Delicate Beauty

Well, it's nearly that time of year again!  Shopping? Decorating? Baking?  No, silly!  Knitting the Advent Calendar Scarf!  It's more fun, and the calm and quiet is better suited to the spiritually reflective aspect of Advent!

The designer's name is Kristin Benecken and this is the third year that she has designed a scarf and organized a knit-along group.  The group has people from all over the world and the excitement and anticipation are tremendous!  I hear you non-knitters laughing, but it's true!  

Motivated by the coming knit-along, I finally finished my 2010 Advent scarf.  I started it last November while waiting for the 2011 knit-along to begin.  Well, here she is and she takes my breath away!

Delicate Beauty: The 2010 Advent Calendar Scarf knit in Alpaca With a Twist Fino

This week I'll be knitting Christmas presents like mad to be ready to start the 2012 scarf. I have my yarn and beads all ready!

Madelinetosh Prairie yarn in colorway Tart.  The beads are Miyuki 8/0 Opaque Black Delicas.

No Fear

It's a beautiful autumn Saturday here, which means everyone is outside and it's quiet indoors!  sigh of relief

As I said on Tuesday, I've been reading the "Direction For Our Times" booklets a lot lately.  This has been a very challenging year for me, and these little messages have been encouraging and hopeful.  They are free at directionforourtimes.org and I encourage everyone to take advantage of them!

Today I've been rereading the booklet on depression.  Here's a quote: " Do not be afraid...If you look at your situation and view it as heaven views it, you will understand that there is nothing on the earth that should make you fearful."  This goes hand-in-hand with my theme for the year: Hope and Be Not Afraid!  Several times in this particular booklet St. Dymphna speaks of the importance of exchanging earthly eyes for heavenly eyes.  This is my prayer, that I will allow the Holy Spirit to give me His perspective!

Here are a couple of pictures of the gloves that I'm making for Christopher this month.  One down, one to go!

Finished Tim's MIttens

Hello, all!  Life is busy here with fall activities and craziness!  I managed to finish Tim's mittens, though!  I've also been reading and reflecting on several of the "Direction For Our Times" booklets.  If I can squeeze in a few blogging minutes tomorrow, I'll try to share some inspiring and hopefully coherent thoughts!

Tim's Mittens in Cascade 220 Fingering Weight

August Knitting

Oh my gosh, has it been a month already?  August just flew by!  I had planned on making my next post  a really cool reflection on all of my favorite Magnificat meditations from the year so far.  All I can say is, I've been recovering from the shock of having a house-full of kids again after a very quiet summer!

My oldest daughter is home again and she's an avid knitter, so we've had some enjoyable knitting time together, both of us making Norwegian-style mittens.  Here's the first of a pair that I'm knitting for a Christmas present:

4. Herrevott from Selbustrikk in Cascade 220 Fingering

If there are any mitten-knitters reading this, we have a September knitting challenge with a prize in the Ravelry group "I Make Mittens."  Join us!

Juicing

As promised, I will talk about something besides knitting today!  I've been eating mostly raw this summer. By "mostly" I mean over 50% but not close enough to 90% for me to be feeling as good as I'd like.  I've recently been inspired by Cherie Calbom's book The Juice Lady's Turbo Diet.  So, as John Pinette says, "I'm Juicing!" 

This morning I made the Have a Great Day Cocktail on page 162.  It was great; it's similar to the basic Green Lemonade in Raw Food Detox Diet, a nice basic green juice.  I always feel so energized and alive after a glass of fresh green juice!

Another Favorite Mitten

I know that I've been shockingly neglectful of the Raw and Catholic parts of my blog, but it's so much easier to jot a few quick words and photos about knitting than to collect my thoughts on faith and food.  Well, the food shouldn't be that complicated, assuming I'm being a good little raw-vegan.  I promise to reflect and write about something more important than mittens!

Speaking of mittens, here's another favorite from this year.  I was so pleased with how Spencer's birthday mittens came out that I knit another pair, but used a heart design chart from the same Rauma book.  There are so many little ends to weave-in and fiddly bits to sew up, but they're worth it, I think!

Kjærestevotter (Sweetheart Mittens) in 3 ply Strikkegarn

Helianthus Mittenus

I've had a lot of fun knitting mittens this year and the "Helianthus Mittenus" pattern tops my list of favorites.  This was my first time using Rauma Finullgarn and I was not disappointed.  Norwegian yarns are like no other!  I'm hooked on Rauma!  For more information and lots of friendly help, Debbie at Nordic Fiber Arts in New Hampshire is the best!
This pattern fits my hands perfectly and thanks to the thumb gusset, the mittens look great, no stretching of the stitches around the thumbs.

Helianthus Mittenus in Rauma Finullgarn

More Mittens

As the New Year continued, I knit more mittens for the 12 Pairs of Mittens in 2012 Challenge.  A pattern that I had been admiring for a while was the Peerie Flooers.  Well, I started a Knit-Along in February in order to have companions in knitting the pattern, but there wasn't a whole lot of interest.  I kept knitting and posting my progress photos on Ravelry, but I re-worked the whole chart for the mittens.  Now, many months later, I'm still trying to motivate myself to weave-in all of those pesky ends and knit the thumbs!!!

Peerie Flooers in Rowan Yorkshire Tweed

Hippocampus in Chroma

Since I've been away from blogging for more than half the year, I have plenty of knitted things to share.  I'm participating in a challenge to knit 12 pairs of mittens in 2012.  I started off the year with great enthusiasm.  My first pair of mittens was the Hippocampus Mittens.  Unfortunately, I started them a few days before the New Year, so they don't count toward the challenge.  Or only one of them counts?  Also, they came out too small for me, so I gave them to Sarah.  The first time she wore them in the snow, they got really fuzzy and worn-looking.  So, if anyone is looking at the Knit Picks Chroma  in fingering weight, be warned!  It's not very hard-wearing.

Hippocampus Mittens in Knit Picks Chroma

August and I'm Back!

It's apparent to me why the Spirit inspired me to choose "Hope and Be Not Afraid" for my theme for the year.  It's been one of the most challenging and painful years of my life, hence the abandonment of my blog.  I am alive, though!  And I've been continually working on remaining hopeful and not afraid.  One thing about suffering, it brings me to my knees like nothing else!
On the lighter side, I was able to continue knitting through the chaos and the pain.  For a while, all I could knit was dishcloths:

Mindless Dishcloths

I was, previous to life blowing-up in my face, a bit of a knitting snob.  I thought that knitting dishcloths was dumb and I was sure I would never do it.  Never say, "Never!"  I now see the value of knitting little colorful squares over and over again.  It was therapeutic.  I even started teaching a little group of women at my church  how to knit them.

One of my favorite projects from the year, so far:

Fingerless gloves with Finger Cover

These were a heck of a lot of fun to knit.  For anyone interested, the pattern is from Rauma LVS-3, Oppskrifter på Luer, Votter og Strømper