Black Cherry Ice Cream

I call it Black Cherry Ice Cream and it's going to be a...

 Hot Water Bottle Cozy

(Don't judge me!  Acquiring moderation is a process.  Anyway, St. Francis said, "Do few things but do them well").
It's Jo Sharp Kid Mohair and Elsebeth Lavold Baby Llama

I hope that you are all well, especially if your life has been affected by the recent earthquake/tsunami.  I am inspired by the number of knitters turning their talents toward helping in some way.  If any of you are doing so, I'd love for you to share it in the comments.

The weather is fine again today so the Cupcake Sales of 2011 have begun.

My children have taken financial matters into their own hands.  First, it was lemonade sales, but realizing the better profit margin of cupcakes, they switched to baking.  Of course, my older 3 kids outgrew the cuteness required for sidewalk sales and have moved on to "real" jobs.  But Little Sarah is out there today pushing her wares in order to take Theresa out for Chinese food for her birthday.  Sweet, eh?

Serena and Seventy Degrees

Hello, friends!  I am finally over my cold, thank heavens!  And it's 70 degrees today!  Lots to be grateful for.

I started a group on Ravelry for fans of hot water bottles.  Seemed appropriate since I am so obsessed, I mean passionate about mine.  I am so happy with our little group.  After only a few days we have almost 100 members from all over the globe, posting our pictures, chatting about knitting.  I am enjoying it immensely.

Today, I told my 16 year old son that he was making dinner.  This required him to take the Pillsbury pizza dough out of the roll, put it on a pan and top with canned sauce and a bag of cheese.  He didn't want to, but his friends were here and they were all, "I love to make pizza."  I decided that each of my kids will make dinner once a week.  They plan and prepare 4 meals a month.  Sounds good to me.  Baby steps to having the kids do all of my work!

Last month I bought a new yarn and wanted to show you.  Really, I want you to feel it.  Some kind of wonderful:

Manos del Uruguay Serena

This yarn is made by a cooperative of women in rural Uruguay.  It makes it possible for them to get a fair wage.  That would be a good reason to buy a decent yarn, but Serena leaves decent yarn in the dust.  It's alpaca and cotton and so soft.

Note:  It says dk weight but I got 6 sts per inch holding 2 strands together using US size 5.  It's really fingering weight.

Head Cold and More HWBs

Hello all!  Sorry no blogging for ages but I have a violent head cold and am in bed.  I have been knitting, though:

More HWB covers.

I know.  I have knit more covers than I have acquaintances who actually use hot water bottles.  I am addicted to their cute little sweaterliness.  The one on the left is made with Elsebeth Lavold's Baby Lama and Rowan Kid Classic.  Very soft and cuddly.  The right hand one is made with angora and alpaca and is beyond soft and cuddly.  Must be felt to be believed!  Luckily it is still cold enough to use them.  But not for long!

Boundaries

Not much knitting going on right now due to a marathon of "Murder She Wrote."  Someone save me from myself!
I did do a bit of knitting during our all-night thunderstorm last night.  I listened to a Rex Stout audiobook and worked on a sock.  Nothing to show you yet, so I have a picture of some pretty cool socks that I knit for Spencer last year.

Maze Socks

This weekend I've been listening to Boundaries on tape in the car.   I like it, but I have to tell you that I don't have very good boundaries.  Like the pattern on these socks, my boundaries tend to twist and turn in order to avoid unpleasantness, others' anger or disappointment, my own fears...  It's good to have these things brought to my attention through these tapes and cds, but I'm tempted to get discouraged and overwhelmed.  The voices in my head are also kind of mean.

One day at a time!

Patron Saint of Woolworkers

Hello, my friends!

As I mentioned before, we are in the midst of our free month of Netflix and therefore watching excessive amounts of movies and TV shows.  I did take time this morning for prayer and I learned something new.  The Magnificat has an article each month on a piece of sacred art.  This month it is the depiction of Saint Blaise in the Sistine chapel. 

You probably knew this, but I didn't:  St. Blaise is the Patron Saint of woolworkers because of the instruments used for his torture.  Those scary-looking spiky combs are used to comb out wool in preparation for its being spun into yarn.  Not something I would want to be tortured with.  Now I have a new Patron Saint!

Have a great weekend!

P.S. St. Catherine looks like a swimmer on the 1976 East German Olympic team.

Snowstorm Sloth

Hello, all!  Well, a late season snowstorm after a 3-day weekend...

I broke down and signed up for the free trial month of Netflix.  We don't have television, so even though nine-tenths of the good movies are only available on disc, we have found enough "watch now" movies to keep us pretty occupied.  We can watch them through the wii or the xbox or the PC and we are getting our money's worth (or lack of money's worth).  I am definitely not going to pay for it after our free trial period is over and that is contributing to our "must watch as much TV as possible" attitude.

Needless to say, no new knitting pictures today!  I can feel my brain draining and my knitting muscles atrophying!

Pretty Mitten

Hello, my faithful readers!  I hope that you are having a blessed Presidents' Day!

Today has been a nice, relaxing day.  I have been messing around on the computer, listing an old dog crate in the classifieds, listening to The Hobbit on CD... I finished up the thumb of the first Hermione Mitten so that you could see it:

Hermione's Mittens

One drawback to stranded knitting like this is weaving in all the loose ends.  It's a good mindless task to do when my kids want me to watch a movie with them.

See you soon!

Great Reflection for Christian Knitters

Hello, my friends!  I want to share the reflection from February 18th in God Calling because it's so great for knitters (and non-knitters):

"So trust and be no more afraid than a child would be, who places its tangled skein of wool in the hands of a loving mother, and runs out to play, pleasing the mother more by its unquestioning confidence than if it went down on its knees and implored her help, which would pain her the rather, as it would imply she was not eager to help when help was needed."

I love this reflection and I want to have such confidence in God's goodness!  Also, I really hate tangled wool!  It's a waste of precious knitting time and a big-time frustration (just like life's problems!).

This weekend, I am knitting a HWBC for my sister who uses a HWB but doesn't have one of my covers.  Her birthday is in May, so I will probably give it to her while it is still cold:

Hot Water Bottle Cover for Susie

Next are Ginny's socks... Agh!

Newest HWBC

Hello!  The weather is so cheery and warm!  Yesterday, I walked on the track and today Rebekah, Sarah and I walked in the cemetery (It's historic).  It is supposed to get cold again, but for now it's wonderful!

I finished the latest hot water bottle cover and am very pleased. 

HWBC made with Manos Del Uruguay Silk Blend

It was a nice break from the family of Hermione projects.  I am working on the mittens and then I will be done!  I am sort of ready to be done.

Still listening to my "self-improvement" cds.  The only way I can listen to them and not get over-whelmed by the enormous quantity of things that need changing is to give it all to God and say, "Show me what is important to You today.  Baby-steps to better choices!"

God bless you all and thanks for checking in!

Hello on Wednesday!

Hello!  I am enjoying a book-on-CD in the car called 9 Things You Simply Must Do to succeed in Love and Life by Dr. Henry Cloud (continuing my perusal of his collected works).  I decided that I would listen to improving books in the car and entertaining books while knitting.  I think it's great that the kids hear bits as I drive them hither and thither.  Especially since they see precious few of these positive life strategies lived-out in the lives of their parents! 

Here's a sock that will probably be for Eileen when its mate is finished:

Lovely Cable-Rib Sock