Front Porch Knitting

There's a whole lot of Front Porch Knitting going on at my house these days as I work at breakneck speed in preparation for the upcoming Pumpkin Festival. We have just under 3 weeks left to finish up and then we will all be setting up our booths at the Craft Faire. I love the hodgepodge variety of all the vendors set up together. The buzz of energy as we all work individually, and yet collectively, is nearly palpable in its silent hum that constantly weaves throughout the entire event. Quite honestly, I believe it's one of the biggest and best reasons I return year after year for this wonderful event. I am truly delighted in, and totally energized by, the overall sense of belonging; sense of community the Pumpkin Festival bestows upon me. It is small town living at it's very finest.

And I am a small town Girl to the core.

   So I have been knitting a lot of pumpkins these days.
Some have been for custom orders, some fly out the door as people stop by and some will show up in my booth at the Festival.
Never fear...

If you arrive at my booth too late and I'm sold out...

I take custom orders and I work fast.

This photo was taken by a recent customer who sent it to me after she received the pumpkins as a surprise gift from her very sweet hubby.

Pictured here are three pumpkins in Natural and three in Blaze Orange.

All of my pumpkins are made using 100% Pure Wool double stranded and contain approximately 8 cups of fiber fill per pumpkin. 

By the way, this photo was used with the permission of the happy customer. :-)

I love to provide variety for people

so I knit pumpkins in different colors to suit various tastes.

Also, if you look closely, you will see just the top of some pumpkin dishcloths peeking out from underneath the stuffed pumpkins in the basket.

They are made from a wonderful fiber blend of cotton and linen

and I will have them along with me as well.

Then, of course, I will have some baby items for sale too...

But switching gears...

There will be items besides pumpkin themed knits in my booth as well, such as one of my all time favorite Fall Fashion accessories: Fingerless Mitts.

I always provide several styles and colors for those who like them.

So if you love warm hands and free fingers,

come and see me.

 I'll be in booth number

62

Front Porch Knits

September 15 & 16.

I sure hope to see you there!

And please do wander throughout the whole Craft Faire.

Each year brings with it a treasure trove of new delights.

I promise you will love it!

"There is immense power when a group of people 

with similar interests gets together

to work toward the same goals."

Idowu Koyenikan

Community

Well the whirlwind of Morton's 50th Golden Pumpkin Festival has finally come to an end and I am slowly recovering. I was unable to do my usual Thankfulness Tuesday post yesterday due to overwhelming fatigue but after an afternoon nap and then 12 hours of sleep last night here I am.

So please bear with me as I try to figure out exactly what day it is...

This photo shows only a portion of our booth about mid morning on the first day, which was actually two spaces wide, and I had to snap quickly between customers. We had two days full of gorgeous sunshine that brought out a beautiful crowd of shoppers. There was a bit of issue with the weather on Friday that caused our director to have to work hard and rearrange the whole schedule {hats off to you Kim for all of your hard work!} but in the end it all worked out perfectly. It was the best show the three of us have ever had. So many of the items that we have spent hours working on sold and that makes us so happy.

Plus I came home with custom orders as well.

But here's the real bonus for me...

I really love the opportunity to be involved in my community in this way. Being up there in the midst of it really is all about community and people coming together for a common goal and to have a good time. At my heart of hearts God programmed me to be a people person and I spend the entire year that I am creating fiber art for this craft faire looking forward to the time I will spend with the different people who will flow in and out of my booth. We always have family and friends who help with the setup and show up to visit, shop and show their loving support year after year, which I cherish more than words can say. If any of you are reading this... Thank You. Then there's the thrill of meeting all the new people that trickle in and out to look and try things on and make purchases or custom order items if we don't have the right size or color they need. I always find myself face to face with and old high school friend or two who has moved away and is home just for the festival and it's so much fun to reconnect. I also gain new knitting and crochet students every year too because they take my business card and show up for lessons and oftentimes we become friends. Although it takes me a good week to recover due to my health issues, I absolutely love every single drop of it all and I wouldn't miss it for the world. I am so thankful that when the smell of pumpkin starts floating on the air I find that God has once again given me the energy and strength I need to be involved in this very special event.

Of course there are also the rides that start on Wednesday before the Craft Faire.

Eric took Gabby and Parker up the first evening and got this picture of Gabby but there are no photos of the little guy. He was very excited about the train... but only watching it. He had no plan to ride it. Maybe next year.

Brandon captured this moment of Hilary and Archer on the merry go round.

I'm always so busy getting ready for the Craft Faire and setting up and then selling that I often have to conserve my energy just for the business at hand. Thankfully they are good about sending me these precious pictures when they snap them.

I hope this post finds each of you enjoying this last true day of Summer in

Good Health and Great Happiness.

I will be back in a few days to share a recipe and show you

what I'm working on for my

Christmas Sale.

For now I leave you with a lovely quote on community and friendship ...

"Alone we can do so little;

together so much."

Helen Keller

Soothing My Spirit

Just one little pumpkin...

But I've already started knitting pumpkins for our annual

Fall Festival.

This year's Morton Pumpkin Festival

will be our 50th year.

The Anheuser Clydesdales will even be here

to help us celebrate by prancing down Main Street

in all their

beautiful glory.

I live on Main Street.

I am already excited!

There is much to be done.

Lots and lots of knitting and crocheting.

My friend Mary Anne, my cousin Kathy and I always have a booth together at the Craft Faire.

We work hard all year long to come up with new ideas and keep the classic old ones that we know customers love and will be returning for.

We realized last year that we have out grown just one booth space

so this year we will be filling two spaces for the first time.

Needless to say,

our hooks and needles are flying through the air at lightning speed.

It always seems out of season to me to knit pumpkins and other

Fall and Winter items throughout the Spring and Summer

but in order to be ready I have to work constantly on these

as well as trying to come up with new things

for my

Shop

that are appealing for warm weather months.

That's why people see things like pumpkins and fingerless mitts

popping up on my shop in the Summertime :-)

Truth be told,

as long as I'm knitting or crocheting,

I am happy.

"Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit,

and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either."

Elizabeth Zimmeramann

"As I get older, I just prefer to knit."

Tracey Ullman

To Market, To Market

I'm in a whirlwind of activity here...

Knitting needles, crochet hooks 

&

Yarn

are flying in an absolute storm around me

as fast as I can make them go!

On September 12, 13 & 14

I will have a booth at the 

Craft Faire

at our local

Pumpkin Festival,

along with my Monday night knitting girls :-)

We are so excited!

Anyone local can look for us under my business name ~

Front Porch Knits.

I had these darling tags custom made on an Etsy Shop.

There will of course be plenty of Pumpkin items for sale.

These are made from the Knit Picks patterns ~

Clove {crocheted}

&

Spice {knitted}

But you know me...

I can't show up without plenty of sweet little baby items as well.

Some covered baby hangers...

A pile of  baby hats...

The pattern for these can be found right 

here

And some booties for precious piggies.

These are just a sampling of my wares.

I will try to squeeze out the time to show some more before it all goes.

In the mean time,

Mr. Parker,

{look how fast they grow!}

my 3 month old grandson,

is keeping me busy 

Wednesday through Friday,

as his Mommy has returned to work.

A week ago Tuesday we had another new baby in our family.

My sister is now a Grammy for the first time.

Elijah Wade 

born August 18

weighing a whopping 

10 lbs. 6 oz. !!!

And my daughter Hilary is expecting her baby boy in a week or so!

PHEW!

It's a real good thing I love to make baby items :-)

Happy Holiday Weekend to All of You,

God Bless,

Xo

  Xo,

Danette