Happy Holidays! Thanks so much to everyone who has stopped by this space over the year to leave a comment or just wandered by to browse. And thank you to everyone who has supported my shop over this past year. I really appreciate it.

Best wishes for a happy 2012 and I will see you back here in the New Year!

What a whirlwind few weeks it has been! Now I'm done with the holiday shows and have (almost) completed my Christmas shopping. I still have yet to bake any Christmas cookies. Got to remedy that somehow this weekend.

We have our tree up and decorated. I've always thought the Christmas tree began as a pagan tradition of leaving a tree filled with food for the birds and animals during the darkest, coldest days of winter, but after looking it up the other night, I discovered there is another explanation as well. Apparently, December 24th is the feast day of Adam and Eve, and the tree represents the Paradise tree in the Garden of Eden, while the ornaments represent the apple of knowledge.
Interesting!

Hope you have a nice weekend whether it is filled with holiday plans or not!

p.s. the little deer among the clothespeg dolls is a fern animal by ashley anna brown.

New cotton plaid scarves and a striped cotton canvas tote in the shop!

What a busy time of year! This poor blog has been so neglected this season, something I plan to remedy in the new year. My studio is filled with red and blue today as I clean it up after a whirlwind week of making and weekend of selling. Now it's time to start thinking about the holidays for my own family.

I've got a few new things to post in my shop this week if I can get some good photos. Otherwise, I'm afraid it's looking a bit sparse after a busy weekend of sales at Michelle Willey! Thank you to everyone who stopped by our trunk show there...it was SO great to meet and chat with all you lovely people.

These are the last of the grainsack pillows for the year, so if you are interested in them as holiday gifts, please be in touch. If they ship early this week (US, not international, sorry!), they should make it in time for Christmas.

We are getting our Christmas tree tonight...I can't wait. It's my favorite part of Christmas.

The last sale of the year. This weekend Angela and I will be at Michelle Willey both Saturday and Sunday in the South End. I've been working all week getting some brand new things ready. Got a few more things in the works to get done by the end of today!

Thank you to all my lovely friends and family who came to the sale last Sunday. It was fabulous to see you all. Thanks so much as always for the wonderful support.

p.s. invite photo and design is by angela

Getting my house ready for the Holiday Sale this Sunday! At the eleventh hour I start to get nervous and for me that means I try to do way too much at the last minute...like start baking a bunch of cookies the morning of the show or dusting all the window moldings and stressing everyone in my house out (well, mostly just myself, I guess). This afternoon my nervous energy got channelled into making an impromptu inspiration wall in my dining room.

Anyway, if you are in the Cambridge area this Sunday, please stop by the Holiday Sale!

Sunday, December 4th
1 to 5 pm
36 Shea Road
Cambridge, MA
02140

Angela, Aileen and I will have lots of lovely holiday gifts for sale and some nice things to eat too.

Went for a woodsy walk over the weekend. It was great to be out in the fresh November air. The woods were peaceful, other than our noisy band of children. We walked for about three hours with only a handful of clementines and a bag of pretzels. Next time we will remember to bring sandwiches!

Free Shipping within the US on anything in my shop Friday November 25-Monday 28! Enter code HOLIDAY2011 at checkout.

Enjoy the long weekend, folks!

Feeling inspired by color and pattern recently.

We're getting ready to host Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year. After so many years of traditional New England food, this year we're going to try something different, more southern.

Deep fried turkey (okay, my husband's doing this...I've got nothing to do with it, except when it comes to eating it)
Cornbread stuffing
Creamed collard greens
Shrimp Gravy
Biscuits
Pecan bourbon bread pudding

I bought an unbelievable amount of butter and heavy cream today at the grocery store.

All recipes excepting the turkey from the November 2011 issue of Bon Appetit

Happy Thanksgiving, ya'll!

The 36 Shea Holiday Sale will take place Sunday, December 4th from 1 to 5 pm.

Please join Studio Carta, Forest Karma Soap, and Jill Bent for an afternoon of shopping and holiday treats!

36 Shea Road
Cambridge, MA 02140

Lovely stationery, ribbons, twine, handcrafted soap, hats, pillows, scarves, and more!
Feel free to bring a friend or two along.
Parking is available on the street and free on Sundays.

I just added these wool pillows to my shop. Made from the softest vintage blankets.
And a heads up that next weekend Friday, November 25-Monday, November 28, I will be offering free shipping within the US on everything in my shop. I'll post the coupon code closer to the date.

My favorite Selby post ever.
Beautiful travel blog.
Finally watched True Grit and The King's Speech. Both so good and available on Netflix now.

Mostly working these days, not taking many photos. Sewing what feels like a billion lavender pillows for my upcoming holiday shows.

I love the geraniums in my neighbor's upstairs window and the fact that she painted the top of her stairs red recently. It will make looking through my window this winter more cheery!

I moved the blue table indoors to house my own geraniums. I'm determined to get them to bloom vigorously this winter. I hope they will co-operate.

My shop is part of the new Poppytalk Holiday Market, which just opened yesterday!

As always, Poppytalk has curated a beautiful group of shops.
Some of my favorites at first glance are:

Claudia Pearson

1Canoe2

Ouistitine

Fog and Swell

Stitch and Tickle

Albertine Press

Happy holiday shopping! (I haven't even begun to think about mine yet!)

I've been knitting this sweater from Quince & Co. The pattern (although simple) was initially a bit out of my comfort zone, meaning I had to learn a few new things about knitting as I went along. One thing I learned the hard way. When a pattern says use a size 11 needle, don't try to get away with using a 10.5. I was knitting along, thinking I could get away with it, only to find once I got to the sleeve separation that the gauge was wrong, the sweater was too small, and I would need to start over, and invest in the proper size needles! But now, it's coming along after that minor mishap! I've got the bottom edge to finish and then the sleeves. I'll admit, I'm a little nervous about the sleeves, again a bit out of my comfort zone. But I'm hoping when all is said and done, I will have a nice cozy sweater to wear this winter.

100% Superwash Merino Cable Cowls in the shop! The softest wool ever and super warm. Handknit by me in charcoal or cream.

Thank you, Charlie, for the photos!

I finally made some new fall pillows for my couch, two from a gorgeous, creamy, vintage wool blanket, and one from the last of some navy blue ikat fabric I brought back from Indonesia ages ago. I made the tartan pillow last winter, and am happy to have it sprucing things up this fall after a summer in storage. I love trading around pillows, artwork, etc. when the seasons change, it makes my house feel refreshed, and it's less costly than buying new stuff. Might be time to move some furniture around too, slightly more daunting though.

Fooling around making color co-ordinated banners from stamps, just for fun. I used Angela's stamps, and just ran them through my sewing machine with white thread. You could do it too!

It's raining like crazy today, which is good, because I need to stay inside and get work done. Sunny days I get too distracted going on long bike rides when I should be working.

If you feel like procrastinating on this rainy day, check out these links (all found through
16 House):

Brydie Brown

The Design Files

Megan Morton's Sydney home

It's freezing in my house! Time for another cup of tea and another sweater to layer on. BRRRR.

Clothespeg dolls 1, 2 and 3 are in my shop now!

Wouldn't be fall for me without apples. We went picking last weekend. I made baked apples the other night, stuffing the cores with a little oatmeal, chopped almonds, brown sugar, raisins and butter. It wasn't a big hit with my family (probably not dessert-y enough), so I've been having the leftovers for breakfast. It seems like a pretty healthy thing to eat.

I've been making this apple raisin cake this fall. Not really so healthy, so it's best to not have it sitting around the house tempting you when you have an afternoon cup of tea. But it's a great cake to share with others!

Lost and found stuff:

I forgot about this tray because it was too far back in the cupboard. A gift from my brother from when he lived in Mexico. Now that I've rediscovered it I want to use it all the time.

Postcards from my parent's recent trip to Wales. After I took the picture I noticed the frowny face between the postcards...from my daughter. Wonder what she had to complain about?

Almost lost this plant to neglect this summer, it is slowly coming back. I love the tiny green leaves.

Just finished reading Swamplandia! by Karen Russell. It took me a little while to get into the story, but about half way through I decided it is one of the best books I've read in a long time.