Blanket or Swatch?

Both, actually. My daughter wants me to knit her an afghan with cables on both sides. You can see the three cables on this side; the six stitches between every two cables here are made into cables on the other side. Simple! But makes a nice, reversible blanket. Carmen bought the yarn when she was here a year and a half ago, but she has yet to tell me how wide she wants it to be. The yarn is the same as I used recently to make a baby blanket (different dyelot, though), so I decided to use the leftover from the blanket to make a gauge swatch for the afghan. That way I can figure out how many stitches to use when Carmen does tell me how wide to make it. I like making swatches large enough that Lexi and Rose can use them for doll blankets. I don't know which one this doll belongs to.

Sad Occasion:
The building that was St Martin's Church in Mayfield has been sold - we closed it six or seven years ago, because there were so few of us remaining. Yesterday, the bishop came to 'secularize' the building. He didn't know the name of the buyer, only that it is a woman who plans to make it her home. I'd love to see it when she gets the remodeling done. There were nine of us there yesterday - five clergy (the bishop, three other priests and one deacon) and four lay people. It was especially sad for the two who were St Martin's parishioners before they built the building sometime in the 1970's.

Walk through Bethlehem:
It was cancelled Wednesday night because the ground was too soggy. Thursday night we had fewer than 100 visitors - because it was a weeknight? It was cold, as well, but not cold enough to cause frost on the loom like I had last year. Last night was much better. It was not quite so cold, and there were about 380 visitors. The two hours went fairly quickly - lots of people (especially kids) to explain a little about weaving to. Sara and Reggie brought Rose and Kyra, and Reggie's grandmother and little sister met them there. Casey is 12 or 13, and I've been hearing about her ever since Lexi learned to talk. (They go to the same church as Lexi's grandparents, and there is also some round-about family connection.) The younger girls all love Casey, and Lexi has worn many of her hand-me-downs..

I took the rug I usually have inside the door from the driveway into my bedroom, and hung it just behind me along with other rugs that members of the church provided. That way I could point out the type of rug I was making, and say that the other rugs were made on other types of looms.

Tonight may be the last night for this year, although it is scheduled to go through tomorrow night. It is forecast to be warmer tonight (high 40's), but then rain is expected after midnight and throughout the day tomorrow. Since we're outdoors, rain cancels.