Sunday, July 27, 2014

A Prayer for Today (27-July-14)



Seed-planting, fish-netting, bread-baking, pearl-hunting God,
you shape us into living parables.
Pray with your Spirit in us
so that we may understand our experiences
as healing metaphors,
and become creative and abundant stewards
of the environment you entrusted to our love.
Amen.

Prayer & Image Credit

Sunday, July 20, 2014

A Prayer for Today (20-July-14)



Through dreams and visions, O God,
you broaden the horizon and hope of your people,
that they may discover the meaning of your covenant,
even in the midst of trial and exile.
Increase the number of those who believe in your word
so that all people may joyfully respond to your call
and share in your promises.
Amen.

Prayer & Image Credit

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

#TheAlmonsTakeLondon

We were so blessed to be able to spend 6 days in and around London this month. We travelled by train both ways from Edinburgh to London King's Cross. We stayed with our friend Sam and her husband Mark. We also spent a day at the Unwind Brighton Yarn Festival and came home with loads of goodies. We took lots of pics, so here they are to share with you.

2014 London - Day 1 (7/8) - Train ride from Edinburgh to London, drive to Sam's, and a quiet evening of dinner, spinning, & knitting


2014 London - Day 2 (7/9) - Bushy Park, train to city centre, South Bank, Golden Jubilee Bridge, Chipotle, National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, train to Sam's, curry for the 1st time, spinning, knitting


2014 London - Day 3 (7/10) - train to city centre, buses to Baker Street, Chipotle, The Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221B Baker Street in London, bus back to Waterloo Station, train back to Sam's, 5 Guys for dinner, spinning, knitting


2014 London - Day 4 (7/11) - driving tour of London, Victoria & Albert Museum, Thai curry for dinner, prepping for Unwind Brighton


2014 London - Day 5 (7/12) - Unwind Brighton


2014 London - Day 6 (7/13) - Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross, train from London to Edinburgh, souvenirs, spinning, knitting


Sunday, July 6, 2014

A Prayer for Today (6-July-14)



We rejoice, O Christ,
for in your tender compassion
you shoulder our burdens and ease our heavy hearts.
Give us the strength to carry each other
as you have carried us.
Amen.

Prayer & Image Credit

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

The Post In Which I Check In For June 2014

Wasn't yesterday 1-June? I can't believe the month passed so quickly. I wanted to write this post to check in on how June went with my goals for the year.

So, let's have a look at my 2014 goals progress:

~Keep a daily journal.
Continuing to stay strong with this goal and in fact, I'm converting others to the Bullet Journal system I'm using. If you haven't checked the system out, you definitely should!

~Continue keeping a list of the eucharisteo/gifts/joys/Thanksgivings in my life.
I'm doing this in my daily journal. I'm over 3,500.

~Read at least one non-fiction book each month of 2014.
1 ~ Girl Meets God: On the Path to a Spiritual Life by Lauren Winner ~ completed 5-January-2014
2 ~ Almost Amish: One Woman's Quest for a Slower, Simpler, More Sustainable Life by Nancy Sleeth ~ completed 18-January-2014
3 ~ In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed by Carl Honore ~ completed 9-February-2014
4 ~ Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living by Tsh Oxenreider ~ completed 16-March-2014
5 ~ Confessions of a Prayer Slacker by Diane Moody ~ completed 4-April-2014
6 ~ The Knitter's Life List: To Do, To Know, To Explore, To Make by Gwen W. Steege ~ completed 3-May-2014
7 ~ The Organized Kitchen: Keep Your Kitchen Clean, Organized, and Full of Good Food-and Save Time, Money, (and Your Sanity) Every Day! by Brette Sember ~ completed 17-May-2014
8 ~ I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn't): Making the Journey from "What Will People Think?" to "I Am Enough" by Brene Brown ~ completed 29-June-2014
9 ~ The Yarn Whisperer by Clara Parkes ~ currently reading

~I plan to continue sharing about the creative part of my life which includes knitting, spinning, and designing patterns on a month to month basis here on my blog. Hopefully that will include sharing about designing at least six knitting patterns, knitting at least two sweaters for myself, knitting at least six pairs of socks for myself, spinning at least five batches of fiber, knitting several preemie hats to donate to charity, and who knows what else!
So far, I've completed:
*Design Projects ~ 4
*Cowls ~ 5
*Gloves ~ 1
*Hats ~ 15 (14 of them are preemie hats for charity)
*Shawl ~ 1
*Socks ~ 13 (4 are new designs, 3 of them are for me, 6 are gifts)
*Sweater ~ 1
*Washcloths ~ 5
*Misc. Items ~ 1
*Spinning ~ 3
TOTAL ~ 45 projects completed in 2014

In progress are:
*Spinning ~ 1
*Shawl ~ 1
*Socks ~ 1

Details are below.



Finished Projects
2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #10, 2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #11, 2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #12, 2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #13, + 2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #14 ~ From my own free pattern Top Down Preemie Hat. Knit on US6 (4mm) needles with various yarns + colourways (you can go to the page for each hat to see the details). Our knitting group, the Town Mouse Knitting Club, is knitting preemie/baby hats for charity during the 2nd quarter of 2014. I have committed to knitting 1 hat per week, so this makes 14 finished. I turned these hats in along with the others I had finished at knit night yesterday. I'm planning to continue making 1 per week to donate later.




Sowing the Seeds Cowl 2 ~ From the pattern by Zena Perry. Knit on US5 (3.75mm) needles with Wandering Wool Rock Creek Sock in the Aurora Borealis colourway. This is the second time I've knit this pattern and in the same yarn too. It's a lovely pattern. It'll be a gift for a friend.




Indie Burgh Yarn Crawl 2014 Socks ~ Pair Deux ~ This is my latest design pattern which released this month for the Indie Burgh Yarn Crawl. You can purchase it on Ravelry here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/indie-burgh-yarn-crawl-2014-socks. Knit on US1.5 (2.5mm) needles with Ginger's Hand Dyed Sheepish Sock in the Indie Burgh 2014 colourway. I can also show the pictures from the other pair of socks I knit in this same pattern (it's been a secret up until the release): Indie Burgh Yarn Crawl 2014 Socks - Pair One which I knit with Schachenmayr Regia Fluormania Color in the Leaf colourway. I'm in love with how this pattern turned out and it did really well in it's sales on the day of the yarn crawl as well as in my Ravelry shop. The pattern reminds me of cobblestones which are found all over Edinburgh.




Phalanges for Noah ~ From the pattern by Clare Devine. Knit on US1.5 (2.5mm) needles with Regia My First Regia in the Marco colourway. These are birthday socks for a sweet little friend who'll be 3 in July.




Tetius for Noah ~ From the pattern by Clare Devine. Knit on US1.5 (2.5mm) needles with Four Seasons Gründl Hot Socks Print in the 519 colourway. These are a second pair of birthday socks for a sweet little friend who'll be 3 in July.




Planum for Genevieve ~ From the pattern by Clare Devine. Knit on US1.5 (2.5mm) needles with Regia My First Regia in the Svenja colourway. These are for a sweet little friend who shares my love of the colour pink.




Mix Match Leftover Socks for Genevieve ~ No pattern for these, just simple tube socks striped in 3 leftover sock yarns. Knit on US1.5 (2.5mm) needles with Regia My First Regia in the Svenja + Marco colourways & Four Seasons Gründl Hot Socks Print in the 519 colourway. These are also for my sweet little friend who is excited to receive handknit socks from her "Knitting Auntie C.C.".




Current Works in Progress
*Spinning ~ The Border Tart Nine Pinkish Bumps
*Shawl ~ Stripey Hitchhiker
*Socks ~ Birthday Socks for Lola


2014 Completed Projects:



Design Projects
*Super super super super super super secret project ~ completed 1-March-2014
*Super super super super super super secret project 2 ~ completed 30-March-2014
*Super super super super super super secret project 3 ~ completed 26-April-2014
*Indie Burgh Yarn Crawl 2014 Socks - Pair One ~ completed 25-May-2014 / Indie Burgh Yarn Crawl 2014 Socks ~ Pair Deux ~ completed 11-June-2014



Cowls
*Casu Cowl ~ completed 7-February-2014
*Sweetness Cowl ~ completed 15-March-2014
*Sowing the Seeds Cowl ~ completed 30-March-2014
*Cantaloop ~ completed 29-May-2014
*Sowing the Seeds Cowl 2 ~ completed 8-June-2014



Gloves
*Urban Necessity Gloves ~ completed 23-January-2014



Hats
*Take A Bow Hat ~ completed 14-January-2014
*2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #1 ~ completed 7-April-2014
*2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #2 ~ completed 11-April-2014
*2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #3 ~ completed 17-April-2014
*2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #4 ~ completed 23-April-2014
*2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #5 ~ completed 30-April-2014
*2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #6 ~ completed 7-May-2014
*2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #7 ~ completed 20-May-2014
*2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #8 ~ completed 21-May-2014
*2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #9 ~ completed 28-May-2014
*2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #10 ~ completed 4-June-2014
*2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #11 ~ completed 11-June-2014
*2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #12 ~ completed 18-June-2014
*2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #13 ~ completed 20-June-2014
*2014 Top Down Preemie Hat #14 ~ completed 22-June-2014



Shawls
*2014 Ravellenics Leftie ~ completed 21-February-2014



Socks
*True Love Socks ~ completed 20-January-2014
*2014 Ravellenics Über Vanilla Socks ~ completed 18-February-2014
*Super super super super super super secret project ~ completed 1-March-2014
*Super super super super super super secret project 2 ~ completed 30-March-2014
*Super super super super super super secret project 3 ~ completed 26-April-2014
*The Hubs 40th Birthday Socks ~ completed 28-April-2014
*Indie Burgh Yarn Crawl 2014 Socks - Pair One ~ completed 25-May-2014
*Birthday Socks for Jeremy ~ completed 26-May-2014
*Indie Burgh Yarn Crawl 2014 Socks ~ Pair Deux ~ completed 11-June-2014
*Phalanges for Noah ~ completed 13-June-2014
*Tetius for Noah ~ completed 16-June-2014
*Planum for Genevieve ~ completed 24-June-2014
*Mix Match Leftover Socks for Genevieve ~ completed 28-June-2014



Sweaters
*Delancey Cardigan ~ completed 25-May-2014



Washcloths
*Washcloths for Stormageddon - Doctor Who The Angels Have the Blue Box ~ completed 1-January-2014
*Washcloths for Stormageddon - Doctor Who Cyberman ~ completed 3-January-2014
*Washcloths for Stormageddon - Doctor Who Bowties are Cool ~ completed 5-January-2014
*Washcloths for Stormageddon - Doctor Who Don't Blink Dishcloth ~ completed 6-January-2014
*Washcloths for Stormageddon - I Heart Heart Doctor Who Dishcloth ~ completed 7-January-2014



Misc. Items
*Garter Stitch Headband ~ completed 2-January-2014



Spinning
*Third Spinning Project ~ completed 3-February-2014
*2014 Ravellenics Pink Punis ~ completed 21-February-2014
*The Border Tart Merino and Tussah Silk ~ completed 6-May-2014




As always, find all my completed projects plus what's currently on my needles on Ravelry:


And you can also find all my knitting pattern designs (those available for purchase and some freebies as well) on Ravelry:


Thanks for journeying with me during 2014! I'll talk to yall next month with an update on my progress for July.