I sew pretty well. In fact, I love to sew and spend hours at my machine, creating all sorts of neat stuff. But when my daughter-in-law recently sought out my assistance to learn how to knit, I knew I was in trouble.

You see, I don’t knit - I knot. No matter how hard I try I just cannot get the rhythm, spacing or pacing of knitting. While some can create a mesh of colorful patterns, I create a mess of snarled, twisted tangles. In short, knitting is just not my forte.

Rather than admit defeat, I called in the big guns, my friend - the Queen of Knitting. A talented artist, she magically takes fluffy, colorful rolls of yarn with names like Baby Alpaca, Wonderfluff, or Super Puff Tuff and engineers them into the most incredible creations.

After a quick call, my friend agreed to come over and share her skills with my beautiful daughter-in-law. I knew she would!  And so yesterday, like Mary Poppins my buddy arrived with her carpet bag brimming with all sorts of knitting gadgets. Out came skeins of yarn, knitting needles of every size, circular cables, something called a view sizer to make sure you have the right needle size, stitch holders and more.  Who knew there were so many tools involved in knitting?

Knowing my own limitations I quickly withdrew to the kitchen to make lunch for my guests. In a few short minutes the lesson commenced, and I was overjoyed to see my daughter-in-law successfully adding stitch after stitch to her set of long wooden needles. Unlike me, she seems to have the “knitting gene” and I think that a knit scarf might just be one of my son’s future Christmas gifts. Shhhh….don’t tell!

Magic happened in my family room that day as my pal calmly shared her talents with her eager student. The Queen splashed words of instruction, approval and motivation all over my daughter-in-law as she transferred her knowledge. And because of her kindness and positive instructional techniques my daughter-in-law got it. She really, really got it.

I learned a lot yesterday. Not necessarily about knitting, but more about friendship. My friend is one busy lady who could have turned down my request. But she didn’t. And because of her kindness and my daughter-in-law’s can do spirit, knowledge and skills were passed down from one generation to another in one fun-filled afternoon.

So here’s my challenge to you - if you have a skill - any skill - share it. Whether it’s making jam, quilting, woodworking or playing the piano- be brave enough to share it. And splash your passion on to another eager student. Like my daughter-in-law I’m sure that they will be grateful recipients.

Do you think it’s too much to expect a hand knit sweater from my daughter-in-law by next Christmas? Hmmmm

When I wrote the wedding scene in my new series, The Witches Of New Moon Beach I gave the characters a rather traditional ceremony for many reasons. But after I was finished and as I was considering the future romantic connections for my other characters I questioned what a wedding would be like if I had followed Wiccan traditions. So I went in search of some information.

Here are a few facts that I found. I wonder if you might be as surprised as I was.

Some brides do not feel the need to wear white. The whole white =purity thing isn’t part of the Wiccan wedding ceremony. Instead you may find brides in dresses of red- demonstrating their intense love for their partner or purple as a reflection of their passion for their mate. Some brides will choose to wear green which connects the bride with the earth and fertility; while others will opt to wear multiple colors to capture the many elements of nature. However, there is no rule that I could find stating that a bride can’t wear white.

There appear to be 4 consistent parts to a Wiccan wedding ceremony. They are the ceremonial circle, handfasting, the vows and the ceremonial broomstick. Throughout my research I noted that Wiccan ceremonies do not exclude other religions and you may actually hear prayers from many different faiths expressed during the ceremony.

The Wiccan wedding ceremony begins with the priest or priestess casting a circle and marking that circle with an athame (a ritual knife). The God and Goddess along with the four elements are called to bless the ceremony as the bride, groom and priest stand within the circle center. Sometimes there will be music and sometimes the couple will request just the sounds of nature to be heard.

The next part of the ceremony includes an ancient Celtic Scottish tradition called Handfasting. The brides right hand in tied together with the groom’s left hand with a red chord, ribbons or scarves of the couple’s choosing. In olden days handfasting was an acceptable way of announcing a betrothal or of confirming a marriage.

Vows are usually written by the bride and groom and differ somewhat from traditional wedding vows. Rather than promising to respect or obey their partner, you may hear the couple promise to help each other to reach their full potential, to celebrate in joy and to grieve in sorrow together and to be friends and lovers forever. Rings may be exchanged at this time although some couples opt to exchange ornate stones, staffs, wands or spears.
There are also many prewritten vows which a couple may choose to embrace. I have included one at the end of this article. Out of respect for family members some couples will include recognized prayers from other religions as a means of bonding the group together.

With their hands still tied together the couple is asked to jump over the ceremonial broomstick. This action is seen as the couple moving from one world to another. The act itself has roots in both Europe and North America.

This is one of the prewritten vows a couple may adopt for their ceremony:
Because to the depths of me, I long to love one person, with all my heart, my soul, my mind, my body . Because I need a forever friend to trust with the intimacies of me, who won't hold them against me, who loves me when I'm unlikable, who sees the small child in me, and looks for the divine potential of me. Because I need to cuddle in the warmth of the night with someone who is thankful, with someone I feel blessed to hold. Because marriage means opportunity to grow in love in friendship. Because, knowing this, I promise myself to take full responsibility for my spiritual, mental and physical wholeness, I create me, I take half of the responsibility for my marriage together we create our marriage. Because with this understanding the possibilities are limitless.
Can’t wait to see how I will use this info to create the wedding ceremony for one or more of my characters.
 
Information gathered from : TheCoco Witch & Wedding Ceremonies by All Seasons.

I understand that this need is evident in many new writers. While creating a written series is one of the most enjoyable things I’ve ever done, it’s also a totally new experience of wait and see.

You write, rewrite, check, recheck, publish - oops found a hidden typo - unpublish, fix and then republish. Then you hold your breath and you try - really hard - to not check your numbers. It’s an easy and a tempting trip over to Amazon to track how many people have downloaded free copies, how many people actually purchased a book and how many bought the next book or books. But as tempting as it is I am learning to wean myself from the need to constantly check and see how my books are or are not doing.

I saw this cartoon and it captured my struggle perfectly. Just wish I could snap my fingers or wave my wand to make things move faster.

I guess the real magic comes from recognizing that things like this just take time!