Shetland

Well, my back is getting better. I've seen a wonderful chirpractor 3 times this week, and this morning was able to almost bounce out of bed like I used to. I strained the pelvic joint and all the muscles surrounding tightened up almost immediately, tightened so hard that they squished my two lower vertabrae together and moved my hip joint out of whack. Those have hopefully stayed in the correct place that the dr moved them back to. So, I was pretty messed up and in a lot of pain. Not so much anymore, thankfully. So far I've had a really nice weekend. Yesterday I got a lot done, as you'll see later on. It's starting to snow right now, so I'm sure I get a lot more done this afternoon, not wanting to go anywhere.

Well, the following is the gray shetland I've been working on for quite a while now. Spinning seems to help relax my back, so I've been doing a lot of that this week. And I have 3 full bobbins - all ready to ply (with Lexy investigating.) :-)



Next is the soft, light, fluffy yarn all done, blocked and just waiting to be knitted. 3 touchable skeins of at least 150 yrds or more. Oh, I can't wait. This picture does not do this yarn justice. Its almost as soft as merino, and really fluffed up as it dried. Of course, I do have another 2.5 lbs to spin up in 3 other colors!

Now, during yesterdays productive streak, I also learned something new - how to navajo ply. I used the leftovers on the bobbins after the 3 skiens (I know, I should really plan better.) I don't like the yarn as much(still like it, though), (it didn't fluff up as much when dry) but it will definitely have it's uses. For right now it will wait until I am done with this project - it will be "just in case I run out" yarn.


Earlier in the week, I took the leftover Unspun Icelandic that I had used in my "Icelandic Triangle" and spun the three colors together into a chunky single. I think this is the most even yarn I have made yet. Of course, I am using a pencil roving as is, no drafting to make the yarn a smaller size. Seen here:


And of course, this wouldn't be a knitting/spinning blog with out some kitty eye candy, Lexy sitting still for her closeup:

She is all curled up in my lap right now for some much deserved attention. That's all for now. Happy knitting and spinning!

Another F.O.

Well, after being finished with it for about 2 weeks now, I finally was going to block it and post pictures. Yeah, that didn't happen. Oh, you'll see pictures of it, but unblocked. My back went out yesterday when I was spreading the blanket on the floor to put it on to block. Yeah, I was flat on my stomach for about 1/2 hr before being able to pull myself up and get to my bed, where I lay flat on my back for another 3 hrs.

Thank the Lord I have friends that are willing to help me out. M. brought over a heating pad, and my brother brought me some ibuprofen. I have frozen veggies in the freezer which work great as ice packs ( a lot more comfortable also). So, I was icing and heating ny back alternately all day from my chaise lounge. I was actually able to move about some later in the day, but this morning, trying to get out of bed...yeah, its a good thing I wake up early.

Well, it is getting better, so I hope tomorrow won't be as bad. So, without further ado, here are pictures of "Icelandic Triangle" from Folk Shawls (and kitties.)

Valentines...

...yeah, its just a day to me. I was reading the Harlot and a couple other blogs, and I really agree with what they had to say. Namely, that if your significant other just shows his love on this one day (with card/flowers/chocolate, etc) - what the heck are you still doing in that relationship!! Both partners should be showing their love on a daily basis.

Anyway, I'm not saying its bad to get card/flowers/chocolate for or from your significant other, in fact I really miss getting flowers. Hopefully, (prayerfully) this time next year, I might get flowers. :-)

Now, I really hope that the person I am going to be talking about does not read this. I don't even know if he has the address, but I did put my little card in all the presents I gave for Chirstmas. Well, if he does...oh well, huh? :-) Anyway, I had a date Monday evening with my friend Dave! I was so excited, and it was a lot of fun! :-P

Here's the story behind this date. A couple of weeks ago, I knew his birthday was coming up on the 10th of this month. So out of nowhere (unplanned on my part) I asked him if I could take him out to lunch on his birthday. (Lunch because it seemed to be less of a "date" and more casual.) Well, he said sure. So, I planned to have lunch with him this last Saturday. Last Wednesday, though, he emailed me asking if we could change it to dinner on Monday or Tuesday. Of course I agreed - dinner is sooo much better than lunch! :)

So, Monday he called me to make arrangements. I am glad I was very busy Monday, as I was so freakin' excited. I have liked this guy for quite a while, but God hasn't brought us together until now. So he was picking me up at my place about 6:15, 6:30pm. I actually went out looking in the halls for him, as it was 6:35 and he wasn't there. But I had peeked outside and thought I saw his truck. (It is kind of tricky to find my apartment.) Its a good thing I did, he was kinda lost. So he came in and I got my coat, and of course there was the official "showing of the stash" along with the loom and spinning wheel. He was duly impressed! :-)

We went to Macaroni Grill (his choice as this was in honor of his b-day) and he was such a gentleman! He opened all the doors for me (and I let him)(which is sometimes hard for me.) And we talked..and ate. :-) I normally eat fast, an hour tops is dinner when I go out, but we were there for almost 2 hrs, and talked about a lot of things. Family, work, past relationships, etc, etc. I could fall so hard for this guy.

Anyway, he even walked me back up to my place, and there was a moment at the door... no, no kiss, but there was definite eye contact! ;-) Well, about 2 minutes after I left I was on the phone to my friend D. (who is married to J., who is best friends w/ Dave.) She didn't answer so I left a message to call beck. But I had to talk to someone so I called my friend M. Both she and D. had been praying for me all of Monday (which was really nice to know.) And she was happy that the date went well.

Well, D. called me back about a 1/2 hr later. She told me that when her phone rang earlier, she didn't think anything of it - they were watching a show, and she would call whoever it was back later. But then about 2 seconds after her phone stopped ringing, J.'s started ringing. She picked up the phone to see who it was...And it was Dave!! Boy, I sure wish I could have heard that conversation when J. called him back! :-)

So I will see him tomorrow eve at our Bible study. I think I will call him today, just to say thanks for a great evening Monday. Oh, thank you, Lord. You always know that the Lord has His own perfect timing, but sometimes it is very difficult to wait upon that timing. I know I am still going to have to exercise patience in regard to this relationship, but it will be so worth it!!

Slogging Away and Prayer

I have been slogging away on the Icelandic Triangle Shawl from the book Folk Shawls. I have been pleasantly surprised by my project monogamy on this one. It is taking a long time, but I am nearly finished. Of course the 30 rows I have left might take me a whole 'nother week, as there are a LOT of stitches on my needles right now. One row takes almost half an hour to finish and that keeps getting longer, but like I said I am still interested.. and I'm almost done. I think what is keeping my interest is that I want this shawl - so warm and light. Sorry no pictures - right now it is just a large gray blob on my needles.

That's it for knitting content - I haven't been working on anything else lately except a sock I've been working on at lunch (I only get 1/2 hr - so not a lot of progress there either.) As for spinning - nothing new there. Just have one full bobbin of the grey shetland. But the guild meeting is coming up and I will be spinning for a few hours the Saturday after next.

And that just leaves weaving. I've been suddenly curious about cut-pile (or knotted pile) weaving. Curiously enough - when I type those two entries into Google - I don't come up with much, and nothing in the way of instruction materials. I will ask members of my guild at the meeting. Also, if you are reading this and have any info about this kind of weaving, or where to start, please let me know in the comments. I would really appreciate it. :-)

Other Stuff
In my Thursday night Bible study, we got into the first section of the book we are reading. It is really interesting how each of us sees how at various stages in our lives we have been the prodigal son (leaving home and coming back again - both literally and figuratively), the older son (staying and being dutiful), and also the father (welcoming and giving unreservedly.) I see both myself and my younger brother as literlly being the prodigal. We left home rather abruptly, and had our rebellion phase (both against our parents and the Lord) then came back again, to open and welcoming arms. My middle brother did that, too, but not to the extent I did, and has been "home" for a few more years than myself.

Putting yourself in the position of the father is much more difficult, and I certainly haven't gotten there yet. The one who has lost everything, so can do no more than give unreservedly. That is the place to strive for.

The Lord has been doing wonderful things in my spiritual life these past few weeks. Prayer is a wonderful thing and we cannot do enough of it. I have been shown individuals outside my personal circle that I need to pray for. For instance - I last week a woman who writes a blog I read lost her father. I don't even know this woman, but the pain she was writing about moved me to tears. I prayed right then and there for the Lords comfort to be upon her and her family.

Another instance was just yesterday. I had a knitting lesson scheduled with a lady that had recently had abdominal surgery. She was unable to make it due to complications and wasn't feeling well. It was laid on my heart to pray for her health. Since I have been teaching knitting, I haven't felt the urge, or really even thought about it, to pray for these ladies. Most of them I don't even see again, or really find out anything about thier personal lives beyond knitting. But I was so blessed this month to meet a lady who has been battling stage 4 cancer for 7 years!! I couldn't believe it when I found out, but there she was at my class every week with a beautiful smile on her face, so cheerful and joyful! She goes to chemo every week, and has lost her hair 4 times. May the Lord bless her and her husband immensely. By just being the way she was ministered to me! Thank you, Lord, for blessing me in this wonderful way!!

Parable of the Prodigal

This is the book we are reading in my Thursday night Bible study. The author, Henri J.M. Nouwen is a Catholic priest, called by the Lord to serve in many ways, not only by teahcing, but by helping out at a community for disabled folks called Daybreak in Canada (Toronto, I think). When we first started this small group meeting, we started with another one of his books. I like this one much better, I think it's something that is a little more applicable and easier to delve into.

This book is reflections on both the "Parable of the Prodigal Son" spoken by Jesus in Luke 15, and the painting by the same name by Rembrandt (seen on the front cover.) The first thing we looked at last night was "what impressions did you get from looking at the painting on the cover?" It is amazing how different personalities get different things from the same painting. I noticed first off that it appears as if the father is praying over his son that came back, with laying on of hands, healing supplication almost.

Some other impressions were that even thought the main characters are on a raised platform, the older brother off to the side appears to be elevated slightly above the father. The shaved head was also mentioned, as a sign of penitence, especially as when Rembrandt was painting, long manicured hair was a sign of wealth and well-to-do, even though a traveler as bad off as the son was would not have had the means to shave his head nor beard. There was other impressions, such as it being a dark appearing painting. Nouwen talks about his experience of seeing the original in Russia, and how it appeared to be colorful and light. Of course, we can only imagine what the original is like from this small reproduction.

There was actually only 6 of us there Thursday, out of a normal 10, and the smaller group made on of the guys open up more. In fact, this person is a new believer in Christ and hadn't prayed out loud before Thursday. It was awesome to see that breakthrough. I pray one week soon we will see him at church.

I actually started this post yesterday at work, but our boss, good ole' Taylor, let us go early. Yeah! :-) So now I'm finishing it. With promised pictures of "kitties on red rug."

You can already see the fur left by Kitty as he was rolling around on it earlier. I got thie rug at Target, to go with my other colorful rug. It goes nicely, a cheerful accent on a rather drab carpet.

It has been pressing on my heart for the last few minutes so I have to share this. This morning I received an email from a friend who is in same Thursday night Bible study. This email had me crying over my breakfast this morning, so powerful it is. She wasn't there this week as her 4 month old nephew had passed away the week before and the memorial service was Thursday. She was hurting bad, and asked us to pray for her family. Her brother, (whose baby this was) did not know the Lord, along with other family members.

The email this morning shared (here I am getting all teary eyed again) that her brother had come to know the Lord, and that He is working on her best friend heart. There were other blessing also throughout this, and seeing those things happening in front of you can make the grief a lot easier to bear. I have seen so many answered paryer this week, it is truly amazing. I know that our God is an Awesome GOD, and to see stuff like this make that awesomeness almost unbearable. Almost a pale imitation (very, very dim imitation) of what it will be like to stand in His presence.

Amen and Amen!!

Teas and Shawls

Sorry I haven't posted for a week now. Haven't really had anything to blog about, you know what I mean?

But - I do have a couple of things to share.

This book:

Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle. The cotton stole I posted pictures on below is from this book, and I am now half way done with "Icelandic Triangle." It is knit with 3 natural gray shades of Unspun Icelandic from Schoolhouse Press. Sorry I don't have pics - the part I am working with is darkest charcoal and hard to photograph under lamps. (Still fairly dark outside both when I leave for work and when I come home.)

It is knitting up fairly quickly, and will block out quite large. It will be warm yet light, properties of the yarn used. I have been unusually project monogamous lately, sticking with this project. (Even though I do still have to finish up a couple of Christmas presents.) (Sorry Andrew and Dad! :-( )


Last week when I took my brother out to dinner at Claim Jumper, I had the most fabulous tea. Hot Cinnamon Spice by Harney and Sons. The best I have ever had, and naturally sweet, so no sugar necessary. So when I got home, I searched online, and ordered this:
among a few other teas to try.

I received them last night, and tried the Vanilla. Very tasty, yet light. Don't let it steep too long, or it may get bitter tasting. I also ordered their "Indian Spice" tea - what they use for their chai recipe. My boss really likes that one. I may order the "Peach Ginger" tea for my mom, and maybe for Andrew as he really likes ginger also.

Last night I purchased a nice red rug from Target and it goes nicely in my hall. My cats were very interested in it and left piece (fur) on it. You can't see it in the pictures I took, which I will post tomorrow. Totally forgot this morning! :-P

Cheers and happy knitting!

A Birthday Today

My family and friends are celebrating a birthday today - that of my middle brother, Andrew. He is 27 today, 2 1/2 yrs younger than I am. My dad is coming over from Susanville today to take him out to lunch (well, hopefully - it is snowing rather heavily right now). And I will take him out to dinner tonight.

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

Not that he reads this. So that's why I'm going to let you in on a little secret. My friend Mandy and I are throwing him a surprise birthday party tomorrow night! Whoo-hoo! ;-) We invited all his friends and some of my friends, too! There will be cake and ice cream and general merriment. :-P Balloons and noisemakers and streamers and...yeah, we're going all out! :-) It has been a long time since anyone has done anything for his birthday, so I think it's a good year to do it. Beside, somewhat spur of the moment usually works out well. It will be good!!