And now, Christmas!

Well, Christmas decorating anyway! I'm happy to say that my tree is up, and every time I look at it, I am filled with love! This year, I put on mostly ornaments that were made by and/or given to me by friends or family! Yay! I love that about my tree!

Now it's time to have some turkey soup. Or maybe some turkey casserole. Or maybe some turkey pot pie, because the best part of being the turkey-day cook is (of course) LEFTOVERS!!!

Hopefully there will be knitting in the next couple of days. I'll try to keep you posted, at least on the non-secret stuff. Is your tree up yet?

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

I Am Thankful

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I've got so much to do...

But I wanted to take a moment just to check in with you!

(Hi there! How is your holiday planning going?)

Today I have to work, and I am thankful for my job.

I am thankful for my hubby, but his name is not Rob. 

(Rob is very easy to rhyme...aaand if he were Rob, I could be Laura.)

I am thankful for his love, that he always picks up the slack,

I am thankful that when I'm busy, I know he has my back. 

(I don't know how I would get by without "Rob"...)

Tonight I'll bake pies and bread for a yummy turkey day.

I'm thankful that I'll have some time in the kitchen to play!

(I really like to bake...and cook turkey...and cook most anything, really!)

Tomorrow we'll gather together, all who are close and able,

And we'll enjoy a giant feast around the turkey table!

(Looks like it will be a small crowd, but that's ok...some years are like that.)

I am thankful for my home, for family and friends.

I am thankful for a feast day that almost never ends!

(I will wear stretchy pants on Thanksgiving!)

I'm even thankful for the dishes that I'll do after dinner,

She who welcomes guests is always the real winner.

(Even though I mutter under my breath when I do dishes...meh.)

There's so much to be thankful for every single day,

I'm glad I get the chance to take some time to say - 

That I am thankful for this blog, for knitting and all I do -

And on this Thanksgiving Eve, I'm especially thankful for YOU!

Thanks for stopping by, friends. I love that you visit the blog and leave comments, and I hope your Thanksgiving is lovely, no matter the size of your crowd. May you always Knit (and eat) in Good Health!

Shhhh! It's a secret...

Psst! Don't look now, but I'm working on a super-secret project!

I know!!! It's NOT knitting! Can you believe that?!? Super secret, and NOT knitting...what is going on here? Is this the Pretty Knitty Jewelry blog???

Yes, friends, you are in the right place. I, however, am in a very weird place. Don't get me wrong...I've got LOTS of knitting I could should be working on, but my head is all about this project. Sometimes it just is what it is, ya know? I know ya do!

So, for now, here's a picture of a very happy semi-tolerant kindof angry cat in a hat,

and that's just gonna have to hold you until I'm back at the needles. =D

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

How Sweet it is to be Loved...

Just before this past Mother's Day, I wrote about love beyond reason, and I thought that I really understood what that was. Moms usually practice love beyond reason. Dads want to know the reason you did what you did, but they still love you beyond reason. I know that I have experienced love beyond reason more often than I deserve in my life, so I really thought I knew what I was talking about. 

Then I spent this past weekend with these two beauties (and their parents)...

I think children understand love beyond reason far better than any adult. When a child loves you, she loves you completely. She waits for you expectantly, reaches for you when you arrive, and she trusts that you are still holding on, even if she lets go...

She ties you up in her love, and draws you into relationship, into living the love of the moment.

She embraces every part of who you are, and makes you better than you are.

She gazes into your eyes and watches for every reaction, waiting to wiggle and giggle infectiously when you make a funny.

And even if you have an awkward moment on a dinner date,

she will continue to love you beyond reason. In fact, whenever you ask the four-year-old why she loves her Pop Pop so very much, it is likely that her answer will be a simple, "Because...Pop Pop!" 

If you press, she will repeat her answer, quickly losing patience and rolling her eyes in a manner that lets you know that you, Gramma, clearly don't understand love beyond reason!

But I am starting to learn, in new and exciting ways, that love beyond reason comes from so many directions! Certainly granddaughters love their Pop Pops beyond reason, and Pop Pops (and Grammas) love their grands (and kids) in the same way...I am thankful that we were first loved by God (John 3:16), until our cups have overflowed (Psalm 23:5), so that we can spill unreasonable love onto them!

We had a great trip to see the kids! The stockings and the blocks, and the hats and the mittens, were all finished by the time we pulled in, and we all had a blast, spelling the days away!

Thank you God, for loving us. Thank you for preparing us to love them. Thank you that they love us back so completely. It is pure bliss to love and to be loved. Amen.

And thank you, readers, for stopping by. Knit (and love) in Good Health!

Let's Talk

I'm a talker. But you knew that, right? I mean, here you are, reading the blog, where I get wordy on a regular basis, so you knew that. Right??? Right. Anyhoo...

I've noticed that I talk about many things on a regular basis, but it usually comes back to the knitting, and I don't confine knitting conversation to knitters. I once talked a lot of knitting with a tattoo artist who finally declared, "This is gonna make you like the queen of your knitting circle, right?," as he applied a 3-inch tattoo to my right ankle. A small tattoo of a sock on double-pointed needles, pretty tame stuff. I considered his comment, and the knitting tattoos I've seen online and on my friends, then chose to just smile and nod. "No," I thought quietly to myself, "we can save the title of Queen for a knitter with a sleeve that she can't hide, or maybe the one who has the flaming skull and cross-needles. This? This is small potatoes."

Most of the time, however, I have an answer for anyone's questions and/or comments about my knitting. A couple weeks ago, my physical therapist asked, "So, what's the weirdest thing you've ever knit?," which caused me to giggle. I don't know why...maybe because I know of some pretty funny stuff that I have NOT knit! Then I got a little quiet (which is weird in and of itself), scrunched my face for a moment, and finally responded, "I don't really knit anything that weird. I mean, there's toys and such, but I can't really think of anything too weird...," and on we went. But, if I don't knit anything weird, why did I giggle? So, I reviewed my project page. 

"Have I made anything weird?," I thought as I scanned 552 projects. If you follow me at all...here, on Ravelry, or on any social media...you know the answer. Rainbow and red-white-and-blue shorts (although technically crochet)? A little weird. Egg hats? Yep. Also a little weird. Handgun? Ok, for me, that tops it. I've knit a gun. That's weird. 

But the following week, when I showed him the pictures, Ben said things like, "Those shorts aren't weird, they're AWESOME!!!," "The gun isn't weird. It's kinda cool. YOU can knit anything!," and, "The egg hats are a little weird, but they are pretty cool, too!" It's kindof a shame he's not family...so knitworthy! 

And then there are the knitters. You may recall a post I published in 2012, the one I called "What happens at knitting..." It's chock-full of the funny things that my knitting friends and I do and say every Thursday at Knit Night. I won't repeat them here, but if you have time, check it out! We know how to have a good time, and we may not be what the average person pictures when they think of knitters! 

Last week, we were sharing our knitting and plans for Christmas decorating. We enjoyed pictures from the year that Alice just left the tree leaning on the couch, rather than picking it up so the dog could knock it over again, lol! Then she showed a picture of Christmas balls that she had put in a bowl for the cat, you know...so the cat would not knock the balls off the tree. Trouble with balls in a bowl is that they don't dangle ! As you might imagine, we knitters roared!

Just this week, I went to lunch with Alice, and we talked knitting (and many other things). As I was telling her my plan for the stockings, she started to giggle. She said, through her guffaws, "Finally, I can tell my friends back home that I know a knitter crazier than me!" Why, thank you, Alice! I'll take that as a compliment, and then I'll tell you about my next project! 

Do you talk knitting? If not knitting, what is your default conversation? I'll bet you make it fun and interesting! Maybe you should start a blog...

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! I hope that you will talk and Knit in Good Health this holiday season!

Uh-Oh...

The baby didn't have a Christmas stocking... o_0 

But now she does!

Of course, it doesn't match Peanut's...

or Mom and Dad's or the dog's...wait. There is only one dog stocking?!? But, there are two dogs!!! I suppose you know what I'll be knitting this week...lol!

Have you started your holiday knitting yet? :o)

Whether yes or no, thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Puppy Dog Face

Do you remember, when you were a kid, that sometimes you could just make the "puppy-dog face" to get that thing you wanted? Sometimes it was cake for breakfast, sometimes it was candy before dinner...and sometimes it was that little toy at K-Mart, the one you didn't want to wait until Christmas for. Most of the time, moms are pretty good at ignoring the puppy-dog face. 

Sometimes, however, moms are tired. Sometimes moms are insanely busy, and the errands never stop, and they feel a little guilty about all the "no" they've said to their kid(s), not because they didn't want to do the thing, but because there simply was not time. Enter the puppy-dog face, and the happy-for-this-moment kiddo, and everyone has a nice memory. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. I did it. My mom did it. I'm sure every mom has done it a time or two. 

That's why I feel a little guilty about the hats I just knitted for friends of my son and daughter-in-law, who will soon be adding a little brother to their family of three. Can you even imagine how impossible it will be to ever say no again, when your kids can grab the puppy-dog face from a coat sleeve and put it on at a moment's notice?

Matching puppy-dog faces? Oh, man. This mom has no idea what she's in for! Mindy, I was happy to knit the hats, but DO NOT SIGN MY NAME TO THE CARD! She'll never say no again. lol!

No puppy-dog face for me today! The weather has cooled down a bit, and it is not raining, so I'll be outside for sure. I'll save the knitting for when it gets dark, you know, in half an hour. I hope you've gotten your quota of fresh air and vitamin D today, and I am really glad that you stopped by!

Knit in Good Health!

Four Letter Words

The four-letter-words of my week, so far, are "warm" and "busy." Because it has been 

for the start of

,

and because I have been extraordinarily

at work, there's been little time for big projects. Oh, I've thought about casting on a hat, or maybe picking out a sweater pattern...but then reality sets in, and I am glad for small projects, like lettering the blocks. Of course, now that the blocks are 

,

I'll have to find something else small to occupy my few quiet moments in the evenings. Who thinks the cats want sweaters for winter? 

Ooooo-kayyyyy... No sweaters for the cats. No worries, I'm sure I'll find something to knit. :)

Thanks for stopping by, friends. Leave me a comment if you have an idea that will stop me from knitting cat sweaters. Then make a cup of tea, find a sunny spot and Knit in Good Health!