Monday, December 30, 2013

Au Revoir December



We had a fabulous December, I'm sad it's over already. It was our second Christmas together and it was fun putting up the tree with all of our ornaments from last year, plus the new ones from this year. We always try to do Christmas-y things while we can. Last year we decorated wooden ornaments and saw the Nutcracker ballet, this year we made a gingerbread house and got fancy ornaments from the artists at Balboa park. I got a hand blown glass ornament and Sean got an ornament made from a goose egg.   


December has also been a good month for my house plants. I tend to be a little neglectful, but somehow my plants have been thriving. I managed to get my African violets to bloom again after months and months, and all of my orchids (I have five now) are so happy and are putting out new leaves and roots. One of them is even growing a new flower spike! This is completely new to me. The spike has grown about twice the length since that picture was taken. Both of these plants are really easy to care for, but it still feels like such an accomplishment to not only keep them alive, but to help them thrive.

Another big December announcement... I opened up a hand dyed yarn store and bought myself a spinning wheel (thanks for the Christmas present, Dad!). The yarn above was spun on my drop spindle from Queen Bee Fibers, and while a drop spindle is a great inexpensive way to get into spinning, it took me three months to spin 160 yards. To give you an idea of how minuscule 160 yards is, I could probably make A mitten from this. A single mitten. I will be able to spin much faster on a wheel and I've already ordered a bunch of delicious fiber for when I receive my wheel.

Arguably the most exciting event in December has been Squirrel Stash. It has been a work in progress for a few months and I finally decided to roll it out a little over a week ago. Within an hour of uploading my current inventory, I had one sale and another inquiry. It was incredible. I wasn't expecting any sales for weeks! I'm currently in the process of building stock and upgrading my equipment. I hope it only goes up from here.