Hymns and hymnpersonations

Tan commented on a recent Sunday's post about some of the church hymns. [I looked for her comment but did not find it. Must have been an aside via email.] And I in my blissful quarter-German ignorance did not know that one of our hymn tunes had any connection with WWII and the bad guys. There are gaps in my musical and secular education that you could drive a Hummer through.

An impertinent question for any of you Saints that might be reading. Is it just me, or does “Called to Serve” sound as if it ought to be the BYU Fight Song? Every time we sing it I hear imaginary trombones inside my head going whoomp-da. And sometimes a trumpet or a tuba. Does not make for reverence. [But then I was the one visiting at my friend's church as a teenaged heathen, who thought that “Bringing in the Sheaves” would be improved if we stage-whispered “sheaves!” at the end of every line.]

About a dozen years ago, two of my friends and I wrote parodies of some of the more famous LDS hymns for a ward talent show. “Master, the Mother is Raging”. “In Our Lovely Deseret [Where the Baby's Always Wet]”. “There is Beauty All Around, When There's No-one Home”.

I'm sure that Eliza R. Snow was turning over in her grave.

On a more reverent note, with a brief digression: our favorite video store is closing. I bought three DVDs at the one near my pharmacy on Friday night: The Apartment, a classic Billy Wilder film; Rembrandt, with Charles Laughton and a very young Elsa Lanchester; and Thérèse, a biography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. [I think I can reasonably expect no cussing in the latter. It is rated PG for mild thematic elements. Yeah, religious sentiment is definitely questionable, no doubt about it. I’ll give you a more detailed review once I have watched it. Seems like it might be good background for knitting on the Sabbath.]

I have since watched all three movies, the last one this evening while LittleBit was at her youth fireside. I loved it. How refreshing to watch a film that treats faith respectfully. I wonder how many other LDS women were watching a film tonight that has the Vatican’s stamp of approval?

I wanted a quietly productive weekend, and I got it. The body of LittleBit’s cabled hoodie is all stitched together [including a hand-stitched zipper] and I finished knitting the left side panel of the hood before I went to bed last night. I sewed it up before church this morning and have a couple of inches worked on the right side panel.

I did a quick search on Ravelry last night, and a couple of the other knitters have faced the zipper tape with a decorative ribbon. I think I may end up doing that as well, but I may just hand it over to her later this week and be done with it! I have made one small modification. I left the last five stitches of the left side panel un-bound-off, and I carefully unpicked the binding-off of the central cabled panel. Both are waiting quietly on a strand of narrow ribbon. After the right side panel is finished, I want to knit off the waiting stitches with the five-stitch garter panel and then Kitchener those last five stitches. I think I will be happier with it if the garter stitch panel flows organically along the front, rather than having a nice flow on both side panels and a divot from seaming across the central gabled panel.

Of course, I may be talking through my hat here. Or LittleBit’s hoodie, as it were.

I am almost done with the surprise project for my sister’s birthday, which was Friday, and which will require some blocking. The project, not the birthday. The odds are good that she will have it in her hot little hands well before the next birthday. I’ve had one part of her gift waiting for a couple of weeks and have thus far resisted the temptation to eat it myself. And I picked up another part yesterday, but I can’t tell you what it is until she gets hers. I’ll just add that I got one for myself when I got hers, and I love mine.

[Nanny nanny boo boo, Sister Mine!]

Oh, and thanks to my friend Julia the Enabler, I have signed up for another mystery shawl sort of thing. Looks like there are four of us Sisters of the Wool signed up so far. It starts on New Year’s Day, which since I am not an imbiber, should present no problem. This one has no beads. Whatever shall I do?