Touching Heaven & 2 blankets {textured and checkered}

I have done another 1.5 or so squares

on my blue checkered blanket!

I am almost done with Touching Heaven by the 

now Fr. John Oliver.

It is the story of how he and others went to 

Valaam Monastery in the early '90s and

how it slowly transformed him from a new

and still somewhat floundering Orthodox Christian

to someone who is beginning to grow towards

the quiet steady contemplative life that 

he saw in the Monks of Valaam. 

This book is really helpful in seeing 

what our North American society can do to a person 

and what encounters with monasticism

rooted in centuries of tradition can do 

to transform the same person.

I hope to do a book review on it in the future; 

as you can see from all the tabs, 

there are sections that I want to return to.

For now I would say if you

are looking for evidence of a Christian tradition 

of prayer worthy to replace and indeed to go beyond 

things such as Zen meditation and other 

popular forms of spirituality today,

this book can be a gentle 

and enlightening introduction. 

Back to the blanket I am making.

I am quite pleased with my progress;

I am mastering the moss/seed stitch and simple

ribbing... it's been fun to mix up the colours and 

stitches as I go along!

As you can see I am gaining ground on this

second section and have just 1.5 blocks to go!

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And now to finally show you the blanket that

I finished months ago but was waiting

to give as a present.

It's now been given! 

It turned out well! 

It was a joy to knit!

It's a nice warm lap blanket,

perfect for a winter's day, with tea, book and perhaps

a bit of chocolate to enjoy!

Ravelry here.

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What are you making and reading?

Yarn Along with us!