Tidbits

I did scrub my kitchen floor, clean the bathroom and our bedroom sink, and vacuum the house. I also cleaned a few bird feeders, filled the bird baths, watered my Endless Summer hydrangea, raked up the compost pile, and dug out all of the heliopsis. Tomorrow I am back to work.

Places for knitting

Another favorite spot to knit is in the kitchen, while I am waiting for cookies to come out of the oven.

Preparation for Communion

In one of his memorials, Blessed Peter Favre wrote that he wished his heart and soul would be open to seeing Jesus coming to him in the Holy Eucharist, and that Jesus had come to him 'entirely too often without my being alert to His coming.' (To the Other Towns: A Life of Blessed Peter Favre, William V. Bangert, S.J., Ignatius Press, 2002). How telling! A blessed of the church who had to make an effort to receive Communion in the proper spirit! Let us also strive to be attentive to Jesus when we receive Him.

Now, off to do my vacuuming and scrubbing so that I can then head out to the garden. A perfect day to be out of doors. The breeze is cool and refreshing.

Where do you knit?

I've knitted at my daughter's swimming lessons, at the doctor's office, on the bus, in the car, at meetings, and sometimes while waiting for a concert or theatre performance to begn. The last can be difficult because the lighting is usually not very good. Car knitting is best on longer trips when I can acccomplish a number of rows. I am grateful then that my husband does all of the driving, and I have the time to do my stuff. I do think about what would happen if there were an accident. Being impaled on a knitting needle is not my idea of the way to go!

Political Yarn

Yes, I am the Minnesota woman who knits her way through political conventions and meetings.

Knit Flowers

Lion Brand has been publishing patterns from the book, 100 Flowers to Knit & Crochet by Lesley Stanfield (St. Martin's Griffin, 2009) in their on-line newsletters. The patterns are incredibly real looking. I am fascinated by the intricate patterns. I have copied only one in hopes that I will be able to buy the book. I am gettting overly zealous in my plans, of course, but they would make elegant embelishments to other knitted projects.

Every Now and Then

I still sit down to my quilting every once in awhile for a break from my knitting. I find the change to be very energizing. Of course, I have as much fabric to use up as I have yarn and rosary beads! I have finally fgured out this paper piece quilting stuff, and connecting the two ends of binding strips together after the binding is sewn onto a quilt.

I have started a bias scarf out of Country Spa yarn. I am having more success with this pattern, which calls for knitting into the front and back loop for an increase, rather than a yarn over. It is only 15 stitches wide.

For at least a third time, I ripped out the bias prayer shawl I had started in Homespun using the Lion Brand V Shawl pattern. On the last run I was four stitches short after only about six inches of knitting. It is very hard to keep track of the rows.

Prayer Shawls and Prayer Blankets - A Catholic Perspective

Some of the parishes in my diocese have been making and distributing prayer shawls, or prayer blankets. After seeing some of the beautiful prayer shawl patterns and yarns being promoted for this purpose by the yarn companies, as well as having friends invite me to assist in their blanket making, I decided I had best do some checking on the "orthodoxy" of this new work of mercy. It seemed a bit new age, not to mention a great way for the yarn companies to increase their sales!

According to the shawlministry.com web site, Janet Bristow and Victoria Galo conceived the idea of prayer shawls after having graduated from the 1997 Women's Leadership Institute, a program on Applied Feminist Spirituality at Hartford Seminary, Hartford, Connecticut. The web site refers to shawls as being "symbolic of an inclusive, unconditionally loving, God" (Janet Bristow, 1998), and like the "unconditional embrace of a sheltering, mothering God." The site suggests that the shawls can be given, amongst other things, for "leading ritual" and "croning rites of passage." That sounds a bit pagan, or new age, to me. If it is new age, how can Catholics promote the practice of prayer shawls in our church?

The web site, sthubert.org (St. Hubert Catholic Church, Hoffman Estates, Illinois) says their blankets are given to "provide hope, comfort and healing to those who most need a reminder of God's love for them through the work of our hands and the prayers of our hearts."

A blanket, in and of itself, provides warmth and comfort. A blanket made by a loved one reminds us that we are loved. The person making a prayer shawl or blanket is asked, in addition, to pray for the recipient before beginning it, while working on it, and after finishing it. Praying for someone is a good thing. We know that in addition to praying as we work, we can offer the very work itself for the good of another. In the Catholic Church prayer blankets and shawls are also usually imparted a blessing from a priest or a deacon, thus directing the blankets to the sanctification of the user and the glory of God.

I am almost finished with my first shawl, and have yarn for two more. (I succumbed to the warm colors of Lion Brand Homespun and to their prayer shawl pattern books.) Still, I think of another "shawl" which has been in use in the Church for centuries. It is called the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Sewn into it and given to us by the Blessed Mother are her love, her prayers, and all of the good works of the Carmelite monks and nuns throughout time, and throughout the world. Makes me wonder....

Round dish cloth

For a beautiful dishcloth pattern, check out foothillsofthegreatsmokymountains.blogspot.com