turkey flap and sock wrap (up)

Ack!  I'm falling further and further behind with my photos.  I've taken hundreds since last week.  It's easy to do, since it's so beautiful outside.

Mornings are delightfully cool - usually in the 40s - and the afternoon sun is warm.  The cats love to take advantage of that bit of heat!

I'm doing my best to bring a little of the outdoors inside.  Last week, I gathered up leaves from the yard and made some leaf garlands to hang around the house.  Nothing fancy, but it adds a nice splash of color over the sink, windows, and fireplace.

It is officially candle season, too.  I have about a thousand IKEA tealights to run through, so we have candlelit suppers nightly.  I've got them in little glass holders, sitting on a pottery dish.  Simple fall tablecloth over the middle of the table, and 2 taper candles.  It's light enough to read by, but doesn't feel "cluttered" like it has in the past.

We bought our Christmas tree...

...but we're going to try to hold off on decorating until after Thursday's feast!

Meanwhile, I've been crafting like crazy.  I wanted to make some Christmas-themed quilted pillows, but so much of the fabric lines feature maniacal Santas or scampering elves.  I was really pleased to find a Nordic-themed line:

I used it to make a nice throw pillow. 

It measures, I think, 18" x 18". 

I also finished piecing together the blocks for my quilt.  Without sashing, it looks too bright and busy...

...but the sashing adds just enough "calm space."

It's not done.  I have to make over 200 tiny gingham triangles for the border, then sew on another 2.5" border, then the edge binding, THEN the actual quilting.  But my goal is to complete it - or at least everything but the final quilting - before 2018.

Speaking of gingham, I finally finished knitting these socks!

I didn't think I'd ever finish them, and I'm taking a serious knitting break now.  I'm still struggling with the proper finger positioning and on these, switched around between 3 different styles (resulting in 3 different tensions) before finally slogging through the last toe.  The fact is, I've damaged my hands through improper holding of the yarn over the years, and have never given them a chance to really rest.  I'm going to take a multi-month knitting break and then start off slow again!

Meanwhile, I'm going to work on other projects and enjoy the leaves...

...turkeys...

...and the ornamental kale I'm starting to see everywhere!

Have a great week!