Homespun Heaven and He!!

I have a love/hate relationship with Lionbrand's Homespun: the colorways are amazing, but the yarn is a pain to use. I keep saying I will not knit with it again, but my mouth is not where my heart is. The heart is winning by a long shot, and I have lots of prayer shawls to prove it.

This is the pile from last winter/spring. Most are for St Christopher's Episcopal Church; 2 are for some dear neighbors across the street who have been making sure my front lawn does not look like a jungle.

Back in March, one of my co-workers had to leave due to her husband's job transfer. Several of us in the department knit, so we took turns working on a prayer shawl for her. In the end, everyone participated. Even those who had never held needles learned enough to knit a few stitches. I do not think we made any converts (knitverts?) yet, but there is still hope!





I started knitting prayer shawls about 10 years ago, long before the idea of a blog- or even photos of projects- came into my brain. I wish I had taken pictures long ago (see the Legacy entry) but there is no time better than the present to start a tradition. A dear friend who is a real artist with a real studio inspired me several years ago with her professional photographic collages. I have posted several of my extremely amateur collages at various times, and here is the latest:

Wouldn't it be amazing if it encompassed the 25-30 prayer shawls I have knit through the years!

A few weeks ago I started another shawl. At lunch I mentioned to my co-worker knitters that I had only one more colorway in my stash... and that would be the end of Homespun shawls for awhile! But then, of course, there is another story:

A few months ago a woman driving home from my LYS was killed in a tragic wreck. I did not know her, but she did knit sometimes with the public group that meets twice a month at the library. Her husband called the librarian who is in charge of the group and offered to donate her stash  Three trips later, the Reference Department was engulfed in an amazing collection of bags and boxes and baskets of yarn and and needles and accessories. At the next meeting of our staff knitters, we organized and reboxed everything. It took 5 people almost 2 hours! We claimed some of the yarn for ourselves, mostly with the idea of charity projects. The knitters in the group that meets at the Headquarters library and groups that meet at other branches will also have a chance to make sure her stash is well-used. Eventually, local services such as senior centers and children's shelters will be given the remainder. We plan to send her husband notes as we use her stash...

Back to the Homespun saga: yes, there was some in her stash, and yes, it came home with me! The prayers will be doubled when I use it- for her family and for the recipient.

Easter Joy

Along with "Alleluia, the Lord is risen...the Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!" I can say "alleluia, I did it!"

My Lenten Prayer Shawl, which was begun on Ash Wednesday, was completed on Good Friday...even the fringe! (Last year, my LPS was begun on Ash Wednesday and completed sometime around Thanksgiving.) This one, as usual, is knit from Homespun in "Herb Garden."

This photo does not do justice to the colorway- it is much more of a deep green and does not have any blue. Someday, if I can't figure out how to take more accurate photos, I will learn how to adjust them for color!

Added to the 2 shawls I completed earlier this year, I now have 3 to be blessed for our homebound parishioners. Thankfully there are other knitters now, and I think next time we have a shawl blessing we will have 6 or 7 finished shawls!

Also in a timely fashion, I completed a jigsaw puzzle. I was changing out winter/summer clothes (we skipped spring this year) and found this on the top shelf of the closet. It was started a few days before Palm Sunday, and finished on Easter day.

(Again, the colors should be much brighter. The puzzle is larger, also, but I had to crop out some of the reflections.)
Pysanky  (Ukrainian Easter eggs) have a wonderful place in my heart. My ex's grandparents came from Ukraine in the nineteen teens, and he decided to live into his heritage and take up the craft. He and his brother made a number of eggs, and even sold some at a large craft fair. They are made from blown eggs, using paint, wax, a candle, and a very steady hand!

Like knitting and reading, jigsaw puzzles can consume me. I enjoy the process, but sometimes I just knit through/read through/puzzle through until the wee hour of the morning to finish.  I have done 4 or 5 puzzles since Christmas, and will post about them later.

Cleaning is another story. I can dust one table and be ready for a nap.

Finished! And begun!

Finished! The Basket of Shame. Part One. 

OK. So these were actually almost completed WIPs... but they still needed to be finished, and I did. I'm on my way to completing my 2012 goal!

So now, not one, but two prayer shawls are awaiting a blessing at St Chris...

 

This one was knit with the Homespun color "Montana Sky." using a variation of the k3p3 pattern. I knit 3 rows with k3p3, then 3 rows with p3k3, making little 9 stitch squares. It looks fine, but I like the original pattern better. I have a few other pattern ideas, which I will try later.

This one is knit with Homespun color "Shaker." The browns, creams, and greys are amazing, but obviously do not show well in this photo. This is the shawl I was knitting at Kanuga, so it will be doubly blessed.

I am so pleased that we are finally getting a Prayer Shawl Ministry started at the church I attend. We are a small congregation, with only a few knitters and many homebound and elderly members. Several people have indicated an interest in learning to knit, and I have already "restarted" someone who has not knit for awhile. We have 6 or 7 completed, and they were blessed before Christmas. My 2, plus another and hopefully 1 or 2 later in the spring are awaiting a blessing.

Once again, I plan to work on a shawl as part of my Lenten discipline. Unlike 2 years ago, I do not plan to be monagamous- I need smaller projects to work on during breaks at work!

But which one?

Looking back 6: pollen shawls

This is yet another previously-conceived-but never-published post. It actually began almost a year ago with the spring pollen season...

Last spring, 2010, I was inspired by the yuck  lovely greenish/yellow colors and began 2 green prayer shawls. The first one was knit with Bernat Softee Chunky.

The second one was knit with Lion Brand Homespun "Meadow."

And now it is October 2010. The shawls are finally finished. I used the generic prayer shawl pattern  They were begun in the spring allergy season and completed in the fall allergy season. Ah-choo!
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And now ( March 2011) it is the spring allergy season again! This time I'm going for the beautiful blue sky... Homespun "Montana Sky" to be exact! It is the next color of my Kpstaatcoh project.

 A lovely greening hill, with the bright blue sky above...