Thankful Thursday April 7th

Thankful Thursday is going to be a weekly happening here on Twisted Strands! Sometimes I get so wrapped up in my hectic life that I don't stop to really be grateful for everything that I have, both the major things and the little blessings that come my way every day. And there is SO much that I have to be grateful for!

What's on the top of my thankful list right now? That's an easy one:





It's SPRING!! Spring is my very favorite season. The weather gets warm and everything blooms in gorgeous color. I try not to get too giddy out of sympathy for those who get miserable with allergies this time of year, but spring just makes me happy!

WIP Wednesday, April 6th Edition

Hi there and happy Wednesday! Now that things have gotten a bit back to normal (or back to the usual state of ABNORMAL) around here, it's time to have a WIP Wednesday. Confession time--with all the excitement of National Crochet Month and then Blog Week, not a whole lot of actual crocheting got done at Chez Twisted Strands in March. But I did manage to fit in a bit here and there. Remember all this pretty wool yarn I got in my playgroup's Yarn Swap last month?



I've started making squares for Knit-a-Square with it:



Not a bad start. I neglected my prayer shawl all month too, but did get some more rows done on it at our monthly meeting last night:



I'm listening to a very good book right now as well that I'd like to share with you, called Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love, by Dava Sobel. It's a very interesting biography of Galileo, and includes a window into his relationship with one of his daughters who was a nun. They corresponded frequently, and over a hundred of her letters to Galileo survive. I'm enjoying it quite alot. I find it interesting to learn that a man as brilliant as Galileo also got a number of things quite wrong! For example, he believed that the tides were caused by the movements of the Earth as it revolved and rotated, and he also thought that comets were not in fact actual physical bodies, but that they were reflections on some phenomenon in the atmosphere.

400 years from now, do you think people will look back at us in 2011 and marvel at our ignorance? Do you think that with all our technology and advancement we are still just completely WRONG about some of the scientific facts we think are true? For me, I don't think that there will so many radical instances in the future of discoveries showing us that we are totally wrong about things. I think our knowledge will continue to grow immensely, and I believe the biggest advancements will likely be in medical treatment and in technology/computers. I just don't imagine such complete upheavals such as in Galileo's time. What do you think?

It's Been a Crazy Month!

Wow--the past 5 weeks since we started National Crochet Month have been quite a ride! I had planned on doing alot of posts for NatCroMo, including the giveaways. And then when Crochet and Knitting Blog Week came along, well of course I had to join in that fun. So I've averaged 4 posts per week since the beginning of March, and I've gone from 25 followers to 70! And there's no telling how many wonderful blogs I have found thanks to my new followers and the other participants in Blog Week.

I just wanted to say how much I appreciate all my readers taking the time to visit Twisted Strands. I have enjoyed all your comments. And wow are there alot of fiber-related blogs out there! I had no idea just how many there are--I have spent SO much time in the past several weeks finding new blogs to read, I have gotten considerably less crocheting done, I know that for a fact. And I have definitely learned that doing an interesting attractive blog post takes time. When I heard about the A to Z Blog Challenge going on in April, part of my brain said "wow that sounds really cool!" and the other part said "NO we cannot post every single day for another month!" Well, sanity has prevailed and I won't be doing the A to Z Challenge, although I still think it's an awesome idea.

So, what's coming up at Twisted Strands now the dust is settling from the past month? Well, look for me to continue with WIP Wednesdays and I'll be adding Thankful Thursdays too. Also, April is Autism Awareness Month, and since someone very near and dear to my heart is autistic, I'll be posting some about that as well. And of course I'll be prattling on about random things that come into my head--don't say I didn't warn you!

Have a great week everyone!

Julie

Books and Hooks WINNERS!!

Thank you so much to all of you who entered my Books and Hooks giveaway! I hope you have had a wonderful weekend. My children did the honors of randomly selecting the two winners, so without further ado:

The winner of "Crochet for Today" and a size Q crochet hook is:

Sarah.Crochet!

And the recipient of "Geometrics" and another size Q hook is:

Enid!

Sarah and Enid, please email me your mailing addresses (jbkcrochet at gmail dot com)  and I will get your prizes out in the mail as soon as I can. Congratulations, and thanks to everyone for your interest in my blog!

Julie

Crochet and Knitting Blog Week--Day 7

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It's the last day of Crochet and Knitting Blog Week! I've had a lot of fun coming up with posts and reading so many new blogs. And I am so grateful for all of my readers! I hope my blog brings a little bit of pleasure to your day.

Day seven: 3rd April. Your knitting and crochet time.
Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys. What items do you like to surround yourself with whilst you twirl your hook like a majorette’s baton or work those needles like a skilled set of samurai swords. Do you always have snacks to hand, or are you a strictly ‘no crumbs near my yarn!’ kind of knitter.
Tips: Last year we had a topic asking about the actual location of where you knit or craft, this is similar but not the same. Try and concentrate on all of the little aspects that make up your knitting time. Maybe you always head for for your Flaming Lips CD when taking on simple knitting but prefer a bit of Brahms when tackling more intricate work, or maybe you enjoy knitting with audiobooks or complete silence. Perhaps your crochet time is never complete without a cuddle from Tiddles the cat.

Flaming Lips CD--uh, no. Christopher and/or Jet the cat--sometimes.

Let's see--when do I crochet. I have a full time job, a teen with lots of activities, a "tween" with a different bunch of stuff to go to, a husband, a house, 4 pets, I teach Sunday School, etc etc. Some female comedian once said, "When they make a movie about my kid's life, I'll be listed in the credits as 'Woman Driving Car'." Oh yeah, I can relate!

I try to sneak in my crafting when I can. Definitely while watching TV or a movie after the kids go to bed. DEFINITELY if I have a meeting at work. I usually take a small project along with me anywhere I know I'll have to wait--doctor's office, oil change, etc. Sometimes I even get annoyed if the doctor calls me back too soon and I haven't had any crochet time!

I do love socializing when I craft too, I just don't get many opportunities to do so. I have a Wednesday night "yarn playgroup" but I don't get to go that often, and I go to an annual craft retreat that is an absolute blast! But most of the time I'm more of a solo crafter, snatching bits of time with my yarn whenever I can manage. This is also the primary reason that I haven't gotten to pursue my interest in making jewelry, like I mentioned yesterday (See, I told you there was a good segue!) My crochet time is best suited to mindless, relaxing, uncomplicated work that just lets me zone out. Working with beads and wire and such is going to require some concentrated periods of time when I can really focus on doing something new. That kind of time is tough to come by in my life!

I AM going to make some jewelry tho. I promise, I will! Probably as soon as the kids grow up and move out....

Crochet and Knitting Blog Week--Day 6

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Day six: 2nd April. Something to aspire to.

Is there a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft? Maybe the skill or pattern is one that you don’t even personally want to make but can stand back and admire those that do. Maybe it is something you think you will never be bothered to actually make bu can admire the result of those that have.

Oh this is an easy one for me! I want to crochet jewelry. With beads and wire and yarn. I especially want to make necklaces. There are lots of awesome earrings out there but I don't have pierced ears, so I'm not into wearing earrings.

I'm talking about things like this:



And this:



And this!



I've made exactly one thing in wire crochet so far, a pendant, and I did this about 2 years ago.



(it's a leaf)

Why haven't I done any more? I think it's a matter of how and where I craft. Which is a perfect segue into tomorrow's topic, so I'll leave you with a cliffhanger until then! Tune in tomorrow, Same Craft Time, Same Craft Channel!

(20 bonus points if you are as old as me and get that pun.)

Have a fabulous crafty weekend!

Oh, and don't forget the Books and Hooks Giveaway! Drawing will be Sunday April 3rd at 5 pm eastern US time.

Crochet and Knitting Blog Week--Day 5

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Day Five: 1st April. And now for something completely different!

HAPPY APRIL!! Now if spring weather would just get off its butt and get here, I'll be eternally grateful. Today's topic for Crochet and Knitting Blog Week:

This is an experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create.
There are no rules of a topic to blog about (though some suggestions are given below) but this post should look at a different way to present content on your blog. This can take one of many forms, but here a few suggestions:
•Wordless, photographic post
•Video blog post
•Podcast
•Cartoon/sketch of an idea
•Write about a subject from a different perspective (for example, you could write about a day in the life of a knitted sock from the point of view of the sock).
•Interpretive modern dance (why does someone always suggest this?)
•A poem or piece of rhyming verse
•Stop motion animation

Cripes! Usually I can be pretty good at this type of thing but my muse must be on vacation in the Bahamas or something. Stupid muse. Anyway, out of this list there wasn't much I could choose from, since I have no idea how to do a video blog or a podcast, and you do NOT want to see me do an interpretive modern dance, trust me.

So, since I'm rather addicted to word puzzles of all varieties, I created a word search for you! I had a lot of fun making the puzzle, and I hope you enjoy solving it.



Now, since this thing looks rather on the small side here (particularly if you have "not young" eyes like I do and spend at least half your time tilting your head every which way in order to read what's on the page in front of you. Not that I'm old or anything), just click on this link here, and then right click on the picture and choose "Print Picture". (If you're in Firefox you may just have to print the Flickr page itself.)

I'm so looking forward to reading other blogs today and seeing what creative things everyone came up with! Have a great Friday.