Moms can be Patriots, too..

My sister-in-law is an amazing, smart woman. I treasure her influence on my life! One of the influences she has had is to get me to think more about my role in this country. I have a voice and have never bothered to use it, save for elections days. I have come to realize that if I want to raise Patriots, children becoming adults who love their country and will fight to guard their freedom, I must set the example.

I am not about political brow-beating. If you know me, you know that. I hate debating, arguing, politics... but I do love this country and will fight to keep her "one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." If you agree, check out this awesome site:

http://asamom.ning.com

God bless America! (He certainly has for so long...) and AMERICA! Bless God!

Happy Monday

Hello, Monday, How've you been? I'm not dreading you today; instead, I choose the greet you with a smile and hopes for an awesome week!

5 Things I'd Like to Accomplish This Week:

1. file taxes
2. Knit some socks
3. Clean my craft room (ACK!)
4. Enjoy my birthday for a change
5. Have some special one-on-one time with each of my kids and my honey.

I had physical therapy this morning and my ribs are actually starting to move back into the position they're supposed to occupy! I have hope of becoming pain-free soon! YES!

A Great Way to Dye - Finale

Drumroll, please - We have YARN! I took some pics of it, and I'm sorry the indoor light isn't great for this. There is beautiful color in the yarn that I am not sure will show up here, but we'll give it a shot.

I am so pleased with the results from this experiment. Given the four colors I used this time, I can see many different combinations I would LOVE to have. Then to think of all of the other colors that are out there - I am giddy!

The top picture shows the gauge I chose to spin this yarn to start with. After I had two bobbins each half-full (or is it half empty?) I plied them together onto one other bobbin (middle photo.) I think you get a good idea from this middle photograph how the colors play in the yarn. Maybe it was a bit much yarn for one bobbin- all said, it comes to just over 4 oz by the kitchen scale.

The final photo shows the end result: a lovely skein of colorful yarn! (Too bad the colors don't show so well in this pic.) I spun this a little thicker than my usual, and i love it. I am going to make some toe-up croc sox out of it. There are about 330 yards of 2-ply yarn to work with.

I have almost 4 oz left of the roving. I think I will spin it about the same and use it, single-ply, as laceweight for a shawl or scarf.

I am so pleased with the results. I will definitely use the Wilton's icing coloring to dye more roving, once this is used. I am trying not to become a stash-aholic; I will use what I have (or at least have it on the needles!) before I go investing in any more.

A Great Way to Dye, Part II

Wow! There is SO much more color than I anticipated! I can see things I will need to work on, such as keeping extra dye from pooling in the bottom of the roll. The final colors are really more like the colors on the bottles of dye rather than what it looked like as it was applied, too. I will have to remember that next time, because I wasn't sure when I was putting it on.

Check it out! The first picture is the roving (coopworth wool) right after I unwrapped it and put it in its first bath. The colors are so vibrant! It makes me think of hippy tie dye shirts!

The next picture is the second bath, and you can see it didn't spill much dye at all! I expected to see alot of color in the water, but it looks like it took very well. To be honest, I looks like alien snakes in my bathtub!

The final photo shows what the roving looks like as it is hanging to dry. Honestly, it reminds me of the tie-dye shirt still, so I am going to call it Hippy Daze! :)

Now I can't wait to spin it up!

A Great Way to Dye

Over in Ravelry Land I've seen so many folks who are dyeing their own fiber or yarn. I bought some recently that someone else had dyed, and it spun into such *lovely* yarn! ==>

I have been itching to try my hand at dyeing my own fiber, so tonight I am giving it a shot. I wanted to try for some greens, browns, purples and blues, with alot of white left in it.

I am finding much conversation about dyeing yarn and fiber with Kool Aid, mostly because it is so much safer to work with. I don't have KoolAid, but I have a ton of Wilton's icing colors left over from the many wedding cakes I've done. I'd MUCH rather dye fiber with it!

With my handy tutorial from http://gfwsheep.com/rov.inst/rov.inst.html, some Wilton's icing dyes, some vinegar and a syringe, I got started. I wanted to keep lots of the natural color mixed in with the dyed areas, so I decided to basically drip the dyes in rows over the coopworth roving.

I am using violet, delphine blue, leaf green and golden yellow.

I am hoping that the yellow and violet will make some warm brown in some areas... We will see!

After I got the dye splattered all over the place, I rolled the roving up in plastic rolls and put it in a steamer. The roving should just about be done with steaming now, so I'll go take care of it. I'll post the results, good or bad, later!

If I Am Not Careful...

If I am not careful, the fear that gripped my heart at hearing the election results could wrap itself like chains around my heart...
If I am not careful, the complaints I hear about our economy could control my thinking all day long...
If I am not careful, the cares of the world could run me and ruin me...

I must be careful!

Like I read in DarthKnitter's blog this morning, Some may trust in horses, some may trust in chariots, but I will trust in the name of the LORD! The astronomical number of heart attacks and other stress-related illnesses and injuries is a really big clue that our thinking has gotten us in trouble - as a nation, as a people, as a race. Stress, fear, and depression are without any doubt the largest contributor to ill health and early mortality around us. They are the biggest and most effective weapons that the kingdom of hell has to throw at the human race in order to distract it from God.

We have the capacity to "take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." I look at Jesus' example: He knew what was going to happen to Him, yet He consistently was the example of grace and mercy and love to all around Him. He didn't walk around depressed, drunk, fearful or neglectful; rather, He witnessed the love of God to all around Him! He fellowshipped with His brothers and with those who were rejected by the masses. He brought joy and hope to all around Him who would receive it. What an awesome example! I have the ability to measure every thought I think to see how much it allows me to live the Kingdom life. If it does not, then I should choose not to allow it any more time in my life!

Jesus is my joy. He is my hope. I trust God with all of my heart, no matter what the world says or does.

I will be careful! I will pray for our new president, that he listens to the voice of God Almighty and develops a personal relationship with Him and breaks ties with any false gods he may have ever known.
I will be careful! I will show the love of God to those around me however I can.
I will be careful! I will pray for the heart of this country to turn back to God without having some horrific act of terrorism instigating it.
I will be careful! I will guard my heart and give thanks to God in every situation, because I ALWAYS have something to thank Him for: His love and my salvation!

I will be careful!

So Grateful...

... for my Savior, my Friend, my First Love Jesus Christ
... for His gift to me, named Jon
... for my children and grandchildren and their health and happiness
... for my precious friends
... for dreams and the hope and potential to fulfill them
... for my home and divine provision
... for gifts and talents and the ability to use them
... for the purifying that comes out of each trial

Thank You, Jesus. I cannot imagine what You endured for my sake...
Happy Birthday!