3X Thursday

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1. Got any big projects in the works? If so, what's on your plate? If not, are there any projects you want to start/take up?

I currently have knitting/crocheting projects in progress for my husband, all of my children, all of my grandchildren, my mother, all of my siblings and even myself. Also in the works is a gift for an upcoming baby shower. Most of these projects are afghans, so they definitely qualify as big in my book. And just because I have 25 WIPs doesn't mean there aren't more projects I want to start! Having all these projects going at the same time and rotating them keeps me from getting bored with any single one, and it helps me to feel like I'm not leaving any of my loved ones out.

2. Do you have pets? Do you think pets could/are beneficial to helping to have a less stressful life? Why/why not? What are your general views on pets?

Yes, we have pets--1 dog, 10 cats, 2 Roborovski hamsters, 2 bettas (fish) and an aquarium full of tropical fish with a couple of African frogs. I've had pets my whole life, so I can't imagine being without. One of my favorite things in life has always been petting my cats--their soft fur and purring is so calming and relaxing. Pets provide companionship, and working pets provide even more than that. For instance, our cats help keep deadly snakes away, and our dog in his role as watchdog alerts us to anything unusual, and that definitely reduces stress. Caring for pets helps people to feel useful and needed, and we all need that. Our children learn responsibility by caring for the needs of our pets under our supervision. For me, pets are worth having and add to our enjoyment of life.

3. Do you wear any jewelry? If so, what do you wear? If you don't wear any, why not?

Yes, I always wear my wedding ring. I used to always wear a necklace that Husband gave me, but the chain broke. Hopefully one of these days I'll be able to get it fixed or get a new chain and be able to wear it again. I prefer jewelry that can be worn all the time and doesn't need to be taken off, so just my wedding ring and a necklace is plenty for me, so I don't have to be concerned with possibly losing a piece of jewelry.

My Birthday Goodies!

It was my birthday a few weeks ago, and I got some really awesome gifts. Some were in the form of cash and gift certificates, so I waited until the orders came in, and then I finally got around to taking pictures of everything. Above is my super-duper true daylight crafting lamp. It has two flexible arms--one with a clamp to hold a pattern (in this case, the Great North American Afghan book) and one with a magnifying glass on the end. When not in use I keep the magnifying glass protected and covered with the little white fabric bag that came with it. This lamp and magnifying glass have been life-savers for me to be able to work on Husband's Flag Kippah.This is my new MP3 player and case. It's been great fun to finally be able to listen to knitting podcasts on the go. Mostly I've been listening in the car during the commute to and from town on my weekly shopping trips. My 14-year-old daughter, who usually accompanies me, is not so thrilled with the podcast listening as I am.
I've also been able to enjoy some new music. I've wanted Ted Pearce's 'Hallelu Et Adonai' since it first came out, and now I finally have it!
My other new CD is Simon and Garfunkel 'Live 1969' with all my faves, like 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' and 'The Boxer'.
I've been intrigued with the Stained Glass Afghan on the cover of this book for some time now, so I'm very happy to finally have it in hand. There are some other great afghans in it, too, but that cover afghan is for sure something I have to make when I get all the current afghans in progress finished.
I joined a CAL group on Ravelry that is doing all of the squares in this '200 Blocks' book by Jan Eaton. I haven't yet crocheted any of the squares, but I have the yarn I want to use ready to go. I'm planning to make afghans for my granddaughters with these squares. Another group on Ravelry that I'm a member of is the Read~Knit~Cook group. I'm way behind on the reading selections, but at least now I have them. These are the first three in a series of knitting-themed cozy mysteries by Maggie Sefton.

This knitting-themed romance is also a selection for the Read~Knit~Cook group. And I'm looking forward to indulging myself with the gardenia-scented toiletries and candle I received.
These are the first couple of books in another knitting-themed cozy mystery series for the Read~Knit~Cook group. These are by Mary Kruger.
As far as I know these first two books in a knitting-themed series by Debbie Macomber are not yet a selection for any of the book groups I belong to, but I thought I'd try them out anyway. I've read a couple of her earlier books and liked her as an author, so hopefully I'll enjoy these, too.

It'll be some time before I can read any of these new books since I'm still reading Here Be Dragons, a selection for the Ravelry Book Club group that is 700 pages long. I haven't even completed 200 pages yet!I also got this order of goodies from Frugal Knitting Haus: a pattern book for baby and toddler dresses, size L, M, N and P crochet hooks of the Crystallites type, two cable needles and a row counter.

Many, many thank-yous to all my loved ones who blessed me with this bounty of things that bring me such joy!

CALs and KALs

CALs and KALs: CAL stands for crochet-a-long, meaning a group of people are crocheting the same project in roughly the same time frame. KAL is the term for the same thing for knitting projects. CALs and KALs turn what is usually a solitary activity into a group activity, somewhat like the old quilting bees, and because of the internet we can share with each other online. In addition to the social aspect of talking about the project we're working on with others who are working on the same project, it's a perfect way to get help if you run into any problems like if you're not sure about the pattern instructions and whether you're following them correctly. My favorite part of CALs and KALs is being able to see everyone's project developing and all the different ways people end up doing the same project. It's very inspiring to see all the different color combinations, and in the case of motif-type afghans--the different placement of the squares, fillers used, different types of joinings and all kinds of borders. I'm currently participating in CALs/KALs for the following projects:


The Great North American Afghan
The Ravelry Book Club Afghan
Jeanie (shawl)
Pinwheel Sweater
The Ravelry CAL Afghan


All of these CAL/KAL groups are on Ravelry. I'll also be joining in KALs for The Great American Afghan and The Great American Aran Afghan as soon as I get started on those. In the meantime, I love looking at the pictures of everyone else's projects.


The Ravelry CAL Afghans: This group on Ravelry is a block-a-month group, where there is a featured block for each month that we all crochet during that month. This past week I decided to make multiples of these blocks in order to make more than one afghan. So far, I have gathered the yarn for five different colorways, thus the makings of five different afghans. (Thank you to my two youngest daughters and husband for helping me figure out the best color combinations!) I'm hoping to come up with at least two more colorways for a total of seven afghans to result from this CAL. Last night I finished a Dreamcatcher block (January's block) in Shaded Browns and will be working on completing the same block in the other colorways until I have all five Dreamcatcher blocks completed. Then I'll start on February's block (called Cross My Heart) in all five of the colorways I currently have. I thought this would be a less boring way to get more afghans finished. Making the same block in different colors is less boring than making the same block over and over in the same colors. Also, making a different block each month is fun to anticipate and a welcome change from the previous block.




The Ravelry Book Club Afghan: This is most likely going to be my afghan because it won't really have any meaning to anyone but me and my fellow Ravelry Book Club members. Each square is designed to represent one of the books we've read. So far, that has been three books since the inception of the group. We're currently reading our fourth book. There is an afghan square design contest for each book. So far, I won the contest for the first book by being the only one who submitted an entry! It looks like I'm the only one who submitted an entry for the second book as well, and the deadline for entries on that one was yesterday. Our third book, however, has three entries so far and could get more since the deadline isn't until March 29. I'm hoping that a lot more people will submit their designs because the more squares I can make, the faster my afghan will get done.


Knitting and Crocheting Organization: Because I generally have several WIPs (works in progress) at a time, I decided to come up with a system of keeping track of my progress with each one. I found some old neon-colored 3 x 5 index cards in my desk and put all the particulars for each WIP on its own card. Ravelry uses a percentage system to keep track of progress and I do the same here on my blog (see the progress bars in the left-hand column for each WIP), so I figured out all these percentages for each project and wrote them down on the index cards. Now that all the math is done, all I have to do is look at the card and see that if I get to row such-and-such or finish half of a sleeve or whatever the case may be, the project will be a certain percentage completed and I can advance my progress bars accordingly. I am using these cards as a way of making steady progress on all of my WIPs as well. As soon as I reach the next percentage place on the card, I rotate to another WIP, check its card and do the same. These short-term goals are helping me to make progress on the projects that tend to get boring for me. I know that I only have to work on it until the next percentage, and then I can move on to a different project. That way the projects that seem 'endless' are less overwhelming, and I can feel a sense of accomplishment with each percentage point I reach.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Scripture Reading on Preparation Day: Vayikra (Leviticus) 27; Bemidbar (Numbers) 1



Chanukah Reading, Erev Shabbat:



Bemidbar (Numbers) 7:18-29
Zekaryah (Zechariah) 2:14-4:7
Yochanan (John) 9:1-7; 10:22-39


Torah Portion: Mikeitz (At The End)



Torah: Breisheet (Genesis) 41:1-44:17
Haftarah: Melakim Alef (1 Kings) 3:15-4:1
Ketuvim Netzarim: Mattithyahu (Matthew) 27:15-46; Romans 10:1-13



Chanukah Reading after Havdalah:



Bemidbar (Numbers) 7:24-35
Melakim Alef (1 Kings) 7:40-50
Yochanan (John) 9:1-7; 10:22-39


Today's Scripture Reading: Bemidbar (Numbers) 2-3


Beanless Turkey Chili from SavingDinner.com newsletter: This was really, really good. Everyone loved it. We had the leftovers last night, and it was still yummy. We used ground turkey breast for the meat. Since we were out of onions and so weren't able to have them in this first batch, we're going to plan to have this again soon with onions. It will probably be even tastier that way!

The Butterfly Project (http://www.hmh.org/minisite/butterfly/index.html): I finished the second butterfly Thursday night, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It is smaller than the first butterfly and not quite as flat. The wings are a little 'ruffly'. Also, the first butterfly is really more of a butterfly 'shape' while the second butterfly has a body, head and antennae and makes more of an effort to emulate a butterfly, I guess. I discovered that the deadline for The Butterfly Project has been extended to June 30, 2008, so I'm taking a break from the butterflies for now.

Denise Interchangeable Knitting Needles: Preparation Day (Friday) is my day to do shopping and errands. My first stop was the post office, and I got a package, opened it and found the Denise Interchangeable Knitting Needles!!! I was so excited. My sister got them for me, and I just kept bouncing up and down in my seat, exclaiming to my daughter, "She got me the Denise needles! Can you believe it? That is so awesome! Yay!" A great big Thank-You to my sister!!!

Pinwheel Sweater: It has stormed terribly the last two Fridays, Friday being my only day to be able to go to town and get errands and shopping done. This makes the whole process very unpleasant, from the long drive there through the nasty weather to every time having to get out of the car being blasted with the cold wind and rain. With that and since the Holocaust Museum Houston extended its deadline for The Butterfly Project as well as my sister gifting me with my new Denise needles, I figured it was a good time to start making me the sweater I've had my eye on for a while. I'm combining two patterns available on Elann.com--the worsted-weight Pinwheel Sweater and the Lara Pinwheel Sweater. I'm using worsted-weight yarn, so I'm following that pattern for the main body of the sweater, but I want to use the crocheted edges for the body and the sleeves from the Lara version.

This was my first time using the technique of knitting in the round on two circular needles instead of a set of double-point needles. After the circumference got big enough, I was able to switch to one circular needle. As of now, I have 48 rounds done. I'm estimating that it will be 168 rounds until I get to the outside crochet border. The name of the colorway I'm using is 'Farmland', and I'm really enjoying seeing the color patterns develop has I knit along.

Survivor: With reality shows, it is more often getting to the point where I don't care who wins because none of the participants is likable enough. That's been the case with this season of Survivor. I kind of respected James because of his skills and work ethic, but then he made an avoidable mistake and is now gone. Of those left, I just can't muster up enough caring to root for any of them. I suppose at this point Amanda should be in front for being the main mastermind behind the get-rid-of-James-now plot, but I can't really get behind her because I liked James. So, it's kind of ho-hum in regard to Survivor lately.

The Next Great American Band: Well, you know I love the Clark Brothers, but I think Sixwire really knocked it out of the park this time. Their harmonies are absolutely wonderful, and that original song should be on the radio right now! I was totally disappointed that Dot Dot Dot got sent home before Light of Doom. While I do like the kids, I definitely like Dot Dot Dot better. What we've found most interesting about this show is that our top 3 picks from the very beginning of the show were Clark Brothers, Sixwire and Denver & The Mile-High Orchestra, and they are all still standing. It seems like with these vote-in shows, usually we're not on the same page as the rest of America, but this time we seem to be on the same wave length. I think it is such a chop on that Dicko guy that Denver and them are still in it because he's been negative to them throughout. Has he never heard of that successful-for-decades-even-though-it-has-a-brass-section band, Chicago?

Tonight's Chanukah Reading:

Bemidbar (Numbers) 7:30-41

1 Maccabees 4:36-61

Yochanan (John) 9:1-7; 10:22-39

Dinner Tonight: Tacos.

Queue-ing Up

Scripture Reading: Vayikra (Leviticus) 8-10

Lev 9:23 And Mosheh and Aharon went into the Tent of Meeting, and came out and blessed the people. And the esteem of יהוה appeared to all the people,
Lev 9:24 and fire came out from before יהוה and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. And all the people saw and cried aloud and fell on their faces.

I found it interesting that it seems that immediately after this happened that Nadab and Abihu decided to go before YHWH with strange fire--

Lev 10:1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aharon, each took his fire holder and put fire in it, and put incense on it, and brought strange fire before יהוה, which He had not commanded them.
Lev 10:2 And fire came out from יהוה and consumed them, and they died before יהוה.

They would have been better off had they followed the example of the rest of the people and fallen on their faces instead!

Curried Beef Kabobs: My husband loved these, remarking, "It's all my favorite things!" I left out the tomatoes, though, since they are not among his favorite things. I loved the smell and taste of the marinade. The kids loved the kabobs, too.

Crochet Snuggle Tubbie: It seemed like it took forever to tear out the 4-1/2 rounds of the sides last night, but I finally got that done and also managed to get about 2-1/2 rounds re-crocheted in the stitch pattern I had used for the first Snuggle Tubbie. It's already looking much better, so I'm sure I made the right call in starting over on the sides. (That's Sherbie in the picture.)

The Queue: I'm thinking about starting a new section on the left-hand side of my layout here for things I'm thinking about making, planning to make, getting prepared to start making, etc. In Ravelry we have a section in our notebooks for this type of brainstorming and preparation called the 'Queue'--"where ideas for future projects are kept". This is a great tool for organizing because ideas don't come to us sequentially in a nice neat orderly fashion. We'll see something and think, "Oh, that would be good for _____________ ." Other times, we're looking specifically for a certain type of thing, but may find several different good possibilities that fit what we're looking for or several things a certain intended recipient might like, so we need to investigate each possibility further before we know which one is 'the one'. It's great having a place to collect all these thoughts and ideas.

Also, even when we're pretty sure we're going to make a certain thing, there may be prep work required before we can get started--needles/yarn/accessories that need to be rounded up and/or purchased, gauge swatches to make to determine for sure which needles and yarn are needed, measurements to take (or request) to know for sure which size to make, etc.

So, when you see a knitter or crocheter working on a project, it is very likely that s/he is also working on several more projects in her/his head while stitching away. For instance, I may be crocheting a Snuggle Tubbie right now, but visions of mittens, slippers, sweaters, skirts, blankets, afghans and even butterflies are dancing in my head. (see The Butterfly Project at http://www.hmh.org/minisite/butterfly/index.html )

JourneyMan: I'm not absolutely certain, but I think Dan's brother finally believes him about what's been happening to him. (I was kind of in and out of the room basting the broiling kabobs while JourneyMan was on.) Anyway, I hope Jack does finally believe him because then at least it won't all be on Katie's shoulders to be Dan's sole support system in such a difficult situation. The way the whole thing has played out between the two brothers makes you wonder how you would respond if your sibling told you something like that was happening to them, doesn't it?

Dancing With The Stars: No big surprise that Helio and Julianne won, but I feel kinda bad that Mel and Maks (discovered on the show graphics last night that that's how it's actually spelled) didn't. I thought she was an awesome dancer, but I think that their disappointingly disjointed free-style dance is what tipped the balance in Helio's favor since his free-style was much more of a crowd-pleaser. Or maybe Helio was more popular in the audience voting all along. At least Marie has admitted, "We knew every single week that we were here because of [my fans]. Obviously, I'm not the best dancer. We know that." It was a relief to read that because we were getting the impression she did think she was the best dancer and deserved to win. My husband predicts that brother Donny will be on the next season of DWTS.

The Biggest Loser: Okay, I have to say this--It is MORE than mere soy sauce that caused Bryan to have low weight loss percentages week after week. Ever since this show came on the air I have wondered why they do not do a 24-hour camera surveillance like on 'Big Brother'. This way, the cheaters could not get away with, "I did everything I possibly could, blah, blah, blah....." Also, it would be nice if the truly biggest loser (going by total percentage of weight loss) actually won. Instead of "the biggest threat" (i.e. one of those with the best weight loss records, AKA the biggest losers) being voted out by the poorer performers, how about just sending home each week the one who posts the lowest weight loss percentage?

Dinner Tonight: Cheesy Mexican Chicken.

http://food.yahoo.com/recipes/kraft/52510/cheesy-mexican-chicken

Shopping

Scripture Reading: Breisheet (Genesis) 45-47

We went out to lunch today and had Chinese food, which I never get unless I'm out without my husband because he doesn't like it. It was delicious! I had hot and sour soup and sweet and sour chicken.

We also went to Jo-Ann, which was kind of a disappointment. They didn't have the yarn I was looking for to finish the blue Jackyll and Hide, nor did they have the lace insets I needed to put the finishing touches on the Tulip Time baby dress and booties.

I did, however, get some new knitting magazines, so I'm happy!

Family Crisis

Today's Scripture Reading: Breisheet/Genesis 27:30-29

Got bad news last night that my brother-in-law had a heart attack and was in critical condition for a long time. He was at a conference, and my sister had to drive nearly to another state to get to him, leaving with no toothbrush, change of clothes or anything. Thankfully he is now stabilized, but of course she needs to be with him, so she will not be joining the rest of us in Houston later this week. We will be missing her, but it is so good that she and all of her children are able to be there with him while he is hospitalized.

A wonderful bright side to this crisis is how so many of his colleagues there at the conference stepped up to help with child care, finding accommodations and whatever was needed. That has been a great blessing to the family.

Well, the Addi Turbo 16-inch circular needle really is much easier to work with, and it does feel like I'm knitting faster. The stitches seem to slide like butter, very smooth, and everything moves right along.

Here's how far I've gotten on the black Jackyll & Hide:

After the 2x2 ribbing neck section, the stockinette face section will begin. Every time I lay the needles down to do anything else or even to rest my hands a little bit, the son for whom this one is intended nags me to get back to it. And his younger brother keeps asking when his will be done.

If I'm remembering correctly, knitting needles can be taken on planes now, so hopefully I'll be able to keep knitting on these on the plane. My husband also wants one, so I'll definitely be giving the new needles a workout in the ensuing days.

LYS=Local Yarn Store

Today's Scripture Reading: Breisheet/Genesis 25-27:29

I got to go to the nearest yarn store (35 miles away) today, and I got me some Addi Turbo needles--Yay!

The $2.44 bamboo 16-inch circular needle I got at Wal-Mart broke about halfway through only the THIRD round of the Jackyll & Hide ski mask/hat--I kid you not!

When I returned it at Wal-Mart, I told the lady that since knitting needles are for knitting, if they break WHILE one is knitting with them, they can be assumed to be worthless, and I recommended that they return the entire shipment to the wholesaler because they could be getting more customer returns, if they haven't already.

I learned my lesson the hard way, but at least I now have some good-quality needles in size 8--the circular replacement and a set of double-points.

The lady at the LYS invited me to their twice-monthly gatherings for stitching together, which I would probably really enjoy, but it's on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month, so that lets me out since that is Shabbat. Oh, well.

Shabbat Shalom!