No Pumpkin Shortage Here

Hi, all!  A few weeks ago I over-heard a woman in Aldi's saying that there's a canned-pumpkin shortage due to some sort of pumpkin blight.  Well, all you have to say to me is "shortage" or "discontinued" and I will buy it.  Anything from pumpkin to yarn (or best of all: pumpkin-colored yarn).  So a week later, when there was a flat of canned pumpkin in the front of the store, I bought enough pumpkin to last until times get better.  Now, in a normal year I might make a couple of pumpkin pies if the mood strikes me.  But say "shortage" and I am certain the holidays will be ruined without pumpkin pies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies...  And I don't even eat this stuff!  But the children...

The result is another picture of non-raw food.  The second batch of pumpkin pies this year along with my pumpkin-scented candle, my beautiful bowl from Ginny, my Twinings Christmas tea, and my Joy of Cooking Christmas Cookies book that I inherited from Saadia.  (Thanks Saadia!)

I am so psyched about the holidays!  I looked through the cookie book and made my grocery list for holiday treats, especially the making of the plum pudding this year.  I negotiated a deal with Cathy that if she buys the tins for the steaming of said puddings, I will buy all of the ingredients.  I found good tins on Amazon for 13 bucks, so I didn't take liberties.  My folks are springing for the brandy and are providing the silver coin.  I'm just giddy at this point.  I've been browsing for Christmas crackers, too.  They are pretty spendy, especially when all that's inside is a paper hat along with a joke and a silly prize.  However, I think it's a swell tradition for an Anglophile like me.  At least 50% of my readers think so, too.  That's you, Christina ;)

P.S.  Here's the pumpkin-colored yarn:

I'm a Genius and Why I Love the Library

Hi, All!  I hope you are well!  Okay, so a while back I bought a skein of sock yarn online.  It was a highly-coveted brand and it was really reduced.  So far, so good, right?  When it arrived, I realized why.  The color had looked like a pleasant light-green on my monitor, but it was actually a hideous green.  Sad.  What to do?  First, I brainstormed on what pattern to use to make it less hideous.  No good.  Then, I thought, "I just need to darken it."  Last summer after Spencer mowed the lawn, I made a "tea" out of the grass clippings and cheese cloth and soaked the yarn in that. (grass stains, right?) The yarn seemed impervious to the green water but not to the little bits of grass that made it through the cheesecloth.  Sigh.

Yesterday, I researched dying yarn with food coloring.  I used green and blue and vinegar and the crock pot and I feel like a genius.  I should have taken a few photos of the process, but I don't even have a "before" picture.  The "after" picture speaks for itself, it's scrumptious!

I don't know if it's the pride and partiality of a parent, but I think it's wonderful!

This Tuesday we are voting to provide funding for the local libraries.  I could talk for a long time about how amazing I think the library is, but a picture of my recent haul should give you an idea: 

At any given time I have well over a hundred dollars worth of media from the library.  Books on CD, DVDs, music CDs, knitting magazines, and of course, BOOKS!  What a cool concept!  As you can see, I am in a heavy knitting phase, but I have taken stacks out on many topics.  For free! What a great idea! 

P.S.  Day 5 of the Cleanse and feeling pretty good!

60 days till Christmas!

Today there are 60 more knitting days till Christmas.  What?
I have loads of things I want to get done before then.  Once Advent starts I want my focus to be more spiritual, so I will hopefully knit a lot, but I will emotionally detach myself from these goals! ;)
This is what I made for my non-raw family this morning:

 Homemade Bread (before baking)

And this is what I made for me:

That's right!  Yesterday I started the Master Cleanser.  I love the cleanse.  I have done it many times.  My friend Angela thinks I'm crazy.  I am a huge fan.  When I am on the cleanse I feel light, I have energy, I lose weight, I cleanse my body of yucky stuff...  I could go on, but you can get better info on the Internet or your library.  The original book is by Stanley Boroughs (I may have spelled that wrong).  There are a couple of other good books on the cleanse, too.  I will probably keep you posted on my progress, but I won't go on and on about it, so don't worry.  If you're only here for the knitting or the Catholic bits, you'll still be fine!

Thought I'd show you the "after" picture of the bread, so we can be jealous together that we aren't eating any of it.  At least you don't have to smell the heavenly aroma and watch the kids devouring it!

Mini Stockings

Hi, all!  I am recovering today from my crazy weekend.  I managed to get some knitting in and some praying and some raw food, so I am covering all of my blogging basics.  The knitting makes for the best pictures, though, so here is my weekend in pics:

I am knitting these for Christmas (obviously).  I will knit these and some mini sweaters for gift ornaments.  I don't like the way the stranded knitting came out on the Santa stocking, so I will do it a little differently in future.

Theresa agreed to model my Angel lace shawl for you.  See the beads?  See the angels?  Lovely!

I also knit on Ginny's birthday socks, but I will save that for another post.

Yesterday's reflection in the Magnificat was another one from Jean-Pierre de Caussade.  He's my favorite.  Read it, you'll love it!

 Also, I have decided to reflect on the Stations of the Cross more frequently, so I am taking one each day to think about as I go about my duties and stuff.  It has been really good.  God bless, all!

St. Paul of the Cross and Lessons in Lace

Hello, everyone!  Yesterday was the feast of St. Paul of the Cross and the meditation in the Magnificat was from his writings.  I know that I mention the Magnificat all the time, but it's good stuff and my mainstay reading. Well yesterday's was uber-good.

"If anyone hurts you, look on him as someone of great value and, with the eyes of one who loves, see him as the person chosen by God to clothe you in holiness and in the patience, silence, and meekness of Jesus Christ."

Wow!  I am reading this after all interactions with my teenagers right now.  Help me, Lord!

OK, so on the knitting-side of my life - Why I love knitting lace:
1.  Thousands of yards of lace-weight yarn costs less than $20.  That's hours of knitting joy.
2.  Lots of  "Wow" appeal.  Everyone thinks knitted socks are cool, but when they see lace, they think I'm a genius!
That's just two of many reasons, but I have to go pick-up Theresa from school, so we'll mention the other glories of lace in another post.
Lace looks like a messy bunch of nothing until it's been blocked, so I thought I'd show you the magic of blocking lace:

The left side is unblocked.  The right side is being blocked with pins and blocking wires.  I highly recommend blocking wires for this job.  My knitting group shares Maureen's set (thanks Maureen!)  Cool, eh?

See the beads I bought to replace the pearls?  You can't see them too well, but they look pretty good.

Japanese Knitting

Yesterday I spent hours looking at Japanese knitting patterns.  I know, I don't read Japanese.  But knitters on Ravelry call it "challanging for the adventurous knitter"  and for some reason I feel that my life will be unfullfilled unless I tackle a highly complicated lace pattern that is charted with asian symbols.  Seriously, you should see the designs out there.  Fantastic! 

Garment "Construction"

Okay, it seemed like a simple thing.
I wanted to put beads on the bottom edge of the Angel Lace Shawl, so I went to Jo-Ann's with my shawl and picked out some pearl-type beads that looked pretty good.
I sat down to work on it & discovered that the holes in the beads were microscopic.  Unwilling to be discouraged, I tried using one of those things that you use to floss your teeth when you have braces.  It broke.  (These holes are SMALL).
After brainstorming a bit, I got out the drill and spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to change the drill bit.  Ten minutes later, I took the drill to Christopher and he changed it.
I started to drill a hole in the bead while holding the bead with my fingers.  Then, I thought better of it and found Theresa's little jewelry-making pliers.

I drilled bigger holes in about four of the pearls before deciding that the whole situation was ridiculous.  I needed 33 beads and the strand I bought had 34.  So when one of the beads got drilled in half, I knew it was a lost cause.
I am not a home-improvement kinda girl, so it's pretty funny to me that I even got this far.  I was committed to making the beads work, but not that committed.
Why would I want beads on that shawl anyway?
(Yes, Ginny, that is your drill.  Have you been looking for it?)

Love for the Master

I have been reflecting recently about the type of love with which I want to love the Lord.  Jean-Pierre de Caussade talks about loving God for Him and not for what's in it for me, not with a mercenary love.  A mercenary is a paid soldier, a foreigner who fights for money.  Clearly not as good as a citizen who fights out of love and devotion for the king.

This reminded me of two of my favorite literary characters who each displayed incredible love and devotion to his master.  Firstly, Sam from the Lord of the Rings.

If you have seen the movies or better yet, read the books you know what I mean.  He went without food, offered to carry his master's cross, he actually carried his master at the end.  All with love and with no thought about the cost to self.  So good!

My second inspiration actually died for his master.  May seem silly to some of you, but I really love Dobby from the Harry Potter books.

What's so worth emulating about Dobby is his focus on Harry's goodness.  He praises him for his virtues and has great humility before him.  When Harry pays him the slightest bit of attention, Dobby's eyes swim with tears, he is so happy.  Harry gives him a task and he proudly stays up for days without sleep to complete it!

So, my question to self is: Am I like this before the Lord?  Am I willing to lay it all down for love of the Master without thought of self?  Am I so focused on Who He Is, that when I see His goodness in my life I am moved to tears at the wonder of His great condescension?  I want to!

I tell you, when I read these characters I am actuated, if actuated is the word I mean.  And they aren't even the heroes!  Or aren't they?

Library Fugative

I frequently have the following situation:
I put an item on hold at the library and wait a long time for it to be my turn to borrow it.  It comes in and I have no time to watch/read it.  It's due to go back and I don't want to part with it.  Hmmm.  I can't renew it because it's requested by other folks.  It's worth the dime-a-day-fine to keep it, except that I can't continue to check things out because I have become a library fugative.
This week, it's the 3rd season of Knitting Daily.  I haven't watched a single episode yet.  How long can I evade the authorities?  How high will my fine get?  How guilty will I feel about the knitters waiting for this dvd? 
These are the days of my life...

Trust God and keep knitting!

This is from the Magnificat this morning:
"The ancient Israelites in the desert failed in trust because they underestimated God's love for them.  It is astonishing how we too can doubt God's love for us even in the teeth of the most dramatic evidence..." 
I know that this is true for me.  I wrote down many of the things that God has done for me so that I can remind myself that He loves me and is faithful!  (I got the idea from all the cards Dr. Beck makes you write out in the Beck Diet Book).  The enemy wants us to forget who we are-don't forget!

Success was achieved today on my goal of finishing sock #1 for my dad.  Hurray!  Amazingly, I also managed to mop the kitchen floor, get an MRI on my knee, force unwilling children to learn stuff, spend too much time on Ravelry, and make meals.  I think I also showered and went to mass, but that was a long time ago now, I could be wrong.
Oh, I went to knit night with Pam.  I mean it.  Just me.  And Pam.  We are recruiting.  The activities of the children of the participants of our group are interfering with the successful gathering of said participants.  The priorities of said participants not being likely to change (and that's a good thing), we are looking for more knitters.  Interested?

Something Lovely

Really, I just wanted to show off my nails. ;)

This is a lovely little glove that was meant for Christina, but I am not going to have enough yarn in this color.  So it stays in the closet and occasionally I take it out and admire it.  The needles are ebony and were a gift from my knitting group.  (Thanks ladies!)  I stepped on one and broke it, so now I only have 4.  Sad face. 

Today we are getting caught-up on our past-due assignments in our on-line school.  Not fun, but gratifying.  I am really coming along on my dad's sock.  I'll show you a picture tomorrow when I will hopefully have one whole sock done.  Yea!

For anyone out there whom I haven't told, Fabby died last week and yesterday was her funeral.  You can see her obit in the Missoulian on line.  I know that this is especially hard for all of the family out there, so if you can spare a prayer...

Oh, and yesterday was Christopher's birthday.  Happy birthday, Chris!

Unknitting Lace

Hello!  It's been several days since I was here.  Spencer came home for 4 days and my family celebrated my father's 80th B-day.  So the weekend was much more exciting and eventful than usual.  I enjoyed it all and now am enjoying the return to "normal" life.

Today I knit on my dad's birthday socks.  Then, I unknit a couple of rows of the angel shawl for reasons that I will not go into here.  For my non-knitting friends, unknitting lace is one of the more penitential things a knitter can do.  Now, I can re knit it the way it should be with the yarn that my Ravelry friend sent me (see inspiring story below).

I have been eating non-raw since I was on retreat.  I chose not to bring 3 days worth of food to Chicago and be freaky-raw-food-girl.  But once off of plan, it became increasingly challenging for me to return to plan.  My thinking went something like this: 

"Well, I need to get back on track.  BUT since I am off track, I might as well eat the _______ that I haven't eaten for 8 weeks."  (Fill in blank with anything from McDonald's to Ben&Jerry's to Chinese food...).

Today, I am back to clean eating thanks to my motivation cards (or as Dr. Beck calls them "response cards").  Rereading all the reasons why I really want to be thin and healthy.  Also, finding these super-cool knitting patterns on http://www.fiddlesticks.com/ was really motivating:

I will knit these and I will wear them!  And not in the x-large size!

Oh, I wanted to mention that the meditation in the Magnificat for today is wonderful.  It's from "The Cloud of Unknowing" which I love. 

Peace to you all!

Word Verification

I really enjoy reading my friend's blog and I make sure to read it everyday and post a comment.  You may think, "Wow, she's a good friend."  And you'd be right.  But I also have another motive.  Whenever I leave a comment, it asks me for "Word Verification."  You know, the weird, wacka-doo words that you can hardly read because they've been distorted beyond belief?

Also they're not real words, are they???  Today's word was reluvi.  Kind of like ravioli. For some reason, I look forward to this "word of the day."  It appeals to my silly side.

Close Call-Too Close!

Hello Everyone!  Today has been a pretty good day, socially speaking.  At 10am I was able to knit at Carol's for about an hour and a half.  I finished sock #1 of the Patons Socks.  Last night I was knitting on the sock and the ball was looking very anemic.  As I got closer to the toe, I could tell it was going to be a close call.  This is how much yarn I had left when I finished:

Wow. 
My friend Sister Maria Theresa came over at lunch time and spent the afternoon with us, which is always a wonderful blessing.  It's a little chaotic, as everyone (including me) wants her attention.  But we managed.  I was showing her my sock and she said that she could use a pair as her feet get cold at night.  I was so happy because I have been trying to knit her socks for years and she has always said that she wouldn't be able to wear them since their habit requires plain black socks, all the same.  I had the pair that I finished last week that had no home. (Usually my socks tell me while I am knitting them, "I belong to so-and-so.")  Well, I went and got the socks for her and she was very pleased with them and said that they will match her PJs.  Yea! 
Also this week I realized that my sister Ginny only has one pair of knitted socks and I could have sworn she had 2.  In fact, I still think... So I will be knitting her some socks this month as well as my dad whose 80th birthday is the 17th.  So, if you don't see lots of pictures of socks in progress, give me a nudge.

In congruence or incongruence?

Hello, my dear readers!  Today is Sunday and while I don't like to work on the Lord's Day (or any day), I am proud of myself for cleaning the sinks and toilets (yuck) in both bathrooms, making biscuits and gravy for breakfast, making bread for lunch, running the dishwasher and thinking about doing a load of laundry. 

In between, I worked on my fall socks.  And right before the heel flap there's a bit that seems incongruent (if incongruent is the word I mean) with the rest of the hues.  What do you think?

Can you see it?  I don't care for it because that color hasn't shown up for the whole 8 inches of the top, and I don't know how long it will take to show up again?  I considered ripping it out and decided against it.  I will hope for the best!

Medieval Festival

Today is the Medieval Festival at Franciscan University.  My kids have been enjoying this time for several years. 

This year, Spencer is away at school, Christopher went to a seminar for budding young men, and Tim bought 2 anoles (lizards) for his best friend and is tending to them upstairs. Since parking is ridiculous and I am not that into it, I dropped the other 3 kids off and came home to blog and have fun with Ravelry.  (I just happen to be there when Sarah was on the pony).

Ravelry is a site for knitters, as I have mentioned in previous posts.  I have had an account for a few years and have used it to find patterns, get ideas, buy yarn, etc.  I have been very blessed by others through Ravelry (see yesterday's post).  I felt that it was time to give back; to list my yarns, leave my comments, show my projects, and join the community.  In real life terms this means that there's yarn everywhere, my neighbors are wondering why I am taking pictures of my clothes on the porch, my kids are wondering if they are going to get a hot meal, and I am having the time of my life.

When I pull out all of my yarn stash, my son Christopher sees future economic benefit.  And he tries to get me to see it that way.  I see pure woolly joy.  And I want to knit my whole stash today.

Blessed by a Stranger

This summer, I knit a shawl and ran out of yarn at the Very End.

There was really no good way to finish it without getting more yarn.  So, I turned to the wonderful knitters on Ravelry.  Yesterday, I found a knitter with the right yarn in her stash.  I wrote and asked if she would sell me a partial ball.  Well, after emailing a few times back and forth, she is sending me the yarn and won't let me pay her for it OR the shipping.  She just requested that I pray for her special intention.  I am so blessed by this generous stranger, both for her gift to me and her reaching out for prayer.  Would you all please say a prayer for this knitter?  Thank you!