the stolle- connection
Stollen--a German holiday sweet bread filled with fruit and marzipan, which I acquired because our local Trader Joe's is giving them away for free last week.
Stoller, Debbie--the author of Stitch n Bitch, Stich and Bitch Nation, and founder of Bust magazine, on a book tour at our local yarn shop Knitorious on Friday evening, where I got to meet her and have her sign my copies of her books. There were 60 of us squished into the cozy space that is Knitorious, including my knitting teacher Beth (of Yarn Envy) and November, who was also in my class. Stoller spoke for awhile about her knitting history and how it finally clicked for her while she was knitting on a long train trip to Portland, OR. She passed around various projects from the book so we could see and touch them in person--some of them looked even better in person, like the spiderweb mohair capelet, which I was iffy about.
My favorite moment were the two little girls who were there with a Mom--they were at that age when grown-up words like "bitch" seem endlessly fascinating and funny, and everytime Stoller used the words "stitch and bitch" they giggled as if it were some secret code between themselves. Of course the word "boobies" left them practically hysterical.
I suggested that knitting lectionary group could call itself "stitch and preach" (oy--but I never can think of anything clever to say under these circumstances). Anyway, I have my signed books, I only ate one cookie (couldn't get near the free food due to the crowds) and came away with two balls of lavender velvety yarn for a pretty scarf to punch up boring black clergy clothes. Yes, I broke my Lenten yarn fast, but I wanted to buy something from Knitorious to support them since I already owned the books. Besides, I've used up two or three skeins of SuperSaver, which means my output is still exceeding my intake, which is the point.
random bumper sticker sighting #1
While Teresa and I were out for a brisk walk through Forest Park we saw the following sticker on a VW Microbus--
0-55
in 11 minutes
a full life
Thanks to Karen of Kinesis, I found myself tramping through Forest Park in a downpour yesterday morning. Just me and the ducks there for awhile. I'm not as sore as she was, but some muscles are definitely protesting this morning.
I haven't posted much this week because I spent Wednesday and Thursday on the road. I've been supplying for St. Paul's in Sikeston, MO, a smaller church about 2 1/2 hours south of St. Louis. What had been planned as a leisurely excursion down and back for Ash Wednesday services turned into an early morning drive for an 11:00 memorial service, followed by the aforementioned 6 p.m. service, dinner at the Elks Club (best moment--the host of dinner told the server to put the priest's dinner on his bill and she kept looking at our table for the "Father"), and a trip from Sikeston to Louisiana, MO--an hour and a half north of St. Louis--for the graveside service. The cemetery is on a cliff overlooking the Mississippi River, but because of the snow and the wind chill we didn't get to the top, where the family plot was, but huddled in a "pavilion" (a name which brings to mind more tropical weather) for the service.
A note to those people working on the next incarnation of Episcopal liturgy--some options for expanding the graveside service that are actually written in the rubrics would be helpful. There are so many occasions where the service is separate from the memorial service itself--and there's nothing like driving 6 hours for a 15 minute service where half the people didn't attend the first one to drive it home. I expanded it as best I could--considering the weather, I don't think anyone was really minding its brevity, but it would be nice if some rubrical consideration was given the next time around.
I don't dare blog about the Illini lest I jinx them (bad theology but as a long-suffering Cubs fan, one always has to be careful).
a living parable
On first Friday evenings, a group of women gathers at St. Peter's in Ladue for fellowship and fun. This past Friday was my first time to hang out with them. Our project that evening was to take an assortment of donated objects and pack them into baskets that will then be put up for auction at a dinner to benefit Lydia's House, a domestic violence shelter here in St. Louis.
The organizers of the evening said they were expecting to have 6 baskets completed. When we were done, we had 17 baskets, with an assortment of goodies left over that will be parcelled out to other baskets before the dinner.
Sometimes God's abundance is hidden and difficult to see, other times it just hits you over the head with a sledgehammer.
(meanwhile, has anyone seen my cell phone?
)
thanks to Phil the groundhog
for announcing that we have 6 more weeks of winter--maybe I'll finish the sweater by then.
I have picked up and knit stitches for the neckband twice--there are still some holes and gaps but I have now resolved to only wear the sweater (if I ever finish it) with dark shirts only. I did gorgeous 3 needle bind offs on the shoulder seams--they look like I know what I'm doing. Two days of brief, focused efforts got the drop sleeves seamed in. Yesterday I started seaming up the side--only to discover I didn't quite have the sleeves seamed in evenly.
So it's going to be back to unpicking the seams and they will get 34 rows each on front and back.
But thanks to Beth's instruction and Nancie Wiseman's book on finishing techniques (worth every penny) I do have lovely seams).
hmmm
Is there anyone besides me troubled by the idea of the "ownership society?" If we're truly a Christian nation, shouldn't we be talking about a "stewardship society?" And shouldn't Christian politicians be talking about sharing the gifts of the community (something I vaguely remember from various Pauline passages and oh, the book of Acts) instead of self-reliance?
Just a thought. . .
