Ingredients

2 friends
2 bread recipes
1 lesson on baking bread
2 socks on 2 circulars
1 lesson on knitting socks
1 pot of soup with homemade noodles
2 loaves of homemade bread

Combine all ingredients.
Serves up one fine Saturday.

Snow Day!

Well, strictly speaking, there's not any snow here... Not far north of us, though, there's about six inches of it!  We got enough ice to close our schools, but not enough to make us lose power, which means I get a lovely day of sitting inside and drinking hot tea and staying in pajamas and knitting...

This is the Potato Chip Scarf that I've seen over and over again on blogs and on Ravelry and in person.  Someone was knitting it at a retreat I went to in September.

(Oops - I thought I had a picture of it!  It was red, I think, and definitely lovely!)

Someone else was knitting it at a retreat I went to in December.

And I'll be knitting it, out of Rowan Kidsilk Haze on size 7 needles, at the retreat I'm going to this week.

I know, that sounds like a lot of retreating...but again, strictly speaking, two of the three have also been work for me.  I helped coordinate the retreat in December, and this week I'm off to be the chaplain (which means to lead worship and to be an available ear and shoulder) at a knitting retreat at Kanuga, where they're having a real snow day today - a good six to eight inches!

Feast of the Epiphany

"Who knocks tonight so late," the weary porter said.
Three kings stood at the gate, each with a crown on head.
The serving man bowed down.  The inn was full, he knew.
Said he, "In all this town is no fit place for you."

A light the manger lit; there lay the Mother meek.
Said they, "This place is fit.  Here is the rest we seek."

Come.  Come.
They loosed their latchet strings; so stood they all unshod.
"Come in.  Come in, ye kings,
And kiss the feet of God."

Words: Laurence Housman
Music: Healy Willan
Art: Henry Siddons Mowbry

On the Tenth Day of Christmas...

Back to school = no knitting to show.

But it does mean I have a story to tell.  Today, in the midst of pastoral visits, sermon writing, chapel planning, and both answering and asking a thousand times "And how was your holiday?...", I taught our three year-olds about the visit of the wise men and their gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.

They were off to a fast and furious start, learning all about the letter "L" on their first day back from break. One class was having a show and tell when I got there, sharing toys from home beginning with the letter "L" (a lizard, a lamb...) and then getting a piece of Laffy Taffy to take home.  Another class was playing with short and long sticks to make letter "L's" on the floor.  The third class was playing "London Bridge," laughing, laughing until they all fell down.

I tried to play along as I told my story about the Little Lord Jesus, the Light in the sky, the Lambs Lying down by the manger, and the Long, Long journey the wise men had to make.  The children Love these stories about Jesus, and they Listen so attentively.

At the end of the story, I asked what special gifts they would like to give to Jesus.  One little boy's eyes grew wide and his hand shot up, and before I could call on him, he whispered eagerly, "I would give him a tiny motorcycle!"

I Love my job.

On the Ninth Day of Christmas...

I'm still not crazy about the colors.

Although tonight's sunset (and I was in the car without the camera, so you'll have to take my word for it!) reflected off ribbons of cloud contained nearly every shade in the scarf, in almost the same order.

I love the weight and the drape, light enough to be picked up by the wind, soft enough to not itch, long and wide enough to be warm wrapped in layers around my neck.

And, now that I look at these pictures, it is certainly prettier than my backyard in its winter attire of drab browns and...browns...

Maybe.  Even if it goes to live with someone else, though, I am very happy to have knitted it.  It was fun to memorize a lace pattern, and to discover such a lovely use for sock yarn.

School starts back tomorrow, and it took every ounce of willpower not to mope with my son.  Tomorrow morning we get up early, bundle up (hmmm, I do have a new scarf...) and return to our routines.  But it is still Christmas, for three more days anyway!

On the Eighth Day of Christmas...

A warm bath and a good stretch - what a wonderful way to spend New Year's Day!  That's exactly what my finished Colorful Waves Scarf has been doing.  After soaking in the sink for a while, I laid it out to block in the guest room, closely supervised once again by Chloe, who was, it turns out, far more interested in the shiny pins than in the yarn.  She must not like the colors, either.

She kept nibbling on the pin closest to her, and looking at me reproachfully whenever I tried to shoo her away.

I wasn't sure if the scarf would block or not.  It's Patons Kroy Sock, which is 75% "washable wool" and 25% nylon.  I tested a few inches of it yesterday.  It still curls in, but more gracefully, as a piece of lace instead of a tangle of stitches.  I was amazed by how wispy and drapey the blocked fabric is.  So now, nearly every pin I have is helping to hold it down to block the rest.

Every pin except for one.  Which I know I stuck in there.

Chloe is looking smug.

Meanwhile, it's still Christmas!  And while I'm already getting to work on my Epiphany sermon for next Wednesday's Middle and Upper School chapel services, I am doing a little knitting on a prayer shawl that has been in progress for...  Well.  I resolve to finish it this year.