Treats

A few {a lot, actually} new treats in the shop this week!  Here are a few of my favorites~

Hand Dyed Yarn

Rustic I ~ Cord Bracelet

Handmade Soap

{Soap in scents of Pumpkin Bread, Wild Mint, and later this week; Cherry Blossom,  Move Me Brightly, Oats n' Honey and Hint of Grapefruit}

Upcycled Longies

Wishing you a safe and happy Halloween!!

Pumpkin Patch

We mark the passing of the seasons in so many ways, but in our home a visit to the pumpkin patch at VanSomeren's farm is the surest sign that another year has gone by.  

{"If you can carry it, you can keep it!"}

{My favorite part of the barn.  The Turks, with their unusual colors, shapes and textures.}

Someday soon we’ll have our very own heirloom pumpkin patch with Jack Be Littles, Blue Moons, Moonshine Pumpkins, Aspen, and Rouge Vif d Etampes, all nestled into the rolling hills of Rusk County. For now, though, we hold onto the long standing tradition of visiting the VanSomeren farm after the air turns cool each fall season.  {And yes, Jacob.  We will be taking this picture every year until you're all old and gone.}

Wishing you a wonderful weekend~

Yarn Along

See the adorable orange horse on the left?  It was made by another of my very talented friends, D'Arcy. {You can find her over at Horse Tribe}  When I watched her cut out the pieces at coffee one morning, I knew it was all mine!! It's made from the most delicious hand dyed, hand made felt in a warm burnt orange, adorned with two sparkly spiderwebs, one on the forehead and one on the thigh, and two perfectly beaded eyes.  D'Arcy, who loves a good trade any day, decided she would be glad to have a pair of long gauntlet style fingerless mittens, so there you go.  I've got my horse and in about a week, D'Arcy shall have her mittens.  You can find all my notes over here on Ravelry.

I'm also reading Shirley Jackson's Raising Demons for about the 30th time in the last five years.  It makes me laugh hysterically every time I read it and this week I needed a good laugh!

Don't forget to stop in and visit Ginny over at Small Things for her weekly Yarn Along.  You'll find all kinds of knitting inspiration~

Ukrainian Pysanky Eggs

Now I know I should be showing you photos of my own table at this weekend's Magical Market, but it was so much more fun to watch Amanda, from Wildflowers on Sunday, create her beautiful Ukrainian Pysanky Eggs using a candle, sweet smelling beeswax, and a whole lot of talent.  I'm pretty sure she may also possess magical egg painting superpowers.

My favorite of all her eggs.  This particular one was hand painted {vs. dip dyed} and as Amanda explained to me, it's a very special egg because it's almost symmetrical on each end!

{She's carefully melting the wax away to reveal the hidden line work.}

After several layers of wax and dye this is the result.  See, I told you, magical superpowers.  

{This egg is to be a gift for Maggie, owner of the coffeehouse.  The blue magpie is the shop's logo!}

Cole was also enchanted by Amanda's talent and is interested in giving it a try.  I did a bit of research on Ukrainian Pysanky Eggs and here are a few links I found:

http://www.learnpysanky.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pysanka

http://www.ukrainianegg.com/

If you've ever tried this yourself or with your kids, I'd love to read about your experiences!

p.s All of the Christmas Stockings are available today in the shop.~

Upcycled Christmas Stockings

As promised, here are a few of the upcycled Christmas stockings I'm taking with me to market this weekend!  I had hoped to share more items with you, but my camera cord is still no where to be found....

Magical Market @ Magpie Coffeehouse and Cafe

This is what I've been up to folks... up to my eyeballs in upcycled longies, mittens, and holiday stockings, hand dyed yarn, handcrafted soaps, and more preparing for a Magical Market at my most favorite coffeehouse this weekend ~ Magpie's Coffeehouse & Cafe.  If you're local, I'd love for you to stop on in and say hi!  If you're coming from the Twin Cities, Magpie's is just off of highway 36 in a little town called Somerset {I'm sure you're familiar with their summer concerts!}.  Maggie serves the most delicious organic coffees, local teas, breakfast and lunch menu, handmade deserts and of course my favorite, Scotcheroos!  

I'll have lots of new items that haven't made it into the shop yet and if I can ever find my camera cord again in my pile of sweater scraps, I'll post some pics for you tomorrow.  Hope to see you there!

Golden Rain

The air is warm under the late afternoon sun.  Warm like June, but it doesn't feel like June in my bones. It smells different.  The maple's leaves fall steadily like a golden rain, leaving a soft blanket on the earth to rest and play.

Free Knitting Pattern: Jack Be Little Pumpkin

A fall tradition as steadfast as warm buttered bread and steaming hot apple cider on a late September afternoon, is the yearly trip to the local pumpkin patch for oodles of Jack be Little Pumpkins!  {Can you tell I've been immersed in Little House on the Prairie books?}  I adore these little mini pumpkins and thought some wooly Jack Be Little's would be sweet for our own nature table, along with a few for an upcoming Magical Market at my favorite coffee shop.  Enjoy~

Free Knitting Pattern:  Jack Be Little Pumpkin

Materials:

A few scrap yards of worsted weight wool

Size 4 double pointed knitting needles

Wool fleece for filling

Darning needle

Finished Measurements:

Mine came out to about 3" in diameter.

Directions:

CO 36 sts. leaving a 12" tail.  

 Divide onto three needles and join, being careful not to twist.

*K5, P1  Repeat from * around until piece measures 3" long.

Break off yarn leaving a 12" tail and using darning needl e, feed it through all the stitches.  Pull tight and then skim the tail through again for extra durability.  Secure the end with a knot.  

Turn the whole thing inside out. {You could P5, K1 but I loathe purling.  Your choice.}

On the open end, thread the darning needle using the tail and weave it in and out around the edge.

Fill the pumpkin with a sufficient amount of wool and pull tight.  Make a little knot to keep it in place.  Now feed the tail up through the middle and out the top hole.  Tie the two tails together until it resembles a pumpkin! You can hide the tails by pulling them into the middle.

For the stem, pick up and knit 4 stitches on the top.  Knit 3/4" of i cord.  Bind off and darn in ends.  

Wouldn't they be amazing in creamy white, too?!

{Oh, and don't forget to join up with Ginny's Yarn Along.  So much inspiration...}

*Click here for more free patterns*

Nature Art

It's that time of year again.  When our pockets full of seashells and rocks are replaced by pockets bursting with acorns, pinecones, and fungi of all types. This weeks collection turned into some fun little nature scenes.  The guys loved how the glue gun made festive "spider webs" all over everything!!

What's in your pocket this week?