Easter Sunday

***If you are not a Christian, you may not be interested in this portion.

For those that celebrate Easter, hope you had or are having a blessed one.

I was too tired to make it to the Sunrise Service today, so instead I went to the 11:00 Service. Normally, on Easter Sunday, I try to avoid the 11:00 crowd. It's often a day that the church is filled to the max and I just don't enjoy the crowded feeling.

Today, however, there wasn't a huge crowd. It was mostly regular members. Some of my relatives were even here from out 0f town.

As always, maybe almost always, Easter Sermons are a lesson and reminder of the sacrifices Jesus made, as well as His mercy, His love, our redemption, and of course, that He rose.

After the service, we stopped at my mother-in-law's house and a friend dropped by just to say hello. I'm hoping to be a better friend and neighbor soon. Maybe today was the push I needed.

On my way back

I'm back from a whirlwind of a week.

Hubby is dealing with things pretty well. We're trying to make sure to be supportive of his friend's widow. She's a good person and we believe she would do the same for us.

I picked up stitches on the sock. I didn't like the way it looked, so I'll be ripping it out and starting over...eventually. Right now, I'm just trying to settle a few things within myself.

Death does that to people I think. It makes you examine so much in your life.

I did pick up a couple of shawl pattens this weekend from Ewe Knit Kits. I also picked up a little Cascade 220. I'll post pictures of it soon.

Still easing back into a lot of things. Catching up on my groups, e-mail, and blog reading as well as daily tasks.

I think I took more for granted than I realized. I'm hoping to show more gratitude and appreciation to the people around me.

...and I'm trying to eat better. OY!

Away for a bit

One of my husband's close friends died today.

I may be away for a while.

My Way, Someday

Eight Was Great

I went to my knitting group this week. There were eight of us, nine if you include the Guide Dog that one of the attendees brought with her. Then, one had to leave early, so again, there were eight.

When I grabbed the yarn to take to the meeting, I didn't pay attention to the weight of it, only the color and that it was acrylic, as the group requested. Unfortunately, squares were supposed to be knit with worsted weight yarn. I took sport weight. So, I started a hat instead.



The hat may end up being donated to a local hospital rather than Project Linus but I was told that Project Linus does take hats.

One attendee brought back her Lopi sweater. At the previous meeting, there was minimal finishing she needed to do. When she brought it to the meeting this week, it was completely finished. Since this was charity week, not many other finished projects were brought in except booties, hats, and squares for blankets.

While at Barnes and Noble for the meeting, I ordered tea and something from the bakery, as I always do. I usually buy the same flavor of tea and also have a canister of it at home. This time I purchased a small canister of I flavor I had not yet tried, Hot Cinnamon Sunset (Harney and Sons). I thought it would be a nice treat during a stressful or trying moment and there's another young lady at work who also loves teas.

I was very pleasantly surprised. It was so good. At the next meeting, I think I'll try another flavor. I wish the B&N carried more of the flavors at the store but the location where we hold our meetings only carries a few. If you like tea, a list of all the flavors is found on the Harney and Sons website.


Unexpected

My Rowan 37 finally arrived yesterday. I had decided on Thursday that everyone else except me seemed to be receiving their books, so mine must have been lost or something had gone wrong with my membership.

There were no offers enclosed, nothing indicating this was my last magazine, no offers or requests for renewal. I found that disappointing. Do they want my business?

The plan is to take it to work one day next week to look at it on my lunch break. Until then, I just don't think I'll have the time to really look at it without being interrupted. Of course, I'll be leaving the building during my lunch break the day I peruse this magazine because interruptions during lunch at work are inevitable. For this reason, I sometimes skip a lunch break altogether.

If the weather is warmer, I'm hoping to take my lunch breaks this week and use that time to knit, crochet, read, and/or listen to music. I may even eat.

Shawls
I've decided to try the Falling Leaves Shawl from Lavish Lace.



Since the yarn isn't dark, like the Alpaca Cloud I chose, I'm thinking it will be a better choice for a first lace project. Also, the yarn contains no wool, so it should be more agreeable to my hands. I want my first lace project to be a pleasant one, so I'm trying to factor in things conducive to a positive experience.

If only other aspects of life were as simple to decipher.

I think the next shawl, after I knit this one, will be one I do on my own. I'm feeling a little better about choosing elements I like, now I'm just getting a little more comfortable with techniques and construction.

I'm looking forward to feeling completely comfortable with designing my own items. I have no plans to design for the masses, so designing for me is an experience where I can use educated decision making and experience with a little trial and error. I'm liking the idea more and more every day.

It's National Craft Month and National Crochet Month

Since it's National Craft Month AND National Crochet Month, I'm going to try to make sure to celebrate. Maybe I need some rosewood or mahogany hooks.

I've frogged ripple afghan and the yarn is ready for me to start again. With a little strategizing on my part, I should be able to begin again this month.

I'm going to pull the yarn out for the Project Linus squares so it's ready for my knitting meeting tomorrow. We're doing 6" squares in pastels, which was the group's choice. I know I bought several skeins of acrylic pastel yarns when I decided to learn to knit before realizing I liked other materials better. This is the perfect opportunity to use this yarn.

As fruitful as February was, it was fruitful in other parts of my life, rather than crafting. Since good things did happen, and progress was made, I won't complain. Progress is progress.

I've been working like mad on our family reunion, so I'm hoping that after this week, I'll be able to put a little more time into other things. Of course as the reunion draws nearer there will be added responsibility. I'm hoping, however, to be able to balance the responsibilities in such a way as to include healthy diversions.

The healthy diversions I've planned are sleeping, exercising, knitting, crocheting, and reading. I'm still thinking about taking those dancing lessons too.

Choosing a Shawl Pattern
I purchased some yarn from KnitPicks at Christmastime. I got the Alpca Cloud in the color which I believe they call "Midnight." The color is dark but it has kind of a green cast or green flecks to it. The photo on the website showed more of a blue cast but I'm still pleased with the color.

This is a shot of yarn.


This shot shows about what the color of the flecks/cast is like.


I'm trying to decide which shawl pattern to use. I'm not sure if I'll make one up myself or if I'll try a tried-and-true pattern first. I'm also not sure if a dark yarn like this was a wise choice for my first lace project but I'm planning to throw caution to the wind, whenever I pick a stitch pattern to adapt into a shawl or a published pattern to follow.

I chose the Alpaca yarn because the wool yarns I've acquired make my fingers itch. Alpaca and wool are similar but some people have good luck using alpaca. I'm hoping I'm one of those people, although I do have plans to try some Zephyr, which is a wool/silk blend.

The Alpaca Cloud yarn is incredibly soft and so far, when I handle it, there's no itching of the fingers. Unlike Natalie, who received horrible service and an incomplete order, my experience with KnitPicks has always been wonderful. I'm hoping KnitPicks will straighten everything out for her. I guess even good companies have bad days, glitches in their system, and are subject to human error. Natalie has been so nice to others wanting to learn to knit, hosts a page with a list of all the 2005 KAL's, so I really hate that she had such a bad experience. I wouldn't want anyone to endure bad service but for whatever reason, it bothers me more that it happens to someone who seems so generous.

The Sock Progress Photo...from last week
With encouraging words from Lu, I decided to post the photo of the sock before pickup the stitches. I get the feeling something is terribly wrong as the heel seems quite long. We shall see...once I get back to the poor thing.



Just for fun

Recently a friend decided at the last minute to throw a party for her daughter who was turning two. Since my son and the little girl adore each other, there was no way I was going to let him miss her party. The catch was, the party was in two days, and it was a COSTUME party.

After calling around everywhere, I found three costume shops that sold costumes for small children. Hubby took the list and came home with a cowboy outfit. There were no hats to be found, at least not that would fit my child. There is one I could have crocheted here but I didn't find the pattern until it was too late to make it. He went hatless but did have a Sheriff's Badge!

The camera batteries, unfortunately were low, so I didn't get good pictures.
Here he is looking down at his pants to see if they are straight...


and another of him at the party trying to make sure citizens/party-goers are upholding the law.


When the party was over, Dad picked him up and they went out together so I could have a few quiet moments to knit, sleep, or work on something in the house. Guess what I did. :)