My New Year's Resolution

It's just after 10:00 on a Wednesday. ALL of my clothing is either in my closet, in my chest of drawers, in my hamper or on me - the laundry baskets are empty, for the first time since I moved into this house!! Along with that, about half of my yarn is put away in my new cubbies. I feel at least one step closer to being truly organized. :)
I usually don't do New Year's resolutions. Who keeps them, really? If you have some great new idea for how to do or not do something, why wait till the New Year? Well, a good friend of mine posted a few on Facebook today (10 actually... she can be intense like that) and one really caught my eye as to how simple and impactful it would be: to not buy any clothes. Now, as much as I love shopping for new clothes, I've always held a lot of pride in the deals I've gotten -- always buy off the clearance rack at 70-80% off... BOGO sales ... loss leader sales. I refuse to spend tons of money for clothes. The prospect of not buying any new clothes at all struck me as interesting because it made me think of how much it might spark a new dynamic of creativity in my sense of style - in mixing and matching, mending, altering, making new clothes & accessories. Possibilities are endless. This might even be a new motivation in finishing some of my knitting projects ;)
So here goes... almost 5 days late in setting it, but at least I haven't broken it yet. I will not buy any new clothes this year - I will buy thrift store jeans only when necessary (I tend to wear through jeans a lot!!).
I believe this is tangible enough to actually stick to!

A Little Experiment

Happy New Year!!! First day of twenty twelve has been a pretty fabulous one indeed. I believe this may have been the laziest weekend I've experienced in a while.

So I decided to do a little experiment today. It was overcast - borderline boring when it comes to cloud formations. But it still had that beautiful silvery sheen floating across the sky. After meeting with a good friend and going grocery shopping, I decided to go back to that one spot I shot pictures on Friday. I wanted to see if I could still take a lovely picture :) and that, I did. When it comes to capturing God's light - there's a fine line between waiting on God to reveal His glorious majesty and just searching for and finding it in everyday details. I have to admit, that line is still one big mystery to me. Kind of an exciting one.


"It is the glory of God to conceal things, 
   but the glory of kings is to search things out. 
As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, 
   so the heart of kings is unsearchable." {Proverbs 25:2-3}


So after that little excursion, I came home, brewed up some deliciously strong dark roast coffee and got out my Monkey Fingerless Mitts I've been working on. I've been ignoring this project because I got to the inevitable thumb gusset part and have just been procrastinating. I really want to wear these mitts at work though, so I can't hold off too much longer. Hopefully the left hand will work up faster than the right hand :) and for the record - this is only my second attempted project with this specific yarn - Alpaca Direct's very own 90% baby alpaca 10% silk blend.

Reflections over Knitting

Why is it that I knit? That's a good question, really. Is it because making things are cheaper than buying them? Nope, not with the kind of yarn I use! Is it because I like giving and having things that I made with my very own hands? Partly, but if that was it then I would finish more projects in a more efficient manner! Is it because I think it's cute and trendy to knit? Well yes, that's how I got started... (although, I get a lot of "isn't that what little old grandmas do?" from people so it might not be quite as trendy as I think it is). Is it a good reflective and therapeutic activity?? I think that is one of the biggest reasons why I knit - along with just loving the feel and colors of fibers. They excite me. I love the stitches too. Simple stockinette, supple moss stitch, wandering lace and overlapping cables. So many ways to be creative!!!
Alright, so onto the details of the real reason why I knit - it's a good "deep thinking" and/or "conversational" kind of activity - same as throwing pottery, but with less expensive equipment. Driving kinda does it for me too. And editing pictures. So when you see one of my knitted projects, or pieces of pottery, or a picture that I took in a near or distant land... you can trust that many thoughts, reflections and/or conversations went into that piece. Every stitch, every finger ridge, every pixel contains a precious little bit of my mind and heart and soul. This is what makes it the most worthwhile.
So yesterday, I took a drive. It was a short one, but substantial nonetheless - with a continuation of thoughts from my drive to and from Montana. On my trip, God revealed to me a lot of things about how hard I work to sustain my own comfort level - only compromising it for my own recreational purposes or if it is "convenient" to do so for the purposes of comforting others. I slept in the snowy forest for "fun", then spent the night in a motel, and then drove all the way home a day early all so that I could spend the last night of my three day weekend in my own warm comfy bed. On my drive yesterday I got to thinking about all that and if I will ever put action behind what God revealed to me. So many of us just say, "Well, it's the thought that counts"... especially when it comes to gift-giving. Also goes the saying... "God knows our hearts" and there is an extreme amount of truth to that. So where's the bridge between what's on our minds and hearts and translating that into action that matters? So many of my prayers these days have to do with how and why I love people - is it for my glory or God's glory? What would happen if all the incentives for loving others were suddenly removed, would I/could I still love?
At some point, I think we can all have faith to really know that He accomplished through His Blood what mere following of rules, regulations and sacrifices could not do - Cleansed our consciences and our hearts so that He can write His perfect will, imbed it, into the very fiber of our being (Hebrews 10) just as clearly as He has engraved us on the palm of His hand (Isaiah 49:16). Christ's extravagant love for us inspires our extravagant obedience in response as we encounter circumstances that literally cause our head knowlegde of God to work it's way down into our hearts. We display the glory of God best when we realize our identity in Him and embrace His word (Psalm 19).
Many times, I believe our follow through takes His Perfect Timing too. There has been a certain spot up near Green Bluff, just west of the traffic circle on Day-Mt Spokane Road. The rolling hills dive into this winding irrigation ditch - very beautiful when the light hits it just right. Every time I drive by I think about how much I want to take a picture of it, but every time I'm either too busy, or it's too dark, or too overcast and it doesn't look pretty enough for me to take a picture. There have even been times where I set out to take pictures up there, but I went somewhere else instead. So yesterday I finally did it. I was driving by and almost just went on my way, but I stopped. The sunlight was gorgeous. Partly cloudy and the soft sunlight hitting the hills just right. What a beautiful piece of God's redemption for my delay in taking that picture. 
I also went to Starbucks to sit and knit. I wanted to go to Rocket, but they were crowded. Starbucks was fine. I started a scarf with yarn that I've started to knit a scarf with several times.... only to take it out and roll it back up again. I put many thoughts into the cable pattern I was knitting while I was there, related to what I've written about in this post, wondering if this was really the time for this yarn to become a scarf. At the end of my time there at Starbucks, I quickly unraveled the scarf, rolled it back up into a ball and went home.
Do those thoughts count??

My Epic Mountainous Christmas Adventure.... and it's only day #2

Merry Christmas Eve!!!


"And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn." {Luke 2:4-7}

There is just something utterly romantic about being a lone traveler over Christmas. No, I'm not talking about traveling to see family, while that is always nice. But something a little more uncommon. The thought that it is "ok" to spend a Christmas alone is a very curious thought to almost everyone. It was certainly for me. My parents were talking about going to New York City for Christmas, but I had already planned my trip for New York in October and did not have any more vacay time at work. It wasn't until early November that I started thinking about what I was going to do for 3 glorious days on my own while everyone else had their own festivities to attend.... why not another mountain adventure?? Of course with this white slippery stuff called snow and below freezing temps, might be a teensy bit more difficult. Alas, I could not think of a better way to spend Christmas than to get away from all the distractions and materialism of the holiday season and subject myself to bitter cold temps and spectacular mountain views of the Bitterroot Mountains in Montana. Someplace I had heard a lot about from my grandmother, but never gone before.

So. Here I am. I left after I got off work yesterday. I took the long way to get here - down Highway 95 to Lewiston then through the gorgeous Clearwater National Forest on Highway 12. I spent the night parked at a trailhead in the forest - I flattened down the backseat of my Chevy Malibu Maxx, blew up an air mattress and bundled myself and my little dog up in two sleeping bags. Yep. It was a tad chilly to say the least. My little dog helped keep me warm and vice versa. I woke up in the morning and did not want to leave my sleeping bag, neither did my little dog. Finally got it together to get going about 8:30ish. My phone was literally too frozen to take a charge. Drove the rest of the way through the forest and stopped at Lochsa Lodge to use their restroom, change and got a cup of coffee. I then continued over Lolo Pass and into the Bitterroot Valley. 

After exploring the Valley a bit, the mountains started calling my name so I started up this small country road... that turned into a mountain road... and I just went up and up and up and up until I noticed that my car was slipping around a little too much on the ice, so I decided to turn around. Big mistake. The place I choose to turn around was perhaps the most precarious place to do so. I would have to make a several point turn with one side being an almost vertical mountainside and the other side being an almost vertical dropoff. I found myself high centered on the snowbank, half my car on the road, the other half in the ditch and it wasn't going anywhere. To "gun it" would have sent me flying off the side of the mountain. eeek! I tried pushing my car and even digging it out with nifty little shovel/pick axe that just happens to be in my car. After talking with daddy.... I called for a tow and then took pictures just as the sun broke through the clouds across the valley. 

After getting off the mountain, I explored a bit more, then settled into this cute little motel room where I am just chillin' and knittin' ... and bloggin' :)

This is the mountain I got stuck on:

And here is a cute little holiday tune about another Christmas traveler:

:)

Randomness.... with pictures

This is what my life has been lately. Between work, church, Bible Study, random trips, random time with friends, random adventures, a lot of coffee, aaaaand just a little bit of random down times where I can knit, I have a few pictures to show for it all.

At the beginning of last month, November - yes, it has been that long, o my gosh - I went on a short little trip to the Oregon Coast. Went with a couple girlfriends and we had a blast fellowshipping, drinking coffee, frolicking on the beach, and even did a little yarnshopping! We went to this little shop in Cannon Beach, Coastal yarns where I bought some yarn and so did one of my friends. Then I taught her how to knit with it over coffee. Very fun time!!
So in case you were wondering, I bought some gorgeously red hand-dyed merino yarn - Madelinetosh Tosh Merino in "tart". It's pretty awesome. My friend bought three skeins of some kind of silk/alpaca yarn in very Autumnal colors - yellow, orange and white to make a striped scarf. Sorry, don't have have the exact deets on the yarn. But it's all very pretty and I got pictures!

Did I mention we had fun at the beach?? :)

I also had a birthday where my mom got me cubbies for my yarn! They are set up, but no organization has taken place yet...

Other than that, I have been wishing for snow and going on adventures looking for snow with varying success. 

Cataldo Mission in North Idaho

Lake Cocolalla in North Idaho, covered in snow and ice

I do have a few knitting projects in progress ~ one is a very cute dishcloth that I do not have a picture of. The other two, I'm a little too lazy right now to get out my real camera to take a picture, but I have an I-pod picture to share! I'm knitting a striped garter stitch scarf with the yarn I got in New York and some lace fingerless hand warmers with some alpaca I bought at Alpaca Direct in Hayden, ID - the pattern is Monkey Fingerless Mitts, a free pattern on Ravelry.

One more random thing - I'm going on a mountain adventure for Christmas!! My family has left for New York and will be gone this whole week, so I thought I'd take my three day weekend and go do something fun. I will be going to explore the Clearwater National Forest in Idaho and Bitterroot Valley in Montana and hoping I do not freeze to death!! I fully believe that knitting and the body heat of my little dog will keep this from happening!

My Cozy New England Autumn Scarf

and that's what it is - took me a while to figure out a name for it. But it's cozy, and I knit it for my cousin who resides in New England, it's currently Autumn, and it's a pretty scarf. My mom passed along this delightfully chunky Malibrigo in "Red Java" a while ago and a few weeks ago, I decided to pick it up and do something with it. I started it as a scarf for myself, but after seeing how quickly I was able to knit it up, I knew I could have it done by the time I went to Rhode Island. (See, this is the only way I can actually get anything done - knitting for someone else and having a timeline!) My cousin has always wanted me to knit her something, so I knew this was going to be perfect for her!! :) I diligently knitted stitch by stitch, row by row, cable twist by cable twist, right up until the night before I was going to see her. I was in Manhattan at my grandparent's apartment when I finished and was grateful for the little bit of counter-space in the back of their apartment that was just the perfect size to block it! It was dry by morning! Tucked it into my little suitcase for the 3 1/2 hour trek up to Providence, RI and after a little Thai food, a chill folk concert, and settling into her guest room, a.k.a. her living room/computer room, I presented the scarf to her with a smile; she was delighted and wore it for the rest of the weekend. This made my heart very happy.

Now, here's to remembering how I made it!

I believe I started out casting on 20 stitches of chunky weight yarn onto size 13 needles
knit across one row then started the cable pattern:
(panel of 14 stitches + 6 stitches for selvage.)
Row 1 and all other WS rows: k1, p2, k1, p12, k1, p2, slip last stitch
Row 2: k3, p1, 2/2 LC, k4, 2/2 RC, p1, k2, slip last stitch
Row 4: k3, p1, k2, 2/2 LC, 2/2 RC, k2, p1, k2, slip last stitch
Row 6: k3, p1, k4, 2/2 LC, k4, p1, k2, slip last stitch
Repeat rows 1-6 until you've reached desired length, knit across one row, then bind off one row
Tuck in ends and block

and in case you don't know what any of this means:
WS = wrong side

k = knit
p = purl

2/2 LC = 2/2 Left Cross
slip 2 stitches onto a cable needle and hold in front of work, knit next two stitches from left hand needle, knit the two stitches from the cable needle.

2/2 RC = 2/2 Right Cross
slip 2 stitches onto a cable needle and hold in back of work, knit next two stitches from left hand needle, knit the two stitches from the cable needle.

This scarf is best enjoyed on a blustery Fall day with a cup of tea. :)

I'm Back!

From my trip to the Northeast, that is... Well, I've been back, for a little over a week. Thought it be about time that I write about my trip! This was my first time traveling to New York without my parents and little brother, so I was a little nervous about it - but I'm glad I got a chance to venture out into the city on my own!!

I arrived in New York City Wednesday morning, about 9:00am EDT, after an overnight flight in. I took a little bit of a nap when I got to my grandparent's apartment, then spent the afternoon and evening catching up with them and just relaxing! The next day, I decided to explore a little bit of Manhattan. I walked up to the Starbucks on 78th and Lexington, got my SF vanilla latte and headed over a few blocks to Central Park. This was most fantastic! I got to sip my latte and knit and just enjoy the amazing-ness that is Central Park! I wandered through the park taking pictures, stopped to listen to some street musicians, had some Swedes ask me about the settings of their camera that was the same model as mine... except it was in their language, so, uh, I really couldn't help them... then meandered up 5th Ave to Rockefeller Center.

 

From there, I decided it was time to check out a yarn shop! So I hopped on the subway, made my way down to SoHo and visited a lovely little yarn shop called Purl SoHo. Very bright and trendy shop - they seemed to have a lot of merino wool and alpaca, some exotics, and some of the artsy novelty yarns. Very fun place. I purchased two skeins of 100% baby alpaca by Blue Sky Alpacas - sport weight in "Petal"' and "Cappuccino". I've already started knitting a lattice lace scarf with them :) I walked out of the shop without them wound, then got halfway down the block and decided to go back and have them wind up the skeins for me. When I was waiting for my yarn, I spotted a project I've seen on the Purl Bee: Whits Knits Colorblock Wand Warmers. I adore these hand warmers and would love to make them some time. Although, I would probably go for some kind of self-striping yarn in this same color combo, because buying all four colors of yarn would be a little spendy for me. Alas, I was so blessed to see those there at Purl SoHo. Upon leaving the shop, I realized I had a voice-mail from my grandmother asking where I was, so I made my way back up to their apartment on 73rd and Lexington, and spent the remainder of the afternoon/evening finishing up and blocking the scarf I knitted for my cousin! Got it finished just in time!

The next day, Friday, I rode the MegaBus up to Providence, Rhode Island to see my cousin who is a PhD student in the econ program at Brown University. She was organizing a folk concert featuring her good friend, Anthony da Costa and his friend, Anna Vogelzang. We had Thai food and spent the evening enjoying wonderful music. When we got back to her apartment for the night I presented her with her newly knitted scarf and she loved it and wore it the whole weekend! We spent our Saturday doing pilates, having gluten free pancakes & bacon (YUM!), walking around the Brown campus, shopping, and hanging out with her economist friends! What a delightful time! :) The next day, we tried to hit up brunch at this place in the hipster part of Providence known for their giant mimosas and awesome hashes. After waiting too long though, we decided to instead have brunch at an Italian deli. I then rode the bus back the NYC just in time to enjoy a scrumptious dinner with my grandparents, my aunt and another cousin of mine and her boyfriend.

Monday, I took the subway down to Brooklyn and spent the day with her on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, taking pictures of downtown Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge. We had lunch at a pub then did a little shopping, making it back to Manhattan just in time for dinner. The next morning was my last in New York and I spent it wandering around my grandparent's neighborhood. I went to a yarn shop called String that was just a few blocks south of their apartment between Park and Madison Ave. Very upscale, indeed :) They feature quite a lot of cashmere and cashmere blends. The staff was very helpful and it was fun to browse their fibers and their finished knitted projects. They offered free patterns with yarn purchase. I bought a small skein of merino/cashmere/nylon blend in "Shadow" - I think I will call them and order another skein or two, should be really fun yarn to work with! Once I got back to the apartment, it was time for me to make sure I had all my stuff together and flag a cab to LGA to catch my plane home.