October

As you can imagine, I love October. Even here in the south, October is generally crisp, cool and very autumnal. Since we live in the Ouachita mountains, we get lovely autumn colors, too. 

There are lots of things to love about fall, like apples, apple cider, pumpkins, fires in the fireplace, and leaves everywhere. But most of all it's the kick-off to full fledged knitting season. 

Not only do we get to dive deep into the hand knitting, using the wooliest wools and enjoying a pile of sweater in our laps, but we get to wear the hand knits. Shawls, sweaters, hats, mitts, mittens, and lots of socks. 

Break out the wool!

Hello, Fall

Today's the first day of fall (in the northern hemisphere, anyway). Can I just say....Yippee!!

We're still waiting for cooler temperatures around here, but at least the humidity has dropped and that gorgeous autumn light is shining outside my studio window as I type this. It's a blue sky, green leaf kind of day. But there are some leaves on the lawn...the first of many to come.

I think I'll sit back for a moment and enjoy a cup of tea, a little knitting and a new season. My favorite season!

The Holidays are here!

I love this time of year! The weather, the food, the fires, the family get-togethers...it's all great. And let's not forget the shopping:)

On that note, we will have an extra large shop update on Black Friday! October House will be well stocked for the holidays with plenty of yarn, fiber, and goodies.

Black Friday, November 27th, at 8:00 AM CST, and it will include a new batch of mini-skeins! These have been very popular, and don't show any signs of waning. 

New England in the fall

A carpet of gold leaves in Bennigton, Vermont

After Rhinebeck, we headed a little further Northeast to Vermont & New Hampshire.

We returned to a few of the places we stayed on our first trip, and added a couple of new ones. There just wasn't enough time to head to Maine, which was kind of a bummer, but it worked out all right in the end, as you'll see.

One of our favorite places from our last trip to New England was Woodstock, Vermont. So it was really great to see it in the fall. We got there just a little past "peak" but it was still beautiful, and the weather was absolutely perfect. Sweater weather:)

Woodstock, Vermont

We got to stop at King Arthur Flour, which I loved. I may have purchased a few things there:) And we had a great pastry and tea as we watched the bakers work.

We headed over to Hanover, New Hampshire and got to see a little of the Dartmouth campus, which was neat. From there we headed to Portsmouth, New Hampshire for a couple of days. Portsmouth is a great town with tons and tons of shops, restaurants, bakeries and breweries in the downtown area. We also visited the historic area of Strawberry Banke, which was fascinating, being the history nerds we are!

Strawberry Banke

Bonus: Maine is just over the bridge from Portsmouth...so we walked over to Maine (Kittery, Maine) and had tea and scones. It was perfect:)

On the way back through New Hampshire, we stopped at Harrisville Designs and I got a couple of skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Loft and two skeins of HD Watershed.

We're already planning our next trip, although we're definitely looking into other options besides driving. Maybe a little train trip? I'm already looking into that:)

Rhinebeck 2015

We went to Rhinebeck!

This was my first time attending the NY Sheep & Wool Festival, and boy, it was crowded! We got to the fairgrounds about 15 minutes before opening on Saturday and joined a long line of knitters and spinners patiently waiting for the gates to open.

I don't think we could have ordered a more perfect day. It was cold, crisp and sunshine-y. Perfect fiber festival weather!

We sampled some fair food (apple cider donuts & maple cotton candy), took lots of pictures of sheep,  saw lots and LOTS of hand knits, and bought just a few things:

I got a needle keeper for my interchangeable circular needles from CrippenWorks. Jimmy got a drop spindle from Jonathan Bosworth (it's curly maple), and I bought one little skein of yarn from North Light Fibers. It's a cashmere/merino blend and it's super soft.

After a few days in the Hudson Valley, we were moving on to Vermont & New Hampshire. I'll share a little about that next week!

First day of autumn

Although I do love me some Christmas, I think autumn is "The most wonderful time of the year."
I always feel like fall is a new beginning, not to mention the kick off of "knitting season!"

Happy fall:)

A Fiber Filled Year

2014 has been a banner year for me, for my family, and for October House Fiber Arts.

Since starting up the shop last year with a grand opening on October 24, we've:

Added a fiber club:

Started a lively and growing Ravelry Group

Hosted a Sock SAL/KAL

Hosted a Tour de Fleece team

Launched a new website

And vended at our first fiber festival!

I'm excited about the year ahead and what it holds for October House. I'm planning to increase my dyeing time (a lot) in a few months, since I'll be leaving my day job...very exciting! We're also planning to attend Rhinebeck next fall (woo hoo!) and take another spin through lovely Vermont. There'll be lots more yarn and fiber and hopefully, more knitting and spinning!

Colors of October

I love the colors of October

1. yellow and green leaves over the pond, 2. October, 3. Fall Colors -- Yellow, 4. 365/274 Finally a real fall day, 5. Fall Relections, 6. 'Fall Layers', United States, Colorado, Grande Mesa, 7. Fall colors 1, 8. Fall 2011, 9. Fall 2011, 10. Fall colors in the U.P., 11. Colours of Autumn, 12. Delicious autumn, 13. Early one October morning

Hello, October

Did I mention I love October?

November days

Wow, I've been busy dyeing a rainbow of colors these past few weeks.  I looked up and it was November!
The woods around here have burst into color and it's turned cool and crisp...and yummy.  Thanksgiving is just around the corner (yes, really)!

These are days to enjoy...

October Desktop Background

October is finally here.  My favorite month of the year!  Let's enjoy it.

Click on the links below to download the calendar of your choice (choose the size you need for the desktop & iPad/iPhone versions):

Click here to download the October Desktop Calendar

Click here to download the October Desktop background (with no calendar)

Click here to download the October iPhone/iPad Background

Click here to download the October Printable Calendar

Please note:
All images and elements are copyright Robin Sample.  You may not reproduce, recreate, or sell in any way.  But please feel free to download for your own personal use.  If  you share (I'd love that!) please direct your readers to this post to download the file.  Thank you!

Hello Fall

I. love. fall!

A Leaf-y Pillow

In the last year or so, we noticed that Shepherd enjoyed laying in the leaves on the back patio.  So, we started raking the leaves into a pile in the middle of the patio and leaving them for him to lay in.

And he does :

I mean, I'm sorry, but how cute is that?  I'll tell you...darn cute.

Not that we spoil or pamper him or anything like that.  Right.

It's looking like Thanksgiving

Flickr Mosaic : Thanksgiving Season

1. Table laid out for dinner, 2. Pumpkin pie, 3. More fall leaves..., 4. Squirrel, 5. Thanksgiving Turkey, 6. Red apples in a basket, 7. Acorns on tree, 8. The Overlook Hotel MOD Wool Throw, 9. fall leaves, 10. Maisy Day Handspun Shimmy, 11. Pumpkins, 12. Ready to be gifted., 13. Candle


I'm a big fan of Thanksgiving.  You get great food and colder weather, without all the stress and commercialism of our modern-day Christmas season.  (Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas.  But it's definitely not as restful as Thanksgiving).  There's not a lot of expectation associated with Thanksgiving, and I think that's great.

And what's not to love about fall leaves, acorns, turkeys, pumpkins, apples, candles and wool?

Do you have a favorite holiday?

Cross Stitch Freebie : A Fall Leaf

Before Fall fades completely...here's a little reminder of the season.  Needless to say, it's my favorite season of the year.

So, to get us all in the mood and ready for the glorious-ness that is Thanksgiving, I've stitched up a little fall leaf.  And you can stitch it up, too.  My little sample is stitched with Weeks Dye Works Sweet Potato, but use any color you like!

This little leaf is a gift from me to you.

Download the free leaf pattern here.

Fall Leaf Free Cross Stitch Pattern 

Saturday Snapshot 11.03.2012

Lake Ouachita State Park

We had a full weekend of hiking, ending with a trek around Caddo Bend on Lake Ouachita.  It was hit by a tornado last year, and it was amazing to see the damage.  We'd hiked this trail a few times, so we could really see the difference, since we knew what the trail used to look like.

The picture above is looking out from the point at about the half-way marker.  The island you see there to the right is great for camping.  We kayaked out and spent a night there a few years ago in November (and yes, it was cold!)

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Well, we made our visit to Northwest Arkansas and Crystal Bridges, and a great time was had by all!

We enjoyed nice, moderate weather.  Not too hot (yah!), but not very cold (boo!).  But the sun was shining and the breeze was lovely, and it was great to just get away.

Crystal Bridges was interesting...we were probably more interested in the trails and the building itself than the art inside...if you're anywhere in the area it's worth a trip.  And free...did I mention that?  Free.

We walked all of the trails around the museum, some a couple of times.  We saw some cute stuff and enjoyed some lovely landscaping, with lots of local plantings.

Do you take autumn trips?

Take a Hike

It is "Hiking Season."  Like a lot of people, this is our favorite time of year for hiking.  The bugs are gone (mostly), the colors are beautiful, the air is crisp and cool.  It's sweater weather...or at least it's not t-shirt and flip-flop weather.

Shepherd, being the senior dog that he is, always feels it's time for a celebration because he survived another brutal, Arkansas summer!  And after this year especially, I'm with him.  I've never been so happy to see summer go by...and to say, hello fall.

And the best part is...that means winter is just around the corner.

October Colors Palette

Photo Credit : edward van buuringen

So many things about this time of year excite me.  The colors are certainly one of those things.  You may have noticed that I love browns, golds, rusts and grays, all colors that are taking center stage right about
now.

Snapshot Saturday 10.06.2012

Photo Credit  :  jk5854

Tis the season for....Yard Work!

We have a lot of trees in our yard, so we always rake several times each fall and winter.  I have to admit, I hate leaf blowers.  The noise they make is completely irritating to me.  I would much prefer the woosh, woosh sound of raking with a real rake.  (I'm kinda the same way about sweeping vs. vacuuming.)  Jimmy and I are both fairly noise sensitive.  Maybe that comes from not having any kids?!

Do you like/hate to rake?