The Angel appears to Mary

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings to you who are higly favored! The Lord is with you."

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and shall give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be call the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, his kingdom will never end."

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

(Luke1:26-38)

The Smithsonian Picture

My mom and I refer to this picture as the Smithsonian picture. It reminds us both of those pictures of familial bliss that you would see in a museum about the 1950's. The story goes that my grandfather had a friend who occasionally took pictures for Life magazine. My grandparents wanted a family photo. This treasure was born.

Pictured (from left to right) are my aunt Crystal, my mom Cheryl, my uncle Howard, my aunt Chelsea (as always wearing the perfect 1950's ensemble), my grandpa Howard (in his Clark Kent phase), my aunt Carol, and my Grandma Rosie. My grandpa's organ, which he played endlessly, also features prominently. My grandpa's music was the soundtrack of our family's life.

My aunt Carol is the keeper of the organ now. Being the only piano player in the family, I have the piano. I actually downgraded from a Baldwin to his custom made Amish piano so that I could have it standing in my living room. Will gets a lot of use out of it; it seems he had my grandfather's ear and can play without the aid of sheet music. I'm a lifelong pianist and can play Beethoven, Chopin, Poulenc, and a little jazz, but to me, none of it sounds as sweet as my grandfather with his shaky fingers playing "Fascination."

7 Things I Love

Over on Bloom, there was a wonderful post about the 7 things that the author loves. It was such a wonderful post that I wanted to do one myself. I am then supposed to tag 7 people and ask them to write the same post.

If you are reading, consider yourself tagged.

Wildflowers



Especially ones that you don't expect, like these beautiful ones along the highway. In gorgeous swags of color that go on for miles. As a gardener, I've tried and tried to make my garden look natural, but I think God has the upper hand as a designer.

Children



Innocence and laughter and giggles over silly things that adults just don't understand. Delighted discovery of those things that are old hat to us old-folk. Seeing the world with new, unjaded eyes. Glee. Boundless energy. Huge hearts full of love.

Baby Feet



I don't know why, but I love little baby toes. This little piggy moments with Will are sublime. And even as he nears three, I still love eating those feeties. I figure someday when he is 16 and has huge stinky feet I'll wonder what I was doing, but for now, I love those little toes.

Cats



If I had lived in Puritan Salem, I'm pretty sure I would have been crushed by rocks or burned at the stake, because I am just a cat magnet. I love them and feel a kinship with them. How could you not love this guy, my puffy, snuggly Linus with freckles on his nose? Or kitty purrs and arched backs waiting to be scratched? Yep, they'd think I was a witch.

Country Churches



There's just something serene about them. Even old, abandoned churches. My heart leaps every time I come across one I haven't seen before.

Nuthatches



Nothing warms my heart more than the precocious little nuthatch jumping down the side of a tree looking for his next meal.

Pie



Apple, pumpkin, peanut butter, pecan, raspberry, peach; I love pie!

The Scarf that Would Never End

While surfing the internet I found this cool pattern (called Palindrome) for a reversible cable scarf. I'd always wanted to learn how to do this, and jumped all over this pattern to do just that. The pattern is simple and just the thing to learn a thing or two about reversible cables.



So I jumped right in, cast on, and started stitching. And kept stitching. And stitching. I don't know what it was, but this scarf took FOREVER! I kept putting it around my neck with the ignorant hope that it would finally be long enough (and I could move on, already!) and, in moments smacking of deja vu, it never seemed to be. I used well over twice the yardage that I would use on a similar length scarf, and when it finally got long enough to throw around my neck, FINALLY bound off the thing!



But it turned out quite nice. It's not as long as I like scarves to be (I used up all of my white cotton/wool blend, so I couldn't add anymore length - hooray for a reason to end!), but it is squishy and warm and quite nice to look at. Even though I was at the point of pulling my hair out from sheer exhaustion over this scarf, I'd recommend the pattern to anyone who wants to learn reversible cables. I know, not the greatest review, but really, it is a nice scarf.



So on the needles now is a Ruffle Scarf. I think I'm about half done. It is knit lengthwise on a circular needle and is a really simple knit. When I'm done with it I'll tell you how to make one, too!

The Wallis Hat

After a brief Thanksgiving hiatus, it's back to the old blog. As promised, I am bringing you the pattern for my hat (William's hat, for my regular readers) which I am calling "The Wallis."



I used recycled yarn with a gauge of 7 stitches per inch. This hat can be made for all age groups. As you can see, I put ear flaps on the toddler version and didn't on the adult version. You could do flaps and ties if that is what you would like.

The yarn measured out at 14 wraps per inch, so look for a sport weight yarn.



The pattern looks difficult but it really is quite simple and should be easy to pick up once you start knitting it.



Wallis Hat

Gauge = 7 stitches per inch

Knit with 4 size 7 double pointed needles or one circular (you will need dpns for the crown decrease)

Because I give instructions for 5 different sized hats, I have noted the repeated stitches in parenthesis and state to stitch "all around" which means to continue the instructed stitches to the end of the row (where you have placed the stitch marker).

C4F = Slip two stitches on cable needle, hold in front. Knit next two stitches, then knit the two on the cable needle

T3F = Slip 2 stitches onto cable needle, hold at front of work. Perl next stitch, knit the two off of the cable needle

T3B = Slip one stitch onto cable needle, hold at back of work, knit nest two, perl stitch from cable needle

Hat Pattern

For a newborn cast on 96 stitches
For a 1 year old cast on 120 stitches
For a toddler (2 - 5 y.o.), cast on 126 stitches
For a child (5 - 12) cast on 132 stitches
For an adult, cast on 144 stitches.

Join the last stitch to the first stitch being careful not to twist the stitches. Place a stitch marker on the first stitch.

Rows 1 - 5: (K4, P2) all around
Row 6: (C4F, P2) all around
Row 7: - 11: (K4, P2) all around
Row 12: K2, then (T3F, T3B) all around
Row 13: K2, then (P2, K4) to last 4 stitches, P2, K2
Row 14: Transfer last 2 stitches from Right needle to Left needle, (C4F, P2) all around
Rows 15 - 20: (K4, P2) all around
Row 21: (C4F, P2) all around
Row 22: (K4, P2) all around
Row 23: Transfer first 2 stitches from Left needle to Right needle, K2, then (T3B, T3F)all around

Repeat 23 rows until length is about 1/2 to 1 inch shorter than you would like the hat to be.

Crown decrease

This crown decrease is for the adult hat. The smaller hats have less stitches, so you will be able to tie off the hat with fewer rows. Just follow the pattern for the adult crown decrease and once you are down to around 6 stitches, you can thread the yarn through the stitches, tie off, and you are done!

Row 1: (K1, K2tog, K1, P2, K4, P2) all around
Row 2: (K3, P2, K4, P2) all around
Row 3: (K3, P2, K1, K2tog, K1, P2) all around
Row 4: (K3, P2) all around
Row 5: (K1, K2tog, P2) all around
Row 6: (K2, P2) all around
Row 7: (K2, P2tog) all around
Row 8: (K2, P1) all around
Row 9: (K2tog, P1) all around
Row 10: (K1, P1) all around
Row 11: K2tog all around
Row 12: K all around
Row 13: K2tog all around

Thread yarn through remaining stitches and tie off tightly. You are done!

To knit on the ear flaps:

First, a Disclaimer: I sort of improvised the ear flap pattern as I went along, so if your flaps turn out either too long or slightly wonky, it is because this was my first set of ear flaps! You have been warned!

use size 7 dpns

On either side of the hat, pick up 18 stitches in the following manner (going Right to Left):
Start at the right side of a knitted rib, pick up 3 of the knitted stitches, then (1 perl, 2 knit)x4, then 1 perl, and finally 3 knit stitches.

Using this basic pattern (3 Knit stitches on either end), you can make the ear flaps wider of skinnier, depending on your preferences.

Rows 1 - 10 (or however long you want the main body of the ear flaps to be): K3, (P1, K2)x4, P1, K3
Decrease Rows: At the beginning and end of the flap on the right side, knit 2 together TWICE, then on wrong side, follow pattern as established. Continue in this manner until you are down to 4 stitches. Bind off.

Make a cord in the length of your choosing using the method of your choosing (I used braids on the toddler hat, i-cord is ok, a crocheted chain would work, too). Attach cords to flap ends using a tapestry needle.



Please let me know if you find any errors or have any problems with the pattern. I know that it's not written in an entirely traditional manner, so if you can think of ways to change it or make it more user friendly, I'm always open to suggestions. I'm just a beginner in the whole hat designing area, so it's a learning process for me. But I hope you find it easy and a fun knit! Enjoy!