Just in case you're wondering ...

where to see me over the next couple of weeks ....

check out my knitting blog for some exciting knitting/fiber events coming up in the area!

Make sure you stop by and say "howdy" if you're able to attend either of these events.  The weather should be gorgeous ... and the content will be stellar!


 

I'm back ....

... after my two-week, self-imposed hiatus from the internet.  Just to refresh your mind:  on February 14th, I began a two-week period of fasting (only tea/water/coffee to drink and no sweets), prayer (daily Mass and rosary, morning prayers before the kids wake up, de Montfort's consecration prep) and abstinence (no FB, blogs, etc).  I did these mortifications as an offering to God for a miracle: there is a house I just love that would be perfect for us and solve so very many problems.  Well, that two weeks finished up yesterday ... I don't know whether God's answer is "yes", "no" or "not now" but I do know that the past two weeks were such a grace-filled gift, with lots of re-prioritizing and plans and reading and changes to come.

For all of you who prayed for me and mine during this time -- thank you so very much!  It means so much to me when dear friends I've known online for years ... many of whom I've never met ... pour out prayers and good wishes whenever I ask!  You are all in my daily prayers and know that if there is anything I can do for you, please don't hesitate to holler.

So watch for some awesome book reviews ... some changes to this blog and my online presence ... and a great emphasis on my knitting work.  For those that knit:  I'll be speaking in the morning (and doing a couple of afternoon sessions) at Dog House Yarn's spring knitting retreat out at Graves Mountain and I've got some new knitting designs available for download:

• Victoria's Tee -- a fingering-weight cotton-acrylic yarn done in a Victorian lace edging pattern.  This top looks great with an undertop or (if it ever warms up ...) all by itself. 
• Malcolum's Cluthar, cap and toy cube -- knit in an organic, worsted weight cotton, this set was designed for a dear friend's first baby, Malcolm.  The blanket is knit in one piece with textured designs (anchor, heart, crown, boat) and cables for interest; the cap repeats the cables and the 7-inch soft-cube has bells buried deep inside to jingle to the baby's delight.

And, today is String Bean's 11th birthday .... more on that later ...
 

Yarn Along: February 2nd edition

What's on my needles:  still haven't gotten the long circs for the cashmere vest design, so I'm continuing to plug away at my "Victoria's Tee"... it's slow going only because I great hair-brained ideas and drop this and whip up something else (this weekend, it was the nested Easter baskets for my handcrafts column in mater-et-magistra!).  But I'm loving the way the fabric feels and I think it will be quite a nice design ... though I'm still chomping at the bit to get cracking on the cashmere!

On my book table:  LOVING Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life by Nick Vujicic.  This is a GREAT book.  Here's a guy born without arms or legs who loves God and life and wants us all to love God and life, too.  It's an amazing read.

Read-aloud:  We started The Book of Story Beginnings by Kristin Kladstrup ... an odd but engaging book.  It's fitting in nicely with my wanting to get the kids writing more so that is all to the good.  As I mentioned ... a bit odd but we're enjoying it!

Head on over to Ginny's, where she has a linky-list of others who are also enjoying these yarn-alongs.

 

Hey all you knitters ... a preview and jump on Easter knitting ...

As many of you know, I write the handcrafts column for the quarterly Catholic homeschool magazine, mater et magistra.  I'm just putting the finishing touches on the column for the Spring 2011 issue, an issue with a large chunk of editorial space devoted to Easter celebrations. 

Whenever I write the column, I try and include a bit of knitting content and this column is no exception.  In fact, I created a design just for Easter:  a set of nested fabric baskets knit using a re-purposed sheet cut into strips.  To get a free copy of the pattern, subscribe to this wonderful magazine ... if you just can't wait till then, I have the pattern available for immediate download from my Raverly store ($4.00 for the design with all info necessary to recreate this one-of-a-kind Easter decoration). 

 

Of course these baskets would be wonderful for a new baby's room, or powder room, or wherever you want a splash of color and distinction.  [I'm thinking of making seasonal sets as well as a set that will coordinate with the dining room decor!]

Yarn Along: January 19th edition

Last week, I was reading Defiant Joy (about GKChesterton ... excellent book!) and readng Lost in Peter's Tomb to the kiddoes.  I was also finishing up a cashmere design which I've titled Blue Ridge Sunset (it's available for download from my Ravelry store).

So, what's on my reading table and knitting needles for this week?

Reading:  reading to the kids a Newbery Honor book (from back in the day when that meant good literature), A String in the Harp by Nancy Bond.  It's a great story about a family who moves to Wales after the death of the mother ... and their adventures in the midst of dealing with their grief.  So far, the reading is wonderful -- the images Bond conjures with her words are amazing!  The book I'm reading is one I found at the library last week and was so thrilled with, I ordered a copy for my shelf: 
Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks!  This book is fascinating -- seems Christie scholar John Curran deciphered Christie's hand-written notebooks to create this book.  It's a creative-writing lesson in book form!  For this wannabe-writer and Christie fan, this book is perfect.  What a fascinating glimpse into the overall writing process!  Loving it!

On my needles is a new design that I'm calling "Victoria's Tank".  The body of the top is a classic Victorian knitted-lace pattern that will have a bodice put atop.  I'm using KP's Comfy Fingering (a washable cotton-blend) and it is kniting up beautifully!

So won't you join the Ginny's yarn-along posts .... and any comments on my designs or suggestions for great read-alouds for the kids would be most appreciated!

 

Coming in April/May ...

and available for pre-order ....

More Knitting in the Sun: 24 Patterns to Knit for Kids, edited by Kristi Porter.  The designs are all knit in summer-type yarns (cottons, linen, etc) for kids to wear in the summer-time.  So the knitting is summer-able and so is the wearing.

Don't you love this cover .... don't you love the sweater in the middle?  That would be mine!  Cool, huh?  I knew the book would be coming out this spring from Wiley but that's all I'd heard.  Browsing Amazon's knitting books (ALWAYS looking for more to add to my library) ... I came across this.  Was I thrilled!

I'll be posting more details as the book nears publication, but so far this is all I can share!
 

Yarn Along .... two of my favorite things ... knitting and reading!

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a single photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~ from Ginny's blog, small things

This is only my second time posting for Ginny's yarn-along ... shame on me!  It's not that I haven't been knitting ... it's not that I haven't been reading ... it's just that I've been so busy knitting and reading, I haven't had time to post.

So, I apologize.

on my needles:  finishing another cashmere design for Spring Gate Farm ... a cap (which is done) and a coordinating scarf which only has about seven more inches (than I must start the tam for Cast On!).  I'll have this design posted on my site by the end of the week.  If you'd like to see my other original hand-knit designs, check out my knitting blog, By Hand, With Heart!

on my reading table:  re-reading Sweater Design in Plain English ... love, love, love this book! A "second edition" is coming out in April that of which I'm hoping to get a review copy so I can see if it's worth it to buy ... I'll keep you posted!  I'm also reading Defiant Joy: The Remarkable Life and Impact of GK Chesterton that I'll be reviewing later this month.  Our read-aloud, which we started on Friday, is Lost in Peter's Tomb ... a book we've had knocking around for a while so decided to read-aloud.  It's really an interesting read that fits in with our "explorer" unit we'd put on hold during Advent/Christmas.  The story is a mystery set in Rome with siblings and their aunt helping the Pope discover who is getting into the Vatican and why!

Thanks, Ginny, for starting this yarn-along ... it's always fun to see what others are doing!
 

Merry Christmas from our house to yours ....

check out all my knitting designs at:  By Hand, With Heart ... hand-knit designs

Month of Thanks Day 4: Thanks be to God for my Knitting

Sorry this is about 9 hours late... 

for day four I am very thankful for my knitting ... my companion in the evenings when the rest of the house is settled for the night ... my stab at being creative and imitating the Divine Creator himself ... my chance to make a bit of "egg and butter" money for the family ...

Thank you, God, for this talent!

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!

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 ....

 

For the knitters in the crowd ....

stand-up if you know I love knitting .... remain standing if you knew I had a blog just for my knitting stuff ... keep standing if you've checked out my By Hand, With Heart blog recently ... and finally, to the few of you who may be left, give yourself a warm and fuzzy if you've actually checked out my patterns at my Ravelry shop!

The reason for me asking these questions is that I've decided that with the start of June 2010, I am going to make a concerted effort to get my design backlog out to knitters everywhere.  I have YEARS of designs that have only seen the light of day amidst friends and relatives ... and that's just plain silly. 

If you check out my BHWH blog, you'll see some reviews of knitting books and resources, a few tutorials and resource listings, links to books with my designs in them as well as a couple of books of my original designs, and of course the link to the Ravelry store.  The cool thing about my Ravelry shop is that you can instantly download any of the knitting patterns you'd like -- some cost (nothing over $5.00) while some are free -- but all are pure "by hand, with heart"!

As I mentioned on the knitting blog this morning, I am aiming to upload at least three patterns each week in June -- so the shop will constantly be updated, so don't forget to check back.  And let me know which designs you like or would like to see uploaded.  Here's a peak at some of the designs you'll find at my Ravelry shop ....

"Hearts a Poppin' for My Boy" baby blanket

Red Hot Pocket Purse (with CellPhone "sweater")

So So Soft, So So Easy Scarf

Enjoy checking-out my patterns ... and remember to check back occasionally to see what other designs I will tempt you with!