Sitting Pretty

Cedar Waxwing

I snapped this picture a week or so ago as Hubby and I were leaving to go out one evening. It was dusk, so the light was poor, though I did edit it in Picasa. This fellow was not alone. There was a flock of at least two dozen of these beautiful birds in one of our trees.

Isn't it funny how the birds you rarely see are those which excite you so? I remember a friend who lived in another state once telling me how excited she was to see a Redbird (Cardinal) at her feeder. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Redbirds, but they are commonplace in my yard year 'round. Though the appreciation is there, the thrill is gone.

I went to my weekly knitting group tonight. I've been going off and on for a couple of years now. I wish I could go every week, as it's so nice to sit and knit with others who love it like I do. Tonight, they helped me over a snag I'd hit in understanding the instructions of a pattern I wanted to knit. The ladies in this group are such neat women. I'm always a little sad when I realize it's time to go.

I guess part of the thrill of going to knitting group is the no-guilt knitting. When I'm home and knitting, there's always this nagging voice in the back of my head saying things like "don't you think you should be doing laundry?", or "the kitchen floor won't mop itself, you know". I've even heard "you lazy heifer, put those needles down and clean the toilet!". Man, I wish she'd put a sock in it!

Some of you non-knitters left comments that you'd like me to post a picture of my new stitchmarkers (from Ponyknit ) in use, to understand their function.

This close-up picture really shows off the pretty little square beads. As I'm knitting this baby hat, I need to gradually decrease the number of stitches on each round of knitting so it will get smaller as I go toward the top. My instructions tell me to make a decrease right before each stitchmarker. When I get to the last two stitches before each marker, I knit two stitches together, thus making a decrease. So, as you can see, they serve a nifty little function, plus they're plum purty!

So, are you non-knitters ready to try knitting yet? ;-)

And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands.

~Hebrews 1:10