Guess who got good sleep last night? This girl! Little foster nugget did not whine in her kennel at all last night so she’s really catching on to the routine. She also went for her third walk last evening, and she actually enjoyed herself. She had a moment or two here and there where she was concerned, but by and large had a great time. Progress is being made, including so much progress that she’s getting nice and naughty around the house. This is exactly the type of progress we want to see out of a timid dog, it means she’s blossoming right before our eyes.

The other good news is that she has a potential home, she will meet her potential family on Saturday. We will have her through the end of the year no matter what, but it will be good to get her home settled and know where she is going once she’s done with all her vetting.

As for the advent stuff, let’s start with the christmas ornament. My goal with this project is to have only spent money on the pattern. From the start, I had intended only to knit from stash yarn and stuff with stash wool. So far so good! However, I am running out of lighter colored yarns for contrast. So for this christmas ball I used a handspun yarn. It’s mostly natural colored with a few bits of a light brown thrown in. You can see that in the ornament itself.

It works just fine, and there’s something pretty about the addition of silk in the handspun that is adding some places with extra shine. I really enjoyed using the handspun on this one.

I am actually falling behind on knitting these. Initially I was keeping a few balls ahead each day so that I could get them blocked and then a decent photograph taken. But, this morning before work I had to put the kettle on and boil some water so I could steam block this one before work. The photo is dark, but it is still evocative of the christmas spirit. I actually love those dark december days leading up to winter solstice.

As for my makeup advent, this morning I opened my too faced natural face palette. This one tends to be a little on the darker side and I typically only wear it in the summer. Receiving it in the winter felt like a bit of a stretch! But at the same time, I think I made it work just fine. I used a blush, a bronzer, and a highlighter out of this.

And that’s it, that’s day 18 as a wrap. Looking forward to a weekend!