Love is Fruitful

Love and Self-Control are like bookends. I heard Joyce Meyer say something like that in a Bible teaching series on Galatians 5:22-23, and I believe it. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." (For clarification, this "fruit of the Spirit"  could also be called the evidence that you are a believer and follower of the Trinity: God the Father, Jesus the Son, the Holy Spirit as your daily helper.) There is a LOT to talk about there, but I really want to focus on just on those bookends today...

Love. We live in a world full of people that are different, and many are difficult to love. Even so, love is the only filter through which we can all exist together in harmony. When we love, we say to the other person, "You are not me, but I value who you are," and, "Even though I do not agree with you on all counts, I respect your rights to your own opinion." When we love, we take the time to think about why we are different, and how we can get along anyway. 

Love is not blind acceptance of another person's opinions, however. I believe that I can love you very well without believing that everything you say or do is correct. After all, I have loved my husband for 32 years, even though he consistently stacks the dishes in the sink incorrectly. Oh, I have heard the logic behind his method, and it is solid. Still wrong, but I understand where he is coming from. Is there any benefit to arguing this point when it comes up? Almost never, but of course I still do sometimes...and I love him.

Self-Control. All those "fruits"  in between the bookends - joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness -  are important too. But love is first, and to practice the middle-fruits, self-control is essential! I mean, when Sweetie stacks the dishes wrong, or hangs the TP upside-down, or makes a statement that I am not super-stoked about, self-control must come into the picture.

Without self-control I react poorly. Without self-control, I say things that I cannot unsay. Without self-control, I do things that I cannot undo. When I do not practice self-control (and at times, I do not), I express myself without regard to the other person's feelings, beliefs and experience. Self-control is necessary if we are to love well, because self-control keeps us from pulling the trigger on that word, or action, that will devalue someone else. When I do not value you, I express the antithesis of love, and this world certainly does not need more hate.

Love and Self-Control, working together, keep me from insisting that you have to be like me if we are going to get along. Love and self-control help me to appreciate who you are in this moment, and where you have come from. Love makes me want only the best for you, and self-control keeps me from trying to change you. If we all do our best to practice self-control long enough to find out if there is anything lovely in the people around us, the world would look different, would it not?

Let me wrap up by saying that I am not nearly as loving or self-controlled as I would like to be. If you ask Sweetie, I am sure he would agree that I need much more practice. I do better than I did decades ago, but I doubt that I will ever "arrive" at perfect Love or Self-Control, so I hope that you will have patience with me. 

In the same way, I know that there are no perfect people. Even when more of us strive to practice love and self-control, sometimes things seep in that make it difficult to love...seemingly impossible at times. To that I say, "Don't give up!" You may not be able to love everybody or change the whole world, but you have the power make your little corner of the world a little more pleasant for the people around you. 

Thanks for stopping by, friends. 

Now, go find someone to love well, and Knit in Good Health!

What a Ride!

There's a Christmas song that exclaims, "Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse, open sleigh!" I suppose that is pretty fun...although I have never been on such a ride. Mr. Pretty and I have been on many other rides, however, and we have had so much fun these past two weeks!

We have been on the Granddaughters Come for a Visit ride...which includes lots of playtime, outdoors and in...

...and knitting ALL THE THINGS the girls request!

We have been on the Full House ride, too. There is hardly a space left that has not been touched by tiny hands and toys everywhere...I love it!

We have been on the Birthday ride, which Pop Pop gave us a reason for!

And (maybe best of all this year) we have been to THE amusement park for all the thrill rides! Cedar Point is my happy place, as I went there every summer while I was growing up, and I have so many fond memories of fun, family, friends and fantastic thrills. More memories were made this year, for sure!

We got the girls on lots of fun rides, too!

What I learned, while watching them ride, is that it is sometimes easy to get a photos of your son and granddaughter on a round-and-round ride...

...and sometimes your very best round-and-round ride photo is a random kid in a green shirt (who is having a great time in car 9) instead of your daughter-in-law and granddaughter in car 12. lol!

The baby was easy to get photos of, and he had fun on the Mommy ride!

We even got Peanut on her first roller coaster, but I did not get a photo. I love pictures, you know that, but I do not love the prospect of losing my phone on a ride...sooooo no picture! But I did snap this one of both girls in line for the Tiki Twirl!

Cedar Point sure made for a fun day. We were all tired at the end, so it was time to head home to bed, but the girls got one last ride to the car!

All in all, this has been a great visit. We even got some new family photos, with all three cousins!

Wow! What a ride this visit has been, and so much fun! Today, the Colorado kids are on a plane home, so Pretty is a little sad, as per usual. But the girls have left me lists of their knitting requests, so at least I will have something to do while I wait for the next one.

Thanks for stopping by, friends!
I hope you are Knitting through your list in Good Health!

I Do Not Have a Problem

Somewhere along the knitting line, I got sucked into the stripey madness of Knit Picks Felici yarns. So, when I realized that there would be quite a bit of travel knitting time on our recent trip to see the kids, I hurried up and got myself some of the Punch Bug colorway to knit socks for the girls:

Mind you, I did not need new yarn. But this stuff is so soft, it is like the fur of the softest, stripey-est kittens when it is knit up, and the socks are tough and hold up very well to washing and wearing. Perfect for items that might end up in the dryer, or on little people... I started with this pair of socks for Peanut...

...and finished up with these little, shorty socks for a girl who sometimes fights mommy when it is time to put on socks and shoes!

Little socks are so much fun! Of course, big socks are fun too...and so are hats and scarves and sweaters and toys and...hmmm. My name is Pretty, and I knit. I knit quite a bit. In fact, every time I sit I knit! I was starting to wonder if if I have a problem, but I asked my knittahs, and they assured me that my knitting habit is completely fine. Whew! (Sweetie, on the other hand, thinks I have too much yarn... =^/)

If you also have a knitting habit, I would be happy to reassure you that you have everything under control...unless you truly do have a problem. If I should find that your yarn habit has become excessive, I will gladly take some of that stash off your hands...you know, just to help you. No, seriously, I want to help you...

Give Me Your Yarn! lol!

Thanks for stopping by, and for your support of my knitting habit. Knit in Good Health, and please drop off some pretty yarn at my house!

In the Margins

My hope for this week's post was to show you toys and socks and fingerless gloves, all on my needles because this should have been a light week in the mornings and evenings. There should have been a little more "margin" in our lives this week...you know, a little white space around the edges where we could take notes and just rest up a bit. However, on Monday night this was my view:

As it turns out, the bellyache that Sweetie had had all day, was not just a bad burrito. So, rather than sleeping peacefully and feeling much better on Tuesday, we took a trip to the ER. There they determined that this was the problem...

Yep, that's an appendix, and not a particularly healthy one. Turns out that surgery was the plan for Sweetie on Tuesday, so we spent that day in the hospital too. When he was out of surgery, he was eager to go home to recover...but first he had to keep down some "food" (or, you know, jello), which he did rather quickly, yay.

Much to our surprise, we then learned that an appendectomy means a 2-4 week recovery, even when done laparascopically! Take it very easy, no lifting anything over 10 pounds, heavy medication while the post-surgery pain persists. So our last few days have been spent medicating and finding comfortable positions for sleeping, sitting and stifling the pain. Extra pillows have been a plus, but boredom has reigned supreme for the poor guy! Apparently, one can only watch so much television...

Too bad he is not quite bored enough to learn to knit...I could have him work on some Christmas gifts for me while I am at work! Perhaps he will be bored enough for that next week...lol! At least I finished this cutie in time for her appearance at a birthday gathering before the appendix of doom made itself known!

All in all, even with the hiccup that a bad appendix has brought to our lives, we are still thankful that it was not anything worse. God is still good, and he got Sweetie in before the situation was dire, even though it has been very painful. We are thankful that the appendix did not burst, and that the surgery did not require more days of hospital recovery. We are thankful that he was healthy enough for surgery, and that there were no complications. We praise God that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and we are thankful to live in this age of modern medicine. 

Now, to get back to the knitting and napping that can make Saturday such a lovely day! I hope that you have some leisure, some margin, planned into your day and your weekend, and that your margin is not surgery induced!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Summertime Fun!

Summer holidays are about so many things...like meeting relatives for the first time,

and losing the wiffle ball on the first hit, then trying to avoid the temptation to hit Daddy with the bat while he retrieves the ball from under the deck!

They're about blowing bubbles in the sun with Auntie Dollface,

and napping very close to Mommy when you've had your fill of all that family!

The 4th of July brings opportunities to show your true (and very patriotic) colors,

and to jump and play and climb on the rocks, where the barn used to be!

Sometimes, there's a ride involved...hold on! Go, Pop Pop! Go!

And sometimes there's a quiet conversation with a cousin...a 1st cousin, once removed, perhaps?

Don't forget the ice cream headache! Slow down, Peanut!

All in all, it was a lovely celebration, and fun with family, although there is very little knitting with the girls around! Now, if you'll excuse me, there are two little granddaughters that need my attention, so I'm gonna sign out. I hope that your holiday weekend was good, and that the transition back to work wasn't too traumatic for you! ;o)

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

My Dream Come True

The 28th of February is not a special date. It comes around every year. Unlike the 29th of February, which we only see every 4th year, the 28th of February is very ordinary. 

I have an uncle who was born on the 29th of February (Happy Birthday, Uncle Bill!), and he is a twin! Pretty cool! He's around the same age as my mom and her sisters, but he's had less than 20 birthdays! Don't worry, he is celebrated every year, but those leap-days don't come around every year for the celebration.

A few years back, on a Saturday, Sweetie and I were talking. We were talking to a minister, in preparation for a wedding, and we were planning to get married in June. It was February 21st, another very ordinary day. We were eager to be Mr. & Mrs., and eventually I just blurted out, "Well, could we get married sooner? Like next Saturday?," and none of us could really come up with a good enough reason not to do that, so we did. We got married on February 28th, which turned that ordinary day into something quite special indeed. 

So, here it is, February 28th...again. Sweetie and I are still married, and we are pretty content with the cards life has dealt us. We are not the same crazy kids who got married "next Saturday" on a whim, but we do still enjoy our life together, and we occasionally still do crazy things. These days, crazy might be more staying out past 10 o'clock, and less like the "Hey, Baby! Let's go to Vegas!" of our youth, but as long as we're together, it's all good.  :)

Happy Anniversary, Sweetie!

No big plans for today...there has already been knitting (of course), 

and there may be some spinning (on that new TurtleMade spindle - I love it!)...

and Sweetie has promised to hang a new picture frame in the hall for me.

Yep. We are livin' the dream, baby!

What are YOUR real-life dreams-come-true? :)

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

The Cat(s) "Helped"

A couple summers ago, I made a t-shirt quilt for a friend. She offered to pay me to make the quilt for her daughter to take to college, and I got it done just in the nick of time...she loved it. :)

When my son-in-law Snake saw it, he asked Dollface if she thought I might make him one. "Of course!," I said, a year-and-a-half ago. I thought I could even get it done by Christmas (2012)! Then I had surgery...still, I had him bring me his shirts, and I told him I'd get it done as soon as I could. I think I lied...either that or I am a really bad estimator of how long I will procrastinate on a project, because I did not actually start this thing until after Christmas 2013!!! It was then that I finally got out his t-shirts to see how many? what size? colors? and the cat "helped..."

Then I cut off the sleeves and put them aside until New Year's Day (day off work) when I started the cutting, interfacing and finally sewing the top together! I finished the top that night (yay!),and the next day, the day that knit night was cancelled for snow (boo!), I laid it all out to cut the fleece to size for the backing, and the cat "helped..."

I pinned it together, and the cats "helped..."

Then I bound the fleece around the edges, sewed on buttons and added quilting ties to the centers of the shirts, and (you guessed it) the cat "helped!"

Overall, I'll call it a success, and he loves it!

And the cats are so very "helpful." When it was all done, I took a moment to decompress, and I knitted up a quick pair of Peanut socks. The cat modeled them, kinda...

I even added a little non-skid to the bottoms, so her little feet don't slip and slide too much!

One thing that none of the cats were very helpful with was this hexipuff...

...which I knit while Sweetie was helping Snake and Dollface install their first ceiling fan!

Of course, I didn't help much with the fan either, but let's not throw stones, ok? Ok, and I think we are all caught up now...phew! What a lot of activity there has been in my Pretty World lately! Now I think it's time to get to work so I can get home and work on a sweater (or two)!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit (and sew, and install ceiling fans) in Good Health!

What Cats Do?

A couple weekends ago, The Pretties went downtown for an adventure.

In general, I can't help but wonder what the cats do when the Pretties are not in the house, so I set up some surveillance this day...and here's what I found. First, there seems to actually be a lot of this:

No photo evidence of the other one napping on this particular day, but they are lazy kitties, to be sure. I am sure they both napped! But, I also found some of this:

White Cat: What are you doing NAPPING?!?

Black Cat: ZOMGosh, White Cat! You did NOT just wake me up!

White Cat: So what if I did?!?

Black Cat: So what if you DID?!? You did NOT just say that! I'll show you "So what?!?"...

Seriously? Napping and wrestling, that's all they did? How lame...and how is it that I don't notice this behavior at all when we're home??? 

Ohhhhh...that's right...the knitting. Always with the knitting, and taking pictures of the knitting. I probably miss a LOT of things around the house when I'm knitting. Hmmmmm, I suppose it has to be the knitting.

Well, it's either that or the mind control...

White Cat (quietly): Are your eyes on?

Black Cat (less quietly): Mine are on...are YOURS?!?

Pretty: What are you two up to???

Both cats (in unison): You see nothing...nothing out of the ordinary heeere. Hummmmm...

Pretty (in a monotone drone): Yeahhhhh...nothing... Nothing out of the ordinaryyy....

(Pretty exits, stage right, in a daze...shakes head a little)

What was I talking about again? Nevermind. I'm sure it doesn't really matter anyway.

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!