Humming Along on a Birg Song

Look who came to my hummingbird feeder!

Today's Bible Verse:
"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and {yet} your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?" Matthew 6:26

LITTLE GIRL SHRUG

Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun: 2 - 6oz skeins

Needles: Sizes 8US and 10.5US
Gauge: Not so important as you will measure the "wingspan" from wrist to wrist of the little girl and knit to fit her length…. My shrug measured 32 inches from cuff to cuff.

With smaller needles:
CO 19 stitches and work a K1, P1 rib for 2 inches (On the right side, you will have a knit stitch on each end).
Next row: Knit into the front and back of each of the next 9 stitches, K1, Knit into the front and back of each of the next 9 stitches. 37 stitches total. Change to larger needles, knit 7 more rows. Right side should show 4 ridges garter stitch.

Continue in the following PATTERN :
Row 1: K1, (YO, K2tog) 18 times
Row 2: Purl
Rows 3-10: Knit each row
Repeat these 10 rows for the length needed ( I went to about 30 inches from the beginning CO)

On the final Row 10, Change to smaller needles and K2tog - 9 times, K1, K2tog - 9 times. (19 stitches)

Now work K1, P1 rib for 2 inches.
Bind Off

Determine sleeve length - I measured 9 inches towards the underarm from the cuff - and sew the sleeve seams together, leaving the center open to slip onto the shoulders. All done! If you would like to give the edge a more finished look, single crochet, loosely, around the opening.

MATCHING ROLL BRIM HAT
Using same yarn and size 13US DP needles:

CO 40 stitches. Distribute over DP needles and join into rounds and knit for 7 inches or the length of crown you would like. Next row K2, K2tog all around. 30 stitches. Knit one round plain. Next row, K1, K2tog all around. 20 stitches. Knit one round plain. Next row, K2tog all around. 10 stitches. Last row K2tog all around - run yarn through the last 5 loops and draw up tight. Done.

The 65th Anniversary of D-Day

(phototgraph -Department of Defense)

“We will accept nothing less than full victory.”
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower

THE DEFENCE OF FORT MCHENRY - THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER
Francis Scott Key

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'T is the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause. it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Memorial Day - The Story of "Taps"

The 24-note bugle call known as “taps” is thought to be a revision of a French bugle signal, called “tattoo,” that notified soldiers to cease an evening’s drinking and return to their barracks or garrisons. It was sounded one hour before the bugle call that brought the military day to an end by ordering the extinguishing of fires and lights. The last five measures of the tattoo resemble the modern day "Taps."

The word “taps” is an alteration of the obsolete word “taptoo,” derived from the Dutch “taptoe.” Taptoe was the command -- “Tap toe!” -- to shut (“toe to”) the “tap” of a keg.

The first time taps was played at a military funeral may have been in Virginia soon after Butterfield composed it. Union Capt. John Tidball, head of an artillery battery, ordered it played for the burial of a cannoneer killed in action. Not wanting to reveal the battery’s position in the woods to the enemy nearby, Tidball substituted taps for the traditional three rifle volleys fired over the grave. Taps was played at the funeral of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson 10 months after it was composed. Army infantry regulations by 1891 required taps to be played at military funeral ceremonies. Taps now is played by the military at burial and memorial services and is still used to signal “lights out” at day’s end.
From the US Department of Veteran's Affairs website

Bible verse for tonight:

"No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." 2 Timothy 2:4

Various Runnings

It seems that summer is just about upon us. The porch is ready.... flower boxes all set out. The usual Petunias showed up but this year, I've exchanged the geraniums for portulaca. I'm hoping they will do better. A Hummingbird feeder on a tall shepherd's hook is the new addition to the deck.... I had the little birds last year on a smaller feeder, I'm sure they will be back this summer. There's a Robin's Nest right outside my dining area's window. Momma is very nervous, with all of the in and out traffic through the outer door. Neighborhood kids are a concern.... I was hoping that they did not find out about the nest, but they did. Number 3 son , C was off to Ireland a couple of weeks ago. He's back now, says he wishes he was still there. The new mandolin arrived last week. She's a beauty and inspires me. C brought me a book of Irish tunes for the mandolin from his trip. Lots to work with there - 110 tunes! Today is party day for Little Marianna - her first birthday. Daughter-in-law, Jess is her Auntie. Scattered storms today and tomorrow. No plans for Memorial Day, here.... we are all working.

Bible verse for today:
"Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few." Ecclesiastes 5:2

What Can I Say?

Yes, I belive it is knitted!