Felt Like Knitting

Ten on Tuesday - 10 Favorite Easter Traditions

Holy Week - For me, Easter is more meaningful when I've gone through Lent and attended the Good Friday worship service.  Observing what Jesus went through for us makes the Easter morning service more special.

Worshiping at church - I always enjoy worshiping God but Easter is one of the most joyous days to praise him.  At our contemporary worship, we sing some very uplifting songs and I look forward to them each year.

Easter lilies at church - Each year the area around the altar is adorned with lilies.  (Playing guitar while standing that close to so many lilies is kind of tough.  Lilies in a large group are very fragrant.)

Easter lunch - We have other plans this year, but usually we have an Easter lunch of ham, scalloped potatoes, deviled eggs, etc.  Yum!

Hiding eggs for Emma - She's too old for our neighborhood egg hunt but it's still fun to hide eggs and gifts in the family room.  I usually make a list of where I've hidden the eggs so we don't lose any.  I must not have made a list last year because she just found an egg in the couch the other day.  Fortunately it contained a dollar bill and not old candy!

Chocolate bunny - Speaking of candy, Emma gets a chocolate bunny each year.  This year's bunny is Dove milk chocolate.  Hmm...I wonder if she'll share?

More Easter candy - My favorite Easter candy is something I can eat all year long - Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures.  They are the perfect ratio of peanut butter and chocolate.  And they look pretty in their spring colored foil wrappings.  The Reese's eggs are okay but they don't have the right ratio of peanut butter and chocolate.

Dying eggs - I love dying eggs!  Lately we haven't done this regularly but it's one of my favorite traditions.  I love all the colors and trying new combinations.

Panoramic Easter eggs - This was an old tradition.  I remember when I was growing up that we each got a large candy egg.  Sometimes they were panoramic eggs and sometimes they were filled with something.  Those were so big we'd have to slice through them with a knife.

Braided Easter egg bread - This isn't a tradition I've continued and perhaps my mom only made it once, but it made an impression on me!  Her version had icing on it and had bread eggs with different colored icing.  The things my mom did for us really amazes me.  There were four of us running around - how did she find time to make something like this?!

What are some of your favorite Easter or Passover traditions?

     

Happy Monday, everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend.  Things were fine here and I even got some knitting done.  Before the weekend started I treated myself to a bouquet of ranunculus.  These flowers are so intriguing to me and I love all the layers of petals.

On Friday night our church had a movie night and we saw The Blind Side.  What an uplifting movie!  I really enjoyed it.  Steve chose to see Wall-E with the kids and he liked that.

Saturday morning, a friend and I drove across town to drop off some quilts for Haiti.  We were very thankful these folks were there because we would have had to take our quilts to Nashville if they hadn't volunteered to be a drop off point.  And the drive over and back was a nice chance to chat with my friend.  I tried out parts of my sermon on her.  She may never offer to ride with me again.  ;)

Unfortunately, at the same time we were driving to drop off the quilts, Steve was hurting his ankle.  This has happened before and it's very frustrating for him.  Many years ago he broke his leg and once in a while the ankle on that leg shifts around or becomes irritated.  This time it happened while he was running and landing on his foot made it worse.  His whole foot is swollen and bruised.  We're hoping he can get in to see the doctor soon.

Emma and I tried to find red tights for a drama costume.  Any ideas where we might find some?  Target has every color but red.  Hot Topic had some with red designs but they are "one size fits most" and they probably won't fit.

The highlight of the weekend was our Palm Sunday worship service yesterday.  It started with a parade into the church, complete with a marching band.  This represented Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, but with a modern twist.  The rest of the worship service featured "eye witness accounts" (which were taken from Bible stories between the triumphal entry and his crucifixion) followed by a dramatic reading of the Passion story.  It was nice to experience the Gospel in a different way.

And I was able to complete two charity quilt tops and do more knitting on the prayer shawl I shared with you last week.  I'm hoping to finish the shawl today or tomorrow, but we'll see.

What did you do this weekend?
 
 

WIP Wednesday

This photo reminds me of a group of people hanging out - some talking to each other, some looking around.  It's a daffodil convention.  :) 

I neglected to share a finished project with you.  Anneliese (Rav link) was designed by one of the ladies in the Prayer Shawl group.  You can't tell from this photo, but it has a slightly scooped neckline at the center spine.  I enjoyed this project and I especially enjoyed helping as a test knitter.

My latest work in progress is La La's Simple Shawl in Patons Classic Wool (Cognac Heather).  It will also go to my church's prayer shawl ministry.  I'm a little concerned about the shawl being knitted in wool.  Care instructions may be a good thing to include with it.   I hope to finish it by next Saturday so it can count toward the Prayer Shawl group's 40 shawls project (we're already close to 50 shawls!).

In non-knitting WIPs, my classes are still going on, laundry is being done, and I did some grocery shopping (doesn't always get done!).  And I'm preparing a sermon.  During Holy Week next week, we are going to have a healing worship service at church.  Our pastor asked our deacons to preach but they are unavailable.  So I get to preach.  I'm looking forward to it, but I still feel pretty clueless about where the sermon is going.  I'm learning a lot, though!

I hope all your knitting and non-knitting WIPs are going well!

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Signs of Spring

Today's topic is 10 Signs of Spring.  #1 will explain why I haven't been around much lately.

1.  Lent and Easter - Lent precedes Easter and it is a busy time at our church with midweek dinners and worship services, planning for Holy Week, etc.  And it's even busier when one is the Worship & Music team leader.  Things will calm down after Easter...I hope.

2.  Blooming things everywhere!  Camellias, daffodils, Lenten roses, and many I can't name.  I love seeing them all.

3.  Birds - It cheers me up to hear the birds chirping in the morning.

4.  No coats - It's nice to be able to walk outside without having my teeth chatter.

5.  Trees budding out - I think it looks really neat to have a haze of color on the tree branches.

6.  Spring peepers - They have been SO loud!  We have a creek and ponds near our house and I guess that could be why we hear so many.

7.  Grilling out - Whether it's us or a neighbor grilling out, it's a great feeling to cook outside.

8.  Seeing people in shorts - Not me, of course.  But many people have been wearing shorts and flip flops already.  I did live it up and wear sandals the other day.

9.  Cutting grass - Many of our neighbors have had to cut their grass already.  Ours doesn't need it yet.

10.  Weeds - This one isn't so fun.  But we have lots of weeds popping up in the yard and flower beds.

I hope you are seeing some signs of spring where you are!

Ten on Tuesday - 10 Ways to Celebrate St. Patrick's Day

There are no four-leaf clovers in my yard right now, so how about some columbine? 

Ten Ways to Celebrate St. Patrick's Day

I'm going to have to go back in time for this one.  Lately St. Patrick's Day is almost like any other day for me, but I do still...

1.  Wear green - not much of a change for me since I love green and wear it a lot.  Note to self:  Do some laundry today so the green shirts are ready for tomorrow.

2.  Send birthday greetings to my friend who was born on St. Patrick's Day.  Happy birthday, Lynne!

3.  Hug my husband - He's of Irish descent and has beautiful green eyes.

I think that's it!  But in the past I've...

4.  Eaten green pizza - Some kids in college drank green "beverages" when they went Uptown, but I preferred to get my green in pizza.  (Wow, I can't believe SDS is still there after all these years!)  It was the crust that was green and nothing was moldy green.  :)

5.  Enjoyed a huge shamrock cake - My birthday is very close to St. Patrick's Day and one year my mom made a huge, green shamrock cake for a party with all my relatives.  Unfortunately, we had a blizzard that year and nobody could join us except for our neighbors.  We lived in the country and they walked down the quarter mile long lane to our house.  It still touches me that they would do that to help celebrate my birthday.

Pretty boring list, huh?  How do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day?

Spring seems to be here

Flowers from Emma's bouquet from drama

Good morning, everyone!  It is a beautiful day here in the Atlanta area and it is very springy outside.  Hopefully it will stay! 

Here's what's been going on...

Emma just finished working on a play with her drama group.  She was the assistant stage manager for Cast B and she learned so much!  It was a lot of hard work but she loved it.  One of my favorite parts of her work was that she blocked a scene where the main characters were being chased by bad guys.  Her vision was for it to look Scooby Doo-ish with the characters running back and forth, in and out.  Her idea worked and it was a very funny scene.  Although I don't know if the actors liked all the running around.  :)  I'm so proud of her!

I've been knitting but don't have much to show right now.  One of the ladies in the Ravelry Prayer Shawl group is working on a pattern and I offered to test knit it for her.  It's been a great project to have with me while waiting for drama practice to be over.  I'll show you a photo when I bind off, which should hopefully be this week.  I'm also knitting red fishnet mitts for Emma's role in the next play.

There is a new yarn store in town!  It's called Lovin Knit Yarn Shop and Studio.  They don't have all their yarns in yet but there was plenty to see while I was there.  They had Ella Rae Lace Merino (Rav link), which I hadn't seen before.  Have any of you knitted with that before?  The owner of the store was very friendly and the shop was inviting with stuffed chairs, a table and chairs, lots of windows, etc.  There was even a cute dog named Baby.  It's nice to have another store so close to me.

Well, I guess I should get my day started.  I hope you all have a great Monday!

Ten on Tuesday

Sorry for missing yesterday's post.  I don't have to teach this week so I took advantage of the extra time and cleaned the pantry and fridge.  So no blogging got done.  But it's nice to have everything organized!

Today's ToT topic is 10 Movie Stars You Would Like to Meet.  Here we go (not in any particular order)...

Johnny Depp - I know he sometimes chooses strange roles but I think he's cool.

Colin Firth - I've loved him in every role he has played.  Mr. Darcy, Harry Bright in Mamma Mia, ... the list goes on.  He just seems so lovable.

Alan Rickman - I'm not sure what it is about Alan Rickman, but I love watching him act.  He is wonderful as Severus Snape.

Keanu Reeves - He looks terrific fighting in long black coats.

Meryl Streep - She is, of course, a wonderful actress.  And I loved how she always smiled and was so gracious at the Academy Awards.

Sandra Bullock - She is also a talented actress and seems like the kind of person that you'd have over for coffee.  Although I think she's busy getting a mani/pedi with Carole.  :)

Tom Hanks - I think he's a great actor and he'd be one to come over for coffee, too.

Harrison Ford - Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and so on...

Judi Dench - Her characters are tough but still feminine.

Ian McKellen - He's a great actor and I love how he can be an equally wonderful bad guy and good guy.

Tommy Lee Jones, Helen Mirren, Robin Williams, Maggie Smith - there are many more people I'd like to meet.  This was a harder ToT than I thought it would be!

Ten on Tuesday - 10 Things You Want to Knit RIGHT NOW

Today's topic is 10 Things You Want to Knit RIGHT NOW.  I had just finished looking through my Ravelry queue when I got Carole's email about this week's topic.  I think this shouldn't be too hard.  :)

More Socks...

Since I rarely knit socks I haven't really saved many patterns in my queue.  But after finishing my last pair, I keep wanting to cast on for more!  I'll start with Carole's Picot Edge Socks but I also want to knit another pair of my own design using Silver's Sock Class again.  Maybe I'll even learn to knit two socks at the same time while using one set of circs!

More Shawls...

Our church is running low on prayer shawls and I want to help with this.  There are so many people who are hurting and are in need of prayers and comfort and I feel like we can't knit/crochet fast enough.  I'm hoping to cast on soon for Multnomah (love this!!!) and the Lacy Prayer Shawl (Rav link).

More Lace...

I have missed knitting lace and I want more, more, more!  I wish my second Hamamelis was done already, so that will be at the top of my list.  I already have the pattern (at least I think that's the one I finally decided on!) and yarn for the Autumn Arbor Stole so nothing is holding me back there either.  I also love Laminaria and the Woodland Shawl.

More Garments...

Lately I've really been wishing that I had more hand knitted sweaters.  Well, I've actually been wishing I just had more sweaters.  I really want my Vestpa to be done now!  I love the way this looks and I want to wear it now.  But I'm committed to finishing some other things first so I'll pick this up again later.  I must be on a vest kick because I'd also like to knit Honeycomb.

I'm up to ten things already.  Sigh...  I could go on and on.  The really good news is that I have all the yarn I will need for most of these projects and a couple of them are already started.  Now if I can just stay away from new patterns on Ravelry and avoid those bright, shiny objects...

What would you love to be knitting right now?

Edited to add...

It's snowing again in Georgia and it's March.  Very weird.  Yesterday it was fairly warm and today we have snow.  In fact, it's snowed so often here this winter that this doesn't even seem like a big deal.
 

Good morning!

It's a beautiful day here in Georgia!  It's not too cold and it's sunny and clear.

Our weekend went well.  How about yours?  While Emma had a full day of drama practice on Saturday, Steve and I cooked for a church reception to be held on Sunday and I got some lesson planning done, too.  We finished the day off with chili for dinner (It looked pretty with cheese, sour cream and sliced green onions and I almost took a picture of it for the blog but decided to eat it instead!) and watching the Olympics.  Then yesterday was church in the morning and the installation of our new pastor in the afternoon, followed by the reception.  Plus more Olympic watching at night!

I tell you, I am really going to miss the Olympics.  Usually I don't sit and watch TV at night.  But I got so much done while watching the Olympics that I may have to start watching more TV.  The following photos are not great, but here is what I accomplished in the last few weeks...

 

  
Moss socks - Even though I had finished the first sock quickly, these had been on the needles for a year.  It feels great to have them finished and I've been wearing them a lot.  I'm hoping to get better photos but right now I have a reluctant photographer.

I used Silver's Sock Class as the pattern (one sock on two circs) and really loved it!  I chose a stitch pattern from my knitting stitch dictionary for the mock cables.

 
Hamamelis Shawl #1 - This is the one for my friend that I knit from worsted weight wool.  I like how it turned out but I would like it even better if I had knit it from fingering weight yarn.  I loved knitting this and am looking forward to getting back to knitting the one for myself (after I finish a few other projects).

Palindrome Scarf - While I really like the look of this scarf and I didn't mind all the cables, it took me forever to knit.  In all fairness, I had other projects on the needles at the same time.  But scarves just seem to drag on and on.  Now I have to decide whether to knit February's Rainy Day Scarf or March's Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf for the 2010 Red Scarf Project KAL (Rav link).  I think I'll go with the Rainy Day Scarf since the other red yarn I bought isn't variegated.  (By the way, I ran out of yarn and only ended up with 57 out of the recommended 60 inches.  I'm hoping to block out three more inches.  Do you think it will work?)

Thanks again to Estella for having the idea for the FOFI Olympics and to Jennifer for creating that group!

I hope you had a great weekend and that this is a wonderful week for each of you!