Which lead me to making some toddler socks for Jude with my leftover Madelinetosh Sock to tote around. Since I’ve already tried toe-up socks, I thought I would give top down socks a whirl, as well as learn how to knit two socks at once! After the initial yarn tangle, it turned out to be pretty easy. We’ll see how turning a heel goes from top down…

I’m already dreaming of my next summer knit, like this silken sweater (can I have any more expensive taste?) or this linen Hane shirt. Ahh, if only I had more free time!

Happy birthday Mom!

I learned so many new techniques with these socks – increases (yo knit through back loop, m1r, m1l), decreases, magic loop, Judy’s magic cast-on for toe up socks, short rows, Jeny’s surprisingly stretchy bind off for the top, turning a heel. Whew. I love the tiny cable running up the back of the socks – reminds me of the old fashioned seam in stockings. I must say that I feel pretty confident in my knitting abilities now. Next socks I make, I’ll be knitting two at a time!

So confident, in fact, that I am going to take on my first knitted garment – the Sophia sweater as a KAL. I already bought the yarn – Universal Cotton Supreme in Emerald and it is knitting up so soft! As much as I wanted to do the sweater in Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage in mineral, the color was no where to be found. Oh well. I think I may be happier with this cotton yarn for the summer. AND emerald is the pantone color of the year after all.

I’ve got to say that painting this weekend reawakened my love of being creative through painting. Jenny, the instructor of the studio, is an incredible watercolorist and I was very inspired seeing her original works all over the studio area of the classroom. Maybe someday I’ll get to take a watercolor class…

It was so much fun getting to paint with these ladies and I love that each of our paintings ended up being so different and distinctly reflective of our unique personalities.

Now I’m daydreaming about colors . . . Here are a few that have caught my eye from Madelinetosh Vintage… Any others you think I should consider?

I used Jeny’s surprising stretchy bind off for the ribbing at the top, and just as the name suggests, it is extremely stretchy (and surprisingly easy)! And I used Judy’s Magic Cast-on for the toe. The two are made for each other.

I’m a little lost on how to block such a long sock. I think I’m going to give this wire hanger method a try because I don’t think a sock blocker that you buy would be long enough. Ah, we will see.

Oh, I am so in love with the simplicity of these socks. That little cable adds just the perfect amount of detail and elegance.

” . . . Because feeding the people I love is a hands-on way of loving them. When you nourish and sustain someone, essentially, you’re saying that you want them to thrive, to be happy and healthy and able to live well.”

I first met Shauna at a women’s conference (I cringe just typing it) back in 2008 and she recited Needle and Thread (read it if you haven’t already) and brought me the tears. And folks, I am not a cryer. I bought Cold Tangerines right then, brought it home and read the same short story to my husband and we both sobbed together (it was a good cry, not a sad one). I went on to gift the book to many and devoured it several more times myself (ha, pun intended).

Her second book, Bittersweet (my post from 2011 here) met me right where I was at that particular moment in life. I had not come to terms with my postpartum depression and so much of what she wrote about hit the bullseye of what I was feeling. I still find myself reflecting, similarly that “In some moments, it seemed to me that the stalls of that {farmer’s} market were more sacred and nourishing than any church I’d ever been to, like life itself was there, reaching out to me, with dirty fingers like carrots.”

Obviously, we have similar views on food and faith.

So when I read about her newest book, Bread & Wine, I was thrilled. So much of what had stuck with me from her previous books had been food related. A whole book about community around the table. Yes.

Food is one of those things that defines who I am. I have so many memories of cooking struffoli with my grandma and lasagna with my mother and cake after cake after cake. Growing up, dinner around the family table was very important, especially on Sunday. It was a time to relax, enjoy each other’s company, chat about the trivial and the important. I cooked for my roommates and the random stray guys that just ‘happened’ to show up around dinner time all through college. We are always hosting dinner parties. Book club? Just an excuse to feed you and try new hors d’oeuvre recipes. My family is defined by our willingness and fervor to feed the people around us. If you show up at one of our houses, we will feed you. And it will be delicious.

While reading her stories about community around the table, many of the chapters resonated with me. Oddly enough, what I keep returning to, what I’ve found myself describing to friends, is Shauna’s chapter on running. I am likely one of the least athletic people you have met. It may not look that way, my mom has blessed me with ‘good genes’ as many like to say. I generally am pretty slim. But Lord help us all if you catch me trying to dance. My body and I are at odds with each other – as Shauna says, “I’ve always had the sense that something fundamental between my body and soul was disconnected, like a very important wire got cut at some point…” That is why I read, I sew, I knit, I cook, I sing, I draw, I paint, I design, I code. I am not an athlete and I have repeated that mantra to myself from a very young age. But, now, as a 30 year old, I have quietly been getting up at 5:45am and running. This has been happening for months now, and I am slow to mention it, slow to call myself a runner, even when my doctor, after listening to my lungs, asked if I was a runner. But, again, Shauna… “Each week I was surprised at what my body could do, this body I’d long suspected, squared off against, blamed. In the same way that giving birth had connected my to my body in a new and meaningful way, the training gave me a new respect for my body, for what it could do, for how strong and powerful it was.” I am experiencing that in some small way with my running accomplishments. “I tend to believe the worse about myself – I could never do this, I’m not that kind of person, I’ll always be like this, or I’ll never be able to get over that… And then I remember that people can change. Thank I can change. That the same old refrains can get rewritten, and that all it takes sometimes if paying attention to your tears, and ignoring that voice that tries to hypnotize us with next year, next year, next year.” Such an encouragement to me.

But really, on to the food! I meal planned around the recipes in the book for a couple of weeks and had very good success!

Goat cheese biscuits – divine. One of many reasons I could never go paleo. Breakfast quinoa – a surprise hit, very nourishing and sustaining. Maple balsamic pork tenderloin, (please forgive me Shauna), maybe not our favorite version of pork tenderloin, but still very good.

Mar-a-Lago burgers – delish. I had to sub a cranberry chutney instead of mango and it was still delicious (and cranberry with turkey, yep). The goat cheese scrambled eggs were not quite my favorite (I think I may have left them too runny, the texture made me gag) but all was redeemed with the bacon-wrapped dates! I have made them before but stuffed with parmesan. The honey goat cheese (thanks HEB) was a delicious change. Oh and the mushroom risotto. Everyone should know how to make a basic risotto. This one was perfect. We made delicious risotto cakes from the leftovers for dinner and several lunches (half the recipe if you are cooking for a family of 4 or smaller!).

And y’all, don’t fear the ingredient list of the mango chicken curry, it all came together beautifully. And tasted beautiful as well. Even my picky three year old loved it!

This book should release tomorrow (or at least, that’s what Amazon says). Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. Even if you have never cooked a meal in your life, this book may inspire you to cook your first. And Shauna’s stories speak to your soul. Something about her rhythm, the words she chooses, the phrases she weaves… I relate so deeply.

If America truly were a ‘Christian nation’, as so many would like to think it is, would the American dream not be reflective of the gospel instead of self-indulgence? Would the church not love others deeply (especially through our differences as Jesus modeled for us) and act out of that love instead of building yet another building? What about the separation of church and state? Our faith doesn’t get to make the laws. If it did (as many seem to believe it should), wouldn’t there be a laws against divorce since the Bible so clearly says ‘God hates divorce?’ (Malachi 2:16). Shouldn’t we be focused on fixing the marriages in the church? Isn’t there something in the Bible about about removing the plank out of our own eye (Matt. 7:3-5)?

The deeper I’ve dug, the more I’ve read (Torn, Love is an Orientation and Washed and Waiting), the more unsure I’ve become on what the Bible actually says and I’m learning to live in the uncertainty. It is not as cut and dry as people would like to believe – there are a myriad of complexities. Different translations. Debates on what some very important words actually mean. Cultural background, both current and past. Bibliscism says that the Bible only says one thing and that is definitive but I feel that the idea that you can know what is truly ‘Biblical’ is not wholly possible (and I’m not the only one that thinks this) - we will all get something wrong even with the best intentions in place. Being wrong is an inescapable part of the human experience. God is big and he is bigger than our understanding.

I do know that I love my gay friends and that is where I am going to live. And to those dear friends, I am sorry for the hatred that you feel from the conservative religious community. It is wrong. I love you. Jesus loves you exactly as you are and He will love you no matter what the supreme court rules.

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellow man has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandments there may be are summed up in one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Romans 13:8-10

Source: ravelry.com via Beth on Pinterest	Source: ravelry.com via Beth on Pinterest	Source: ravelry.com via Beth on Pinterest
Source: ravelry.com via Beth on Pinterest	Source: ravelry.com via Beth on Pinterest	Source: ravelry.com via Beth on Pinterest
Source: ravelry.com via Beth on Pinterest	Source: ravelry.com via Beth on Pinterest	Source: ravelry.com via Beth on Pinterest
Source: ravelry.com via Beth on Pinterest	Source: ravelry.com via Beth on Pinterest	Source: stitchnationyarn.com via Beth on Pinterest

What do you think? Any other patterns I should consider? Any favorites of what I have listed?