Etsy!

I'm full speed ahead working at developing an Etsy business. My shop name is ourhumblecastle (surprise surprise... )

I'll be doing weekly updates to my shop on Mondays, so keep checking back for new products! Right now I am focusing on hand dyed yarns and hand stamped or up-cycled cards.

I just finished an update, so head on over to

www.etsy.ourhumblecastle.com to check out the goodness! Just a fair warning, some of the yarns I listed today are already spoken for.

Group photo of some of my yarns

Of course, I must leave you with a picture of little DJ- he came outside with me on one of the photo shoots-

DJ, enjoying the warm fall weather.

Update

Since you last heard from me, I've:

Gotten DJ's owl sweater finished
Got a lot of Christmas knitting done
Started working on Christmas cards for Etsy
Went on the shop hop (I'll explain a little later) with a good friend of mine.
Decided to participate in the Project 333 (again, more later)
Went to a fiber festival with another friend, and bought some fiber and a drop spindle to learn how to spin!

The Shop hop is an event put on by the Capitol area Yarn Shop Coopertive. Participatants purchased a "passport" for twenty dollars, and then visited each of the four yarn stores. Holding a passpot entitled the bearer to special deals at each store, as well as a free pattern designed by that store when you bought something there (anything- even just a 50 cent trinket) and... at the second store, you got an extra free pattern from a well know designer ( special just for the shop hop.) And... one more extra pattern when you visited all four shops. You've got a weekend (Thursday through Sunday) to get to all the shops.

DJ got his first cold the Wednesday before Shop hop. Mommy came down with it shortly afterwards too, and though we both got over it about a week later, now mommy has a throat that feels like a sea urchin is stuck in it- swallowing is no fun! I doubt it'll become more than just a sore throat though... I've got lots of tricks up my sleeve to fight it off!

I find it very hard to get things done when I'm sick. I really just want to snuggle under blankets, drink tea & knit. I did try to get work done- I decided that I'd do a one task per day sort of list- which ended up being more like one task the whole week... my poor hubby had to fend for himself most of the days while me & baby were sick.

Project 333:
In short: you chose 33 fashion items (so not underwear, PJs, wedding rings or workout clothes, but everything else is included) such as tops, pants, jackets, earings, shoes, purses, accessories, etc. and those are the only 33 items you wear for 3 months, from October 1-Decmber 31. I'll proably dedicate a post to this at some point, showing you what 33 items I have in my closet. :) For now, there is more info here.

I suppose now that I've mentioned Etsy I ought to explain a litte more about that as well. I opened an etsy shop, under my blog domain name (I.e. Our Humble Castle) I haven't gotten very far on it yet, it's one of those things that I am working on in my spare time (What spare time you ask? Ya, I wonder that too... :P ) Anyway, the web page is:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ourhumblecastle
Expect more cards & dyed yarn to come!

So... do you feel updated? ;)

Fingers

My fingers have always been important to me. When I  was younger, my fingers and I learned how to play music on the piano and violin. We practiced hard, and got quite good at what we do. I started painting when I was a teen, and it was my fingers that held the brush. Throughout my education, my fingers have typed many words on a computer's keyboard, trying frantically to keep up with my train of thought. They are typing now, as I write, though this time only one hand's worth of fingers at a time, while the other hand's worth of fingers craddles DJ's head. I've used my fingers to knit and crochet, to grasp the whisk as I mix cake batter, to proudly announce my engagemant with a diamond ring. It was my itchy fingers that sent me to the doctor when DJ needed to be born early, and it's my fingers he prefers for comfort over a pacifier.

What do your fingers do?

Christmas Gifts

When you're crafty and make most of the Christmas presents you give, it's never too early to start thinking about Christmas. I obviously can't tell you what I'm making, since most of the people who will be getting Christmas gifts from me, also read my blog. :P What I can tell you is that (at least some of) the gifts involve yarn, and so I've been busy dyeing some! It's something that I really enjoy, and allows me to get colors I like on nice yarns for cheaper than what I could get otherwise. And did I mention that it's fun and I love doing it?

I love making things for other people- especially when they like what I've made. I wish I had the time to make Christmas gifts for everone I know, but I'd have to start two years in advance if I did that. Hah!

Growing up, my family often made Christmas gifts for all our neighbors, something simple that we could do a lot of- such as poppycock in rubbermade tins, or gift baskets we'd put together ourselves out of items we purchased in bulk. I tend to follow that idea of gift giving still today- find something simple to make and make a bunch of them for everyone I need to give gifts to.

What have been your favorite Christmas gifts you've given? Crafters: What are your favorite simple gift projects that you like making? I do have to say that knit cotton dish cloths have always been a favorite of mine... I'd love to hear your ideas, but I warn you, I might steal some of them!