Thankful in December

I actually meant to post a "Thankful for..." post way back in November after Thanksgiving, but things started happening and piling up and well, yea. But I have a lot to be thankful for this time of the year, more than I even expected and so I finally decided to share with you all.

The first thing I am thankful for is family.  I recently sold a painting to one of my fantastic aunts. It is now in her office in Virginia and I am so happy to know that she is enjoying it every day!

I am also thankful for selling said painting, as it allowed me to take a knitting class with Michelle Hunter of Knit Purl Hunter fame. She visited my LYS last weekend and taught four classes. I took one - double knitting. And I am now in love. Expect lots of double knitting this year!

I am thankful for my art, which I have worked tirelessly over the past few years to build into something I can be proud of and successful at. I finally got some good recognition this past week in the form of Fifth Place (out of 26) in a juried show at JoMar Visions in Houston. Imagine my surprise when that happened!

I am thankful for my mom, which seems weird paired with this photo, but she asked me to paint an image for their holiday card this year. It inspired me to make the painting on the right, which then inspired me to do a second. Both were fun and a good way to get back into the grove of painting with less stress. 

I am thankful that I have been knitting for over 7 years now. Here's a bit of proof. This scarf has been on the needles since the January after I started knitting. It has been in and out of hibernation ever since, until I finally decided to just finish it this past month. A bit of blocking and it was FINALLY ready to wear. The first few inches show some pretty hefty mistakes, but then again that was over five years ago! I have gotten much better since then!

Weekly (or monthly) Inspirations:

Knitting: While Michelle Hunter was here, she also taught a class on making this crazy spotted shawl. Turns out it's all about how many strands you hold at once. Crazy right? (sorry, I can't find the pattern anywhere right now!)

Art:  In it's own artsy way, here is a commercial for the Cafe I work at! It was created by a local videographer who is a good friend of mine.
Cooking: I made homemade Cheeze-its for my Guild Secret Santa last week and after I figured out how to keep them from getting soggy, they tasted exactly like the kind in the box!
Life: Christmas is right around the corner. In 11 days I will be headed home to Kansas. Where will you be?

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and (if I don't post again before then) a happy new year!

~Lisa