Wool & Words

In the knitting world, we love a good cause. In my 3.5 years of blogging (has it really been that long?), I've seen knitters raise money and/or knit for:

• Disaster Relief
• Mongolian Children
• Doctors without Borders
• Animal Shelters
• Illnesses and deaths

Knitting brings us comfort when we are faced with the sufferings of others and gives us a way to show those who suffer that we care enough--to think of them, to knit for them, to give them the benefit of the work of our hands.

It's hard to see people in pain.

For the last couple of months I've watched the story of Gerry, Annie Modesitt's husband, unfold along with the rest of the knitting community. I kept thinking, "surely he'll be OK."

Gerry has been diagnosed with Stage 3 Multiple Myeloma. Annie has been selling her Red Carpet Dress pattern to help raise money to defray the expenses associated with his care. Not only do they have to worry about the medical expenses, but they also have to consider childcare; Annie is the sole breadwinner and her work requires travel to yarn shops all over the country so that she can teach folks like me.

Main Street Yarns, my LYS, is helping to raise money and give Annie our love and support. At the blog, We Love Annie, you can find a button to place on your blog and some information about how you can help out (and maybe win a prize to boot!).

We support so many causes; this time we get to support one of our own.

Posted by KnitNut at 05:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I'm going to indulge in one more Manilow moment. Barry sings "Daybreak"--a personal favorite among favorites. The bit with the accordion at the start is cute and funny.

The lyrics do me in every time; I can't help but smile and think of how beautiful the world really is.

Singin' to the world
What's the point in puttin' it down?
There's so much love to share
I'm singin' to the world
Don't you see it all comes around
The feelings everywhere
We've been closin' our eyes
Day after day covered in clouds
Losin' our way

Hey, but it's daybreak if you wanna believe
It can be daybreak ain't no time to grieve
Said its daybreak if you'll only believe
And let it shine, shine, shine
All around the world

Go shine in the world today!

Posted by KnitNut at 01:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

With the fire of 10,000 suns I love him.

Here he is in 1975--just a pup then. Love the feathered hair and bedazzled shoulders. He's doing a "Mandy/Could It Be Magic" medley on this one.

I'm on some weird music kick this week, I suppose. Another favorite: Neil Diamond.

OK, enough of the sparkly boys. Back to the writing.

Posted by KnitNut at 01:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I found an interesting bit of faith in an unlikely-ish place today. A recent post to Pajiba (a place for pretty scathing entertainment reviews) asked readers to list songs that always made them cry. Apparently, "The Rainbow Connection" is a big weeper. A surprising one to me was the hymn, "On Eagle's Wings." A bit of the lyric:

You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord
Who abide in His shadow for life
Say to the Lord "My refuge,
My rock in whom I trust."

And He will raise you up
On eagle's wings
Bear you on the breath of dawn
Make you to shine like the sun
And hold you in the palm of His hand.

It's really a lovely hymn, all about how God takes care of us if we trust in Him. The posters to the site who referenced it seemed to associate it with various funerals, which makes sense, I suppose, as it's the kind of hymn that would be sung to give comfort. Still, it was strange to see this perennial church favorite making its way into that place and I started thinking about music that makes me weep. Sometimes, when I'm singing particular hymns, I get really choked up and I have a hard time continuing. "On Eagle's Wings" doesn't usually do it for me, but Carey Landry's "Isaiah 49" always does:

I will never forget you, my people;
I have carved you on the palm of my hand.
I will never forget you; I will not leave you orphaned.
I will never forget my own.

Does a mother forget her baby?
Or a woman the child in her womb?
Yet even if these forget, yes, even if these forget,
I will never forget my own.

Gets me every time. The music is like a lullaby. Just gorgeous. Our church usually does this one during the Easter Vigil mass, when the lights are all off in the church and we're going through the Old Testament. It's this moment of absolute peace and safety; we all sit in the dark waiting.

It's the surrender, I think, the realization in the singing of a connection, of something larger than oneself; for me, it's always a release of burden that makes me cry. The post at Pajiba made me think about that again.

What makes you guys weepy?

Posted by KnitNut at 11:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Mondays can be brutal. This may help:

Ruth rescued a momma-to-be who was living on the mean streets of Watkinsville. And then there were babies. Four. Here are two. That little black one looks like he's getting ready to attack. The kitties spent Saturday at the shop to give momma a rest and to meet the world. One got adopted out and three remain. If only I weren't allergic...

Posted by KnitNut at 05:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I've been stocking up on Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock:

Plans for it? Well, I see socks, of course, and perhaps a set of Endpaper Mitts. Small knits are good knits, eh?

In other news, I finished the Mini Shawl:

It was fun, quick, and mindless--my kind of project! Takes one skein of Mountain Colors Weaver's Wool Quarters. Nice over the shoulder little knit.

That's me in the mirror sporting the shawl and Steve to my right. Main Street Yarns & Fibers hosted a cookout as the close to their Open House week and we enjoyed good eats and chatting. The porch was the place to be as the afternoon wore on:

Socks were the things to knit...except for my shawl knitting:

Summer in Georgia is underway.

Posted by KnitNut at 09:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's a short one, but a real one nonetheless. Here's my latest WIP:

This is the Weaver's Wool Mini Shawl from the KnitList. It's done in 1 skein of Mountain Colors Weaver's Wool Quarters. The color I'm using is Mountain Twilight and those are size 10.5 needles--much bigger than I usually use, I'd say. Does anyone get a weird feeling in their hands knitting with big-ish Addi Turbos?

What else is up? Well, my summer class was canceled due to low enrollment. While the department tried to get me another class (because otherwise, I don't get paid), I decided to just suck it up and not teach. What a load off!

Posted by KnitNut at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I got a Ravelry invite (thanks Cathy!) and have spent the evening goofing around. It's so very cool and I can't wait till it's out of beta for the world to experience. My id is "AnaNg" if you're on.

Posted by KnitNut at 11:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Posted by KnitNut at 01:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)