January

I can't believe that January is already over. Not that I'm complaining. This month has been one of the most difficult months in my life. Just trials after trials. And it doesn't seem to be letting up. But my faith is strong, because during all I've been through, God continues to reassure me that He is there and in control. I believe everything happens according to God's plan. We receive monthly CDs from John MacArthur's ministry Grace To You. The CD we received today was titled, "God's Purpose in Our Pain". It was just what I needed to hear. The talk is based on 2 Corinthians 7-10, and line 10 says,

"Therefore I am well content with weaknesses,

with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties,

for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."

MacArthur says, "The weaker the human instrument, the more clearly God's grace shines forth." That is exactly how I feel right now; weak and broken in body, yet strong and rejoicing in spirit. Though I would never want to repeat this month ever again, I thank God for all that I've been through. He has humbled me and I am stronger because of it.

One down...

Managed to finish my first Jaywalker, dispite coming down with a cold.



Switching to 2.5 mm was much better. It takes a bit of tugging, but once it's on, it fits pretty good. I'll probably knit the second sock the same, with 2.25 mm for the leg, but next time it will be all 2.5mm. That's it for today; got to go find some cold medicine.

Fun Fur, Here I come!

Finally I tracked down some 8mm DPNs (didn't know they were so hard to find!), and am now ready to tackle my pile of Fun Fur. I bought some of this stuff before I knew how to knit, and was crocheting stuffed animals for my kids. When I started knitting, my eyes were opened to the wonders of natural fibres, and the stuff has been sitting in my closet ever since. I'm a terrible pack rat, and my husband bugs me about it all the time, but I can now finally say to him, "HA! I have use for something I saved!". If you would like to join the charity hats for Children's Hospital Boston, you can find out more here.

I joined my first KAL! It is the Kidsilk-Along, and is simply any knitting with Kidsilk Haze or equivalent yarn. It can be found here. I've been wanting to try lace for a while, so I'm really excited!

Jaywalking

The Jaywalkers with my new STR yarn is coming along.



It is pooling quite oddly. The colours are staying in place, but striping every other row. It's quite nice, but I hope the second sock does the same. Also, my gauge is very off. The sock is supposed to measure 4" across, but mine is only 3.5". I've read so many posts about ill-fitting Jaywalkers, so my fingers are crossed! I'm right above the ankle, so I'm going to try switching to 2.5mms from here on in and see what happens. Wish me luck!

R2D2

So, my husband wanted an R2D2 hat. What a 32 year-old man would do with such a hat, I don't know. I just complied. The hat was done, my husband put it on, and it looked absolutely rediculous!!! Thankfully, he also recognized how silly he looked, so my son inherited the hat.







The idea and general layout came from here. I redid the charts because I didn't quite like the origional ones. This hat taught me one thing: I STRONGLY dislike intarsia. All those bobbins and ends to weave in; it's just not for me.

So, my husband still needs a hat...

Just to add a little more Star Wars content today, here is a picture my daughter drew of Yoda:




May God's force be with you!

Hedera Socks

Finished my Hedera Socks a couple days ago:



These socks are very special to me! First of all, they're my very first "real" socks. I've knitted a couple of thick, worsted ones before, so this was my first with fingering weight yarn. Secondly, I started them just after I found out I lost my baby. They really helped take my mind off my sadness. The pattern was quite easy, and lots of fun. The second sock was easier and quicker than the first, 'cause it took me one whole sock to memorize the pattern (yeah, I know...I'm kinda slow!). I was worried that they wouldn't fit, because I tried them on just before the heel, and I couldn't get them on. I kept on going anyways, and they ended up being perfect. I knit the larger size, with Sisu sock yarn.

I think I'm quite obsessed with socks now. I love how quickly the project is finished. I have a closet full of sock yarn; I should flash it sometime. Up next is Jaywalkers with the STR that I won.

My husband's hat is coming along. Finished in 2 days, but still need to weave in ends. I think
he's going to look rediculous in it though. I'll show you tomorrow!

Finally looks like winter!

View outside my front window:






My husband took the kids tobogganing yesterday, and today he is sore all over! The kids thought winter would never come! My husband has been asking for a knit hat for a while now. He doesn't like me knitting all the time, so the fact that he's asking for something means he REALLY wants it! And not just any hat, too. He wants an R2D2 one. Hmmm...

January One Rocks!

OOOOHHHH!!! I love winning contests!!! Look what I won from January One's December contest:





There are two skeins of legendary Socks that Rock in colourways G-Rocks and January one, a box of gorgeous note cards, three mini-Soaks, orange Clover Chibis, and a lovely card from Cara herself. My goodness, it's the happiest day ever!!! I've always wanted to try this yarn, and it is just beautiful. Thank you January One!! You rock!

Free Your Fun Fur!!!

Do you like to knit for charity? Do you have a closet full of fun fur that you haven't been able to get rid of? If your answers are yes, then I have the perfect project for you!! I found this great charity project for knitting chemo hats for Childrens' Hospital Boston. All the information and email to join can be found here. They will even send you a couple of easy patterns for you to use. The deadline is February 28th, and there are tons of great prizes to be won (not that we need prizes to motivate us to be charitable, but free yarn is always a plus!). Happy knitting!

Tough Times

What a tough week I've had! Sunday I had to take some medication to induce contractions, since baby didn't come out. It did everything it was supposed to, but then I lost too much blood and my blood pressure dropped. Got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. On the way back to my bed, I fainted, and hit my face on the night table. What luck! Had I just turned 90 degrees, I would have fallen on my bed! Instead, I split my face open, got a couple scratches on my eyeball, and busted my glasses. Spending a day in emergency was horrible. I ended up getting a D & C while I was fully conscious, which was what I was trying to avoid with the medication in the first place. I am so much better today. I feel strong and I can see again. Looking at all that has happened to me the last while, I seriously just have to thank God. The only reasons He has to put trials in our lives is to teach us, to guide us, or to mold us. I just thank Him because with what I've been going through, He must have big plans for me!! And I just am so much more thankful for my two healthy children, for my wonderful husband, for my own life and salvation. This may sound very strange, but I am going through such an exciting and wonderful time right now. The fact that God is working on me is so comforting and reassuring. That popular Matt Redman song, "Blessed Be Your Name", has been playing constantly in my head:

He gives and takes away,
He gives and takes away,
My heart will choose to say,
Lord, blessed be your name.

These lyrics come from Job 1:21.

Thank you Lord for all that you give me. All that I have is from You. Blessed be your Name.
In Jesus' name, Amen.

Knitting this week

After Christmas, I had a hard time picking up knitting. I was such a procrastinator that I didn't start knitting for my gifts 'til December, so all month I had worked very hard. And it was all for nothing. My gifts were not really appreciated, and that really disappointed me. From now on I'm only knitting for myself, or if someone asks me for something specific.

Well, this week I had a really tough week. I found out I had a miscarriage. I'm supposed to be 12 weeks pregnant. I felt like I had to knit, to keep my mind occupied. I picked the Calorimetry pattern from Knitty, since I wanted something easy and mindless. Turns out short rows aren't really mindless. I wanted to try to avoid holes with the wrap & turn (which I've never done before), but it didn't turn out like I had hoped. I don't know what I did wrong, and don't really care. The FO looks kinda ugly laid out, but it actually looks okay on my head. Finished this one is just a couple of hours. I followed the tips from the Knitty boards, and CO 108 sts, and did 9 repeats of row 5 and 11 repeats of row11.

Next on the needles: Hedera socks!

First FO of 2007

I started this vest last year, but it got put aside for Christmas knitting. Now it's done, and my first finished project of the year! Yeah!

The pattern was an easy one, called Ticuna from the Berroco website. I wanted to try out their Ultra Alpaca yarn, because I've never used alpaca before. I found I had to hold the yarn tighter than I normally would with wool, because the alpaca wasn't as elastic. Otherwise, it's a very nice yarn; nice and fuzzy.

You know when you were young, and your parents would tell you something for your own good, and you would never listen to them? Then you would make that mistake yourself, and finally understood what your parents were talking about? That happened to me on this vest. I don't know how many times I've heard to measure your gauge throughout your knitting but I never did this. I thought it was rediculous. How could my own knitting change? Well, I finished the back, then finished the front. When I put the two pieces together, the back was a good 4 inches longer! I triple-counted my rows, and they were the same! I ended up frogging and redoing the back. Lesson learned!!

Happy New Year!

Let's try this again!

I started a blog last year, but after a few weeks, gave up on it. I felt discouraged by my lack of writing skills. I soon regretted it, so let's start afresh! A new year; a new blog!