Teaching Gig done, now Christmas Open House

 This weekend, I was teaching in Hot Springs at a local event that is held in December every year. It was a 6 hour class on Lace Knitting With Beads. 

What was I thinking? I know how crazy I get preparing for Christmas!
Too late, I found out that the date put me in a rather difficult position. I had no choice but to have my annual Open House on the 15th. I could have never been ready for it on the 1st of December and since my teaching gig was on the 8th, that left the 15th. I have a wedding that day, too!!!! Thankfully, it is early in the day and I will manage both. Anyway, back to the teaching gig. Michael and I went for a walk on Friday night down Central Avenue.

The Arlington Hotel was lit up very nicely. 

And so was the Buckstaff Bathhouse. 

I had 13 students, two did not show up. 

They are concentrating nicely. 

Holly finished hers first. We pinned it out to see how it would look blocked. 

Another delighted student. 

Another one addicted to beading! Lovely job Cherilyn!

And my ole buddy, Di, took my class. It was lovely to have her there!

Ann with her finished doll sized shawl.

And Leslie did great, too. 

And Jennifer holding up her lovely creation!

 I am looking forward to seeing the full sized shawsl that the class makes with the pattern that they took home.

This week is going to be filled with cleaning and cooking for my Open House on Saturday. I have the house all decorated. Got that done before December 1st, so unusual for me.
Here are a few more pics and comments to share.

Coming back from my walk this morning, I noticed that our Red Oak had one lone leaf on it and it was a lovely red/orange color. I had to capture it. 

Here is my Shalom Cardigan. I love this sweater. I fell in love with the pattern on Ravelry and just did not have the time to devote to resizing it for my body size. It was only written in a small size for a 32" bust. Need I say more? I had a friend who kept pestering me to rewrite it for her and I am glad she did. Thanks Nancy B. She is making her second one and I am going to make me another one, too. Love the color of the yarn. I used Berroco Vintage Chunky. I decided not to use a button. Instead, I used a lovely shawl closure by Leigh Abernathy of Twining Vine Designs. She has a booth every year at the Arkansas Craft Guild Show. I got a new piece of hers, yesterday. 

Here is the back of my Shalom.

And the back of the yoke.

Here is how it looks full view. I rewrote it to fit a  size 42" bust. The gauge is 14 sts to 4". Let me know if you want to make one and I will send you my revisions.  

This is a new design that I am working on. It is called Celebrating Baby Cardigan. I plan on using lots of themes and holidays to make various versions. I am working on a black one that features Lady Bugs and a hot pink one for Valentine's Day. The shoes...........I just had to do some shoes. 

Here is the little sweetie that I made them for. She looked so lovely in it that I could not wipe that grin off of my face.

 That is all for now, busy week of getting things ready. Thankfully, I am great on my Christmas knitting. I am so glad of that. It has made this time less stressful and with a teaching gig in the mix, I really needed that.