BUSY! Life has been crazy busy lately. (Perhaps you noticed that I haven't done a blog post since Thankful Thursday last week?) I started filling in activities on the Master Calendar for May, and I don't see any sign of a letup.
SO--today I am going to be thankful for being busy. I have lots of meetings going on about Miss G's upcoming transition to middle school, and I am grateful for all the teachers and therapists who care about her and want to help her do well. I've got lots going on at church, and I am so thankful we found this church family and how involved and connected we are there. We're having a yard sale on Saturday, and I'm grateful for the abundance of things that God has blessed us with, and perhaps someone else will buy them and enjoy using them. I'm going to a Pampered Chef party tomorrow night, and I'm so thankful for friends and for the chance to have a fun evening out. Work is very busy, but I am SO grateful for a good job and coworkers who are also good friends. The Teenager has lots of stuff going on, and I give thanks that she likes school and has friends and activities that she enjoys so much.
So today I choose to be thankful for my busy busy days, because it shows me how much God has blessed me in all the different areas of my life. And I can use one more blessing--the energy to keep up with it all!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Thankful Thursday April 21
Today I am so very grateful for friends. The kind of friends that time and distance seem to have no effect on. When we were in Williamsburg this week we saw some people that were very good friends when we lived there, which was quite some time ago. We haven't seen these people much more than a half-dozen times in the past 24 years, and yet we can sit down with them and chat like almost no time has passed at all. I know that we all have changed, but when we get together it is truly like "old times". Those kinds of friendships are very special and such a wonderful blessing. And that's my Thankful Thursday for this week!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
WIP Wednesday, April 20th
The main thing that is in full swing this week is...
SPRING BREAK!!
Finally, spring break is here and so is spring. Both have been a long time coming this year. We just got back from four days in Williamsburg, had a very nice time. It's a very special place for us, it's where Man of the House and I met and fell in love (awwww!) and where we spent our first three years of married life. I got my bachelor's degree at William and Mary, and hubby did his graduate work there. We still have some friends who live there and it was so nice to visit with them. And it was our first visit there when the kids were old enough to appreciate the historic stuff, so we did a bunch of touristy stuff in Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown.
We saw lots of the usual sights of Williamsburg:
The Wren Building (on the W&M campus)
The Governor's Palace
The Magazine
Miss G hanging out with Thomas Jefferson
Man of the House ended up in the stocks--well-deserved I am sure!
And there were tulips in bloom EVERYWHERE, it was absolutely gorgeous.
We had a very nice time! And now the Teenager is off to the second half of her excitement, her long-delayed trip to NYC to see Phantom of the Opera. This is the trip that was supposed to happen after Christmas but got wiped out by that pesky blizzard. She is beyond excited! And Miss G and I get to hang out at home by ourselves for a couple of days and settle back in after vacation. I'm looking forward to some down time.
No new crochet to show you today, I made a couple of blanket squares and did a few more rows on the prayer shawl while I was away. I'm hoping to have something new on the hook next week tho--if I can just decide which project I want to make!
SPRING BREAK!!
Finally, spring break is here and so is spring. Both have been a long time coming this year. We just got back from four days in Williamsburg, had a very nice time. It's a very special place for us, it's where Man of the House and I met and fell in love (awwww!) and where we spent our first three years of married life. I got my bachelor's degree at William and Mary, and hubby did his graduate work there. We still have some friends who live there and it was so nice to visit with them. And it was our first visit there when the kids were old enough to appreciate the historic stuff, so we did a bunch of touristy stuff in Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown.
We saw lots of the usual sights of Williamsburg:
The Wren Building (on the W&M campus)
The Governor's Palace
The Magazine
Miss G hanging out with Thomas Jefferson
Man of the House ended up in the stocks--well-deserved I am sure!
And there were tulips in bloom EVERYWHERE, it was absolutely gorgeous.
We had a very nice time! And now the Teenager is off to the second half of her excitement, her long-delayed trip to NYC to see Phantom of the Opera. This is the trip that was supposed to happen after Christmas but got wiped out by that pesky blizzard. She is beyond excited! And Miss G and I get to hang out at home by ourselves for a couple of days and settle back in after vacation. I'm looking forward to some down time.
No new crochet to show you today, I made a couple of blanket squares and did a few more rows on the prayer shawl while I was away. I'm hoping to have something new on the hook next week tho--if I can just decide which project I want to make!
Friday, April 15, 2011
The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project
If you spend any of your time in the fiber world, you may have heard about the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project. It was begun by Margaret and Christine Wertheim, two sisters from Australia who wanted to bring attention to the devastating impact that global climate change is having on coral reefs. It turns out that crochet is an excellent medium for creating coral shapes, and at the same time is an excellent model of complex geometry--who knew! Here is a bit of background from their website:
One of the acknowledged wonders of the natural world, the Great Barrier Reef stretches along the coast of Queensland, Australia, in a riotous profusion of color and form unparalleled on our planet. But global warming and pollutants so threaten this fragile monster that scientists now believe the reef will be devastated in coming years. As a homage to the Great One, Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring instigated a project to crochet a woolen reef.
The sisters, who grew up in the state of Queensland, began the project in 2005 in their Los Angeles living room, and for the first four years of its life the Reef took over their house, gradually expanding to become the dominant life-form in their home. At the same time the project began to expand into other cities and countries until it has now become a worldwide movement that engages communities across the globe from Chicago, New York and London, to Melbourne, Dublin and Capetown. The Crochet Reef is a unique fusion of art, science, mathematics, handicraft and community practice that may well be the largest community art project in the world.
The Crochet Coral Reef has become a traveling project as well now, with satellite exhibits touring to various cities around the world. One of these shows has been at the Smithsonian in Washington DC for the past several months, and I finally got down to see it last weekend--just in time since it's only there for another week. It was AMAZING. In addition to some pieces from the Wertheim's original reef, local crocheters from the DC area had made pieces and combined them into a huge mound of "coral" in the center of the exhibit. It was so cool! I could have spent hours looking at all the individual pieces that went into making the reef--the colors and shapes and detail were just incredible. I also took a ton of photos but somehow the pictures don't do justice to the three-dimensional nature of the sculpture.
Here is a video of Margaret Wertheim explaining how the reef began and what it has come to mean. It's about 15 minutes but really well worth watching!
(The direct link is here if your browser doesn't like the embedded video.)
And some of my own photos:
Look at the details! In this picture, the piece on the left with the blue and purple is a giant clam:
Part of the reef was done in whites and grays to show the "bleached coral" that happens when sea temperatures get too warm and the coral die and lose their color:
And look at this adorable sea urchin!
Branched coral:
This one is all beaded crochet--WOW.
I love this photo--see the jellyfish hanging in the middle?
I put some more photos in an album over on my Flickr page if you'd like to see those as well, just click here. And if you get a chance to see one of the exhibits, DEFINITELY GO! And if you want to go to the one in DC, move quickly, it closes on April 24th.
Have a wonderful weekend!
One of the acknowledged wonders of the natural world, the Great Barrier Reef stretches along the coast of Queensland, Australia, in a riotous profusion of color and form unparalleled on our planet. But global warming and pollutants so threaten this fragile monster that scientists now believe the reef will be devastated in coming years. As a homage to the Great One, Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring instigated a project to crochet a woolen reef.
The sisters, who grew up in the state of Queensland, began the project in 2005 in their Los Angeles living room, and for the first four years of its life the Reef took over their house, gradually expanding to become the dominant life-form in their home. At the same time the project began to expand into other cities and countries until it has now become a worldwide movement that engages communities across the globe from Chicago, New York and London, to Melbourne, Dublin and Capetown. The Crochet Reef is a unique fusion of art, science, mathematics, handicraft and community practice that may well be the largest community art project in the world.
The Crochet Coral Reef has become a traveling project as well now, with satellite exhibits touring to various cities around the world. One of these shows has been at the Smithsonian in Washington DC for the past several months, and I finally got down to see it last weekend--just in time since it's only there for another week. It was AMAZING. In addition to some pieces from the Wertheim's original reef, local crocheters from the DC area had made pieces and combined them into a huge mound of "coral" in the center of the exhibit. It was so cool! I could have spent hours looking at all the individual pieces that went into making the reef--the colors and shapes and detail were just incredible. I also took a ton of photos but somehow the pictures don't do justice to the three-dimensional nature of the sculpture.
Here is a video of Margaret Wertheim explaining how the reef began and what it has come to mean. It's about 15 minutes but really well worth watching!
(The direct link is here if your browser doesn't like the embedded video.)
And some of my own photos:
Look at the details! In this picture, the piece on the left with the blue and purple is a giant clam:
Part of the reef was done in whites and grays to show the "bleached coral" that happens when sea temperatures get too warm and the coral die and lose their color:
And look at this adorable sea urchin!
Branched coral:
This one is all beaded crochet--WOW.
I love this photo--see the jellyfish hanging in the middle?
I put some more photos in an album over on my Flickr page if you'd like to see those as well, just click here. And if you get a chance to see one of the exhibits, DEFINITELY GO! And if you want to go to the one in DC, move quickly, it closes on April 24th.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Thankful Thursday
I am thankful for SO MANY things today, and topping my list are:
---An absolutely beautiful spring day today,
---SPRING BREAK FINALLY and the next 10 days off work,
---All of my online friends who understand the excitement of yarn,
---And my wonderful hubby who's having a birthday tomorrow. Love you sweetheart!
Hope you are having a good day today too!
---An absolutely beautiful spring day today,
---SPRING BREAK FINALLY and the next 10 days off work,
---All of my online friends who understand the excitement of yarn,
---And my wonderful hubby who's having a birthday tomorrow. Love you sweetheart!
Hope you are having a good day today too!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
WIP Wednesday, 4/13/11
Can't believe it's Wednesday again. Time just keeps flying by, we're nearly halfway through April already! (Got your taxes done yet?)
I don't have anything brand new to show you, but I did get a LOT done on my prayer shawl this week! It helped that I had an all day training seminar yesterday and I crocheted for about seven hours during the talks. And I would have gotten more done but I ran out of yarn lol! Here was my prayer shawl last week (13 rows finished):
And now today--37 rows done!
The pattern only calls for 6 more rows before doing the edging, but I think I may want it a bit wider than that. But I feel like a made great progress this week! I'm itching to start some new things but I don't crochet for myself during Lent, so for the next ten days I'll keep working on the prayer shawl and blanket squares.
I also wanted to show you some lovely crochet I found at a thrift store:
It's a dresser scarf, or small table runner perhaps, about 44 inches long. It's in very good condition, but I really don't have any place I would put it on a dresser or table. I'd love to incorporate it into something else, like stitch it to some fabric and make it into a bag maybe? I'd love to hear any ideas any of you might have for something to do with it!
Happy crocheting!
I don't have anything brand new to show you, but I did get a LOT done on my prayer shawl this week! It helped that I had an all day training seminar yesterday and I crocheted for about seven hours during the talks. And I would have gotten more done but I ran out of yarn lol! Here was my prayer shawl last week (13 rows finished):
And now today--37 rows done!
The pattern only calls for 6 more rows before doing the edging, but I think I may want it a bit wider than that. But I feel like a made great progress this week! I'm itching to start some new things but I don't crochet for myself during Lent, so for the next ten days I'll keep working on the prayer shawl and blanket squares.
I also wanted to show you some lovely crochet I found at a thrift store:
It's a dresser scarf, or small table runner perhaps, about 44 inches long. It's in very good condition, but I really don't have any place I would put it on a dresser or table. I'd love to incorporate it into something else, like stitch it to some fabric and make it into a bag maybe? I'd love to hear any ideas any of you might have for something to do with it!
Happy crocheting!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
April Resolutions
Looks like I'm a bit late reporting in on my March Resolutions, the Crochet and Knitting Blog Week took over my regular schedule for awhile there! Annnnd.....it really doesn't matter anyway because my March resolutions pretty much went unresolved. Oopsie.
Since I have a bunch of new followers recently, I'll fill you in that back in January, I set a couple of long-term goals for the year, and decided to also make a couple of short-term resolutions each month. The long term ones, I'm happy to report, are going well! As the weather is gradually getting better I've been walking outside more, although I must say that Crochet Month and Blog Week did keep my keister (kiester? keester?) parked in front of the computer quite a bit. And for my spiritual goal, I'm still listening to the Daily Audio Bible reading every day, and I am really getting alot out of it. It's helping me recognize some areas in my life where I've been putting in considerably less than my best effort, and I think I'm turning some of that around.
But then there was March. In March I intended to find three more new meals to put into my incredibly boring menu plan, and to get everyone working on ten minutes of straightening up around the house every day. Ummmmm, not so much. So hey, I guess I better keep those goals around for April eh? Maybe some of my newer followers can help me out with the meal thing. In fact, I'll make it a challenge! Post a recipe here, or email it to me, and at the beginning of May I will pick my favorite. Whoever sent it to me will get a small token of my appreciation! (I have no clue what, but surprises are good right?) And I'll include those who gave me meal ideas last month too.
Hope you are having a great weekend wherever you are! I'm going to see the Hyperbolic Crochet Reef tomorrow at the Smithsonian, I'm really looking forward to it. I'll be sure to tell you all about it next week!
Since I have a bunch of new followers recently, I'll fill you in that back in January, I set a couple of long-term goals for the year, and decided to also make a couple of short-term resolutions each month. The long term ones, I'm happy to report, are going well! As the weather is gradually getting better I've been walking outside more, although I must say that Crochet Month and Blog Week did keep my keister (kiester? keester?) parked in front of the computer quite a bit. And for my spiritual goal, I'm still listening to the Daily Audio Bible reading every day, and I am really getting alot out of it. It's helping me recognize some areas in my life where I've been putting in considerably less than my best effort, and I think I'm turning some of that around.
But then there was March. In March I intended to find three more new meals to put into my incredibly boring menu plan, and to get everyone working on ten minutes of straightening up around the house every day. Ummmmm, not so much. So hey, I guess I better keep those goals around for April eh? Maybe some of my newer followers can help me out with the meal thing. In fact, I'll make it a challenge! Post a recipe here, or email it to me, and at the beginning of May I will pick my favorite. Whoever sent it to me will get a small token of my appreciation! (I have no clue what, but surprises are good right?) And I'll include those who gave me meal ideas last month too.
Hope you are having a great weekend wherever you are! I'm going to see the Hyperbolic Crochet Reef tomorrow at the Smithsonian, I'm really looking forward to it. I'll be sure to tell you all about it next week!
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