I wanted to say that it’s because the class is very interesting.

I wanted to say that it’s because he is an entertaining, yet knowledgeable instructor.

I really wanted to say that I’m taking this course because every time class meets I learn something new about God. I learn something new about God’s Creation and His magnificence and His beauty and His love and His ability to form life out of nothing–an ability that no other being in the universe possesses.

That’s what I wanted to say. But what I actually said was, “Well, really easy ‘throw-away’ classes are so boring that I end up doing poorly in them. At least in this class, I have to work hard for a B!” No, it wasn’t a bad response, but the answers in my head were so much better.

First, I am supposed to thank the person who gave me the award, Kathy. Her site is really great, so I hope you go over and check it out. She is also really great, as I’m sure you’ll figure out if you go over to her blog.

Second, I have to tell you 10 things that you may not know about me. It’s hard to remember what I have already “given away” on the blog, but I’ll try to make these things new to most of you.

1. I was born in North Carolina, but raised in Texas.
2. My favorite dessert is plain cheesecake.
3. In the 12 years I attended public school, I never received a “perfect attendance” award.
4. I began my senior year of high school with mononucleosis, and no, I didn’t get it from kissing someone.
5. Since being married, I’ve discovered that I love to cook.
6. I have an older sister and a niece who will be 7 years old in 6 days. I also have a half-sister who is 2.5 years old.
7. I’ve never broken a bone.
8. Both of my ring fingers are very crooked, a trait I inherited from my mother.
9. My hair and nails grow really fast.
10. I love all things crafty–knitting, crochet, sewing, embroidery–and am looking forward to finding many more!

Finally, I’m supposed to bestow this award on 6 other bloggers. This is tricky because… well, I don’t read 6 other blogs. Here are the two I do read, and I would choose them even if I read hundreds of blogs!

1. Katie — She blogs about knitting, cooking, gardening, reading, and life as a librarian!
2. Emily — Her blog is very fun to read. She writes about gardening, sewing/quilting, and other homey stuff.

If you are reading this and you were chosen, in order to post the badge to your site, you have to do what  I did: post 10 things about you that your readers may not know and give the award to 6 others. Of course, this is entirely optional and you are not to feel obligated in any way at all. You don’t have to accept it if you don’t want to. I promise my feelings won’t be hurt.

Surely everyone has heard this phrase. Well, what about the next one?

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21, NIV)

I know that what Jesus said is true. And I happen to agree that time is money. This leads me to believe that how I spend my time indicates where my heart lies also.

If I told you I really love my husband, but then said I never spend time with him… would you believe that I love him? If I said I really care for the homeless, but then said I never give money to charity and never volunteer my time… would you believe that I truly care? Now, if I tell you I am a Christian and I love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, but then said I never read the Bible or pray or spend time still and silent before Him… would you believe that I love God?

I have not been a good steward with my time, efforts, energy, or mind. I have not worked at glorifying God. I have not worked at being more Christ-like. Every day that I waste is a gift gambled with.

One thing that has helped is having a daily Bible study. The one I’m using now will be done at the end of February, so I’m going to look online for a free daily study to do. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them!

Pattern Info:
Fleegle’s Toe-up Socks by Susan Glinert
Source: Fleegle’s Blog

This pattern is more of a set of guidelines than a real pattern. I obtained a different gauge than what she does in the pattern, so used different numbers. I aimed for 9 stitches per inch because I’ve read that tightly knit socks will wear better. I did follow the toe shaping, gusset increasing, and heel turn instructions. I, however, added calf-shaping because he wanted knee-high socks. This I did by measuring his leg circumference at various spots and using my gauge to get an estimate of tapering, then trying them on him as I knit them. I ended with about 1.5 inches of 1×1 ribbing at the top.

One sock fits a little tighter than the other. On the second sock, I had to use different needles and that one ended up slightly looser, longer, and stretchier. He is happy, though, and that’s what really matters. If I make him another pair, I would definitely use the same pattern (I did write it all down!) except I would begin the toe with 2 fewer stitches because the tip of the toe is just a bit wider than his big toe, so the corners end up in little points. Not a huge deal, but it’s something I will change if I can for future socks.

Yarn Info:
Knit Picks Palette
Fingering weight
Thicket colorway
100% wool

I thoroughly enjoyed working with this yarn. It’s not overly soft; perfect for socks. I can’t comment on how it will wear over time, but it’s spun nicely and I don’t think I came across a single knot in the 2.25 skeins I worked with.

Photos:
Excuse the messy background… he was sitting on the porch for sunlight and the carpeting there is really… erm, ugly.

I’ve still been chugging along on Nate’s socks. As I started the second heel, one of my bamboo needles broke. I only have one pair in each size, so had to buy new ones. I bought some nickel-plated double-pointed needles from Knit Picks. They came in the mail last Thursday and since then, I’ve really plowed through the second sock. It feels like I can knit faster on these needles, although that doesn’t make much sense. Maybe because of the slicker finish? I don’t know. Anyway, I’ve got a couple more inches to go before working the ribbing. I think Nate is very excited. Here is how it looks so far:

Nate's Sock in progress

Last week I also received a package from Knit Picks containing items purchased with a birthday present gift card from last year. I bought another skein of yarn to finish Nate’s socks (I had to use some of the second for the first sock, so needed another skein.), some locking stitch markers (that I LOVE!), and two hanks of laceweight yarn that looks like this:

Oregon Coast Heather

This is a skein of Knit Picks Shadow, which is a 100% wool laceweight, in the Oregon Coast Heather colorway. It looks like a fairly dull brown in the hank, but is absolutely gorgeous once knitted up. It actually has a strong purple/pink shade to it that I am so excited about. I’ve started the Swallowtail Shawl pattern for myself in this yarn because I wanted to venture into lace knitting. Here’s the shawl in progress:

Swallowtail

It’s a triangle shawl knit from the long straight edge (hypotenuse of the triangle that will eventually lay across the shoulders), down to the tip at the bottom. In the photo above it looks quite crumpled, but that is the nature of lace, so I’ve read. It will look much nicer once it is washed and block. Here are two closer photos:

Swallowtail (and a purple stitch marker!)

Swallowtail

I’ve since realized that the psalms are full of both praise and worship. The psalms are a fabulous place to begin studying God’s actions and God’s character. I have added another set of markings to my annotations list so that, as I read, I can underline praise and worship. Praise is underlined in blue and worship in red. It’s fun to read psalms in this way.

In Psalms 95 and 96, I’ve learned the following:

1. God is “the Rock of [my] salvation” (95:1)
2. “the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods” (95:3)
3. God is my “Maker” (95:6)
4. God is “[my] God” (95:7)
5. “great is the Lord” (96:4)
6. God is “most worthy of praise” (96:4)
7. God is “to be feared above all gods” (96:4)
8. God is majestic, strong, and glorious (96:6-9)
9. God is just (96:10)
10. God is true (96:13)

Also,

1. God holds “the depths of the earth” in His hand, and owns “the mountain peaks” and “the sea” (96:4 & 5)
2. God is Creator, God “formed the dry land” (95:5)
3. God cares for His flock (95:7)
4. God saves (96:2)
5. God performs “marvelous deeds among all peoples” (96:3)
6. “the Lord made the heavens” (96:5)
7. “the Lord reigns” (96:10)
8. God “firmly established” the world (96:10)
9. God judges “with equity” (96:10)
10. “the Lord… comes to judges the earth” (96:13)
11. God “will judge the world… and the peoples” (96:13)

Annotating the Word like this inspires awe in me as I underline again and again. I plan to do this whenever I get the chance to spend time in psalms and possibly elsewhere as well.

This begs the question: Do you annotate your Bible? Do you make notes? Do you underline? Do you highlight?

I use colored pencils in a color code I came up with to underline pieces of scripture that fit into categories. I also make margin notes on occasion, and have now added blue/red underlining for praise and worship verses. I’m interested to know how you study the Bible.

First, I want to apologize for getting this post up so late. I’ve been limiting my computer time in an effort to (1) do more house cleaning, (2) do more school work, and (3) do more knitting. It’s working–I’ve been doing some of all three–but it means this weekly post gets forgotten and I don’t post as often. Although, the post frequency might be caused by my not having finished any projects recently!

So, I didn’t read very much last week, but here’s the list:

Monday: Mark 1:35-39
I’m still following the Bible study notes I have and am enjoying them. This one was about establishing a set time each day to meditate on the Word of God. By the word “meditate,” I mean to simply focus on God’s Word and being still and listening to God as He reveals understanding and knowledge about His Word.

I like this, but haven’t tried it yet. If I read the Bible in the morning, the passages I read tend to resonate all day with me. I end up thinking about it and forming opinions and interpretations, and will sometimes end up doing a bit of research in the evening to see what others have to say on the scripture I read. So I don’t have a time each day dedicated to being still and quiet and only thinking of the scriptures I read, but I do contemplate them throughout the day.

I can see how this would be beneficial, but am not sure how I might implement it just yet. I think it is definitely important to spend quiet time with God, but I guess I feel like I don’t know how to do that. It seems silly, I know! Just sit there and be quiet and still and let scriptures run through your mind as they come up. Easy. But it’s more intimidating than you might think!

Tuesday: Revelation 4:1-11
This is where the writer introduces the concept of worship. He defines worship basically as the adoration of God and His character. Well, how can you adore God’s character if you don’t know God’s character? Reading the Word of God is one way to learn about who God is. And this knowledge, in a Christian especially, usually spontaneously results in awe, admiration, and adoration, as it should.

I imagine it in this way. Let’s say I have an acquaintance I don’t know very well. If I learn that, for example, the acquaintance volunteers at the homeless shelter once a month, then my curiosity might be peaked and I would think pretty well of the person. I gained knowledge of some behavior, and that behavior gives me insight into that person’s character. I might think they are giving and selfless. Thus, my perception of them increases. It works similarly for bad perceptions. If I were to learn that an acquaintance stole from a friend, then I wouldn’t think the person wasn’t someone I’d like to get to know further.

God reveals His character through His Word in records of His actions (that we can then extrapolate from, as above) as well as His pure revelation of His character to people in past. I imagine that Abraham, after the almost-sacrifice of Isaac, probably learned a lot about God’s character through that experience.

The writer here encourages me to ponder God’s character and to spend time worshipping Him.

Wednesday: Job 42:1-6
The writer explains here that in order to truly worship God, we must know that God is worthy of that worship.

Thursday: 1 Chronicles 16:7-36

Friday
Saturday
Sunday:
I didn’t read any of these days. I am now playing catch-up on the studies for those days.

Monday: Matthew 4:1-11, Acts 17:1-15, Genesis 35-37
I worked through the study for both today and yesterday, since I was lazy yesterday. I am really enjoying this small study and have recently noticed there is a free online supplement to this little booklet. I’ll be checking that out today, as I’m sure I will find it helpful.

One obvious, though unforeseen, happy consequence of spending so much time in God’s Word is that navigation is getting easier. I used to get a bit frustrated because I’d have a verse in my head and I’d know the book, but it took me a long time to find it. Or when I would try to study, I’d spend more time at the Table of Contents than in the actual Scriptures! Since this study has me flipping throughout the book, I am remembering where books are in relation to others, and am thus better able to navigate. A joyful side effect!

Tuesday: Psalm 39:1-13, 1 Samuel 1-3
Nate and I read from 1 Samuel last night together. I read from Psalms for my personal study.

Wednesday: Luke 18:1-8

Thursday: Jeremiah 33:1-9

Friday
Saturday
I didn’t read either of these days. I didn’t forget, I was just being lazy about it.

Sunday: Luke 11:1-13, Isaiah 65:17-25,Philippians 4:1-9

I’ve used the size US 1′s (2.25 mm) for I think only one other project, Cassie’s socks. I was working on Nate’s socks last night (the heel of the second sock) and snap! One of the tips broke off about an inch from the end! Oh no! I nearly lost about 15 stitches, but was able to save them on the other needle and cable. They broke in such a way that they were easily super-glued back together. Nate did that for me and then sanded down the sharp edges. That spot was definitely rougher than the rest of the needles, but it wasn’t the worst thing to work with, so I pressed on.

About three more rows in, I hear another snap! This time, it was a clean straight break that couldn’t be glued back together. I was kind of upset because I was really gettin’ in the groove on this heel, and it kind of sucks to be interrupted like that. Nate had the idea and I let him try it because, hey, it’s possible I’d get a useable needle out of it, and it’s not like he could make it more unusable than it already was. He filed down the needle into a point similar to the other (except, it’s about 3 inches shorter now), sanded it, and then applied a coat of varnish to see if it would be smooth enough to work with.

After drying all night, it’s still not very smooth. Since I can already see the size US 0′s and 2′s breaking, I bought 3 sets of DPNs from Knit Picks today in their nickel-plated line in sizes US 0, 1, and 2. I’m really loving the sock knitting, so I can see myself knitting many more pairs. These are the sizes I’ll use for sock knitting, so it’ll be nice to have some good quality metal needles that won’t break after knitting a pair of socks with them. Also, the slick surface and pointier tips might be nice.

Nate’s socks are thus on hold until I get these needles in and do a little practicing. I’ve never used DPNs before. For those who don’t know, DPNs stands for double-pointed needles… they are needles with a point on each end. You arrange them so that you have 3 or 4 in a triangle or square holding the stitches and you knit with the 4th or 5th needle. There’s a lot of sticks and a lot of points to keep up with. However, I’m confident I will get it figured out. It just looks like maybe poor Nate’s socks won’t be finished by the end of winter.