An Attitude of Gratitude

Our son when he was little feeding a calf at a dairy farm

In Anime, you often hear "itadakimasu" said at meals.  I looked it up and found out that the expression itadakimasu literally means “I am going to receive the lives of animals and plants for my own life",.  Saying this phrase before eating is your acknowledgment that you understand the sacrifice that was made so that you could eat.  It also is a way to show honor for Nature as a whole.

I was very touched by this beautiful way to thank the Earth for the gifts that we are given to consume as well as the sacrifice that creatures and plants make to keep me alive.

I decided to make my own prayer towards this idea of thankfulness and this is what I have been saying before meals for many years now:

Air, Fire, Water Earth, God, Goddess Divine,

I am grateful for this sacrifice of plant and creature of Thine.

Please bless this food and all those who helped bring it to my feast.

Thank you for this gift of life, healing, strength, and inner peace.

You can, of course, change the first line to fit your Dogma.

I feel that everything has a story.  

If you are eating an apple.  That apple was blessed by the elements and Mother Nature.  It was nurtured by a farm full of people, who cared for it, harvested it, and sent it to your store.  There were the people who transported it to the store.  The store unpacked, inspected, and installed that apple in their store.

Was your apple organic or did it come from a local farm?

In choosing it are you making a stance about the environment or supporting our neighbors?

Was it simply an apple that you could afford and knew it would be a healthy choice for your family?

Everything we eat has been brought to us by farmers, truckers, and store employees.  This is why I have that line about blessing all those who helped bring my feast.

These people are so important to our community.  They have been working through the pandemic to make sure that we have food to put on our tables.  

I just want to say, "Thank you!  I deeply appreciate everything you do to keep us fed."

Someone asked in an article I was reading how to thank a farmer and this is what it said:

"Eat and give thanks.  As you eat your meals, take a moment to give thanks for the hands that cared for and produced your food, and say a prayer for the farmer, their family, farm, or ranch. 

You can write your favorite local farm with a letter of thanks.  It means so much.

Go to a farmer's market and talk to the farmers about their products.

Educate yourself about farmers and ranchers with accurate documentaries."

Here are some that inspired me: Dawn to Dusk and Cattle First

I think I would like to add to their list, shop local.  I'm sure you have some farms in your area who are going through a tough time but they still are trying to keep the community fed.  It is almost Thanksgiving, maybe buy a local turkey this year or get autumn vegetables for your feast from your local farms or farmer's markets.

Or you could just learn about where some of your food comes from.    

I was researching some herbs I bought and found out that they came from the oldest organic herbal farm in my state.  Very cool.

I hope this year during Thanksgiving you take a moment to think about all the wonderful people that made your meal possible.  I also wish you and yours a blessed day even if you have to Zoom your family this year and if things aren't as traditional as you would like.  

We are going to have a turkey that was smoked at our local BBQ place, veggies, and desserts from our local farm, and play games online with those we love. 

I know that for most Thanksgiving is ways away but I start a month-long time of thankfulness this time of year...that is different than my daily thankfulness.  I am trying to be more aware of the world around me and how simple things that I take for granted are linked to people, families, and communities.

We really are all connected.

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Speaking of connections...

I was asked the other day how to best join knitting in the round.  Sometimes there is a little gap in between the first and last stitch.  Most times, it goes away as you knit and the yarn is reabsorbed and redistributed.  But sometimes it leaves a gap.

If you are a person who is bothered by this gap, then here are some ways to stop the dreaded gap before it can form.

I feel that in knitting there is never just one way to do anything so I will cite my top three.

Before I do that I must add that when joining in the round always check to make sure all your stitches are going the same way and none are twisted.  

I was a very sad girl when I had cast on 360 stitches for an infinity scarf only to find out that I twisted the cast on three rows in.

But if you notice right away on the first row, when you get to the join start smoothing your knitting from the left-hand needle around, and when you get to where it is twisted, untwist it by taking the needle under or over your work.  That twist is now caught in the join instead of in your work.

If you think it is noticeable after you bind off you can use the weave in method that I mention below to hide the twist.  Most times, I think it disappears into the cast-on.

Number 1:  Extra Stitch

Whatever your pattern calls for, cast on one extra stitch.   

Then when you go to join in the round, take the 1st stitch you cast on and move it purlwise to the right-hand needle.  

Take the last stitch you cast on and pass it over the moved stitch.

Now move that new stitch back to the left-hand needle.

Then, tighten both tails so that your new first stitch is snug and there is no gap.  It may slip a bit as you do your round, just gently tug on those ends again to tighten everything up.

- I use this all the time and it is easy to do.  I think this one looks the best out of the three techniques.

Number 2:  Swapping the first and last stitch

This one does just what it says.  

Take the first stitch off your needle using some method to secure it.  You can pinch it with your finger or you can use a locking stitch marker, whatever works for you.  Hold that stitch to the front of your work.

Now, slip the last stitch, tip-to-tip, to your left-hand needle.  

Place the stitch you are holding on the right-hand needle making sure it didn't get twisted.

Finally, shore up your ends and make sure everything is snug.  It may slip a bit as you do your round, just gently tug on those ends again to tighten everything up.

- I have used this one as well.  Some of my students have found that switching the stitches is problematic.  But on the whole, this one looks pretty good.

Number 3 - Extra yarn

This one I used a lot before I learned the others.  I would knit the first stitch with the tail and the working yarn and the extra bulk would make the gap less noticeable.

This is the one that I would recommend for a beginner who isn't comfortable with slipping stitches yet.  There might still be a little gap, but it shouldn't be as noticeable as if you had used one yarn.

Bonus - If All Else Fails

If the jog isn't too bad you can just use the end to shore things up.  I have to weave in my ends anyway so I usually combine techniques and make an extra loop around the slipknot that mimics a stitch.

I also use this in reverse for weaving in the bind-off tail.

You may have to play around with the tension of this technique but I find it really can create a lovely edge.

First, hold your work so your cast-on edge's tail is on the left-hand side.  

Thread a yarn needle with the tail end.

Go in the vee stitch after the slip knot from the front to the back.

Then go back down into the stitch the tail came from.

Here is a video with all this info.

I just got this channel up and I am still learning how to create videos but each time I think I get a little better at it.  

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

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If you have any questions regarding this or any of my other tutorials, please feel free to leave a question in the comments.

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Safe socially-distanced hugs  🤗

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Sending love and light to everyone being affected by this virus.  

May you be safe.  

May your loved ones be safe.  

🙏

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Sending love and light to everyone facing discrimination, hate, prejudice, inequality, or racism.
🙏🙏💖💖🙏🙏