For the Love of...Color!

Living on the prairie, much of the year is either...

Brown

or

White

Both are beautiful, but sometimes a lack of color can get to a girl. So recently I've been brightening up my world and this week is

COLOR

I finished my first sock!

Thanks to my knitting support group, Amy, Kayanna, Amanda, & Jacey, for all their tips and getting me through the tricky spots in the Hermoine sock pattern. Obviously I can't wear just one sock, but I'm not used to working with such small needles & yarn so my hands needed a little break. I cast on the second sock last night and hope to be wearing my new socks in a couple weeks.

My mom & I are doing a swap. She's making me some great handmade cards & in return I'm making her a 2-sided tablerunner. I bought the fabrics when we were still living in Montana, but couldn't decide on a pattern. I finally decided on using Tula Pink's Cherry Pie as a kicking off point. I love how it's turning out.

The other side will be a garden of hexi flowers.

A new cover for my sewing room footstool

I had some white corduroy that I got on super clearance a while back. I dyed it teal (hence the mottled look) and made a couple blocks to give the cover some character. The blocks are based on a pattern from Lizzy House's Five Magical Projects. The dogs & I are very happy with the way the cover turned out!

And PS, Lizzy House's book is gorgeous! I was so amazed by the pictures & colors I almost forgot there were patterns in there too. :D

I like to add color to my meals as well!

New wristers I made from some cozy Malabrigo I purchased while attending the Sewing Summit.

New pillowcases

Virginia & I did a swap last week. I had an extra jelly roll of Sunkissed so I posted an announcement to Twitter. She was the first to respond & offered some Outside Oslo in exchange. When I got my new fabric there was a really cool pillow cover (on left) in the package as well. Isn't it great???

The pillow cover on the right was an orphan block that became a pillow a few weeks ago.

My designer fabric stash. In rainbow order, of course!

Sorry for the long post, but like I said, I've been adding a lot of color to my life lately!

Share the colors in your life. Grab a button from the sidebar for your post & come back to link up! The linky will be open until Monday at midnight (Mountain time).

Next week: For the Love of... Books!

For the Love of Traditions

I meant to get this post up in the end of December & then I meant to get it posted a couple weeks ago and it still never happened... The story of my life. Ugh!

Anyway, sorry I've been away. I have all these great things to share and no confidence to share them, but more on that later. Because right now it's time for another installment of For the Love of...

TRADITIONS

Our first winter in Wyoming we began a Christmas tradition of going up into the forest and cutting our own tree. It's nice to go up into the mountains and let the dogs play and have a fun family day in the wilderness.

Please enjoy our tradition! :)

2008

Cutting our first Christmas tree

2009

I'm sure we have a picture of the tree somewhere, but I can't find it!

2010

In Montana

2011

Cord & Lotte playing in the mountains

Abandoned ranch

Jake may have also taken care of a porcupine or 2. Nasty buggers those things are!

And without further ado...our Christmas tree!

I'd love to see one of your family traditions. It doesn't need to be a winter holiday tradition, maybe you go somewhere special every summer. All you need to do is write about your favorite tradition, grab a button from the sidebar, & come back to link up. The linky will be open until January 25th.

If you have any For the Love of... theme suggestions I'd love to hear them. Next week (Jan. 27) the theme will be COLOR. I love color, especially in rainbow order!

Thank you for your patience while I was away from my blog. And get ready because I have lots to share!

Attitude of Gratitude

Sunday I got a text from Jacqueline asking me if I could help her figure out how to set up a linky party for something called Attitude of Gratitude. I happily said I could and asked if she was available to Skype, since we've been talking about it for months now and just never have. Well, she successfully set it up and I'm definitely going to play along!

So for my first Attitude of Gratitude I am thankful for my online friends. I have not met most of them in person yet, but I definitely consider them friends nonetheless. They have exposed me to many cultures across the country & around the world that I never would have experienced. I can always find someone willing to chat (any time of day or night). They help me stay accountable for my plans. They are creative and inspiring. And most of all they are always encouraging!

So if you'd like to join in just write about what you are thankful for & head over to Handmade With Love and link up!

I haven't forgotten about my For the Love of... linky party either. I just got busy with the holidays. Be sure to come back Friday to link up and share your holiday experiences with a For the Love of...Traditions post.

And if you haven't already, please head on over to The Sewing Summit website to vote for your favorite swag bag redo. Mine is the second one pictured, in case you were wondering. :)