Clapotis Wannabe

I really wanted a Clapotis but every time I tried to do it, I lost my place and had to frog it....again and again....

Oh how I longed to have one, though....so I decided to fake it!

This project is bias knit.

I'm using US7 Harmony Woods Circulars. Gauge is not critical. It's a lark...fake it til you make it. Knit the gauge that pleases you!

This yarn is Blue Heron Yarns Rayon Metallic in Deep Blue Sea/Silver

Here you are, my Clapotis Wannabe:


CO 4
K4
Rows
1-7: K1, YO, Knit across for 7 rows
8: Yo, K1, Yo, K1 for the entire row

Row 9 Knit across dropping every YO (this creates the 'effect' of the dropped stitch....approximately ;) )


10-16: K1, YO, Knit across for 7 rows
17: Yo, K1, Yo, K1 for the entire row

Row 19 Knit across dropping every YO (this creates the 'effect' of the dropped stitch....approximately ;) )

Knit across the next row with no increase

Repeat

(more later...I'm still working out this pattern for the width after the increase.)

Abigail's Baptism!

Three down, one to go!

We had such a lovely day celebrating Abigail's baptism.

I love my husband

Ok, this is a bit of a departure, but really, with our 14th anniversary just passed, and our oldest daughter's 13th birthday just around the corner, it is time.

I wanted to write something flowery and beautiful about the love of my life, but you know, we're not something floral and beautiful. We're something else entirely. I think we're less like a boquet of flowers and more like artwork done by children on walls with the box of Sharpies pulled out of the drawer while mommy was in the bathroom.

We aren't beautiful, we're indelible.

Life in a marriage best described as unfading, steadfast, and indelible is pretty spectacular. It's a shame it doesn't make better copy. Girl Porn (otherwise known as Romance Novels) pales in comparison in every way to my life in this house, this marriage to this man, this life with this family.


So, please, ask me how long we've been married. Please, do, so that I can steal my grandmother's answer and tell you,

"Not nearly long enough"

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Post Daniel Fast food ramblings

The pastor of our church ( Jeff Williams ) called us to a Daniel Fast for 21 days last month. It was a time of prayer for revelation of the Lord's will for the direction of the growth of our church.

I thought it was a really gutsy kind of fast to call, since this IS Texas. Calling us to be Vegan for three weeks was, in my opinion, inspired.

I made my lists for the groceries for my own meals, and realized that I was going to be in trouble if I didn't give up a long held prejudice about certain grains.

Now, here's the ugly truth. I HATE brown rice. Really, that processed Mahatma is my very favorite, but it was not on the fast. Whole grains only, you see? I have always liked those packages of Uncle Bens Long Grain and Wild rice, though. I went to the HFS and found this product. I really like Bobs Red Mill Whole wheat pastry flour, and pretty much everything else I've gotten from their product line, and this rice did not disappoint! It has a rich nutty flavor, and is not really like eating 'rice' as I have ever known it. I discovered, after I had eaten up the rice in the first package, that I can buy this kind of mix of rice in the bulk bin at my HFS, is just as good, and requires less driving on my part.

Now, if only my husband and children were as excited about it as I am ;)

Judgment

I had an epiphany the other day.

I was thinking about how lately I don't feel so judged or work so hard to make other people think well of me. I noticed that the more judgmental I am about others, the more I feel I'm being judged.

The more that I harbor an idea that I am somehow so different that no one can understand me and the idea that they always belittle me because they don't 'get it' , the more I project that attitude and it and make it truth.

I realized that what I always perceived as judgment of others was really the reflection of my judgment about 'them.'

This was a heart wrenching, gut busting revelation.

When I alter my expectation, my perception is transformed.

I believe that this was a revelation from the Lord, and then, in upon farther consideration, I realized that it was God giving me a personal interpretation of this scripture for my heart.

Romans 12
Living Sacrifices
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
Love
9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[c] Do not be conceited.

17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"[d]says the Lord. 20On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."[e] 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

I have been feeling so different. I have so much joy, I mean abundant joy. This judgment thing has been a generational monkey of a curse on the back of my family and I feel so completely set free from it!

I am so thankful to the my precious Savior for bringing it about.

I'm so excited about all the ways that this is opening up my heart and life to have close fellowship that I was so long denied by believing the whisperings of the great deceiver in my ears.

Meal Planning 101

I am learning now, to be a homemaker. I didn't learn this skill at my mother's knee. What I learned at my mother's knee is that anything I wanted to learn, I could learn from a book...and it is working for homemaking, too!

The one thing that has helped my sanity more than any other is learning how to plan meals. It sounds all simple and 'no big deal' but it was a hard fought and won skill, and I'm really proud of what a difference it has made in my family's life.

I sat down and wrote out every single meal that I know how to make out of my head without a recipe. I thought it would be like 8 or 10 things, but it was 56! I sit down every other Sunday, and make out a menu plan for all the days until the next two weeks. I plan all the breakfasts, snacks, lunches, and dinners for all of the days and then put them on a calander that hangs on the pantry door. There is a little wiggle room, in that I can swap around the dinners if I'm REALLY not in the mood for something one night, but generally I stick to the plan because it makes my life so much easier. I then make my shopping list based on the menu plan, so that I always have every ingredient that I need. I have a neighbor who watches my younger children, while my oldest daughter and I go out to lunch and then to the grocery store for the "Big Shop" where we buy all the groceries. It takes two carts, at Walmart, and then usually we do one other stop at a HFS or at the good Kroger.

I really do not enjoy shopping like that because it is exhausting, however, it saves me so much headache and heartache to have every ingredient for everything I want to make when it's time to make it, that it is worth it.