Lovely readers, I’m not sure if I’ve ever been so happy for it to be Fri-yay!
This has been a busy week and I can feel the tension right between my shoulder blades. I’m not sure if I should go home and straight to sleep or if I should knit all night- what do you think? This week I work on some socks, host two Instagram giveaways, discuss mistakes, and cook some fresh food. Enjoy!
Finished Objects
While I haven’t finished anything this week, my beautiful test-knitters for the “40-Yard Dash” pattern {coming August 30th} have started to finish their socks!
I adore these shorties my friend Rebecca made. Her colors are just lovely.
And how cool are these that Alex finished? She opted for a third color- so creative.
Fran has also finished her Harry Potter-inspired pair!
WIP’s- Focus Projects
My August socks are working up beautifully! I just love the elongated cable running down the side and the texture of the broken rib. I had a bit of trouble with the cable at first. Usually I’m a cable-without-a-cable-needle kind of gal, but that just wouldn’t work for this one. You have to do a bit more rearranging of the stitches than the usual cable. Now that I’ve got them going, I’m love the rhythm of knit one, purl one. Hopefully I can finish them as close to the end of August as possible!
I started another pair of socks this weekend in preparation for the movies. Not too long ago, I finished my long-term movie project {this hat}. We made plans to go to the movies this week and I started to panic! Oh what will I work on during those long hours?! See, if I don’t bring knitting I might zone out and I’ll definitely eat way too much popcorn.
So, with some knitting friends’ help I decided to cast on a pair of vanilla socks out of a super fun colorway from KnittedWit– “Go Nuts for Donuts”. I bought this skein at Cozy when I visited Oregon earlier this summer. This is a very heavy fingering weight so I went up to a US #2 needle and cut my stitch count down to 56. I’ve got my toe knit and I’m all ready to jump in the car and go to the movies!
Something New
My crafty-business-woman-inspiration, Toni Lipsey, is hosting a crochet-along. She is the designer behind the amazing Flatiron Shawl {you know, the one I made two of!}. Toni’s designed another beautiful shawl for this crochet along- and guess what?
The CAL is called the Coles River Crochet Along and you can find all the details here. I’ve picked out this beautiful skein of lavender Galler Yarns alpaca that my sweet husband bought for me when he was traveling from Charleston to Tennessee.
Big news! Last week I hit 500 followers on Instagram, so I’m celebrating with two giveaways. {You will need to go over to Instagram to enter.} The first is an amazing kit I found at Bliss Yarns during my trip this summer. This includes a skein of yarn from Big Sky Yarn Company, a bag from Erin.Lane Bags, and a set of stitch marker from C’est Lea. You can find details for this giveaway in my post from Wednesday- this giveaway closes tonight at 10 PM (CT 8/24/18)!
The second giveaway is sponsored by Big Sky Yarn Company. Sweet Cassie sent me a beautiful skein of fingering weight in her “Music Row” colorway just for my Instagram followers! This giveaway is open until Tuesday, August 28th at 10 PM (CT). To enter, leave a comment on my IGTV episode {WIP Wednesday- Eight} telling me your favorite colorway from Big Sky Yarn Co. Make sure to follow Cassie on Instagram too!
What God’s Teaching Me
Wow. This week has been… well, a week. My brain is so full of all-the-things that I’ve made some major mistakes this week. Want to hear them?
Well… first I put the hose in the pool and turned on the water about 6 o’clock Sunday evening… then promptly forgot. Thank goodness our maintenance guy came by early Monday morning and turned it off- we would have had some serious damage from the overflow!
And why not flood the hot tub too while I’m at it? After saving our house from pool-water damage… our guy let us know to fill our hot tub. This time I was sure to set a timer… and yet the time was too long and I filled the hot tub to the brim. We couldn’t even put the lid on until a few inches of water evaporated.
Of course, one of our toilets stopped working (not my fault, but still). I had to take my car in to the dealership Monday and Wednesday for repairs. Oh, and the real kicker? I thought I’d be proactive and use a baking soda odor treatment on my MIL’s rug. I vacuumed it away 15 minutes later… and for a few panicked moments, I thought I’d stripified this very expensive rug. Turns out it was already that way- phew.
With the busyness this week, I’ve been inclined to more mistakes and more anxiety than usual. I typically pride myself on having my ducks in a row. My sweet husband even said that there was no way I had left the water running in the pool all night because I never do things like that… well, now that’s not the case.
When I hopped in my car this Friday morning to drive to work {I totally thought it was Saturday, so I was running a bit behind, too} a song came on the radio- “Reckless Love” by Cory Asbury.
Oh the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God… I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, yet You give Yourself away.
I just felt this flood of relief at the words of this song. God loves me. He doesn’t care that I’m not completing my to-do list at work at the end of each day. It doesn’t matter to him that I haven’t been able to comment back to everyone on my giveaway post on Instagram. He’s not concerned that I fell asleep at 8 o’clock on Wednesday night after inhaling chips and salsa for dinner.
God loves me recklessly. No matter my mistakes or failures.
God loves you without abandon. Take the time to pause and feel his love rush over you before you start your busy weekend. Doesn’t it feel great that you don’t have to perform for the, Lord?
What We’re Cooking
As a side to my lunches this week, I whipped up some cooked spinach, tomatoes, and carrots. I liked it so much that I think I’ll make it again next week!
For breakfast this week, I had a favorite- overnight oats. I use a ratio of 1 part milk and yogurt to 2 parts old-fashioned oats then usually add a little of whatever I need to get the consistency I like {2 c. oats; 1 c. milk; 1 c. Greek yogurt}. I emphasize old-fashioned oats because this week I goofed and used quick-cooking oats… yeah. It totally doesn’t have the same ratio of ingredients or even taste- ugh. I powered through though! Next week I’ll get it right.
Kent grilled salmon and asparagus for us one night. Did I get a picture of that? Nope! I did get a picture of the potatoes he roasted. Yummy!
What I’m Reading
I’m still chugging away at Day of the Dragon by Richard A. Knaak. It’s getting easier to read now as I’m learning the characters. Kent and I watched the Warcraft movie last weekend as well. It’s fun to dive into a whole new world! I mean… I’m not getting all the vibes like I did the first time I read the Harry Potter, but it’s still fun!
