Orange-Grey Delancey Cardigan

After eight months in knitting process, it is finished.  "It" being the cardigan begun in the low lights of December last year.

 Yup, it is a l-o-n-g...sweater.

 With an orange grosgrain button band attached to the back of the front buttons for stability.

Orange flower buttons on the front.

And pretty orange cosmos from our gardens!

(information about this project here; with prior posts about Delancey Cardigan here and here)

Joining in with Natural Suburbia for Creative Friday and Fiber Arts Friday to share finished projects.

DNA Lexicon of Scrabble is Morphing

As an old dog playing Scrabble in tournament play since the mid '90's, I am very sorry to see that the new OWL (Official Word Listing) list in effect since 2006 will be changing at the end of the year.  Over 5,000 new words will be added.  Sigh...this old dog is rolling over.  Even more information to try to pack in between brain neurons and synapses.

According to a well written post here, the new acceptable two letter words are not just baby talk.  The four two letter words that will be allowed in tournament play effective December 1, 2014, DA GI PO TE, are going to change tournament play.

Just for your information, here is the existing list of acceptable two letter words, with thanks to The Phrontistery.  (He has an extensive listing of Scrabble words for cloth and fabric that is fascinating.)

AA AB AD AE AG AH AI AL AM AN AR AS AT AW AX AY 
BA BE BI BO BY 
DE DO 
ED EF EH EL EM EN ER ES ET EX 
FA FE 
GO 
HA HE HI HM HO 
ID IF IN IS IT 
JO 
KA KI 
LA LI LO 
MA ME MI MM MO MU MY 
NA NE NO NU 
OD OE OF OH OI OM ON OP OR OS OW OX OY 
PA PE PI 
QI 
RE 
SH SI SO 
TA TI TO 
UH UM UN UP US UT 
WE WO 
XI XU 
YA YE YO 
ZA 

To give you the full flavor experience in a small shot, these are the new three-letter words that are are back hooks for those new two-letter words: DAS DEP DOH EMO EST FAH GIF GIS HOM HOO LAH LOR MAM MEH MES MMM MOI MUX NAV NUG OIK OMA OPA ORG OWT PAK POS REZ SHO SIG SOC SOH TEC TES TIX TIZ UMS UNI YAS YER YEZ.

Wordologists are cleverly at work creating a new listing of all the new words.  Seattle and its Scrabble club are well on the way to creating their own list, but it will be a while before all of us catch up on a complete listing.  A new OWL dictionary is not yet  available, although you can buy an updated Scrabble Players Dictionary for non-tournament play.

(Remembering my 149 point play of "m-u-t-i-l-a-t-e" in 2009 in a Calgary tournament: post here.)

“It's not about the cards you're dealt, but how you play the hand.”

― Randy Pausch 

Leaving you with this mushroom under one of the trees in back, and wishing you good luck in whatever game you play!

My First and Last Vogue Lace Knitted Shawl

On Ravelry here are all the notes about knitting this shawl.  Curse words were deleted for family friendliness, and just the facts were included; this is the end result.  Mind you, I will never, ever knit this pattern again.

But the hearts, once they were blocked out, do make an interesting motif down the center panel.  It is five feet in width, so the shawl will wrap around the neck/body with appropriate warmth.  Although I am not a big fan of picot edging, it was included as a part of the pattern, so who I am to argue with Vogue. (?)  So it was picot edged.

Linking with Natural Suburbia and Fiber Arts Friday where other fiber related crafts can be seen.

More Liturgical Wall Art

For the last summer days of August in the church liturgical calendar of Ordinary Times, butterflies, hot colors and sunflowers.

 (oils and acrylics, 36" x 24")

 (paint on silk, 24" x 24")

(paint on silk, 24" x 36")

Also on Pinterest here

Therefore Give Us Love

Scottish Episcopal Church, Lerwick, Scotland

Full Text

1 Gracious Spirit, Holy Ghost,
taught by you, we covet most,
of your gifts at Pentecost,
holy, heavenly love.

2 Faith that mountains could remove,
tongues of earth or heaven above,
knowledge, all things, empty prove
without heavenly love.

3 Though I as a martyr bleed,
give my goods the poor to feed,
all is vain, if love I need;
therefore give me love.

4 Love is kind, and suffers long,
love is meek, and thinks no wrong,
love than death itself more strong;
therefore give us love.

5 Prophecy will fade away,
melting in the light of day;
love will ever with us stay;
therefore give us love.

6 Faith and hope and love we see
joining hand in hand, agree;
but the greatest of the three,
and the best, is love.

Source: Church Hymnary (4th ed.) #627
Christopher Wordsworth, 1862

Last summer, when this hymn was sung by a small Christian congregation during a Sunday morning service, the sounds echoed in that ancient slate and rock chancel (photo above).  After the service, I photographed the words of this song by Christopher Wordsworth that he composed over 150 years ago, thinking I would track down the music later.  Not only the music, but also the words were found via our amazing internet technology.  A bit of the sound from this hymn, on mp3, can be heard here.  But it cannot compare with my remembered experience of singing it in unison with other believers, in that small cathedral.

Glorious Gladiolas

Our neighbor planted 250 gladiola bulbs a few years ago and shared these blooming beauties with us yesterday.

He did not know his gladiola colors complemented my silk painting above the fireplace.  So the glads are staying in front of the fireplace.

(39" x 41")

Kudos to nice neighbors.

Judith Weir

Highly recommended: The Welcome Arrival of Rain (Judith Weir)

a snippet of this album can be downloaded here (a 2008 recording)

Took this snap this morning while changing the blog header....water, rain, Judith Weir composes evocative instrumental sounds; BBC Symphony Orchestra in performance