Darn Socks

Two things.

Thing one: I knit.

If you know me, even if you have only known me for a short while, you know this. You know that I knit like a fiend, and I am not ashamed. I knit at home, and I knit in public. I knit alone and in a crowd. I knit in meetings, I knit at meals. I knit where it is quiet and where it is loud.

Thing two: I knit socks.

When I started knitting, I really did not like it. I had started with crochet early in my life (my grandmother on my dad's side taught me when I was 10-ish), and I was a master at making yarn bend to my will with a small hook. When I first picked up needles, I was frustrated at my lack of control over the yarn and the fabric. Then...socks. 

One day, I realized that I could knit socks. Just like generations of women (and men) before me, I could make something practical and wearable with yarn...something necessary and also beautiful. I was enamored, and I dove in!

Unlike many generations that have gone before me, I do not have to knit socks in order to have socks. I know this, yet I still knit them. Factory-knit socks are cheaper, easier to launder and readily available around every corner. Still, there is something primal and connected for me about knitting my own socks. I am connected to previous and future generations of sock knitters. I am connected to the story of the yarn, and to the process of choosing and knitting the pattern, just as each stitch is connected with the last and the next. 

That is why I sometimes darn (mend) my hand knit socks. It is not because I am out of yarn and cannot get more. It is not because each pair of socks has its own purpose and must be saved. It is the connection. It is remembering on laundry day that this is yarn that came from a friend who is a local dyer (Jeanne at Destination Yarn). She made this colorway (America the Beautiful) when she was just starting out, and I am so proud of her success and the company she has built! I love wearing spacious skies, amber waves of grain, purple mountain majesties, fruited plains, seas and shining seas...even if they are a teensy bit faded after 10 years of wear and washing!

Every time I wear these socks, I treasure the times I have spent with Jeanne, her family and our knitting group. And every time I take these out of the wash and notice that the heels should be darned again, I just get my needle and yarn ready. I am not ready to give up on this pair, and all the joy it brings me!

All of my hand knit socks, whether knit with hand dyed or commercially colored, hand spun or mass produced yarn...each pair gives me the warm fuzzies when I wear them. And when I run the darning needle and yarn around the stitches that are worn, I also reinforce good memories...hours of entertainment, social interaction and great vibes...even if my hand knit socks never come out of my shoes. Of course, if you ask to see them, I will gladly oblige, and I may even tell you their story. Stop me if you've heard this one...lol!

So yes. I knit, and I knit socks (and sometimes I darn them, too).

Oh, one more thing: Bacon. 

Because...well...bacon!

Happy Saturday, friends! 

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Some Saturday Mornings

Some Saturday mornings look like this...

...but more of our future Saturday mornings will surely look like this!

Now that Mork and Mindy and the girls live in a neighboring state, I am hoping for a new view on Saturday mornings a little more often. While they lived in Colorado, there was only one visit to their house (although they did manage a trip home a couple times each year). But now we look forward to more regular visits to their house AND more visits for them to Ohio as well! Yay for car trips with knitted toys!

Yay for car trips with knitting!

Yay for pulling up to this house, even after dark, and even if we had to drive through the Friday afternoon rush hour!

But seriously...we think that our next trip will be on a Saturday morning! Hahaha! There were so many delays on this, our first trip to Michigan!

Oh, for the haters: they live here, but they are still Buckeyes! There are some things that are just in the blood...you can take a Buckeye out of Ohio, but you can't take Ohio out of the Buckeye! O-H...!

Where are all my Buckeye friends? 

Now it is time for me to be on to the business of Saturday in Michigan with my granddaughters...what should we do first?

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Pray For Me?

I'm ba-aack! I hope you think that is a good thing, because I missed blogging last week...so busy! Busy is not always a bad thing...it does make the time fly by! But busy with no room to breathe is dangerous if you keep at it for too many days in a row. This week, I have deliberately napped, watched some television, and done some knitting I had seriously neglected last week!

Last week was full, as our church prepared to move Sunday service from a very small building (where we needed 3 services to accommodate our congregation)...

...to a temporary location that can fit us all into one service! This is a great thing, as it gives us room to grow, and to reach more of God's lost kids, but the work and planning to transform a school gym/auditorium into "church" for a day is so very busy! There are chairs, and screens, speakers and projectors, computers and people to organize so that everything is just right.

Then add a few hundred people, and boom! Church!

(Sweaty church for some of us. There was much activity before the worship service started, and I may or may not have said a prayer of thanks that my deodorant was working...at least we were in a gym!)

To add to the busy of last week end (set-up on Friday, first off-site church on Sunday), I was part of a team planning and executing a women's workshop on Saturday. This group, I think, did a tremendous job! Women of God were encouraged, and there were even a few laughs, so Go Team!

After all of that, I was tired, to say the least! There may have been several hours of napping, instead of watching football... But I was fortified this week with snuggles from this cutie, so I am right as rain again.

Now that things are settled (a little bit, at least) there has been time to reflect on the past two weeks. I have done some things really well...and I have given less than my best to others. Isn't that always the way? One might think that 51 years into this game I would have figured out how to straighten up and fly right all over the place. On some fronts, yes. All the yes. But there are still so many areas where I struggle, so please pray for me friends, as I head into this next season.

Pray for balance. Work, church, home, family. Pray that I can prioritize these correctly. I struggle here, because the instant results of easy jobs make me feel good, and I sometimes avoid the hard work of relationship, so please pray for balance.

Pray for wisdom. So many choices. So many things to knit. So many good things to do! But only so many hours in any given day. Please pray again here for my priorities, and that I would make wise choices that benefit not only Pretty, but those around her as well.

Pray for my heart. I have been feeling a bit beat up by my circumstances this week. I am not sure how much of that feeling is from actually being "hard pressed on every side" (2 Cor 4:8) and how much is simply my skewed perception of certain situations, but my heart feels a bit bruised and battered. Thankfully I am not crushed or destroyed...but some days it is difficult to find my joy. Please pray that my heart will continue to sing, because if God is for me, who can be against me? (Rom 8:31)

How can I pray for you today, friends? After all, this is a two-way street, and doing life together involves back-scratching! If you feel comfortable, leave a comment, and I will pray for your concern. I have already prayed for all of you today, as I typically do. I have prayed that your day would be good. I have thanked God that you have popped into my life. I have prayed that your heart would be encouraged, that your body would be healthy and your mind sound.

Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for the prayers! If you knit, and even if you don't, you know what comes next:

Knit in Good Health!