Blogging for Books

I love books, I love knitting so I am over the top about books about knitting! I was introduced to this site Blogging for books by fellow blogger Becca Forrest. She reviews a book here. This site Blogging for Books seems a perfect fit!

 

 

The minute I received this book I was enthralled. The first thing that caught my eye was the beautiful way this book was illustrated. Beautiful pictures grace the pages inviting the reader to pick up a ball of yarn and needles and get started. The easy to understand instructions combined with the fact that the projected are small, just a block at a time, invite knitters of every skill level to begin a project.

From skulls to roses, Celtic patterns to country stars this book has a little of something for every one.

 

 

I am an experienced knitter in my 50’s and my niece is a beginner in her teens, we both found many patterns we loved.

 

 

This book is a definite must have for every knitters library. I highly recommend this book for knitters of every skill level.

 

You can learn more about the author and this book here.

, “I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.”

Memory Blanket

I retreat to her old comfy 70’s orange chair, “her arms” in the form of a brightly colored blanket wrapped around me. (My grandmother crocheted most of her life, I have many bright blankets from her hands.)

When missing my son washes over me like strong ocean waves, this is where I go. This room bathed in the morning sun, surrounded by the colors of the rainbow in the form of yarn is the place I go to let a little more healing happen. I pick up the project that I only work on at these times. I knit and remember. I let myself miss him. I let myself grieve.  Here I am surrounded by my favorite things and memories, it is my quiet place.

This project is washed with my tears prayers, and long hours of loving memories. It is many colors, dark and stormy blacks and purples, happy cheerful pinks, yellows and blues. Someday this will be a blanket of memories and healing.

Thankfulness continuing . . .

I am behind again, so here I go catching up, thankful again for the quiet mornings that allow for reflection.

Thirteen: This may seem a little strange, I am grateful for knitting. I can’t tell you what this simple act does for my mind and soul. There were days after Jason passed that the simpleness of knit, purl, knit, purl were what kept me sane. I am so grateful God gave me an activity that calms me and is so rewarding at the same time.

Fourteen: Technology isn’t it a wonderful thing? In this day and age we can connect to people everywhere. I can keep up with my family far away, I have made many new friends that I will probably never meet on earth. It is an amazing thing.

Fifteen: Music, I am sitting here this morning worshiping with some of the most beautiful music playing in the background. I can not imagine what this world would be like with out music.

Sixteen: I’m going to be a little silly here but I am  thankful for coffee. I love the comfort of holding the warm mug while collecting my thoughts in these quiet mornings. The feeling of the warm liquid passing through my mouth and down my throat. Oh, and the smell, yum.

Seventeen: I am thankful for the rain we are having, it means flowers in the spring. We are about to get a lot of this rain, it makes for cozy afternoons sitting next to the love of my life.

Eighteen: I am really thankful for naps, it is a wonderful feeling, curling up beside Tim in the afternoon and feeling his arm around me while a drift off. I love afternoon naps.

Borrowed Idea – Virtual Coffee Date

Good Morning Friends –

I have been connecting with many of you on IG, I have often wished we could meet in person, or that a bunch of us could sit around a wonderful coffee house and get to chat with each other. I am going to borrow an idea that Tammy from Paper Coterie planted in my head. she directed me to this blog and I thought that maybe I could do this too. So grab a cup of coffee or tea, or a glass of wine and lets chat.

These last few months have been such a journey for me and I am just beginning to feel right side up again. I miss things about me that I have put down due to lack of energy, drive, and just needing to take the time to heal. In the next few weeks I want to be more purposeful about picking up some of those things.

One big thing I miss is my camera, I want to take time to “date” my camera again. Take long walks with nothing in mind but capturing the beauty of life that surrounds me every day.

I want to record in my blog and smash book more of what I am feeling or doing in the moment. The title is Sporadic Blogger for a reason, I am not that great at keeping up on it. But I look back over these last few months and wish a little bit I had written more down.

My one big dream at the moment is to start a jewelry business. I am messing around with some ideas and testing some things, not quite ready to go with it yet.

Work is crazy right now, budget cuts, re-consolidations, bleh – it sucks the energy and creativity right out of me at times. I am looking for ways to minimize that, but it is tough some days to do more than come home, cook dinner and stare at the TV.

One thing that has not suffered over the last few months is my knitting, so many days this is what got me through the day. I find as I am healing it is not such an obsession but still a calming thing for hectic days.

All in all I feel blessed and content with this life I have been given. I have an amazing husband who is supportive in all ways. He is the love of my life given to me at just the right time. We met about 4 and a half years ago and have been married 2 and a half years. I am still amazed that we found each other. My daughter, Chelsey, is an wonderful woman, much more grounded than I was at her age.

Tell me about you – your dreams, your loves, what keeps you going each day. I hope to hear from you –

feeling normal and root canal

I am not sure when it happened, it was kinda like a light switch with a dimmer control.

But I came to the realization that I feel more like me. Not so dark and burdened down.

Lighter is the word that comes to me.

Like the beginning of spring emerging from a dark winter. The hope felt, is that summer is within site.

Yesterday was my 5th and final root canal – this one kicked my “you know what”. Every one before has made me sick but this one – wow.

This is my pre-root canal knitting to help calm my nerves.

This is my post root canal recovery knitting. It just calms me.

I’m still here

I have written many blogs in my head over these last few months, just could not get them actually written here. So much to write, too much emotion to write it.

I feel like I turned a small corner in the healing process this weekend. No particular reason that I can think of but I feel better, more healed. I have been compulsively knitting since August. It has kept me from thinking too much, dwelling too much. This weekend I realized that I am knitting for pleasure now. I am not sure when that happened. I love to knit, I love the feel quality wool yarn in my hands, I love to see the progress each row makes. Knitting got me through some tough dark days, the rhythm of it calmed me, kept my mind still.

I am beginning to miss my photography, that is a new feeling. I have not really missed it since August, I kept taking pictures because I knew I would want to again. I wanted to want to, I just didn’t. I am missing it a little.

They are planting the the fields around us, that gives me hope that spring will be here again. We will have summer again. I feel like I skipped summer this last year, I am anxious to feel the warm sun on my back as I work in the garden.

I’m going to try to write more, I am not the best blogger the begin with, you should have got that by the name of the blog. But I want to try to go back an write more about this last 6 months.

God is good , all the time.

I’m still here

 

Addicted

I have to admit it, I know my husband already knows it, but I am addicted.

It relaxes me, it gives me something to do with my hands. It gives me great satisfaction, although at times it frustrates me.

Any time I have a chance I will sneak it in. Outside on the swing, in the car, just about anywhere.

Yes I confess, I am addicted to knitting. I have two sweaters going right now, yarn for two more just waiting. I am making myself not start those two until at least one of the two are finished.

 

Where are the pictures?

The last couple weeks at work have been hard, mentally draining. It seems that it has sucked the creativity right out of me. Don’t get me wrong. I love my job, but right now is a difficult time. Lay-offs. budget cuts, re-organizing, it makes my head spin.

I have been out this week taking pictures here and there but none of them seem worthy of posting, so I haven’t really even been editing them.

So, I knit these days, hours and hours. I am working on my first sweater. The yarn is a beautiful blue wool, with many other colors subtly woven in. Knitting calms me, I am addicted to the fiber of it. While there is thought and energy that goes into parts of it, for large parts I can mindlessly create.

I am not sure really how to explain it, but I knit for the love of it, for the creativity of it, and for the calming of it.

Pictures to follow later – maybe – 🙂