The end of one year and beginning of the next is always a time for planning, reflecting, and cleaning. So, that is what is going on here. My new design planner is filling up, and I am making priority lists for projects and designs, as well as planning out the rest of the year for homeschooling, homemaking, and projects on our property. This baptismal gown is a little further along than the picture shows, but not as far along as it should be. We still have a little time before the baptism, though. So this gown, Yathrib, and a new design for the Trade Winds collection are my priorities this month.

A lot of my work kind of fizzled out toward the end of the year. We had so much changing and going on here at home, that I slowed down quite a bit. However, my momentum is coming back now, as it usually does. While I read a lot in the past few months, I didn't finish any books. I'm close to finishing one now, and have a couple on my list to follow. I finished more projects this year than I did in the two years prior, which I see as a good sign.

If you missed out on my 12 Days sale, you are not completely out of luck. Wven though the Christmas feast is over, the season isn’t. And it’s Christmas Day for the folks on the Old Calendar. So, through next Saturday, January 14, 2023, 25 of my best selling patterns are on sale for 20% off with the coupon code MerryChristmas. You can find my sale bundles on PayHip and Ravelry in the link in my profile above and the coupon is valid in both stores. Enjoy!

So, on to my recap. Here are my lists of finished knit and crochet projects (I should include my sewing projects this year) and books I read to completion. My goal for next year is to read about twice as many books, and more non-fiction. Although I enjoyed almost all the books I read this past year, my favorites really were the non-fiction titles. My knit night group has been growing and I really hope we keep up and become closer.

For my crafting, I'd like to complete about twice what I did this year (including sewing) and publish ten patterns. Two of those patterns are written, with samples nearly finished. Two are going to be knit by sample knitters and I plan to have the patterns written to completion in the next two or three months. There is another large pattern project I want to complete in the next six months, both the knitting and the writing and editing, and a smaller one for the same collection. This leaves four more patterns to write and knit. If I do this all, I should have a pattern out in the next month or so, another in May or June, one in August, one in September, a collection of five (!) in November made in partnership with Malabrigo, and a final design published in December. What are your goals for this year?

2022 Finished Projects

• Tilting Blocks Blanket, Adam - knit February 1
• Wash Mitt, Adam - knit February 2
• Stag Mittens, Jerome - knit March 6
• Baladi, design sample for me - knit April 1
• Elf Slippers, Amelia - knit April 4
• Imbat, design sample for me - knit April 15
• Elf Hat, Amelia - knit May 13
• Stroller Blanket, Amelia - crochet June 25
• Baladi, design sample for me - knit June 30
• Cabled Mittens, Yasmina - knit July 28
• Fascinating, Me - knit August 3
• Kija Hat, Amelia - knit August 6
• Ghati 3 Month Size, Amelia - knit August 14
• Ghati Newborn Size, Danika's Baby - knit August 22
• Ghati Preemie Size, Charity - knit August 23
• Mozarab Adult Hat, design sample for me - knit November 4
• Acropolis Hat, Jerome - knit December 5
• Shape Your Booties Keychain, gift - knit December 31

• January
• Rainbow Valley
• February
• Desert Queen
• Rilla of Ingleside
• April
• The Story Girl
• May
• Crying in H-Mart
• June
• Bearing God: The Life and Works of St. Ignatius of Antioch the God-Bearer
• Twain's Feast
• August
• X Saves the World
• Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came
• Dormition Study
• Arsenic with Austen
• Bloodstains with Bronte
• Cyanide with Christie
• September
• Death with Dostoevsky
• Fatality with Forster
• Once Upon a Wardrobe
• 1st to Die by James Patterson
• 2nd Chance by James Patterson
• October
• Chronicles of Avonlea

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, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Grandbaby, Homemaking, Knitting, Prayer Requests, WIP, Yarn Along

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 12:04 AM 0 comments

Imbat is finally live, and I cannot be prouder. This is a simple, cropped sweater, with classic lines. However, those lines are created with a lot of attention to detail, and with clever shaping and techniques. It is not difficult to make it, but each part was designed with a lot of thought. It is designed with negative ease for a snug fit, is perfect worn over a dress or a short sleeved top. Knit from the bottom up with simple lines and deep ribbing, it creates its own shaping to fit to your body. The modified dropped short sleeves are easy to fit with minimal sewing. Even if you are not a typical crop top wearer, it might become your go-to garment for transitional weather. Slip it on to ward off the evening chill of spring or summer, or wear it as a layering piece in autumn or winter. I think you will enjoy making and wearing it, as I did.

As a Christmas gift to you, the first 10 people to use the coupon code Frightful on Payhip will receive 75% off, the next 10 people to use the coupon code on either PayHip or Ravelry will receive 50% off, and everyone else will receive 20% off at either storefront. All coupon codes are valid through the end of the day, PST December 30, 2022 (you may have to be a little patient for the shift from one coupon to another on PayHip). Merry 5th Day of Christmas!🎄

My GAL has been fun, but not as productive as I would have liked. There are only a few more days, but I have only finished one hat, one slipper (still to be blocked), and begun a second hat. I am hoping to have the second slipper mostly finished by the end of the month and event. I will work on the hat when I am not doing "work" knitting in January. These are both really fun patterns, though, and I am happy to be making them. The adorable slippers are from Jenise Hope, the Persian Curled Toe Slippers, and the hat, is the Rime of the Ancient Beekeeper Hat from Julia Decker. It is truly a beautiful hat, and a great introduction to circular brioche if you have never done it.

Unfortunately, I have gotten hardly any reading done this past week.

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, FOs, Giftalong, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Grandbaby, Homemaking, Knitting, Prayer Requests, WIP, Yarn Along

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 11:55 PM 0 comments

I have finished one project in the GAL and started another. Here is Jerome in his Acropolis hat. He loves it! He has taken to wearing it most of the time now, because he loves it so much. That is definitely a win in my book.

Speaking of books, I've been reading from this one, on and off, for a little while. You can see it with the beginning of the baptismal gown, which really should be close to finished now. Yikes. I had to rechart the cables in it, and had I to do it over again, I would have made the border design a little differently, and mirrored the smaller cables, as well as making them an eight round repeat instead of a six round, so there would be two repeats for every center cable repeat, but I'm just continuing as it is for now.

Besides It Takes a Church to Baptize, we are still reading through Further Chronicles of Avonlea slowly, and I am making tiny progress in The Diary of a Country Priest which should be going faster, but I am mostly falling asleep after reading a few paragraphs.

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, FOs, Giftalong, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Grandbaby, Homemaking, Knitting, Prayer Requests, WIP, Yarn Along

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 11:57 PM 0 comments

This year, I am part of the Independent Designer Gift A Long on Ravelry again, and it is he 10th anniversary to boot! It is a lot of fun and I have a project on needles from another designer that is really working out well and is cleverly designed. If you aren't able to participate on Ravelry, there are challenges and contests and ways to share your projects on Instagram as well. I have a sale bundle of 20 patterns available on both Ravelry and PayHip. Through the end of the day, EST, November 28, 2022, you can use the coupon code giftalong2022 to get any or all of those patterns for 25% off.

Between Thanksgiving and the GAL, I have done hardly any reading this past week, unfortunately.

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, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Grandbaby, Homemaking, Knitting, Yarn Along

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 11:45 PM 0 comments

So Mozarab is not only finished with the rights returned to me, but I finally had a chance to get my own photography done so I could release the pattern. I'm still hoping to get a photo of me in mine and Amelia in hers, but that will have to wait at least until the new year, because her little head is just too small. You can find this pattern on PayHip, LoveCrafts, and Ravelry. It is still on KnitPicks, through their Independent Designer Program, as well. If you use the coupon code, MozarabHatReturn to receive 50% off the headband pattern on Ravelry. This code is valid through the end of the day PST November 16, 2022. My PayHip store also has this offer, but will automatically prompt you to purchase the headband at 50% off when you put the hat pattern in your cart.

Since this is off my plate, I have had a little more time to work on Amelia's baptismal gown and get closer to finishing Yathrib. More photos from both of those next week.

We are working our way through Further Chronicles of Avonlea at a leisurely pace, but it is fun and the kids are enjoying it with me. I'm hoping to have The Diary of a Country Priest by the end of this month, but I almost think it will take me getting sick and having to stay in bed for a while before that really happens.

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, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Grandbaby, Homemaking, Knitting, Prayer Requests, WIP, Yarn Along

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 9:51 PM 0 comments

Our little Amelia arrived this week! This means that I need to hustle on that baptismal gown, but also I'm thinking that there will actually be less time to knit, because I will be holding that wee babe as much as I can. The rights to Mozarab have returned to me, and I am trying to get photography done on my own sample (I gave the baby sized sample to our little granddaughter - maybe we can get pictures in our matching hats when she fits in hers!), so I can self-publish the pattern in all the places I sell my designs. It is available on KnitPicks still, as part of their Independent Designer Program, so that is one more place you can find it. We have had such a busy few weeks, month, whatever, and now it is busy in the absolute best way.

We finished Chronicles of Avonlea a week or two ago, and started Further Chronicles of Avonlea. I'm still browsing through The Diary of a Country Priest and have read the entries for this month in Seeking God's Face.

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, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Grandbaby, Homemaking, Knitting, Prayer Requests, WIP, Yarn Along

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 6:48 PM 2 comments

My progress this week has been in little steps. I'm more than half finished with the border on the baptismal gown, and I picked up the first sleeve on Yathrib. It doesn't look like a lot of change, but without these small advances nothing is made. We have been going through a rough time with a family member who is not well, either in mind or body, and for some reason it is much worse right now, so if you can keep us, but especially her in your prayers, it would be a mercy. If you have been watching the doings on my Instagram account, we are fairly certain that she is the person reporting it, which is the least of the trouble she is interested in causing. She needs prayer, and so do we.

I just finished the book Once Upon a Wardrobe, and I strongly recommend that everyone who loves truth, fantasy, imagination, life, children, and the Narnia series read it. If you have never read the books, know nothing about C.S. Lewis, if you are a non-Christian, no matter who you are, you will find something beautiful and true in this little book of fiction. It isn't great literature, it isn't a magnificent work, but it is a good story, that is full of truth and beauty in a world that is full of lies and ugliness. I will concede that the first couple chapters were a bit of a slog for me, but after that, it was just a journey through beauty.

Because of the hassle of the troubles we have been dealing with, The Diary of a Country Priest has been sadly neglected, but I am hoping to return to M. Le Père tonight or tomorrow.

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, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Grandbaby, Homemaking, Knitting, Prayer Requests, WIP, Yarn Along

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 9:36 AM 0 comments

I finally got a really good start on the baptismal gown. It wasn't behaving as I liked, so I ripped it out and restarted it. I think there is an error in the pattern on the hem, but I cannot find any notes from other knitters or errata. The first eyelet in the repeat does not line up properly on subsequent rounds, and I think if the K3 were switched with the K4, it would, but I also don't want to undo six rounds. So, I am trying to decide if I should continue to the end of this section to rip it out and re-do it, or if I should rip now. Because we know that, in the end, I am going to rip it out and do it again.

I read the latest Crime with the Classics book, Fatality with Forster. Reed College, which became Bede College, is now Reed College again. I do not know what she was thinking. I did figure out who was behind the murder and why pretty early on, too.

Today, a quotation from The Diary of a Country Priest came up which reminded me that I have had that book on my shelf for years, and still haven't read it all. So, I picked it up, and I am really enjoying it. We need more priests like him. Also, I had been reading a bit in Once Upon a Wardrobe and did some more of that, with a few of the kids. We are just about finished with it. It is a really good story. Not a great work, but a good story, that is perfect for anyone who loves Narnia or C.S. Lewis. It was touching, though it took a few chapters to really get into the groove with it.

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, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Grandbaby, Homemaking, Knitting, WIP, Yarn Along

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 9:09 AM 0 comments

My knitting has been moving around a lot this past week. I am working on a cabled baptismal gown for Amelia, a pair of socks for Jerome, Yathrib (my cable edged jacket design for the Malabrigo Freelance Pattern Project), and an adult sized sample of Mozarab. I did a lot of tinking this week, too, mostly to correct dumb mistakes. So, there is not a ton of progress to share. We have a bit of a drive this week for a couple fun events, so I am hoping to get some more progress made while in the car.

Now that my sabbatical month is over, I am working more on my own designs, and will work on the socks and baptismal gown largely on the weekends. The rights to self-publish Mozarab return to me in October, so I would like to be ready to do that, with my own photography. Imbat is supposed to be published at the end of October, also, and I would like to get one of the last two designs in my Tradewinds Color Collection published in the second week of November. Initially, I was not planning on participating in the GAL again this year, but it is the tenth anniversary, so I think it might be fun and worthwhile to do it one more time. The SAL is so much smaller, which makes it easier to participate and get to know the participants. I'm thinking of asking my fellow admins for that if we might hold a more informal finish along of past SAL projects, perhaps in January or February.

My capacity for serious reading has taken a nosedive, to mix metaphors here, and so I read three more of the Crime with the Classics series, Bloodstains with Bronte, Cyanide with Christie and Death with Dostoevsky, and spent precious little time with Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages. The kids and I picked up Chronicles of Avonlea again and have been enjoying our visits to Prince Edward Island

My objections to the Crime with the Classics series are still there, but I have been enjoying the stories. So, I recommend them, but with a caveat. However, this fourth book had a change in it that strikes me as lazy and thoughtless. The main character, Emily, is a professor at Reed College in Portland, OR. The first three books take place almost entirely in a thinly veiled Rockaway Beach, called Stony Beach in the book (even the drive time from the other nearby towns is exactly the same). A few years of establishing that her college is Reed College and three other books which make frequent reference to this, are dashed entirely in the fourth, when the author made the decision to change the college from Reed College to an entirely fictional Bede College. She says that her reasoning was, in part, that she was an alumna of the school, but in the 1970s, and the buildings have shifted and changed, so she didn't want to get the details wrong, but a visit to the school or even online research on their website and mapping apps would have solved that. Her other reason was that she says she didn't want to sully her memories of the place with details of murder. Well, why didn't she think of that three books and several years before?! So, now the reader has this jarring change, with a thin excuse for it, that just makes her sound lazy and a little foolish. The fifth book seems to take place entirely in England, and she officially retires after the fourth, so I don't know that it will come up again. So, why am I continuing to read these? I'm not entirely sure. Like I said, the writing is good, and she writes to an audience she expects to have some literary background, so she doesn't dumb it down or talk down to the reader. I love happy, little murders, and this one is that, which includes faith, knitting, and places with which I am familiar. The moral issues I have with them are still there, and it is getting annoying to keep reading how Emily is a nouveau riche heiress. That doesn't need to be explicitly stated. Or at least, not after the first book when she inherits. There are also some clumsy references to modern "social issues" that don't seem to flow entirely fluidly with the books. They seem forced and are much more like a sermon than she portrays in the scenes involving church. Maybe I am asking too much from modern, light fiction. Nobody claims this as great literature, just a lot of fun.

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: Around the World Stitch Along, Books, Design, Giftalong, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Grandbaby, Homemaking, Knitting, WIP, Yarn Along

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 9:06 AM 0 comments

Fair week took more out of me than I thought it would. We are getting too old for doing as much as we do. The kids and we have worked in the booth since we moved here. The older kids have opened and closed for many years, Rich is in charge of scheduling workers, but last year and this year, we were also in charge of stocking supplies, and this year we were in charge of the money. That is a lot. We are hoping some younger folks in the neighborhood will be able to take on some of this for us, as we get older and our kids move on to other things and places. Anyway. Because of that I didn't get my pictures taken or my post written, and now, I don't even have a modeled photo for my cute fascinator, so that will have to wait until after we go to our dance in September.

Did I mention that here? We are going to be able to go to a hangar dance and dinner, and I am wearing a retro little black dress and my fascinator to it. It will be so much fun!

We are in the last two days of the Stitch Along, and I don't think I can finish any more projects (just the other demands on my knitting and life), but there is still time to squeeze in another project if you want to join in now. If all goes well, I will have a new pattern release tomorrow. That is really the only knitting I was getting done this past week, itty bitty bonnets. This is an older design that I finessed a little and reworked to make me a little more proud of it. It is great for leftovers, quick to make, and it's cute! There will be a great coupon available for it when it is released, so watch this space. I'll just post it here. Ghati is now available on PayHip, Ravelry, and on LoveCrafts. This is a pattern I started with when I first began designing, and I have rebuilt it to something much more elegant and I am really pleased with it. It is highly customizable and can be embellished or left as it is, made more masculine or more feminine as you wish. A typical 50 g skein of sport to DK yarn will make three or four of these, depending on which size you choose. The first 10 people to use the coupon code coverthatbaby on Ravelry will receive 50% off (I happen to know that there are still some 75% off slots on PayHip), and everyone else will receive 20% off. The coupon code is valid through the end of the day, PDT, September 1, 2022.

So, what have I read or been reading? I finished the Dormition Study, had a quick little jaunt with another happy little murder, Arsenic with Austen, and picked up Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages.

I enjoyed Arsenic with Austen, because the author is Orthodox and includes natural references to faith and prayer. However, I am a bit disappointed because she also references casual fornication, divorce and remarriage, and so on with a clear sense that there isn't much of a problem with it. There is something in the book from the main character's past which touches on this in a moral way, which was good, both in the way it wasn't celebrated, but acknowledged as a reality of the world we are in, and in the thoughts about how that situation could have been handled and ways that it was not handled. However, the other references to similar activity seem to put a more neutral spin, if not positive, and the reference to divorce is so flip, plus there is some vulgar language as well as profane taking the Lord's name in vain. I really didn't like that. I have read books with all of that and not been overly troubled, but this is a woman of faith, who lets people know she is a woman of faith, so I don't think it is the same. She didn't need to make a moral lesson or give a sermon, and I appreciated that some of the moral ambiguities of the story were treated as such without a lecture. However, there are points where it seems like she has moved past simple toleration or even general acknowledgement to acceptance or celebration of some moral ills. Were she a secularist or an atheist, this wouldn't have posed the same problem for me. I've started the next book in the series, and this issue actually gets worse, so while I really enjoy her writing and the story, this is making it difficult. I still haven't decided if I will read past the second book.

However, her writing is fantastic. She references literature in a way that the reader really needs to be familiar with those stories, rather than being didactic and explaining it to the reader. So, either you know her reference, or you look it up for yourself, and maybe find another book to read, as well. Likewise, there is a French character, and I love that the author never translates the French (she does not speak only French, a few phrases and sentences are sprinkled in with her speech). You have to know it or translate it yourself. It has helped me remember my French a bit more. Faith in the book is well represented, and in a very real and natural way (there are no altar calls or sermons directed at the reader). This is just undermined by the moral issues I mentioned above. In any case, I do like her writing, I'm just conflicted over the disconnect between her profession and her work.

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: Around the World Stitch Along, Books, Design, FOs, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Grandbaby, Homemaking, Knitting, WIP, Yarn Along

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 11:30 AM 0 comments

My first two SAL projects are knit. I made both the Fascination and Kija hats, one a cute fascinator for me, and the other a little baby hat for Amelia. She is going to have a lot of knits, I think. I'm trying to decide between two pins to embellish Fascination, and I think I will also use some magenta organza on it. Both are blocking right now, so I will have finished photos next week.

I finished the Kija hat on our camping trip this past weekend, and started a pair of socks for Jerome that is long overdue. This is a yak blend yarn that I bought in Anchorage in 2019. Jerome admired it right away, and I told him I'd make him socks. So, here, nearly three years later, I am finally starting it.

X Saves the World was a good book, and he did get better at self-examination toward the end, though I still think he was blind to some of our "kitsch" as he was using the term in the book. Again, just in case you did not read my earlier commentary, I don't agree with all of his premises or conclusions, but he is able to analyze very well, and is able to distill certain key things about our generation to articulate points. If you are from this generation, live with someone from this generation, or love someone from this generation, you will find the book interesting. One caveat besides the language one, he kind of lost me a little when he claimed President Obama as generation X. Basically everyone defines generation X as beginning in 1965, and President Obama was born in 1961.

I also took a happy little murder with me on our camping trip, Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came and finished it in just a couple days. It's amazing how much reading and knitting time I have when I have no big responsibilities or phones or internet to make urgent demands on me. Most of my reading on our trip was my Dormition Study. I think I will actually complete it this year!

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: Around the World Stitch Along, Books, Design, FOs, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Grandbaby, Homemaking, Knitting, WIP, Yarn Along

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 10:49 AM 2 comments

The adult sized Baladi hat is finished! There are still ends to weave in and blocking to do, and the bow to make and tack down, but the knitting is complete. The pattern is written and I want to have it ready to beta knit in a week or so. I'm still making good progress on on Yathrib, and hope to have the entire jacket finished by the end of July. It's the edging that will possibly slow me down, though.

Now that we have given the gifts, I can show you pictures of the sweet little elf set (hat and slippers) and the crocheted blanket I made for our baby grandDAUGHTER! I also gave them the Mozarab baby hat I made up when the pattern rights were sold to KnitPicks (my rights will return about a year after this precious one is born - and it will be available for sale individually on all my sales platforms). I am working on a cabled baptismal cap and gown and cannot wait to see this sweet thing wearing them! She is going to be the best dressed baby, if I have anything to say about it.

I did finish Twain's Feast and strongly recommend it if you love food, or humor, or good writing. The author was really funny, and he knew how to put words together well. I will warn that there are one or two spots where he uses the Lord's name in vain, which I thought was both profane and unnecessary. The topic was interesting to me, anyway, but the author made it much more personable. The books in my top photo are what I am reading in my weekly Bible study. It is good to have a better view of Romans than the strictly legalistic one. These books help put it in context both in history and culture. NT Wright is one of the few modern theologians I will read, and his work here is fantastic.

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, Crochet, Design, FOs, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Grandbaby, Homemaking, Knitting, WIP, Yarn Along

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 3:25 PM 0 comments

Look at the sweater! I cannot wait to have you try knitting it. Also, I made itty, bitty, baby elf slippers for the grandbaby and I'm working on a hat to match, too!

We are finished with The Story Girl, and are neatly half way through The Golden Road. The "adult" reading of Bearing God: The Life and Works of St. Ignatius of Antioch the God-Bearer is going slowly, but wonderfully. I didn't finish it during Lent, but am nearly there.

Linking to Unraveled Wednesday.

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Labels: Books, Design, FOs, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Grandbaby, Homemaking, Knitting, Yarn Along

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 9:08 PM 0 comments

Jerome's mittens are finished! Well, the knitting is. I still have some ends to weave in, blocking and so on to do. I used a free pattern for most of it, and the chart for the stag, though I modified the chart and had to make some changes so the decreases would work (they were placed in the wrong place in the pattern and didn't work out at all with the stated numbers on the thumb). Imbat is actually, truly, nearly completed, also.

We finished Rilla of Ingleside last week. Our plan had been to start Cheaper by the Dozen next, but we didn't have it. We started reading The Story Girl instead. Rich and I have been reading Bearing God: The Life and Works of St. Ignatius of Antioch the God-Bearer together, and are really glad we are sharing it. There is so much in his life that we need to remember today.

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, FOs, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Grandbaby, Homemaking, Knitting, WIP, Yarn Along

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 7:43 AM 0 comments

I'm more than halfway finished with Jerome's mittens and I only have the ribbing on the neck left and Imbat. I changed the top of the graph on this mitten pattern, and I think I'm still going to add three small stars to it on the second mitten and just duplicate stitch them on the other mitten afterward. It looks like I'm going to run out of the green yarn, but I was able to find someone with a skein of it in the same dye lot and it is on its way to me already. It feels so good to be finishing projects! I'm trying desperately not to start any new ones, because I want to finish these and a pair of mitts for my daughter-in-law first. Since I have the best reason in the world a cast on new projects, this is a little harder than normal. Alexander and Autumn are due at the end of October, which makes us grandparents!

I have been rearranging my knitting projects for the year, and finding more cute little baby things to make. I cannot wait!

The kids and I have only a few more chapters left on Rilla of Ingleside. It is hard to read about the devastation of World War I when it appears we are on the verge of World War IV. We are deep in prayer and grief right now. In light of that, reading Bearing God: The Life and Works of St. Ignatius of Antioch the God-Bearer has been edifying and calming. God is God and He is present now, even in these wars and rumors of war. Lord have mercy. Saint Ignatius, pray for us!

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, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Grandbaby, Homemaking, Knitting, WIP, Yarn Along

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 12:23 AM 0 comments