August Sunflowers

We finally have a sunflower flowering, planting the seeds directly in the ground was not wildly successful, these are the only two that have come up.  Next year I think I shall plant them in pots and then put them out when they're bigger.

I love sunflowers, they are so cheerful, like concentrated sunshine.  Hopefully the birds will enjoy the seeds too.

Our tomatoes are also ripening thick and fast and I have harvested some every day the past few days.  There's something deeply satisfying about eating something that has grown outside your own back door and that you have watched grow.

God of Contradictions

Something I wrote a week or two ago and have just polished up, mostly by getting the verses into order.  I suppose it is a Psalm?  Nothing on David's level though.

God of Contradictions

The God who made the earth the skies and sea
And allows us to trash them

The God who made man and woman in His own image
And allowed us to sin and break His heart

The God of beauty and perfection
Who allows ugliness and imperfection to reign

The God of justice, friend of the poor,
Who allows injustice and poverty to flourish

The God who is the prince of peace
And yet allows wars and rumours of wars

The God who sent His son
to save us in human form
And allowed us to beat and kill Him

The God who heals,
who makes the lame walk and the blind to see
And allows children to get sick and die

The God who is holy and perfect
And allows sinners to join Him at His table

The God of all joy
Who allows unimaginable sorrow

The God who collects our tears in a jar
And allows us to go on and on filling the jar

The God who hears our prayers
And so often allows silence to answer them

The God who rose again
And allows us to share in His hope

The God of contradictions
whom we so little understand
One day will you allow us to see as you see?
Will you seem so contradictory then?

The God who will soon return
And allows soon to feel like forever

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”  1 Corinthians 13.12

The Big Knit - 4ply Innocent Smoothie Hats

Another free pattern, there have not been any for a while, so here we go.



4ply Innocent Smoothie Hat

The Big Knit, run by Innocent Smoothies to raise money for Age UK, is now in its 10th year.  For each hat knitted the charity receives 25p.

Perfect for using up all those sock yarn left overs that are too small to use for anything bigger. I thought the self striping sock yarns would look particularly effective.  They are strangely addictive to knit.

Materials:
small amounts of 4 ply yarn
3mm needles (or size required for gauge)

28stitches and 36 rows to 4 inches – the fastest way to check gauge is probably to cast on a hat and measure it after a few rows

Cast on 36 stitches and knit two rows.  Then knit 18 rows of stockingette stitch commencing with a knit row.

Decreases: Following row knit two together across the row.
Then purl two together across the final row

Cut yarn, thread through stitches on needle and pull tight, sew seam and add pompom or any embellishment you wish.



Perfect as a blank canvas for different stitch variations or colourwork.

For more information about the Innocent Smoothies Big Knit, including where to send the hats, please see: http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/bigknit