[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a12HMU8lypQ&rel=1]
I am sure it is not big deal for those of you who live in cooler climates but this isn’t supposed to happen in the Deep South

This project was something I promised to make for a preacher friend of mine as soon as I finished with my holiday knitting. I am making good on that promise tonight. I must say that after the rash of hunting gloves, hats and scarves I have knitted lately, I have developed an intense dislike for all things camo.

The pattern is my own but since I am in a generous mood today, I will share it with you. The ribbing makes a thick, cozy, non-curling scarf that is narrow enough to wrap around your neck without strangling you but stretchy enough to pull up over your face when you need added warmth. I highly encourage you to substitute another yarn preferably one that isn’t camo. Here it is, my first written out knitting pattern.

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Easy Hunting Scarf

Supplies:

• Approximately 350 yards hideously ugly your favorite camouflage color worsted weight yarn. I used acrylic because I couldn’t find a wool in camo color.
• Size 8 (5.0mm) needles
• Tapestry needle
• Lots of patience

Finished dimensions: Approximately 5¹/₂ X 67 inches

Gauge: Not critical. Mine came out about 7 stitches per inch but since this is ribbing you are really only seeing about 3.5 stitches per inch (the purl stitches hide)

Cast on 40 stitches using your favorite cast on method. I used the Long Tail method.
Row 1: Knit 1X1 ribbing (K1 P1)to end of row ending with K1
Row 2: Slip the first stitch purlwise with yarn in back. (P1 K1) to end of row ending with P1.
Repeat Row 2 until you are so sick of camo that you are about to barf or until you have reached the desired length whichever comes first.
Bind off using favorite method. I used EZ’s sewn bind off because I don’t have to worry about binding off too tightly.
Weave ends and present to your favorite hunter.

I might add a downloadable version of this later if anyone thinks that they really need one. This pattern is nearly easy enough to knit in your sleep.

Sometimes God places blossoms in the most unexpected places – on the cactus in the middle of the desert, in the crack on the busy sidewalk or like here – on the scrubby, little shrub in the middle of the winter. This is winter honeysuckle but my family has always known it as Kiss-Me-At-The-Gate. It blooms, with its creamy, pearlescent blossom and heavenly aroma, in the dead of winter usually from mid-January to February. When all the plants around are dead and brown, Kiss-Me-At-The-Gate greets you with its lovely blossoms and wonderful fragrance, reminding you that even in the dreariness of winter, there is always hope for spring.

Sometimes, God provides us that tiny glimpse of hope of spring amid the winters in our lives. When we are experiencing particularly trying times and feeling the weariness of the world, God sometimes sends some person to remind us that there will be better times – just like those winter blossoms, these people point us toward spring and renewal. Recently, I have had several winter blossoms burst into my life.

In a recent post, I told you about the winter blossom that came form my little buddy “Paul”. If you missed it, go to the Deluged… post and skip to the end of the post to read about it – I’ll wait.

This week one of my winter blossoms was Marti, a lovely lady on one of my sock knitting groups who sent me the most encouraging email out of the blue. When you are writing a blog, sometimes you wonder if anyone actually reads it. Marti does and she took the time this week to tell me. She will never know how much she encouraged me with her kind words.

Another blossom came from Patricia who has said some very kind things about my website and blog on her own blog. I am humbled by her kindness and warmth. And I am strengthened by her encouragement.

Still another winter bloom came from my friend Jerry. I knitted Jerry a pair of socks many months ago when he was in the hospital – think of it as a prayer shawl for your feet. I was chatting with him and his wife Janice Sunday about their new granddaughter when out of the blue Jerry started telling me how much he had been enjoying those socks and hinted that he might need another pair. What a wonderful feeling to know that something you made with your hands was appreciated by the person for whom you made it. I honestly didn’t know if he would ever wear them. I knitted them mainly because it was the only thing I could think of to do for him at the time. He was having major surgery, we were all very worried about him and I wanted to do something besides pray for him. Since I am a knitter, I knit while I prayed for him and when I was through praying a pair or socks in the colors of his favorite sports team popped off the needles (it wasn’t quite that miraculous but the knitters out there will understand). I am happy to report that Jerry has completely recovered and apparently wears the socks all the time. Yes, there is another pair in his future.

A final winter blossom I would like to share came from my kids – affectionately known as “The Varmints”. Today has been a very gloomy day with the threat of storms in the air. After breakfast this morning, they presented a play for me. It was a restaurant scene based on that classic dilemma of finding a fly in ones soup. It was quite humorous – especially considering how old the fly-in-my-soup gag is. I really needed a good laugh this morning.

So how about you? Have you experienced any Winter Blossoms lately? The January blog contest is quite simple. Share a winter blossom in the comments and your name will be entered into a drawing for a mug, an assortment of tea and cocoa and whatever other goodies I come up with by the end of the month. Add a link to your blog or website and I will include your name twice. You have until midnight January 31st to leave your comment. The winner will be chosen at random and the name will be posted here and on Tabitha’s Heart & Hands. The winner will then have one week to email me their snail mail address for sending the prize.

Our minister called Saturday afternoon sounding simply horrible. Seems he had come down with a nasty case of sinus/upper respiratory crud. He asked my hubby if he would preach today. I decided to steal borrow my hubby’s sermon and share it with you. Okay, I won’t actually steal his sermon but I will share some of the points he made with my own spin added to it. When I finish writing it in my own way, he probably won’t recognize it as his sermon anyway.

You Are Special

That was his title. My first reaction to it was “Oh, you mean like Barney?” (After hearing that song 539,835,743 times, Barney never fails to pop into my mind at the sound of those words.) It is a very good sermon title though, because we ARE all special. Sometimes, in a world inundated with evolutionary thought, we forget that we are special. Unique. Made in the image of the Creator of the universe. And NOT, as many would like you to believe, some evolutionary accident.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. …
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.”
– Genesis 1:26-27 (emphasis added)

So how do we know that we are special?
For one, look at the price that was paid for us. Things that cost us a lot are generally the things we prize the most. This is not only monetary cost, you prize your children partially because of the physical investment you have in them. You prize a job You prize a job that took a particularly large amount of work. The price paid for each of us was the blood of God’s own son.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16

knowing that you were ransomed …, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, – I Peter 1:18-19

Another way we know we are special is that we are loved. This is demonstrated not only with the price paid for us but also in the fact that God desires to adopt us as his children!

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. – I John 3:1

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. – Galatians 4:4-7 (emphasis added)

So not only are we redeemed (bought) by the blood of Christ, we are also adopted as children in God’s family. This means that you have a new family besides your physical family. Your spiritual family is the church – your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Another reason that we are special is that no one else can do exactly the things you do. (I know this is really sounding like Barney now but there is still a great deal of truth to that statement). No other person on the planet has exactly the same family, friends, coworkers and associates so no one else is in the ideal position to reach those family members, friends, coworkers and associates for Christ. Furthermore, no one else has your exact combination of talents and opportunities. Take advantage of these talents and opportunities and use them to further the cause of Christ.

Sometimes, we don’t do what we can because we have let hurt feelings get in the way. Find a way to heal those hurt feelings. Forgive, forget, move on. Never let a hurt feeling separate you from God. Think of the suffering Christ endured for you and don’t let a little bruised ego cause you to stumble and fall away from God or prevent you from doing the work that God has for you to do.

So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” – James 4:17

Other times, the fear of failure cripples us. But we have no reason to be afraid. If someone rejects the message of truth, it is not really us but God that they have rejected. I read an anecdote recently about a little girl in the hospital waiting room who was sharing a story with a gentleman sitting there. When the time came for the young man to leave, he told the little girl that he had to go. She replied, “Oh, OK, I’ll just go tell my story to someone else. Bye!” That is the exact attitude we should have about sharing the gospel. If one person won’t listen any longer, we should go and tell our story to someone else. No hurt feelings, no sense of failure. Just go enthusiastically tell your story to someone else. Eventually, someone will want to listen. God expects us to plant the seed. But He gives the increase. If you are concerned with your knowledge of the scriptures, then dedicate some time to learning more about what the Bible says. But use the abilities you have, because you are in a unique position to reach someone that others cannot reach.

Remember that someone

• looks up to you
• sees you as an example, whether you realize it or not
• can be taught by you – and possibly by no one else
• can be helped by you- and possibly by no one else
• can be encouraged by you- and possibly by no one else

Take advantage of these situations and teach someone about Christ. Do whatever you can. Remember what was said about the woman who anointed Jesus with the costly perfume in Mark 14:3-9. Jesus said “She had done what she could.” Let’s strive to make sure the same can be said for each of us.

Bloom Where you are Planted

If you don’t know about Christ and would like to learn, email me at tabitha (at) tabithasheart (dot) com (replacing the stuff in parentheses with the appropriate symbols) and I will be glad to send you some Bible study material. Or you can visit Tabitha’s Heart and Hands for Bible study resources.

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Note: All scriptures are quoted from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

This is almost the last of my holiday gifts. This one is for my wonderful and very understanding friend Rose who didn’t mind at all that it wasn’t ready by Christmas. I will have to knit her something extra special for her birthday – but don’t tell her I said that.

Moral of this story: Chose friends who aren’t offended when their Christmas gifts are late 🙂 This applies double to spouses. My hubby’s alpaca scarf is the very last of the holiday gifts. I hope to knock it out next week.

It was knit with larger yarn than the pattern used so it is a wide scarf that will double as a shoulder wrap.

Pattern: Branching Out (Knitty)
Yarn: Bernat fuzzy alpaca blend whose name escapes me
Needles: Size 13

This was probably not the best yarn for this pattern because it had too much acrylic in it to get the center column to block properly – the double decreases wanted to pull disproportionately. It is still a little off but nothing terribly noticeable. What you are seeing in the photo is where it draped funny on the pillow. Good thing I am a better knitter than photographer, eh?

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Update
In response to the question about the finished size, I didn’t actually measure it but I would estimate the finished width to be about 8 inches. It made a nice little shoulder wrap but do to its airiness it wasn’t too wide for a comfortable scarf. The alpaca made it warm yet it was very light.
-tabitha 7 January 2008