Holiday Parties, Big Bend and of course Knitting...

Where to start? Life has been a whirlwind of activity since late October! I'll do a little update, out of order of course my usual style!

First on December 6th our Monday Knitting Class met for our annual Christmas & Hanukkah party at the Tea Embassy in downtown Austin. This darling little teashop is owned by one of our fellow knitters. It was a blast to see everyone since I had been out of town for quite some time.

Here's Carroll (not the owner Carol) taking it easy, no gift knitting for her.

The elegant Nita, decked out in tiger print and knitwear of her own creation.

My good friend Beth who not only knits brilliantly but creates the most beautiful quilts as well.

The multi-talented Bren, she knits, crochets, tats, beads, sews, does scrap booking, teaches, I know I'm leaving something out!

This is the shop owner Carol demonstrating how to brew a Japanese green tea as Carroll supervises! It was a lovely party!

Now we'll go back in time to November and Thanksgiving...8 of my family members and my DH & I swept into Big Bend National Park in West Texas and did as much hiking, horse back riding and eating as we could in four short days! An amazing time was had by all! I have one word to say to you about Big Bend, if you've never been there, "Go!"

On the second to last morning DH insisted we get up before dawn so we could get this shot, "Good morning sunrise!"

These next two pics are a little out of order. We stayed at the Las Lajitas resort which was wonderful. One of the excursions they offered was a Star Gazing Horse Ride. The pic of me on the horse below should be next. We rode across the Chihuahuan Desert and up into the mountains in the fading daylight. When we arrived to our campsite the cowboys had dinner waiting, steaks grilled over the camp fire!

As the sun set and the Milky Way revealed itself to us, we realized we really were in one of the darkest locations in the United States. DH got this shot of the movement of the Earth by holding the shutter open for several minutes.

Yes this is me on a horse!

The intrepid hikers! We reached the summit of the Lost Mine Trail near Chisos Mountain.

For Thanksgiving Day we dined at the resort and we're all very satisfied with the menu even my vegetarian husband. Again I can't tell what a beautiful place Big Bend is and what a great time we all had. I look forward to another visit, there is so much to do we could go again and again.

Ah but what about the knitting you ask! I've been very busy adding lots of new yarns and patterns to my website plus doing a little personal and gift knitting.

Dive In! Madelinetosh Tosh DK

The wait is over, Tosh DK has arrived and its stunning. This superwash yarn is a worsted weight and has 225 yards per skein.

Cascabel by Nelkin Designs

And I'm also in the process of adding two new knitwear designers to my website, Laura Nelkin of Nelkin Designs.

Onyx by Army of Knitters

And the designs of Army of Knitters.

And I've been doing a little knitting as well, its been quite some time since I picked up my needles and I'm really enjoying myself. I'm working on Swoon Fibers' Scultped Cowl, one for my mom and one for me!

This one is for my mom in Karabella's Soft Tweed. I think she's going to love the dark green color. Think I'll get it done in time?


This one is for me, I'm knitting it in Malabrigo Twist in Sunset. I adore yellow! Twist and Merino Worsted are both on sale.

I've also just added new colors in The Schaefer Yarn Company's Audrey, Chris and Nichole yarns, lots of semi solids and hand painted variegates! All three would be perfect for your next sock, lace, hat or glove project, just let your imagination run wild.

And I have a huge order of my Sandrasingh.com Lace, 1 Ply Merino Worsted and Superwash Fingering on its way to me as I type this.

This post is getting long and I've got more products to add to my website, more parties to prepare for and more house guests on their way! Happy Holidays to you and your family ~ Merry Christmas and have a Safe and Happy New Year!