Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone is enjoying the day with family and/or friends.

Our friends at Churchmouse Yarns and Teas have a free pattern for an easy to make scarf.

Self-patterning and self-striping sock yarns, like Regia Design Line by Arne & Carlos, are engineered to pattern at a sock circumference. We designed this simple scarf to take advantage of that great engineering!  

This one-skein version is knit in a tube for a finished scarf that’s approx. 4"/10cm wide by 40"/102cm long. The pattern also includes information for a two-skein version (shown in the last picture in a discontinued yarn). 

And pom-poms add a little pizazz. The easy-to-use pom-pom maker below lets you create a variety of sizes in a jiff. (We used the 1 3/8” size of the Small Pom-Pom Maker kit to make these little darlings. 

This tube-style scarf works up effortlessly and is fun on children and adults alike!

We have lots of self-patterning sock yarn to choose from. 

Take a look in your stash. You might have a ball or two hiding that would work for the scarf.

Every year my dad goes to Honduras on a mission trip. Every fall there is a big dinner to raise money for Honduras. All funds raised go directly to Honduras. It does not pay for travel or expenses while the team is there. Beth MC'd the dinner a few weeks ago. She wrote a speech that I thought I would share with you. She wrote it about Honduras but it is also fitting about Thanksgiving and being thankful.

Since I have such a nice captive audience I would like to tell you about my day. 

Woke up this morning and of course instantly picked up my phone.  ESPN, CNN, the weather channel.   I’ll try not to mention my phone again – just know I am on that sucker all day long. 

Had a shower that I couldn’t quite get to the right temperature – a little too cold then a little too hot. 

Vacuumed up enough dog hair to make a puppy – dad’s dog Lucy is a St. Bernard and is just the gift that keeps on giving. 

Emptied and refilled the dishwasher – had hoped that the dish fairies would have showed up overnight – no such luck. 

Like many of you here, made a run to Tim Hortons.  As usual this was a frustrating event.  Just a note to everyone here – when you are in the drive-thru it is ok to pull up to the car in front of you – you don’t need to leave that big gap like you learned in driving school.   Also, while i’m on the subject of Tim’s please remember that inside the restaurant they have the same menu as in the drive-thru.  If your driver’s window is frozen this winter – going inside might be a good idea.   I’m just saying. 

Did a little bit of work – answered some emails, texted with people.  Made a couple of phone calls to yell at people.   Generally I only phone people to yell – if you see an incoming call from me, know that there is trouble brewing. 

Went and got my haircut (ok – coloured).   I did some knitting while I sat there.   I really wanted to play on my phone but we discovered that my fitbit will give me steps while I knit – have to get to those 10,000 steps even if I have to cheat. 

Came home and got dressed for tonight.  I was unhappy that my blouse came back from the dry cleaner wrinkled and that I had to iron. 

Came here and got my final instructions, said hello to as many as you as possible and had a beer for courage. 

I skipped the salad.  There was nothing wrong with it – I just didn’t feel like eating it.   I didn’t get this figure by eating too much salad. 

So I have a very good point for sharing this with you.   You see, I have realized that I need an attitude adjustment.   I have lots of what I would call First World annoyances and bad habits.   What I need is to remember my trip to Honduras and the lessons I learned there to readjust my thinking. 

I will be fine if I don’t know if my Golden Knights won last night or what kind of mischief Trump is up to or what the weather will be at 2:00 

A shower is great no matter the water temperature 

I am lucky to have a floor in my house – even luckier to have a vacuum and a couple of great dogs. 

I am blessed to own a dishwasher.    For my friends in Honduras, clean dishes take a lot more work. 

Going to Tim Hortons is a luxury that I should not take for granted. 

I should engage with people personally.   If I want to check in with my friends, family or co-workers I should visit with them or at least reach out by phone. 

Most people in Honduras don’t have to try to exercise – and certainly don’t have to cheat to get 10,000 steps. 

I should never complain about having to clean my clothes.   For us this takes very little effort compared to the work others have to put into it. 

If the scariest thing I have to do this week is get up here, then I should be very, very grateful. 

In Honduras, refried beans that are not eaten at breakfast came back at lunch as refried, refried beans.   If left at lunch, they came back at dinner as refried, refried, refried beans. We got the hint and ate the beans – food is a gift that should not be wasted. 

If you too feel you need an attitude adjustment, are feeling unsatisfied with your life or your relationships or just want to make a new group of friends that you won’t be able to get rid of, I encourage you to join the Carpenteros team this January.   You won’t be the same ever again.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!