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  • Charity Knitting – 5 Ways You Can Help

    First, I want to apologize for my absence on here. We’ve had a tough couple of weeks, with my mom in the ICU due to complications from her leukemia / bone marrow transplant. She is still in the hospital, but things are more stable than they were before. Cancer is such a horrible disease, and we’ve really been reminded of that over the past few weeks.

    We flew to be near my mom, and I really wanted to knit and create while we were there. I didn’t want to make just anything, though. I wanted to work on projects that could give back somehow. I think that tough times remind me of how much suffering there is in the world, and it gives me a kick in the pants to start helping some more.

    Luckily, I’ve had the privilege of knitting for several great charities over the past few years, so I knew what kind of items I could make. I’d love to share some of them, and hopefully get more knitters involved. 🙂 When I first started looking for charity knitting a few years ago, I was overwhelmed at the choices. I wanted to find reputable charities that were truly getting the items to those in need. I’ve found several great organizations that do just that. A lot of these projects use scrap amounts of yarn and a minimal amount of time. If your kids know how to knit, these projects are simple enough that they can get involved.

    1. Mother Bear Project

    What it is: The Mother Bear Project is a group that provides a simple gift of hope and love through a hand-knit or crocheted bear to children affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations. Each bear is signed with the name of the person who made the bear. The coordinators at the Mother Bear Project take pictures of the children receiving their bears and email/post them. As always, the pictures from the latest distribution are so beautiful. They have stories on their webpage from some of the children who have received the bears, if you’re in the mood for a good cry. 😉

    How you can get involved: All of the bears for the Mother Bear Project use the same WWII-era pattern. It is SIMPLE, which has been great for me. I need mindless knitting right now! The whole bear is basically made as a tube (knit flat or in the round, you decide), and then you split for the legs and pick up for the arms. The clothes are knit as part of the bear. I can finish a bear in a few hours of work, and they only require about 35 yards of 3 colors of yarn. If you have 50 yards of each, you can easily embellish as you wish. The bears do not need to be “realistically” colored (duh, they are wearing clothes, y’know…) so any yarn in your stash can be used!

    The flat version of the Mother Bear pattern is available in the beautiful book, Knit for Peace, and it is also archived on the DIY Network’s site. If you have the $5 to spare, I really encourage you to order the pattern directly from Mother Bear. They will send you the pattern in the mail as well as a brochure explaining the program and a tag to attach to the first bear with your name on it. When you mail in your first bear (or set of bears) they will send you more tags. If you mail in more bears than you have tags, they’ll write tags for you.

    For each bear that you send in, they ask for $3 to cover the “bear fare” (the costs to fly and get the bears into their new country.) When you pay for the pattern, your first bear’s “bear fare” is included in the cost, so there is no need to send in $3.

    For more information, the Mother Bear Ravelry group is excellent. They host monthly challenges that include drawings for yarn and other knitty prizes 🙂

    2. Wool-Aid

    What it is: Wool Aid is a community of knitters that creates warm clothing for children in the coldest climates that have the least access to resources. All items knit for Wool-Aid need to be made of natural fibers of at least a worsted weight. The thicker the better.

    How you can get involved: The Wool-Aid Ravelry group is a wealth of information. They keep an updated list of all of the current campaigns. Their blog also has details on where knit items are currently being sent and what is most needed. If you want to get involved, join the ravelry group or read on their website for which items are currently needed and their guidelines, and then mail them to their headquarters. I recently participated in a campaign for children impacted by the earthquake in Tibet, and I was so happy to be able to create some warmth to children who really need it.

    3. Mittens for Akkol

    What it is: Mittens for Akkol is a group that knits for an orphanage in Akkol, Kazakhstan. Akkol is very cold, with snow starting in August and lasting through April. Temperatures reach 40 below 0 and the orphanage is not well-heated. The organization was started by two parents who went to adopt two children and then realized that they wanted to help all of the children there in any way that they could. Each year the very active yahoo group makes up a database for all of the “graduating” children in the orphanage (those who have to leave because of their age) and helps to make a warm wardrobe for them, including thin and thick socks, sweaters and scarves. Each grad asks for certain colors, and knitters sign up based on what they would like to make. The group has a hard deadline for when the items will be delivered. They are flown out there in luggage and hand-delivered. It is beautiful to watch as everyone works to complete the projects for those children. The group also works on items for the “baby house” and other projects each year.

    How you can help: Join the yahoo group and/or ravelry group, and see what is currently needed. There are always new campaigns cycling through, so it is easy to get involved.

    4. Bundles of Joy

    What it is: Bundles of Joy is a group that supports babies in the Pine Ridge Hospital OB Ward (which is part of the Pine Ridge Reservation.) Poverty is extensive on the reservation, and many of the babies have no clothes or other items waiting for them when they go home.

    How you can help: Join the ravelry group and see what current campaigns are running. Bundles of Joy accepts non-knitted items as well, so feel free to check out their ravelry group and see what items are needed the most right now.

    5. Your local hospital/homeless shelter

    This one doesn’t need much of a description, but I really encourage you to see what is available in your hometown. When my mom was in treatment in Colorado, she was so blessed by the hand knit items that were donated to the hospital (and made by us.) A soft, fuzzy hat can bring more comfort to a cancer patient than you could ever imagine. Most hospitals have programs. Ravelry allows you to search by location, and you can easily see what kinds of opportunities are available in your hometown. If nothing is available, try calling your local hospitals as well as domestic violence, homeless and pet shelters. Needs are different depending on the population that is served, so you can easily find charities that would love items made out of yarn that might otherwise seem undesirable. For example, most cancer wards prefer that you use acrylic, whereas charities like Wool Aid or Mittens for Akkol are happy to take items that are not machine washable, since the population that they help doesn’t have washing machines.

    If you knit for a great charity that isn’t mentioned here, please feel free to leave a note in the comments or email me. I’d love to hear about them and share the word!

  • Cliques, Hicks, and Ugly Sticks

    While browsing to see which book I might want to review next, Cliques, Hicks, and Ugly Sticks by K.D. McCrite immediately caught my eye. It is the second book of “The Confessions of April Grace” series, although I didn’t realize that until I finished the book.

    The story is told by April Grace, an 11-year-old in Arkansas in 1986. April Grace is starting junior high and her world seems to be falling apart. The new school year starts and one of her best friends is now snotty and mean to her at school, boys are starting to notice her (which makes her uncomfortable), and then her parents drop the bombshell that they have a new baby on the way. The book follows April Grace’s life through the first half of her school year as she tries to adjust to all of the changes in her life.

    Reading this book was fun. I smiled at the descriptions of life in the 80’s. April Grace’s character has a great blend of innocence and spunk that translates well for the tween crowd. I think my daughter will really relate to her. I’m going to get the first book of the series and I plan on reading them aloud with my kids.

    This book is published by Thomas Nelson, but the Christian message is very subtle in it and I think it would be an appropriate book regardless of a person’s faith. The overall tone of the book is positive without being syrupy. I’d definitely recommend this book and I look forward to checking out the rest of the series.

    —–
    Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

  • Friday Favorites

    What have you been enjoying this week? Here are a few of our favorites:

    Favorite Non-Fiction Children’s Author:
    Nic Bishop

    We just discovered Nic Bishop’s books, and we have been LOVING the gorgeous photography and interesting facts. For instance, I didn’t even know about the osmeterium (a smelly organ that black swallowtail butterflies use to defend themselves by wiping on attackers) until I read his book on butterflies and moths. Each of his books is beautiful in it’s own way, and I recommend them very highly.

    Favorite nerdy video:
    Doodling in Math: Spirals, Fibonacci, and Being a Plant

    This is such a great way to show the relevance of math, and it is really fun to watch. My whole family enjoyed viewing it and discussing the math behind each of the three parts.

    Favorite laptop cover:

    Source: etsy.com via HippieMommy on Pinterest

    I’ve been hunting around for the perfect cover for my little laptop, and I fell in love with this one instantly.

    Favorite workout:
    Zumba, of course!

    As many of you know, I really love Zumba classes. This week I signed up to take the instructor training. It is a little (OK, totally) outside of my comfort zone in some areas, but it seems perfectly natural in other ways. I taught cheerleading when I was younger, so hopefully those skills will transfer! I’m sure I’ll be scared to death to start, but I’m looking forward to the challenge. I saw this pin earlier, and it sums up my feelings:

    Source: nbp.org via HippieMommy on Pinterest

    Favorite song for working out:
    Shake, Senora by Pitbull w/ T. Pain and Sean Paul

    I love dancing to this song in Zumba. My classes have each done different choreography than what is shown in this video, but I’d definitely take this instructor’s class too. 🙂 It looks fun!

    Favorite knitting pattern:
    Deep Blue Sea Shark Mittens

    How cute are these? They include a pattern for a shark bite victim, which is great too. My kids are in love with them.

    Favorite recipe:
    Elana’s Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

    I know, I know… I’m not the biggest fan of agave nectar either, but these cookies are soooo good. No one ever guesses they’re gluten-free, casein-free and sugar-free. I’ve been all three of those things (gf/cf/sf) for the past 2 1/2 weeks or so, and I’m feeling awesome. The inflammation that I was dealing with in my knees is totally gone, as are my random low-level headaches. I should’ve done this a long time ago.

    I hope you enjoy a few of our favorite things from this week! What have you been up to?

  • Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall

    One of the reasons that I love reading autobiographies is because I believe strongly in Charlotte Mason’s teaching that “autobiographies… often lift the veil, for the writer may make free with himself.” Even though this book isn’t the kind of book I normally discuss on here, I find it really interesting to read other people’s stories and learn from them. I thought some of you might like it too 🙂

    I picked up this book with no expectations. Aside from the press attention that occurred during the trial of Warren Jeffs, I knew very little about the FLDS or Elissa Wall.

    This book taught me many things about the FLDS sect. Before reading this, I didn’t realize that the “prophet” had such power over the everyday lives of the members of their community. As Walls says early on in the book, “The prophet decides when two people should marry, when families can form, and when families that are not working are to be reorganized.”

    She also describes how,

    It was common practice to expel men… all that is required is for the prophet or someone acting at his direction to say: “You have lost your priesthood.” The significance of this is enormous for believers, as it creates a culture of fear. If a husband loses his priesthood, his family is literally no longer his. In addition, he has to leave his land and home because his home is owned by the FLDS Church and controlled by the priesthood. Faithful wives and children will accept these decisions and wait to be reassigned to another man.

    Elissa’s story helped me to better understand the mindset of someone in the FLDS. I’ve never understand why polygamy was so central to the faith of those in the FLDS. Wall’s explanation of how a man must have three wives in order to attain the highest level of heaven was really eye-opening. This “need” to have at least three wives drives men to do what they can to please to prophet and show how faithful they are. This is the only way that they may have at least 3 wives assigned to them and not have their wives ever taken away. Removal of their wives (and subsequent reassigning of their families to new men) causes men to lose their place in heaven.

    In this book, Elissa is honest about what her life in a polygamous family was like. There were parts that were great and parts that they tried to hide. I’ve seen interviews with women who live in plural marriages, but reading it from a child’s point of view was enlightening. It is clear that Elissa really loves her family and that she feels that her mother and father were trying to do their best to walk the line between taking care of their families and doing what they felt they needed to do to ensure them all a place in heaven.

    Reading about the psychological impact of cultural conditioning was both sad and fascinating. Many of the teachings were strange and contradictory, but they were accepted. One such is example is that “Warren preached that when a family remarried to another man, God changed their blood and DNA to match that of the priesthood man they now belonged to. If we did not have worthy blood running through our veins, we could not gain entrance into the kingdom of heaven.” Pretty crazy, no?

    I saw that other reviewers criticized Elissa because she could come across as immature or unable to take responsibility. It did not come across that way to me. On the contrary, I read it as a book written by a woman who is still young, still finding herself, and still in the midst of healing. I thought that she tried to be honest about her shortcomings. I think that she shared a lot of her flaws and that they made her story more credible rather than less.

    I enjoyed reading this book. My one complaint is that I wish that they would’ve made the authorship more clear. I finished the book wondering how many of the words were from Elissa and how many were from her co-author. On GoodReads, Elissa’s name is listed first, but the Kindle edition has her co-author, Lisa Pulitzer first. The book is written as a first-hand account, but the listing of Lisa Pulitzer first makes me wonder how much was reconstructed by her.

    Overall, I’m glad that I read this book. It was far less graphic than I expected, and I think she did a good job of explaining her side of the story.

  • The Biggest Bear and other picture books for older children

    The kids and I have been working our ways through both the Newbery and Caldecott medal and honors lists as part of the #nerdbery and #nerdcott challenges. We’ve already found dozens of new books to love. Sometimes we all agree, and sometimes our reviews are mixed.

    Today I’d like to share our opinions on The Biggest Bear, Snow White, and Baboushka and the Three Kings. Each of these books had strong points and weaknesses. My 7-year-old and I had different opinions about The Biggest Bear, so I’ve also included her review here.

    The Biggest Bear

    My review:
    I was really excited when I first picked up The Biggest Bear. The illustrations are beautiful and instantly caught my eye. Despite this first impression, I was a little disappointed once I started reading. The story really shows it’s age. There are many parts of the book that could seem shocking to young kids, particularly those who live a suburban or urban life.

    The story follows a young boy who wishes to shoot and kill the biggest bear. He goes into the woods with his gun, but he finds a cub rather than a large bear. Instead of killing the cub, he feeds it and brings home. As the bear grows, he starts to cause mischief, and the boy tries unsuccessfully to lose the bear. The point comes when he must kill the bear. Right before the bear is shot, the bear becomes afraid and runs into a trap. This trap was set by men at the zoo, who are thrilled to welcome the bear into their exhibit. The story ends with everyone happy about the bear going to the zoo.

    This book is so gorgeous, but the content is probably a bit above the level of the average picture book reader. Parents who wish to avoid images of children with guns will want to skip this book. I was very disappointed that the consequences of the boy’s choice to feed the bear are never explored. I think this was a missed opportunity. It seems to end on a happy note and the boy’s actions are not questioned.

    On a positive note: This book fueled good conversation with my older kids. I initially started reading it with my 1 1/2 year-old (who was drawn to the beautiful illustrations of the boy and the bear), but I decided to bail and distract her once we came to the part where the boy was taking the bear out to be shot.

    My 7-year-old daughter’s review:
    I like this book. It is a story of a boy who adopts a bear. The pictures are very realistic. I wish that I could draw that well! I thought it was really funny when the bear swam for 2 miles and didn’t get very wet. I like that the bear doesn’t get shot and gets put in the zoo.

    Snow White
    Also as part of the Nerdcott challenge, we recently read Snow White and the Seven Dwarves by the Brother’s Grimm. There are many editions of this book, and several have won awards. We decided to poke through a few of them and see what we thought.

    One edition particularly caught my eye. It was illustrated by Tina Schart Hyman. She won the Caldecott Medal for Saint George and the Dragon, which is another family favorite and an Ambleside Year 1 selection. This particular retelling of Snow White is darker than most, and I wouldn’t recommend it for younger children. If your kids are a bit older and enjoy classical tales, I think this is a great book.

    Baboushka and the Three Kings

    And, finally, a book that differs in pretty much every way from the previous two. Baboushka and the Three Kings is a story with very simple illustrations, but it would be appropriate for any age. It is far shorter than the previous two books, and toddlers should have no problem sitting through it. It would be a great read-along with young kids around Christmastime when you are discussing traditions in different parts of the world.

    I’d love to hear your opinion on these picture books or any others that you’ve read. Some of the other books that we’ve all recently enjoyed include Sam, Bangs and Moonshine, The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle, Hide and Seek Fog and Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. How about you?

  • The Book Whisperer

    I’ve completed my first book for my 2012 reading challenge, and it is a book about…. BOOKS! LOL. I decided to pick this one up after I saw it recommended on a message board, and I really enjoyed reading it.

    The Book Whisperer is described on the back cover as “…a primer of the heart on how to make reading magical again”, and I think that is a very accurate description. The author, Donalyn Miller, is a 6th grade language arts and social studies teacher. Through much research, she’s devised a program for her students that empowers them in their reading choices and increases their reading and writing skills at the same time.

    The main point that is driven home throughout this book is that students should be able to pick their own reading material (with guidelines for the number of books read in each genre) and that school time should include significant blocks where kids read rather than complete busywork.

    One of the things that I really like about this book is that she almost perfectly describes the way that we homeschool. I check out large amounts of books that relate to the units that we do in our other subjects, and let my kids free read from all of the different genres. I try to keep the shelves stocked with library books that I think my kids will like, and they also pick out a large number of books for themselves. I had no idea that I was so cutting-edge, hehe.

    Obviously there are parts of this book that are not applicable to homeschooling parents (after all, we are not the target audience), but I still really enjoyed the book. I have placed several of her book suggestions on hold, including The Tarantula in My Purse: and 172 Other Wild Pets (which I think it will be an awesome read-aloud!) I also love Miller’s description of a reading journal where the student and teacher write back and forth in a conversational style about the books that they’ve read. I think it can easily be tweaked for homeschooling, and I’ve been wanting to start a journal with my kids anyways. It reminds me of the notebooks that my friends and I had when we were in middle and high school.

    One of the other important lessons that I’ll take from this book is that there is great value in reading children’s literature as an adult. I belonged to a children’s lit bookclub, but I haven’t read with them in several years. She shows how a knowledge of children’s books will enable you to give better recommendations for your students. Thanks to her inspiration, I’ve picked up a few children’s books for myself. I really want to join the #nerdbery and #nerdcott challenges now. We have several of these books on our shelves, so I went ahead and read one of the #nerdcott books today. 🙂

    If you’ve read this book or decide to read it in the future, I’d love to hear your opinion.

    Happy reading!

  • 12 12s in 2012

    As I said in my last post, I love the clean start of a new year!

    Last year I set a few annual goals, and I had so much fun working at them. My first mission was to knit 52 items, and I totally blew that number out of the water. I completed about 25% more than my goal. Yay!

    I also committed to reading 52 books in 52 weeks. I only had to count a few knitting books to hit my goal (…and, to be fair, I spend a lot of time with my nose in a knitting book, LOL.) Considering what a doozy 2011 was, I’m considering this to be a huge accomplishment.

    I was reading on ravelry and saw this idea for making 12 lists of 12 things to complete in 2012. I decided to come up with my own list. 🙂 I’m going to try to find a widget that I can use to keep track of them in my sidebar.

    So, on top of my goal to read another 52 books this year, I also hope to complete:

    12 items knit from my pattern library
    12 items knit for charity
    12 gifts knit
    12,000 yards knit
    12 of my oldest skeins of yarn used up (I’m looking at you, Handspun Bulky)
    12 weeks of “cold sheeping” (a.k.a. no buying new yarn – ACK!)
    12 classic read-alouds with the kids (in addition to bedtime reading and school reading)
    12 books on midwifery or herbalism read cover-to-cover
    12 books that have been in my queue or are partially read
    12,000 minutes of exercise
    12 new homeopathic remedies or herbs that I’ll become familiar with and use
    120 green smoothies consumed

    Happy 2012!

  • Weekend Meal Plan

    I really love the fresh start of a new year. 2011 was a toughie. I learned a lot, but I’m ready to move on! Apparently I’m not alone, because 68% of Americans said 2011 was a bad year. I’ll also join the 62% who are optimistic about 2012, though. 🙂

    This year I’m hoping to continue to work on organizing and planning. I love storing my recipes on Pinterest. It is great for those times when I can’t decide what I want to eat. I love how visual it is.

    The grocery stores were total madness today, so I just did enough shopping to get us through the weekend. Here’s what we’re making over the next 3 days.

    All of these links were added with the “embed” feature on Pinterest. To view the original recipes and photos, click on the source link under each picture. To view the pin, click on the picture

    Cobb Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette – Source: blogs.babble.com via Amanda on Pinterest

    Tilapia Peach Packets – Source: howsweeteats.com via Amanda on Pinterest

    Roasted Chickpea Tacos – Source: peasandthankyou.com via Amanda on Pinterest

    .

    Happy New Year, everyone!

  • Christmas Crafting, Part 3

    Shwew! I’m nearing the end of my Christmas crafting.

    The last week and a half have been kind of crappy. Both of my parents had to go to the emergency room (on separate occasions.) Then – since “bad news comes in threes” – my mom found out that she has cells with the Philadelphia-positive ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) mutation again. She’s had a bone marrow transplant and has been taking chemo to keep this mutation from growing, so that was an unpleasant piece of news. I’m hoping that this means we’re due for lots of good news in the next few weeks/month/years!

    Back to the crafting, though:

    My 4-year-old saw this Santa set in the Itty Bitty Toys book and immediately fell in love. We’ve never made a big deal out of Santa, but I guess there is something magical about Santa that kids naturally love. 😉 I’m trying to finish up a coordinating “bag of gifts” for the Santa doll, but I’m not stressing about having it done.


    Click here to see my Ravelry project page and get more details

    I already have my first post-Christmas project planned. It is an adorable pair of shark mittens for my 9yo son. I wasn’t sure if they’d be too babyish, but he saw the pattern and instantly thought they were just the coolest things. I’m looking forward to working on them.

    Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah! I’m looking forward to 2012 being a great year and a fresh start.

  • Christmas Crafting, Part 2

    Two more gifts down! Sorry for the darkness in my pictures. I had to use my iPhone. I have one last big knitting project to finish before Christmas. We’ll see if I can make it in time. Eeeek!

    The first finished gift today is a “Sisters” toy from the Itty Bitty Knits book. It is a reversible toy with two dolls in it. My 7yo asked for it for Christmas.

    Here’s a shot so you can see how it reverses.

    The other project that I finished was a quick man hat for Joe. I really like this pattern. It makes for a great, stretchy, thick hat. I kind of want to steal it for myself.

    If you’re on ravelry, feel free to friend me! I love seeing everyone’s projects 🙂

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