January Continues

As I set out on this journey through 2013, my path has been somewhat crazy!  Some days, I'm cheerful and optimistic.  Some days, I'm sorta blue.  This is not unusual for me in January, so I accept it and keep going one day at a time!

The weather is participating in this craziness.  We've had days in the 60s (Fahrenheit) and days in the teens.  Sunny days and cloudy.  This is not usual for January.  We typically have full cloud-cover and dreary cold.  I'm enjoying the variety, walking when it's warmer, hibernating and knitting mittens and other woolly things when it's not!

Single parenthood is kicking my behind.  Come Holy Spirit!  Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Enough whining!  Here are the lovely gloves that I knit for my mum for Christmas.  I made the cuffs a bit longer, but otherwise stuck to the pattern as written.

Vanalinn Gloves for My Mother knit in Cascade Yarns Heritage Silk

I just finished another pair of gloves yesterday, but I'll save that photo for another day!

Goals for 2013

Hello, everyone!  Hope your New Year has started well!

After some reflection, I've decided to have a couple of goals this year instead of a theme:

1. Inspired by St. Dymphna, and through her intercession, I pray that I will see every circumstance and every person with Heaven's eyes and not the eyes of the world.
2. Inspired by Mother Mary, and through her example and assistance, I want to desire only the will of God the Father and desire no created thing.

Of course, both of these goals will be impossible without the grace of God, so I'll need to stay close to Him at all times and rely on his grace!

Here's my visual aid of my New Year's Resolution:

New Year's Resolution for 2013.  Continue to juice and read my Magnificat everyday!

I'm not being very productive in the knitting department, but here's a picture of the hot water bottle that I knit last month for my dear niece:

Ravenclaw HWB cover for Christina

New Beginnings

Happy New Year!

I don't know what it is about new beginnings, but they fill me with hope and joy!  While this year was a tough one, there were many good things about 2012.

1. My kids have been healthy and God's been good to us.
2. I started taking karate and I love it.
3. I stuck to eating healthy for most of the year and lost over 20 pounds.
4. I continued to pray through the hard times and I know God is bringing good out of them.
5. I knit some pretty cool things and saved a lot of them for Christmas gifts.
6. I met some wonderful people on Ravelry and have become long-distance friends with many of them.
7. I traveled a wee bit.  Okay, it was only to Ocean City, but I left my house and it was wonderful!

There were other good things, of course, but that's a sampling of my reflections at the moment!

So...a theme for this year?  My theme for 2012 was "Hope and Be Not Afraid."  Very appropriate, too!  I believe that I am more hopeful than I was a year ago and I definitely do not fear suffering.  It will come, and we'll be okay with the grace of God.  Better than okay!
I've been contemplating themes for this year and I have two ideas.

1. Pope Benedict XVI has declared this a Year of Faith.  So, it would be fitting to have faith as a theme.
2. Joy!  Taking the song, "Joyful, Joyful!" by Casting Crowns as my theme song.
We'll see how the Spirit leads!

Here's the Knitting Segment of the Blog:

In the Christmas Knitting Group on Ravelry, we had a Christmas Ornament Swap.  It was great fun and here's a picture of the Wee Mittens that I sent to my friend, Pat.  The second photo is the package I received from my friend, Paula.

Christmas Ornament Swap December 2012

Wonderful Life

I know I'm not alone in being passionate about It's a Wonderful life.  Well, tis the season to watch one of my favorite movies of all time!  Coincidentally, yesterday's meditation in the Magnificat was this slice of Frank Capra's autobiography.  Just like the movie, it's poignant and profound:

This life is not playtime.  It's sometimes painful, lonely, and confusing.  But there is a purpose to each of our lives.  This dignity and value of each human life is affirmed in It's a Wonderful Life.  And that's why I love it!

I finally finished Theresa's Christmas mittens last week.  Here they are, on my beautiful daughter's hands:

Rogaland Mittens in Rowan Felted Tweed

First Sunday of Advent

The first candle of the Advent wreath has been lit!  Advent has officially begun.  My theme for this Advent (inspired by Father's words at mass yesterday) is "Out of Darkness, into His Marvelous Light!" 

It feels like there's been a lot of darkness this year, both in my life and the lives of my friends.  It sounds cliche to say, but I've seen my friends being pretty heroic in the midst of suffering and strife.  And I've seen first hand that "God makes all things work for the good for those who love Him!"  So, I will continue to have hope and look forward to Christ's coming!

As previously mentioned, tis the season to knit Advent Calendar Scarves (even if our other Christmas knitting isn't finished).  I'm working on Day 3, but here's Day 2:

And then I decided that Day 2 was too beautiful to be so short.  So I worked out the chart for the next 8 rows (believe it or not, it was a tad tricky and I felt pretty clever!) and here it is with all 24 rows of Day 2:

Day 2 of my 2012 Advent Calendar Scarf in Madelinetosh Prairie, Tart

First Snow of the Year

Thanksgiving weekend and we've finally gotten our first snow of the season!  Just a dusting, but it is blustery and cold!  It's mitten weather!

I've been uncharacteristically firm this year and have not given the kids their Christmas presents as soon as they were off the knitting needles.  Since they're all receiving mittens, that means they will have cold hands for a few more weeks!  Poor dears!

I'm working on Theresa's mittens right now, but I thought I'd show you Rebekah's.  They are alpaca and amazingly soft and snugly!

Mittens in Ultra Alpaca Light

Virtual Retreat

This week I am on virtual retreat.  What does that mean?  Well, it means that I'm doing what I normally do when life gets rough.  I'm knitting and spending time on Ravelry.  Actually, this week I'm retreating with the Stash Knit Down group.  The Black Sheep Virtual Retreat is for all of us who wish to avoid holiday shopping madness this week by relaxing at home with our knitting.  Black Friday/Black Sheep.  Cute, eh?

Looks comfy and snugly  right?  Um... knitting in bed is fine for about a half an hour, then the part of me that does the sitting gets very uncomfortable and I have to get up!

I'm knitting a Christmas stocking for Spencer this week.  He's the last of the kids to get one.  This is partially due to the fact that last year when I was making most of them, he requested a stocking knit with Barcelona colors.  I decided to wait till that phase was over!

After three days, it still doesn't look like much, but it's getting there!  I dyed the green and the gold yarns and they came out just right.  Hooray!  The capital S looks weird because I hadn't finished the top and bottom.  I used duplicate stitch on those bits later so I wouldn't have to strand the white all the way around the stocking on those rows.

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