A belated Merry Christmas!!

I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday. Mine was nice, but exhausting! Between filling orders, making gifts, cleaning house, hosting friends, baking, wrapping, etc., I've had no time to spend on the internet. Sorry for the lack of blog posts. I am sure you have all been on the edge of your seats, waiting to read my next update! (grin)

We did not have any family commitments for Christmas Eve, so a week before Christmas, we decided to invite a few friends from church to come over and visit. Well, our invitation to a few friends snowballed into having "open house" and basically inviting the entire church. We ended up with about 40 people coming over in addition to our own 9!!! (And no, I do not have a big house.) It was really fun. My daughters and I baked and cooked all day Saturday. I made lots of food since I had no idea how many would show. I wanted to do luminaries, but I feared there might be kids in the yard and that the candles in paper bags might be hazardous. So instead, I wrapped votive candles with wire in all sorts of odd and funky shapes and swirls and hung them from the trees in our front yard. It turned out soooo pretty! We decorated the table and house with live greenery and fruit, brewed up lots of coffee, hot spiced apple cider and I made my own punch recipe (cranberry juice, pineapple juice, orange juice, ginger ale, and soda water). The table was spread with rolls and ham and turkey and lots of goodies. Good food, good friends, good fellowship...what more could a person want? I wish you could have been here! After the vast majority had left, a few of the teenagers stayed and played games with my kids for a while. Later our whole family just flopped in the living room and hung out until after midnight.

Yesterday, I used a little Christmas money I received and bought myself a present: Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby. It was tops on my Amazon wishlist, and when I saw it at my local Barnes and Noble, I had to have it!


It is a lovely book. The pictures are all taken on location in England. The projects are all scrumptious. It is full of useful information, not only on technique, but also on the history of Victorian knitting. I can not wait to get started on one of the projects! Of course, that may require that I go out and buy MORE yarn, and the necessary double-pointed needles...

Here's something I have been making...

These are stone donut necklaces that I crochet. This one is made of Leopardskin Jasper. Here is another one made of black onyx.

The possibilities are endless as can be seen by this photo of several different donuts I have been able to round up.

I have been selling them faster than I can make them to friends and family and I haven't even had a chance to photograph them and get them up for sell on my business website! Today, I finally got them posted up on my site (www.bluemoonartistry.com).

I think they are pretty cool! However, I can not take credit for the idea. Pam, of the Knotty Generation shared it on her site and gave me permission to make them and sell them. She is awesome! Thanks Pam!

Fiber lovers will understand!

I am sooo excited!! I confess, I am a yarn addict. I love rich, touchable fibers. For years now, my only local options have been Michael's Craft Store, Hancock Fabrics (which only carries Lion Brand) and WalMart (choke! choke!) Don't get me wrong. I am thankful that I have any store in my town that sells yarn, but I just have not been able to get my hands on the stuff that dreams are made of. However, that has ended! We now have a small, independent yarn shop in our area...well in a nearby town less than 25 minutes from my house! Huzzah! Huzzah! (Oh, and for those of you who do not have boys who are into historical books and stuff, and that would be pronounced "huh zah" with the accent on the last syllable.)

Because it is close to my local, independently owned bead shop, I have had the opportunity to drive past this yarn shop multiple times wondering when it would finally open its doors, always to be disappointed. On Tuesday, I was thrilled when I saw the owner's van parked in front. FINALLY, I would get to browse. I just about wet myself I was so excited. But alas and alack! They were not open! She was just there vacuuming the shop. I peeked in the windows and wanted to cry. I walked past the door 2 or 3 times and then finally marched up to it and boldly knocked. She opened and I begged for a brochure or something with their hours, etc. I was secretly hoping she might invite me in, but she was there on her lunch hour from another job and was in a hurry. Needless to say, I was back the next day during business hours. As luck would have it, friend of mine who is an avid crocheter also happened to be there. The only thing better than drooling in a yarn shop is drooling in a yarn shop with someone else who also appreciates yummy yarns. I am sure that the owners got a big kick listening to us "Oooooo & ahhhh!" We were like kids in a candy store..."Oh! Look at this!" and "Come see!!" The owner's also probably got a big kick out of the fact we both bought yarn! I confess, I spent every single penny that I had in my wallet! In fact, I had to borrow six cents from my friend! But it was worth it! Not only does this shop carry nice, manufactured yarn, but also handspun, hand-dyed, and hand-painted yarn!! Photos can not do it justice, the colors are much prettier in real life, but have a peek:

This is 250 yards of 100% wool that has been hand-dyed. I wish you could see and touch it! It has a lovely sheen and is very soft, not rough like some wool.

I also got two 100 yard skeins of this, also hand-painted 100% wool:


Aren't they simply scrumptious? Yummy?! And, the owner wrapped it all in pretty tissue paper, put it in a bag with a bow and candy cane and tucked a little baggy of candy inside as well. You just can't beat small, locally owned businesses! Now my new yarns sit where I can see them. I am waiting for them to speak to me and tell me what they want to be knit (or crocheted) into!

And, lest you think that I have been unproductive these past few months...
let me set your mind at rest! Here is a shot of the afghan I crocheted for my Autumn Secret Pal. I don't think I have shown it here yet. I did not post it earlier because I did not want to ruin the surprise. She wanted purple and yellow, and so that is what I made! I have the hardest time getting the color purple to look true with my photos! But this will give you a general idea.



Here are some other items I have been making and selling like crazy! Can you guess what they are?



They are headbands! I make them out of cotton in all kinds of colors. The nice thing about them is that they are totally "ouch-free!" The crocheted cotton has a bit of stretch to it and it also does not tend to slip. I make them with ties so each person can adjust it to fit their head perfectly. I often forget I am wearing one.

And for my friend, Anna, here is a "fun shot."



I have also made a ton of earrings, hair sticks and necklaces in the past month or so. I will save those for another post (which can be interpreted as: I don't have any photos of those and so you will have to wait!)