Exciting Crochet

Recently I have fallen in love with some fabulous blogs that feature delicious crochet projects. The world of blogging has exposed the talents of so many fabulous people around the globe. I mean, in days gone by I would discover new techniques, styles and colors by taking an occasional trip to the city library and hanging out around Call # 764.43x. The thing is - a lot of the books contained the traditional patterns for everything - rectangle. I have now made at least 127 rectangle projects - big and small. Ha! I would often be jealous of the projects that appeared in the knitting books vs. those for crochet. If you are looking for something thick and boxy - try crochet. If you want something light and lacy, suitable for wearing - you better knit.

Well cancel that thought - the sky seems to be the limit when you look at some of my favorite bloggers. I am so inspired by their limitless imagination and their fabulous ability to pick exciting color schemes for their projects. I will highlight one of my imaginative favorites here -

Attic 24. Lucy describes herself as a happily married stay at home Mum - beautiful, right? That's a picture of her amazing sweet granny blanket posted here. It is reminiscent of my first granny blanket, which I made as a young teenager, but I never imagined such bright and fun colors when I selected my pastel pink, yellow and white creation. Maybe those yarns weren't even available at the time. :-) Though her blog's entire focus is not crochet (life has so much to offer, right?) she has made so many "happy" projects and I can't help but smile when I see what she is working on over there in England! I am really excited about starting something new soon and this Japanese flower scarf looks fab! http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2011/02/japanese-flower-scarf.html

Dipping a toe into Pilates

Risking another failure I am stepping out and signing up for some Pilates classes at a small local studio in my downtown area. Yesterday I spent 30 mins. with the owner and she led me through about 4 exercises on the reformer (pictured at left). I had to admit it was hurting my lower back to just lie so flat on it. Right away I noticed it was my lacy underpants that were pressing into the skin of my butt causing the pain -OMG can you believe it? The instructor confirmed that you need to choose your clothing wisely for comfort. Note to self - there are clothes for this - time to hit my local Target. Grin.
On this rainy Saturday morning I actually attended my first class - class size limited to 4 since the studio is petite and there are just 4 reformers. Hey - it went well! My secret weapon was a thong under my leggings - Ha! I even caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror a few times and thought I didn't look like total blob or anything. I didn't keep absolute pace with the class but I felt good about my capabilities and about the fact that I didn't do anything embarrassing during the hour. The instructor was awesome and knowing I was new she gave me enough attention to ensure my form was good. I really do want to ensure I'm doing the exercises with good form; otherwise, what's the point? Now I'll go on-line and sign-up for classes that will fit into my schedule to keep this going.

Adele

My current musical obsession is Adele. Truth be told I've loved her since her first album came out - Adele 19. My kids gave it to me for Christmas and honestly, every song is fantastic. Now she is about to release her second album, Adele 21. This tune - Rolling In The Deep is the early single that has been released ahead of the album. It may be here best song yet. Anyway - enjoy the fantastic vocals of Adele, playing here, and in my head at any given time. Ha!
P.S. I particularly like this studio footage - not the officially released video production of the tune - which is also quite good.

Help - to aid, assist, improve

That's my one word for 2011. I feel like it was just handed to me - literally popped in my head. Funny. I had been thinking on this idea since hearing of this at the beginning of the year. Instead of creating these New Year's resolutions that almost always fail, this idea is to have a guiding word for the year. http://myoneword.org/ You can find out more on the web site. I thought and thought on this and even got down to a "short list" of three words. Help wasn't even on the short list. Then just as I was going to put a stake in the ground and record my one word officially - help popped into thought. I pondered it briefly, referred to Dictionary.com and new instantly that it was my 2011 word. I love how simple it is. I love how I can use it as a lens to examine what I do at home, at work, with friends and in the community.

I'm really not "that girl"; not the first to say - How can I help? Admittedly, I avoid asking that question and opt instead to offer up something I wouldn't mind doing, something that limits my getting too involved in situations where it is obvious that help is needed. What am I afraid of? This is going to seriously stretch my comfort zone, open up new opportunities to develop deeper relationships, and benefit others. I have friends and life is pretty comfortable in my little corner of the world, but the person I want to become is helpful. Imagine if that is the first thing that came to mind when someone thought of you. ...Oh yes, I know her; she's so helpful. I'm stoked!