I won! (Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving. :) )

Well, color me thrilled!

I follow Sandra Betzina on Facebook and recently saw that she was hosting a contest on her website, Power Sewing. Everyone who entered a jacket or coat would receive a one month subscription to her website, so I entered my recently completed Koos coat. I really did not expect to win. The winner was to be chosen at random and I don't generally have that kind of happy karma.

So, I was quite surprised when a friend emailed me on Monday to let me know I had won first prize – 3 yards of boiled wool chosen by Sandra from one of the best fabric stores around – Stone Mountain and Daughter.

My prize was shipped yesterday and arrived today. One of the advantages of shipping FROM San Francisco TO San Francisco. ;)

It's GORGEOUS! Three yards of a beautiful, supple, boiled wool. I would call the color purple, but some might call it periwinkle, or even blue. It's a bit hard to photograph the color and I've never understood how people name this color. But to me, it's gorgeous purple. :)

Thanks so much to Sandra and to Stone Mountain!!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the U.S. What am I thankful for? I mean, aside from my kids, my job, my home, my friends, and the fact I don't have to entertain tomorrow. ;) Well, I'm thankful for you guys, who cheer me on and give me lots of support and feedback. I'm thankful for my sewing community, both online and in real life.

The Christmas season officially begins on Friday. Here is some early holiday fun for you!

First, why don't you "knit" your own (virtual) Ugly Christmas Sweater? If you don't want to create your own, you can still view the gallery of ugly sweaters that others have created. It's pretty fun and here is mine.

And check out this animation!