Sunday, March 31, 2013

Easter Shawls and Skirts

"Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." - Luke 24:5-6

As previously posted, I gave up on finishing the Evenstar shawl in time for Easter. It is still in progress, and will hopefully be finished within the next couple of months:

the Evenstar shawl in progress

Instead of completing the shawl as part of my Easter ensemble (which I wore while singing in my church's choir at the front of the sanctuary), I took to a friend's sewing machine with the aid of my accomplished seamstress housemate, and made the skirt shown on the left below:

my Easter outfit

The fabric used for the skirt is a cream background with light pink rosebuds. I haven't sewn clothing in a long time, and hope to do more of it in the future.

Happy Easter!

Sunday, March 17, 2013

St. Patrick's Day: Corned Beef and Shawls

"I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity; through belief in the threeness, through confession of the oneness of the Creator of Creation." - "The Deer's Cry," St. Patrick

a four-leaf clover I found in the pages of an old book

Speaking of confessions, I have a couple to make: first, even though I'm one of those people who are very proud of their Irish descent, I've never made or eaten corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day.

I'll give you a minute to let the shock wear off.

...

...

Better? ok - next confession...

The Easter Shawl project is not going to be finished by Easter. I originally thought I would have plenty of time to finish it, but my schedule has become unexpectedly full. This is not a bad thing by any means (and the shawl will be finished eventually), but it does mean that I have to re-think my Easter outfit.
Thankfully, my housemates are also crafty, and have experience sewing clothes. So, I will be making a skirt out of a pretty floral chintz fabric with rosebuds. If all goes well, even though this blog is strictly devoted to knitting and cooking, photos will be going up when it is finished.

Now, back to the much more shocking confession of the corned beef:
I decided that this glaring omission needed fixing, so I made a crock pot version for St. Patrick's Day dinner, which is delightfully simple.


The recipe can be found in this terrific book. If you do not own a crock pot, get one. Then get this book. You'll thank me later.

I've also been remiss in posting about the Princess Kate shawl, which I finished several weeks ago:

the shawl, with my Claddagh mug in honor of St. Patrick's Day

Slainte!