My husband and I have a simple tradition for our holiday gifts to each other of a Christmas date each year.  It was the best present we could give each other since we had children right away.  A night to ourselves has always been much loved.  Sometimes a movie, sometimes a show, and always good food.


This year I went full on Christmas Carol junkie and made reservations for us at one of my favorite historic towns theatre for a production of A Christmas Carol with dinner at a local restaurant that has been on our list to eat at.  The production was fantastic and had us both teary at the end.




Then one of the best surprises was that I did not realize the dinner would be themed to Dickens 19th century London.  We feasted on lobster bisque, beggar's purse with lamb, baked apples, smoked goose with sweet potato and green beans and a finale of English pudding.  Needless to say I chose to eat at least bites of everything though I no longer eat refined sugars and to no surprise my favorite was the smoked goose and the couple bites of English pudding.  The meal was fabulous and I am going to spend the next year try to find or create a recipe with no refined sugars before next Christmas- I am smitten!



I love this little town- a true gem.  It has my favorite yarn shop and now my top of the list theatre!

One of our gifts we did this year we have been working on for a few months.  I was inspired by Homestead Honey to make some Nocino- Walnut Liquer.  We started it when the walnuts were immature on the tree.  We started with a small batch this first year and hoping to get some good feedback from what we gifted.




After a few months of soaking in vodka with some cinnamon, anise, and citrus peel we strained it and added a simple syrup and then let it sit some more.  I filtered it one more time through a coffee filter before jar it up with some fun custom labels.


We are really hoping to make some good use from these bloody walnuts we have been living with for several years!  Next on the potential list is dyeing some yarn with them!

What is being dubbed as icepocolypse hit our community yesterday.  A sheet of ice hit our town early in the day caused tons of havoc.  Thankfully all in my family made it to safe spots yesterday today and tonight.  Thankful for no crashed cars (though close calls) or injuries.  Hoping all in my community are safe and we are hunkering down now for the snow to come on top of the ice and bloody cold temps.

One cancellation that came today was my Christmas date tradition that DH and I have each year.  I had planned a trip to one of my favorite little historic towns for a performance of The Christmas Carol and dinner.  The Christmas Carol is one of my favorite Christmas stories.  I have seen it live just once and was looking forward to this but we are rescheduled for later in the week barring all the weather cooperates!

So for today I am still reading my copy that I just acquired with illustrations of Dickens handwritten manuscript.  I can remember a copy like this that my auntie gave my parents when I was little and I loved looking at it.  I had no idea it would stick with me my whole life.

Tonight we are hunkering in and I think I am going to snuggle up with a warm hot toddy and watch the George C. Scott version.  Yep- Dickens nerd!




And because I love it so there are "humbugs" featured in my shop right now- silly little bugs- they kind of got a bad reputation- they actually love Christmas and singing, just not until December!

As I sit in front of my christmas tree tonight snuggled up in a wool sweater and sitting on a warm sheep skin on my chair I am nursing some very sore fingers.  I have been kicking in some overtime with toy making this week for holiday orders and then I decided a couple days ago I wanted to knit up a quick cowl for nieces birthday present.



It was a quick decision, bit last minute so I decided to go with a bulky weight yarn for speed.  At first I thought I could just find a basic bulky weight wool at the craft store.  I really am becoming a yarn snob because all I could find was some blends of 20% wool or alpaca and 80% acrylic.  I am really at a big place of disliking more and more acrylic.  Primarily it is because of the environmental impact and I am also finding I also just do not like the feel of it.  So I had myself convinced it would be okay with the blend and bought it and then the more I sat with it yesterday I just said nope.  I went to one of the local yarn shops and found a bulky merino wool- all wool.

Much better- so I cast in on last night and knit the first repeat before bed and then woke up this morning and finished it in just a couple hours.  Super quick easy and pretty pattern if you need a last minute gift.  The pattern is Roxy's Cowl by Diana Burk.  Since I had a heavier weight yarn it did not knit up as long but I think she will like the length.  I would love to try this in some Quince and Co yarn like she used in the pattern.

So my fingers get a break tonight and I will be doing some more reading in the Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook that I am really enjoying.  Seems like that "death before acrylic" saying is becoming more and more of my mantra.

One of the charities that I admire and like to give to each year is Heifer International- I really like their philosophy for connecting animals to families in need with livestock and skills to raise them.  Last year I made our immediate family members sheep ornaments with family member initials and then made a gift in their name to Heifer for a share of a sheep.



This year I opened it up to the shop and am donating a portion of the custom "branded" sheep ornaments to Heifer this December.  I just listed a fresh batch if you are interested; there is still time to get before the holidays.



I will list a total of the proceeds that will be donated in January.  And if you also need another good stocking stuffer for a knitter; I just added a sheep moleskine journal.

I do love these wooly critters!

I may be an urbanite, but this weekend my country roots came through.  I found myself hunkering down at home after a busy week of a fundraiser that we hosted and fighting a cold.  So the weekend presented itself with plenty of country-esque living skills.



We got our tree- we always do a live tree.  I like the touch, the look, the smell.  To be honest I like that it is a bit different each year and since we live in a pretty small home I like that I don't have to store a tree somewhere.



It was also ham curing weekend for the youngest.  This is his second year doing hams for a 4-H project.  Last year his ham went to auction at the county fair so this year he decided to go for 2 hams!  They are trimmed, loaded up with homemade cure, wrapped up, and hanging in the ham shed outside.  They will be all closed up until the spring when he will remove the cure and scrub and let age for a few more months until the fair.  Fingers crossed we might get to eat one this year!



I strained some homemade nocino; a homemade walnut liquor.  This was our first year making it and I forgot to strain it last month so hoping it is not too intense!  We figured we would try one batch and see what we think and if we want to do again next year.  Hoping some good can come of my walnuts trees except trashing my deck all spring, summer, and fall!



And of course no weekend would be complete without some knitting.  Using some more of my Moeke yarn stash- by far some of the most rustic wool I have.  My fingers are have lanolin traces on them after I knit!

I certainly do enjoy honing in on some country skills while living in the city!

A few years ago I came across an english tradition of sweet little sugar mice around the holidays.  Combine that with the idea of little surprise yarn balls of a new knitter/crocheter and you get a sweet surprise inside with a hybrid little treat just updated in the shop.

I updated the shop today and included some little Peruvian Wool yarn balls that have a little wood mouse inside inspired by sugar mice for a fun treat.  I really like the idea of little treats inside the yarn ball; especially for kids that are learning to work with yarn.



This batch has little mice made from curly maple wood and left in their natural color and with some simple features wood burnt and then a matching yarn tail.  Right now there is nice arrangement of colors in the shop right now and a few less calories!

If you would like to make some actual sugar mice here is a good spot with some instructions.

Shop update coming this Friday friends.  This will have all three styles of calendars and other goodies- thanks for supporting makers!

Last week I was able to do some self care by doing some volunteer work.  I am a 4-H project knitting leader in my community.  Besides mentoring and bringing youth together I have a goal of connecting them to the community and learning about where their yarn can come from.  

Last weekend I still found myself walking around in a bit of a haze.  After dropping off the boys at soccer practice I found myself at the local spinners and weavers fiber show.  It happened to be held at the county historical society and after I wandered through the show I found myself in front of an exhibit with pieces in preparation for the election.  Here was an example of a suffragist dress with a reproduction sash and some examples of writing from women in my country fighting for women's right to vote.  I felt like I had slipped into a time warp.  Instead of a celebratory place I was solemn.




I later that day found myself with my Hilary grocery bag at the check out at the store and there was a woman checking me out at least a generation older than me and she looked me in the eye and said "I like your bag"  she then lifted her apron and showed me her safety pin she was wearing and looked right at mine.  We had this moment of connection and I said "looks like we have some work to do" and she said - "you bet"



The reason I share that with you is that I have been hearing some criticism of the "safety pin" and I am saddened to hear it.  For me it is allowing me to connect with people in my own community that want to make a difference.  I understand that I live in one of just three counties that went blue in my deep red state- I understand that bubble.  But I will not be shamed into showing my support and willing to fight for our rights.

Thank you to the pioneers in my own community years ago that gathered and fought for rights and thank you to the current pioneers pulling up your sleeves and getting ready to work.

I feel like I am living in an upside down world this week.  I am truly saddened and shocked by the outcome of this election.  This goes beyond the candidate and party that I support not winning.  This goes deeper- it is about the prejudice and acts of violence already happening.  This was part of the worry my family had several conversations about.  The rhetoric that seems to have translated into a green light for some to violate basic rights of my neighbors far and near.

I honestly had to take a social media break for a couple days.  I took the advice of a very wise woman to turn off the devices, hold onto my sons longer, talk to my sons about what has happened.  To be honest I am not sure where to start but I know that I want to make a difference.  I know I can do better- be a better advocate.





You may remember that I was going to be watching the results and knitting a "blue" project and was only able to work on it a short while.  What I had decided to knit was a wool tarot bag.  With the future being a little uncertain it was an instinctual choice.  I finished it today and ironically the first cards that I drew reflected working hard and inclusion and diversity.  Trying to figure it all out- including examining my own privilege.

Right now I am not sure where to start yet, but it begins by not being afraid of the future- just ready to start working for the future.

Rain is water and water is life.  It has rained on so many important events in my life.  It rained when I married my best friend.  It rained when both of my sons were born.  It was raining this morning when I took my sons with me to the polls.  It felt refreshing, cleansing, and like a that feeling when you get a huge drink of water when you are run down and thirsty.


This election has been surreal and historic.  I have been feeling anxious, angry, nervous, excited, emotional and tense.  I decided to wear white in honor of women's suffrage.  I felt compelled to carry a piece of my maternal heritage with me.

I realized that 12 years ago today I was pregnant with my second son and I was at my grandmother's funeral in Iowa.  She was my only grandmother that I knew growing up.  She was not perfect- none of us are, but one thing she did shortly before she died was write to me and gifted me with funds so that I could have the birth that I wanted.  I went on to carry my son into the spring and have a VBAC at home.  I felt like she was with me then and also with me today.

Because . . .

I wanted to honor her, I carried her photo to the polls

I live in a strong "red" state I wore a little blue button from her button stash

I am descended from Eastern European immigrants it hangs from Romanian wool

I am the mother of sons that are part of the future

I truly believe that love will always win over hate

I am a bit superstitious I will only knit with blue yarn today


May we all find peace and resolution and move forward and grow together as a country.  The ground is fertile, the rain and tears are flowing, the seed of history is planted.  Wishing you all peace and love on this day.

I came across this quote from the site The Woven Road and I thought it was incredibly meaningful for this time of the year when the veil is thin and we honor our ancestors.  Not necessarily on the spooky Halloween side; but with the days following Day of the Dead when we celebrate and honor our ancestors that have passed on.  The quote is this:

"When we engage in fiber arts, we are creating something, but we're also participating in historic traditions tens of thousands of years old.  You are not only not only making art for your soul and future generations, you are embodying the work of our ancestors."

I inherited my grandmothers tiny crochet hooks.  She was not a knitter, she was a crocheter.  I have several granny square style blankets lovingly made in acrylic yarn tucked away in my cedar chest.  Earlier in her crafting days she crocheted doilies.  Small delicate stitches.  I don't have a story of me learning to knit from an ancestor but I am heavily influenced by crafty women of my family.

One of the beautiful elements of knitting is just the simplicity of it.  We knit much like our ancestors- two sticks and some strings making interconnected loops.  That simple.



My family is buried in farm country in Iowa which was a little too far to travel to but I was able to visit a couple summers ago.  It was humbling to be there and honor these creative women in my family.