Lord, Help Us Merge!

I was raised Catholic, but I am no longer a good, Catholic girl. I think I am still kindof a good girl (or at least, I try to be), and I have a strong Christian faith, but the Catholic church is a place that I walked away from a long time ago. Don't get me wrong, I do not hate the Catholic church, and I am very thankful to my mother and grandparents for their efforts to make sure that I was raised in the way I should be. But somewhere around the time I should have made my confirmation (I am pretty sure I was 13 or 14), I realized that I needed to find my own way. I was not confirmed, and I stopped going to church, which made my parents and grandparents very nervous. Still, I looked for God in the everyday, and I found him.

Between then and now, I got married, had a couple kids, and life moved right along. Somewhere in my late-twenties, as I realized I was still looking for God, I started to attend a Christian church with some friends. Eventually, I accepted Christ and was baptized into Him, completing the conversion that I had abandoned over a decade earlier. I do not discount my parents' decision to have me baptized as an infant, and to then do their best to bring me up through my First Holy Communion and all the other sacraments...I just needed the decision to be mine, rather than theirs. I suppose I was a little Miss Independent, way before Kelly Clarkson was an American Idol!

These days, my faith is strong. I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and He is my Lord and Savior. And even though I am not a practicing Catholic, I fall back to some of the words and traditions I was raised on in weekly mass, often without thinking about it. When communion is passed at my church each week, I silently repeat in my head, "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word, and I shall be healed." When I shake hands with friends and newcomers, often at the request of the man with the microphone up front, I hear, "Peace be with you!," in my brain as I smile and say, "Good morning!" (Side note: Once in a while, Neal will ask us to say something specific as we greet one another...so occasionally I smile and say, "Purple is my favorite color!," or, "I love sweet potatoes!," or something like that.) 

Sometimes, I catch myself using a familiar cadence in a daily prayer, even though the words are different. For instance, when I have to drive on the highway (which is one of my least favorite things to do) I usually say out loud, as I accelerate through the on-ramp, "Lord, help us merge!" This is not quite the same as answering back, "Lord, hear our prayers," after the priest lifts a request followed by, "We pray to the Lord...," but that comforting cadence is there. "Lord, help us merge," I say for every car on the entrance ramp with me, as we approach the place where any driver on the highway may choose to block that outside lane and make the merging difficult for those of us just starting out. Lord, help us merge so we can get to work! 

I was telling a friend about my "Lord, help us merge!" prayer the other day, and she said that this sounds like a pretty good life motto. You know what? She's right. Lord, help us merge our pasts and our present selves each day, so that our futures can be full of new opportunities, rather than regrets. Lord, help us merge our families in such ways that newlyweds feel only love from parents and in-laws alike, so they can pass that love onto future generations. Lord, help us merge our family and work in such a way that each member of the family is taken care of physically, financially and emotionally. Lord, help us merge our ideals and ideologies in such a way that we can be more loving to the people around us, whether we agree with their opinions or not. Lord, help us merge our spiritual selves into this concrete world, employing worldly tools to build up and care for delicate souls and hearts. Lord, help us merge. You're right, Kim. Pretty good life motto!

Oh! I've got one more...Lord, help us merge our knitting and our free time, so that we are not neglecting loved ones in the room for loved ones not even born yet! lol! Exhibit A: Baby Sweater for a baby nowhere near ready to be born yet...but I just could not. stop. knitting! Had to finish, because GAH! The cute!

So, there. Now I've merged opinion and knitting into my blogging, too! It's an all-in-one kind of rainy day here in my neck of Blogland. I hope you that are finding some sunshine and merging well, in all areas of your life!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Playing Favorites

Bolstered by my favorite morning cats and coffee,

and my favorite donut (from my favorite donut shop),

I think I found my new favorite baby sweater this week!

I've had the Baby Sophisticate pattern in my Ravelry queue for some time. Last Saturday, I cast on a cute little hat, and then followed with a sophisticated sweater to match! I love the way they turned out, and I plan to cast on another today! It is like springtime around here, with all the new babies and pregnant friends, so I think I may actually knit a few of these before I am done. (This would not be a new concept for me...lol!)

May I present Exhibit A?

Just a few of the baby booties I have recently knit, from my favorite Bootie Pattern...and Exhibit B, just a few of the baby hats I've knit this year. I do tend to knit multiples when I find a favorite pattern. When I have cute, little baby things to give away after the knitting is done, well...that's just a bonus!

Do you have a favorite pattern? Yarn? Donut? Cat? I'd love to hear about some of your favorites in the comments!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit (your favorite things) in Good Health!

All About Yarn...and more!

I told you to ask, and you did not disappoint! And, since you asked...

Pajamapat wants to know about the Thank You Scarves - 

The worsted-weight yarn I used was from Heirlooms, or Scandanavia Knit and Weave, and the colorway was Hemmingway! I have some more in my stash, in a different color...one with some pink. I did not see a link to this yarn anywhere on Ravelry, and since I bought it at the Great Lakes Fiber Show in 2015, I'm not sure it's even available online...but I have given you a link, and I hope you can find it! It was a little rough while knitting, but softened up nicely after a wash!

Tom - If you have not figured out where babies come from yet, I think you should consult the internet. All of the information on the internet is helpful and good. Good luck with that.

Debbie asked what my favorite "guilty pleasure" food is, and I answered on Facebook that it was Ramen Noodles. Now, that very much IS a guilty pleasure food for me, and I don't have them often (read the label...these are TERRIBLE for you!), but then I got to thinking...they're probably not my favorite guilty pleasure. That position should be reserved for chocolate-creme-filled donuts from Donut Land, in Brunswick, where I grew up. As a kid, we had Donut Land donuts more often than we should have, I am sure, and that is my favorite donut in the universe. Yes, hands down, there is no better donut. (Hmmm, I feel more strongly about that than I probably should. It's a good thing I don't live too close...lol!) These days, I don't live around the corner, and I have that donut only every few years...I am thankful that I got one in 2016. It may have been the highlight of my year!

Lauren asked, "What is your favorite yarn to work with?," and this was, by far, the most difficult question I got this round! Usually, my favorite yarn to work with is the one I have in my hands! I am truly not that picky, and I will knit with just about anything, so I really put on my thinking cap and went through my projects to jog my memory. Good News! I have an answer! Well, actually, I came up with a couple answers, because you just cannot use the same yarn for every project. So, here you go, Lauren:

For any DK-weight project that I really care about, I will seek out some Destination Yarn in the Souvenir base! This is the softest, squishiest, superwash I have ever worked with, and I just love everything I've made with it! There have been a couple of shrugs for the girls, 

a hat or two, 

and some other things. You can get this yarn online at Jeanne's Etsy Shop, or you can see her in person at some local yarn stores and festivals from time to time. She's got great colors in so many varieties...there are not enough hours in the day, week, month, or year to knit all of her fabulousness! Honestly, check her out!

For socks, hats and other fingering-weight projects, I will always tend toward Knit Picks yarns! My current favorite there is Felici, a self-striping yarn that comes out with new colors each year. If you're going to make something that takes more than one skein, make sure to get enough up front, because even though they may get more of the same "colorway" next year, something is likely to be a little different...the stripes may be wider or narrower, or the color sequence may be slightly different. But, in any case, this stuff knits like a dream, wears like iron, and is as soft as butter! I fondled many of my friends' socks-in-progress before I finally jumped in to this pool, but I currently have socks in about 6 of the colorways, and there are at least that many in my stash, just waiting to become something fun! FYI, Felici makes really fun baby booties,

and mittens!

Whew! That wasn't a lot of questions, but they were difficult ones. Thanks for asking! You guys should get credit for writing the blog today, so thank you to Debbie, Tom, Lauren and pajamapat!

I'm still working on my Hitofude, (in Shimmer, a hand-dyed, alpaca/silk blend lace-weight yarn that is lovely to work with...sorry, this colorway is discontinued...),

and some other things...and this holiday weekend should give me a little extra knitting time...yay! I hope you also have some fun plans, especially if you have an extra day off on Monday.

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Ask Me Anything!

Back in June, I mentioned that I was thankful, especially to a good friend who had given me a job. I also mentioned there that the job might be temporary, covering for a gal's maternity leave...and it will indeed be temporary. She will return to the office mid-September, and I am glad for her. A young family with a new baby girl and a solid job with a great boss...what a package!

What this means for Pretty is that I am hitting the pavement to find a new job, with my boss's help. Again, so thankful for Chuck...he is a State Farm agent, and since I have become licensed and have really started to understand the company software, he has reached out to a handful of other State Farm agents in the area with whom I have set up some interviews. As a matter of fact, between Tuesday and Thursday, I had 3 interviews...and I have one more scheduled this week! The interviews have gone well, and I have a good feeling about my future. 

Thank you, Chuck! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

In the course of my first three interviews, I answered a lot of questions. A. Lot. of. Questions. But that got me thinking... Here I am, answering lots of questions about who I am to perfect strangers. I wonder if the folks I know have any questions about Pretty? Since I tend toward over-sharing, TMI and "Wow! We really didn't need to know that much about your underwear size, Pretty!" (which is, in essence, why I blog), I don't know if there are any questions left even. 

Have you ever had a question about Pretty? About her knitting? About anything? Leave me a comment, or shoot me an email (prettyknittyjewelry at yahoo dot com) and if I know the answer, I'll blog it! Heck! I'll probably blog it even if I don't have an answer, because 1. I love research, so I am likely to find an answer that I don't have floating in my brain already; and 2. I like to talk - a lot. I like to talk a lot! :)

If there are no questions, I'll just blog about knitting. 

Speaking of knitting, I'll bet the first question that comes to mind for most knitting-blog readers is this: "What are you knitting, Pretty?" So, here you are:

A thank you scarf for a boss/friend who has poured wisdom and knowledge into me, even though I an a "temporary" hire. He saw me floundering about between jobs and, realizing he could help, called me and offered me a place. He also offered encouragement, company training, and much grace as I have started to learn the insurance industry. I don't possess enough words to express my appreciation for all of that, so I simply could not NOT knit for this guy (and there was a second for his son, who also works in his dad's office and was a tremendous encouragement to me)!

There is also some secret knitting...but I can show you this photo:

That doesn't give too much away, right? Oh, you know what it does give away? It's not really knitting...it is crochet! (Good eye, to those of you that caught that!!!) Sometime this fall, there will be more photos, and I'm sure there will be a fairly major reveal. Until then, I'll try to get some progress photos of a certain Hitofude to hold you over. 

So, there you have it. If you have a question, leave it below, or email me. If not, I will blog about knitting...and speaking of knitting (and crochet), I had better get back to it! Christmas is only 4 months away!!!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Hit me, Fude!

August is two-thirds over, I realized when I woke up this morning. I also realized that I have not started my Christmas knitting. I have not even started to plan my Christmas knitting. This is odd for me, and for many of the "I-have-to-have-a-plan" knitters I know! With handcrafts, you either start 6 moths early, or you stay up until the wee hours from Thanksgiving on, putting off sleep until January and begging Santa for more time on Christmas Eve at midnight! 

::What are you gonna do, Pretty?::

Well, that's a great question. I think I will go off script a bit, and forget about that revelation. There is a knit within my queue that I have longed to cast on for about 3 years. Last night, in front of the women's 4x1 on the Olympic track, I finally cast on that knit. (By the way, go United States Ladies! And go ME!) I am barely 3 rows into the knitting (the cast on was 2.5 bazillion stitches, by the way), but I am already loving the feel of this alpaca/silk blend!

The yarn is a discontinued* Knit Picks lace, called Shimmer, and the color is Happy Dance...how fun is that? I know, pretty fun!!! I have had 2 skeins of this yarn in my stash for about forever...well, about 9 years anyway, and it sings to me! I've known for some time that I wanted it to become this Hitofude (pronounced 'hit-oh-foo-day') lace cardigan, but two skeins was not enough...no way, no how! Well, after suggesting that a friend look for more yarn via the good folks at Ravelry, I kicked myself in the pants and did just that. Bonus, I got a really quick response from the first person I messaged, and my yarn is ON ITS WAY HERE - Yayyyyyy! I love Ravelry!!! I will have plenty of yarn for this knit, and I will do a Happy Dance in my new sweater when it is finished! I wonder when that will be?

Have you started to think about your holiday knitting? Have you started your holiday knitting? Or will you, like me, be begging Santa for more time on December 24th? lol!

Whatever your plans may be, thanks for stopping by today, and Knit in Good Health!

*Shimmer colorways have been discontinued for years, but if you are the dyeing kind (or you like off-white a lot), you can still get the base yarn in natural over at Knit Picks.