Happy obsession with the Liturgy of the Hours continues, and Thanksgiving knitting...

Hello everyone, and somehow it's been two weeks since I last checked in! Last weekend was just one of those times that I got to Sunday, and realized that I had forgotten to blog. 😳 My mind is definitely awhirl these days between the kids, being back to work and teaching in-person, and my own happy dance and crafting stuff. Let's do some updating on ALL of those things, and also talk about Daytime Prayer! :-)

My kids are doing great, I'm so happy to see them thriving at school this year. School masses are back at both places (Henry still had some last year, just outdoors) and Anne is even doing a reading at the 5th grade Mass next Thursday! Really looking forward to that. Both Mike and I are back to teaching in-person at our respective colleges, and it's been delightful. Teaching to mostly dark little squares on Zoom definitely wasn't my idea of a good time. 

Amidst my new daily routine, I have been happily growing my Liturgy of the Hours habit. My little Night Prayer volume has become an indispensable part of my nighttime routine, and so when I saw that Catholic Book Publishing Company has a similar standalone volume for Daytime Prayer, I pounced. :-0

The convenience of the slim volumes is really appealing to me. I'm finding that it's really motivating me to pray more throughout my day, so that's a win/win! Come Advent, I know I'll want to be all up in the Proper of Seasons in the blue volume of my 4-volume Liturgy of the Hours set, and I cannot wait. 😍

In crafting news, I'm moving into cozy fall/winter projects. I currently have a Thanksgiving shawl on the needles:

Pattern is Acalypha from Expression Fiber Arts

We'll see if it makes it off my needles before Thanksgiving 2022, but hope springs eternal. ;-) And in dance news, I'm taking a new coursse on Zoom called The Online Dancer, and it's about shooting and editing video footage specifcally for dance. I am STOKED about this, as I am a total beginner at this, and think this will be so valuable for me to learn, and challenging in the best possible way! To some extent, online dance productions are here to stay, even if they becoming increasingly more hybrid with in-person performance. But the ease of gathering people from around the world in one show is something I don't see totally disappearing, and that's actually a good thing. Nothing replaces in-person events, but having a mix of both, highlighting their strengths, is a great step forward, in my opinion. And so I'll be working on my first homework assignment this weekend. 😁

How is everyone doing this week?! Any other Daytime Prayer partners? This is an hour/hours I have never prayed before, I'm excited to dive in!

Narrowing down the Lenten book club, and some in-progress winter crafting...

Hello all and happy Friday! It's a windy day here in WNY, with a lake effect snow storm on the way, so it'll be a cozy weekend in for us. We're looking forward to some family movie time, and making some snacks for the Super Bowl on Sunday. :-)

I'll get to our Lenten Book Club in just a second, but first I wanted to post a little creativity update in terms of winter crafting. Winter really inspires me in my knitting and crocheting: the colors, the cozy accessories, the SOCKS, so many socks. :-0 I just love it. I'm in a sock knit -along with some other knitters themed around tea, and we decided upon the Mint Tea Socks, which is a free pattern! These are my yarn options:

I genuinely don't know which to pick, they're both so good! I should have them cast on by next Friday. 

I also received an order of Valentine yarn from Bumblebee Acres, and I'm so in love. 😍

Granted, there will not be a pair of socks knit by Valentine's Day, but I am undeterred! Valentine's Socks can be worn year round. ;-)

I did cast on a mohair wrap in soft glacial colorways, and I'm quite smitten with it:

Pattern is Hygge and Hearth Scarf from Bumblebee Acres

And I finished my Lotus Flower hats, complete with giant pom poms! 

Lotus Flower Beanie, from BKnitsHandmade

Gorgeous pom poms are from North Star Stitches on Etsy!

Very much needing the hats and scarves these days with the wintry weather we're finally having!

But OK, let's talk Lent. I got a little bit of interest in my mention of a fiction title that we would read together this Lent, but not a ton of other feedback. So I had a few suggestions, but am very open to more! In perusing my book shelf, I happened upon this title, obviously non-fiction, but I absolutely love St. Faustina! And she fits great with a lead up to Easter, I think, since Divine Mercy Sunday is so close in time thereafter:

Our Friend Faustina, by Emily Jaminet and Michele Faehnle

And in continuing with our saint theme, I happened across a copy of one of Louis de Wohl's books in his series of historical fiction focusing on the saints. I have The Quiet Light, which is about St. Thomas Aquinas:

But there are also books just like this in his series that feature St. Francis of Assisi, St. Joan of Arc, St. Benedict, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Francis Xavier...the list goes on and on. Do any of these sound appealing? I'm really feeling this saint theme. But I'm open to all ideas! Cast your vote by leaving a comment! :)

Crafty summertime continues, and getting the kids back to mass...

Hello all!

*group hug*

I hope that your week went well. Things are good here, with the heat dying down, and everyone enmeshed in a new summer routine. It's been so hard on the kids being isolated for these months, and happily, each are starting to have more and more things to do. Henry has a summer reading list for school that he's working through, and he's signed up to do some work study at his Catholic high school next week, plus some service hours in early August. Anne has been attending the summer tutoring that her school is providing, and she has Girl Scout camp next week (mostly virtual, but with 1 day of distanced in-person archery, seems pretty natural in that environment, hee!). We also booked a family road trip in August that we're all excited about. It's still within our state, so not too far, but would provide an opportunity for hiking and some other historic site seeing in a place we've never been to before. We're also looking into a fall foliage getaway in the fall, which I have *always* wanted to do, and never have. It's SO NICE to have things to look forward to again!

I did go back to mass again last weekend. Father was away, and so it was a Communion service led by our deacon. There were more people there, up to just over 40 from 26 the week before, and while it all still feels pretty awkward, I can feel it getting a little better each week. I long for the day that we no longer have to do these things, and that the virus is no longer causing sickness and death, but in the meantime, I'm happy we're able to go back to doing the things that we love in some form. And my new missal is still totally rocking my world. :-0

This weekend, I plan to take the kids back with me. 😬 It's been awhile, and I know I'm going to encounter resistance and some sassiness, but it needs to be done. Please pray for us, and that the children long to receive Jesus in the Eucharist! Anne, in particular, needs to prepare to receive her 1st communion in a few weeks. I may take 1 kid this weekend, and 1 the next, so that we can chat and have some one-on-one time that may make for better catechesis as well as more willingness on their part.

In other news, my crafting fever continues unabated, and it has brought me so much comfort over the course of this lockdown. I think I mentioned that I finished my Journey shawl, but I finally wove in all the ends and blocked it:

SUPER pleased with how it turned out! And I finished a pair of socks for myself in a colorway modeled after BB8:

Pattern is Vanilla Latte Socks, available for free!

Cute, yes? I LOVE handknit socks. Granted, I don't really get to wear them in the summer, but come fall, my feet will be comfy and toasty! In the spirit of gifting, I cast on a pair for Mike in Pittsburgh Steelers colors:

they double as bublebee socks ;-)

I'm hoping that we still get NFL football this fall, but as with all things right now, we'll have to wait and see. My big project for holiday gifting, I have determined, is to make items out of crochet thread. I have never used crochet thread before, and have been bitten by the doily bug. :-0 So I'm thinking yes, doilies, but also coasters, placemats, other types of kitcheny items. I'm participating in a crochet -along for crochet thread, and as you can see, it has me all inexplicably excited. Who gets excited about crochet thread and doilies? Well, now you know. 😂

And so, armed with a coupon code and a gift card, I placed a small order for crochet thread:

Knit Picks Curio #10

OK, you know me by this point, so you are not surprised that I don't do things that I'm excited about in a small way, yes? :-0 I was overwhelmed by all of the gorgeous colors, it's not my fault! Holiday colors, check, but also autumnal colors, because OF COURSE, and then needed neutrals, and then colors that match kitchens...and well, you might as well just order the value pack at that point and call it a day, which is exactly what I did. The value pack was 20% off, and combined with the coupon code and the gift card, I paid $2, SCORE! This was the most fun I had opening a package in a long, long time. I also got some badly needed new sock needles, a tiny stuffed alpaca for Anne, and a few other skeins of sock yarn in wintry tweed colors that I had been eyeing. It was a good, good day.

Maybe I'll do a doily update post next week, because I have so many fun ideas for those, and there are tons of good free patterns out there! I know you're as excited about this post as I am. ;-)

That's how I've been keeping busy this July, how about you? Also, the St. Anne novena starts today if you'd like to join in! Feel free to leave prayer intentions in the comments. Mine is for my Anne's upcoming 1st Communion, please and thank you!

*another hug*

Dancing publicly, but in my living room, and other quarantine adventures...

Hello friends, and TGIF? Maybe? It's so weird anymore, the week days and weekends don't seem as much different from each other as they used to, but we do what we can. I do prefer weekends still because I don't have to chase after the kids to complete their school work, but at the same time, without the structure of having some schoolwork to do, and really no place for them to go right now, it's difficult to keep them entertained for long. We're doing the best we can. We're going to all be home definitely through May 15th here in NY, and I'm expecting news in the next 1-2 weeks about the rest of the school year.

I had mentioned that last weekend I was invited to dance in an online show, which meant that I put on makeup (the first time in what feels like forever) including false eyelashes, pulled on a dance costume, put on ACTUAL JEWELRY, warmed up, moved some furniture, and then danced in my living room for hundreds of people to see. 🤣 It was a bit surreal, to be honest, but I have to say that I *really* enjoyed it! It felt SO GOOD to perform again, and having that performance to prepare for gave me a happy project and a sense of purpose for a solid week leading up to this. It went really well, and I was on a dance high all day on Sunday as a result. Monday left me with up and down emotions again just like every day since this nightmare began, but any little escape is a good thing right now, to my mind. I have another show May 2nd, and I'm sooooo grateful for this!

The other happy distraction I've been indulging in of late is my yarn crafting, and today I thought I'd share this fun little tidbit with you: this weekend is the traditional Local Yarn Shop Day, with lots of yarn shopping and little celebrations, which of course is not taking place in person like usual due to our current global health crisis. So this year it is being hosted online, with yarn shops around the country all sponsoring the beautiful shawl pattern pictured below from casapinka:

There is a list linked in the pattern page I posted above of participating yarn shops, sorted by location. If you purchase a yarn kit to make this shawl from them, they will email you a code to download the pattern for free this weekend. I ended up ordering a kit from Four Purls, a mint combined with a heathered gray called Raindrops, and I'm SO EXCITED. I'm happily awaiting my pattern download code this morning!

So that's what has been happening with me. How about you? Any happy distraction ideas? :-) I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

Strangest Triduum ever coming up, and just trying to hang in there...

A very blessed Holy Thursday to all of you. *hugging* I'm going to be honest and admit that this entire Holy Week has not felt like Holy Week to me at all. Being cut off from the liturgies is making me feel so disconnected, and well, depressed. I've been struggling. As have we all, I know. So I'm not expecting much tonight, as I know my kids won't exactly be all excited about watching all of these liturgies on TV (Sunday mass is hard enough), so I'm not sure what I'll be able to experience tonight. As the title of this post indicates, I'm just trying to hang in there. I did make two curbside pickups yesterday for Easter chocolate and handmade seasonal soaps and lip balms for the kids' baskets, which perked me up a bit.

I've also been working away on my Our Lady Star of the Sea shawl:

I'm now into the blue lace section as you can see, and will soon begin melting that color in with a blush pink! I also experimented with a new local farm share box this week, and I have to say, I'm quite pleased!

There are mushrooms in the paper bag, and potatoes underneath the bananas! They ran out of micro greens, so substituted in non-local bananas, but my family loves bananas, so this worked out well. We're very basic produce consumers, if that makes any sense, so this box is perfect for us. Lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli, potatoes, eggs, bell peppers, seasonal fruit...these are things that we eat in abundance. Lesser known vegetables are a harder sell. ;-)

Henry was busy with his online school work this week (which he is much more independent with, being in 9th grade), but Anne still requires quite a bit of guidance and intervention from Mike and I. Given that it's Holy Week, I chose to have her work on the banner for her First Communion, although our date for that has been pushed off, and we have no idea yet when it will be rescheduled. *sob*

My cutie pie

Finished product!

Besides knitting and crocheting, I am decidedly *not* crafty, and so these pre-cut out kits are a life saver for us! I also meal planned for the week:

Takeout this week is pizza from a local Italian restaurant, and you can see that our Lenten Friday meal is potato soup in the crockpot.

This isn't the exact recipe that we use, but it's very close. Instead of mashing the potatoes after they cook (???) I recomment using an immersion blender if you have one! Substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth and eliminate the bacon for the full-on vegetarian/Lenten Friday version!

How is your Triduum starting out, friends? What are you planning to do over the course of the next 4 days to keep our traditions alive at home? I'd love to hear from you!

Lenten Theme of the Week: Patience, and more meatless lasagna talk...

Happy Thursday everyone, how are you all doing? 🤗 This is week 3 of us all being home (it's likely something similar for you), and all I know is that we still have a long way to go. I'm just rying to hang in there.

And that's why I chose patience as our theme of the week. I don't know about you, but I'm struggling  mentally and emotionally with not interacting face-to-face with anyone outside of my household into the foreseeable future. But we must be patient. No matter what, Holy Week is next week, and Easter will come. Good things are on the horizon, we must just be patient.

Every day, I've been taking an online dance or fitness class via Zoom, and this has been a huge source of respite for me. I have come to really look forward to these times, and have a little area set up in our office/guest room for me to move around nicely in there. I'm trying to look at the positives of the situation, and one of them is that I have the opportunity to study with dancers whom I wouldn't be able to normally, due to location. So that's a big yay!

I've also been crafting during our family relaxation time in the evenings. I finished this mosaic crochet tote, which is a gift for a beloved friend!

Free Mosaic Crochet Tote Bag pattern!

The technique was new for me, and challenging at first, but once I got it, I really enjoyed it. I love the finished result! I also pulled some yarn out from my stash (and isn't this was yarn hoarders have been waiting for for YEARS, our accumulated yarn stash is there for us during the lean times 😍):

Expression Fiber Arts Oasis Camel Silk Fingering in "Weekend Vibes"

...and I had a lot of soothing fun with my yarn swift and winder:

...and last night I started this new shawl:

Pattern is Polygonia, from the spring 2020 issue of Interweave Crochet

When it's finished, it will coordinate with the dress that I have picked out for Anne's First Communion ceremony, though I now have no idea when that will even be. *sob* I'm also still working on the Our Lady Star of the Sea inspired shawl:

Pattern is Find Your Fade

...and am about to move into the lace segment for the aqua yarn. This has all been bringing me a tremendous amount of needed distraction and solace.

With the kids, we've been trying to work with them on their schoolwork as best we can. Last Friday, we took Anne on a field trip to a local historic cemetery to walk around. That sounds strange, but this cemetery is actually a landmark around here, it's quite vast and there are tons of walking paths. While cemeteries aren't normally uplifting places, this trip brought us all some much needed time outside in the sun, and peaceful time within our own heads. We also visited with some cute ducks there:

I'm really feeling for the kids, who rarely get out of the house these days. I know that this is what we're supposed to be doing right now, but it definitely isn't altogether good for children to be cooped up so much inside. I've been encouraging to go out into our yard as much as the weather will allow. Anne has also been able to participate in her Tae Kwon Do classes online via Zoom, which has been excellent.

As we near the end of Lent, our menus are uninspired (just don't have the energy these days), but they do still exist, and that's what counts:

The requirement to abstain from meat on Fridays has not been lifted in our diocese, and this week we're planning to grab some takeout fish fry from a local restaurant. This particular restaurant, however, also has a vegetarian lasagna option that got my wheels turning, since we had a fun chat in the Facebook group and in the post comments last week about lasagna and different cheeses. They offer a sweet banana pepper lasagna, and YUM, that's what I'm getting. :-) I'll be so curious to try this, and I found this recipe online for Sweet Pepper Lasagna if you'd like to try your own!

How are you holding up this week, my friends? I'd love to hear from you in the comments. *heart*

Lenten Theme of the Week: Steadfastness, and cheese lasagna for meatless Friday...

Happy midish point of Lent everyone, and let's have a group hug for making it this far, yes?

🤗

I'm keeping up with my 2 devotionals, but I'm letting myself take it easy with regards to staying perfectly on a Lenten timetable. Right now, our lives ARE LENT, so I think that simply by remaining steadfast and hanging in there, we're doing just fine right now.

For our part, we've all been trying to stay busy at home, our creativity flowing via online means, and still liking each other by the end of each week. ;-) Mike and I have both been working with the kids on their schoolwork, and also trying to get our own teaching work done from home. It's been a tough balancing act, for sure.

On the upside, I've been finding lots of time for crafting! My in-progress shawl is coming along very nicely, and I'm aiming to finish it to wear on Easter:

Pattern is Find Your Fade

I also received a few new rosary purchases, and am quite in love! First up is our pal St. Patrick, I love the pop of green this time of year!

St. Patrick rosary over at Rosaries by Allison

And the next is a 7 Sorrows Rosary, which is a totally new devotion for me, and it's perfect for Lent! You could also pray this without the specialty rosary, and just keep careful count. :-) This custom rosary though has medals depicting each of the sorrows, very handy!

Created by Rosaries by Allison

The 7 Sorrows of Mary are:

1.) The Prophecy of Simeon
2.) The Flight into Egypt
3.) The Loss of Jesus in the Temple
4.) Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary
5.) Mary Stands at the Foot of the Cross
6.) Mary Receives the Body of Jesus in her Arms
7.) Jesus is Placed in the Tomb

In our evening time, we've been watching the Lord of the Rings movies as a family. This isn't our first time doing so, but it's been a few years, so we're really sinking into them anew. And Anne didn't remember the stories particularly well, so they're almost like new to her. It's been nice to have an installment to look forward to after a long day of work, and I've been making popcorn for the kids to go along with it. Lord of the Rings has also been inspiring my crafting life:

Journey hues kit from Expression Fiber Arts

Yarn purchases and project planning has been keeping me sane right now. ;-) Also keeping me sane is the vast amount of dance and fitness classes that are available online now! I've been doing at least 1 daily, and it's helping to keep my creative juices flowing, along with meeting some of the items on my dance goals list for 2020! I'm getting to study with dancers that I would ordinarily not have the opportunity with, so I'm taking advantage of everything that I can.

In terms of meal planning, we're still at it:

We've been getting takeout 1-2 times per week from a local restaurant, and that's been another way of cheering ourselves up in the early evenings, along with supporting local businesses that are really suffering financially right now. For our meatless Friday this week, we're making a 3 cheese lasagna similar to this one:

Mike isn't a huge fan of ricotta cheese (believe me, I too cannot image how this could be true :-0) and when he makes this, he subs in swiss cheese. Unconventional, and I was skeptical, but I will say that it is delicious. And it is a perfect dish for a Lenten Friday!

How are you doing, friends? Do you need anything? How are you staying busy at home? Let's cheer each other up in the comments. :)

Lenten Theme of the Week: Hope, and parmesean rice for meatless Friday

Hi everyone.

*big, huge, virtual hug*

I feel much better. We all needed that, yes? :-) This global health crisis is very hard on everyone right now, in a multitude of different ways, depending on your specific situation. In my family, none of us are sick (and believe me, I'm VERY grateful for that, especially since both Mike and I work on college campuses, where it's much easier to catch contagious illnesses given the volume of people in a relatively small environment), but we're all cooped up at home, which is where we need to be right now, but everyone is struggling in their own way with all of this. My Anne is downright sad. She misses school, her friends, the hobbies that she loves, and I'm struggling with the same things. I know that's all small potatoes compared to what others are dealing with, but it's still a loss to contend with, and for an unsettling unknown duration.

For my part, I'm navigating trying to work from home while also technically homeschooling the kids. It's not an easy balance, especially for someone who has never homeschooled before! We're making our way through it as best we can.

And so this week I thought that we should highlight holding on to hope. It's going to take some time, but we can all learn important things from this, and I pray that those who become ill are able to heal as quickly as possible. The loss of my routine is very hard on someone who relies on routine as a coping mechanism for her anxiety condition, so I'm finding new things to focus on and treasure. Of course, I'm grateful that my family is safe and sound at home. I also have this perfect new Lenten coffee mug:

Rosary coffee mugs available over at Willits Works, this one is the Carrying of the Cross!

...and Mike and I have been taking daily walks outside in the evenings. We've been wanting to get back to this habit for a while now, and this is the perfect opportunity! My dance and fitness classes have all moved online via Zoom, and I'm *so grateful* to still be able to connect with my friends in this way. *heart*

I've also been very excited about my knitting and crocheting:

In love with this patter, which is Find Your Fade, by Andrea Mowry

My colorway inspiration is Our Lady Star of the Sea, did you ever?!

My next color is aqua. *squeals*

I did menu-plan for the week, despite the depressing nature of our local grocery store:

...but we're decidedly interspersing with regular trips to local restaurants to get takeout and give them our support and business. Friday's meatless option is Lemon Shrimp with Parmesean Rice, and sub out the shrimp for roasted vegetables for a vegetarian option!

Just about any veggies that you have on hand would work well with this delicious rice side!

How are you all holding up, friends? I'm here to listen in the comments! We've been sharing rosary prayers and other Catholic coping mechanisms in the blog community Facebook group, if you'd like to join us over there. :)

"Is that a knitted Amoeba?" Adventures with mystery shawls on Ash Wednesday...

Good morning to you all, and a very blessed Ash Wednesday to you. I am all discombobulated today in terms of Lent beginning. I've been excited about it all week, did tons of Lenten-related retweeting all day yesterday, pulled out the book at the top of the Catholic Book Club list for spiritual reading during the season, and then...this morning I woke up all punchy. I felt rather down and beleaguered and didn't want to get out of bed. My hair would not straighten properly and looks like I stuck my finger in an electrical outlet, and I forgot to pack my Kindle so that I could begin my reading over lunch. I also forgot my print copy of the Magnificat Lenten Companion and didn't think at all about the Lenten fast while I packed my lunch, which thankfully by complete coincidence does not include meat. I am just all sixes and sevens over here. But I'm hanging in there.

I'm on the reference desk this morning, and then I am planning to go to a noon Mass with ash distribution here on campus. I'm rather looking forward to that, and hope springs eternal that it improves my disposition. I mean, if it's any indication, I just kicked a student out of the reference desk chair, which had been moved AGAIN overnight, as that has become a huge pet peeve of mine. Ordinarily I would have sat in one of the other, less comfortable chairs and said nothing. Not today. This is what we're working with here. :0

#AshWednesdayGrouch

#PossibleDemonicAttack

I did do it nicely. *nostril flare*  And things in my crafting world are not going much better. Granted, they are not going *terrible*, but they are moving along at a glacial pace that is making me antsy. After nearly a freaking month, I finished clue 3 of the Downton Abbey mystery knit-along. Here is what we have:

Let's not even get into the specifics of the many inappropriate things we could say this looks like, because there are too many to count. I think that where we're headed is that the center motif (which is currently all misshapen for reasons that are not its own) will become more prominent, and we'll add on a second wing on the other side. I've started clue 4, and we're decreasing, so this wing is coming to an end.

The lace is now going seamlessly, so no troubles there. I do like the center motif, but while I don't hate the lace on the wing, I'm not in love with it either. I think that with these mystery shawls it can be hard to gauge your feelings on the design until the end, because things are just so underdeveloped for so long.

And speaking of underdeveloped, here is our crochet cousin, who is a little bit further along in the process, at the completion of clue 4:

Terrible picture, sorry

This guy now has two full wings, so it's not looking quite so fetal. I've peeked at spoilers for this shawl, and I will say that clues 5 and 6 make it absolutely GORGEOUS, with layers of scallops along the border. Right now, he's looking a bit mesh-y and like he's not quite sure where he's going in life, but I am optimistic that things will improve for him. The colors in this variegated yarn are definitely pooling, as I knew they would, but given that I love the autumn colors, I'm happy with it.

Overall, given that they are lace, both shawls will benefit tremendously from blocking when they are complete, which will stretch out the design and show it to its full potential. I hope.

So, that's the progress update. How are your shawls going? I'd love to hear. :)  And let me know how your Ash Wednesday is going so far! All the details, pretty please. And we have Tea Time tomorrow, yay! I always look forward to that time with you. ;-)