My Big Weekends

Most of you are getting ready for Halloween. I can't stand the day, so I try to ignore it. Since my grandchildren live in other states--I can do that. But I am looking forward to this weekend and nest weekend. In a big way!

It's the PBR Finals!!!!

These riders are the top 3 riders in the world going into the 7 days of finals. But anything can happen and it usually does.

My poor family is kicked off the TV when the Finals are on and since it's once a year, they usually don't complain!

If you need to call me--don't do it when the finals are on TV. I will be busy crocheting and doing commentary from my recliner!

You can watch too. It's on VERSUS Network.

I finally got a roll!

Since I got my 10th crochet hook, I have wanted to have a hook roll for them. I didn't want to spend the money to buy one. The one I crocheted was not a success-everything kept falling though it, which defeated the purpose.

One of my sisters made THREE for me.

I love them!!

This one is to carry in my purse.

These are what I took out of my purse, but I have found a few more since I took the picture. It will hold regular and long hooks.

This one is to store the LONG hooks.

This list the one I laughed at.

It has 26 pockets, 1 1/2 inches wide each. That makes it

R E A L L Y L O N G ! ! !

If you look you can see that it's folded over twice before it's rolled up.

Here it starts at the foot of our bed and goes almost to the pillows! No, it's not full--yet!

But I haven't found all the hooks I own yet.

And since I have room, I will probably find a few more to buy or inherit or whatever. So if you have hooks you can't store. . .

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Let's start with the cost. Remember that I bought enough Soda & Borax to last for a long time. When you read the recipe you will understand. (just ignore the erasers I got on the same trip)

Powdered Laundry Detergent (Top load machine)

1 Fels-Naptha soap bar

1 Cup Washing Soda

½ Cup Borax

-Grate soap or break into pieces and process in a food processor until powdered. Mix all ingredients.

For light load, use 1 Tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 Tablespoons. Yields: 3 Cups detergent. (Approx. 40 loads)

Other recipes for detergents and things can be found at: http://www.duggarfamily.com/recipes.html

Not all stores carry WASHING SODA (not BAKING soda). This will be located with the laundry items, probably right next to the Borax. If your regular grocery doesn't have it, then make some phone calls to find out who does have it-save yourself a headache and the gas!

Most stores will carry the Fels-Naptha soap, or something like it, also in the laundry area. Smell the bar through the paper wrapping if you want to. To me it just smells of a basic "clean". If you don't like the smell, you won't like the smell of your clothes. You can also use ZOTE SOAP instead.

This is how the finished product looks. The yellowish is the Fels-Naptha. I still have to figure out how to get it more powdery than this. As you can see there are still some small chunks of yellow.

I put a ONE TABLESPOON measure into the old butter container I used so that everyone knows how much to use. I also wrote it in marker on the top!

Remember-This was a double batch.

Grating & getting the Fels-Naptha soap into a powdered form is the only work on this. The rest is just mixing. I used my food processor-grating the bar itself & then using the blade to get it as small as possible.

You will not need FABRIC SOFTENER with this. Today I washed a fleece blanket and when it came out of the dryer there was no static. I haven't used the softener sheets for a long time just to eliminate the cost. But if you decide you want to use it anyway, there are some recipes for fabric softener on the same page (http://www.duggarfamily.com/recipes.html).

If you do this, please share with me the results.

Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef --Reposting

I have seen pictures of the wonders of scuba diving in places like the Great Barrier Reef and other coral reef areas. They are beautiful. But in reality, there is no way I will be doing any scuba diving; anywhere! My son has had the opportunity to become certified in scuba diving, but that's probably as close as I will get to actually doing it.

One of the reasons that people give for not doing crochet is that they don't know how to make it form the object they desire. Well, I suppose the INSTITUTE FOR FIGURING is taking that to a new level. They have created a CROCHETED display of a coral reef that is FANTASTIC! If I lived close to where it was being displayed, I would go.



It will be in Scottsdale, Arizona from April - July 2009!! And I get to help!!

When you look at the individual items that are in the display, each one will fascinate you! But to know how to put them together in a way that really looks like a part of nature is just astounding. I found myself just looking at the pictures over and over; wanting to touch them and see how they were made. WOW!!

Most people don’t understand that it takes math to create a pattern in yarn; crocheting or knitting! You need to be able to understand how many stitches it take to create the pattern and then decide how many times to repeat that pattern and how many stitches you need to add in order to work the first row as you create the stitch.

For instance, a pattern may say something like this; 3+2 (or) 12+3. You need to know what that means and how to use that information. Now I can tell people that I do higher math when I spend so much time on my crochet.

• Yarn is just my paper for doing calculations.
• I need more hooks so I never run out of “pencil leads”.
• Buying crochet magazines is just finding new calculations to practice.
• Crochet books are just my sources for answering questions and learning new stitches to work my calculations.
• The time I spend sitting and crocheting is just expanding my brainpower in mathematics.

I suppose there is a valid argument here for putting mathematical crochet in school curriculum! They already have orchestra and band – which both use math; and drama – which only uses math for creating the sets. So why not have a math/crochet class? They could make things for charity. Even better it could be used for helping the angry students learn to relax. Since it has been proven to help relieve stress, why not use it for those kids who are the difficult ones?

What about putting crochet into business? It could be a team builder. It could help to lessen the stress-related problems for almost all types of businesses. If your employees are going to take time to goof off, let crochet be an acceptable way to kick back for 30 minutes. I could continue to bore everyone that doesn’t crochet with all the ways it could be put into everyone’s life . . . but I won’t.

Just know that I will be happy to help anyone learn to crochet and if you stick with it, you will find that you have less stress in your life! That is worth working for!

Thoughts on Crochet

I just love crochet! There are so many satisfying things to make and so many colors to play with. I guess that's what my relationship with crochet is about, so I could just stop here.

But, you know me! I don't stop just because I can. I wouldn't be as irritating to some of you if I did that, so I'll continue.

I have said for many years that everyone needs to have some kind of "hobby" they can do just because they want to. For me it all began as a way to deal with panic attacks and Chronic Fatigue. I started with Cross Stitch (still do a little) and then switched to crochet. Both helped satisfy an intense need for color and kept my hands busy when my body could hardly move.

It has taken a long time for me to get decent at it, but now I feel like I can give something I've made and not have to make excuses about it. I think one of the most satisfying things I have done is to make the little nests for wildlife rehabilitation. Those fuzzy little things don't care what color I use or if it looks nice enough to show anyone. They just love having them.

I read that knitting and crochet are now used to help deal with stress. I think that's great and agree with them.

Now we don't need to make as many items for ourselves as they did in years past, but why lose the art of stress-relief? Or the art of creating something with your own hands? Or giving the gift of time to yourself or others, by making them a one of a kind creation. They may not realize it, but when you give something you have put hours/days/weeks into, you are really giving a piece of yourself when you give it to someone.

And it's a great feeling. Now my fingers are itching for some yarn and a hook. Let's see, where is the afghan for my teenager? . . .