Raise Your Voices And Sing!

Today, my Mother, my cousin Virginia, and I went to County Line Church in Corner, AL for the Reid Memorial Sacred Harp Singing.  Mother and I went to listen and Virginia went to sing.  And what a singing it was!  The little church was full , joyful voices raised the rafters, and the floor was vibrating from the tapping of feet in time to the music. 

The music is raw, and almost shouting at times instead of the melodious music we're accustomed to. But as I sit in that little county church, I feel a sense of history, a connection to my ancestors who sang this music with the joy, fervor and abandon that these people sing.  And it can be haunting at times.  I've listened to it online but I don't think anything compares to hearing it in person. 

In Sacred Harp, the singers sit in a square.  Each side of the square is a different part.  Everyone takes turn standing in the middle of the square and leading a song.  They first sing the shapes and then the words.  Virginia had told me and I had read that the sound in the middle of the square is just incredible and totally different than when sitting out in the church.  And they were right.  Today, I stood in the center with Virginia as she led a song.

Were they ever right!  It was like being in surround sound.  I just wanted to close my eyes and listen.  And now, I wish I had. 

Lunch was served today and what a spread there was!  Fried chicken, dressing, green beans, pinto beans, and the dishes just kept on.  Oh my!  The meal plan (diet) never made it in the door of the fellowship hall today!

 I took green beans, Apple Dumplings, and Hallelujah Biscuits .  I came home with no Apple Dumplings, one biscuit, and half of the green beans. 

There was a little row of crafters - Ruby, my Mother, and me.  Ruby and I knitted and Mother crocheted.  The three of us had a most enjoyable time just listening to the music, tapping our feet, and knitting or crocheting away.

Here are a few photos from the day:

Young and old were there today with all ages in between.  There were people there from Texas, Minnesota, Michigan, and all over Alabama. I can't wait to go again.

A Trio of Hats for A Trio of Boys

Aren't these fellas just adorable in their pumpkin hats?  Last weekend, I went to Berea and Paint Lick, Kentucky to visit my favoritist fellas in the whole wide world.  And I took their pumpkin hats with them.  Their mom and I had decided that  Liam, at a very grownup age 5, probably wouldn't want a stem and leaf on his since he is starting to assert his opinion on matters of clothing.  But when he saw his brothers' hats, he wanted his to be just like theirs.  Thankfully, I had made an extra leaf and had packed it along with brown yarn and my size 8 DPN's in my knitting bags.  So getting them on his hat was a snap.

Isn't this sunset beautiful?  This is what the boys see from their front yard every day.  EVERY DAY!  It is just absolutely beautiful when seeing it in person.

While I was in Berea, I stopped in to check out Weaver's Bottom Craft Studio.  I had  wanted to stop in on previous but just never did for one reaon or another.  Virginia and I stopped in this time and had a delightful visit with Mary Colmer and she was kind enough to give a weaving demonstration for me. 

I did some knitting while there but alas, no pictures.  I mostly worked on Tristan's blanket and have started the eighth and final round of "logs".  The goal is to finish by Thanksgiving.  I also worked on Catherine's shawl.  I'm slogging away on the ruffle.

Hats, Hats, Hats

I'm still knitting hats, so many, that I've lost count of them.  These hats, are destined for baby boys who are making their appearances this month.  One in Baton Rouge, and the other here in Alabama, in Fultondale.  They should be nice and cozy in their new hats.

I'm also making pumpkin hats for the Thomas Boys in Kentucky.  I've finished Liam and Walker's and have Tristan's on the needles now.

Not much other knitting on in the past few weeks other than hats.  Stay tuned.......I hope to be showing you more pumpkin hats soon!

Hats and More Hats

Hats.  I've been making lots of hats lately.  To be specific, I've made six in the past 2 1/2 weeks and they're all newborn hats.  Oh, and I have another on the needles now.  

All these hat making is the result of realizing that I have five babies to knit for and they're all due between the end of this month through the end of December.  Since three of the babies are due in September and October, I'm making Susan B. Anderson's Little Pumpkin Hat for them.  I'm also making a couple of just simple little hats for them using the House Hat Worksheet from my LYS.  Oh, and they're ALL boys!  Not a girl in the bunch!

The hats in the photo above are for Rebecca's baby and will be gifted at her baby shower tomorrow afternoon.  I hope she likes them.

Back to hat knitting.

The Perfect Day for Knitting

Thanks to what's left of Lee, Hurricane Lee, that is, today has been the perfect day for knitting.  We've had heavy rains and the wind is blowing it sideways.  And there's flash flooding too.  All which makes it the perfect day for staying inside and knitting.  Thankfully, I didn't have to go or be anywhere today so I've spent the greater part of the day in my jammies watching Dr. Quinn, and knitting.  And all the while drinking copious amounts of coffee.  And I've enjoyed every minute.

I've gotten a lot done on my Catherine's Shawl (sorry for the bad picture) and am almost done with the increases on the body. 

Back to my knitting, Dr. Quinn, and coffee.

Finished. Completed. Almost All Done.

The Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf is all done.  Well, almost.  The knitting is done, the seemingly endless bind-off is done, it's had a wash and a had a nice long lie-in on the Blocking Bed.  But the fringe still needs to be trimmed.  That'll be done this weekend.  The good folks at Churchmouse Yarns suggest on the pattern that it be steam pressed for the blocking but since I took this thing from here to yonder and back, I opted for a nice wash. 

Yesterday, I stopped in the yarn shop on my way home from work and found myself at the KPPPM and thinking that that a scarf in blues would be pretty.  I guess this means that I'll be casting on for another one soon.

Fried Chicken = Family Reunion

Wherever there’s vast amounts of fried chicken, there’s bound to be a family reunion or at the very least, some sort of family gathering.  You see it sitting out on the table in the boxes or buckets so everyone knows where it came from, the local grocery store, KFC, or Jack’s Hamburger’s.  That way everyone can pick their favorite.  Crispy?  Extra crispy?  Spicy?  Sadly though, it’s mostly bought chicken now.  Rarely do you see real homemade chicken.  Most “homemade” are breaded frozen chicken fingers that someone cooked.  I can remember the time when my Mother would fry chicken all morning for a family gathering.  My cousin asked at a recent family gathering what happened to my Mother’s chicken and I told him in the kindest way possible, “it’s a fond memory”. 

All this talk of fried chicken means that I’ve been to family reunions, two in the past two weeks and both on my Mother’s side.  Two weeks ago, I went Welti, up in Cullman County.  The reunion there was held at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, founded by my great-great-great (I think that’s enough greats) grandfather.  Many of his decedents still go to church there. 

Last week, I was off to Kimberly with yet more covered dishes, including this strawberry cake, a family recipe from my Dad’s side of the family.  When I got there, the cake looked like this: 

Here’s what I brought home:

Scarf Knitting

All of this shopping for food, cooking, and reunioning hasn’t left me as much time to knit as I would have liked but I’ve been cruising right along on my Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf, a fine pattern from Churchmouse Yarns and Teas.  I’m past the 4” mark now. 

I’ve read how some folks don’t particularly care for the linen stitch because it’s time consuming and it is.  I didn’t care for doing the gauge, and not because I was eager to get started, but because just about the time I got into a rhythm, I was at the end of the row.  With 450 stitches on the needles for the scarf, there’s plenty of time to get into a rhythm.  Having stitch markers every 50 stitches is a lifesaver – you goof up and you know you only have 50 stitches to deal with.  And, I have discovered a few things while working on this scarf:

1.  I can’t carry on an involved conversation while knitting it

2.  I have to count the end stitches to make sure I still have 50 stitches since this is where I tend to lose one or two.

3.  Ripping out 450 stitches is painful and putting them back on the needles is time consuming

4.  Since you cut the yarn at the end of the row, you can’t tell if you need to knit or purl the next row and where to even start if you do figure it out so different color markers to designate knit and purl sides are a must.  Oh, and as insurance, a sticky note as to which is which stuck on the pattern.

Last week at Knit Night, I found myself standing in front of the KPPPM and thinking about another Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf, in blues or purples.