Surprise Dishcloth

Today I'm back to knitting and it feels good. Months ago I printed out a pattern without a picture or a chart. So, I didn't know what the finished project was going to look like.

It turns out to be a house and pine tree under the Christmas star. I figured that out once I went on Ravelry and tracked down the original pattern.

This pattern was designed by KrisKnits and is available here free. KrisKnits has adorable themed sets of dishcloth patterns for sale: beach, wedding, flowers, fruit, dessert.


I used Peaches and Cream cotton yarn and size 5 needles. The pattern calls for size 3. I figured the cloth would shrink and tighten up a bit in the wash so I used larger needles.

Crocheting an Ugh!

For those of you who have been waiting for a knitting post, I must disappoint. I have been crocheting. Specifically, I have been crocheting an "ugh" disguised as an afghan. The yarn didn't suit the original afghan pattern I wanted to use. But I had all this yarn. I know, the moment I realized that the yarn was wrong, I should have returned the unused skeins to the store. But, I didn't do that.

Instead, I switched to a simpler pattern. It's a panel afghan composed of filet crochet. I got bored with it before I finished the first panel. (There are five panels). I kept on, working a little bit most days for the past two months. Finally it's finished.




The good news is the afghan is soft and warm even if it is ugly. Maybe one of my sons will take it off my hands.

perseverance
-noun
1. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

I have to say I learned perseverance from my mother. She is the most tenacious person I know. It's a good quality to have even if the results aren't always what one expects.

Happy Birthday

Happy 2nd birthday to The Stair Landing. Or is it anniversary? Yesterday was the actual date, but I spent too many hours in the car returning home from a family reunion to post.

After two years, I still don't know where this blog is heading. I've posted about gardening, knitting, family and books. In other words, my life.

Some family members use the blog to keep track of me. (I'm a lousy telephoner).

In the past two years I've posted 38,ooo words on The Stair Landing. That's almost a book. Well, it's not a book, but hopefully some family member in future generations will get a kick out of Aunt Mimi's opinions.

In Bloom

Comtesse de Bouchard
Clematis

Introduced in 1903.

Book Review: The Wholehearted Marriage

The Wholehearted Marriage: Fully Engaging Your Most Important Relationship
By Dr. Greg Smalley and Dr. Shawn Stoever
Howard Books
ISBN: 978-1416544821

This book was already in stores when I received it from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer Program.


When I told a relative that I was reading a book on marriage, she said that books like that are all the same. They tell the woman to shape up and change. This book is definitely not like that. The examples it gives of relational exchanges may be stereotypical, but it is not written from a sexist point of view.

The book points out the importance of spouses opening their hearts to God in order to be open to the hearts of their mates.

I found most of the descriptions of the dynamics of relationships on the mark. This is a book that I would read again.

Bookshelf Lamp Giveaway

Today I'm posting about another giveaway on Shauna's Book Giveaways blog. Only this time, it's not a book.

It's this really cool lamp with a bookstand pictured on the right and brought to us by Problem Solvers.

The giveaway ends July 15, so enter the drawing at the Book Giveaways blog today!

Julie & Julia

A few months ago I read Julia Child's My Life in France. Julia found her bliss in her late 30s. She enrolled in the Cordon Bleu school of cooking while living in Paris with her diplomat husband. This started her on the road to writing Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which led to a television cooking career.


This week I finished reading Julie & Julia by Julie Powell. This book tells how an almost 30, government secretary found her bliss. Julie set herself the task of making every recipe found in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. That's 524 recipes in 365 days.

To me, that's a formidable task. I can take experimenting in the kitchen in small doses only. After I try a new recipe, give me a few weeks to recover, please! That's why you'll find me cooking the same things over and over in my kitchen. Most recently, it's been individual artichoke pizzas using pita bread. Sooooo good! But that's another story.

Not only did Julie decide to make all these recipes in a limited time frame, she did it by shopping after work and often cooking late into the night. That's dedication. I don't like to be in the kitchen after 8 p. m.

At her husband's suggestion, Julie recorded her adventure on a blog. People started commenting, and her following grew. This led to media coverage, interviews, a book deal, and now a movie*. So now we know that French cooking has been life changing to at least two women in America.

* The movie, Julie & Julia will be released August 7, 2009. Directed by Nora Ephron, starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams.

Win a Free Book!

Shauna over at Book Giveaways is giving away five copies of The Host written by Stephanie Myers.

Go over and enter to win. This is a science-fiction love story for adults. If I happen to win, I'll be giving my copy to my younger daughter.

Stephanie Myers is well known for creating the Twilight series of books that was/is so popular with teens. Some of you may have seen the movie. I saw it once. My daughter saw it at least twice.

Before she left for basic military training earlier this year, my daughter read large portions of the first Twilight book to me.

When I stumbled across the rough draft of Midnight Son, (Twilight from Edward's point of view, posted here by the author), my daughter read the entire thing to me.

Way to capture the imagination of a romantic teenager. All those years of reading to my children had come full circle, my girl reading to me.