what was I thinking?

My husband mentions at intervals set well apart in time (because he is such a patient man) that he is still eagerly awaiting a pair of hand knitted socks. Several years back I ordered some kettle dyed black wool yarn with the intent to knit a pair of socks for him. When the wool arrived, I picked up the black soft fingerling weight wool, rubbed it across my face and asked myself, "What was I thinking...knitting socks with black yarn?"
 But recently with the fortitude and the courage to what will seem like swimming the English Channel in a sea of inky waters...I begin the knit one, purl one ribbing on 2.5 double pointed needles.

Knitting in the daylight, outside on the porch works well. Yesterday, I sat by a window to gain as much of the day's reflection as possible, where I actually progressed to the K3 P1 pattern of this handsome classic sock. 

I am carefully making a plan to finish these socks by Christmas. This project will be pulled out throughout the long days of summer to add several rounds daily. As I knit my mind will think of the joy in his face when he opens this long awaited gift packaged in Christmas wrapping.

Then I will most definitely remember what I was thinking, with no regrets.

thistle

Put out the thistle and they will come...

Goldfinches at the feeder throughout the day, they feast determinately while we enjoy the females subtle beauty and the males vivid colour.

because He lives...I dance

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his son, Jesus Christ.

We write this to make our joy complete. 1 John 1:3-4

a closing of a day

Night time rituals at my house have a way of hushing my soul inviting a settling down mood,  what I like to call a closing of a day.

* Oatmeal,  our morning's porridge, is put in a pan shortly after dinner cleanup to soak throughout the evening while we slumber.  Firstly, take 1 cup of dried oatmeal, 1 cup of water,  1 tablespoon of whey (fresh) and soak overnight. In the morning, drain and lightly rinse your oats, add 1 cup of water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the oatmeal; cook until done.
A note about whey. My preferred choice of whey is from fresh raw milk, but if you have no fresh whey in the refrigerator, lemon juice or raw apple cider vinegar (I use Braggs) works wonderfully. What the acidic liquid is doing is breaking down the phytic acid in the grains which will make them more digestible.  An extra bonus is I find it adds to the flavor.
*Knitting time to soothe with its ongoing rhythm
*A hot shower, a lavender-scented lotion, a cozy gown and robe.
*A bowl of popcorn popped in a well-seasoned iron skillet
*A small kitchen tidy up; wiping down, dispensing all dirty dishes and switching on the dishwasher
*Night time prayer with Charlotte, and tucking in
*A devotional, Spurgeon's, Morning and Evening
*An easy read novel on the bedside table, until my eyelids can't stay open a second later

This is only a capsule of what the closing of my day might look like on a certain evening in late March,  the soft glow of our table lamps surrounding me before they are turned off and we sleep.

 Drawing the blinds, snuffing out the lights, shutting down ...

...making ready for the morrow.

perfectly matched thread

 My current sewing project is a silk dupioni dress for Charlotte.  It is a dress being sewn for her to wear on Easter Sunday, and again when she plays the piano at her recital in May. I am thinking of this dress fondly as the last "little girl" dress I will sew for her. Since she turns twelve in May, experience has taught me that it is a stretch to think girls of an older age will be content with wearing styles like this one.

Because I am hand stitching the four buttonholes, I have been on a search for the right shade of silk thread, checking out various online sites. I was not having much success, but while looking for buttons in my grandmother's tin button box my hands grasped this small spool of silk thread. The shade of the silk thread was perfectly matched to the silk fabric.

Did you happen to notice the price of the four mother of pearl buttons?  

an o'henry tea

O'Henry wrote a favorite short story of mine and there just happens to be a hotel nearby named in his honor which serves afternoon tea. I took a friend there this past week for a belated birthday gift.

"No friendship is an accident", he writes in his short stories from The Heart of the West.  I believe no truer sentiment could be penned in light of the friendships that have graced my life.

home knitting

"Knitting not only relaxes me, it also brings a feeling of being at home" 

~Magdalena Neuner

But then one of the many glories of knitting is being able to carry a project along with  wherever you might find yourself.

Places I have knit outside my home:

in a park
in a swing
walking a country lane

at a soccer game

at a swim meet

at a ballgame

in a gym

in a car

in an airplane

in an airport

in a doctor's/dentist office(this also includes orthodontist...)

in a train

in a train station

at a picnic

in church (not during the service, oh my!)

during meetings of various sorts

by the waves at the seashore

by the pool

at the hospital

at a friend's home

in a store, mostly knitting shops

while waiting... in several other places... while waiting... for someone... while waiting...for something to begin or end.

Where are some of the places you have knitted outside of your home? 

the snow that came

It is not every year that we get such a snow

So when we do, we stop everything and go outside and enjoy it as any sensible one would do.

Or I should say, as a Southerner would.

I love the winter season especially when snow is in the package!  Actually, one of the distinct things on my bucket list is to spend a winter in a place where snow and wintry weather is common place. This post should have been done last week if I was up to date, but the snow came, we played, then before we knew it, Charlotte and I were packing and heading out the door for a Dance Festival held at the School of the Arts for the weekend. 

english or continental style

I was taught to knit many years ago by a kind woman in my church. She taught me to knit by holding the yarn in the right hand and "throwing" the yarn, commonly known as the English/American style of knitting. Several years back I discovered Elizabeth Zimmerman's book, Knitting Without Tears, and here I read about her preference of holding the yarn in the left hand and "picking" the yarn with the needle, the Continental/German style of knitting. I  easily taught myself how to knit with this technique, and I will consistently switch between these two knitting styles. But I had become totally flummoxed when it came to purling in the continental style. One evening last week through sheer determination akin to the Little Engine That Could, I set myself to not give up until I could purl with the yarn held in my left hand. 

Finally, success was reached and even though my method might not be the conventional way, it works for me. A new project was then deemed necessary so I could practice my new skill. A sweater in Cascade yarn for Charlotte was begun. After the initial garter stitch knitting on the bottom edge, it will enable me to knit row after row of stockinette stitch, giving equal rows for knitting and purling in the Continental technique. 

I am always on the lookout for books to read during the Lenten season that help to keep my heart and mind near to the cross. I found an excellent one this year entitled, Jesus, Keep me Near the Cross. It is edited by Nancy Guthrie and includes compilations written by several Bible teachers and theologians. These meditations will draw you to the passion of Jesus on the cross, and they will enliven you to the power of His resurrection. This book leaves me in tears as I read it; what my Lord did for me on that cross, it will never loose its power!

 (top photo) You must bring the yarn in front just as with any technique of purling. The needle goes under both strands of yarn when picking up the new stitch.

(bottom photo) Now here is what I do, using my finger, index or middle, I push the strand of yarn down, then  use my needle to go back through the loop.  

darning socks 101

Rilla whirled into the shadowy kitchen at Ingleside, where Susan was prosaically darning socks..."

Rilla of Ingleside

Lucy Maud Montgomery

I like to knit socks. And the fact is, if you wear hand knitted woolen socks, I can guarantee you will over time wear a hole in the heel long before the sock wears out.  Of course, this too could be true about any pair of woolen socks you might own. To even consider the thought of tossing out a pair of socks you have knitted is unthinkable. What I have done through the years is wear them until the hole gets rather large and then retire them to the dark corners of my sock drawer. 

This is the winter I have become occupied with learning to darn socks. I'll share some of the things I learned along the way and display several socks that needed darning, some obviously worse then others. 

Number one: Darn the sock as soon as a hole becomes evident.

This sock had a small hole that darned up beautifully, my very first try at darning, so not the best, but I was onto something.

Number Two: Get yourself a Darning Egg.

While it is not completely necessary to have one in order to darn your sock, still it does help when you begin the process of weaving the threads.

                      Number three: If you do not have any leftover bits of the original yarn, or if the socks were a gift, then find a color that matches as close as possible. 

You might want to choose a little heavier yarn. It works fine. I did this with one pair I darned.

I wore them out Saturday to breakfast, perfectly warm and comfortable they were to my feet that cold morning.

              Number Four: The only other materials you will need is a pair of scissors,

 and a yarn needle,

                   I found a needle with a bent edge at the end works best.

     

Number Five: Cut away any loose threads or fuzz. 

I learned this from trial and error.

See those loose threads? 

                              Snip them from the beginning instead of trying to darn around them.

                                            Number Six: Work from the outside of the sock. 

             I tried both ways. Personally, I found that working from the outside of the sock 

    versus having the sock turned inside out,

         made a better mend.

The sock on the left was darned from the inside, the one on the right was darned on the outside.

                                 Number Seven: There is no science to the matter of darning. 

                                                           You will simply weave across the hole. 

You begin by going beyond the hole and picking up stitches with your needle until you get to the hole. At this point you proceed to run straight lines of yarn across the hole, this is your warp. From there you start to weave under and over, your weft. 

I was thinking of frugality and the days of my grandmother who lived through the Great Depression. Oh, the stories she could tell. Yet, she never really wanted to remember those hard times. But, nonetheless, those days with all their economic trials were etched deeply into the lives of that generation. I wished my grandmother was still living so she could teach me her skill in darning socks. She would be able to share with me the little things she learned along the way.

Happy Darning!

black ashes and white snow

Ash Wednesday is what it is called.  I am convinced that growing up in a denomination that did not participate in Ash Wednesday and Lent left  holes in my spiritual life, a time included in the Easter season of which I now look forward to as a highlight on the church calendar, adding great depth to my celebration of Easter.

Lent was traditionally associated with a time of repentance, fasting, prayer and the giving of alms. It was given popularity by the church sometime around the middle of the fourth century. I purposely set myself to study church history, the origins of the church councils, the leaders of the church, the effects of how history in general has been affected by the church, etc. This includes the good, noble, and worthy as well as the evil, crooked, and distorted of all concerned.

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your steadfast love;

according to your abundant mercy 

blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is ever before me.

Psalm 51:1-3

I do not attend a church that has an Ash Wednesday service. It does not matter. I have been preparing myself for the upcoming Lenten season and this morning I awakened and called out for His mercy, just as I do every day. I reflect on the beautiful terrible cross upon which Jesus died, and I rejoice in that atonement that purchased for me justification and eternal life.

Pleased I am that there is snow covering the ground this Ash Wednesday. When I go outside I secure a wool hat on my head to keep me warm. A simple hat knitted from the wool I spun from my own flock of Romney sheep many years ago.

"Though your sins are like scarlet
they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red as crimson,

they shall be like wool."

Isaiah 1:18