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:

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:

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?

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!

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.

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

I have a lot of crafting projects going right now, and I want to share! I’ll post as I finish items.

My most recent finished object is one of the sock monkeys from Itty Bitty Toys. My 1-year-old is obsessed with the sock monkey pattern in there. It is not a traditional sock monkey. You knit the whole thing out of sock yarn. She asks to see the book several times a day, and she will cry if she can’t find the page with the sock monkey on it. I finished this little monkey last night, and I can’t wait for Christmas morning! Squeeeee!

I’m always up for a crafty project that might possibly also be calming, so I was really excited when I saw several pins for “Mind Jars” on pinterest.

The concept is really simple. It is just a jar with water, glitter, glitter glue and food coloring. When your kids’ minds are feeling a little crazy, they can shake the jar so it is all crazy too. They can then watch as it settles down, and hopefully they do the same. I must admit, it is really soothing to watch. I think I’m enjoying it as much as the kids!

I made ours with silver glitter glue (about 1 tablespoon per cup of warm water) and about half of a jar of blue glitter. I also add blue food coloring. You really can’t go wrong. I wanted mine to swirl for a little longer, so I added more glue to make it a bit thicker. The smaller the glitter, the longer it will float.

I was inspired to sew up an apron, so I scored a sweet deal on some Amy Butler fabrics and voila! Here is my end result Its so cute, and much more fun to wear than my plain ol’ clean team apron.

If anyone is interested, here are the instructions. They are in two parts. Here’s part one and part two. Happy sewing!

This has been my project while nursing (pretty fitting, eh?) I used this pattern from Suzy Q Homemaker and Butterfly Super 10 Multi Yarn that I found on sale. I was afraid that the logo wouldn’t show up, but it is actually quite clear in person.

I have been in the market for some reusable bags to replace the plastic bags that most stores use. I have been trying to knit, scrounge, and find as many bags as I can before I purchase any. I’ve knitted a few of these silk sari hobos. They are gorgeous. I’m tempted to pick up a few ecobags. I love the produce bags. How cool are they? I have just recently become aware of how much plastic I use in the produce section. Ack!

When I was looking for bags, I came across these Basura Bags that are made by women in the Philippines out of foil juice boxes. Each one is unique. I think I might be trading in my Coach bags…

My husband thinks that I may be going a little off of the deep end, but I’ve told him many times that it is not like he got a bait-and-switch out of this deal. He met a vegetarian who wore Birks. He met a girl who wasn’t in the mainstream. There weren’t any other electric guitar playing, skateboarding, computer and math major, punk girls walking around campus.

If you use cloth bags at the grocery store, please comment and let me know what has worked for you! I’m really interested to see what most people do and whether or not the stores make an issue of it. I know that Wild Oats gives you a nickel for each cloth bag you use, but I’m guessing that the mainstream stores aren’t like that.

Crochet Mary Janes