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

Year of Hope and Joy

Happy New Year!
Instead of making resolutions, I have chosen a theme for the year:
Hope!  Be Not Afraid!
I do resolve to be more faithful to my daily prayer time.
Well, the holidays were crazy, but good.  Lots of time with the people I love.  I did finish my first Advent Scarf and I did finish knitting the Christmas stockings.  Let's see if I can find a decent picture.  Santa brought me lots of goodies, but no camera.  So we're using an old hand-me-down camera.  Seriously fuzzy photos!

This is Christopher's Stocking when it was about half done. 

First Advent Scarf on the blocking board.  You really can't see anything of the patterns and the color is completely off, but you can tell that I knit a long lacy scarf! ♥

Many New Year Blessings to you all!

Christopher's Stocking

Well, a little over a week until the Christmas stockings need to be finished.  I'm still feeling optimistic.  Christopher's cuff is done and I'm moving on to the leg.  The darker color is showing through more than I like, but I am hoping that with a gentle washing the white will "bloom" and hold its own. ♥

The Cuff of Christopher's Stocking knit with Rauma Gammelserie

Sorry about the fuzzy photo!