soap! 2 that morning, then another when we got home. We went to the dump, with a truckload of junk that I cleaned from the house.

So I made Spiced Mahogany and Cedar Safron first. They are on the left. Then when I got back home, I made more Dragon's Blood. It is not black like the first batch I made last month. I wonder why? I can't remember which crock pot I used the first time. But one cooks hotter than the other one. I used the slower one last night for this soap. Maybe it'll darken up as it cures? I will see. I hope it comes out of this mold too. My niece made it and it's a bit tall and goes in a little at the top. Makes it hard to get the soap out.

I had to buy a new scale and another stick blender too. This makes the 4th one so far. I still have the 3rd one, but it's a bit slow. But the new one is a Hamilton-Beach and is super fast. On both speeds. I have to hold the lid up so the soap doesn't splatter me. I did get some lye under my left thumb nail. Really feels like a bad burn. Not fun.

Tomorrow, I'll make 3 more soaps. Have to get ready for 3 holiday markets. Gotta get busy!

I made 2 pockets for my sweater. Just have to get them sewn on now. And I need a really big button. Big.

 This is a hat I knit with some of the yarn I got at SAFF. It's a pattern I found in Taproot magazine that I really love. It's so easy to follow the pattern too. And the other hat I knit I sold.  It doesn't really capture the pretty color in this picture. But I love it.

 And some leg warmers I knit with my ewe Darla's wool. They are so heavy and think and man are they warm! I love them. When I was about halfway done with the first one, on the left, I thought it might be a good idea to write down what I was doing. So the 2nd one is a bit bigger. I must have used a bigger needle, which I forgot to write down. But I actually like it better. It goes on easier and is not so tight at the ankle. So I am learning as I go.

Also on my sweater, I learned to bind off on larger needles. I did not know that on the neck or bottom, that's why they are tighter and won't stretch like I want. So little things like that make it easier. Also, to use a smaller needle when doing the ribbing.

So, off to spend the day with my mom. And a few errands. And lots of shopping! Which reminds me, I bought a pair of jeans yesterday in size 16. I didn't try them on at the store. I put them on this morning, and they fit!!!!!!!! So down from a size 20, sometimes 22, to a 16! Cool, right? I would love to be at least a size 12 by March though.

Just busy busy! And a sweater.

This is the first day in weeks I have bee home all day. So this morning, I told my husband to back the truck up to the kitchen door. I started in the laundry room. Took load after load of trash and junk out to the truck. Then went into the tv room. More and more junk went to the truck. Also in the kitchen. So now the truck is just about full and ready for a trip to the dump.

I also have about 20 gallon jugs and 9 2 1/2 qt jugs for my friend Sarah, who has milk cows. I don't need all those jars with just 2 goats. Also will take her all my grains for making bread, which I will not be making anymore. I'll keep the oats. But she can have the rest. That cleared out the laundry room and I can actually fold clothes in the now! And see the floor! And after I take all those jars to Sarah, I'll have a whole empty counter! Feels SO good to get rid of so much junk.

AND, took 2 huge bags of stuff out of the bathroom. Good grief, where does it all come from?

Mow to get the son-in-law over here on a nice day to move some furniture out of the tv room. It really feels good in there now, but will be much better with the desk out. And the pie safe and table over here in the studio.

I have been working on my sweater at Mrs. T's and doctor's offices. I am finished with the sweater. Have it all woven in. I need to sew on a big button. And it needs blocked again. I also want to make 2 pockets. I learned a lot knitting this sweater. Like how to pick up stitches. How to make a button hole. How to increase. There are a lot of mistakes in the ribbing. I also learned to bind off using a larger size needle. Didn't know that on the neck and the bottom. But I did on the front sides. I think I might go ahead and start another sweater. I just love knitting now!

It's getting cold! I hope my husband made a fire in the stove when I go back over there. It's cold in the studio. Don't know what I'll do for heat over here. I think I might get one of those radiator heaters. There are 3 wall heaters in here, but goodness, they sure make the electric bill go sky high. There used to be a little wood heater over here, but when we put the new roof on, they covered the pipe hole. That'd be a lot of work heating this with wood.

I had a call from the event coordinator for Cloudland Station today. They are having a holiday event Nov. 28 and 29 from 12-7. She wanted to know if I'd be interested in coming again? Yes, I would! So I have got to get busy making more soap now. That'll be 3 holiday markets in a row I need to go to.

So just wanted to stop in and say hello. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. And that your week is awesome!

This...

is what I have to knit. I bought the exact same yarn and got the pattern with it. It's an alpaca, angora and silk blend yarn. It's beautiful and soft and amazing! BUT, I need help reading this pattern. Because I have to start at the top in the middle. So the next knitting class I take is going to be on how to read a pattern. Because I really really want to knit this shawl. Like really bad. And it cost me $45. So I have to knit this shawl. They of course said it was really easy. And that I could do it. Ya think? I love it!

                                       It looks white in these pictures, but it's a really soft gray.

So many sheep. And goats.

This is the sheep and goat arena at SAFF. SO many sheep! All colors and sizes and breeds.

This is a Romney ram. For sale. Isn't he handsome? I love the color. That's my dream, to have a Romney ram this color to breed my Finn sheep with. One day.

                                                       All Romney rams. And for sale too.

This is a Shetland. She's beautiful. I love their faces. They have such sweet faces and the colors are all so different on each one.

                              A Tunis. I love them too! I love their red faces. And look at those ears!

                                     I think this is a Shetland ram here. This is my favorite color.

And some sheep with dread locks!! How cool is this? I think these are a Wenslydale-Teeswater cross. Love it! They are cool and they know it!

                                                 Then I think this guy is a Cotswold? So cool!

                               And a few sheep. Isn't this color amazing? And they are SO soft too.

And this one! I wanted to take this one home with me, just so I could run my hands through the fiber all the time.

So so many sheep. They were all beautiful and their wool was just amazing.

With all the rain we've been having here, my sheep's wool is so clean and pretty. That's the only good thing about the rain right now. I can see the crimp and color so much better when it's wet.

But, days like these, I want to just sell all my animals and the farm and move to a high rise condo in the middle of Chattanooga. I HATE the mud and much and mess of it all. And it's just November. It's going to be like this til June. UGH!!! Seems like fall and winter has been like this now for years. I just hate it. I just slip and slide all over. I'm trying to lay old hay along the paths where the animals and I have to walk all the time, to make it a little easier. But then I'm sneezing and itching all over.

Speaking of hay, I have to get another round bale for the sheep and more squares for the goats. I gave Inga and Alva to my friend Cara, so just have Freja and Olga and the stinky buck. I have to get rid of him now. He's just not friendly at all. But I have about 4 months to find a home for him. And I need to make sure the girls are bred too.

I hope it's a little drier where y'all are. It's going to be in the 70'2 here! At least it's warm.

Oh the colors!

 Color overload! Just look at all these amazing colors!

My niece Jill and I went to SAFF this weekend in Asheville, N.C. It was SO fun! So much to see and touch and smell. I was in fiber heaven, let me tell you. Just amazing. So many wonderful creative people there.

Just feast your eyes on all this fibery goodness!

                                         This is the back of Jill. looking at a beautiful sweater.

It was almost too much to see. And not enough time! And every time we'd walk back through the same place we'd just been, we'd see more that we missed the first time.

We didn't even go to the alpaca and llama barn or the fleece barn. Just so much to see and do. It was amazing. I can hardly wait to go back next year.

I got some yarn and roving. And a beautiful kit to make a shawl. I'll show all that later. And some beautiful sheep.

37 years...

 and wouldn't trade it for anything..

I was at lunch today with my mom and looked at the date and realized it was my anniversary.  Isn't that crazy? Just forget something like that?

This guy is amazing. I first met him in St. Elmo all those years ago. It was like we looked at each other and knew each other. I didn't live here. Me and a friend had come up here looking for her friend. And met my future husband. We stayed here a few days, then went back to South Ga. I had his phone number. I didn't call him for a few weeks. When I did, he said he wanted me to come back. He had a little house he'd just bought and it would be perfect for us. So I did. I was just 20 years old. He was 30. That was in June. We got married in October.

I loaded up all my belongings in my Pinto and drove up here to Chattanooga. Been here ever since. 37 years now. This is home. We've raised to beautiful daughters. And now have 3 beautiful grand daughters. It's been a good life. Not always happy. Not always fun. But we never gave up. There were times when I wanted to leave. And did a few times. But I could never give up on what we have.

Tiny is a good man. And good father. A great husband. He'd do anything for me. And for his kids. And for his friends. He's so giving and loving and kind. And such a hard worker too. I love this man. Through thick and thin. Good times and bad. Rich and lean. It's always been good.

I hope to have 37 more years with him.