Seven Quick Takes--a bunch of random

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We’ll start with some Patty for ya….

FINGERS ARE YUMMY!

( I seriously could just post photos of her all day…..)

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In really good news, I’ve gotten to talk to Patty! Well, not really talking, more baby talk and gurgles and baby voices. But her mom (my cousin Diane) has video called me twice lately, and it’s been so great to see Patty and her brother, Johnny (who is too young for school yet) and also catch up with Di! Normally I’d have been in Houston for the baptism in September, but….not this year. Sigh. So video calls are what we do, which is still a good substitute. At least Patty can see my face and hear my voice! And I like seeing Di’s new house, too (well it’s new to me. I haven’t visited them there yet.) Johnny is not in school yet, so that’s why I get to see him while the other three are in school. (There are five kids in total, three girls and two boys.) It’s great to be able to catch up this way, even if I can’t actually snuggle the baby yet. I can make weird faces! :)

I am also going to get her several Baby Lit books for Christmas. :)

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Speaking of Christmas shopping, get copies of Living Memento Mori for Christmas! Pregame your Lent! :)

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As my cardigan project nears its completion, I’m thinking about other things I can knit! One of the things I like is the idea of a capsule knitted wardrobe. I like the idea of “slow fashion” (ie, things made with care, not as cheap as possible and things that last), and I also like the idea of making pieces that will go with a lot of other things. So right now, that means I have to get better at knitting in the round, so I can make hats and sweaters with a top-down construction.

In order to practice, I’ve got two patterns coming up. One is a cowl I’ve done before. After this is this hat, done in Quince and Co’s Lark yarn in Peacock.

Why peacock? When I was in the hospital last year for pancreatitis and gallbladder issues, I got a magazine with the model wearing a peacock colored beret on the cover, and I WANTED IT. Also, it has sort of a Mrs. Weasley-ish vibe that I liked. :)

So after I’ve done a hat (or two—probably two!), I will move on to this sweater, called Leslie, from the same book as my cardigan project:

Leslie is knit in pieces, like my cardigan, and then seamed. It uses Quince and Co’s Osprey yarn. Not sure what color I’ll pick yet, but to fit in with the “capsule” idea, it’ll probably be on that will go with a lot of what I wear!

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Yes, I am watching The Crown. To me it seems like this is the first season where the queen is not…totally likable. I also wish they’d given Maggie T a little more credit, especially in the South Africa episode, but whatever.

Also, the queen’s sons sure are special!

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What are you doing for Thanksgiving? If our restaurants stay open we’ll be going out. But things are sort of….tenuous right now, so no one really knows what’s going to be coming down from the state government….we’ll see!

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I’m also working on my goals for 2021, using Lara Casey’s power sheets, which I absolutely love and highly recommend. :) Look for a post on 2021 goals soon! :)

If you’d like to support my writing, become a Patreon member! Memberships range from $1-$20 a month. Thank you! Your support keeps me creating!

Hi! (And a health update)

Hi y’all!

Let’s start with my current favorite Patty photo:

RAWR!!!!!

So I promised you a health update and it’s been awhile in writing it, because there hasn’t been much going on so I felt like, “why write?” But then I remembered I owed you this. So!

There really isn’t much to say. Which is nice. The gallbladder surgery went well, I’m healing nicely (because of the prednisone and the diabetes stuff it will take longer for the incision spots to totally heal, but that’s OK, I don’t care.). Eye survived the corneal abrasion!

This week I am being trained by endo in using my InPen. An InPen is a “smart” insulin pen. It has an app, it communicated with my continuous glucose monitor (CGM), and it also does math for me. I am really looking forward to that feature, you better believe it. It can be nuts to try to figure things out.

It also has a nifty little feature where it tells you how much insulin is “on board”, meaning “active” in your body. For people with normal pancreas function, your pancreas just pumps out insulin when it needs to. You don't have to worry about supply. Diabetics do. One of the things that is frustrating—at least for me—is not knowing how long insulin “lasts” in the body. So basically every time I’m eating a meal I’m dosing based on my CGM numbers, but that’s not entirely accurate, because we don’t know how much insulin is still floating around in my body. (and if you give yourself too much insulin, that causes….weight gain. How fun. I mean it can also cause other not fun things, but…..yeah, I’m focusing on the weight bit.)

With the InPen, I should—I think—know how much is in my body already and then be able to do more accurately. I can also does partially. So, right now, if I should give myself 5.5 units of insulin, I can’t do that with a regular pen. I have to either do 5 or 6. With this pen I can give the 5.5 dose. So being able to do half doses doesn’t sound big, but it adds up in the long run to create better control.

So that’s all on Wednesday. I’m looking forward to it. (Also the InPen is bright pink so it’ll be easy to find in my bag, but it also comes in blue and gray.)

So, weight and insulin, we can talk about it briefly.

When you’re not getting enough insulin, you lose weight really easily. That was me last Christmas. I was like, wow, I lost all his weight without trying! HOW AWESOME!

And then we realized, oh, Emily needs insulin.
When you start insulin, you gain weight. That’s how it goes. Sometimes you need to gain that weight. In my case I …..really didn’t. But them’s the breaks.

Now that I’ve been on insulin for almost a year, we’re reaching good therapeutic levels so I think we’re done with large adjustments, and I’m hoping that I can start to drop some weight because I won’t be giving myself crazy amounts of insulin (because insulin you don’t need? Stored by the body as fat. Yeah, FUN TIMES.).

I have been working out during the pandemic by doing an at home program, which I have actually liked. So that’s helped and that’s made my doctors really happy. My PFTs are good, so that’s also happiness causing. But right now I’m hoping I can turn a corner on weight and start to drop some pounds, even though with COVID I think we’re all realizing that’s easier said than done….I haven’t been in a grocery store since early March. Yikes. (That sort of activity—that daily stuff? Not having that has been an issue. Also an issue—being subjected to what APN has in stock.)

In December I see my dentist, my ENT, and my dermatologist, so hopefully those will all be good. I’m anticipating they will be. The dermatologist is always sort of iffy because you never know what she’ll see that I don’t think is an issue or that I can’t see (like, things on my scalp or my back). But from what I can tell things are OK and it’s not like I was going out in the sun a lot this year anyway. :)

So that’s the health update! :) I’m still alive and kicking, which is good!

Yarn Along: A Tale of Three Shawls

Yes, there’s only two shawls in the photo, the third shawl is below! :)

I’ve been digging into my stash to work projects that I’d sort of forgotten about!

So the blue and green shawl is the sail-away shawl from Modern Daily Knitting’s Ease edition. And it really is easy—lovely garter stitch and KFB increases in gorgeous wool from Sincere Sheep! These are Suerte (the green) and Hathor’s Gem (the blue) . These were actually birthday gifts so they’re finally getting used, yay! I’m making the smaller version of the pattern.

The second, on the right, is the Find Your Fade Shawl, which was super popular a few years ago when it came out but I finally got the yarn for it…two years ago? And I started it but I thought I was messing it up so I frogged it and put it away. BUT the yarn was calling me!

Turns out that the stitch count isn’t really important in this guy. I got to the end of the first section and I had the right count on one side and the wrong side on another—how did that happen?—but I forged ahead anyway, and I’m also only doing one lace section instead of three as you see here, which I might change to two and then to three in the following sections. But the point is, this is a really forgiving shawl, so as long as you’re increasing and decreasing at the right rate, you’ll be fine if your count is off. All the colors here are from the various Hawthorne lines from Knit Picks. (You can see all the colors on my Ravelry notes, but the colors you see here are Sellwood and Goose Hollow, which they don’t make anymore! Sadness! :( The third color which is just coming in here they do still make, and that’s Delphinium)

The third shawl is the Hawthorne Shawl from Quince and Co, using their lark yarn in a limited edition color way called Blue Balloon:

I haven’t worked too much on it because it requires a lot of concentration! So I’m working on the other two shawls and will circle back to this guy. She is pretty, isn’t she? :)

What I’m reading: My copy of Clanlands just arrived so I’m really excited about that. In case you’re new here, I love the Outlander books and TV series, so a book written by two of the stars? Sign me up. Another new novel is The Strawberry Thief, by Joanne Harris. It’s part of the Chocolat series, so I enjoy spending more time with these characters.

A Book Two Update! (And happy birthday, Catholic 101!)

Madame Francois Buron, Jacques-Louis David, 1769

So, I promised you a book two update, and here we go !

I talked to my editor, the fabulously fantastic Jaymie, two weeks ago. There have been some ideas bouncing around about what this book should be but I wanted to really nail it down and get a clear sense of direction, and Jaymie graciously provided me with that. (She’s so awesome.)

The idea is: Saints with challenges, whether they be mental, physical, emotional, financial, whatever, and how they overcame those challenges (or learned to live with them) and became saints. What choices did they make that led them to sainthood? How did they keep going even when it was hard? Things like that. So it’s going to be seven to ten saints—not a huge compendium, but a cultivated collection. So that has steered me in the proper direction and now I’m in the outlining/table of contents/sample chapter stage.

There’s no real timeline yet, which is also good, because it gives me time to do the research I need to do and let ideas brew and bubble up, because you don’t want to rush a good thing! Writing Living Memento Mori on deadline was easy because it was my story, so I knew what I wanted to do with it, and even then there were two chapters I sent to Jaymie and said, “I have no idea, tell me if this is crap.” :) (It was chapters 10 and 11, if you’re curious). When Ave Maria Press said go, I went! With this book, I have to lay the research ground work before we go, so to speak.

Also, happy birthday to my ebook! If you don’t have a copy, it’s $5! You can gift it to people, you can print it out and read it on real pages, or you can read it on your computer or e-reader of choice! Go get it!

Seven Quick Takes--Only Treats!

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Helloooooo everyone!

Let’s start your day with some Patty, shall we?

Gosh I LOVE this kid.

Patty is four months old today!!!! :)

Also, here is her Halloween costume:

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From the blog this week:

The Brave New Us podcast is live!!!—I had a really fun time doing this one, since it’s about genetics!

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The cardigan is taking a break right now. The next step is to pick up stitches and knit the collar, which I don’t know how to do, so I am going to practice on the swatch.

In the mean time I’ve been working on this shawl. Ravelry notes here. It’s the sail-away shawl from Modern Daily Knitting’s “ease” issue, and it is easy! The yarn was actually a birthday gift and I’d completely forgotten about it during all the Big Projects I’ve been knitting.

The yarn is Sincere Sheep’s sport in Hathor’s Gem (the blue) and Suerte (the green). This yarn is magical. It’s so much fun to work with and the shawl is SO SQUISHY.

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My book, Catholic 101, turns three this weekend! Do you have a copy? It’s FIVE BUCKS, and if you’re a subscriber to the blog, you get an additional 15% off!

You can read it on any computer or e-reader, and it’s both PRINTABLE and GIFT-ABLE. So knock some folks off your Christmas list! :)

In that vein….

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Signed copies of Living Memento Mori are available! They are $20, and that includes shipping and a custom bookmark and prayer card that the Ave Maria Press marketing department made for the book! Fancy! I can dedicate the book to anyone you want! If you want a copy, email me. Buy some Christmas gifts and/or think ahead for Lent! :)

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Do we even want to talk about the election? How about not? :-D

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Next week I’ll have two new blog posts out for sure….the first one being about the second book, which is really exciting, and the second one being about health stuff, I think. No, nothing is going on that’s new, but I like to keep y’all informed about my life and health, so I’ll be writing a post about how things are going there!

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The "Brave New Us" Podcast Interview is Live!

I was so privileged to be interviewed by Samantha Stephenson for her Brave New Us podcast! This episode is about genetic illness and genetic manipulation: Should we do it? Why or why not? I had a great time talking to Samantha and I hope you enjoy our conversation! You can listen here.

Emily Knits A Cardigan: Seaming!! (IT FITS!)

A seam, as seen from the “inside” of the cardigan (AKA, the part no one sees)

We are now into the finishing stage of the cardigan! Yay!

Here are all the posts in the Emily Knits A Cardigan series, so you can catch up!

Ravelry notes here.

So, seaming. This is putting all the pieces together, and this is where it’s sort of like a puzzle, as I explained last week.

As a refresher, this cardigan has five pieces:

• the back

• two sleeves

• two front pieces.

So the first seam I did (which you can see above), is the right “front” piece to the bottom of the back piece.I worked up to the arm hole.

Second, I seamed the first sleeve, and I was delighted to find it FITS—I slipped my arm in it and we have success! The third piece was seaming the front of the sleeve to the front of the cardigan, and the fourth piece was seaming the back of the sleeve to the back of the cardigan. So basically I can wear HALF of the cardigan now and it fits! HUZZAH!

The sleeve is a raglan sleeve, so it narrows to a point over the shoulder.

Shot of the sleeve—see how it’s set in there?

The second sleeved pinned before seaming.

I’m using a mattress stitch to seam the pieces together. It’s amazing and it goes pretty quickly once you’re in it. Make sure that as you work that you’re not getting any “excess” fabric—as in, check to make sure everything is going smoothly and there’s not a bulge anywhere. (If I can get a picture of this, I will, to show you what I mean!)

Now, with mattress stitch, you’ve lined the pieces up right next to each other. With the arm hole, I had to work horizontally for a bit, which was odd, but eventually it moved back to “regular” mattress stitch once the pieces straightened up. During the horizontal part, I did every stitch as opposed to doing two stitches at a time, to make sure that it was nice and secure! (If it was a more delicate yarn, like fingering or even sport weight, I would probably do every stitch for security.)

Also, when you seam, do it on a flat surface. I’ve been using my desk—it’s SO much easier than trying to hold it in your lap! You want a lot of good light when you do this too, and I have a lamp on my desk in addition to the overhead light, so that’s perfect for me.

BEHOLD THE FIRST SIDE!

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Seven Quick Takes: A Tea Break Weekend

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Hello, folks!

Jean Charles Cazin, October Day, 1894,

From the blog this week—and last, since I didn’t do 7QT last week!:

Amazon Prime Day: The Big Catholic Creative List!

Yarn Along #102: Blanket, shawl, cardigan….

My First Royalty Statement! (Buy copies!)

Future Janeite

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These arrived yesterday…

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Seaming the cardigan has begun! This is actually a fairly long process…..yesterday was the “pre-seam”, where I used stitch markers to piece three pieces together.

So in the photo above, I’ve laid out the five pieces of the cardi—the back, two sleeves, and two “front” pieces.

I decided to start work on the right side first, since I don’t have enough stitch markers to put everything together at once!

I’m pinning fairly close together using the “lightbulb'“ shaped removable stitch markers. I don’t have any plastic ones, which would’ve been GREAT for this.

More pre-seaming—this is the sleeve insert section so the sleeve is attached to both the sweater back and the front piece. You can also see the sweater back and the front piece pinned together for the side seam on the bottom of the photo.

This has been really interesting, because it’s a 3-D object—not a flat piece! So I had to visualize how things, like the sleeves, would actually become….sleeves! So what I figured is that it is attached in two places, but then I will seam the sleeve itself to make it into a tube. Whew!

This is the first piece i’ve seamed so I’m not sure how long it will take. But even after the seaming, there is a shawl collar that’s picked up and knitted in garter stitch.

The finish line is sort of in sight! My goal when I cast on was to wear it this fall/winter, and that will definitely happen!

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So, "tea break” in the headline, what’s that?

One thing I’ve really enjoyed during the pandemic (YES ENJOYED) is that my parents and I have been having monthly tea dates. There’s a local tea house that has a loveeeely tea, and they’re taking so many precautions to keep things safe, that we feel comfortable going there once a month for lunch and then going to the local Catholic bookshop. It’s the one thing every month that I really look forward to (I think my parents do too….at least I hope they do!).

(Just so you know—we’re really safe, in general. Dad works from home. I don’t go out all that often. My mom doesn’t either. So we’re basically staying home except for things like groceries and doctor appointments. So this is our “treat.” And honestly, it helps keep me sane!)

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I’m going to vote on Monday, too—yay early voting! I really love voting on Election Day, but this year….probably best to do it early. So we’re going to the county Board of Elections to do that on Monday.

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Some business: If you’d like a signed copy of the book as a Christmas gift, LET ME KNOW NOW. Email me! The books are $20 and that includes shipping and a specially designed bookmark and prayer card. I can dedicate the book to whomever you like, or I can just sign it—your call.

You can also get copies of my ebook, Catholic 101—you DO NOT need an e-reader to read it! You can read it on your regular computer! You can print it out! The ebook is FIVE BUCKS. Yup. Five dollars.

And finally, if you like what I’m writing, and want to support me, check out my patreon page! Memberships start at a buck a month (yes, a buck) and go up to $20/month. I am working on adding video, but that’s something else I have to pay for so I have to check the budget. :) Patreon support helps me do fun things like video! :)

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And finally…..adorable Patty.

Amazon Prime Day: The Big Catholic Creative List!

Most of the theology/religion section of my library. (Yes, the Magnolia books were published by a Christian publishing house!)

On Prime Day, how about supporting your local Catholic authors? :)

OK, they might not be local to you. But—really, support Catholic authors! We really do love when people read our books! (and review them on Amazon!!!!)

So I put together a big list of Catholic authors and creatives that are on Amazon—give them a look and support their work!

NOTES: In most cases, I’ve linked to their current book, or most recent book. In other cases I’ve listed to their author page where there are a whole bunch of things! If there’s a (p) after the name, it’s their author page. If not, it’s the most recent book or item. These are not in alphabetically order. The book’s title is in italics after the author’s name.

Starting with…well, me, sorry:

Living Memento Mori

And also sort of me: Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble, who wrote the forward!

And the rest! Go forth and support!

Elizabeth Foss: Real Learning Revisited

And also Take Up & Read (p)

Amy Welborn (p)

Derya Little: From Islam to Christ

Jen Fulwiler: Your Blue Flame

Elizabeth Ficocceli (p)—she has kids books that are great!

Hallie Lord: On the Other Side of Fear: How I Found Peace

Kathryn Lopez, A Year With the Mystics

Jennifer Fitz: The How-To Book of Evangelization.

Kaitlyn Facista: To Middle Earth and Back Again

Lisa Hendey (p) —she’s got kids’ books, books for adults, books for everyone!

Emily Jaminet, Secrets of the Sacred Heart

Emily and her friend Michele Faehnle: Pray Fully

Lindsay Schlegel , Don’t Forget To Say Thank You

Mary Lenaburg, Be Brave In the Scared

Justin McClain, Called To Teach

Carrie Gress The Anti-Mary Exposed and Theology of Home II

Rebecca Frech, Can We Be Friends?

Erin Manning, Catholic fiction (p)

David Clayton and Leila Marie Lawler, The Little Oratory

Katie Prejean McGrady (p) devotionals, working with Catholic youth

Jane Greer, Love Like a Conflagration (poetry!)

Yarn Along #102: Blanket, shawl, cardigan....pick your project!

So the pieces of the cardigan are done, but with all the craziness of September, I didn’t start seaming it yet. That is going to happen. Probably this weekend because I want to devote time to it without being pulled in five million different directions by other projects! So the pieces are all waiting in my bedroom to be seamed. I’m a little nervous that the cardigan will be wonky—sleeve lengths or other issues—but you know what? Who cares, right? It’s my cardigan and I can wear it around the house and WHO CARES. I gotta get over the perfection idea. I mean it’s my first cardigan! So down with the fear of imperfection and ON TO SEAMING!

Patty’s blanket is now in the last set of stripes, yay! It’s part of her Christmas gift so I have a few more weeks to finish it, but I’m probably going to finish it soon and then get it all wrapped up to send to her come December.

Remember the lace scarf?

yeah, I loved it. And then I had to rip it out. :( Sigh. I haven’t gotten my courage up to cast it on again but I think I will in the next week….I just love that yarn so much!

DO NOT try to knit lace when recovering from surgery. That’s your free tip from me. :)

And finally….

a new shawl!

I love this pattern. It’s Hawthorn from Quince and Co and I’m using Quince’s Lark yarn in a special edition color way they had over the summer called Blue balloon. The great thing about the Hawthorn pattern is that it’s designed to be worked in any weight yarn! So if you see a color you just love, you can snatch it up and knit Hawthorn with it! (Hmmm, maybe my pretty yarn from the scarf above will get used here? :) :) )

It does use yarn overs (YO), so it’s good practice for those, but it’s not “true” lace. You just get these lovely wrapped eyelets and things like that. So this isn't a hard project, at least I don’t think so. It’s a good chance to practice YO! :)

I’m reading Story of a Soul, because St. Therese’s feast day was last week, and I generally re-read it every year. I love this edition because my friend Elizabeth Foss wrote the introduction!

I’ve been reading a lot of different things, sort of dipping into books here and there. I always have a mountain of books that I’m working on at any given time!

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My First Royalty Statement! (And....buy copies!)

So, today I got my First Royalty Statement!

Yay!!!

The way my publisher does this is that the royalty periods run from January-June, and then July-December. So the royalty statement I got today shows how many books I’ve sold from January to June.

And it did pretty well! Thank you for buying copies!!!! :)

It’s broken down into USA, Canada, and “Foreign” sales—there were two foreign sales, not sure who those were, but THANK YOU! :) I can also see ebook sales—there were 44 of those.

You might not know this, but authors don’t get paid royalties until they’ve paid back their advance. I am almost halfway to that goal, so yay. THANK YOU! :) Once I pay back my advance, then I actually start getting royalty checks. (As in: MONEY.)

And that brings me to…..buying copies for Christmas gifts! :)

Lent starts February 17, 2021, so you could even buy a copy of the book as a Valentine’s Day present! (Come on, it’s a good idea!) But, buying for Christmas is also a good idea, because then you’re ready for Lent with Lenten reading! :)

So you can buy a copy, or you can email me for a signed copy. Those are $20 and include a prayer card, a book mark, and shipping!

I should get my next royalty statement in March, and hopefully I’ll have made even more progress toward the repayment of the advance! :)

So, thank you for buying my book and supporting my writing! I appreciate every book sold.

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Future Janeite

If you’re my godchild, the indoctrination begins early….

And yes, she will be getting Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Little Women, The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, The Wizard of Oz, A Christmas Carol….

Seven Quick Takes, St. Therese Edition!

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St. Therese’s feast day was yesterday!!!!

I love this, and I post it every year. Bless whoever made this!

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St. Therese was my confirmation saint. If you want to learn about how I picked her—or she picked me—go here.

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Some St. Therese books? THOUGHT YOU’D NEVER ASK!

I love this edition of Story of a Soul, because it has an introduction by my friend Elizabeth Foss!

My FAVORITE book about St. Therese: I Believe In Love. Seriously. Desert island book, folks.

Want some St. Therese every day? Then you want Mornings With St. Therese.

And this one: 33 Days to Merciful Love. (also, that image of St. Therese is my favorite, and you can get it here.)

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Want a movie? Here you go.

Or AWESOME ST. THERESE SOCKS?

OR A STICKER or a MUG…..OR A KEYCHAIN?????

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My parish has a lovely St. Therese shrine….

(Use the arrow keys to scroll through it!)

A parishioner carved that. Can you believe that? I can’t.

There’s a relic of St. Therese, and it’s just such a beautiful place to pray. It’s so beautiful that you often have to wait! :)

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Right now I’m really missing the ST. Therese retreat center. This weekend would’ve bee the Women’s Silent Retreat weekend for the fall, and I almost always went to this one. Sigh.

If you know of places near Ohio that have silent retreat opportunities, please let me know? I MISS THEM!

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And to leave you this week—Anne Shirley. :)

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Seven Quick Takes--Welcome, Fall!

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Welcome, Fall!

I’ve always been a big fan of fall. I like the sense of new beginnings, of school starting, of football….and I love that the weather has cooled down and I can walk outside and not burn up! Yay!!!!

The leaves are looking really lovely this year too. And I love lighting candles in my house again and wearing my sweaters and fun socks!

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This week on the blog:

The new Take Up and Read Study is out! Essential Holiness is perfect for fall!

A Rock Solid Clinic

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I’m glad my eye has healed up although my doctor said I might be developing cataracts and to be honest I’m freaked about this because I depend so much on my eyes. So if you could pray for them I’d appreciate it. My next appointment is in February so I could worry for, um, months, and I really don’t want to do that! :)

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Lace knitting is happening….slowly. It has to be done slowly or you end up ripping it all out. At least you do if you’re me. :) I’m also reading the History of the Lord of the Rings series, which is JRR Tolkien’s original writings and drafts compiled by his son, Christopher. So it’s a great look into a writer’s process and the evolution of the story. If you’re a Tolkien nerd, they’re great. If you’re not, they’re probably really boring. But since I’m in the former category, I love them! The first one I read was Return of the Shadow, which goes until the fellowship reaches the Mines of Moria; next up is The Treason of Isengard.

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Some new Patty photos? YES PLEASE.

Patty with the stuffed lamb I got her for her baptism.

Patty with her brother, Johnny.

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Since it’s officially three months to Christmas….

If you want a signed book, email me . They’re $20 and that includes the signature, shipping, and the bookmark and prayer card! I can also inscribe it to the recipient, just let me know!

I also have Catholic 101, my ebook, for $5. You DO NOT need an e-reader to read it! You can read it on your laptop or desktop!

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I am really glad football’s back. I am also glad that both Pitt and the Steelers are 2-0. We’ll see if they’re still undefeated come Monday morning…

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New Take Up & Read Study: Essential Holiness

Do you need a reset?

(Honestly, who doesn’t need a reset this year….)

Fall always make me think of new beginnings—new school year, new things starting, more so even than January. Fall is really a “new” year feeling for me!

If you feel that way too, then can I suggest Essential Holiness?

As you may know, I’m an editor/writer/researcher for https://www.takeupandread.org a Catholic women’s devotional group. We put out beautiful scripture study journals multiple times through the year, and this is our newest one! This focuses on what is really essential, both in the physical and spiritual life: prayer, good food, relationships…all sorts of things.

Take a peek inside with me….

Lectio pages to write out notes, thoughts, whatever you feel about the day’s Scripture passages!

Beautiful art that you can color!

Saintly wisdom!

Thought provoking essays!

I absolutely adore Essential Holiness and I hope you do too!

So pick up a copy and join us in this lovely study that can give us some fresh starts and peace!

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Clinic: "Rock solid"

That’s what the transplant pulmonologist said to me—things are “rock solid”.

So that’s always good to hear! I met a new doctor today who had a great sense of humor and is on top of things, so that makes me happy about being at OSU right now. I had, of course, Dr. K, who is my “main” doctor, but it was nice to know another doctor and to like him. I also met another transplant coordinator who I also liked! So this is good.

(And I got my flu shot. Get yours, please and thank you!)

So the day is different now than how clinic used to be. At The Old Resort, it was all in one building, so that was nice in that once you were in, you were in. And the parking was in a garage, so you never walked outside.

Now I start my day at one place, an outpatient center, where I get blood, x-rays, and PFTs done. It’s two buildings connected by a covered walkway, so you walk outside and the parking is outside (but it’s free, so….). Once all that’s done, I go to the main hospital for clinic. There, parking is in an excellent garage, but you have to pay (you get “validated” parking, but I think it’s only good for like two hours. BOO HISS. After that you have to pay.).

Anyway, today I met the new nurses who will be accessing my port—both of them are very nice. But in that building, it’s 98% cancer patients (and post-transplant folk like me who have port draws.) The “tower”, as it’s called, is 11 floors, and it has oncology doctors, clinics, infusion for chemo, etc., etc.

So I was surrounded by cancer patients, and one, in particular, looked so cold and sad that I just wanted to hug her, wrap her in cashmere and bubble wrap, tuck her into bed, and feed her about 50 Frosties. It’s 70 here right now, and it was about 55 this morning, but she looked absolutely frigid. So, please pray for her and all the other cancer patients?

After that I went to visit the radiology folk and then the PFT lab, where I had Ashley, the same tech I had last time, and ho is really nice. So that’s all in and out.

But anyway, yeah, “rock solid.” The doctor today said his job is “not to break me” since I’m so far out. And that works for me—I like a doctor who takes that sort of approach!

So that’s the clinic wrap. Next appointment in three months!

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Seven Quick Takes--The eye is healed up!

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Hi everyone! We’re back!

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So I saw my eye doctor yesterday and my corneal abrasion has healed, yayyyyy! I can wear contacts again! Double yay! He wants me to use eye drops for the next week which is fine, just to add some extra lubrication to my eye, no big deal. I’m very glad that it has healed up because I need my eyes to function! (As in, more than the average bear, because of the ears not working, ha!)

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If you need a cuteness pick-me-up, presenting….Adso! (AKA, the Outlander cat)

And if you need more cute, here’s Patty:

On her baptism say. She looks…..unsure. :) My godson, however, was baptized while he was having a bottle! :)

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Business: There’s a patreon. Check it out! Trying to build another income stream and I am so grateful for all my readers and patrons! Once you’re a writer that doesn’t mean you’re rolling in dough. I get my royalty checks once a year (September and March), and I do have to pay taxes (25%!!!!) on my royalties. So. More income streams are good! Thanks for considering.

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Pro tip: Don’t try to knit anything when you don’t normally wear glasses and you’re suddenly wearing them all the time. I’ll be so glad to get back to my knitting ASAP!

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The gallbladder is healing very well, my surgeon is quite pleased. :) I see my transplant clinic folk onMonday so let’s hope all is well there….I will update you when I get back.

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One of my favorite Marian devotions is the Seven Sorrows Chaplet. Have you heard of it? Read about it and pray it, especially since September is devoted to Our Lady of Sorrows!

If you would like a seven sorrows chaplet, this is where I got mine (she’s a local lady who does beautiful work!)

We're BACK!

Sam guards the books

Hi everyone! I’m back! :)

So the surgery went well. I had my follow-up yesterday with my surgeon and he’s happy. Apparently my gallbladder was very inflamed and angry, so I am glad it is gone! And I’m also betting that the prednisone I take sort of took the edge off the pain of an angry, inflamed gallbladder, so thank you, prednisone! :)

The plan was to stay one night at my parents and then come home, but then, in the middle of the night on Thursday, I managed to scratch my cornea.

While I was sleeping.

And I have no nails. I’m a chronic nail biter. So how I managed to gouge my eye is….a mystery of life!

So the next day I woke up and had lots of pain in my left eye. Which meant we went to the local ER! And lo and behold, I had a corneal abrasion! Not fun!

So I had Cipro eye drops for a week. (I’ve had Cipro orally, but never this way, so, new frontiers in medicine….) That ended last Friday. My eye is much better but I still have to wear my glasses and no makeup until I see the eye doctor this Thursday (as in, in two days).

WHEW.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that things went well surgically and that I’m recovering nicely. The last two episodes of the Living Memento Mori book club will be next Tuesday and the following Tuesday (September 22 and September 29) at 3:00 PM EST on my Facebook page.

And in the last piece of news, I wrote a quick piece on Flannery O’Connor and put it up on my Patreon page. If you want to read it, join Orchard House Studios! Monthly memberships start at one dollar! There’s a bunch of other patron-only content up to!

And I’m featured on the new Spoken Women Site!

So, I’m back, and so is football—Steelers won and Pitt won, so I’m happy to have both teams at 1-0 after week one!

How are you doing?

Yarn Along #101: The Cardigan Is Ready to Seam!

In #emilyknitsacardigan news, the carding is READY TO SEAM! Right now it’s just a stack of pieces, so no picture, because….stack of pieces. :) But! This is very very exciting. very very nerve-racking. I’m holding off on seaming until after gallbladder surgery because it will require attention!

In other WIPs…..Patty’s baby blanket keeps growing!

I’m more than halfway done, so yay! I still haven’t decided if I’ll block it. Hmmmm. Do you block blankets? (I mean you personally.) Ravelry notes here.

And I’ve started a lace project!

This is from Modern Daily Knitting’s “Open” edition. I’ve never done lace before, but this project is just my favorite, although I can’t do too many rows at once because I have to concentrate on the pattern! But I’m getting it down so hopefully I can move a little faster! It’s called the rib lace scarf, and the Ravelry notes are here.

I adore the yarn! It’s from Lichen and Lace and it’s called pressed flowers. How can you not love yarn called pressed flowers?!

As for reading….I’m having surgery tomorrow so there will probably be much reading and less knitting over the next week!

As you can see the book pile is….massive.

Because, surgery. I’m going to have a lot of free time on my hands so I can read!

(There are actually even more books than this. Scary but true)

And I’m re-reading Mansfield Park as part of the great Jane Re-Read. I love Mansfield Park. This might be the book I take with me tomorrow because I probably don’t want to have to concentrate on anything new.

Movie Review: Fatima

I wrote a review of the new Fatima movie for the local Catholic paper! Yay!

Here’s the beginning:

There are almost as many film versions of the story of Our Lady of Fatima as there were appearances by the Virgin. With so many versions, do we need another account of the apparitions of Mary that occurred more than 100 years ago? Yes, because this version brings the story of the three visionaries and their world to realistic life. 
 
Other tellings of the story have focused on the three seers – 10-year-old Lucia dos Santos and her cousins, Francisco, 9, and Jacinta Marto, 7 – and what they beheld in a two-dimensional way. The current film gives depth and realism to the apparitions with its vivid storytelling….

Read the rest at the Columbus Catholic Times!