Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Touching Heaven & 2 blankets {textured and checkered}



I have done another 1.5 or so squares


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!
*
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.
*
What are you making and reading?
Yarn Along with us!


9 comments:

karen said...

love the blanket you are currently working on and the one you have finished!! Won't be long for the one on the needles to be off the needles :)

Mimi said...

I've seen the book, but never read it. Looking forward to your review.
Great progress !

willfulmina said...

So glad I got to see your blanket in person! I meant to tell you about a bind off I discovered that makes it easier to bind off very loosely. It's called the sewn bind off. I will send you a link.

Elizabeth @ The Garden Window said...

I've read that book and enjoyed it.
Your blankets are gorgeous!

Reinventing Mother said...

Beautiful job!

Heather LeFebvre said...

Your stripe blanket is beautiful!!!! I'm sure the recipient loved it!

Matushka Anna said...

The blues are beautiful and I love your completed blanket!

Amy said...

You're striped blanket turned out really well!

elizabeth said...

thanks everyone! It was a joy to make the stripped blanket and the blue one is really fun! :)