Words and Wool

The fair is over so I can show you all of Rachel's shawl! It is called Haruni and can be found on Ravelry. It turned out beautifully and I am very proud of her for persevering with it especially when she had to figure out the pattern at the end and fudge it along to fit the number of stitches she had. Now we are looking forward to seeing it at the State Fair!!!

Rachel also entered a small quilt she designed and named "Eye of Sauron". She didn't get any spectacular ribbons for it but I am very proud of her for doing this on her own and finishing it!! She's hung it above her bed.

I had fun entering the Home and Family Arts Show -- living out childhood dreams of the fair. :) I entered another bunny -- check out the yellow wellies she's wearing and the bright pink rosette!!! I also entered a tea cozy.

My favorite project was this bag that I created from a sweater and entered into the "Remake" category. It is quite large -- the size of an LLBean canvas bag.

 Here is a collection of what I entered. FYI everyone who enters is able to win a blue ribbon no matter how many enter in that category -- it's a matter of the workmanship (you can receive a blue, red, or white depending on workmanship). It's only the Champions (one per grouped category) that actually win the prize money of $5. :)

For those who were interested in the crochet necklaces that I may or may not have posted about (but have had questions about), here is a link to pattern ideas.

And now for books:


True Woman 101: Divine Design: An Eight-Week Study on Biblical Womanhood (True Woman) by Mary Kassian and Nancy Leigh DeMoss was an EXCELLENT Bible Study on what the Bible has to say about women and womanhood. I highly recommend this and can't wait to go through it again with a group of women or young girls. It is well-written and very user friendly. It also comes with 20 minute round table discussion videos as well as hour-long messages for each week of the study that are free online here. You don't even have to buy the book to access them!

Little House on the Freeway: Help for the Hurried Home by Tim Kimmel was a wise and helpful book dealing with the topic of living restfully in a crazy/busy world. Kimmel's advice was more big picture/heart perspective rather than nitty gritty everyday rules and regulations but that makes his book very applicable to everyone's situation not just one or two.

Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now by Walter Brueggemann is a short, very relevant book on the theology of the Sabbath. This will remain one of my favorite books on this subject. Wow. Every Sunday I'll be thinking about the contrast between Pharoah's incessant overbearing demands on the people of ancient Israel to work, work, work, versus God's insistence that life will still go on if you take one day a week to cease work, say no, trust. The Sabbath is a "visible insistence that our lives are not defined by the production and consumption of commodity goods." The Sabbath gives us a chance to love God and to love our neighbor (specifically by ceasing to see our neighbor as a threat and competitor for at least one day a week and thereby keeping us from destroying community by our greed for more and more). "Sabbath is an arena in which to recognize that we live by gift and not by possession. It is the regular, disciplined, visible, concrete 'yes' to the neighborly reality of the community beloved by God."

Under the Wide and Starry Sky: A Novel Nancy Horan turned out to be a fascinating and enjoyable foray into the life of Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife Fanny. I learned a lot (most of which I think is probably true) and now I need to find some time to read more of Stevenson's works!

Well, that's all for now! For more ideas, visit Ginny's Yarn-a-long here.

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