A Fiber Artist Christmas

`Twas the night before Christmas and all around me
Was unfinished knitting not under the tree.
The stockings weren't hung by the chimney with care
'cause the heels and the toes had not a stitch there.

... The children were nestled all snug in their beds
but I had not finished the caps for their heads.
Dad was asleep; he was no help at all,
And the sweater for him was six inches too small.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I put down my needles to see what was the matter.
Away to the window, I flew like a flash,
Tripped over my yarn and fell down with a crash.

The tangle of yarn that lay deep as the snow
Reminded me how much I still had to go.
Out on my lawn, I heard such a noise,
I thought it would wake both dad and the boys.

And though I was tired, my brain was a bit thick,
I knew in a moment, it must be Saint Nick.
But what I heard then left me perplexed-ed,
For not a name I heard was what I had expected
"move, Ashford; move, Lopi; move, Addie and Clover
Move, Reynolds; move, Starmore; move, Fraylic–move
over"

"Paton, don't circle round; stand in line.
Come now, you sheep wool work just fine!
I know this is hard semi, it's just your first year,
I'd hate to go back to eight tiny reindeer."
I peered over the sill; what I saw was amazing,
Eight woolly sheep on my lawn all a'grazing.

And then,in a twinkle, I heard at the door
Santa's feet coming across the porch floor.
I rose from my knees and got back on my feet,
And as I turned round, Saint Nick, I did meet.

He was dressed all in wool from his head to his toe
And his clothes were handknit from above to below.
A bright Fairisle sweater he wore on his back,
and his toys were all stuffed in an Aran knit sack.
His cap was a wonder of bobbles and lace,
A beautiful frame for his rosy red face.

The scarf round his neck could have stretched for a mile,
And the socks peeking over his boots were Argyle.
The back of his mittens bore an intricate cable,
And suddenly on one I spied a small label.
SC was duplicate stitched on the cuff,
and I asked "Hey Nick, did you knit all this stuff?"

He proudly replied "Ho-ho-ho, yes I did,
I learned how to knit when I was a kid."
He was chubby and plump, a quite well-dressed old man,
And I laughed to myself for I'd thought up a plan.

I flashed him a grin and jumped up in the air,
And the next thing he knew he was tied to a chair.
He spoke not a word, but looked in his lap
Where I'd laid my needles and yarn for a cap.

He quickly began knitting, first one cap then two;
For the first time I thought I'd really get through.
He put heels on the stockings and toes in some socks
While I sat back drinking Scotch on the rocks!!

So quickly like magic, his needles they flew,
That he was all finished by quarter to two.
He sprang for his sleigh when I let him go free,
And over his shoulder he looked back at me.
And I heard him exclaim as he sailed past the moon
"Next year start your knitting sometime around June."

-Author Unknown

Why You Should Always Wear Gloves While Rinsing....

While rinsing some aqua fiber today I ended up dyeing my hands. One of these days I'll learn to wear gloves while rinsing. For now I guess I am an honorary Smurf.

Spin in Your PJs Day Follow-Up

Spin in Your PJs Day was a rousing success!!


Several of us from around the world came together and spent at least part
of the day spinning in our jammies. Some of us were even brave enough to post pictures in our pjs.

For many of us, this was a day to enjoy spinning again. In our busy lives
it can be difficult to find the time for our fiber hobbies and we occasionally need a push in the direction of relaxation. Coming together in a group where we can encourage and nudge each other helped me get back to my spinning wheel and I know a lot of others felt the same way.

The day was so successful that we've all agreed that we want to do it again next year! I'm already super excited and planning some fun. I'll be sure to let you know in plenty of time in case you want to join in. In the meantime, you can read through this year's thread and see some of the great pictures posted.

FAF: Spin in Your PJs Day

Happy Friday! I hope your Thanksgiving was a happy one!

How are you spending your day after Thanksgiving? Did you brave the dark and stand in line for great deals? Did you sleep in and do your shopping online? Or did you skip the post holiday shopping altogether?

I did a little shopping online yesterday after the big meal and was able to score the couple of "doorbuster" deals I wanted. I really liked the fact that most retailers were offering their sales online yesterday instead of waiting for today.

So today I am celebrating a day that I have officially declared "Spin in Your PJs Day". It's a simple concept. Just spend the day relaxing in your jammies and do something you love. In this case, spinning.

I started a thread on Ravelry so people can gather together and it's taking off. At least I'm not celebrating it alone! I've even offered a prize drawing for anyone that posts pictures of themselves spinning in their jammies.

 I was a good girl and posted this picture taken of me this morning spinning in my Christmas pjs.

Today will be a day of relaxing. I needed one and I suppose it's a little sad that I had to declare my own holiday to get it. I'll enjoy every second of it though and hope to get some yummy silk yarn spun. Maybe I'll even get a few more rows of my Georgiana shawl done.

Have a great one!

May 5, 1930

This is the date on the newspapers that we found in the floor this week.


The youngest is getting a room makeover with new carpet and while working on the floor we found these papers. They're really fun to read. I always think of the 1930s as rather modern, but it just hit me that these papers are more than 80 years old!

How about these medical ads.... $8 for a set of teeth.

Laxative anyone?

Even back then they were worried about the number of motor vehicle deaths.

These sale ads were my favorite.

And of course we always have to keep up with what's in fashion. :o)

I hope you have enjoyed our 300th post!!

How Did You Spend Your New Year's Weekend?

After the ball dropped and the parties ended, how did you spend the first weekend of the new year?

The kids spent new year's eve at Grandma's so the hubby and I got the house to ourselves. (Never, ever happens!) The problem was I was awake 3 hours earlier than usual. I think it was because the house sounds were different. Whatever the reason it was seriously annoying. The one morning I could have slept in!

Because I was up so early I ended up getting the kids back from the grandparents early. They didn't mind though because we had big plans for the day.

We stayed home and had a monopoly tournament! I put some munchies in crockpots along with veggies and fruits to snack on and we spent the day playing the never ending real estate game.


The game went on for awhile and we snacked on BBQ smokies and my Mexican dip. I lost.... I was so sad. Oh well.

Sunday was just as quiet here. The kids got control of the DVD player and we watched many, many episodes of Star Trek Voyager (we love Sci-fi!). The girls worked on crafts and such while they watched and I spent the entire day knitting.

It was so wonderful to just relax with no plans and nothing that needed done right then. I got so much knitting done that my Blizzard Mitts are nearly complete and I'm getting ready to have the pattern test knit. I'd love to have this pattern available in our Etsy shop before it gets too warm for them. :o)

Sunday night I also realized that the phone never rang even once all weekend. I wish we could have weekend like that more often.

Do You Ever.....?

Do you ever find yourself making cookies just so you can eat the cookie dough?

I'm sure I'm going to get both sides of this. The ones who say absolutely not, it's got raw egg! And then the ones that say cookie dough never hurt anyone.

Well, I'm sure you can guess where I fit in. Most cookie dough and especially sugar cookie dough is just soooo yummy! I know it's got raw egg, but I've been eating raw cookie dough since I was a toddler and I'm still here. Yes, I know it only takes one egg to spoil things, but I'll take my chances.

So today I am making up some sugar cookie dough to make cut out Christmas cookies later and in the meantime I'm having a cookie dough snack. Yum!

Playin' in the Snow

We finally had our first snowfall last week, but it was not much more than a dusting and only lasted a day. So I was completely delighted to wake up the other morning to find that it had unexpectedly snowed again. In fact it was still snowing and the world looked like a giant snow globe all shook up!

We went out to do chores and I had to take my camera out with me. I realized it had been quite some time since I'd photographed the alpacas and didn't even have pictures of some of the new ones. (Bad blogger!)

Later in the day the kids begged to go out and play. How could I say no? They spent more than 2 hours in the yard! It was soooo quiet in the house. :o) And being the good mommy I am, I had steaming mugs of hot cocoa waiting for them when they finally came in. I even topped them with marshmallows.

These are some of the pictures I took.

No, I did not get George to wear the hat. I photo-shopped it in afterwards.

A Walk Around the Farm today

I took a walk around the farm today. The weather is so beautiful and in typical Michigan fashion, it is completely not what you'd expect.

Today is the 10th of Oct. and it's nearly 80 degrees. I'm not complaining, but really, what's up with that?

Anywho, this is what I found on my walk....

First Day of School!

So what do you do on the first day of school when you homeschool? Go to the Museum! With all the other kids in school the museum was a very quiet place with only a couple moms and their little kids. It makes the afternoon so much more enjoyable when you're not fighting to look at displays or play with the science stuff.

After a morning of school work, we headed off to the Kalamazoo Valley Museum. This is a great museum in downtown Kalamazoo and it's FREE!! I love that this museum doesn't charge admission and always has great rotating special exhibits. The current special exhibit is Out of This World - Extraordinary costumes from Film and television. Think Sci-fi! We sooo love our sci-fi shows here. The little man was especially excited to go because Darth Vader and the Storm Troopers were there.

Flash photography was not allowed so these aren't the best, but we had a blast and if you're around here you need to visit by Sunday because after that they are gone!

Here is the jacket worn by Arnold in The Terminator (the kids had no clue since they've never seen it, but mommy was geeked!)

Storm Trooper helment. Cool!

Seven of Nine's cat suit thing from Star Trek Voyager. This is my absolute fave!! I love the show and Seven was my favorite character. I think I may have actually fit into it myself (pre-kiddos of course), but I'm just a touch taller than her.


Indiana Jones jacket, whip, holy grail and staff headpiece. These items were from Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade.

And Darth Vader!

I was really amazed at how cheesy some of these costumes looked up close. Movie magic really is magic. :o)

Oh, there were lots of other movies represented too including more Star Wars, Ghost Busters, Batman and others.

Yippee! It's a Girl!!

How about a big "Hi, Hello and Welcome" to the newest member of our farm!

Oh, and it's a GIRL!! Really!

After having the distinct pleasure of raising all boys last year and the first wee one of this year was also a boy, I am happy to announce that this time around it's not a boy!

She was a text book perfect birth which always makes us happy. In fact, we went out to do morning chores and she was half out! No time to worry or fret because she was here!

Can you tell I'm excited??

I can tell you that she is in fact a carbon copy of her mother which was our goal. She's cute and speckled although the color variations are a little hard to see in pictures. She also has the friendliest personality that I've ever seen.

What she doesn't have yet is a name. I haven't been able to think of anything that suits her uniqueness. We've been calling her Rosie until we can think up an official name and for now I guess that will do.

Oh, and for those of you who have no idea what kind of critter she is....she's an alpaca.

You Can Find Happiness Anywhere

I saw this little smile in the sink after my husband finished shaving. Isn't he cute?

Wordless Wednesday - Happiness Is....

For more Wordless Wednesday visit the home of Wordless Wednesday and A Beautiful Mess.

The Parade That Almost Wasn't

Do you ever make big plans and then have something completely out of your control mess it up?

We were supposed to be in a parade this past weekend, but this is what we woke up to.

Rain, rain and more rain.

There is this little tiny town about 10 minutes south of us. Actually, if we didn't homeschool, this would be the schools our kids would be in. We never spend much time there and it's one of those places that if you blink while driving through you'd miss it.

They have one small grocery store, a gas station that doesn't always have gas (that's a whole other story), and a funeral home. That's about it. No lights and no stop signs.

What they do have going for them though is a great farmer's market, a nice park and Lizzie's aunt living there. It seems they also have a homecoming celebration (not the football kind). This includes a community parade, a carnival and some fun.

I had never participated in any of these things, but was recently asked to take pictures of the float by Lizzie's aunt & uncle were putting together. Of course I love any opportunity to take pictures, but that rain was freaking me out.

The amazing thing was that by line-up time the rain was letting up and when the parade took off the rain had ended. Talk about divine intervention 'cuz I was sure that rain was never going away.

We had a lot of fun even though we were all wet and I'm already looking forward to next year. Just a little less rain please!

Followers and Giveaways!

Okay... I love you guys... I really do!

To show you how much I love you, I am here to let you know that when we hit 200 followers (only 2 to go!) we are going to have another giveaway.

I have no idea what yet, but I'm feeling the need to give back to my readers. I'll let you know soon.

Wordless Wednesday - Blue Ice Cream is GOOD!

For more Wordless Wednesday visit Wordless Wednesday and A Beautiful Mess.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Independence Day!!!


Have a safe and happy holiday! As for me....I'm off to visit the sales at the fabric store. :o)

Wordless Wednesday - Dragonfly Encounter

For more Wordless Wednesday visit Wordless Wednesday, A Beautiful Mess, and Harriet and Friends.

It's Friday Follow Time!

Whohoo! I love Fridays! And not just because it's the weekend.

I love meeting all of my new friends through Friday Follow! Put your feet up, kick back and relax. Enjoy a little glimpse into our farm, homeschool, family, fiber life. Maybe I should add crazy to that list too? :o) Happy Friday!

Happy Birthday Abigail!

Happy Birthday to our oldest daughter! Have a happy day Abi!