Anene

Last week on Wednesday Dec. 12, 2012 our Grandmother Anene was born to eternal life. She was truly an amazing servant of the Most High God and was most certainly welcomed into his presence with much celebration. I knew her for three short years and in that time, grew to admire her so much. She holds a very special place in my husband's heart. She was involved in the everyday life of her children and grandchildren. She was with us for every family gathering. She showed me grace and hospitality like only a true Southern Belle could. She brought us all a little closer to an understanding of God's love.

Her children wrote a beautiful obituary that can be found here. Please keep our family in your prayers as we mourn the loss of this amazing woman and remember God's promises.

Stille Nacht

all is calm...

... all is bright

In Advent Love and Joy,
Natalie

A Little Log Cabin in the Big City

Just in time for the freezing Chicago weather to set in, I finished our super-cozy Log Cabin blanket! Hubby, kitty and I all LOVE this blanket! It is the warmest, squishiest blanket I’ve ever snuggled in!

Cascade Yarns’ Magnum was my yarn of choice for this blanket of blankets.  It’s quite impossible to go wrong with a super-bulky, super-soft 100% wool single ply yarn. It’s absolutely gorgeous and such a pleasure to work with. No itches here! I can sleep soundly all night long resting my cheek on this blanket. It’s perfect.

Although I started working on this blanket way back in May, it really is a speedy knit. It seems that the exact properties that I can’t get enough of in November are quite detestable in July and August! The entire blanket is knit in soothing garter stitch. A beginner would most certainly be able to knit this blanket. The one technique that is more advanced than basic garter stitch is picking up and knitting. Each rectangle is knit back and forth. Then to start the next rectangle, you simply pick up and knit along edge of the next block going counter-clockwise.

The pattern I used is by Pickles, a Norwegian duo who create very lovely simple knitting and crochet patterns. Although such a simple blanket does not really require a pattern, they added a couple extra special instructions for a slipped stitch edge to take this blanket from slightly wonky to clean, crisp, and professional.

If you are ever interested in knitting a blanket like this one, do take into consideration the fact that stitches are not as tall as they are wide, especially with garter stitch. This can cause some issues on the corners where the perpendicular pieces meet. To avoid this, it is imperative to maintain consistent gauge and remember that, when picking up stitches along the side of a knitted piece of fabric with a slipped stitch edge, pick up seven stitches and then skip one. That is, over eight slipped stitches (which is 16 rows), only knit into and pick up seven stitches.

This gorgeous blanket is such a treasure, and one that will bring countless nights of cozy warmth!