Randomness--Word Association

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Let's do good ol' fashioned random word association this week :o)
I say....you think...
1. flower..... bouquet
2. paper..... roses
3. coffee ..... cup
4. tire ..... iron
5. sand ..... castle
6. work ..... play
7. reality tv ..... laugh
8. itch ..... scratch
9. tooth ..... brush
10. sour ..... dough

Tulip Time Completed

I finally got all the embellishments done on Tulip time. I sewed white lace appliques and lilac roses on the yoke of the dress and on the insteps of the booties, and I wove sheer lilac ribbon into the dress for a sash and into the booties for ties. I'm really happy with how this layette set turned out.
I made the baby headband from a pattern in a different book, but I think it goes well with the Tulip Time set, especially since I used the same white lace appliques and lilac roses on it, too.
I also crocheted this blanket, Shining Star, from another book to go with Tulip Time, so now all five pieces are ready to be gift-wrapped and sent on their way for the baby girl expected by my nephew and his wife.

My brother and sister-in-law are also expecting a baby girl, so I'm planning to crochet Morning Glory for her, which is from the same pattern book as Tulip Time--'Beautiful Baby Boutique' from Annie's Attic. If you follow this link, you should be able to see a picture of the cover of the book. Tulip Time is in the main shot, and Morning Glory is in the little circle in the lower right-hand corner.

Baby Headband Completed

Believe it or not, this (above) turned into that (below). All 186 stitches around ended up fitting around the 16-inches-around elastic when I finished the 6th round, which was the closing round. That final round was single-crocheting through both the 5th round and the 1st round with the elastic enclosed within the crocheting.

It did fit very compactly, which ended up making the final headband nice and cushiony, so the pattern ended up working out wonderfully without having to make any adjustments. I sewed on white lace appliques (which are difficult to discern in this picture) and lilac roses to match the Tulip Time dress and booties, and now it's all done.

Being a Watchman

(I originally wrote and posted this on my previous blog on 03/15/2007.)

Reading: Yehezqel (Ezekiel) 3-5

Eze 3:17 "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Yisra'el. And you shall hear a word from My mouth, and shall warn them from Me.
Eze 3:18 "When I say to the wrong, 'You shall certainly die,' and you have not warned him, nor spoken to warn the wrong from his wrong way, to save his life, that same wrong man shall die in his crookedness, and his blood I require at your hand.
Eze 3:19 "But if you have warned the wrong and he does not turn from his wrong, nor from his wrong way, he shall die in his crookedness, and you have delivered your being.
Eze 3:20 "And when a righteous one turns from his righteousness and shall do unrighteousness, when I have put a stumbling-block before him, he shall die. Because you did not warn him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done is not remembered, and his blood I require at your hand.
Eze 3:21 "But if you have warned the righteous one that the righteous should not sin, and he did not sin, he shall certainly live because he has been warned, and you have delivered your being."

This passage is very thought-provoking. Especially considering that the Jews call those who believe in Yeshua as Messiah 'Notzrim', which means 'watchmen', this is a message we need to listen to and take to heart.

The wrong AND the righteous are to be warned to turn from sin. When you think about it, that includes everyone!

Compare the above instruction given to Yehezqel to the instruction given to the disciples:

Mar 16:15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the Good News to every creature.
Mar 16:16 "He who has believed and has been immersed, shall be saved, but he who has not believed shall be condemned.

Shaul (Paul) obviously took these instructions to heart and was faithful to obey them:

Act 20:26 "Therefore I witness to you this day that I am clear from the blood of all.
Act 20:27 "For I kept not back from declaring to you all the counsel of Elohim.
Act 20:31 "Therefore watch, remembering that for three years, night and day, I did not cease to warn each one with tears.

Reading these passages scared me because, unlike Shaul, I have not been faithful to this charge and have held back from sounding the watchman's warning in order to avoid conflict or due to a myriad of other excuses.

But if we saw someone walking into a minefield, wouldn't we warn them and plead with them to turn back? I realize that we cannot force people to listen or to take heed, but according to the Scriptures we are still responsible to sound the warning, "whether they hear, or whether they refuse".

Last Night's TV

The Moment of Truth: I am guessing that all of these episodes got recorded before any of them aired, else why would any 'loved one' of any of the contestants go on that show? Once you've seen the show, you've gotta know that the only reason your contestant got picked to be on the show is because they've got dirt on them during the lie detector testing that will only humiliate you once it is revealed on the show, and there you'll be with your face hanging out. And wasn't that Leanne, the hit-and-run driver who goes to bed with strange men, quite the gem?

America's Got Talent: The problem with this show is the judges' inconsistency. One minute Piers will talk about how the the contestants need to have an act that could be a successful show in Las Vegas or something, and then the next minute he'll let through to the next round a skinny, disturbingly weird, no-talent guy who can't dance simply because he made him chuckle a couple of times.

Wipeout: So far, this show just keeps being laugh-out-loud funny. I love the nicknames they give to the contestants, usually based on their interviews, like "Self-described Weirdo" and "One-word Model".

Big Brother 10: That was kind of a scary fight between Jerry and Libra and then Libra and Renny. Michelle may live to regret not using that power of veto to backdoor Libra and get her evicted while the getting was good. Very masculine of Jessie to have his toenails painted.

The Next Food Network Star: I'm glad nobody got eliminated because I think Aaron might have been the most likely to go, and I still like him. He did great on his promo, but his presentation at the buffet was horrible, and his food wasn't impressive. Adam and Lisa didn't do as well as Aaron on their promos, but I thought they did okay. Lisa was a surprise doing her presentation with a song. Adam's presentation was not as impressive as Lisa's, but much less embarrassing than Aaron's. Adam's food seemed the most popular at the buffet. I sure wished I could try those chicken wings with blue cheese dressing!

I'm Reed Fish

This wasn't an engaging movie and not as funny as it thought it was. I wasn't able to follow the story very well because of the device they used (kind of a double story) and therefore didn't know exactly what the end was and who all was who until I read the plot summary at Wikipedia. Granted, I wasn't paying all that much attention during the movie because it wasn't very engrossing, so maybe if I had paid closer attention, I might not have needed to read someone else's plot summary to finally understand the whole thing. But even after knowing all the details, it still wasn't satisfying.

Baby Headband--Part 1

I was really hoping that this would start looking like it was going to work by the time I got to this point. The inner circle is a 16-inch length of elastic with the ends sewn together. The outer circle is the circle of crocheting that is eventually supposed to cover the elastic and result in the headband. As you can see, there is quite a bit of discrepancy between the two.

The interesting part is that the pattern I'm using calls for worsted weight yarn (a 4 on the yarn bulkiness scale), and the yarn I'm using is a DK yarn, which is a 3 on the scale, so thinner than worsted weight, thus it should crochet up smaller than it would with worsted weight. I'm using the same size hook the pattern calls for--an F--and I chained 186 as the pattern stated. At that point, even upon seeing the huge circle I had, my hope was that with the thinner yrn the circle would draw up some and get smaller as I completed the first round of single crochet. It did get smaller, but still was a lot larger than the elastic.

At this point, I'm not quite halfway through the second round, which is single crochet alternating in front and back loops, and it doesn't seem to be getting any closer to the circumference of the elastic. I can understand if it is a little larger than the elastic for a gathered ruffly effect, but I don't think it will work being this much larger around than the elastic.

I think the whole thing is only 6 rounds, with the final round joining to the first round with the elastic inside. I think I'll keep going until I finish the third round and then reassess whether to continue or to start over with a shorter chain, look for another pattern or try making up my own pattern.

Ten On Tuesday--Least Favorite Celebrities

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1. O.J. Simpson. Have you found the 'real' killer yet, O.J.?
2. Jane Fonda. She'll always be Hanoi Jane to me.
3. Michael Jackson. I wouldn't let him anywhere near my kids.
4. Mike Tyson. Taste any good ears lately?
5. Tom Cruise. Quite possibly certifiably insane--that Scientology video of him was scaaaarrrry.
6. Rosie O'Donnell. How does she offend me? Let me count the ways.....
7. Julia Roberts. That awful laugh and helping herself to someone else's husband.
8. Brangelina (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie). Can't think of anything concise to say--there's just so much.
9. Alex Trebek. I'd know all the answers, too, if they were on the cards in my hand.
10. Pretty much any and all rappers. I refuse to call them 'singers' or 'artists'.

Latest TV Watching

The Mole: After initially suspecting Victoria, I then switched to Alex when she got eliminated. After Alex was eliminated, everyone left looked so mole-y that I couldn't settle on a single suspect. Now, with Clay gone, it's even more difficult to narrow it down because all four left have done mole-ish things. For a long time I felt like Nicole couldn't be the mole because she was far too obvious, but now I'm wondering if that could be a strategy--look so much like the mole that you won't be suspected? Craig, being the 'nice guy' through most of the show, is also suspect for that alone. Paul and Mark have caused trouble and kept money out of the pot at various times. For me, right now, it's a toss-up as to which one is the mole, and it's driving me crazy, especially since I haven't caught on to ANY hidden clues. I always hate when they show those at the end of the season and realize I totally missed them.

Big Brother 10: Jessie is just not a likable person. He seems to hate women and be overly concerned with other men's looks, not to mention his own. He certainly has made it a tall order to expect everyone to 'respect', i.e. admire, him as much as he does himself. Keesha is overly obsessed with April, and one has to wonder why--is she jealous because Ollie is interested in April instead of her? I have a question for Jerry: If what you did to Brian was totally justified, then why the repeated talk about how you didn't wear any military garb while you were doing it?Jessie was foolish not to use Dan's loyalty to his advantage instead of putting him on the block. I don't really want to see Dan or Steve go, but I'm not sure who I'd want to leave in their place if one of them gets the power of veto. At this point, Jessie's the most offensive person in the house, even outranking Renny, but since he's HoH, no chance of him being evicted yet.

Nashville Star: Okay, isn't it way past time for Billy Ray to get a haircut and a new do? That stringy hair in the face just doesn't work. And I still cannot understand why that Coffey guy is still in the running. He sings like a goat and sounds terrible. I guess I just don't get it. I thought Melissa was the best singer from the beginning, and I think she still is, but it's sure difficult to predict who will win. I never would have dreamed Coffey would make it as far as he has, so I suppose anything can happen.

Wanna Bet?: I don't want to try it to find out, but the way that guy was able to tell what a CD was by licking it has to be because they can be 'read' like Braille somehow. The letters and/or designs have to be different in some way from the rest of the background, by taste or feel, but how does one manage to first discover this? Pretty weird.

High School Musical-Get In The Picture: We liked most of the Eastern finalists, but would have preferred either of the two boys who got eliminated over too-full-0f-himself Isaiah and Ciara over Bailey. It's too bad that we had to see Tierney, a lovely girl with a beautiful voice, belching so much and so loudly--not a pretty picture. Looking forward to seeing the Western auditions.

Weeds: I think we're caught up on the episodes of this show. It looks like there may be a romance brewing between Nancy and the Mexican boss man. Bee-stung Doug was hilarious, as was Celia's gap-toothed smile at the dinner table.