A Crochet Challenge

Back in the summer I went in for my not-so-annual checkup. When the doctor came into the exam room she started going through her normal routine of listening to my heart beat, making me say "ahhh," and asking general health-related questions. Then out of the blue she said, "Do you crochet?"

I thought that was a funny question! Of course, I do... but what did that have to do with my health? So I hesitantly said, "Yes. Why do you ask?"

She said, "Oh! I noticed that..." and she pointed to the slipcover I had made for my netbook which was sticking out of my tote bag, "...and wondered if you made it." I told her I did. Then she explained that she had an afghan that she had started 20 years ago, that she knew she would never finish, and was wishing she had someone to give it to, who would want to finish it.

I told her that I usually crocheted at least a little every day, and that I would be happy to have it. (I have to have something in my hands when I'm watching TV with Lyle. It's usually crocheting, though sometimes it's knitting or quilting or word puzzles.)

I didn't think too much more about it, but I had a follow-up visit to the doctor a few weeks later. This time when she came into the exam room she was carrying a plastic tub of crocheted squares and a bag full of yarn!

I immediately recognized the pattern as one I had made... probably 20 years ago! ...for my sister-in-law, in the colors shown on the pattern book. My doctor had worked about half the squares when she was laid up with ankle surgery, she said.

It was an interesting pattern, because each block is a different stitch. I enjoyed the challenge of finishing the crocheting and then putting the blocks together for a finished blanket. My gauge was not the same as the parts crocheted by the doctor, but by the time I got it all sewed together, I thought it looked pretty good. The colors are not what I would have chosen, but it's a good, warm blanket!

Betsy and Joe

I mentioned last week that I was participating in the Maud Hart Lovelace Reading Challenge at A Library is a Hospital for the Mind. This week the challenge is to answer the following questions:

a. Why you joined the MHLRC.
I've always loved the Betsy-Tacy stories and I just thought it would be fun!

b. Which book you are currently reading for the challenge.
I've read the first 5 chapters of Betsy and Joe to my daughters (ages 15 and 17) this week. I read the first chapter just as sort of a teaser, but they won't "let" me quit. Since my older daughter is patiently sitting through such tomes as Carson's Basic American Government and Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, it's a treat for all of us to join in the the fun of a young lady's senior year 101 years ago!

c. Something new you have learned either from participating in this challenge or from a MHL book you have read.
I learned that Maud Hart Lovelace based the Betsy-Tacy stories on her own life experiences. I would love to write like that someday.

d. Which book in the Deep Valley series you hope to win and why.
I'd love to win the 2-book bind-up of Carney's House Party and Winona's Pony Cart because my friend Melissa Wiley wrote the forward to it. Also, because I think my girls would enjoy reading Carney's House Party when we finish Betsy and Joe.

ecoStore - review

Over the past couple of years my family has been making gradual changes towards a healthier lifestyle. Mostly it has been a change in our eating habits and choice of foods available to us. As I have been reading about healthy living, I became aware that even the cleaning products we use in our home can have an effect on our health, but so far I haven't made that change. (Baby steps, you know!) However, I was interested to be offered the opportunity to review my choice of products from ecoStore, a company that makes household and personal care products with plant-based ingredients rather than synthetic chemicals. I chose to try the All-Purpose Cleaner. I was skeptical that it would be as effective as my regular cleaner, but I was pleasantly surprised. I found it to be just as effective, but without the strong smell. If you are interested in switching to more ecologically-friendly products, check out ecoStore.

Maud Hart Lovelace Reading Challenge

I love old-fashioned "girl" books. When I was growing up (and voraciously reading just about anything I could get my hands on... okay, who am I kidding? I still do that!) I loved series books. I also figured out quite early on that if I particularly enjoyed a book I should look for more books by the same author. And that's how I discovered the Betsy-Tacy stories by Maud Hart Lovelace. There are actually two "generations" of Betsy-Tacy books: four titles featuring a little-girl Betsy and her friends, Tacy and Tib... and then six more books about an older Betsy-- one for each year of high school, one about her travels after high school, and one about her wedding. There are also 3 more spin-off books about some of Betsy's friends and acquaintances. They are set around the turn of the century (1900... not 2000!) and have the most elegant Gibson Girl style illustrations.

Visit the Here in the Bonny Glen to read Melissa Wiley's synopsis of each title. Remember Melissa? She's one of my "author friends." She wrote the Little House spin-off series about Martha and Charlotte. She's also been very excited that she was invited to write the forward for a new two-books-in-one re-release of Maud Hart Lovelace's Carney's House Party and Winona's Pony Cart.

The second annual Maud Hart Lovelace Reading Challenge will be running through the month of October at A Library is a Hospital for the Mind. Participants will have a chance to win a copy of one of the new editions, and it looks like other prizes and fun are on the agenda as well.

The hardest part for me is choosing which book to re-read. I've read them all before (some more than once) and I know I don't have time to read them all again right now. I think I'm going to settle on Betsy and Joe. It's about Betsy's senior year... and since my daughter is a senior, it seems appropriate.

Books Read in September

...for the 2010 100+ Reading Challenge:

78. A Hope Undaunted by Julie Lessman
79. A Memory Between Us by Sarah Sundin
80. Her Daughter's Dream by Francine Rivers
81. The Black Madonna by Davis Bunn
82. Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
83. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
84. Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
85. Don't Let Me Go by David Pierce
86. Andrea Carter and the Price of Truth by Susan K. Marlow
87. In Between by Jenny B. Jones
88. Lady in Waiting by Susan Meissner
89. Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz
90. The House on Malcolm Street by Leisha Kelly