Fresh Friday ... Breathe Deeply

Welcome to the launching of Fresh Friday!

Here's the plan...

On Friday's I will be posting about all kinds of "fresh" finds for all of you.

The list may include:

~ new knitting products I am currently in love with

~ new patterns I am working on and loving

~ healthy recipes, including gluten free, vegetarian and vegan

~ chemical free cleaning products for your home

~ my favorite essential oils and what they are used for

My goal is to eventually do a Fresh Friday post every week,

however it may be more like every other week until after the first of the new year.

I am currently in my super busy season at Front Porch Knits,

especially as I prepare for our upcoming Christmas Open House,

which will be held in my home on Saturday, December 1st.
Not to mention the constant work of new puppy training.

Today's first fresh find is this awesome Namaste Knitter's Train Case 

from Jimmy Beans Wool in Blush.

It's available in several color options but I had to have mine in PINK!!!

It comes with all of these lovely little items included inside.

I was so excited when it arrived on my doorstep yesterday just in time for

my weekly knitting in public trip to Thirty-Thirty Coffee Shop

in Peoria's Junction City

{mmmm....my favorite spot!}! 

Side Note... If you live locally and haven't been to Thirty-Thirty, you have to go!

The drinks are TOO DIE FOR and the staff is AWESOME.

And see the best part of all ...

The Train Case has that wonderful little whole for the yarn to feed through

so everything stays tucked away nice and neat inside while I knit, knit, knit.

I'll let you in on a secret... I'm a spiller at times.

Therefore all of my patterns are kept in plastic sleeves always

because when I'm knitting,

I'm drinking tea, always.

This lovely Train Case is exactly what I needed

to take back and forth on my weekly jaunts.

It holds everything I need perfectly and keeps expensive fibers

from being tea soaked,while also ensuring I don't leave my tiny sterling silver

stitch markers and other notions behind.

It's so much easier to see down inside of than rummaging in a bag.

Yep. I love it!

My current fresh make is this ribbed and cabled mitten.

I love the fact that there's just a touch of cabling

going across the top and that the ribbing

goes all the way around the palm.

This gorgeous charcoal grey yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash Merino Wool,

once again from Jimmy Beans Wool. It is soft, warm and breathable. 

I simply adore merino wool. It's my very favorite fiber to work with.

Nothing makes better mittens.

Speaking of fiber...

I'll leave you with one very simple healthy food idea.

Two pieces of Gluten Free Bread {purchased from Costco, not homemade} toasted.

Topped with:

Organic Almond Butter

Raw Pepitas {Pumpkin Seeds}

Hemp Hearts {Shelled Hemp Seeds}

Health Benefits of:

ALMOND BUTTER ~ Good source of healthy monounsaturated fats, which help lower the risk of heart disease. We gain antioxidant action from Vitamin E and it helps lower cholesterol.

RAW PEPITAS~ Rich source of fiber. Helps prevent constipation and benefits digestive health.

Boosts your intake of protein and minerals. Contains macronutrients that provide energy and provides essential minerals required for proper tissue function.

HEMP HEARTS~ These babies are so good for you I'm providing a link!

Sometimes this toast is my breakfast and other times it's my lunch.

Either way it is yummy and extremely satisfying and satiating.

I hope you've enjoyed this first installment of "Fresh Friday".

Next time up I plan to introduce you to my daughter Chelsea,

who you'll recognize as a model I use oftentimes on my websites.

Chelsea works in the Beauty industry {more on that later}

and is a whole foods/clean eater and fantastic cook. 

I will be sharing a combination of her recipes along with mine,

including foods that make your hair and skin softer;

something we all need with these upcoming Winter months.

 Until then...

Stay warm and toasty with some nice hot tea,

cozy knitting, and healthy comfort food.

That's what I'll be doing!

Namaste!

"To ensure good health:

eat lightly,

breathe deeply,

live moderately,

cultivate cheerfulness,

and maintain an interest in life."

~ William Londen

Silent, and Soft, and Slow

Yes Christmas has come and gone again already.

It comes in a hustle and leaves with a flurry...

But I am always reluctant to let it go and so I hang on for just a bit longer...

And though I love Summer days of open house breezes and carefree front porch swinging, there is still something about a crisp, cold, clear, sparkling, snowy Winter that is almost magical to me at times. The sight of the bright January sunshine drenching a fresh fallen snow and transforming it into a field of glittered white takes my breath away, even from my kitchen window.

I just have to stop and give thanks for the glorious beauty of it all.

Though all the presents have been given and received, the mess torn away and disposed of, I am still feeling quite festive. The Spirit of Christmas lingers on with me during these cold, snowy days of the new year. It has been so long since I created a blog post that I have so many things to share.    
Therefore, this one will look a bit like Christmas
and for those of you who follow my
Facebook pages or Instagram, it will be somewhat of a repeat. Sorry about that!

I made these pretty faire isle knitted hats early in the season using

 Flax Down from Purl Soho.

This yarn is so soft and scrumptious you have to feel it to believe it... and it comes in the most wonderful soft, subtle colors. Definitely a favorite luxury fiber of mine. So if you want to treat yourself, or a friend to something special in the new year, make it using this fabulous fiber.

{or contact me for something custom ;-) }

Of course there were stockings and mitts crocheted and knit up as well.

There were hats galore with big fluffy pom poms... because somehow we all seemed to know we needed to make ready for the frosty days that lay ahead and nothing warms body and soul as well as soft, hand knitted items made of merino wool, alpaca, cashmere and love.

There was even a custom order on my Etsy Shop for some tiny stocking caps with pom poms

and little pumpkins to be used as egg cozies.

I guess even the eggs were anticipating a cold winter...

There were mittens too.

Knit in that same exquisite Purl Soho Flax Down fiber. 

The first Saturday of December ushered the Christmas Season into my home with my annual Christmas Open House. There were five of us here this year selling our handmade items and baked goods. It was our best year ever with a heartwarming turnout of nearly one hundred people passing through the house during the day. We were overjoyed. And again, if you were one of those people, we thank you and we look forward to seeing you here again every year on

the first Saturday in December. 

The following weekend in December brought us to Peoria Ballet's Nutcracker Performance with my granddaughter Gabby having three roles this year. I have pictures of her in just two of her costumes.

It was a beautiful performance. Not only did I have the pleasure of watching from the audience but I chaperoned during the Saturday evening performance and was able to watch some of it from the stage.

All in all it's been a wonderful, magical and very blessed holiday season.

And as I said before, my spirit still lingers in Christmastide... after all, the twelve days of Christmas start on December 25th so I'm not so very behind. Although others around me are pulling down their decorations and storing them till next Christmas I'm not quite there yet. My kitchen cupboards still look festive and there are corners of the house that bear traces of old fashioned yuletide.

It all looks Wintry to me so I'll keep it for just a while longer...

I'm still enjoying steaming hot cups of my favorite Christmas teas too.

Harney & Sons Holiday Tea

and my absolute favorite

Taylors of Harrogate

Spiced Christmas Tea

One promise I made to myself was that after a year full of nonstop knitting for "work" I would take just a little break and make one thing for me  before starting up the new work year. Once again, expecting a cold winter, I decided on a new pair of mittens.

There are a few reasons for this choice:

1) My hands are always cold

2) My custom order book already has orders into Eastertime,

therefore I needed something that I could knit quickly

3) Mittens are my all time favorite thing to knit

4) Whether it be real mittens or even cookies shaped like mittens,

all things mitten - like  warm my heart and bring out my inner child...

for some reason they cause great delight in me.

I have the first one finished and am actually further along on the second one than this picture shows.

Here are the details in case you are interested in making some yourself.

The pattern is very well written and easy to follow and the yarn shows the stitch definition beautifully, making the cable work stand out perfectly.

So here goes...

I ordered the kit from Kitterly

and you can find it right here

Tin Can Knits Grayling Pattern

It will let you choose from a good selection of colors of Ewe Ewe Yarns So Sporty

which is a 100% Merino Wool Superwash. I chose Brushed Silver 

The kit includes a set of double point needles and a cable needle.

My gorgeous Rosewood Yarn Bowl is from Knit Picks.

Click the link to go straight to it if you're interested in it. 

I have to say I really love mine.

I pray this finds you all having had a very

Blessed Holiday Season

and entering the New Year in 

Good Health and Great Joy

with the special

Peace of Winter

settling in around you.

As for me I am taking things...

Silent,

and

Soft,

and 

Slow...

{just like the Winter Snow...}

for a little while...

And praying that in this New Year I will be filled anew with

"the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, 

to the glory and Praise of God." 

Philippians 1:11

Snowflakes

Out of the bosom of the air,

Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,

Over the woodland brown and bare,

Over the harvest fields forsaken,

Silent, and soft, and slow

Descends the snow.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Quiet Waters

"The Lord is my shepherd,

I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters.

He restores my soul;

He guides me in the paths of righteousness

For His name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I fear no evil, for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You have anointed my head with oil;

My cup overflows.

Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Psalm 23

Because sometimes we just need to be reminded who's really in control.