WIP Wednesday~ 7/11

Prayer Shawl

 I have a knit and crochet project to show today.  My daughter says she doesn't have to ask me what I am working on any more, because prayer shawls and baby items are "all I do."  ; )   Yes, I do a lot of them.  They give me a lot of pleasure, to make something for someone else, since I can't do the things for my family as well as I'd like.  I think that is one reason I will never sell my items.  This is my mission.

Baby Dress

So I am repurposing yarn from previous projects I have made, that I no longer want.  The yarn for the shawl used to be a sweater, and the yarn for the dress used to be doll clothes for my daughter that has grown out of that stage.  I like to know someone else will use them well.

Crocheted Baby Dress

This is a dress I finished today that was based on a pattern at the Miracles Happen website.  Miracles Happen is a network of knitters and crocheters that help to provide for newborn babies' early needs.  From the website:

        "Sometimes, when a woman is pregnant, she experiences feelings of confusion, she may feel scared, or helpless. Her whole world is changing and she doesn't know what to do. Many women have their own resources (family, friends, medical professionals) to turn to in this time of need. But many do not. Staff at pregnancy crisis centers are there to listen to these women, to share their concerns, and to offer real hope for their future.

Miracles Happen is a network of volunteers who make and distribute handmade items for a newborn baby's early needs."

I have been crocheting for The Sewing Closet, a local charity for children throughout our county that, through poverty, would not otherwise receive new clothes.  Many of the women sew clothing, but I am one of a few that crochet or knit blankets and layettes for our local hospitals' maternity wards, for parents who are not prepared to have the items necessary for taking their baby home.  It is websites like Miracles Happen that are inspirational to me.

I am linking to:

http://www.acreativeharbor.com/

http://creativeeveryday.com/

http://www.create-with-joy.com/2012/01/inspire-me-monday-week-4.html

Prayer Shawl

Made with Loops and Threads Ombre in the color called "Luxury," and trimmed with Moda Dea Dream yarn. It is so soft and warm!  I pray that it is the comfort intended for the person who receives it.

Inspire Me Monday

Magical Monday Blog Hop

Sign Language

Two AEDM friends, Kristin Dudish and Paula from Created 2B Creative, inspired my art this weekend, and since my camera is working again, I can post my creation today.

Kristin drew a sketch of a hand showing the sign for "I love you."  It showed the hand from the angle of the person that would see it.  And then Paula showed an piece of art she drew that I thought of as a visual illusion piece.  I was of the back of the hand.  So, I combined the two ideas, and this is the result.

I want to thank them both for their inspiration.  Have you been inspired by other's art?

Choices

“Beauty at the finish,” I said.

At the time I was in a good place.

I was able to accept my situation

As temporary, then,

But today is different.

I know why I hurt,

But I don’t know how long.

Yet, I never know how long the pain will last.

 The thought is no different than any other day.

Today, I am choosing to wallow in my pity.

 I can, however, choose to think differently.

“Adaptability curve,” she said.

We have to adjust to

 Anything life throws at us.

We have to work at it.

 We must reconcile our feelings with our situations.

If we don’t try to fight,

We have chosen to be miserable.

I have to choose every day.

I choose to claim my power and fight.

“Beauty at the finish,” I say.

A Family Re-Union

The two have never become one,
And were never meant to be.
One needs their own life, in spite of the others.
As well as one or two, so do three.

Their lives are llike climbing roses,
Each separate vines yet intertwined.
When one branches out on a different path,
The others must adjust their climb.

And so is it not the way of this world?
Our lives intersecting like lines on a map.
Yet we aren't given an established direction.
Moving in an unpredictable race of infinite laps.

I am not one, but many.
I evolve from events I've endured.
The past, my foundation, keeps me grounded.
The future, my fruition, not ignored.

And you must be who you are.
One to others, someone else to me.
All relationships constantly developing.
Dependent connections providing stability.

So, yes, the two have surely become one,
Weaving in more threads throughout time,
Creating a chord of combined strands
Tangled and strightened in an unbroken line.

Big Sky

My daughter took this picture, and I cropped it a little, and zoomed in on the best part.  I love how the Light radiates from the little country church.

Triangle Prayer Shawl

This fuzzy shawl was quick, made in one day.  When I finally figured out the pattern, it was easy.  I had to restart it too many times to count, but I think it was worth the hassle.

New Blog Title

I have changed my blog title to one that I think this blog is about.  It comes from all my passions: crocheting, writing poems and acting, and my musical interests.  I tell my husband those are my avocations, meaning I don't get paid for them. I think that if I did get paid for them, I might not enjoy them as much, and it would become a chore.  Crocheting and writing are very therapeutic and relaxing for me.

Priorities

I thought I would play or dance and sing.
I thought I would do much more joyful things.
When my kids were little and I was young.
When life was simple and days were fun.

I thought my parents were a dreadful bore
When they took Sunday naps and taught me chores.
But now I'm the parent and I regrettably understand
How easily life gets hectic with balancing priorities the main plan.

The Dawn of a Year

Let me look forward toward 2011.

With this day starts the new year. 

Relishing all that is to come,

And leave behind regrets and fear.

Although it seems just another day,

Somehow it is divine.

A day of new beginnings,

A day for changing time.

The whole year is ahead of me,

The past should stay the past,

Creating each day is an exciting purpose,

Savoring each memory to last and last.

Slippers

This stocking was made for the daughter of a fellow teacher who has an inoperable brain tumor.  Other teachers are filling it with girly things like make-up, nail polish, fuzzy socks, etc.

I have made several pairs of slippers for "The Pink Slipper Project" and will be mailing them soon.

I celebrate Christmas all year by making things for others, and sharing God's love, hope and peace.  I am blessed to be able to create and to share my creativity.

Prayer Shawl

I love a bargain!  We have a store in our area called Big Lots, and they carry clearance items that have not sold in other stores, as well as large quantity items.  They have yarn there on which I can get a great deal.  I recently purchased three skeins of yarn in coordinating colors that were a total of one pound for about seven dollars. I started this prayer shawl on Saturday night, and finished this evening. It worked up pretty quick with thick yarn and a large hook.  It is supposed to be for someone who needs to feel surrounded with prayers, as we pray for comfort, strength and healing for a person while we create the shawls.  My daughter asked me if she could have it.  We'll see... :) 

Chemo Sweater

My 19 year old neice has recurrent brain cancer.  She has fought this for four years.  She had some good news recently when the MRI showed that there had been no tumor growth for a year!  Almost two years ago, after the news of the first recurrence, her parents got this cute little puppy, and she pronounced it was good chemo, and his name stuck.

We were at Kelly's house for Thanksgiving this year, and she saw me making a scarf for my daughter.  She asked if I was making a sweater for Chemo.  So, before we left this morning, I made this sweater for him.  We all thought it was adorable, especially on him!  When I called Chemo a pretty boy, Kelly said to the puppy, "Yeah, you're pretty, but your Mom is ugly."  I told her, "Kelly,  I think you are beautiful!  Your bright blue eyes...and you are so strong!"  She smiled a little smile, and said "Thank you, I try..."  The poem I wrote on Thanksgiving day was about/for her.

Art

art ¹ (ärt)

noun

1. Human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature.
2. a. The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium.
   b. The study of these activities.
   c. The product of these activities; human works of beauty considered as a group...

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.





So
What is Art?
It is
Altering,
Illuminating,
Creating,
Perceiving,
Imitating
Nature
and/or
Beauty.
Through Human Expression.

Art is
the combination,
conduction,
arrangement and
determination of
elements
enriched and
experienced by
 one
--or many,
in unison of thought.

Art is that which we
perceive
and produce
 it to be.
Art is within
(and without)
and surrounding
Me.

Peace Triumphant

Rededicated today.
The World War One memorial
For all the soldiers
In Oak Park, Illinois,
In the United States of America,
Who sacrificed the life they had known
For our country
In the "War to End All Wars"
(which it didn't).

Not all 2,460 odd soldiers died
In the war,
But they all gave up all they knew.
They left as boys,
And returned as changed men.
Men no longer known
By their families or friends.
Men who needed to relearn
Who they were themselves.

It is fitting we rededicate
This memorial today,
When we continue sending soldiers
To new wars
   (which we haven't won).
We need to  renew our plan
For a changed society.
We need to redefine our obstacles
To Peace.

                                                       

                                                        

Across the Miles

On slow country roads                      

The bright sunrise chases me.

Dawn breaks into day.