All Wrapped Up

 I've got an assembly line going.

I've got a lot of soap to package. The Mister gave me serious side eye when I said I was making 100 bars of soap for Christmas but now that I've figured out who gets what there isn't much left.

I'm still making lotion bars. They were very popular this year.

 I'm doing a lot of double bagging.

 I don't want any issues with the postal service. There is a lot of glitter involved.

 The mini bars of soap are not fond of plastic. They need to be unwrapped as soon as you get them so they can breathe. You can leave on the plastic shrink band but the bag has to go. They store best in a dry place. Not in your bathroom.

After I had packaged up all the snowman cards I am sending along with the soap, I realized I hadn't written anything in any of them. I usually use a sticky note to personalize them so you can use them again but I forgot the sticky notes this time. Forgive me.

I did write in this one. It's going along with the soap I am sending to Son #2's lady friend. Isn't that just the cutest?

November Stitching

 This past weekend was the first time I have had this month to sit and get a few stitches in any of my new fall samplers.

The poor Thanksgiving sampler just barely got started and now I am going to pack it away for next year.

I got both acorns done on the turkey so all the "things" are done. Next year I am going to have to get serious about the background which means I'll have to buy a lot of something in order to fill all that space.

Then there are the fall potholders. As of right now, I've got two bindings finished and two to go. I want to pack them up with all the fall things when I bring out the winter decor on December 1st so they need to go to the top of the priority list. Starting right now.

Uh, Oh....

 Big Grand tried on his finished sock on Thanksgiving and something just didn't look right. The heel didn't sit just the way it should. I tried to tell myself it was just his wiggly little foot but I knew better.

 I had made the gusset too small. I had suspected it from the time the first one was finished but I was living in knitting la la land. There was nothing to do but to rip them both back to the heel and start again working from better measurement. They should be done by Christmas. I hope.

Speaking of socks, I've still got all these on the needles. So many socks, so little time.

I Heart Fall

 I know many of you have moved onto the winter holidays but around here fall has just begun.

My trees are finally showing some color and the weather has been just about perfect for sweaters and warm wool socks. I am not giving up on November just yet. These are the best days of fall and I'm going to take advantage of every pumpkin spiced minute. Winter can wait.

My one goal this fall was to get this ancient project finished. It's hard to tell what it looks like outside. The sun shone right through it.

Look familiar now? It's that big ball of brown yarn barf I have been working on every autumn since 2008. That's nine years. Yikes.

I would have been done last year but I decided it needed this fancy edging. It was a pain but so worth it.

The yarn is pretty dreadful. It's discontinued Shadow in the Deep Woods colorway from Knit Picks and the colors pooled terribly. The pattern, which was featured in a Knit Picks catalog, is called Seasons of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness of all things. All in all, icky yarn and terrible name aside, it's still a pretty thing and I am soooo happy it's done, done, done.

And.....thanks to everyone who signed up for the Holiday giveaway. If you haven't signed up yet, there is still plenty of soap to go around. I'll be finishing up the wrapping and packing this week and hopefully be mailing them out the first week of December. Be watching your Rav mail in case I need to get in touch. Thanks again! 

Holiday Giveaway!

 Here you have it folks. The fruits of my fall labor are all tested, wrapped and ready to go. Up first in the mini bar category is Frankincense & Myrrh, a mildly exotic perfumey scent. To the right is Cinnamon Stick which smells just like one. Bottom left is Sleigh Ride which is spicy and warm. To the bottom right is Fresh Snow which is crisp and a bit tart.

 Santa's Spruce on the top left is sweet and slightly pine. Peppermint is made with real peppermint oil so it has a slight tingle. Christmas Candy is made up of bits and pieces of all of soap trimmings in a sweet base.

 Very Merry Cranberry is very berry-like. Winter Pine is a mild pine scent.

Lemongrass Verbena is a lemony vanilla blend. White Tea and Honey is fruity and sweet. Winter Spice is fruitcake in a bar. Goat's Milk and Honey is rich and warm. My favorite at the moment.

Gingerbread person is just my glycerin face soap in another form with a rich gingerbread fragrance.

I've also got tins of snowflake lotion bars in a rich winter formula that melts even on cold fingers. It's in the sugary spruce scent which is one of my favorites.

So here's the deal.....it's a pick two giveaway which means you can choose two of the mini bars of soap OR a mini bar and a gingerbread person OR a mini bar and a lotion bar. No strings attached. It's my gift to you for the holiday season plus.....I need to get rid of all this so I can start making SPRING SOAP!!!!

Send me your mailing details over on Ravelry. Pick four of your favorite mini bar soap scents and I'll make sure you get at least one of what you choose.  Then sometime in December a holiday package of goodies will come your way. Ready, set, go.....

First Frost

 When we woke up this morning there was frost. You know what that means, fruitcake weather.

 The only problem was that I hadn't been out shopping to pick up the dried fruit and nuts I needed.

 The Mister was heading out to the local Mom and Pop grocery down the street to pick up his winnings from the Thanksgiving football pool so I made him a list and hoped for the best.

Not bad. The little minis I make as test cakes were pretty good with a steaming cuppa. They are not your traditional fruitcake but they'll work.

Turkey Day 2017

 It always starts with cookies. Oatmeal chocolate chip made during the parade. It's a family tradition.

 Then there is the chopping. In our family the cooking is men's work. #2 Son had been at it for hours by the time we got to Daughter's.

 Mmmm.....butternut never looked so good.

 SIL always grills the bird. It smells divine. I brought the carcass home to pick for the outside kitties and they gobbled it up.

 Look at this feast. So much to eat and every bite was delicious.

 We had new kittens for entertainment. They were so friendly and playful with the grands.

Big Grand helped me knit a bit. His socks are almost done.

 There was football after dinner.

 Brrrr.....it was cold. I was glad I had packed the doggie's coats. Mine too.

 Dessert was the usual.

The real treat were some surprises from Detroit- artisan potato chips and chocolates. Mmmm...good eats and all my kids in the same room. I had a lot to be thankful for yesterday.

So Thankful!

 We are off to Daughter's today and last night I remembered that I had wanted to bring her a Thanksgiving card.

 The problem was I had not added a thing to the November card stash since last year.

 There wasn't much to work with but I came up with this one. It was one I had made many times before for one reason or another but it gave me fits all the same. The mojo just wasn't with me. I immediately ordered some new Thanksgiving themed stamps and dies so I'll be ready-next year.

In my defense I was carded out. I've been making winter holiday cards non-stop for about a week now.  I've got quite a pile but there's still more to do. Goodness gracious. I should have started this project ages ago.

My Gift to You

For all of you who are pulling your hair out trying to cook and clean and get ready for a herd of relatives let me gift you the sight of my main bathroom. You can't even see the floor anymore. This should make you feel better. You can't get worse than this.

Thankfully I am not having anyone over but all the same-a mess is a mess and it's just getting bigger by the day. We did get the cement board up this week which was no fun at all.

My job was to squirt it down as The Mister drilled in the screws. You can't let this dust get airborne. It does very nasty stuff to your lungs.

Now we are on to the drywall portion of the entertainment. Slowly but surely people, slowly but surely.

Finally let me say that I have become pretty immune to the parade of passing rock stars but this one is a big heartbreaker. I might not have been a big fan of his music but I was a big fan of him-hubba, hubba. You just don't get cuter than this. Godspeed, Keith Partridge. I think I love you-still.