My husband has warned me this is not another horizontal surface in need of clutter. However, he didn’t say I couldn’t stash/hide yarn in the cupboard!

Then, I got a set of cubby shelves by ClosetMaid for my craft room. That is coming along nicely.

I am a couple of days behind on my daily Bible reading plan. I use an Android app called “You Version”. (there is also an iPad version)  It is really cool. I can close my eyes and have the days reading read to me. Sometimes, I get more out of the passage when I hear it. It is a great feature of this app. And no, it is not a computer voice that reads it.

My local church posts the notes for each weeks sermon to You Version. I can download the notes and edit them on my tablet during the service using a free app called Evernote. I also use Evernote to save some of my patterns. It syncs between my computer and tablet.

I purchased a slipper kit on clearance at Hobby Lobby and made them for myself .

The sole and foot is premade in this kit. I knitted the cuff. I later resewed the foot to the sole because their stitching came out. These are so comfy and cosy to wear.

I thought I had made video of all the stitches used in the Colors of Salvation afghan, but I can’t find them. So either I lost them in the many past crashes of my system or I didn’t get the done. So I am working on that right now.

Until next week,

After I committed to spend the weekend making a couple of small bears for someone and also to test a teddy bear pattern, the weather changed and my back and hips tighted up in pain and I was laid up for a few days.

This slowed me down but I got everything done, just a couple days late.

Panda and Teddy are approximately 6 inches tall.

This “Gift Bear” holds a gift card in the front pocket.

I worked on my daily Bible Study. I am reading 1 chapter from each of Matthew, Luke and John each day.  I got a little behind but caught up quickly.

I looked again at the disaster that is my craft room.

and struggled to make it look like this:

I found a lot more “unfinished” items to add to my list. I also managed to fill a trash bag to dispose of and 3 bags went straight to the Goodwill before I could change my mind.

It seems sometimes like the more I try to get ahead, the further behind I get. For example, finding more works in process. However, I also found a lot of notes I had made to go into the next Knitting and Crochet Bible Study. That was encouraging.  I can only work in short periods of time before pain plops me on my butt. That then becomes a time to sit quietly and talk to God while I work on another teddy bear.

My unfinished life goes on.  Until next week,

One of the songs they sang was the “He Didn’t Throw the Clay Away”. (click here to see a 1992 you tube version of the song)  This song really spoke to me and I became more fervent in my prayers seeking the Lord.

At the same time, I received the monthly newsletter from author Debbie Macomber speaking of her ‘word for 2012” and  several facebook posts (remember last weeks post about Crochet Concupiscense)  from people who select their “word for the year”. All of this came together to help me to determine a weekly post called – Unfinished. 

My life is unfinished, there is still much God has planned for me. I also have many, many, many unfinished projects laying in wait. So, to get myself back in weekly blogging and in project completion, this is my word for the year: UNFINISHED.

Along the way I hope to write the 3rd Knit and Crochet Bible Study, use up some of my stash, finish some incomplete projects and challenge myself to step out of my comfort zone.

I hope you will follow along as I explore my life and my craft in its unfinished state throughout the year.

Welcome 2012! Let’s start this journey.

She faithfully blogs every day and is planning now what daily entry she would make in 2012. She blogs about crochet books and artists. She reviews various yarn and highlights crochet in the news. If crochet is involved, she blogs it. Looking back over her past entries, she has decided in 2012 to photograph what she is wearing each day and how crochet is part of fashion.

I am impressed by this and want to do the same – posting regularly, not offering pictures of myself, I am not photogenic and I have the pictures to prove it.   I need to make a commitment to myself and move forward. Pain has brought a stop to much of what I do, I need a goal to help get back on track.Because of this I feel I have failed the Lord and am having trouble moving forward.  I may try to make it 52 things and see if I can manage to post once a week faithfully.

Now the question is…. what to focus on for 2012.

Any ideas or suggestions?  What would you like to see?

A couple of weeks I won, not one – but two giveaways during the 31 Days of Giveaways by Corchet concupiscence.

Overjoyed at my winning I grabbed a few items of stash and offered up some items myself.

Go to the giveaway posted on her site RIGHT NOW and enter.  There are only a few hours left, so don’t delay.

Click here to go to the giveaway.  Thank you Kathy for hosting this fantastic month of giveaways.

Here is a sneak peak at the prize package.  Wouldn’t it be great to start the new year with some yarn and patterns – and a tote bag to carry your latest project!

P.S.  crocheters will enjoy this too

Knitters Night Before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all around me
There was unfinished knitting not under the tree,
The stockings weren’t hung by the chimney with care
‘Cause the heels and the toes had not a stitch there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
But I had not finished the caps for their heads.
Dad was asleep—he was no help at all.
And the sweater for him was 6″ too small.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I put down my needles to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash.
Tripped over my yarn and fell down in my stash.

The tangle of yarn that lay deep as the snow
Reminded me how far I still had to go.
When out on the lawn I heard such a noise,
I was sure it would wake up both Dad and the boys.

And although I was tired–my brain a bit thick,
I knew in a moment that it must be St Nick.
Yet what I heard left me very perplex-ed
For nothing I heard was what I expect-ed.

“Move Rowan! Move Patons! Move Koigu and Clover!
Move Shelridge! Move Starmore! Move Spinrite! Move over!
Lopi, don’t circle around, just stand there in line.
Pay attention you sheep and you’ll work out just fine!

I know this is hard as it’s just your first year
But I’d hate to go back to 8 tiny reindeer.”
I peered over the sill. What I saw was amazing:
Eight wooly sheep on my lawn all a-grazing!

And then in a twinkle, I heard at the door
Santa’s big boots stomping on the porch floor.
I rose from my knees and got back on my feet.
As I turned around, St Nick I did meet.

He was dressed all in wool from his heat to his toe
And his clothes were hand knit from above to below.
A bright Fair Isle sweater he wore on his back.
And his toys were all stuffed in an Aran knit sack.

His hat was a wonder of bobbles and lace
A beautiful frame for his rosey red face.
The scarf on his neck could have stretched for a mile,
And the socks peeking over his boots were Argyle.

On the back of his mitts was an intricate cable.
And suddenly on one I spotted a small label:
“S.C.” in duplicate on the cuff.
So I asked, “Hey, Nick, did YOU knit all this stuff?”
He proudly replied, “Ho, ho, ho, yes I did.
I learned how to knit when I was just a kid.”

He was chubby and plump, a well dressed old man,
And I laughed to myself, for I’d thought up a plan.
I flashed him a grin and jumped up in the air,
And the next thing he knew, he was tied to a chair.

He spoke not a word, but looked down in his lap
Where I had laid my needles and yarn for a cap.
He began then to knit, first one cap then 2–
For the first time I thought I might really get through.

He put heels in the stockings and toes in some socks,
While I sat back drinking a scotch on the rocks.
Quickly like magic his needles they flew,
Good Grief! He was finished by two!

He sprang for his sleigh when I let him go free,
And over his shoulder he looked back at me.
I heard him explain as he sailed past the moon,
“Next year, start your knitting sometime around JUNE!”

                             Author unknown

Once you are ready to take a breather, why not use some of your extra yarn and make 7” x 9” squares for Warm Up America.

Michaels Stores has teamed up with Warm Up America and many stores now have boxes to accept your 7”x9” pieces.  The staff there will them make arrangements to sew these pieces together into blankets which will then be given to local charity.  This allows local craft talent to aid local needs.

This is an excellent way to use up your scrap yarn and help someone keep warm. 

Matt 25:34-36,40

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 

For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.

I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

Today we begin with the color orange. Orange in this story represents “the fire of hell”. Romans 3:23 tells us “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.

Born as sinners, we are condemned to life in hell. Not the physical death, but the spiritual second death – life eternally separated from God.  It is  described in Revelation 21:8 “But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is a second death.”  Sin is not measured by how big a sin it is. Sin is sin. A lie is a sin as murder is.  Sin, no matter how big or how small, separates us from God. Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death”.

The stitch pattern for this part of the story are fairly easy to do. Just as it is fairly easy to sin.

The stitch pattern in crochet is called “The Alternate Stitch”.  The pattern is accomplished by making a single crochet and a double crochet stitch in the same stitch. Skip a stitch and do another single and double crochet in the next stitch.

Click here to  view a video demonstration of this stitch pattern.

The stitch pattern in knit is called “Vertical Weave”

The vertical stitch is made in a 2 row pattern.  In the first row (right side) “ K2 *slip 1 as if to purl, k1, yo, psso, K2. Repeat from * across

Row 2 (wrong side) Purl across.

Click here to view a video demonstration of this stitch pattern.

You may download a PDF version of the project at: http://www.knittingbiblestudy.com/patterns/ColorsOfSalvation_patternKC.pdf

Join us on facebook to discuss your progress.

Next month we will work on the GOLD color

I have taken each of these colors and various stitch patterns to create a “Colors of Salvation Afghan”.

Each stitch and color represents a segment of the story of God’s love, forgiveness, and promise of Heaven.

Many others joined in 2 years ago for the first Colors Of Salvation Knit/Crochet-along.  It was so much fun I want to do it again.  This time, with videos demonstrations of each set of stitches.

Whether you knit or crochet, this project is a fun way to advance your skill by learning new stitch combinations; review scripture while working through the project.

This project is very versatile.  You can make a full size afghan or a smaller lapghan.  One person commented she made it smaller and stitched the sides to make a tote.

Once you learn the stitch patterns, find your favorite and make that pattern into a scarf.

I will post a video demonstration of the first set of stitches on Saturday, Sept 17, then new pattern stitches each month.  The colors will be worked as follows:

• Sept:  Orange
• Oct:    Gold
• Nov:   Purple
• Dec:   White
• Jan:    Blue
• Feb:  Green
• Mar:  Black & Red Edging and Seaming

You can download the pattern at:  http://www.knittingbiblestudy.com/patterns/ColorsOfSalvation_patternKC.pdf

Will you be joining us?   Follow along on the Facebook page for more information and comments.

Now we have scientific proof of the health benefits knitting provides.

This video is a CBS News Report (in time this video will not be available as other news reports are posted)

Watch the news report at:  http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4917058n