Saved

Do you watch American Idol?

Did you SEE this past Thursday's "vote-off" show?

Lisa, the author of a blog I read, has a wonderful post drawing a parallel between that moment in time and our own salvation by grace through Jesus.

Take a moment, read her post, watch the video she posted, and come back here and let me know what you think. I'd really love to hear your thoughts. I'll be discussing this in more detail in the next day or so. Until then, remain thankful!

In His love,

Rebecca

Finished Scarf, WIP socks

Last night I finished my latest knitting project, a scarf for my stepson's bio-mom.  I know, you're asking yourself "Really?".  Yep.  My stepson's bio-mom knows I'm a knitter, so she asked me if I would be willing to make her a scarf if she provided the yarn.  I said sure, and set off to tackle the Lion Brand Homespun once again.  I have to admit, it makes lovely scarves, but it drives me crazy to knit with because it constantly sheds these tiny little wispies of fiber that of course float right to my nose and eyelashes and bug the beejeezus out of me!  So, you could say I'm glad to be done with this yarn for a while!  I do believe it turned out very nice though. 

I call it "The Other Mother Scarf"
=)

It looks smaller in the picture,
but that's
SIX FEET of warm scarfy goodness right there!

I totally didn't mind making the scarf (partly because I got to keep the leftover yarn -can you say stash?-, AND she gave me a Joann's gift card for doing it...bonus!) but I felt a little antsy toward the last two feet of it.  See, this year was supposed to be the year of knitting FOR ME...projects that I wanted to do for MYSELF.  Of all the knitting I've done over the 6 years I've been knitting, I've only made myself 3 pair of socks, one scarf, and 3 knitted bags (along with a few dishrags here and there).  So far this year I've made a hat for my husband, a scarf for my mom, and a scarf for my stepson's bio-mom.  All while I've been sneaking a row or two at a time on my Twilight Socks.

Well, no more sneaking around.  Now that I'm done with everyone else's gifts and projects, it's time to turn the knitting focus on my beautiful sockies! 

Twilight Socks

I'd love to chat more, and trust me, I do have more to say, but for right now, there is some delicious merino wool calling my name from the living room!

Love,

Shadows

Seven years of waiting, trying, praying, despairing
Was coming to an end.
Joy radiated.
My belly rounding
The tiny bump-bump-bumps against my insides
Reminded us of life beyond our own.
My husband's hand settling to it's new favorite resting place
Touching the outer me but the inner us.
Tha-thump tha-thump blinking on the screen
Kicking flailing turning floating
Our daughter.
This miracle we were granted, this child, our child.
A baby girl.

I woke with a smile this morning with my hand still on my full belly. I could still FEEL her there. The fullness faded along with the haze of sleep. As the sunlight permeated my consciousness, I realized.

It was a dream.

There is no daughter.

I remembered.

There is no baby girl.

I cried.

Because there might never be.

Dyed in the wool

What happens when you mix several women obsessed with yarn and knitting, some packages of Kool-Aid, some acid dyes, turkey basters, many hanks of wool and a few pots of hot water?

A whole lot of fun at a yarn dyeing party, that's what!!!

A few weeks ago my best friend had some of the women from our knitting group over and taught us how to dye our own yarn.  I was fascinated by the entire process. 

Here's a sampling of pictures from the evening.

Preparing the bare wool for dyeing



Vinegar soak for kool-aid dyeing




My first attempt at "hand-painting" with kool-aid dyes



My best friend Kelly demonstrating the acid dye method
(isn't she cute!  I. Love. Her.!)



Rinsing and cooling the acid-dyed yarn

 

My very own creation!
Worsted weight superwash merino
Acid dyed





Another of my creations!
Merino Wool fingering weight
(sock yarn)
Kool-aid dyed


*The yarn is actually a bit darker than the pictures show, I have horrible lighting!
**Many thanks to my bestie for making those adorable ball-bands for my hand-dyed yarn!!!  I love them!!!
***We all got to name our colorways we created that evening.  Mine obviously are Sweet Peach Tea (because when I mixed the dye it looked just like peach flavored iced tea) and Mardi Gras (I didn't have yellow, otherwise it would have been official Mardi Gras colors, but I think it works well anyway!). 

We all had such a wonderful time at the party.  Not only was it an evening of learning something new about a shared hobby, we learned a lot of new things about each other.  It was an evening of friendship and fellowship, of laughter and conversation, an evening of six women drawing closer together.  I like to imagine the yarn we dyed serving as a heartstring, connecting each one of us to the other, through another, in an invisible weaving of interconnectedness.  A tapestry woven not by hands, but by words, by affection, by the knowledge of each other.  In this knowledge I am blessed.

And I thank God daily for the blessings of friendship He has bestowed.  I am truly rich in what matters most.

Love,

2011 Reading Challenge

Last year I signed up for Kristin's Reading Challenge.  I, being an avid reader and book lover, thought "Hm, no problem!  I read all the time!  I can do this!"  I set my sights on reading a conservative 36 books throughout the year.  I was surprised to find out when I counted them a while ago that I missed that mark terribly.  I only completed 13 books.  That's only 1/3 of my goal.  And it was, compared to the goals of the other challengers, a quite meager goal.

But...

I decided to give myself a break instead of downing myself.  Why?

Because along with those other 13 books, I also read over half of the Bible.  I'm still plodding along, I'm a little stuck right now in my Bible reading.  I'm working on it.  I also took the confirmation class for church which involved a pretty fair amount of reading in itself.

This year I'm aiming for 24 books, plus finishing the Bible cover-to-cover (I'm in Isaiah I believe right now), and reading 2 Lenten devotional/Bible Studies.

If you'd like to join in the 2011 Reading Challenge, head over to Kristin's and sign up!  For those of you wondering...yes, audio books count too!!!  So if you choose to listen instead of read, you can still participate!

Happy Reading!