November Highlights

Wow, where did November go?! I can't believe it is December 2nd and the weather has been beautiful! Who would think that we would have 60 and 70 degree weather in Kansas this time of year! It does make it hard to get in the Christmas spirit, but hopefully we will have snow soon!

So much has happened at the Woods house in the past month and here is a recap of our month!

The major, most time consuming item....WE MOVED! We are now at a large three bedroom apartment at Four Seasons Apartments. We have been contemplating a move and selling our house for a while now. Finally, the time just felt right. We moved the weekend before Thanksgiving and we are almost all settled and unpacked. It feels like home, very comforting, and that is just what I need right now.

HOWEVER, we still have boxes, and years of "stuff" to sort through at the house. I didn't want to move things that we might toss or donate, so it was left for later. We will need to clean and fix up the house a little to sell and hopefully we can do that in the next few weeks.
We love the new place! We have so much more room and the best part....I have a fully functional craft room! Plenty of room for sewing, scrapbooking, and crafting! We are working on Casey's "man cave" too!

We spent our first Thanksgiving, just the two of us, at our new home. I baked a couple pumpkin pies, we ordered out a smoked turkey and all the fixings from a local restaurant and loved just spending a quiet Thanksgiving weekend just us!


My first made-from-scratch pumpkin pies with frozen crusts. The Libby's canned pumpkin recipe made good pies!

Four Seasons is right next to Jones Park and Harry has loved all the walks in the park! Harry still wakes up early, so I take him out each morning for a walk. Usually, it is right at dawn and the sunrise is beautiful through the trees! We have seen geese on the ponds and squirrels in the trees. Harry loves the juniper trees and smelling everything!!!


Harry has his eye on a squirrel, or leaf, or another dog?!



View from the park of the apartments.



Another view from the park. I love having the park as our "backyard"!



Geese on the pond at sunrise!

 

Sunrise through the trees.



Beautiful sky at sunset.



A full moon rising one evening last week.

This weekend I decorated the Christmas tree! I was so excited to go through all the ornaments, remembering when, where and why we had each one. Our tree if full of memories and I love that it is a hodge-podge of different homemade, whimsical, traditional, glittery, felt and wooden ornaments!


This cute little guy I found at a beautiful gift shop in Lebo, during their Open House last month. I have several new bird ornaments this year! 



Also new this year...looks like he has a sweater on and I had to have him!

Brought him home from our trip to Baltimore in April this year.

I have been catching up on crafting. I made a new Christmas wreath from yarn and and have been crocheting Christmas gifts. Today, I plan to paint wooden signs, also Christmas gifts! AND, I need to do some paper crafting, designing Christmas cards and paper ornaments. I will post more over in our How Crafty Are We blog.

We had a busy month and I am sure December will be just as crazy with Holiday activities! We are looking forward to Christmas and a new year in a new home!

Central Kansas Yarn Hop

I look forward to October each year! Yes, for Fall, but also for YARN HOP!! Three fellow Fiber Floozies and myself set out on a two-day adventure hopping across the state, visiting 11 yarn shops, and 3 or 4 quilt shops and then some!

Many of the Kansas yarn shops organize this hop over four days, with a passport to stamp, prizes, freebies, and discounts! This is my third yarn hop and usually we venture south, but this year we headed north Friday morning, starting our hop in Wamego at The Wicked Stitch. From there, we hopped to Wildflower in Manhattan, The Shivering Sheep in Abilene, (stopping for lunch at Mr K's Farmhouse, yummy), Yarns Sold and Told in Salina, Oh, Yarn It! in McPherson, and yarn. in Hutchinson. Of course, we had to eat dinner at Carriage Crossing in Yoder before spending the night in Newton.

Saturday morning we were up early waiting for the first shop to open. We visited two yarn and two quilt shops in Newton, The Creation Station and Odd Balls, before hopping down the rode to Wichita shops, Twist and Heritage Hut. We stopped for a quick lunch at Playa Azul in Old Town. By Saturday afternoon, we were happy to have a short trip home, stopping at Sugar Bunny Blvd in El Dorado at the last shop. We left her our completed passports for the drawing. Hopefully, an Emporia hopper will win a prize this year!

We all found great bargains and filled the car with a lot of yarn, fabric and treasures. Each shop gives away a small 30 yard ball of yarn to use in the freebie pattern given with the passport. This year it is an Infinity Stash Scarf and I can't wait to start my scarf! Here are just a few pictures from the weekend!

Window display at The Wicked Stitch in Wamego.

 The Infinity Stash Scarf sample made up by The Wicked Stitch. You can see the crochet and knit version both.



Me in The Shivering Sheep in Abilene. She has a bargain basement and I came away with a huge bag full!

  

One of my favorite shops, Yarns Sold and Told in Salina.

Window display at yarn. in Hutchinson. Notice the sign...We Don't Make Mistakes, We Do Variations.

My fellow Floozies at yarn. in Hutchinson.

 

My stash after the first day! Of course, I added to it Saturday!

YARN BOMB!

I belong to a crazy group of knitters and crocheters.....we meet each Tuesday night and call ourselves the Fiber Floozies! Here is a little more about us....
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Have you ever heard of a yarn bomb?! They are fun, silly and very colorful...google yarn bomb and you will see a variety of examples! Locally, there have been yarn bombs in Lawrence and Wichita recently. Tuesday Night Knitters yarned a piano downtown during the summer for Symphony in the Flinthills. During Dirty Kanza, someone yarn bombed a bike downtown.

Many months ago one of our members, Melinda, had a great idea to Yarn Bomb the Central Care Cancer Center (where she works) in October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Immediately the Floozies were on board and starting planning. We started making pink pieces to be wrapped around trees, poles, and more. Melinda found body part patterns that we could knit or crochet representing the different types of cancer. All of the planning and knitting came together on Tuesday, October 2nd. In the cover of darkness, dressed in black, we met with our supplies and spent several hours bombing the Cancer Center with pink yarn! It was so fun! We covered the trunks of about ten trees, several poles, a bench, a bike rack, bushes, and Melinda made an educational display inside the Cancer Center.
 

The crazy yarn bombers!



Barb made a wreath with our knitted and crocheted boobies!

  

We hung the boobie wreath and "You Have Been Yarn Bombed" inside. We each signed the sign using a funny yarn pseudonym...like "Happy Hooker" or "Granny Squared"!

  

Up close..we used all types of pink yarn.

  

Several of the body parts in our "Body Part Tree". We made a bone, uterus, brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, eyes, ears, pancreas, testes, lymph nodes, and more!



Three trees right at the entrance of the Medical Arts Center.



I love the contrast of the pink yarn with the green leaves!

 

The Ribbon Tree...there are over 20 different ribbons representing all types of Cancer Awareness.

 

Tree with fringe!



The display inside Melinda made. Each body part we made has information beside it about that type of cancer.



Several Floozies were on KVOE on Wednesday morning. I went over my lunch on Wednesday to take more daytime pictures. You can find a bunch of photos on Facebook under our Tuesday Night Knitting page. We all had a fun time and hope the community enjoyed our little "prank". I had a friend make up t-shirts and we are going to have a few printed. We are hoping to make an annual event out of our yarn bomb!!

Fiber Floozies

  A little over two years ago, I re-learned to crochet from a friend and I took a knitting class. My love of all things yarny began! Knitting mysteries, how-to books, patterns, magazines, blog sites, and weekly email newsletters fill my life now. I learned a new language....purling, YO, gauge, DPN's and of course my yarn stash grew exponentially! I now have 4 large totes and a project bag full of yarn, projects, tools and more!

One of my first knitted items...a pretty green scarf.

  I became part of a local knitting/crochet group and was welcomed with open needles by this fabulous group of woman (and an occasional man). We call ourselves the Fiber Floozies...we are Yarned and Dangerous!

The design on our t-shirts!

  We meet each Tuesday night and I can't tell you how much I look forward to having dinner and crafting with a diverse group of woman who love all things fiber! We have knitters, crocheters, spinners, weavers, Etsy shop owners, experts and beginners (quilters and sewers too). We are a lively group and discuss all things fiber...latest projects, UFO's (UnFinished Objects), patterns, ideas...all while our needles (and hooks) click away! (And there is always good gossip and funny stories flying around the room.) Socks frequently appear on our sticks, along with fair projects and gifts for loved ones.You will find us on Facebook at Tuesday Night Knitters. We post weekly plans, yarn funnies, patterns and pictures of completed projects.

Tuesday Night Knitters in 2010 at Java Cat

  Over the past few years, not only did I learn to knit, but I know how to felt, dye yarn, knit socks, Tunisian crochet, weave, and quilt all due to the amazing talents of my fellow floozies. The floozies even had t-shirts made and took our knitting bags on the road. We love to go on the Central Kansas Yarn Hop each October and often day trip to Lawrence, Wamego, Hutchinson...anywhere with a yarn store! Just in case you are wondering, there are 14 yarn shops just in central Kansas and I have visited all of them...some more than once!

Yarn Hopping in 2010

  One of our very talented ladies, Barb, hosts Fiber Fun Day once a year in June. We meet at her country home for 2 days of dyeing, weaving, crafting, felting, and of course food, fun and lots of laughs! She raises sheep and this time of year has lots of little lambs! We are all counting the days until the next Fiber Fun Day, June 22nd and 23rd!

  My dream to open a yarn shop was born two years ago also. Each week, I imagine our Tuesday night group gathered in a small shop, drinking tea or coffee, knitting (or crocheting) away in over-sized chairs, comfy couches, surrounded by skeins, hanks, and balls of beautiful yarn in all shades and weights! Some day, some day...
  For now, the floozies gather weekly at a local church and each week I am grateful to have found such a fun group of woman to share talents, gain wisdom, and laugh!