On a Mission

Yesterday, Sweetie and I took off on a mission. Our destination? Granddaughter Central! One of the first things I noticed was Mask Central...

Then the 5-year-old tasked me with the mission, because the Barbies are (apparently) quite worried about contracting Coronavirus...

Before we went to bed, there were two masks knit, with plans for roughly 347 more before Sunday, because...all the Barbies need them! 

This  morning, I woke up with the birds, and watched the glorious sun rise...

...and shhh! Don't tell the girls, but I stole a few minutes with my Summer Shandy Top and coffee!

But it will be all Barbie Masks for the rest of my weekend...LOL!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Quarantine Knitting - Barbie Edition

Part 1?

I am not sure if this is a multi-part blog series yet, but as I mentioned in my last post, I am thankful for the knitting as we slog through the stay-at-home orders in our state. Even with some of the restrictions lifting this month, people getting back to work and businesses opening, my life will not change much. There will be much time at home (after work for me, I am also thankful for my job!), so there will likely also be much more knitting.

I can tell that it is starting to get to me, though. Even when I knit, I have trouble concentrating. It reminds me of a Netflix movie I saw last week, called The Willoughbys. It's an animated story of a family that has trouble getting along, and the mother knits. There is not much else to redeem her character, but she knits like a fiend. As a matter of fact, when stress levels rise, she is often heard shouting to her husband (back of hand to the head in total drama), "I can't knit!!!" By the way, if you haven't seen it, and you can find it, check it out...I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Because of my occasional inability to focus, I have started taking on smaller projects. Specifically, I have been knitting Barbie clothes. I'm not sure if she is happy about that or not, her plastic expression never really seems to change...but I am pleased with how they are turning out!

Well, I am pleased when I finish and they fit. Thankfully, old Barb is not bingeing nearly as much as I am (on food, or anything really), so her size is pretty constant. The way I figure it, until I start knitting ridiculous things like doll panties and socks, I am probably ok. 

Wait. I just remembered these. Send help.

At least send ideas for other knitting, if you have any! Perhaps someone could get pregnant so I can knit baby sweaters??? I dunno...just sayin'.

In any case, we really are fine around here, and the knit goes on. How are you holding up this week? What are you knitting, my knitting friends? Whatever it is, I hope that it brings you joy! Life is too short to not knit what you love!

Thanks for stopping by, stay healthy, wear your mask and Knit in Good Health!

Just Because Follows Fifty

Sooo, last week I turned 50...here, there and everywhere! This morning, I was having a little trouble figuring out how exactly to follow that! I asked the cats for help, and they agreed to brainstorm with me...but then they saw a bird.

I thought back on chocolate covered fruit, sent from the clan in Colorado (THANK YOU!!! Super yummm!!!)...but then I was sad, because it is all eaten up!

I even thought about Barbie...all the Barbies, and all their new clothes, which were so fun to knit! (Photo courtesy of the Colorado girls.)

By the way, as I turned fifty, Peanut was turning 7, and Sweet Pea has managed 3 years and a  couple months...time, she sure does fly!

Anyhoo, I finally settled on the giant pile of yarn at my feet. Even the knitting has been a little uninspired lately. But, as I was getting ready to ship another box of Barbie goodies, it dawned on me that I have not knit a doll in a while...and we all know that I love to knit toys!

So, even though there is no occasion (Christmas is long gone, birthdays are finished, and Easter has passed), I am knitting some just-because-I-want-to dolls!

After all, there are many things in this life that I do because I have to (eat, shower, pay taxes, drive slow), and there are even more that I do because I should (eat less, wear pants, keep from strangling annoying people - yes, you're welcome)...once in awhile, it is good to do something just because it is something I want to do. Today, I want to knit dolls, and knitting dolls does not hurt anyone, so that is what I will do.

I remember thinking, when I was less than 50 years old, that it would be a glorious thing to be all grown up and be able to do whatever I wanted to do, whenever I wanted to do it, just because that is what I wanted to do. As it turns out (spoiler alert!) life rarely works that way for adults. Bills have to be paid, so jobs must be attended. Houses have to be cleaned and families need to eat, so mom naps are often forsaken. Cats must be petted, so even the knitting  sometimes takes a back seat to other things!

However, dull and sad is the life that is void of simple pleasures. I know that I have mentioned abundant life here before, but it bears repeating. Jesus came and died and rose again so that his followers would have life in abundance, including simple and extravagant pleasures! (John 10) Big birthdays and holidays, expensive toys and hobbies, elaborate outings and gatherings are a part of that abundance, for sure. The bigger part, though, is comprised of the smaller things: the perfect strawberry, plump and sweet and juicy, to finish out a simple snack; a really good parking spot, found by chance, in a really bad rainstorm; a word of encouragement, spoken at the right time, and a smile. For me, the little things sometimes include the frivolous knitting of unneeded toys, just because. 

The extravagant is often here and gone quickly. But pay attention. The little things add up, day by day. When they do, they create an overflow of the heart that brings personal and shared joy that can barely be contained! 

Regardless of the big things that you wish you had, can you find some of those little things in your life today? I would bet my eye teeth that they are there, hidden among the have-tos and shoulds, just waiting to be discovered so they can bring more abundance to your life. Keep your heart and your eyes open, and see what you find. Oh, and along the way, do a little something "just because" today. 

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit (what you love) in Good Health!

Dancing Enough?

Dancing. What do you think of? Do you think of going out to "the Club," or are you more of a dancing in the kitchen gal or guy? What are you wearing? If you are Pretty, you are most certainly wearing hand-knit socks, which means that Pretty confesses here and now to being more of a dancing in the kitchen gal...in a new pair of socks...completed just last month!

Bonus! The yarn is one of my all-time faves (sadly, now discontinued), Dancing by Knit Picks. The last time this yarn was offered for sale was somewhere in 2014 or 2015, but while I was tossing the stash earlier this year, I found two socks' worth in my sock yarn bin! I was probably saving it, knowing I can never get any more...but on a whim, I pulled it out and knit it up, and today I am wearing happy leggings and new Dancing socks! Quick! Somebody take me to the club! 

Hahaha! No. Nevermind. No clubbin' for this gal...

Barbie, on the other hand, loves to go out dancing! She also enjoys walks in the park, horseback riding, feeding the homeless and advancing in her very prestigious career! But, as my granddaughter reminded me last week, she is also always on the lookout for a new outfit! She enjoys new clothes so much, in fact, that she is happy to accompany me to knit night for the occasional fitting and photo shoot! (Even if this is what her ride looks like...)

Especially since most of her photos are posed in a bedroom, perched precariously on the edge of a folded TV tray, some in less than optimal lighting situations (girls, back me up here...lighting is so important)...

She is so glad to feel the sun on her face once in awhile!

Sometimes she prefers the shade, too...

But whatever the lighting situation, she always enjoys a new outfit. I mean, just look how happy she clearly is in every. single. photo! (Even in bad lighting!!!)

Barbie never has a bad day, hair or otherwise. She never has a "what did that smile look like?" moment after snapping a selphie. She is so very plastic. Her happiness is so very plastic. Her whole life is so very plastic.

I am glad that my life is not plastic. Sometimes I am not glad that my life is so messy... Sometimes I wish that every smile, every expression, every word or thought or deed was more photo-worthy... Then I remember that I am enough. Exactly what I am right now, messy or not, it is enough. I am enough because of my Savior. I am not perfect, and I never will be. But, because he died for me, I am always enough. 

I look forward to the day that God looks at me in person and sees Jesus. Not to rush things, I will wait for his timing, but it will be nice to be free of the mess of this world. A dear friend passed this week, and although I have not seen him or his wife often in the last few years. I know that he is glad to be free of the mess of this world, of this life, of his illness...and there is such a sense of relief for his family in that freedom. There is also grief and loss, to be sure, and that will remain throughout their days, but life looms large for them in the promise that they will be together again in eternity.

As the Easter season winds down this week, and Christians all over the world remember the sacrifice our King made, I hope that the world is watching. I pray that one lost soul will learn the truth that he or she is enough, no matter their mess, when they believe the claim that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and he is their Lord and Savior. If you do not believe this applies to you, I hope that you will reconsider someday. 

I want to dance in Heaven with you, praising our Savior all the day long!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit (and Dance) in Good Health!

Green Socks, Barbie Frocks...

Last week, while the cats were hacking into my blogger account, I was knitting green socks (which I finished in time for St. Patty's Day today! Yay!), and taking a lovely trip with Sweetie. 

We were on the way to Nashville, but we never made it...lol! Along the way, we found ourselves tempted by a cave in Kentucky, and bourbon. We saw the sights in Mammoth Cave, which is not a great place for cell-phone selphies, but we took them just the same. Fat Man's Misery, Tall Man's Agony, and 2 miles of limestone paths, narrated by Darren of National Park Rangers fame (lol!), was a pretty good time, even though there were a LOT of steps to climb at the end!

We also toured the Jim Beam distillery in Clermont, and there was a tasting. I generally am not a whisky drinker, but how do you turn down the chance to taste some pricey bourbon when it comes with the price of admission? As it turns out, I have expensive tastes...and if I were going to become a bourbon/whiskey drinker, I would need to start a savings plan! Still, it was a fun time, and I learned something new about something very old, which was super fun!

We also worshipped with a mega-church on Sunday, and Southeast Christian Church in Louisville is pretty amazing. Shout out to this church, with a mega auditorium, that still managed to make these two strangers feel at home. It was very cool, and I'd love to go back again someday, but 6 hours is a little too far to drive for weekly attendance...

Once we got back home, a day early, we decided to play the home version of The Tourist Game! We visited the Rock Hall downtown, and had a great time. I fan-girled all over the guitars, and some of the shows were spectacular. Again with the learning, I was all over it! As a bonus, the "muzak" there is the best I have ever heard in a museum setting, hands down...lol! Long Live Rock!

To top off a week that started strong with a little vacation time, my granddaughter texted me on her birthday, "Hi gramma can you please knit me more Barbie doll clothes love [Peanut]." This means that I now must stop blogging and get back to the Barbie skirts and t-shirts, in purple, pink, red and yellow, that she has requested. I love being a gramma and also a knitter! And I love those littles!!!

Today will be less about the green (although I am wearing green, right down to the socks I finished just yesterday) 

and more about the knitting! Perhaps Barbie would like something green, too? I dunno, it is not on the list, but we shall see what comes off the needles!

What are your plans for the day? Will you eat green eggs and ham? Will you enjoy a green beverage or set leprechaun traps? Whatever your plans are, thanks for stopping by for a moment to admire my green socks. Knit in Good Health!