I Was Knit Together In My Mother's Womb

I woke up thinking about breakfast.

I believe I was dreaming about breakfast. Saturday morning breakfast.

Some leftover redskin salt potatoes, sauted with fresh red peppers and jalepeno.  Brown some turkey breakfast sausage, and then pour some eggbeaters ( and a few real eggs for cholesterol).

   Top with a bit of cheese, and let it set up on the stove top for a few minutes.   

Finish baking it in a 350 degree oven until set. 

Mmmmmm....breakfast.

   What a perfect way to begin the weekend.

I didn't feel like cleaning the house, or doing yard work. I made another A-line Amy Butler Skirt with

Passion Vine from the Nigella Collection   

  Finally found a Buffalo fabric store that carries it.

Oh, my gosh! They have the best fabric!  I didn't dare take too much time to look, since I was headed to a hair appointment, and I would have spent the money on fabric instead of getting a dye job. But have you ever seen Marimekko Fabrics?  This was my first glimse, and I was in love with the boldness and joy in the designs.  On a scale of fabulousness, it is right up there. They have oilcloth. I'm imagining a tote bag.....

But back to my skirt...

  Okay. I'm done making skirts for awhile.

The Drops Jacket is finished, and blocking, with it's modifications...

I'll show you later.

Today is my anniversary!  JR and I have been married for eleven years.  Throughout the weeks of my  marriage, I have always reminded myself of the reasons I love him. I want to always keep those things in mind, and share them with JR, as affirmation that my love for him exceeds the fact that he is adorable and he can build anything, and that he always cleans up the kitchen.

Yesterday, JR called me at work to tell me a package arrived in the mail. I got so excited, thinking it was for me, of course. He corrected me...

"No, it's for me! My brother sent back my glasses that have been missing!"

"Really? That's cool! I'm glad he found them."

"And, he sent the framed picture of you that I left at his house."

He went on to explain that whenever he goes out of town, he takes  the photo of me from his desk!  That just floored me! I never knew he did that, and it just blessed my heart, and gave me one more reason on my list of 7.843 reasons that I love that man.

(edited later to 7,843 reasons...note the comma instead of the period! Just by chance today when I went to work, I grabbed my husband's glasses instead of my own, so these little details had to be ironed out. It's pretty funny that you read this and thought I had less than eight reasons to love my husband!)

You guys are so awesome....you know how to make a girl feel good!  Thank you so much for your compliments on my new skirt! You know how it is, when a lady wears something new, it's a big deal, and you want to know that it "works." or that you can work it...know what I mean?

Sometimes life is just crazy. Busy. (and of course, you wonder then why on earth I would decide to sew a skirt before work one day last week?)   Work has been overwhelmingly fast paced in the past few weeks. This is a good thing, if you are in ministry, but I also am having to work part of the day on Sundays. That will continue for the next several week, through the middle of November. Like I said, that's a good thing, but I'm always amazed at how just a few hours a week can change your whole routine...of relaxation, blog reading, getting groceries, making phonecalls... My free time has been precious to me, and I find that I am a bit particular in the way that I spend it. A few hours bike riding with my husband, or just porch sitting  seems more important to me that a trip to the market.

Additionally,  my new computer has not arrived. I've been using my husband's laptop, so that feels a little weird to me....throws off my whole balance, I guess.

Speaking of balance. I want it. And I know I need it. For two years, one of the biggest areas of neglect for me has been with my physical self . With mounting back issues, and rising cholesterol, I knew that I needed to find that time and space to get moving again.  Several weeks ago, I found the time...5:45 am. I joined a local gym and I'm there.  And this has probably been the worst mental and physical battle that I have had in recent history. I know, it doesn't seem like the worst mental and physical battle  that a person could have, and I recognize that our battles often are a result of some pretty tragic circumstances. But the battle of the mind and the will is one that we all share....one that transcends age, sex, social class and knitting ability....it gets to the physical, sexual, emotional and spiritual parts of us.  Discipline is not just about going to the gym four days a week. It's bigger than that. We all have those conversations on our minds; we fight discouragement and doubt, whether it's to get up in the morning to walk three miles or to just get up.

I'm trying. I figure if I can win this fight, I can win the others that will no doubt come, and will be bigger.

Girly

A skirt is a beautiful thing.  I feel so like a girl when I wear a skirt.

Amy Butler Barcelona Skirt Pattern.     I made it this morning before work...took about an hour.

The fabric is from her Belle Collection for Rowan.

French Wallpaper, in mustard.

I think I'll make another one.    

From out of the bottom of the knitting bag, comes this...

I'm ready to start knitting it again.       Another skirt, the Bobble Lace Skirt which I started this summer. More girly stuff.  And then I caught sight of this yarn that I bought in July, for the Katharine Hepburn sweater. It is just the prettiest blue.

and it's Gem's Opal.

I've got a really bad case of newprojectitis. The girlyitis strain.

From time to time, there is a project that must be knitted. Now.  Maybe because today felt like autumn.

  And I happened to have

the right yarn for a fall sweater.

From Drops,  This Asymmetrical Jacket.

After doing some browsing around on Ravelry, I came across this FREE pattern, and since I had some Debbie Bliss Merino Chunky in my stash, I cast on this morning, and knit in front of our first official fire in our fireplace in our new home. I knit until I was  knitting with my eyes closed.

Good night.

Love in any language spells "amore."

AND "chimichanga." Margaritas is our favorite Mexican restaurant.

         

Can I just take a knitting break and tell you all that I love my kids?

Ben is home for a visit. He loves his sisters, and they love him.

And we all love Ray, Katie's husband.

And the evening can't get much better than loving your kids and eating good Mexican food.

Knitting at Disney World...yay or nay?

My five year old, never fail me, Dell PC has died. May we all have a moment of silence?

It has been crazy busy at work this week...for a variety of reasons, which in inevitable in a large ministry. It's like "back to school" when I was teaching. The first few weeks fly by, and there seems to be no breather from it all. One of the things we have been preparing for is a big worship seminar that starts today.  It's a pretty big deal, and some of the known leaders in the Christian music worship arena will be there, teaching, and singing.  Being part of the choir,  I have an opportunity to be part of a 25 member back-up choir for a concert tomorrow with Don Moen, and for Israel and New Breed.

I am so out of any music loop. My question was...."yeah, I'll sing, but who is Israel and who is Don Moen?"   They seriously laughed at me.  I guess this is a big deal, but anyway, I'll be singing  tomorrow for the concert...whoever they are. 

JR comes home tonight!   Can you see how excited I am?

And, the cat's out of the bag...we are going to Disney World for Christmas week.  Katie and Ray and JR and I will be there. I LOVE Disney World!  Of course, I am already planning my knitting, and when I mentioned that to Kate, an interesting discussion ensued.

I'd like you, even though you are knitters, to express your thoughts on this.

Is is okay for me to take my knitting with me to Disney World? Can I carry a wee little project bag with say, a sock or something in it...so that when I am waiting in line or riding the bus or the monorail, I  can knit a few rows?

My daughter says it would be rude. That I can't possibly give people and conversation my complete attention, if I'm knitting.  Active listening, she says, involves frequent  eye contact, verbal affirmations, nodding, paraphrasing and warm open body posture.  Like I can't do that while I'm knitting a sock?????

I wonder if knitting is allowed in Don Moen's choir?

Glove Love

One glove down, and one to go. AND I'm actually looking forward to doing the next one! 

  It's been interesting. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into, but I was able, with my limited knowledge of knitting in this area, to work out a modification of the Vintage beaded gloves, from Handknit Holidays, using that pattern, a glove pattern generator, and a few other glove patterns. I studied each of them

After my  wrist decreases, I had 58 stitches.

In the original pattern, the size extra small had a stitch count of 60 around the hand. That number included not only the four fingers, but the thumb gusset as well.  SO, my thinking was this...

Add the thumb gusset, and divide the finger stitches according to the glove generator pattern, which ultimately, after increasing by two stitches in the thumb, brought me back to 60 stitches for the fingers.

Worked out well, with just a bit of figuring. I would have had a whole other can of worms if I had knit a larger size in the vintage glove pattern.  IF I had knit a larger size, the fingers would have been too large, and I would have had to decrease the twisted cable rib stitches, and that was way too much more math for me to figure out!

 

As I was answering some emails about the glove knitting, I shared that  it was such an amazing thing to me to see those fingers develop. I kept thinking to myself, "You really can knit a glove! It works!"

I look forward to finishing the second, and blocking, and doing the beading. Pretty little project. And the yarn? Perfect for this project...Blue Sky Alpaca and Silk.

I thought I woke up alone this morning...my husband left yesterday for a week in Michigan. I just went to make the bed, and was freaked out when I pulled back the bedding on his side and found this:

  I'm really freaked out.

An entire day to myself ( well, almost by myself, if you consider aforementioned bedmate). I'm thinking out my day as I write. I'll be sewing window treatments for the  living room, which was freshly painted last weekend...

  And the gardens may need some dead heading...

  I miss my old gardens. I miss having a fresh bouquet every day, and having those early morning deadhead walks.   I keep looking at the TV room, and I don't know if I can live without some floral note present. What do you think of this?

  Maybe just an accent pillow or two with this fabric? Will it mix well with the darker paisley-ish pillow covers?

I'm definitely going to finish my glove today.

I am in glove love.

And I may browse some sweater patterns and cast on for something new.

Before you know it, my day will be ending, and I'll be wishing there were more of it. At the same time, counting the hours until my husband returns in a week.  Isn't it funny how time works like that? Wanting more time in a day, or wishing time would fly.  Perhaps today, I'll just be present in each moment...not wish for anything more or less.

Special Swap Update!

The Special Swap Round for these past two months was Picnic.

(Yup, that's me, blowing bubbles at a family picnic, while my parents are doing "who knows what" on the picnic blanket!)

It proved to be a challenge for lots of us, just trying to get the right ideas to gel. I had a private swap with Meg, who has just adopted a baby, and isn't blogging these days, but I wanted you to see what I sent her...She favored a family picnic, so I sent her a little Family Beach themed picnic. Of course, it all fit inside Rutabaga...

  A skein of All Things Heather Watermelon color, some fun little fish bath gels and a crabby scrubbie. I included a pink sand bucket and some bright green bowls to serve up a recipe of Sand Cake... (recipe and cookies included).

There were a few other beachy picnic-y things as well, and I'm happy to report that Meg was very pleased with her surprise.

The other Picnic baskets have been arriving to Special Swappers everywhere!

Vicki is vieing for the "I send the biggest Special Swap Box" award. Go see the vintage picnic basket full of fun for Marisol....No fair eating those caramels while you knit with that yarn, Marisol!

Ants, Apple pie, and a picnic cooler full of goodies arrived for Margene from Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was given a Picnic in Utah by Margene...a Utah extravaganza! (who wouldn't love a picnic in those mountains?)

Go see Vicki's fun stuff from Marisol, which included a felted bowl full of fabulous yarn....Mmmmm, delicious picnic yarn! Looks better than fried chicken and potato salad!

Complete with  a summer bucket for supplies, a beautiful lace project and of course, ladybugs, Stacey sent a fabulous Picnic to Beth. I'm sure now that school is back in session, Beth will steal away for a little picnic time alone to cast on for that shawl!

Deb returned home from a trip, only to find that it was time to take another little trip...some time to herself with a Picnic in the Orchard from Lynne. Mmmmm...I can almost taste the cherries.

Looks like Kimberly received some lovely goodies from Kathy B... for a getaway picnic for one with some yummy coffee and treats, and of course...a sweet knit project to relax with.

Such a beautiful Pink themed picnic case for Val! Susan chose the perfect gifts for Val...right down to the gorgeous Lisa Souza pink yarn for some Cherry Blossom socks.

Beth carried on that Cherry Theme with her Picnic Basket to Stacey.

As more Picnic Baskets are delivered, I'll be sharing the updates with you.

And what are we Special Swappers up to this round? Pop the popcorn, turn down the lights and get out those lighted knitting needles....we're going to the Movies!