Beginning Crochet

I love the old crafts. I am particularly fond of crochet and have made quite a few little goodies with it over the years. Crochet has been a lot of things to me, not the least of which is a connection to family. When I was a child, my mother taught me how to do the basic chain stitch, and when I was in my twenties, her sister Brenda taught me the granny square. I taught myself (well, with a little help from printed instructions) other stitches, and I’m still learning. It’s one of the most relaxing things I’ve ever done and is a welcome distraction when I come home from work a little tired. It’s a wonderful way to make inexpensive but useful gifts, too.

If you are new to the art, I recommend that you just buy one crochet hook to start, maybe about a size G or H  (a medium-sized hook, which is easier to manipulate if you’ve never done this before) and a skein of yarn. There are lots of varieties of yarn, so just choose one that feels comfortable to you. I wouldn’t choose a very lightweight, heavy weight, or fancy yarn in the beginning. Some of those can be a little unwieldy if you aren’t used to working with them. We used to have to wind our yarn into balls before beginning to prevent tangles, so if you like, you can do that, although most skeins of yarn now are factory-wound to make it unnecessary.

Next you’ll need to learn how to hold your yarn and your hook as you crochet. I’m right-handed, so I hold my crochet hook in my right hand and thread my yarn through my fingers on my left hand (watch this YouTube video to show you how). Hold the yarn lightly and let it slide through your fingers evenly. Holding it too tightly will cause your stitches to be too tight, too.

The first stitch to learn is the chain stitch because the chain is the foundation for most projects. To start, make a slip knot near the end of your yarn. Your hook goes through that slip knot. To make your first stitch, with your hook through the slip knot, loop your yarn over the hook end of the hook (this is called a yarn over) and pull it through the slip knot. You should have one loop still on the hook. Congratulations! You have completed your first chain stitch! Repeating this action multiple times will create a chain.

If you learn the chain stitch and a few other basic stitches like single, double, and treble (or triple) crochet, you will have what it takes to make all kinds of fun creations! There are a zillion websites and books with all of the how-to’s for those and other stitches, and there are just as many patterns to give you the step-by-step method for making any project you like. My favorite website is Naztazia - Creative Self-Sufficient Living. You’ll really like her free videos and instructions.

I just purchased a crochet pattern book that I think you might enjoy. It’s Hooked Bags: 20 Easy Crochet Projects by Margaret Hubert. The projects in this book are made mostly using the basic stitches you can learn by watching the videos on the Naztazia website, and it also explains how to do a professional-looking bag lining. Additionally, it has illustrated explanations of all of the stitches and a list of abbreviations used in the patterns. I’ve chosen a bag made of granny squares to try first.(more on granny squares in the next blog!)  I’ll let you know how it turns out!

I’ll bet some of you enjoy crocheting as much as I do. If you crochet (or are just beginning) and would like to share one of your projects, email a picture to me with a brief description. I’ll post as many as I can.

Enjoy!

Sherry

Restaurant Review: Red Robin

Recently, mother and I drove from our homes in Kentucky to visit my son and daughter-in-law in Columbus, Ohio. My mother had never been to a Red Robin restaurant, so I suggested we go there for lunch. Mom can be a bit of a picky eater, but she was very pleasantly surprised!

Red Robin is known for its fabulous burgers, but it has a much more varied menu than simple hamburgers and cheeseburgers. You can find steak, salads, seafood, and vegan dishes, all at reasonable prices. The atmosphere at Red Robin is really fun and family-friendly, and the service is excellent, too. But it was the food that we really enjoyed.

Although I tend to go more for veggie burgers or a good salad, this time I ordered a real cheeseburger with steak fries. (It's okay to be bad once in a while, right?) Actually, each of us ordered a different type of burger, and they all came with "bottomless" steak fries. My daughter-in-law ordered garlic Parmesan steak fries (I tried one---absolutely yummy.), also "bottomless", meaning that if you ran low on fries during your meal, the server simply brought more. We also ordered a tower of Red Robin's tasty onion rings. Obviously, we weren't thinking of calories or fat grams at the time! (Well, we thought of them, but we actually just kind of decided to ignore them for the moment.) Luckily, we were able to box up what we couldn't eat (which was about half of our meal) and take it home, so I imagine the diet damage was minimized--for that meal anyway!

Price-wise, Red Robin is a good bargain. Each of us was able to eat for about $10, not including the tower of onion rings we shared as an appetizer. And, since the serving sizes were so generous and we had leftovers, you might say we got two meals for the price of one.

So, I suggest that, if you have a Red Robin near you but haven't tried it yet, maybe you should consider doing just that. You can eat sensibly there (although we didn't that time!) and enjoy yourself, too! 

Sherry

Fight Now: Eat and Live Proactively Against Breast Cancer

I downloaded a free book for my Kindle that I thought you might find very informative and perhaps even lifesaving. It's called Fight Now: Eat and Live Proactively Against Breast Cancer and is written by Aaron Tabor, MD, with Lillie Shockney, RN.  What drew me to this book in the first place was that I have a cousin who has been battling breast cancer for quite a while and I also have a student who was recently diagnosed with the disease for the second time. Both are doing pretty well at the moment, but it's still a very frightening thing.

I learned so much from this little book! Dr. Tabor talks in depth about what research has shown regarding risk factors and who can get the disease (anyone--even men!), and he also discusses what we can do to try to prevent breast cancer from striking.  You wouldn't believe the simple changes you can make in your life that can make a difference. His statements are backed by studies and research by well-known medical authorities.

Did you know that people who develop breast cancer usually have low levels of vitamin D3? A deficiency of Vitamin D3 can actually increase your breast cancer risk by as much as 70%! I knew it helped the body absorb calcium much more efficiently, but I had no idea that D3 was so powerful.  Now I know why my own doctor insisted I take a Vitamin D3 supplement after a simple blood test indicated my D3 levels were low.  I'm definitely less likely to fuss over regular testing now! 

Other dietary changes can make a big difference, too. Everyone knows that healthy eating habits lead to a healthier life, right? But were you aware that certain foods tend to protect the body from breast cancer? Apples, walnuts, carrots, green tea, flaxseeds, broccoli, pomegranates,  and foods containing Omega-3s are extremely beneficial. Avoiding foods with a high-glycemic index--sugary, starchy foods--can go a long way toward reducing your chances of developing the disease. Maintaining an active lifestyle, losing excess pounds, and moderate use of alcohol helps. This is all research-based, but if you think about it, there's a lot of common sense involved, too.  

There is so much more to this book than I've mentioned here. I've just shown you the "tip of the iceberg", so to speak. Dr. Tabor has a website dedicated to the latest news and discoveries. Go to http://www.fightBCnow.com. However, you can download Fight Now: Eat and Live Proactively Against Breast Cancer directly from Amazon right now. If you don't have a Kindle, I believe you can download directly to your computer.  You may need to make a free Amazon account, but that takes only moments and is well worth the effort. Click here to download your free book.

By the way, sorry I've been away for so long. I do hope to be able to pop back in and see you all again often. I've missed you!!

Sherry

Many Blessings

I haven't had much time to blog lately.  In addition to the busyness of the holidays, life has been so full over the last few weeks.  Our family has been rejoicing over many blessings.  Here are two of the most exciting ones:


Our son, Rob, and his girlfriend, Sarah, became engaged the week before Christmas. Sarah is a lovely girl, and we couldn't be more thrilled about their engagement! 


Rob actually designed Sarah's engagement ring himself.  He also secretly made plans to meet her whole family at a restaurant at the Gaylord Opryland Resort after he proposed, as they were already in town to attend Sarah's  graduation from nursing school.  He proposed to Sarah in front of one of the ice sculptures--how romantic!  Rob is a  2nd lieutenant in the Army National Guard, and Sarah is a 2nd lieutenant in the Army.  They are both waiting to receive their military orders before they set a wedding date.  


In other exciting news,  last week, I was chosen to be a contestant on LIVE with Kelly's Travel Trivia.  I received a call from Laura, a representative from LIVE at 7:55 AM last Wednesday.  How it works is potential Travel Trivia contestants are typically called early to let them know they are a contestant, then they call back when the show starts.  Although I hadn't seen the show from the day before, fortunately I had recorded it on DVR.  The hour between the first call and the second one gave me enough time to watch the show and take notes.  I was ready when the second call came in.  However, unfortunately, the host chat went a bit longer than usual, and they didn't have enough time to play Travel Trivia.  I was told it was possible I could get a call back the next day.  


On Thursday morning, I waited by the phone.  I was thrilled when the call came in. I had been unable to participate via Skype the previous day, as the webcam on my laptop doesn't work well using Skype.  However, I had remembered my son downloaded the Skype app on the ipad my family bought me for Christmas.  I figured it would be fun to participate as a contestant via Skype using my ipad.


One of the show producers called me back about a half hour later to check the Skype connection.  I set my ipad up on the table in our breakfast nook.  I figured it would be a good idea to be close as possible to the wireless router, so that I didn't lose my connection during Travel Trivia.  


While I was waiting for the show to begin, I got a firsthand, behind-the-scenes look at how the show is produced.  I watched as executive producer Michael Gelman warmed up the audience before the show.  It was just like being there in person and was fascinating!  


As far as my appearance on LIVE, the video below tells the rest of the story.  (Before you hit play, scroll down to my playlist at the bottom of the blog and stop it, so you can hear the audio on the Travel Trivia video.)

If you watched the video, you know I won the trip to Antigua, but there's more to the story.  The reason why I was so excited when the wheel landed on the trip to Antigua was because that was where we really wanted to go for our 20th anniversary vacation.  I had been entering every day and praying I would win.  After several weeks of entering and waiting, I received an e-mail from Groupon for an all-inclusive deal at a resort in Antigua.  The price was right, so I ended up booking it.  However, the Groupon resort wasn't quite as posh as the St. James's Club.  


After winning the trip on LIVE, I called Groupon.  I explained the situation and was told they normally don't give refunds, but they would make an exception in my case.  I appreciate their understanding and will forever be a Groupon fan!  


The moral of the story?  It's always best to wait on God's timing, because His blessings are far better than anything we can ever do on our own!


Thanks for stopping by!

Happy New Year!

My husband and I rang in the new year in our favorite way, with a quiet dinner at home. I set a romantic table for two in the dining room, complete with candles and soft music.

  

I draped the table with a plum damask tablecloth from The Christmas Tree Shop, $5.99.  I reused the centerpiece from Christmas dinner, along with gold metallic candles from The Christmas Tree Shop.

I layered gold basketweave chargers with ivory and gold thrift shop plates.  I used our everyday flatware and plum napkins with gold napkin rings I found on eBay a couple of years ago.  The champagne flutes were a HomeGoods find a few years ago.

I also spreaded a few gold stars around the table for some New Year's Eve sparkle.

The dinner menu included shrimp ceviche, seafood casserole, rice pilaf, Italian green beans, with chocolate cream pie for dessert.

The shrimp ceviche was a refreshing change from our usual shrimp cocktail.  It would be wonderful as a cool appetizer served with Sangria punch on a hot summer day. Here is the recipe:


Ingredients:

• 1 pound medium cooked shrimp
• 3/4 cup lime juice (juice from 4-6 limes)
• 3/4 cup lemon juice (juice from 2-3 lemons)
• 1 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1  chile pepper, ribs and seeds removed, minced (optional)
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 cucumber, peeled diced into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 avocado, peeled, seed removed, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Squeeze the juice from the limes and lemons in a glass or ceramic bowl using a strainer to remove the seeds.  
2. Remove tails from shrimp and add to the lime/lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate for a half hour.  
3. Mix in the chopped red onion, chile pepper, chopped cilantro, cucumber, and avocado.  Refrigerate for an additional half hour; add salt and pepper to taste before serving.

Happy New Year!

Linking up with