29 June 2006

Dear Kristen,

A few new things for your perusal. I just remembered that there are a couple of fantastic blogs that I wanted to point out in my last post. Oops!

www.soapturtle.blogspot.com - Laura is a part of a Knitting group in MD that I keep intending to join. She's a fun person and a great knit blogger....

www.mamaespot.com - Same as above, except Erin is also a fabulous dye maven. I have a skein of her sock yarn waiting for the completion of the Wedding Afghan. It's gorgeous!

And then there are a few lean a little more toward ministry (rather than knitting) content and thought I'd point you in their general direction. I think it would be fun to add them to our regularly scheduled reading list, but that's just me. Let me know what you think!

www.kewp.blogspot.com - "Any Day a Beautiful Change" - this woman is a DoC pastor at a church in California. She's a gifted writer and theological thinker. I <3 her work and her sermons which are featured at www.southbaychristianchurch.blogspot.com

theiceflew.typepad.com - This blogger is an ordained presbyterian minister, a good friend and a wonderful mentor from my grad school days. She's an incredible preacher!

revgalblogpals.blogspot.com - This is a great place to find fantastic blogs and theological content. Wahoo!

If you see anything you like would you mind adding it to our sidebar? I know I figured out how to add some of the blogs I read awhile back, but I've forgotten...

Kate
Hey Kristen!

I'm so sad that your tubey doesn't fit. :( It's a beautiful knit. Your sister-in-law will be so pleased to receive such a lovely gift. (If she isn't she should be kicked. :P ) I

The wedding afghan is proceeding very nicely. I spent a LOT of time knitting it this weekend. On the way to the bridal shower, after the bridal shower, on the way to my meeting in Ohio, at the meeting in Ohio (NACUC exec runs meetings that could rival any Presbytery - I knit for 7 hours on Monday while we kindly debated a million different things), and finally on the way home while I waited for a flight delayed by the downpour that has taken over this area of the country. Alas, while I thought about taking pictures each time I picked up the project I did not. So, here are pictures of last night's work (taken by S). I am SUPER pleased with the length. It's fun to knit something that covers your toes. :) But the width leaves a little to be desired. Live, Learn and Knit...


Alas, this picture while cute is super blurry so S took a second that is much less so. Although I'm making quite the face... S says it's the "serious knitting" face. I wish it showed my super cute haircut a bit better. But, it's just not so super cute when it's tucked behind my ears, a must for dedicated knitting time. What you can't see in either picture is that the sweatshirt is one I picked up while visiting our Alma Mater. Go fighting scots! :P


Take care and Happy Knitting!
Much love,
Kate

27 June 2006

all sorts of things!

hey kate,
love the little hat! so adorable! congrats to your friends on the baby. :) and your afghan is coming along really nicely! i forgot - what yarn are you using? it looks great. :)

well, needless to say, i haven't been getting a lot of knitting done over here. i've been spending lots of time with that boy and have been neglecting the yarn. but i'm completely ok with that. ;) anyway, i still have a few things to show you.

first of all, i just got my first package from my one skein secret pal and it's AWESOME. my pal is the best ever. she sent me a skein of handspun, handpainted blue faced leicester yarn that's absolutely GORGEOUS, as well as two teeny little plant kits (black-eyed susans and forget-me-nots) and a sweet postcard. thank you, pal! i love it! so, any ideas what to do with the yarn? it's 103 yds of worsted to heavy worsted.


second, i finally finished my tubey sweater. (to refresh your memory, i used knitpicks wool of the andes in coal, hyacinth, tulip, and hush on US 8 needles.) when i started i was torn between making a small and a medium. i went with the medium. big mistake. literally. ;) it's a lovely sweater, but it requires someone with bigger boobs and broader shoulders than me. so my sister-in-law will be getting it for christmas. :)


third, now that i'm essentially done with tubey, i got to start on the quidditch sweater i'm test-knitting. i'm using wool of the andes winter night and fog. (guess which house i am!) i'm not sure whether i'm allowed to post pics of the WIP since the pattern isn't published yet, so i'll find out before i share it with you. anyway, i'm very excited about it. i cast on while watching goblet of fire the other day. fun!

what else? hmmm. oh, i'm knitting some blythe doll clothes for our favorite goth panda. hat, sweater, legwarmers. she'll be totally rockin'. AND i think i'm going to knit a scarf for that boy i like so much. i sent him an email with a bunch of different stitch patterns; we'll see what he likes. i'm excited. :) he's super-awesome and i enjoy making stuff for people about whom i care. i just hope he likes getting handmade stuff! and, of course, i hope he ends up liking the scarf. but that's why i'm getting his input - then he can only complain so much if he doesn't like it. ;)

i think that's all. i hope your sister's wedding shower goes well!

*big hugs*
k

p.s. i forgot to say that the yarn from my secret pal is from spritely goods. it's really really lovely. :)

23 June 2006

Whoa Doggies!

Dear Kristen,

Long time, no post-y. Life has been busier than I thought it would be. Work is much easier over the summer, but I find the time for self reflection to be, well, a little overwhelming. I think I like more work and less self reflection better!

Knitting is good! And I have proof of its goodness in pictorial abundance (or something...). Here we have the hat I made for Sebastian, the newborn son of two of my favorite people, and younger brother to the fabulous Miss Q! I knit it in 3 hours on my birthday just in case it would induce Sebastian to come join us. He did so, but that was 5 days later. This was knit in Rowan All Seasons Cotton on size 7 needles. I used a basic pattern from the Yarn Harlot's book, "Knitting Rules". If I make a matching hat for big sister Miss Q it will be knit in the round. I'm not a fan of seaming (mostly because I am very ill equipped in stitcherly ways)!

And finally, progress shots of the afghan. It's turning out much better the second time. As is evidenced by the shot below. Look! A lace pattern emerges! Alas, the lace pattern does not seem to make the blanket any wider and by the end I will have produced a lovely if rather small lap-ghan. *sigh* I'm hoping that blocking will work wonders, but I'm not overly optimistic. If I was smart I'd invest in blocking wires this weekend, but instead I will host a bridal shower in Connecticut (and I will knit the afghan while I fly).


Below you will see the Afghan progress as of June 14th. It's about 3 times that length now and growing at a rapid rate. I would absolutely repeat this pattern. It goes so quickly!


Much love,
Kate

06 June 2006

Thoughts

Dear Kristen,

There could be pictures, but today there are not. Suffice to say that the wedding afghan has risen like a phoenix and it is beautiful. The untwisted YOs leave a beautiful little pattern of holes., and the afghan is now 2 inches or so under the proper width. Sighs of relief abound, I did not frog without reason! I'm working on it daily, making good progress and constantly looking for opportunities for more knitting. The big day is only a month away so I am VERY nervous that the big gift won't be done. Time for some serious prayer and hard work!

Which brings us to the rest of life. Time for some serious prayer. Now that the students are gone there is time to reflect and I find myself paralyzed by it. All around me I hear of "success" but it's hard to see in an honest way. My boss is a very kind woman, but she knows nothing about what I do here which means that any improvements I make are mostly a direct result of my own self reflection. Have you ever noticed how accurate we humans are when it comes to assessing our own work? Yeah. Same problem here. I either think I'm amazing or terrible and neither are accurate. The best suggestion I've heard recently is "find a spiritual director" but I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter - and ideas from readers as well! If you don't find other people in your workplace who can help you see your successes and failures in their full spectrum how do you reflect honestly on what you have done and what you need to do to improve?

In other news I got a fabulous hair cut. It's a cute little professional a-line. The President stopped twice in one day to tell me it was a great cut. *phew*

This weekend is reunion. I hope to see you there, but if not I'll send you photos!

Much love,
Kate