Rejoice! And again, I say, rejoice! This is our little break in the darkness as we prepare for the Light to enter the world. This is a reminder that our fasting and preparation are in joyful expectation of the Lord who has come, and who is coming. He will redeem the earth and resurrect the faithful to life. This is not a fast of strict penitence, but of self examination and preparation to meet our Savior with joy. We are still in the Advent anticipation, and still busy with fasting, praying and almsgiving, but are also taking time to remember the happiness that awaits us in His Incarnation and return in glory. Life got in the way of our getting our tree and putting it up with lights for Gaudete Sunday, but we are going with Alexander and Autumn and Amelia to get trees for both our houses together. We will do the normal Christmas Eve decorating of the tree with the older kids next week.

We had a Christmas party to attend last night and broke the fast for the law of hospitality. We ended up coming home with two smoked turkey carcasses. Since we tend to loosen or break the fast on Sunday evenings with our parish family, as most are not required to keep the fast, we decided to make a creamy, smoked turkey soup to share for dinner.

This whole Advent has been racing. Regardless, Christ will come and come again. May your fast be fruitful, so you may welcome the Christ Child in your heart and home, and prepare for His coming in glory!

• Sunday - Third Sunday of Advent - Gaudete Sunday
  Breakfast: Cranberry Bars, Tea and Coffee
  Dinner: Creamy Smoked Turkey and Vegetable Soup, Pinto Beans, Coleslaw, Olives, Doritos, Crackers and Cheese Dip, Mandarin Oranges
• Monday
  Breakfast: Lenten Tropical Muffins with Almond Butter, Fruit Plate, Tea and Coffee
  Dinner: Potato and Vegetable Hash, Green Salad, Rolls, Fruit Plate
• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Oatmeal with Dried Fruit and Brown Sugar, Tea and Honey
  Dinner: Leftovers
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Scrambled Chickpeas, Toast, Sliced Pears, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Braised Italian Green Beans and Potatoes, Rice, Pomegranates
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Apple Coconut Breakfast Bowls with Cashew Butter Drizzle, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Vegetarian Ranchero Beans, Salsa Rice, Sliced Mangoes
• Friday
  Breakfast: Potato Hash Burritos with Salsa, Fruit Plate, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Potato Curry and Jasmine Rice to break the fast after Liturgy
• Saturday
  Breakfast: Ful, Sah'awiq, Toast, Fruit Plate, Tea and Coffee
  Dinner: Falafel, Sah'awiq, Taratoor, Khoubz Araby, Olives and Veggies, Fruit Plate

Labels: Advent, Church Year, Faith and Morality, Fasting as a Family, Gaudete, Homemaking, Menu Plans, Tales from the Kitchen

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 11:29 AM 0 comments

Surprise! The stockings are not finished, but they are so close. I'm really making too many things at once. I am well over my three project at a time limit. Besides these two stockings, the little baby vest, and the baptismal gown (finishing all the ends and crocheting the button bands and loops and sewing buttons on it), I also have a scarf design for my newsletter subscribers to finish and get written and ready in time for the January issue and an almost finished mitten pattern that I really want ready for beta knitting at about the same time. So, no pressure or anything.

I changed both stocking patterns a little bit to match my own style of knitting and sensibilities. The vest is really perfect the way it is, and I love its construction. I may start making some other pieces in this same way for myself.

We finished Emma today, and our kids finally like some of the characters. I picked up Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages last night, and I am determined to finish it by the end of the month. It is an interesting book, and it has been on loan to me forever. I am closing my eyes to any other books! I realized, too, that the book book actually ends sooner than I thought, because the majority of the book is actually recipes at the end, and ways to make/use dairy products.

Linking to Unraveled Wednesday

If you would like to receive updates and early notice of new patterns, beta knitting opportunities, and great discounts (plus pictures of new yarns, new tools, fun places, neat hints, book ideas, recipes and more) each month, please subscribe to 1,001 Knits. My best, and sometimes my only, discounts go to my subscribers.

Labels: Books, Design, Giftalong, Homemaking, Knitting, Patterns, WIP, Yarn Along

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 1:27 PM 0 comments

I know the picture says peace. We don't know why. Peace is the last Sunday.

We are in the second week of Advent and this week has fewer major feasts. It is still during the lighter part of the fast, however. It has been a good Advent thusfar. It seems more preparatory, and everyone is doing well, I think. We haven't even started our Jesse Tree meditations, though we are doing our Advent wreath and readings each night.

The weather, on the other hand, is atrocious. The cold has finally set in and we had freezing rain, plus a few light snow days. I am counting the days until spring, already, though I should be grateful for the milder winter we've had. It is regularly about 20 to 30 degrees warmer during the day than it normally is at this time of year. It's just that that is still frigid.

Rich is helping me re-inventory our home and also make room in freezers, so we can finally get those muscovies butchered. That will help in multiple ways. Also, a former commissioner here mailed some Meyer lemons from his new home to us, and I am going to use every bit of them, if I can. Aside from what you see here, all of them will be zested and the zest added to sugar and salt, separately, for fun seasonings later. Blessed fast!

• Sunday - Second Sunday of Advent
  Breakfast: Spiced Prune Cake (GF for Jerome), Fruit, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Split Pea Soup, Sides/Salads/Fruit/Desserts brought by Church Family
• Monday - Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin, Theotokos
  Breakfast: Tunisian Shakshouka (using sweet potatoes), Home Canned Pears, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Mediterranean Mackerel Pasta, Green Salad, Fruit Plate
• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Scrambled Chickpeas, Toast, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Portuguese Spicy Rice, Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette, Fruit Plate
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Apple Coconut Breakfast Bowls with Cashew Butter Drizzle, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Pasta Trapanese, Green Salad, Fruit Plate
• Thursday - Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
  Breakfast: Steel Cut Oats with Chopped Apples, Dried Cranberries and Brown Sugar, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Vegetarian Rouz Bukhari, Tourshi Makhloot, Fruit Plate
• Friday - Feast of Saint Lucy
  Breakfast: Ful, Sah'awiq, Kalamata Olives, Toast, Mandarin Oranges, Tea and Honey
  Dinner: Spicy Peanut Noodles with Vegetables, Frozen Fruit Salad
• Saturday
  Breakfast: Vegetable Breakfast Burritos, Fruit, Tea and Coffee
  Dinner: Leftovers, Meyer Lemon Ricotta Cake

Labels: Advent, Church Year, Faith and Morality, Fasting as a Family, Homemaking, Homesteading, Menu Plans, Prayer Requests, Tales from the Kitchen

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 3:22 AM 0 comments

The Indie Designer Gift A Long is underway on Ravelry and you can follow along on Instagram, as well. This year I am highlighting some of the designers on my blog, as well as in my Instagram feed.

I have another French designer for you this week! Chloé of Tisserin Coquet is a new designer to me. Her patterns can be found on Ravelry and her own website.

Since she is new to me, I asked for her designer story. Almost all of us became designers because we couldn't find a pattern we needed, or wanted to change something on a pattern, or had an idea we just couldn't see in the patterns available to us. For Chloé, it was that she had a friend selling yarn. She had received a new colourway of Filcolana Arwetta and did not have any idea of how to showcase it for the biggest upcoming yarn fair of the year in France. Nothing she tried worked. Chloé suggested that she should make a sock with it, as it would be lovely paired with a plain light one and with a motif such a broken rib stitch. Her friend dared her to write it up and that’s how Premier Flocon (her first pattern) was born. She fell in love with pattern writing from this and hasn't stopped since then. She especially likes helping knitters realize that they can knit whatever they want and that the magic is in their hands. "They don’t have to be experts to try brioche, socks, lace, all the scary things. Exactly as the saying, if there is a will, there is a way and you just have to find the pattern/teacher/tutorial that speaks to your brain to help you learn the technique."

Chloé hails from Rhone-Alpes in France and I can't help but think that her beautiful environment must influence her designs. Her designs are mostly accessories like socks, mittens and mitts, shawls, cowls, and hats, but there are a few garments for adults and children, as well. Here are some of my favorites from her portfolio.

Aerial

Hanging Gardens

Première Neige

Not Bothered by the Cold

Houx

I encourage you to take a look at the rest of her portfolio. She is an intriguing designer to me, and takes a clear interest in the details of her designs. Those details distinguish her work and give them a depth that isn't always found in patterns.

Labels: Design, Giftalong, Homemaking, Knitting

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 11:56 PM 0 comments

So, I didn't finish either stocking and I am hurrying and scurrying. I do have a little extra time on one of them, however. The other one really should be finished by tomorrow, and that is not going to happen.

Because of the stockings, I haven't made much progress on my Rock Skipper for the Gift Along, but I do love it in this color.

I thought we would finish Emma by Thanksgiving, but we are still reading. Perhaps this next week, it will be finished. It has been a challenging week. I haven't read anything in Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages this week, because of the lack of brain space. However, I have read another of the LDS mysteries, and started a third. I'm still not quite thrilled with them, they are a little closer to Enyclopedia Brown in the reveal, but it is light and easy to read right now.

Linking to Unraveled Wednesday

If you would like to receive updates and early notice of new patterns, beta knitting opportunities, and great discounts (plus pictures of new yarns, new tools, fun places, neat hints, book ideas, recipes and more) each month, please subscribe to 1,001 Knits. My best, and sometimes my only, discounts go to my subscribers.

Labels: Books, Design, Giftalong, Homemaking, Knitting, Patterns, WIP, Yarn Along

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 11:08 PM 0 comments

Blessed Fast! Happy New Year! Advent is shorter again this year, and later than normal.

Because of our evening church situation, we are a bit more lax on the fast on Sundays than we otherwise might be. You may see dairy on weekends and major feasts. Also, the Advent fast is a little lighter, in general, as there are many fish days, and more wine and oil days. We try to fast within our strength and do the best we can, knowing that the point is the spiritual training and not the fast itself. The fast was given to us as an exercise and blessing. The only reason I share how we fast is so you know what to expect from meals and recipes during this time, if you are looking for ideas, or if you need to avoid some of the things we will be eating.

The West's fast is more lenient and shorter than the East's, anyway. Our family walks the line between those. Our general rule is close to the Orthodox, but we will relax more for Saints Barbara and Nicholas, including egg and dairy those days, and on Sundays, except for the final two weeks of Advent. We will be avoiding meat, fish (most days), eggs and dairy (with the exceptions I mentioned already), wine and olive oil on most weekdays. Shellfish is always permitted, so when we find that at a good price, we definitely eat it. I share this with you as an encouragement. We strive within our strength, and our family situation. We have discussed how to handle this with our priests and our local priests, and are considering also people we feed who don't generally follow the fast as much. Fasting and abstinence are such good tools that God gives us through the Church, and I encourage you to try to fast with the Church. It is not as useful to pick and choose, but rather to strive for your church's rule with such accomodations as necessary for health, age, and situation. Talk to your priest. If you don't have a priest, find one and talk to him.

This week has three major feast days in it, which makes the entrance into Advent a little easier. This is a blessing to us. Another blessing is that our tomatoes that were pulled from the garden and put in our honey room are still ripening and so we are still getting fresh tomatoes. That is a treat in December. Our home is well stocked and we will not have to buy a lot of groceries, except for some produce, dairy products, and cleaning and pet supplies. That will make our life simpler, as well. One of the ways the fast teaches us is by forcing us to pare down our lives a little.

Please pray for a holy Advent for us. I pray that your fast will be fruitful, and that you welcome the Christ Child in your heart and home, and prepare for His coming in glory!

• Sunday - First Sunday of Advent
  Breakfast: Sausage and Egg Burritos, Fruit, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Turkey Vegetable Soup, Rice, Pies, Parishioners bring Sides/Bread/Salad/Fruit
• Monday
  Breakfast: Tomato Toast (GF for Jerome), Fruit Plate, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Zaalouk, Olive Bread, Tomato Salad, Mandarin Oranges
• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Steel Cut Oats with Chopped Apples, Raisins, Brown Sugar and Cinnamon, Tea and Coffee
  Dinner: Cashew and Vegetable Stir Fry, Jasmine Rice, Fruit Plate
• Wednesday - Feast of Saints Barbara and Clement of Alexandria
  Breakfast: Mesfouf with Cream, Fruit Plate, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Acorn Squash, Potatoes and Onions, Mount Athos Tomato Rice, Saffron Buns for St. Barbara's Day
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Potato, Pepper and Onion Hash, Sliced Apples, Tea and Honey
  Dinner: Vegetarian Ranchero Beans, Salsa Rice, Pico de Gallo, Corn and Flour Tortillas, Fruit Plate
• Friday - Feast of Saint Nicholas of Myra
  Breakfast: Initial Cookies for St. Nicholas' Day, Chocolate, Fruit and Nuts, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Samak fil Furun (Arabic Baked Fish), Fried Cauliflower with Parlsey and Pine Nuts, Taratoor, Basmati Rice, Fruit Plate
• Saturday - Feast of Saint Ambrose of Milan
  Breakfast: Hoe Cakes with Maple Syrup, Pomegranates, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Spanish "Foolish Eggs," Spanish Poor Man's Potatoes, Honey Cake

Labels: Advent, Church Year, Faith and Morality, Fasting as a Family, Homemaking, Homesteading, Menu Plans, Prayer Requests, Tales from the Kitchen

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 7:47 AM 0 comments