Being a Homemaker is a multi-faceted job. We want to learn new skills that will help us further our effectiveness in this ministry. But have you ever wanted to learn a new skill and not know where to begin? Have you ever wished you could fill in the “gaps” but were unsure as to how to go about it on your own? Well, let me tell you about the Autodidactic Homemaker. . . .

Continue reading at “Raising Homemakers”

I have met many wonderful women who are committed homemakers.  These godly women love serving their families in the home and desire to teach their daughters to do likewise.

But there’s something interesting that these women also have in common:  They were not taught how to care for a family and run a household.  They were not raised to be keepers at home.  And now these women are dedicated to giving their daughters the skills they had to learn on the job.

So , it is with great joy I’d like to announce a new website called . . .

Raising Homemakers

This website is the brain child of my sweet friend Sarah Mae who has a heart for equipping women to be all that God has called them to be.  In Sarah’s own words, Raising Homemakers “is dedicated to inspiring, teaching and blessing mothers who have an interest in raising their daughter in godliness and preparing them in the arts of homemaking to the glory of God.”

So get ready to join us as we roll up our sleeves and get busy!

I was recently discussing with some dear friends the subject of stay-at-home-daughters and time.  We talked about all the things we hope to learn and skills we want to have before entering marriage.  Beyond the basic skills of cleaning the home, caring for children, sewing, cooking wholesome meals and decorating cakes, there is a vast world of other useful skills that stay-at-home-daughters have time to learn.

As young women not yet married, we have the responsibility to become as well-rounded and useful as we can be.  Right now you probably don’t have the full care of running the home—this is an excellent opportunity to prepare yourself for the rest of your life.  The more helpful skills we acquire, the more useful, the more of a blessing we will be to our future husbands and families.

Think of these skills as an Invisible Hope Chest.

Your husband could have any kind of job: mechanic, business owner, economics professor, etc.—are you studied in many areas to be able to help him in whatever his calling may be?  Your family may someday have special diet issues—would you know enough about nutrition to accommodate those needs?  Could you start a homestead or home business from scratch and live self-sufficiently?  Do you plan to home-educate your children?  Are you collecting excellent books for them to read?  How do you plan to raise them to become God-fearing and useful men and women?

There is a host of other things to learn as well.  Systematic theology (there’s enough there to keep you constantly in awe for the rest of your life!), finances and banking, how to keep everything in the home running smoothly together, history, English, a foreign language, herbal medicine, science, home birth, and even some carpentry skills will be found quite useful.  And how are your communication skills?

How are you filling your invisible hope chest?  Perhaps you haven’t started on it yet, but what would you like to fill it with?

I’ve been reading J.R. Miller’s book The Family (formerly Home-making) and have been drinking in its beauty and wisdom. I highly recommend this book to every Christian who desires to bring honor to the Lord in their entire lives and learn how to better serve their families. This following quote is from the chapter, “The Parents’ Part.”

“But the true idea of a home is that it is a place for growth.  It is a place for the parents themselves to grow - to grow into beauty of character, to grow in refinement, in knowledge, in strength, in wisdom, in patience, gentleness, kindliness, and all the Christian graces and virtues. It is a place for children to grow - to  grow into physical vigor and health and to be trained in all that shall make them true and noble men and women.

“. . . A true home set up and all its life ordered for the definite purpose of preparing and sending out human lives fashioned into symmetry, filled with lofty impulses and aspirations, governed by principles of rectitude and honor and fitted to enter upon the duties and struggles of life with wisdom and strength.”

- J.R. Miller, The Family

Last week I began my twentieth year.  (Most would say I’m nineteen, but…)

~

I think most people my age want to rush into their futures.  In some ways I do want to plunge into my plans.  But I am so enjoying the life that God has given me right now, that I want it to slow . . . way . . . down so I can thoroughly soak it up and appreciate it.

Perhaps that is why I feel old-ish.

There are those days when I get a little antsy.  Not discontent, but . . . I guess the word is eager.  Eager to see what comes next.  But there is still so much for me to learn before that time comes, and there is so much in the waiting to keep me busy!  ;)

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. -Ephesians 5:15-16 (ESV)

But am I redeeming the time?  And I don’t just mean that in the context of preparing for marriage, but for the entire short, fleeting vapor of my life.  Am I preparing to be a wise and teaching mother? A physician? A gardener, a nurturer of souls?

I often fail and allow frivolous things to distract me, but my Lord is always beside me, teaching me, guiding me back to where I need to be.  Helping me to notice the little things and see His fingerprints.  Showing me His Sovereignty and Providence.  And drawing me ever closer to Him.

As a daughter of the King of kings, I need to want to be as productive as God will give me strength to be.  So while I soak up this beautiful life with its little foibles and fascinations, I’ll leave the time tables up to Him and learn all I can to be prepared for whatever He has in store for me.

.:. .:. .:.

“May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace.”
- Psalm 144:12 (ESV)

Okay, so y’all probably knew long before I did that knitting cables generally doesn’t take five needles. Saturday evening I finished my first cross-over.

Here it is (snickers):

Saturday night I decided I really needed help. I looked on YouTube and found some very helpful videos I’d like to share with you.

How to Knit : How to Knit a Cable Stitch - All this time I thought learning how to cable was for the knitting elite. Good grief. :)

This is a real cable:

For those who would like to see a lovely post in pictures on how to cable, The Purl Bee has a lovely post. (Scroll down aways.)

Here are some more helpful videos:

How to Knit Basics - The Cable Cast on Method

How to Knit Basics - Rib Cable Cast on Method

Continental Knitting Stitches : How to Knit Cable Stitches

And for Sara, the I-Chord: so über-easy, I can’t believe it! Did anyone ever “Cork” to make these?

And here is my latest knitting project-in-the-works:

.:. .:. .:.

I just discovered that cable knitting does not require five cable needles to make one cross over. Note to self-taught knitters: Don’t try to make up your own version of cable knitting. You’ll get less gray hair.

More on this later.

.:. .:. .:.

The Studio is coming along nicely with only a few more things to finish up.  Dad has sealed the windows off with plastic to keep out the winter drafts, and I’ve added two more lamps to my collection for extra light.

I’d like to replace the lace curtains if I can find a good bargain on at least 32 yards of fabric (just kidding).  And I need a thingy to cover the light bulbs dangling from the ceiling.  I originally wanted an Italian Tole chandelier, but I can’t find anything less than hundreds of dollars, so I’ve settled on something much more simple.

In the bottom right corner you can see that one of the bookshelves was painted, where I keep more of my books.  I have yet to figure out a better way to store my knitting and sewing supplies, but they can stay under the table as long as they need to.

And here is one of my new favorite spots in the house.  On the opposite side of the room from my table is a comfy chair and stand.  The old easel stored behind the table and chair is for purely compositional and aesthetic reasons, but the little table and chair are just right for my daily quiet time.

This room has been such a blessing to work in.  A northern window, beautiful antique wood trim and floor, and a large table . . . sigh.  Thank you Lord!

I always like to start with a floor plan. (Does anyone else do that, too?)

And the faithful bucket with a rag soaking in hot soapy water and vinegar to wipe down all the antique window trim and base boards. (But I would never paint over them :)

Dad painted the ceiling and trim “Snowbound” white - it’s like a breath of fresh air and looks so clean!

And here’s that beautiful Sherwin Williams’ “Crisp Linen” slowly concealing all the old yucky stuff.

I was able to sit on top of the ladder and paint right up to the ceiling trim.

Freshly painted walls . . .  ::sighs:: . . . beautiful!

I have been so blessed to be able to take up a whole room in our house and use it as a studio. It’s a smallish room with high ceilings like the rest of our old, charming home. It’s the one room we haven’t freshened up since we moved in over seven years ago. (It was previously rented out to unscrupulous people.)

The walls: A dull, flat, pale putty gray with the beginnings of almost-florescent-sky-blue. The Lovely Crown Molding: a thin “wood” trim.

Warning: ‘Before Pictures‘

^ The view through the doorway. (In the top left you can see one of my first, yet unfinished, oil paintings.)

Inside the studio, a bookshelf next to the doorway. Notice the cork board with an odd assortment of paper scraps.

View to the left of doorway: another bookshelf, piano, tread mill . . .

Take note of this shelf as well - binders, boxes and instruments are on the shelves, while all the books are on top!

And the table. Yes, my big ole’ six-footer. Last fall a retiring architect was getting rid of the stuff in his office, and gave me his biggest drafting table for free! It’s been such a blessing - isn’t God good?

We started by just dragging everything (except the table) into the front room. The piano now rests in the front room, and the tread mill is now in my parents’ room.

Stay tuned for more pictures!

.:. .:. .:.