It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas.....

I think I can hear sleigh bells! And a great big "Ho Ho Ho!" :)

Christmas will be here before we know it, so I'm trying to get a few projects finished in time.

Christmas Stockings
My mother-in-law used to knit a lot when she was younger. But now that her arthritis has made her life very difficult, she has given all of her knitting stuff to me. What a blessing! Included in the large bag she gave me is enough to knit 5 large vintage Mary Maxim Christmas Stockings.

This kit has everything needed to knit two stockings. One in the Wreath design, and one in the Snowflake design:


This one has enough left to make the "Old Time Santa" stocking. (The green one on the bottom.) My mother-in-law has asked me to knit this stocking for her to use as a gift this year. I'm casting it on this week!


She was able to finish all the knitting on two stockings already. "Mr & Mrs Santa"


She asked me to finish these up, to make one for her great-granddaughter, and one for me. I've chosen Mrs. Santa, of course, because she has knitting needles in her hair! I think I'll add some other knitting images with duplicate stitch, to make it more festive.

The Mr Santa stocking was my project this past week. I searched online for Christmas charts, so I could embroider some fun designs on the blank spots of the stocking. I think it turned out very nice! Now, all I have left to do is seam up the back.


Now, I'm ready to get going on the "Old Time Santa".

I'm also finishing up a stocking that will be displayed at Yarnhouse Knits in the NoDa district of Charlotte. It's a very basic design by Ann Norling, called "Snowflake Stocking".

Relaxing at My Annual Fiber Festival

What a wonderful treat to go to the mountains again! As usual, I went to SAFF, in the beautiful NC mountains. This was my 6th trip to SAFF, and it was as wonderful as ever.

My sister went with me this time, and we shared a hotel room for a couple nights, so we could go all 3 days. WONDERFUL! I really enjoyed our trip. We got along most of the time, except for one argument when I was trying to go to sleep. I mean, we are sisters, after all. You didn't expect us to have a perfect relationship, did you? Ha!

SAFF was filled with fiber animals, yarn, roving, spinning wheels, knitting and crochet books and supplies, etc. I didn't take a camera this time, so no photos. I was able to take my time, walking through every single vendor's booth. How perfect was that?!

There was one yarn that captured the admiration of every single person that looked at it. I was in love as well. My sister bought a skein of it for me, and now I am fondling that skein every day. It's called "Charlotte" - a new yarn by Carriage House Woolens. SO SOFT!! It's a fingering weight yarn, so there is a LOT of yardage in the skein. I plan on making a pretty lace scarf or shawl. Haven't chosen the right pattern yet.


There is no way to capture the beauty of that skein with my cell phone camera. Maybe I'll take another photo when I get a new camera for Christmas this year. The yarn is just a gorgeous color - reminds me of my MawMaw's rose bushes when I was young. So, I'm calling it "Rose Bush". There is no list of color names available on the internet for this yarn.

Before we went to SAFF, I decided to knit a quick steering wheel cover, to dress my car up for autumn in the mountains. I used the free knitting pattern I designed several years ago. http://spinningsandy.blogspot.com/2006/03/furry-fuzzy-steering-wheel-cover.html



When I finished the wheel cover, I had some of the funky wool yarn leftover, so I knit a headband.


I LOVE the sweatshirt I got at SAFF this year. I'm wearing it in the photo above. It says, "If I'm sittin', I'm knittin'" SO TRUE!

On our second night at SAFF, I chose to sit in the hotel lobby to knit for a while. At first, I was busy working on a wool sweater for the Bernat Blog. After working on that for a while, I pulled out a brand new project that I am making for display at Yarnhouse Knits in the NoDa district of Charlotte. It's a Christmas stocking, using Ann Norling's Snowflake Stocking pattern. The yarns for the project are Louisa Harding "Kashmir Aran" in burgundy (#30), and Lang Yarns "Lanalux" in white (#0023).


I think the stocking is going to be so lovely. The yarn is soft and excellent to knit with. I got a good start on it so far, so it won't be long until it's hanging in the yarn shop for everyone to see. :)

Now, I am home from the fiber festival, and have some wonderful purchases.

Here’s what I got:
1 pound of beautiful, lavender wool roving from Windy Acres Farm. Can’t wait to spin it!
8 ounces of simple, brown Romney roving, and 1 pound of nice superwash merino/tencel top from Miss Babs
5 knitting magazines, one knitting for babies book, and one weaving for knitters book
A very long bead necklace, with sparkly black beads - perfect to wear for music gigs
2 bars of handmade soap from Heaven Sent (I buy from her every year)
Some yummy handcream and spray
A comfy purple sweatshirt that says, “When I’m Sittin, I’m Knittin”
A SAFF t-shirt
A gorgeous, heavenly-soft skein of Carriage House Woolens “Charlotte” yarn, from Yarnsmiths
2 skeins of Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride worsted
A bunch of sale-priced circular knitting needles, to share with my charity knitting friends.
A sweet little ceramic lamb

I didn’t buy as much yarn as usual, but I did get bitten by the spinning bug again! Time to dust off the wheel…