Patches blanket...a journey

Just when I thought I'd knitted squares longer than I could stand, I had one left and we did a trial layout.















Then we gathered them all up and stacked them in the order to be knitted into strips.












Then came the sewing and more sewing, and the weaving in of ends. My tip for endless end-weaving: DO NOT, under any circumstances, count the ends. Just settle in and start weaving, then be j-u-b-i-l-a-n-t when you finish.


A general tip for taking photos for blogs or Ravelry: either use your 11 year old as the photographer or as the prop for the items being photographed. This counts as "time spent with the kids".


Now I've got to decide what to do about a border. This is a hotly contested topic in our house, and unlike many decisions, I'm not content to let the kids make this one. Don't ask me why, because they vote no border and that would be easier. While I lovelovelove
Susan B. Anderson's original design, I just don't see myself making pom-poms as a border. I think I expended the necessary patience required to make multiple pom-poms while I was weaving in all those ends!

Echoing my own thoughts in the scary way only she has, my friend Jani suggested either applied I-cord or a garter or seed stitch border. I promise, she hasn't seen it yet, and I haven't mentioned what sort of bordering I was considering, and yet somehow she knew. Right now I'm thinking of picking up stitches on each side, separately, and doing each side a different color (using colors already in the blanket), then knitting miters in the corners with maybe the stripey pink and white color. Because, obviously, this blanket is NOT colorful enough!

The Son Also Crafts...

This just in from JrBravesFanatic---a lovely hand sewn patchwork pillow, completed just in time to give to his grandmother for Mother's Day. It looks a little larger than it is, but, at about 5"x8", it was still a good bit of sewing for a little guy! Thanks goes to SuperCraftyDancerGirl for threading needles and adding the button :)

Mother's Day blessings to all my mom friends out there!!!

Today's quote, May 10

Happy Birthday to Fred Astaire, born on this day in 1899, easily my favorite of Ginger Rogers' dance partners! lol

He said, "Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you've got to start young."

And, "The higher up you go, the more mistakes you are allowed. Right at the top, if you make enough of them, it's considered to be your style."

Lessons learned from Craft

We've been watching the dvd of Craft in America at our house and I find it so refreshing to hear from others who are passionate about their chosen craft. It reminds me that one of the reasons I love to knit (or hand sew or cross-stitch) is that I feel an inexplicable link to the women who have gone before me, making things for their families. I imagine some sturdy pioneer wife making clothes by hand while planting a garden, raising a passel of young'uns, slaughtering chickens for dinner, and settling the frontier. Too much Laura Ingalls Wilder in my youth, do you think??

I also read a recent post on Ravelry about one knitter belittling another knitter because her preferred methods were different--in this case, simple vs. ornate. I think the point the judgmental knitter missed was that we all have something to contribute. It makes little sense to me anyway----what could it possibly matter to someone who likes to knit lace whether someone else only does garter or stockinette stitch?? That was something I appreciated about Mason-Dixon Knitting; there are a lot of just plain knitting patterns. I like doing lace, but I LOVE having something simple to work on, especially for times when I need to concentrate on something other than knitting. Like life, for example!

The artists on Craft in America weren't judging what others were doing, they were just thankful to be able to create things and express themselves through craft. And that attitude empowers me to appreciate what I do as well as what others do, without feeling intimidated by others' quality or quantity. Yes, I want to improve my knitting, but not because I'm trying to keep up with the speed knitters or master knitters of the world.

It all comes down to this: nine-tenths of the people for whom I knit will not be likely to receive an item from me, look at it and say, "Wow, you could have done better!" Frankly, I'm thankful for that. And for the fact that I don't have to slaughter chickens for dinner...

perfectionism + blogging = stress

...or, why I would blog more if it weren't so hard to get it right.

It's hard enough to come up with something "blog-worthy" on a regular basis, and harder still to manage to get the photos from the camera to the blog, but those peripheral items tend to present a challenge, too.

For some unknown, no doubt narcissistic reason, I feel compelled to list my latest reads in the sidebar of this blog. Simple enough, no? NO. One recent listing, a fun selection from Dorothy L. Sayers, has created difficulties for this perfectionist. I want to provide some sort of link, just in case someone, somewhere, at least once in this lifetime, decides to click on the book title to see what I've been reading. I like to use Barnes and Noble sometimes, and I went the other day to the listing and used it for the link. I repeat, simple enough, no? Yes, except the "excerpt" for the book was wrong. I admit, I was blogging on borrowed time that day and just left it so I could go do whatever it was I needed to go do. But it bugged me so much that I went back later and changed the link to the listing at Amazon. Because the excerpt is correct.

Does anyone really care? Probably not, but I feel better.

Some recent knitting

A sweater for my friend Claire's new baby, from Itty Bitty Nursery.

SuperCraftyDancerGirl finished this sweater tank!

A quote or two for today

Today's quote comes to us from Anthony Trollope, fabulous Victorian novelist, born on this day in 1815.

He said:
"That I can read and be happy while I am reading, is a great blessing. Could I have remembered, as some men do, what I read, I should have been able to call myself an educated man."

And this from Phineas Finn:
"Remember, I do not recommend motion at all. Repose is my idea of life; repose and grapes."

If you've never read any Anthony Trollope, I highly recommend him. He wrote 47 novels, so there's plenty to choose from. Miss Mackenzie might be a good one to start with, though I'm sure other Trollope devotees would have their own recommendations...

Asheville

It was a beautiful weekend to be in Asheville. The mountains were at their mountainous best after a bit of rain. "Bad Fork"??? It looks good to me!
Truly gorgeous!

The Grove Arcade was a lovely combination of great architecture and cool shops.




And then there's the "souvenir" yarn---some from the Arcade's Asheville Homecrafts, and some from the aptly named Yarn Paradise. Thanks to Heather for blogging about Asheville Homecrafts---otherwise we'd have missed it and the Arcade.

Thanks to DaHubby for schlepping to not one but two yarn shops on our weekend getaway! There are more socks in your future :)

Earth day thoughts...

With Earth Day on the horizon, I just thought I'd mention something the kids and I saw today. Shopping at our local mega-mart we were bombarded by the "go green" campaign, the current marketing fad in our country: green cleaning supplies, t-shirts with green slogans, energy saving light bulbs, even a display of earth-conscious dvd's. Outside, however, we had a front row seat to reality. The small field between the parking lot and the street was rapidly and industriously being transformed from wooded lot to barren wasteland.

Maybe I'm just a bit cynical, but am I really the only one who sees the disparity between something that is actually green and something that is only labeled as such? Maybe in our generation, it'll only be style over substance. However, since SuperCraftyDancerGirl was the first one to comment on what we were seeing today, there is hope for the future. She gets it.

Abstract Mitered Baby Blanket

What you see here is the result of a group effort. SuperCraftyDancerGirl designed the layout after I said I wanted to make this a mitered production, and JrBravesFanatic and I knitted it.

Oh, and Tulip the cat gave it the occasional bathing, too. (Eww!)

The decision about whether to put on a backing or not has not been firmly made at this time...

added 4/15/08:
Ok, I've woven in all the millions of ends, and the back is no longer offensive to me. So I think I'll just leave it. SuperCraftyDancerGirl says it looks good, and since she's my official style consultant, it must be ok!

I Can Dream, Can't I?

Latest fantasies:

(While surfing blogs): I click a link and discover that someone else I know in real life is actually a closet blogger, writing really worthy stuff...

(While stuck in "Palmetto Traffic"): I'm home in my own backyard, stretched out on my lounge chair, enjoying the warm spring afternoon and the fact that the bugs haven't all hatched from wherever it is they go in the winter. I'm reading some deep meaningful book and not having to back-track at the bottom of each page, because I got it the first time....

(While planning or participating in the weekly Life Skills Grocery Acquisition Home School Field Trip): Home delivery of groceries has become a reality, complete with all the best deals, coupon usage and meal planning, all available at the click of my mouse....

(Just about every day): I awake in the morning totally refreshed, having gotten enough quality sleep the night before to propel me through a morning workout (don't laugh, I'm dreaming here, remember?) and the rest of my day....

(During Lent): I arrive at service on Easter morning, truly understanding the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus in a new and profound way. I'm able to communicate these new insights in a meaningful way to others, all because I've been able, all throughout the Lenten season, to focus on what really matters...

(At least every other day): Instead of fighting over who gets to sit where, my children hold meaningful discourses about the nature of existence and the best way to love their neighbors as themselves....

Book Search

Ok, all you out there in Knitting Land, I need your help. I have a birthday coming up and I want to put a knitting book (or two) on my wish list. I already have Mason-Dixon Knitting and love it. Anyone have a knitting book that they just can't live without?

That was how the post started.... but then the youth at church had a babysitting fund-raiser, and DaHubby and I stepped out for the evening. No, wait, it'll make sense, bear with me. By the time we'd braved the Friday night dinner crowds (does everybody in town wait till Friday night to go out to eat?? Ugh! I guess that makes it obvious how rarely we go out to eat on a Friday night), we had only a teensy amount of time left in child-free freedom. So, being the wild and crazy couple that we are, we went to B & N to browse through all the books we don't have time to read. I went first to the Knitting section. Admittedly, it's technically the Crafts section, but they could have one section just for knitting or maybe knit and crochet and they could call it Fiber Arts. I'm just saying. Anyway I looked at all of the knitting books they had that I hadn't already looked at or read from the library and I made a startling discovery about myself:

I don't think I WANT a new knitting book on my shelf at home.

Doesn't that make me some kind of knitting heretic? But I stood there looking at all those beautiful books with all those great patterns and helpful tidbits of advice and I was just overwhelmed by the realization that I have enough projects in my mental queue, and I don't want any more! I was stressing out right there in the middle of B & N!

After that, I naturally had to go soothe myself in the Military History section, which made it all better :) I found a new book about the WWII home front called, get this,
The American Home Front: 1941-1942. It's always a good day when I can find a new book about the home front (and dig that catchy title!).

The upshot of all this is that I'd rather not have knitting book recommendations at this time. Maybe when I get the multitudes of projects on my needles and in my brain under some control, I'll be able to find the space in my life for a new knitting book. Until then, I can skulk around on Ravelry and feel guilty that I haven't fleshed out my notebook any better than I have. I mean, really...we can put a man on the moon, but we can't find a way for photos to magically jump from our digital cameras to some usable form on Flickr without our intervention???

Another Bad Joke Friday

The last Bad Joke Friday was such fun, especially the contributions of Becky and Dale, that I decided to have another one!

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Did you hear the one about the botanist who was trying to research some details about a particular kind of fern? He sent a request to all his colleagues, asking them to send him any information they had about it.

Unfortunately, he didn't word his request very well, and all the botanists he'd contacted thought he was looking for details about any ferns, rather than just the one species. So within just a few hours of sending it out, his fax machine was buzzing with piles of useless documents about all kinds of ferns - there were tree ferns and wood ferns, ostrich ferns and cinnamon ferns... but very few about the particular type he wanted.

So he sent another message to everyone:

If it ain't bracken, don't fax it.

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Q: Why is a trumpet player like an Egyptian Ruler?
A: They have their Tutankhamen.

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Q: What's a mummy's favorite type of music?
A: Wrap.

Goodnight Moon, or Why the kids were up late

A great big thanks to DaHubby for remembering the Lunar Eclipse last night (before it happened, no less!!). After church, we came home, told the kids to get ready for bed, then kept an eye on the clock. The kids do NOT keep an eye on the clock at bedtime, as their ultimate, nightly goal is to see how long they can fool the parents into letting them stay up just a bit longer, and this takes considerable energy and concentration on their part.

Then, at 8:45, after making sure they were all ready for shut-eye, we said, without any previous warning, "Put on your shoes and coats." It's so much fun to spring things on them! So out we trooped to the front yard, no doubt giving the neighbors something else to talk about. We discussed what causes eclipses and watched the moon slowly but surely turn dark and reddish. It was a perfect eclipse-watching sky, with only a few wispy clouds and a fantastic view of the moon.

As I heard the 7 am bus pull through this morning, I was so thankful that we homeschool, and can make our schedule adjust to things like a Lunar Eclipse.

Or the Great Backyard Bird Count, for that matter. By the way, remember how I said that birds avoid our yard during the Bird Count? I think I need to amend that to say that birds avoid ME during the Bird Count! Saturday the kids and I went out and saw a grand total of 4 birds (2 species) in 30 minutes. This was about what I expected. Then Sunday morning, DaHubby and the kids sat there and spotted 15 birds (9 species) in 45 minutes. Ok, no problem, that's great. Then later on Sunday, while visiting friends out in the country, I sat for at least an hour with my binoculars and saw, are you ready for this? ONE BIRD! Out in the country! One lousy hawk that I never was able to positively identify. And that's when I began to take it personally. Monday morning we saw something like a chickadee and two geese, but I didn't have the heart to submit those "results" to the Bird Count.

I can see why the birds in our area might really like DaHubby, as he's the official feeder filler. But what they don't take into account is that, often I'm the one who brings the empty feeders to his attention. I'm the woman behind the feeder filler, for heaven's sake!

Survived another one (or, Why I don't blog very often)

Yesterday was our annual homeschool bowling party, organized by yours truly. Great fun was had by all. It is the only Big Event that I organize all year, and every year on the day after, I remember why---it's exhausting!! But, like I said, a great time was had by all, so it's worth it.

Today we start the Great Backyard Bird Count. I always wonder where all the birds go on this particular weekend. In years past we could look out and see dozens of birds at the feeder all week, then when the GBBC rolls around, they stay away in droves. Or would that be flocks?

Birding is one of those things (like knitting or homeschooling) which seem hard to do until you actually try it. I've been birding, with varying degrees of fervency, for the last, well, we'll just say for many years. (Don't you hate it when you go to count up something like that and realize just how many years it's been?) SuperCraftyDancerGirl is less enamored with her feathered neighbors than is her brother, but she is good at identifying species, especially on our walks. JrBravesFanatic's love of critters naturally extends to the bird community, and when he was younger he surprised me by being able to sit in my lap QUIETLY watching for birds to come to the feeder during our GBBC experiences. Da Hubby will believe everything I say about the birds we see, so that's always fun. Not that I am purposely misleading when it comes to bird info, but he doesn't quibble with me when I can't tell a Red-Shouldered Hawk from a Red-Tailed Hawk. Gotta love a guy like that!

Happy Birthday, Chuck! (One day late)

Yesterday was the birthday of Charles Dickens, one of my favorite authors as a child--well, ok, more like Jr. High and up. I wouldn't want to give the mistaken impression that I was reading David Copperfield in Kindergarten or something. I mean, I was a pretty sharp kid and all, but maybe not THAT sharp.

I think, aside from all the great writing, Dickens should be remembered for trying to change the world for the better. He didn't just write about things that needed to be improved, he put his money where his mouth (or pen) was and made a difference.

That should give us something to think about during this season of Lent. Are we being intentional with our time, our talents, our resources? The sermon at church on Ash Wednesday challenged me to get past the distractions in life ---- is there any way to do this besides minimizing the distractions??? ---- and.... then what? What happens when the distractions are fewer? Will I become a better steward of my time, recognizing waste when it happens and turning it into something that will bear fruit? Will I be better able to focus during my devotion time, instead of thinking about my plans for the day? Will I be more patient with those around me, setting aside my agendas (even when the agenda is knitting!!) to remember that the most important things in life are not things, but people? Will I wax philosophical on my blog on a regular basis???

I guess I've got 40 days to find out.....

Meanwhile, JrBravesFanatic just walked by outside the window. I can't say for sure, but it looked like he had a large clump of Spanish moss on his (knitted cap on his) head. Naaahhh, couldn't be!

Bad Joke Friday

Q: Why does a chicken coop have two doors?

A: Because if it had four doors it would be a chicken sedan.

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Did you hear the one about the dromedary whose fur was an amazingly close match in color to the desert sand? He was almost impossible to see.

Some called him 'the invisible dromedary', but in reality he wasn't invisible; he was just really well camel-flaged.

NOT my New Year's Resolutions...

1) Get bumper stickers representing ALL the Presidential candidates and put them all on the car.
2) Buy a big box of curriculum and force my children to sit in school desks every day while they complete it.
3) Put the local traffic police on speed dial and report license numbers of drivers who cut me off in traffic.
4) Give away all my knitting needles and yarn.
5) Sit in the front window with the curtains open and a pair of binoculars. Every day.
6) Only watch movies made after 1990.
7) Convert my blog to all politics, all the time.

And since it's 2008, the 8th thing that is NOT my New Year's Resolution:
8) Throw out all the dishes and use nothing but paper, plastic and Styrofoam from now on!

Glad Tidings

It's the birthday of Charles Wesley, born on this day in 1707 (or 1708, depending on what you're reading). He wrote over 6,000 hymns and is considered by some to be one of the most prolific poets in the English language.

And since it's a week till Christmas, I'll leave you with one of his hymns. Yes, I realize that you'll probably hear it so many times in the stores this season that you might wish Charles Wesley had been a plumber or a botanist. ***Has anyone else noticed that you can't go anywhere at all without an unceasing stream of Rudolph's and Frosty's? And isn't anyone else worried they'll get tired of it all long before the 25th?? But I digress... ***

Ok, so, despite the fact that you've probably learned to tune this out already, read the words and let Christmas be real for you, since that, Charlie Brown, is what Christmas is all about. Merry Christmas!!

1.

Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King,
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th' angelic host proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"

2.
Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
late in time behold him come,
offspring of a virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th' incarnate Deity,
pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"

3.
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth,
born to give us second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"

Remember Pearl Harbor

"Remember Pearl Harbor" (lyrics to the popular song by that name here) was a rallying cry for America, especially during the early days of our involvement in World War II. Until this day in 1941, the debates between the isolationists and the interventionists were heated and frequent. Those who advocated war wanted to send troops to Europe to put an end to Hitler's relentless onslaught there. Conversely, there were those who thought that the reports of Hitler's atrocities were greatly exaggerated, and maybe his plan to "unify Europe" wasn't so bad after all. Despite the fact that Japan had been fighting in its corner of the world for many years, Americans were largely unconcerned about a threat from that direction.

Japan's unprovoked attack on our naval and air forces in Pearl Harbor initially achieved two things: 1) The fighting among the isolationists and interventionists came to a halt and 2) Japan's alliance with Nazi Germany assured that the U.S. was going to war on two fronts.

You can listen to President Franklin Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor address here.

And here's something from The Writer's Almanac, many thanks to Garrison Keillor:

"It was on this day in 1941 that Japanese bombers attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. That morning soldiers at Pearl Harbor were learning how to use their new radar technology, and they detected a large number of planes heading toward them. They telephoned an officer to ask him what to do. The officer said they must be American B-17s on their way to the base, and he told the soldiers not to worry about it.

The Japanese bombers began their attack at 7:48 a.m., with two waves of 360 planes, beginning with slow torpedo bombers and then dive-bombers. Many of the soldiers there that day woke up to the sound of alarms and explosions. Most of the damage occurred in the first 30 minutes. The U.S.S. Oklahoma capsized, and the California, Nevada, and West Virginia sank in shallow water. The U.S.S. Arizona was completely destroyed, killing more than 1,500 soldiers aboard. When nurses arrived for morning duty they found hundreds of injured men all over the base. The nurses ran around, administering morphine, and to prevent overdoses, they wrote the letter M on each treated man's forehead.

There were ultimately 2,390 Americans killed at Pearl Harbor and 1,178 wounded. FDR used the event as the grounds for entering World War II."