Of home blessings and "Frozen" sightings...

Ahhhh, Monday. And the first day of classes for the spring semester here. I'm already hip deep in panicky student emails and lengthy journal citation questions on chat reference.

*long suffering librarian sigh*

But I wanted to touch base about my weekend. Much cuteness abounded. Before we get to Disney on Ice, I wanted to mention a few Catholic-y details from Sunday morning. We went to Mass at 10 am, like usual, and Anne excitedly processed up with the other kids for Children's Liturgy of the Word. Upon her return, she announced that the teacher had told them all about how Jesus was in their hearts and they could talk to Him. I mean...PRECIOUS. She even did this little heart indicator when she said it. It was so cute I could've died.

Following the closing hymn, we took our newly procured holy water container to the back vestibule and filled it up (there is holy water on tap back there, is it any wonder I love this parish so much?!) so that we can perform a house blessing this week. Our house has never been blessed, and although I'd prefer that a priest do it, it's nice to know that we can do it ourselves using holy water. So this is on our Catholic To-Do List for the week. So is the St. Blaise novena, which I *forgot* to pray with the kids last night.

#epicCatholicfail

But I've learned this novena lesson before. When you fall off the horse, get right back on! So we'll start tonight, I'm sure St. Blaise won't mind.

After Mass, Anne and I prepared to head to Disney on Ice with my mom, which was their "Princesses & Heroes" show. Anne got all gussied up:

And we took a selfie before we left the house:

We drove to a park and ride, and then took the train down to the ice arena. The instant we got seated on a train car, a multitude of little blue Elsas boarded with us. As did children in Olaf hats and other assorted handmade Elsa and Anna items. That movie has created quite the phenomenon.

We arrived at the venue and got settled with snacks that cost triple what they should have (*eyeroll*) and it was time for the show to start. Excited energy was high when Tinker Bell appeared at center ice. We saw some segments from Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, Cinderella, Snow White... When the first half ended, a collective gasp went up that the entire arena heard:

"WHERE ARE ELSA AND ANNA?!"

Because let's face it. That's why we were all there. Disney's specific "Frozen" show isn't coming to Buffalo this year, and every single little girl in attendance was going to "Princesses & Heroes" to see Elsa and Anna. That's it, that's the only reason. Snow White is going to get a complex, at this point.

I hustled Anne to the ladies room during intermission, and in the stall next to us could be heard a little girl behaving very badly, back sassing her mother.

"If you don't start behaving, I'm going to take you home, AND THEN YOU WON'T SEE ELSA AND ANNA!!"

Yep, told you. Breaking out the big guns.

We were back in our seats for the second half, Anne clutching a new Elsa plush that my mom bought her:

"ELSA, I LOVE YOU *SO SO* MUCH!!"

*kissing noises!*

The second half included a really cool Sleeping Beauty segment with a fire-breathing dragon, but nobody cared. :0 When Anna stepped onto the ice to sing about Coronation Day, everyone was on the edge of their seat. When Elsa appeared on the balcony, that brought the house down.

Little girls sang along with "Let it Go" and were bouncing out of their chairs in excitement. Anne demanded to go down to the ice so that she could say hello to Elsa and Anne (request denied). This was the longest sequence in the show, and for good reason. Everybody loved it.

And so, a good time was had by all. Plush Elsa was lovingly doted on for the rest of the evening, and Anne wants to watch Frozen tonight while Mike teaches and Henry is at wrestling practice. Again.

How was your weekend, dear reader? :)

A busy bee with seasonal crafting, as it appears that I adore themes...

As I sit at the reference desk on a cold and rainy morning here in WNY, with a cup of tepid coffee by my side, I'm thinking longingly of my knitting projects nestled in their basket next to my spot on the couch. By the way, I wanted the coffee to be hotter and flavored with peppermint, but *that* didn't happen for a myriad of reasons. #ugh

At any rate, fall and winter are my very favorite times of the year to knit. And in particular, to knit (and/or crochet) warm sweaters, blankets, shawls and winter accessories like scarves, hats and mittens. So cozy! And this year is no exception. For you knitters out there, ready for some pattern ideas? I've been working on a few things lately that I really love.

This fall I knit a shawl in a pattern called "Leftie," designed to help you use up your fingering weight yarn leftovers from socks. In my usual seasonal obsessive style, I chose to knit it in a fall colorway with brown, orange, green yellow and red. It turned out very Thanksgiving-esque and indeed I finished it right before the holiday. :)

It ended up being very cute. It's all garter stitch, so fabulous travel or tv knitting. Very warm and squishy and I love the colors.

And speaking of garter stitch, my new obsession is a shawl pattern called "Color Affection." You start with an increasing panel of garter stitch in one color, then switch to striping it with a second color. Subsequently, you work short rows to create a bit of a swirling situation and stripe colors one and two with a third color, finishing with a solid border of color three. The color combinations are endless and I am absolutely in love.

*swoons*

My chosen colorway reflects our current winter season, because the seasons seem to always provide inspiration for me. I watched "Frozen" with Anne the other day, and all of a sudden the colors from that movie are just speaking to me. I'm ordering "Frozen" books left and right and telling myself that they're for Anne, but they're kinda for me. :0 I just can't get the winter imagery of that movie out of my mind. And so I dug through my stash to find color colors to knit the Color Affection shawl:

Yes? I love them. SO MUCH. The silver and the cream are a fingering weight cashmere/merino wool blend that is absolutely to die for. The blue is a merino wool/nylon sock yarn left over from being edging on a gift shawl I knit last year for my Secret Santa recipient. It's a little darker than I want, but the lighter blue colorway of that yarn (called "Frozen" I WANT IT SO BAD) is out of stock until the end of February so I can't order it. *sob!* So, I'll either use this or another heathered light blue color that I ordered during the Knit Picks sale in a different yarn base. When it arrives I'll make the decision, but so far I haven't had to add the blue in yet, so I have time. Here is the what I have done so far:

I still have seven more cream stripes to go. I love patterns like this, that have you doing something different in each segment, changing colors as you move along. I never get bored with patterns such as these, and I can't wait to knit the next row to see how it's going to look. I have been very much enjoying working on this in the evenings.

*happy*

Never one to work on only one project at a time (I'm a knitting philanderer *scandalous!*) I swatched last night for a new sweater that I've been wanting to make for myself for quite some time, called the "Abbey Pullover." The cloister lace used in the yoke, and the obviously church-y connotations just could not be resisted. :) I really wanted to make it in a lovely purple shade close to what is pictured in the pattern sample, so I chose this shade of Berrocco Ultra Alpaca:

Very Advent-like, yes? :) And yep, that is my vodka/tonic there in the background. Anne gave us a hard time going down for bed, I really needed it, no judging. :0 I was indeed drinking and knitting, living dangerously, that I was. I'm very excited to get started on this.

I felt I deserved to cast on for two fresh new projects given that I have been slaving away at brown socks for Mike and dishcloths for Christmas gifts for the past month. The socks are finished:

...and have already adorned my cute hubby's feet over Thanksgiving weekend. (Pattern is from Anne's Budd's Getting Started Knitting Socks, one of the best knitting books I have ever purchased). And the dishcloths will be finished by tomorrow. I just realized that I will have an extra aunt attending our Christmas Eve get-together now, which theoretically means that I should crochet two more dishcloths, but... during the Fusion Beads Cyber Monday sale, I ordered supplies to make her a snowflake Christmas tree ornament instead. :0 Because if I have to crochet yet another dishcloth right now I.will.die. I now know that I'd better behave myself or else I risk an afterlife of crocheting dishcloths in plain white cotton for ALL ETERNITY.

All right everyone, I hope that you are feeling seasonally craftily inspired now, as I am. :) Is anyone else crafting something for the holidays? Do detail in the comments. :)