Enjoying Today

I have the day off ... yes, it's a fantastic day because for the first time in weeks, including weekends, I did not have to wake to an alarm clock.  The children have the day off from school and we are spending the day together.  I love days like this!

While I was enjoying my coffee this morning (and they had fun making beaded necklaces), I ordered the two books you see to the left, to surprise them with.  They loved going to the Sheep & Wool shows and watching the sheep being sheered and getting to ask questions, so the Farmer Brown book will be a great way to remind them of their experiences at the shows.  And I figure the Christmas Yarn book will be a great way to start the countdown to the upcoming holidays.

I also surfed on over to a new website (to me) called "Black Purl Magazine" and decided to subscribe to it's newsletter. I'm glad I did. The magazine is dedicated to not just various forms of fiber arts -- but to the soul that inspires it.  In the first newsletter I received (you'll need adobe reader if you opt to subscribe too), I found it inspiring to read all the articles, two of which are on crochet: Freeform beading, and Freeform Crochet.  They also mentioned the book, "Color Works: The Crafter's Guide to Color" that sounded so wonderful in their review that I added to my order today.  Of course this means I'm going to enjoy another "Santa day" soon, huh?  :)

Last night I decided to put off working on the Scarf Challenge and work on some Treasure Bags that will become gifts this Christmas season ... the intent is to fill them not with bogus credit cards as you see here, but with gift cards!  I added the buttons to the pull strings so the bags would be pretty to wear around the wrist.  They're even large enough to tuck a, oh, how do we say it delicately? ... hhmmmm, a "pad" for those needed times...yes, you can even tuck one of those in, along with a tube of lipstick or chapstick.

The yarn I used was Gedifra's "Distrato" which is a woven fiber that goes from smooth to slightly furry.  The color intensifies where the fur is. It's so silky to use; I just love it, and I love how the bags came out.  I've mentioned it here before, but if you missed it, you can get the pattern for the Treasure Bags by visiting my website at www.CrochetWithDee.com.

I want to note that the Treasure Bags pictured above are, at least on my PC, nearly true to size, and it was Rose who inspired me to make these bags with the Distrato. 
Thanks Rose! J Rose has made them to hold her cellphone, CDs and more!