Knitting on Faith

When I left the congregation where I served three years ago, my knitting yearnings were well-known, and I got a gift certificate in the hundreds to my then favorite LYS, which lasted 'til about 9 months ago.

This month I'm finishing another interim pastorate, and because they are very much in debt for all kinds of reasons, many of which are not under their control, I expected a potluck party and good wishes for the future.

Imagine my huge surprise then, when I got the following at my farewell party yesterday:

-- a pair of lighted knitting needles, with batteries
-- two books on knitting (Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's At Knits End, and Zen and the Art of Knitting
-- a gift certificate to my NEW favorite LYS in an amount almost equal to that of the last larger and more financially stable congregation of three years ago.

Are these great folks or what!

OTN: a scarf for the Red Scarf Project

Stress Knitting

It's one of those weeks, when there's too much life for the hours that are there. In other words, I need my knitting. It'd better be pretty simple, because it's just not a good thing to add to the stress by having to frog stuff.

So, I worked on this birthday present for a family member:



and started the Carlsbad scarf in Alison Hyde's Wrapped in Comfort. It's done with beautiful bombyx silk from Ellen's Half-Pint Farms, a score that I made at Stitches West this year. I tried two other patterns that didn't work because it made it look like tie dye (the pattern repeated too perfectly) but this is going to be very nice...and it's very easy, so it's good for my nerves!

Vacation

I've been away, on travel for work, and then what was supposed to be a relaxing vacation. So the vacation part was good for a while, but then life intervened, and it wasn't so much.

In short, my Mom joined me in Tahoe, and after a couple of days, she fell. Fell kinda down a small incline, over bushes. Rolling over kinda falling. For an 85-year-old with osteoporosis, this is not good. At all.

But miraculously, she got away with a pain in her neck and a bruised hand! No ambulance or broken bones. Dude, she WALKED AWAY from the fall...that's a spunky 85-year-old.

But the rest of the time was spent in some care-taking, not just relaxing. Clearly that is going to have to wait 'til September.

I did, however, get some knitting in...cute socks for Mom in Panda Cotton






and another Tomato sweater, just for me!