Trick or Treat

I got all excited about my Halloween stamp set back in September and then I hardly even touched it.

 Along with the stamps I had bought this spider web die and never used it at all.

 There you go. Done. This is a Lawn Fawn design. I can't take credit for it. Next year I might have more time to get creative. There shouldn't be any bathroom remodeling going on. At least I hope not.

Looky here. That's the town crew putting up the holiday lights already. They've been at it for about a week now.

 And even better.....it's Christmas at Ikea!

 When I checked out with my holiday goodies the clerk told me that it's been Christmas at Ikea for 3 weeks now and some of the goodies are already sold out.

I've got my new cookie tins and some Ikea gingersnaps so I'm ready. How many sleeps until Christmas?

Howl-o-ween

What do you do on Halloween when your kids are all grown and no one comes knocking on your door looking for treats anymore? 

 You line up on the boardwalk with your dog and parade around in costumes for charity. There were 54 dogs registered this year. They said it was a record.

 I'm glad I wasn't a judge.

 There were too many clever and adorable costumes to choose from.

 See what I mean?

 I think the Ewok was my favorite. Simple but oh, so adorable.

 Wonder Woman was a close second.

 But then along came the Grinch with his long suffering pooch.....

 ...and Thing 1 and Thing 2. Who could choose?

 This little one was a bit overwhelmed. She hid under the bench all day.

 Who could blame her? There were dragons....

 ....and lions on the loose.

Pup was also overwhelmed, in fact, borderline hysterical the whole time. We didn't dress her or Old Doggie up since we only found out about the event the night before. We'll be ready next year. The Mister has plans.

As the dog parade was winding down, the kiddie parade was just beginning. The little secret bar that looks like someone's house near the boardwalk was getting ready to hand out goodies complete with dragons and a drop dead perfect Dumbledore.  Now, if I only had a kid....

All Soaped Out

 This is the last of the winter soap. All the mess is cleaned up and the only thing to do now is wait out the long 6 weeks for it to cure. This is Goat's Milk and Honey and I made this one especially for me. When I first got this fragrance sample I thought it was yucky so I put it in the foot fizzies. I loved the foot fizzies so much that I wanted some soap to go with it. I put the kitchen sink in this loaf. It's a real luxury bar.

 Meet A Very Merry Cranberry. This is an old favorite of mine. It smells just like a glass of Oceanspray.

 Winter Forest smells lightly of pine. I did a fancy hanger swirl on this one and it actually turned out. Yay me.

Lemongrass Verbena is so yummy I want to eat it. It's the vanilla in the fragrance that makes it so scrumptious.

Spice Cake smells like your grandma's pantry during the holidays. I let The Mister decide on the last holiday fragrance from the sampler kit and he picked this one. I'm glad he did.

Last but not least and not really in the holiday genre is White Tea, this month's sample. I was going to save it for later but I was too curious. It smells like a sweet fruity tea. It's sweet but crisp and I really like it. Maybe I should rename it White Tea Toddy for the holidays?

So there you have it, 108 little bars of soap for holiday gifting and giveaways.
And YES....my house smells wonderful. It makes me so happy just to walk past the soap room!

Bedside Knitting

 I haven't done this in a while but here we are. Daddio took another tumble. They called me Thursday night to say they were going to have to x-ray him this time. The last time he just ended up with two very black eyes but this time the x-rays show that he has fractured his nose. Even though I had already had my visit this week I went back yesterday to sit with him for awhile to make sure he was okay. I got lots of knitting time because he was pretty much asleep for most of it. Poor beat up old guy. What a mess.

 I had been there Tuesday so I could visit and attend a very informative seminar on dementia.

 It was very helpful. It was also nice to share stories with other families who are going through the same thing. In case you are wondering, we decided Daddio is a Ruby on the scale of from bad to worse. We've only got the pearl left so every visit counts these days. Golly.

Ahoy Captain!

 Look what The Mister brought home. He got one for him and one to share on Thanksgiving.

He brought me home these cute little minis. It's pumpkin spiced flavored rum and oh, my...it's good!

Fall Spinning

 I had this sitting by the wheel to motivate me to get those summer projects finished. It worked.

 I just picked this up at the SVFF and I was itching to get my hands on it.

 It felt as nice as it looked. It split apart beautifully which is always a sign of a good spin.

 Two not so equal halves....

 ...become a lot of little nests.

 I've learned to tuck it back in the bag it came from with all identifying labels to avoid the dreaded mystery fiber syndrome.

That pretty fiber is going on the Ladybug. The Traditional has Finley on it still. It's been three years now and I'm still washing and carding the little fella. He was a little 4 pound Shetland fleece that is now pretty much all washed. What's to become of him is anyone's guess but I'm thinking colorwork-someday.

Sewing on Sundays

 The striped material I needed got here in time for Sunday football. The only time I have to really get into a project is when The Mister has something better to do that he can do all by his lonesome. Of course, the stripes came with a side order of clearance bunny material that I am tucking away for next spring's apron.

 Daddio saw this case when we were looking through the Connecting Threads catalogue last week. He said I should get it so I did. He doesn't talk much these days so when he does, I listen.

 I really didn't know how much I would like this thing until it got here.

 It holds all those weird spools of thread that won't fit on a standard thread stand.

 And it stands up so I can store it with it taking up much room. It was much bigger than I thought and better yet-it was on sale. Daddio always did have a good eye for sewing dodadds.

Ta dah... by the magic of the internet the fall apron is done. They make up in a flash.

 While I was putting away the scraps I found this old kit Daddio had bought ages ago and decided to start working on it now that the apron is done.

 It's hard to tell but it's for fall potholders. He loved to make potholders. For some reason the pattern melted.

 I'm not sure what's up with that but at least I can read the important parts.

Fall KAL Finish

 Ta dah...the end of the road for the KAL. The Falling Leaves socks are history.

As you can see it is hardly sock weather here and those are thick and woolly Kroy so they are going to be packed up for later. Fall may get here or it may not. We might just go straight to winter this year and that would be a shame.

 To take the place of the KAL knitting I am picking up the sweater I started a few weeks ago. It's fall colored but won't be done this fall or any fall in the near future. I give myself years for sweaters. Years.

I am also picking up this old chestnut again. I started it in 2014 when I was a lot thinner thanks to all the ice skating I was doing. I am pretty sure it won't fit after those steeks are cut but I am going on with it. I am very close now. I'll figure out something to do with it when the time comes.