Got Hope!

What is hope? Merriam-Webster defines hope as to “expect with confidence”. We all need hope, hope that the tomorrow will be a better day. How wonderful life would be if each of us could expect with confidence that tomorrow would be better.

For the past several months I have been following a craft group that uses their talents to do just that. With so many people in the world that are hurting, Craft Hope allows people to use their crafting skills to bring a little hope to the lives of those less fortunate. It is a simple concept really. Periodically a project is announced. People around the world are asked to make a particular item for a charity that will then distribute the items.  I finally took the plunge and decided to participate in a project. They are currently collecting hats, scarves and blankets for the people of Romania. To learn more about Craft Hope and their current projects head to www.CraftHope.com

Tomorrow I will be putting in the mail one lonely hat and scarf for a little girl. I know it is not much but believing every little bit helps here is my contribution.

Craft Hope Project

I began with the scarf. Using a #6 pair of needles, I cast on 25 stitches and continued with a garter stitch until it was long enough (about 36 inches).

This scarf brought me extra joy and some tears. For recently, as my father helped to clean out Dobb’s house, he found a pair of my grandmother’s needles that I was able to use for the first time on this project. She has been gone for a little over 15 years now. My grandmother was a spunky lady, full of determination, but she had a heart of gold and was always willing to help. With each stitch I reflected on my memories of her, I couldn’t help but think she would have loved to use her needles for a cause such as this.

Then came the hat. Since I did not have enough of the dark rose to complete a hat, I opted to try my hand at changing colors. I really did not have a pattern per se, but used the basic hat that I had made previously as my starting point. Here is what I did.

Cast on 90 stitches onto a set of size 8 double point needles, and join in the round being certain to mark where the round begins.

Round 1-7: [K3, P3] around using first color
Round 8-14: [P3, K3] around using second color
Round 15-21: Knit around using the first color
Round 22: Knit around using second color (All the following rows will be in the second color).
Round 23: [K8, k2tog] around
Round 24: Knit around.
Round 25: [K7, k2tog] around
Round 26: Knit around.
Round 27: [K6, k2tog] around
Round 28: Knit around.
Round 29: [K5, k2tog] around
Round 30: Knit around.
Round 31: [K4, k2tog] around
Round 32: Knit around.
Round 33: [K3, k2tog] around
Round 34: Knit around.
Round 35: [K2, k2tog] around
Round 36: Knit around.
Round 37: [K1, k2tog] around
Round 38: Knit around
Round 39: [k2tog] around
Cut off yarn leaving a 12 inch tail. Using a yarn needle, weave through remaining stitches and tighten. Finish off by trying all loose threads as usual.
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Life and Pecans

Lately I have really been missing my grandfather who passed in November. Lily is working on her Ancestor Detector merit badge for American Heritage Girls so I have been able to share some of the memories I have of him and my grandmother. In the quiet of the night I find my mind returning to the words of the pastor at Dobb’s funeral service. He compared human life to that of a pecan.  Let me attempt to explain.

The pastor talked about the things we remember most about Dobb: his smile that looked like he was up to something; the way he walked; his chuckle before he showed up the grand-kids; the phrases he used in his everyday speech. (I always think about the way he smelled, his rugged hands; the way he could never just sit still.) When we think of Dobb we think of his outward earthly body. After 93 years that body gave out.

A pecan has two main parts, the shell and the meat. The shell is a small part of what makes up a pecan. We are able to distinguish a pecan from other nuts by its shell.  The shell has an important role of holding the meat. But, we throw the shell away and savor the meat.  The meat of the pecan is the most important part of the pecan.

Now for the analogy: The human body is like the shell of a pecan. We use it to distinguish one person from another. Its role is to hold the meat (the soul of a person) for a time. Dobb’s body has been discarded and we are left with the meat, who he really was.  While we remember the outward body, we can “savor” who he was! His hands were rugged because of his work ethic; he could not sit still because he was always tinkering about; his love for gardening merged with his generosity when he knowingly planted more than he could ever eat so he would have enough to share;  his love for reading the bible that was a reflection of his heart and desire to know God better. Thankfully, we know that he had a personal relationship with Christ and his soul lives on.

If we apply this to ourselves, how concerned are we with the shell of our body that will one day be discarded compared to the time we spend concerned with the soul that is within us?

R.I.P. Dobb

On Tuesday, November 11, Dobb went home.  I am proud to be the granddaughter of such an amazing man, and await the day we are re-united.

Picture 071

As you may notice I took off some time to travel to his funeral and to be with family. But I am back and ready to go again.

This time “off” has allowed me to develop a plan for my blog.

  • MONDAY: American Heritage Girls (one of my major passions in life at this time)
  • WEDNESDAY: Cooking
  • FRIDAY: Crafting
  • I will save the other type of posts for the other days of the week

I think I am ready to begin this journey! Now if only someone was actually reading this…