Christmas Glory, Beauty and the many coloured blanket knit and given at Christmas!

My blanket is finished,

we had a beautiful Christmas Eve and 

Christmas!

I am so excited to tell you all about it for

this week's yarn along with Ginny!

For Christmas time we rented a small one room suite

that with two crock pots, two burners and a lot of 

creativity, we had our Holy Supper!

I have been dreaming about this for so long!

Used the same table cloth as I always used,

one that my Mother gave me.

Mr. Husband and I had our Holy Supper

Christmas Eve {Jan 6} with dear friends.

Borscht, Perogies, Fried Mushrooms,

Candied Ginger, Fresh Dried Apricots, 2 kinds of Nuts, 

Bread, a Green Salad, Hot Fruit Salad, clementines, apples, chocolate 

and organic apple cider made up our many dishes.

Icons lit ~ small candles left over from Mr. Husband and I's 

wedding reception. 

Icons of Holy Nativity, Holy Trinity, Mother of God and St. Nicholas :)

The Beloved Yarn Quilt, which was also called my

September School Blanket

but is now my Christmas Many Coloured Blanket

was given to the beloved 5 year old by for Christmas.

Ravelry here.

 We went to the beautiful Christmas Eve vigil 

after the Holy Supper and gifting of

the many coloured blanket!

The church was so beautiful!

So wonderful to light candles for so many I love

on Christmas Eve!

St. Nicholas...

 Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

Born on Christmas Day!

Today for us on the Julian calendar is the 

second day of Christmas!

I got a belated birthday money that I am going to use

to buy some double pointed needles as I 

want to make Mr. Husband some socks!

It will be a lot of learning!

I was given a wonderful gift on sock knitting

from a dear church & blog friend

that I am already reading 

with great attention!

*

Also for my birthday my Mom via my Aunt Pat

gave me my Oma's knitting book from 1947

and in time I hope to do a sock pattern from there,

though I may start with one from Ann Budd's book.

So lots of knitting reading is to be had!

*

Tonight Mr. Husband and I are going to have a simple

Christmas dinner at home

and present opening! 

I have a feeling I may have more books to read soon! :)

*

I think I am going to do another big blanket project of squares but 

will have to think on it!

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What are you knitting, creating and reading?

Yarn along with us!

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To all those in the 12 days of Christmas like we are:

Wishing you the joy of the Feast!

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Merry Christmas!

*

Christ is Born!

Glorify Him!

New Cute Baby Blanket for a Small Boy

Ever since I heard last week
of the early birth of a baby boy
to my cousin and cousin-in-law,
I've been knitting!

The plan is to make a blanket with
blue as most of it
and a thick yellow boarder.
I am hoping to use this as a way to
knit a yellow duck in the centre.
I am almost done with the blue
and then will do equal rows on top.
Then only to knit two rows of yellow to add on
and then finish the yellow duck
and it will be done!
*
I was flying through this
as I had a lot of time in the car with
Mr. Husband...
then, sadly, I broke my knitting needle! :(

I taped it up,
as it was my only 10.5 knitting needle in the round
and then knit more...

But then I realized to my dismay
that sure enough,
I was knitting more loosely and
would have to frog that part.
I am hoping to get a new circular needle in town
soon so I can finish this!
*
I am still making some great progress on my
September School Blanket!
I've planned out the rest 

And over the weekend learned how to make a ball
of yarn that has two threads to pull from!
(Thanks friend :) ) 

I've got just a little bit more to do of the
actual knitting and
then I will stitch more of it together!
It's going well!

I got this super cute book
last week!

A lot of it is for me to
grow into but
I am hoping to take on this challenge in the coming months:

Elmer the Elephant.
I want to do him in grey yarn
for the little boy I am making the blanket for!
They have this cute lion and a horse too!

 

It will be my first real pattern
(though I hope to do a simple slipper pattern
in the next two months)
that I hope to be doing...
It will be a challenge but it is all in garter stitch which
will help.
*
What are you reading and creating?
Anything new, fun, simple or a challenge?
Yarn Along with us!

Second half of blanket ~ cute new yarn!

I got this new huge skein of
yarn at Michael's on St. Elizabeth's Day with Mr. Husband.
I made three balls of yarn from it so far and
have lots left!
*
It is for my September School Blanket
and as it is for a newly 6 year old boy with a
mother who is a very busy woman,
I wanted yarns that are easy to care
for and can be thrown in the wash
without any concerns.

As I just got the yellow,
I am doing a small square of it towards the top
middle of the blanket so that the
yellow will not just be
at the second half of this blanket.

I got a bright orange skein of yarn too!
for a nice bright square in the second half of the
blanket, with two more littler yellow squares... 

I pinned the finished ones together as
I like how I had arranged them for sewing but can't
keep them all spread out meanwhile...

Pinning them together just added to the
excitement of realizing how far
I've come on this one!
All that knitting in the car rides to
and from church...
All of the big squares are about two hours of knitting
each, so I have put in a lot of time for this
blanket and am really loving
how it is turning out.

When I was finally done with this little
body butter container
that I'd gotten years ago on sale in Ottawa,
I cleaned it,
ran it through our dishwasher
and now use it for my large safety pins
(Micheal's sold them as 'quilting pins'...
I was just glad to finally found some large ones!)

 

In a way I am doing my first
bit of 'pattern work' as I have to make some things
to size now for this blanket;
figured out that 12 stitches in this green
yarn was the right size for the strip that
is needed... :)
*
It is so fun to create things...
Are you creating anything recently or
doing anything that you enjoy?
Would love to hear!

St. Elizabeth's Day

 

Mr. Husband and I had
a wonderful time
celebrating St. Elizabeth's Day
yesterday!
*
After the festivities, we went to
Michael's and I got some
great knitting supplies and more
yarn for the
September School Blanket I am making!
I got a fun deep yellow and a great
orange to add to the blanket!
*
Thank you for your prayers for the
newly born child.
So far so good from what I have heard.
We are praying very much for them all.
And I started my blanket for them!
It will DV be a blue blanket with a yellow boarder.
I would love to do a simple
knit yellow duck in the centre.
Any ideas where I can do this without too much
knitting stress
(since I have not done pattern work yet)?
*
It was so wonderful to be in church
for St. Elizabeth after hearing about
the newly born 1.5 lb baby and my
Aunt's struggles with a sudden broken arm.
*
We are so blessed to have the church to pray
in and for those we love and care about.
I am so thankful!
*
What are you thankful for today?

Knitting and my Oma

 Couldn't resist re-posting one
of my blanket in process pictures!
I've sewn some more since my
post on this yesterday!
I'm really happy about this blanket! 

 

 As I was talking with my Mom...
about my Oma, her Mom.
*
So I was telling my Mom about how I like
to buy inexpensive or on sale yarn.
And I asked her,
Oma did not buy expensive yarn, right?
Oh no, my Mom assured me...
She would go to thrift stores to find sweaters
and Opa would unravel them while she
balled up the yarn....
*
I already knew that people would go to garage sales
and get yarn for her...
people often gave her yarn...
she always made beautiful things!
*
I knew when I began knitting that I wanted to be like
my Oma...
I remember her making her own balls of yarn,
knitting all the time
while conversation was going on around her,
and that she was frugal but still made
lovely things.
*
I am thinking that someday I may want to frog a
sweater or two from a thrift store...
I already am thinking of a dark green sweater from
years ago that I got ride of that
would of been perfect for this!
*
My Oma and Opa would of been
much better at some of the things I am doing
(like my uneven stitches)
but as much as I can
I'd really like to be like my Oma...
*
If you knit or crochet or like to make things,
how do you do things affordable?
Any tips on frogging a thrifted sweater?
Other tips?
Would love to know and hear your stories!
Do tell!!! :)

Loving the beginning Stitches in September School Blanket

The September School Blanket is
now being sewn together!
I began with two small squares:

I did some quick measuring
with a tape measure
to get about a twin size bed in width
and began the stitching. 

I love how the white stands out,
bringing the different coloured squares together!

I was talking to a friend at church
the other day about stitches
for this blanket.
She taught me the whip stitch
which my best example of is the first picture.
So after doing some of this,
I decided I wanted to make X shaped stitches
as I thought it would look fun
for a blanket for a young boy.
So I've done a lot of these also.
I don't know if there is a name
for this stitch;
the closest one I found was
herringbone stitch
which is not exactly what I am doing here.

Actually,
I am not that good at making even stitches.
And I am OK with that.
Made me think of a bit I read in Elder Paisios' book
that talked about old monastics who lived simply
and did not worry about everything being 'just so'... 

And I thought of a delightful
conversation I had with an older woman
at a friend's house
who understood that I would do things
a bit differently and told me how she made a
sweater with Cross shaped stitches when
she was trying to do the purl stitch and that
it ended up being a beautiful sweater.
*
I may not be into fancy yarn, intricate patterns and I have
not even fully mastered the stockinette stitch yet,
but you know?
I am so excited about this blanket! 
I think the bright colours and fun
stitching are going to be perfect for this young boy
who loves lots of colours.
*
Actually, the fun stitching to me seems fun like
Pirates or for a perfect fort cover... :)
I am so relieved to find that I like the sewing too!
It is really a quiet calm way to spend some time...
{Ravelry here}
*
So on to books ~
Mr. Husband and I are still loving this book:

Everyday Saints.
So many of my friends have read it and
we are all so sad when it is done!
Mr. Husband and I are now on the last forth of the book...
I am still reading it out loud at night while
Mr. Husband does dishes...

 

I am still reading Edith Schaeffer's book
on Hidden Art of Homemaking
and it is really lovely.
I especially appreciate how she encourages us to
do something, no matter how small and
that beauty can be made with frugality
and creativity, no matter
where we are or how
humble our little abode.
*
What are you creating and reading?
Yarn Along with us!

Scarves, Squares and a book upholding relationships

Whenever Mr. Husband and I travel
I take my knitting.
This past week had a lot of travel and
I took a fun pink yarn for a scarf
and did not realize until I was not at home
that I would need another skein.
So I did what anyone would do
who did not want to waste time
and who had new yarn with her,
but not one to match the current project...
I slowly threaded the end of the yarn
through the loops to get it off the
needles that I needed for
another project.


It worked well!

So I am about half done on this scarf.
Ravelry here.
*
I finished another green square for
my September School Blanket.

I bought this green yarn and then
realized that it was a bit thinner than I wanted.
So I am doubling the yarn like I did for the
baby blankets I made.

It is going well!
I am looking forward to begin sewing this
together!

I saw this book quoted a while back
and was intrigued. 

 

So I looked it up and decided to
purchase it.
It's been a great read so far.
My view is not matter how great one's marriage is,
there is always room for growth.
Mr. Husband and I are still in our first year of marriage
and of course this means a lot of learning.
*
So I am really grateful for this book
as it is giving good food for thought and a lot of grace to our lives.
Very fitting to have a book on growth
after the beautiful time of Pentecost that we have had.
I am still loving the table cloth you see above
and love the everyday cheer that such beautiful
things can give to one's home.
*
What are you reading and crafting?
Yarn Along with us!

Beautiful Blanket Squares

I am working on squares for the
September School Blanket.

It has come time that I am now knitting some
smaller ones to fit it all together.

 

I have ordered more yarn and am
excited to knit a few more
red and green squares
once it comes!
(Ravelry here)
*
Every night I read the readings
of the day from the
Prologue of Ochrid.
*
This expert has stuck with me:

Fear in suffering and fear of not suffering -this is one and the same fear and it signifies the fear of a spiritual man as to whether or not God has distanced Himself from him. When St. Catherine suffered many and difficult tortures, our Lord appeared to her and she asked Him: 'Where were You until now, 0 Lord, to comfort me in so many sufferings?" The Lord answered her: ' I was here in your heart.' But as great a fear can come upon a spiritual man when, sufferings do not come his way for a long time. A monk once entered a church in Alexandria and saw a woman kneeling before the icon of the Savior and weeping tears cried out to the Lord: 'You have abandoned me O Lord, O Merciful One, have mercy on me!" Following the prayer the monk asked her: Who has wronged you that you so bitterly complain to God?" The woman replied: "Up to now, no one has wronged me, that is why I am weeping because God has abandoned me and for three years did not visit me with any sufferings. During this time, I was neither sick, nor my son, nor has any of my household livestock perished."

(from June 8).
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What are you creating and reading?
Yarn along with us!
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