I haven’t exactly seen my crochet hooks since I started teaching in January, but I know they’re still there. And I have a small handful of projects that I want work on for funsies when classes slow down (or when I slow down, not sure which). I’ve been meaning to review this book for a few weeks, and now I’m making time to do it! I bought Lily Chin’s Crochet Tips & Tricks this fall after reading a review of it in one of my crochet magazines. If you are a crocheter, here is why you should buy it:

1. It’s orange, which is my favorite color. Not that I ever need a reason to buy a book, but the cover sealed the deal for me.
2. It’s well organized. It starts with explanations of your tools (hooks and yarns) and instructions for basic stitches. Chin then follows the creation process to starting, working, and finishing a project.
3. It’s a quick read. Seriously, I read it through in an evening.
4. It’s a good reference guide. Once I read through the book, I found myself coming back to some sections, so I could practice Chin’s speedy techniques.

In particular, I found the section about yarn weights most informative, and I’ve already used that information for selecting yarns for my projects. I’ve also put to good use the sections about blocking and joining. My favorite tip?

Bread-tie bobbin. Of course you know what happens when you add extra yarn to the chain, right? You wind up working with the tail of the seaming yarn rather than the yarn from the skein. To avoid this, many crocheters roll the long tail into a ball, which either gets all knotted up or falls apart. To keep the seaming yarn separate, clean, and tidy while you work, use the notched plastic bread tie that comes with plastic-bagged bakery products. Think of them as free mini-bobbins, perfect for wrapping seaming yarn.

Actually, the whole seaming section is really good, now that I review it.

I learned to crochet as a 4-H project when I was in elementary school. My instruction didn’t go much past the basic stitches, so it was up to me to learn how to seam, join, block, etc. This book would’ve been really handy to have. That said, if you’re a new crocheter (like I was a million years ago) or if you’re an experienced crocheter (like I claim to be), this book will fit nicely into your crocheting library.

P.S. If you’re looking for a Christmas present for your favorite English teacher, you can buy posters of these illustrations. Personally, I’d like semicolons, misspelled words, and apostrophes hanging on my wall just for funsies!

P.S. 2. Matthew Inman, if you read this post, may I request a poster about how to use the word everyday vs every day?

Time to votey voterson. Brilliantly creative or gigantic idiot?

In the book, Heather and Holly first chronicle the story of their family, specifically the health issues their dad faced when they were young and how they overcame his health problems by their faith in God. Once in college and on their own, each sister goes to college, falls in love, and marries the man of their dreams. And the kingdoms they’ve built for themselves come crumbling down. Their dad dies when his body finally caves to its health problems. And then their husbands die in a canoeing accident.

And their response was not to run away from God but to run to God. The rest of the book chronicles their journey of healing and how God turned their mourning into dancing. They now dance on the ashes that once covered them.

This book has a special place in my heart, not just because it’s the highest profile project I’ve worked on, but because I know Heather, and I got to watch her work through many of the lessons she shares. God is funny. When you meet Heather and her husband Dallas, it’s natural to assume that this beautiful (because they are both awesome–inside and out), talented (you should hear the songs they write together) couple with these two beautiful boys have never had a care in the world, but then you read this story and realize that God wounded them and scarred them and healed them and that what you’re looking at is what God has healed. A.maz.ing.

If you know someone who’s lost a loved one, specifically a young widow who’s lost a husband, you must share this book with them. Or if you’re just not happy with life’s status quo, you must read it. The book is not available in stores until April, but you can order it directly from the publisher. And you can find the girls on Dancing On My Ashes’ Facebook page, which also has listing of their speaking engagements.

As a bonus, here’s an interview they did with my pastor last year:

Time. Right. You may have read Monday’s post about the top 10 things I should be/want to be doing while I am letting online teaching take over my life. Blogging is one of those things that I want to be doing with my “free” time. And so here I am this morning (actually, it’s Wednesday morning, and I’m going to schedule this post for Friday, so I’ll look cool and “with it”), and I am taking time to blog.

Nike’s advice comes to mind. Just do it.

Yeah, it’s not that simple, but it is that simple. Just sit down and write. For five minutes. For five hours. It doesn’t matter. Just sit down and write. Don’t tweet about blogging. Don’t tweak your blog design. Don’t check your statistics. Because nobody is going to read your blog if you don’t give them something to read. Readers don’t care that you spent three hours adjusting the padding on your sidebars last night. They come to your blog, subscribe to your blog, because they want to read your blog. Or they’re family members who are afraid you might say something incriminating about them on your “blarg.”

Matt said it well when he reminded me that blogging involves more than writing. It’s “pimping” your blog to the world: social networking, commenting, designing, pleading, tweaking until the whole world reads it. And that’s overwhelming, so it’s no wonder that blogs have incredibly high abandonment rates. It’s a lot of frickin’ work!

My time is almost up, so to summarize: However much or little time you have to blog, spend that time writing.

Okey dokey artichokey. Time to vote. Brilliantly creative or gigantic idiot?

Her destination? My best friend forever Jenny. (We’ve been best friends for 17 years–more than half of our lives!) We decided to make gifts for each other, and she made me a flashy new apron and two embroidered dish towels.

Her name? Brulee Bot. Why? My and Jenny’s movie is My Best Friend’s Wedding. And we like to remind each other that creme brulee can never be jello. You’re never gonna be jello.

Her task? To keep Jenny company while she’s far away in St. Louis and working on construction sites (QA gal) during the day and sewing at night.

Don’t you love her? Tell me: brilliantly creative or gigantic idiot?
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For Kicks and Grins

How cute are they?! I found their pattern in Creepy, Cute Crochet. I bought this book last fall, and this was my first project to tackle. Isn’t the guy handsome?
Don’t you love the top hat and boutonniere?

Isn’t she pretty? Don’t you love her wreath?

I think their button eyes make them endearing!

I had a ton of fun making them. Lots of little details to make them special! I like going back and forth between little projects like this pair and big projects like afghans. The former take a lot of concentration, but I can finish them quickly; the latter generally have a pattern I can memorize, but they work up in less time.

Time to vote! Brilliantly creative or gigantic idiot? Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

I’ve taken it upon myself to make the most of my weekly trips to the grocery store, and I’m learning the fine art of carefully planning my meals and grocery list every week. Some weeks are easier than others. For example, this is the last week of the month, and Chris and I both have paychecks coming from a school, which means we don’t get paid until the end of the month. We’re s t r e t c h i n g the money and food this week.

A few weeks ago, I drew up this meal planning chart using a trusty Sharpie marker and graph paper. (See the picture?) In the top set of boxes, I write in the evening meal for the day and any activity we have happening that night. For example, we always have Bible study on Wednesday nights, so I don’t have to plan dinner, but I do have to plan a side dish, dessert, or salad to take. In the middle boxes, I write the groceries I need to make those meals. Before leaving the house, I double check my pantry and cross any items I already have off my list. In the bottom box, I write in any other groceries that need purchased for the week.

It’s rudimentary, but it seems to be working for me. Before committing to each week’s meal plan, I try to run it by Chris, so he can “approve” the week’s meals. He’s not too keen on leftovers, but we usually have a lot of leftovers (even when I freeze extras), so I also try to have plenty of mac and cheese on hand for him in case he doesn’t want leftover Mexican lasagna or leftover fried rice.

Anyway, I thought you all might enjoy my chart! Be inspired! Go grocery shopping! Feed your families! Save money!

Votey vote: Brilliantly creative or gigantic idiot? Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

I’m under no obligation to review the book; they simply thought I might enjoy it. I did, and as a thanks to Tommy Nelson publishers, here are a few thoughts on it:

What Difference Do It Make? picks up where the previous book leaves off and continues the story of Ron Hall and Denver Moore. Most importantly, it chronicles the aftereffects of Ron’s wife Deborah’s involvement with the homeless in Fort Worth, TX. Nearly a decade after her death, her work still continues at Union Mission Gospel and inspires those who’ve read Hall and Moore’s books to get involved in reaching the homeless across the country.

In addition to reading the stories of other readers and how they were inspired to make a difference in the lives of the homeless, we catch up with Ron and Denver and learn how Ron came to make peace with his father before his father passed away. All of these stories testify to how God can work in the direst of situations and in the most broken of relationships.

I’m once again encouraged by these authors and the stories they tell, and I’m challenged to dig into the lives of those around me, not so I can change their lives but so God can! I think you’ll be encouraged and challenged by this book too! You can find copies at your local bookstore or on Amazon.com.

Here’s what other bloggers are saying:

• JoshDevine.com
• MomMostTraveled.com

If you’ve read the book, vote for it below:

P.S. Do you know about BookSneeze.com? It’s a book review program from Thomas Nelson Publishers for bloggers!

The object of the game is to group like-colored triangles together by sliding them on their axes (left-right, diagonal-right, and diagonal-left). When three like-colored triangle are connected, they disappear, leaving a gap on the playing board. Using the iPhone accelerometer, you then slide rows in your desired direction by tilting and rocking the phone. As your levels increase, challenges like exploding triangles and locked triangles make the game interesting? fun? frustrating? even more awesome? Yes, indeed.

Not convinced? You should know that Wired Magazine named Trism the third Most Awesome App of 2008. Need to know more? Wikipedia’s explanation of Trism game play and modes will fill you in. Want to buy it? It’s available for $2.99 on iTunes, of course!

If you’ve played Trism, tell me, is it brilliantly creative or were the creators gigantic idiots? Vote below:

I found this pattern in an old Workbasket magazine. (Mom had a bunch and I photocopied the crochet patterns to keep.) I already had the camouflage yarn and most of the black yarn. I only had to buy the green yarn and an extra skein of black.

Here’s the picture of the afghan while I was steaming it into shape:

And a picture of it on my couch:

And a closeup. The pattern was easy peasy: Double crochet and single crochet.

This is one of my first commissioned (i.e. paid) projects, and I have a few more to share. I’m working toward getting pictures of my work on Flickr and Facebook; eventually, I’d like to do an Etsy store, too. Thoughts? Brilliantly creative? Gigantic idiot?