Serious blog neglect

Gratuitous shot of Spring Dogwood

I haven't kept up with this very well! I just keep adding more and more things to keep up with online. On ShoutLife I have friends who I value greatly, so I do my best to keep up with them. On Elann chat, I'll comment some, but I don't say all that much. I've got to check Facebook at least semi-frequently, so I don't miss things. I have a long list of blogs that I at least scan through on my Google reader. I always feel like I'm forgetting something, or someone, and now I had to go and join Ravelry!! I'm pretty sure there are other things I'm forgetting too... like two yahoo groups that I moderate, though they're not exactly in need of much. I should be saying more though, at least on the family list.

Ravelry! What a site for yarnaholics! You have to be addicted to (or at least very fond of) yarn to appreciate it really. I had intended to wait till it was open to the public before joining, but that was taking a very long time. Folks over on Elann have been talking about it since at least last summer. I kept looking at their waiting list for "beta testers," shaking my head at the length of the list (many thousands) and thinking I'd just wait some more. On March 21st they hit 100,000 users! They're well over that now and still adding 800 to 1000 a day. See a bit of the progression here; http://blog.ravelry.com/2008/03/25/one-hundred-thousand/ Finally when I saw that the wait would only be around a week, I caved in and joined the list. I got my invite on the 6th and headed off to join up.

Even after starting to write this, I ended up setting it aside for over a week, because of other distractions. I wish I were disciplined enough to habitually write notes daily and to blog at least weekly. I know my daily notes would be pretty dry much of the time, but maybe they would add up to something more. I've neglected almost everything online this last week though... some weeks are like that. Many of my thoughts and prayers have been focused on my cousin's husband who was severely burned, then died, over last weekend. Still now a lot of the same for the grieving family. It's all made me consider once again just what kind of things we can do that are of eternal significance. Material things cannot be taken with us when we go. Love - compassion, kindness, all that comes from a loving heart, does I think go with us when we go. Jesus is eternal and His light shining through us is also eternal. Praise God for all He is, His mercy, His love, His grace!!!

Finished projects

(click pictures for larger image) I finished the body of this shrug a while back, but it's been sitting around waiting on the off-white edging. I intended to do a crochet loop edge, but it was driving me nuts.... so it sat. I finally decided to go with loose knitting and lots of yo's. It has beads too, but I'm not sure if they're very visible. They're gold color, since the pink part has threads of gold color. The pink yarn is from Paradise fibers and is a cotton/rayon blend. I don't think it had a name. The off-white edge is Elann Sonata.

I'm not too fond of how this back view looks, but then I'm not too fond of my own back (or front) view right now anyway, so I just went with it.

I love this sweater! Next time I'll add a little more length in front and go smaller on the bottom ribbing, but I still love it. The blue and lighter brown are Plassard Bourette 100% silk. The darker brown is Katia Scotch tweed - silk/wool blend. Worked bottom up with neck stitches picked up and cuffs knit then sewn on. There are a few things I would change if starting over, but not enough to frog it. I may yet pull the bottom ribbing in more, since it could be a fair bit smaller. I was just deciding things as I went along. Didn't intend to use the darker brown, but I like that. Didn't intend the strip of lighter brown on top of the shoulder, but it needed the length and the neck space and I like how that came out too.

I knit the body on over sized needles (US 13) and it's so light and airy! Featherweight! Can't wait to wear it the first time!!