Feast Day and a new knitting design up ....

Today is the feast of St. Teresa of Avila [1515-1582] (also known as St. Teresa the Great for her writings and actions which reformed the Carmelites ... St. Therese of Lisieux, Edith Stein, and Mother Teresa chose her as their patrons).  St. Teresa of Avila is also one of the few "doctors of the Catholic Church", which means:

that the writings and preachings of such a person are useful to Christians "in any age of the Church." Such men and women are also particularly known for the depth of understanding and the orthodoxy of their theological teachings.  Catholic Online

There are only 33 "doctors", only three of whom are women (St. Teresa, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Therese of Lisieux).  St. Teresa's writings are amazingly complex and yet filled with such truth and beauty.  Rick has studied her Interior Castle and her Way of Perfection.  I tend to go more for explanations of her works such as The Four Teresas and movies about her life and writings: St. Teresa of Avila  and John of the Cross (which is a great one for showing how much they influenced each other).

St. Teresa of Avila, you knew what God wanted you to do dispite criticisms and calumny from your fellow Carmelites.  Help us always to do the good and avoid the evil, discerning God's will and making His will our priority.  St. Teresa, pray for us!

On a completely secular-note, I have another knitting design up at Knit Picks:  Fun Felted Saddlebag is a beautiful purse that uses two-color knitting, steeking and slip-stitch patterning to make this one a wonderful, practical excerise of your knitting skills.  The end result is a gorgeous, useful bag -- I'm using mine as a knitting bag! 

Check out this one and all my knitting designs on Knit Picks or in my online  Ravelry Shop!

Knitting ... this just might be my favorite ever!

Knit Picks just posted my 7th (!) design ....

cool, huh?

The cable "hides" the button holes ... while the buttons are linked behind the scenes....

What do you think?????

Salute to the Emerald Isle: Memories of Eire vest ....

If it's Thursday, it must be time for another Knit Picks upload of new patterns to their Independent Designers Program ... this week's crop includes my salute to the Emerald Isles: Memories of Eire vest.

The waistband is knit in one long strip, turned on its side, and then the body of the vest is picked up .... there are lots of cables, knit-purl texture stitches, and even a knit-purl celtic knot, to test your knitting skills. This vest is sized for Misses' XS, S, M, L, and XL. The sample is knit using KP's City Tweed HW ... which is lovely to work with and is a blend of merino, alpaca and Donegal tweed.

Check that one and my other designs available through Knit Pick's website ....

 

Knit Picks: one for the ladies

Ribs are design-elements in this knit-in-the-round yoke hoodie that I called Rib Tickler Hoodie ... shown here in Comfy Bulky (which is a dream with which to knit!) ... this may just become your favorite sweatshirt!

What are you waiting for?

 

Knit Picks: a little (or big) boy's jacket

Introducing "Patrick: An Irish Lad's Jacket" ... this design is sized for 2T-10 and is alot of fun to knit ...

Why don't you knit one today?

 

Knit Picks: another of my designs is available!

This Season Spanning Cardi is one of my favorite sweaters!

Above is the knitted sample I made using Knit Picks Simply Cotton Worsted in Wavy Heather. This yarn knits up like a dream and the colors are gorgeously soft ... just the kind of palette I really enjoy.

Here's the original knitted with Lion Brand's Cotton-ease ... which many have seen me wearing and which always gets rave reviews when I wear it ... Lovely, eh?

Nurturing Creativity Daybook ... the week at a glance

Last week over at Kind Conversations, I started a new daybook called "Nurturing Creativity" where I describe my day(s) and ways of nurturing creativity in my own home.

Now, let's be honest here ... there is no way I'm going to be able to keep up with a day-by-day listing of all the creative things we're doing around here.  If I did that, I wouldn't have time for all that nurturing I want to do ...

So, welcome to the week-at-a-glance version of NCD ....

• on my needles: I have just started another project for the Knit Picks Independent Designer Program;  the Season-spanning Cardi I was working on last week is ready to be pattern-drafted and sent off to KP!
• on the craft table: I have some sewing to do; we spent the weekend helping a dear friend make her aprons for her Dominican postulancy and that got String Bean and I plotting sewing projects -- skirts, tops and jumpers for summertim.
• on the kitchen counter: I have chicken thawing for making the only kind of chicken LegoManiac will eat:  MaryM's Clinkerdagger recipe.  I'm planning what we'll make to celebrate St. Louis Marie deMontfort on Wednesday, St. Catherine of Siena on Thursday and St. Joseph's Day on Saturday ... LOVE being Catholic!
• in the garden: I have seedlings coming up, transplanted azalea that needs to be nursed along, more tilling to get the front garden ready for flowers.  At least with the rain we had today, the ground is a bit easier to work
• in the school-room: String Bean and I are working on her Co-op History project on Martha Washington's contributions to the American Revolution -- we have till Wednesday to make her mob-cap, a petticoat for her skirt, baked goods to tantalize the audience, and a script to write and memorize.  We're all working on creative projects to surprise Dad on feast of St. Catherine of Siena -- she's Rick's patron saint this year and we've got some great ideas up our sleeves having to do with food, crafts and a bit of fun!

So what are you doing to nurture creativity in your home? 

BTW, my goal ... that is "my target" ... that is "my hope" ... is that every Monday I'll be posting a NCD-week at a glance to keep myself honest and ensure we're always nurturing creativity around here ....

Knitting: wouldn't these be cute in Easter Baskets?

Here's one of my knitted designs in the Knit Picks' Independent Designers Program.  Elegant Eliza would look very cute in your daughter's Easter Basket, no?  But if you only have boys ... or aren't into pink ... there is no reason you couldn't knit an Edgar or Edward Bunny in "boy" colors (KP has lovely colors in their Comfy Worsted)  ... or you could do a bunny in au naturel in one of their Simply Cotton Organic Worsted.

Here's Eliza without her skirt so you can get an idea of how easy it would be to change her "look".

The pattern is downloadable at Knit Picks for $1.99.  Let me know what you come up with!  Enjoy the knitting and the season!

Knit Picks: Independent Designer's Program

Completely Cozy & Reversible Scarf for Him! 

My first, and hopefully not my last, pattern in the IDP at Knit Picks ... this is a great chance for small hand-knit designers like me to get their patterns published/out there to knitters everywhere.  Check it out and let me know what you think!  Looking doesn't cost a penny .... and downloading is $1.99.