a hat and cowl

So, we’ll see how this works. I’m up at yoga training, so I’m posting from my iPad. I had one more knitting post I wanted to make before I came up here. We’ll see if I can get all the links to work right and stuff. I’m having a hard time getting my photos to resize how I want them to, but you may just have to see them smaller than usual.

My cute hat is a pattern called “Off Piste“. I really wanted a new cream colored hat and Barry really wanted me to have a hat with a brim, so here you have it. The bottom edge curled a bit funny due to the cables, but I ran some elastic thread through it and that perfected it.

I knit my cowl a while ago with leftover yarn from Eva’s Camilla. The pattern is the Honey Cowl. It got a bit monotonous, but I do love it and wear it often.

Now a little about the project at hand– yoga immersion.

Tonight’s meditation mantra was the natural breath mantra “ham sah”. We naturally make this mantra as we inhale “ham” and exhale “sah” with every breathe. In Sanskrit it means “I am that” (“that” being your inner self, the essential part of you that has always existed, that is connected with God) which in my Mormon mind is “I am a child of God.” So, as all of us children of God are going about breathing we are saying “I am a child of God” with every breath whether we know it or not. What a beautiful thing to tune in to– that our very breathe affirms who we are and whose we are.

It all starts back up tomorrow morning at 5:30 AM. I’ll try to pop in with photos soon.

zuzu’s petals for a friend

I visited a friend in November and left her house wondering what I could do to lighten her load. As I pondered, the thing that came to mind was a friend I had in Ohio who was always knitting a prayer shall for someone. She was Catholic, so recited prayers as she knit in behalf of someone in need of her prayers, but I thought there was no reason I couldn’t add my own Mormon flavor to the prayer shall idea. So I searched ravelry for a pattern and settled on Zuzu’s Petals, bought some Cascade Ultra Pima in a pretty blue color, and got to work.

I tried to be mindful of my friend with each stitch, sending love her way and asking the Lord to help her and her family with whatever they needed. It was a sweet experience for me to work on something in a mindful way and then give it away. I wish I had more time to do this kind of thing. I have several friends in need of lots of prayers.

the Beard Beanie

Among my brothers and their wives we draw names for Christmas gifts and the brother I drew this year had a very specific request. When we were together over Thanksgiving he whipped out his phone and thumbed through his pinterest pins to show me the coolest thing ev-ah.

A Beard Beanie.

(Excuse the photo quality– these are all from text messages we’ve exchanged.)

I used this pattern for the beard. It was quick and painless. For the hat I used “The Man Hat.” As for yarn I used some Martha Stewart acrylic/ merino blend that I found at Jo-Ann’s. I had to use two strands to get the right gauge. It is super soft and my brother likes it.

So does his wife.

holiday update– thanksgiving

Hello blog readers. I haven’t fallen off the face of the Earth, my computer time has just dwindled to near non-existent these past few months. That is actually a pretty good thing in general, but not so good for blogging. Right now I’m going to post some photos from our time in Boise with my family for Thanksgiving. I know Thanksgiving is old news, but that’s where I’m starting with my catching up intentions.

I sure married the right guy. I love that one of his main goals in life is to have fun. On Thanksgiving morning he insisted that we all head out to the backyard to have our own Turkey Bowl. It was everyone else against us Crokers. We got creamed, but it was super fun and funny.

I see a lot of these pictures of this game and think “Man, I have a lot of hair.”

And this picture– do I think I’m going to catch that ball 15 feet above my head? Very silly.

It was lots of silly fun. These pictures were taken by my mom, but she was in there a bit too.

Afterward we cooked and ate a lot of good food, but I think this was the memorable part for me.

We also trekked over to the playground for a family photo.

Look at these perfect cuties. Less than 2 weeks apart in age, but miles apart in hair and size!!

I love my family. I wish we lived closer…

Other random catching up news:

-We are moving to the Washington DC area in July. Do you know homeschoolers in the area? If you do, let me know!!

-I’m going up to yoga teacher training next week. I will not have to cook a meal, change a diaper, or ignore screaming for a week and a half. I’m completely excited and terrified all at once.

-Eva regularly climbs onto top bunks, empties drawers, and colors on herself with markers.

This week I will post some homemade Christmas goodness.

Next week I will post from my phone thoughts about yoga.

See you here soon!