Lest I Forget

The theme here, I believe, is go big! The book is the last selection of the book club I joined this year. "The Well-Read Mom" has been just what I needed. I met a lovely group of women. Each brought her own unique views to the meetings, along with good food, and great fellowship. I went into this book never having seen the play, the movie, nor did I know the general story line. I am slightly less than half-way through, and I am under no illusions that I will have to go to the meeting without having finished the book, though I am enjoying it and will finish up on my own. For quite some time, my knitting projects have been small, mostly stuffed animals. I had seen the Color Affection shawl many times while browsing Ravelry. I finally decided that the time was right for a bigger project that could be easily worked on while listening to long books on Audible ;) The end of the shawl will most likely come before the end of Les Miserables. Here is the link to the Yarn Alon...

I started this sweater almost a year ago. I am closing in on finishing, though I am not at all confident that I have enough yarn to do so. I joined the last skein by spit-splicing today. I am about half-way through the second sleeve, plus I still have the collar and button band to knit. I actually won this copy of "On the Other Side of Fear" by Hallie Lord from Ginny . I read the first chapter and liked it, but life got in the way and I put it on my nightstand. Well, I picked it up again this week and I know that God put it on my heart to do so. Her words. I could have written them, they were right where I am at this moment in my life. I began knitting about nine years ago, as grief therapy, after the death of our son. That, and my faith have brought me through these hardest of years. Today would have been our son's 17th birthday, though I can only picture him as a sweet seven year old boy. Happy Birthday Ben.

This past week, I went to the states all by myself for 5 days for two very good reasons. The first is that my oldest daughter has decided to join the Navy. I wanted to see her before she ships out for basic training. The second is that my sister was having a baby shower! Of course I had to knit something for her. I have another sister that knits and she made a beautiful blanket, so I made a bunny. On the flight, I listened to Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". I read it a long time ago, and I really enjoyed listening to the story read in the most delightful southern drawl. Joining Ginny for the Yarn Along.

I never really thought about how much I do relies on the use of my hands. That is, until I broke my arm. The simplest tasks were no longer simple. Preparing meals for my family. Cleaning the house. Writing out assignments for the children. But of all those important daily jobs, the one I missed the most was the ability to create. Knitting was not possible. I started knitting as grief therapy after the loss of our son. There are very few days that go by that I do not knit at the very least a few simple rows. I can feel the tension and sadness fade as I take a strand of yarn and transform it into something entirely different. The joy of knitting is mine again. I finished and sent to my niece a new blanket for her new baby who is due to make her debut into this world any day now. I am also making another stuffed animal for my sister, who is expecting her first baby. I am sad to say that I only took a finished picture while it was still blocking and only on the Ipad! While I ...

Well my friends, I will be carefully packing away my current knitting projects for the foreseeable future. Which is unfortunate in many ways, but mostly because it is my anxiety reducer. And right at this moment my anxiety level is mighty high. Sunday was Peter's fourth birthday. He asked us to take him to the skating rink. So I bought him a pair of cute roller skates that fit over his shoes, along with lots of other little trinkets. Sophie has been here with us and it has been a joy to have all my kids together under one roof. So we all loaded up into the van and went to the skating rink. The big girls and I took turns shuffling around the rink with Peter. Anna and Jack are quite good skaters and Therese almost matches them in ability. So, when Peter took a break, Therese asked me to skate alongside her. We were having such fun, coasting around the rink. Then, I lost my balance and went down. Hard. I heard the bone break. I looked at my arm. It did not look like my arm because i...

I am late to the yarn along this week, but I hope you will forgive me. Jack had Altar Server Boot Camp this week, which meant I had to have everyone ready to be out the door by 8:15. I realize that doesn't seem like a big deal to most people, but to this mama, it is. We have been getting to bed late because the sun doesn't set until sometime around 10:00 pm, and I can't blame the kids, for my internal clock is just as confused. So early rising is quite the challenge. But onto the knitting. I am working on my "Heathered" cardigan. I always try to learn some new knitting skill with each project. This time, I tried "spit-splicing" my new skein of yarn to the old one. It worked beautifully and there are no ends to weave in! A big plus in my book. I will try to link to the Youtube video I watched to learn this amazing technique. I just finished reading David McCullough's "The Wright Brothers". I really enjoyed this book. I was so inspired b...

I finished Therese's sweater this morning! Here is a link to the pattern on Ravelry. She is in love with it, so all is good. I think the yarn pooled up too much, but she just thinks it is beautiful. I am mid-project on a baby gift too, but will not share pictures yet, because I am reasonably sure the mom reads this blog every now and again. I just started a new read aloud with the kids yesterday. Mr. Popper's Penguins. I have never read it, yet the reactions from the kids after the first two chapters lead me to believe that it is going to be a good one. Joining Ginny .

Way back in the middle of winter, Therese asked me to make her a sweater. We looked through patterns together and she picked a beautiful pattern , though very challenging. I could only work on it when I had complete quiet, in other words, I had precious little time to make any progress. Three months later and I had knit maybe 5 inches of the back panel. Seeing her disappointment every time she asked if I had finished her sweater was about to do me in, so I offered her a compromise. We went looking at patterns again and found one that she liked, but that required much less concentration on my part. Off the needles came the old pattern and I cast on for a new sweater. In the last 10 days, I have knit all the previous yarn I had unraveled, plus much more from the skein. It is taking shape, though I am little worried about the size. It calls for DK and I am using fingering. I am knitting two sizes bigger than what she would wear, so I hope it comes out right in the end. Three mont...

This week has found me knitting with some very vibrantly colored yarn to brighten up these dreary, cold days. Simple knitting too. The kind I can do at my desk while I wait for little people to hand in their schoolwork to be checked. I finished the book I was reading and I am not quite ready to start something new, so I will share what I am reading out loud to the kids. We got this book at the used bookstore on base, which gives a 50% discount to homeschool families on all children's books! My last trip, I paid around $17 for at least a dozen books. The sweater for Therese is progressing slower than molasses in January. It takes concentration, people, and I just don't have the brain power for that most days. I threw some crochet thread into my Knitpicks cart to get the free shipping on my last order. I have been tossing around the idea to make a table runner out of these squares. Of course, I only have one completed. I tried to join the second one to the f...

I am typing with a sick, pathetic three year old in my arms. Yesterday he was feverish, today he is croupy. I am getting very little done. Jack turns 9 today. Festivities may have to be put on hold till the weekend. Sorry, Jack. I read "Lay Siege to Heaven" by Louis de Wohl over the Christmas break from school. It is the story of St. Catherine of Siena. I wonder what things would be like now if we had someone like her fighting for the faith. Would I be a skeptic or would I believe? Now I am reading "Little Britches: Father and I were Ranchers" by Ralph Moody . Anna had to read it for a literature course she is taking. I cannot recommend this book enough! Knitting. Well, now. I finally finished my shawl I have been working on for over four months. I love how it turned out. Then I was secretly knitting a Star Wars hat for Anna. It was the first time I have tried Fair Isle knitting. I practiced knitting with the yarn held in the left hand on a dishcloth until...

These are the five little animals I knitted over the last several months in order to raise some money for what I consider to be a very worthy cause. I think they are adorable, but then again, I made them. The worthy cause is the Little Flowers Program, which helps abandoned children in China. From their website: Every year, thousands of medically fragile children are abandoned. We provide 24-hour intensive nursing care, medical treatment, foster care, long-term care, and education to these children across six projects in China.    I set up a raffle through Rafflecopter, yet no one has bid on a single animal. I am thinking one of two things. One: I set it up wrong and no one can bid. Or, two: These toys aren't as cute as I think they are. Because it surely cannot be that no one wants to help these sweet children. That cannot be so. If it is the first scenario, please, please let me know. Send me a email. Tell me in the comments. 100% of the donations go st...

Ever since I saw the first post about the Little Flowers Project come through my facebook feed, these children have captured my heart and I have yearned to help them in a special way. But I kept asking myself, "What can I do?" I cannot go to China and love on those children like I want to. I have a limited pocketbook, though I can make small donations. I can knit, however. And people keep telling me that the little knitted animals are so cute. So, I decided to knit five little animals (I actually only knit four of them. My talented sister knit one for me!) to raffle off to raise money and hopefully spread the word about this wonderful organization. Here is the link to the Little Flowers main page, so you can read about all the different ways they help the abandoned children in China. So how can you enter? Make a donation! For every $5.00 that you donate, you will have one chance to win one of the animals. For example, if you donate $25.00, you can apply all five chan...

I finished the mouse and gave him some pants. The sweater is on the needles. He really is a cutie and I can't wait for him to have a warm little sweater for the cooler weather we are experiencing.   Today is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. A friend had posted a link with the idea to make an edible rosary out of chocolate chips. Since I almost never do things like that, I decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a whirl. The little kids loved it, but Anna said at the end that she thought all the chocolate was too distracting. But we prayed our rosary, which is always a good thing. I am still reading "The Middle Moffat" to the kids at bedtime. I finished the Don Camillo book last night and when we made our weekly trip to the library yesterday, not one, but two of the books I had requested were available. So I now have to decide which one to read first. Such troubles I have! Joining Ginny , as always.

Life is full speed ahead over here and the thing that keeps me calm is knitting. It is my stress reliever. The kids have started ballet and drama. That takes up three afternoons. The crock pot will be seeing action again after a long summer hiatus. It also means I have more time to knit while sitting and waiting for their classes to end. Peter has a 50/50 chance of falling asleep on the way to his sibling's activities, and if he does, then I have uninterrupted knitting time. If he doesn't, I try to bring something to hold his interest for at least part of the time. I am currently working on three projects. A little white mouse. A soft, squishy, baby blanket. A pretty purple shawl. The baby blanket currently goes everywhere with me. I have the pattern memorized, and it is the one I need to finish first. The mouse sits on my desk, staring at me, waiting for me to make the rest of him. The shawl is for me, so it gets the least attention right now.  I am currently reading ...

Hi there! The kids have finished school for the day, and I have a little time before I have to make supper, and I am ignoring the fact that there is a load of laundry beeping at me so that I can write a quick knitting post! I think the bunny looks quite dapper in his new sweater. I ordered this book last week. This is as close to a spiritual director as I can currently get. I made it through the first chapter yesterday morning before little people were up and about. I think it is going to be very, very good. Holiness might be for everyone, but holes in the shawl may not be for me. I cannot decide if I like this or not. Don Camillo's little world is quite hilarious and a great light-hearted read. I love his conversations with Christ when he is trying to decide what he should do. Joining Ginny , as usual.

This week found me working on three different projects, which is very atypical for me. However, I find it is working out just fine. First up, I am knitting a new sweater for an old bunny. I might have swiped the too-small sweater off Jack's bunny to put on the elephant I just finished. He is much tinier and it fits him just right. Jack picked the color and it is the perfect piece of knitting to have at the school desk while giving spelling tests and such. Second is the baby blanket for my niece's new baby. Since she knows what the first blanket looks like and since she picked the colors of this new one, I do not feel the need to hide it from her. This is the perfect car knitting. And by that I mean that the pattern is easily memorized, and I don't have to watch my husband drive. And that is all that I have to say about that. Third is my new shawl for me. Tortured by all the choices, I just picked one and cast on. I had read a review of this yarn saying tha...