I didn’t suck.  And the workshop couldn’t have gone better.  The six ladies I had were amazing.  They all caught on quickly, were patient and I’m pretty sure they had fun.  Yesssss!

Introducing my first batch of students, ever.

Before:

After:

Look at the smiles!  And look how much they got done.  So impressed.

The crochet workshop on December 2nd is actually overbooked.  I’m not too sure how that happened but I’ll figure it out.  That’s 13 people!  I hope I can manage it.

What else have I been up to?  Let’s see…

I made a couple of these Ash Mittens by Rowan.  Love them.  Modified them big-time from the original pattern though.  Knit with magic loop instead of on two needles with a seam (yuck).  Modified the thumb and number of rows.  I guess I pretty much did my own thing.  I also have a completely new thumb method I’m itching to try out.

I made this giant mess in my living room trying to match up the colors of two balls of Charisma to make this scarf, which I’m not thrilled with.  It’s not horrendous but I’m not in love with it.  I got enough yarn at Michael’s to make four of these.  I’m not sure what to do with the rest.

I’ve been trying out some new Paleo recipes as we’re pretty sure I’m celiac.  I’m trying to get used to eating this way all the time and well, I’m kind of hungry all the time.  I’m sure things will work themselves out.  There are a tonne of great sites and blogs out there to help me find good “clean” food.

I also got some fun pictues from Mel showing off the Catnis Cowl I made for her last year.  Thanks Mel!  I love it when people are proud to wear my stuff.

I have a few more orders to finish before the holidays, which means I’m getting closer to being able to start my Icelandic sweater.  Can’t wait!

Today, I’m excited because I’m actually getting requests for more workshops.  Love it.

Well, that’s it for me for today.  I’m off this weekend and joining the family at a big farmhouse on the water near Picton, Ontario for our 2015 Annual Christmas Family Vacation.   I even scoped out the yarn shop in the area for my mom and my traditional yarn shop excursion.  Yahoooo!

I got some weeding done of my giant flower bed.  Thank you Mom for coming to help me!  I think she helped motivate me for all of 22 minutes.

I also got in a little bit of cooking.  This is Tropical Fruit Gazpacho from my new favorite site.

Have any of you every tried to break open a real and still whole coconut?  Let me tell you!  I’ll never do that again.  In the recipe, it states to use the dull end of the knife.  That didn’t work at all.  So, I flipped my knife over and used the handle.  That didn’t work.  I took out my potato masher.  That didn’t work.  I ran down to the garage and got out a hammer.  That didn’t work either.  By now, Jacob was curious enough to come over and see what was going on.  He took the hammer from me and flipped it over to the spikey part (nail remover thing) and gave it a good smash.  It broke the shell.  FINALLY!  What a MESS.  Coconut water all over the place.  Bits of shell everywhere.  If you ever make this gazpacho, get a coconut that’s already been removed from its shell and inner skin – trust me… it’s for your own good.

I also managed to take some quick pics of the merino/tussah silk blend I spoke of in my last post.  I just love this color!  I’ve had a difficult time staying away from it this week.  BUT, I’m cleaning again.  The house feels cluttered a bit.  And I haven’t touched the monster truck.  Sigh.

Forgive my not-great-pictures.  You get the idea though.  I’m going for a three-ply.  This is the first of 3 bobbins.  Please don’t ask me what I plan to make with this yarn once it’s finished.  I have no idea.  I just spin cause it’s fun.  I get what I get.  If I can then find something to make with it, bonus.  Otherwise, I’m perfectly happy just looking at it and fondling it every once in a while.

I’ve been doing some driving this week but I can’t say that I’ve minded.  I love how green everything is getting.  All the farmers have been out tilling their fields and getting them ready for seeds.  Everything is just so beautiful this time of year.  The green is so vivid and new.  And the weather!  We’ve had stupendous weather this past week in my neck of the woods.  It’s been gorgeous and sunny every day and cool and breezy every night.  I don’t know if we’ll get another perfect week like this.  Fingers crossed!

Have an awesome weekend everyone!