Happy Halloween!

First let me say Happy Halloween! The girls will be heading out tonight for a rainy trick or treating time. I am so excited to see them all dressed up. I’m really not sure how many kids will come by, but I think we’re prepared. We finally got around to making jack-o-lanterns the other night. Nate made three of them (back to front, M’s, K’s and Nate’s). Mine is the white one. I think we were all pretty creative. I roasted some of the seeds in cinnamon, nutmeg and clove, and will use the rest in pumpkin date bread. I’ll have updates on how that turns out and pictures of the girls in a few days.We’ve had some pretty interesting experience around here lately. I spent some time yesterday with a local woman who raises Shetland Sheep from lambs, roos them (instead of shearing), cards and spins the wool and then knits it up. She does some beautiful work, and thought we didn’t get to see the sheep yesterday, she did show me some of the wool. The colors are so diverse as well as the texture. This white was very kinky, but carded looks like cotton batting. And so soft! I was told that I could help with rooing in the spring- which is basically pulling the wool off at a natural breaking point rather than cutting it. She does sell the roving, and I left inspired to pick up my drop spindle again. I have lost my angora “supplier” since he sold his bunnies, but I am determined to use what I have to make a scarf or something decadently soft. :)I also had a bit of a stash explosion the other day when my father-in-law stopped over after a church auction with this bag of yarn. It was listed as $50 worth, but the bag is almost to heavy to carry easily. I truly appreciate him thinking of me. As we opened the bag, we were pretty surprised by the contents: it was all 100% acrylic, which is fine, depending on the item you are making, but it is also about 40 years old (as you can see by the labels in the close up). Many skeins were labeled $.50/skein and they were average size. 🙂 I am hoping that some will work for making toys and that they will hold up to many washings.As usual, I leave you with a few cute kid pix. Have fun tonight and be safe!

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