Twitter

Ok I joined Twitter. Why? Well mainly because the Yarn Harlot is on Twitter. Yes I am a shameless Yarn Harlot stalker. I'm TracyA99 on there so find me. Right now I don't have very many things to follow.

Another Review

Empty Womb, Aching Heart: Hope and Help for Those Struggling With Infertility by Marlo Schalesky

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I related a lot to what was said in this book. I cried through some of the stories as the questions raised hit home for me. I do think that some people could be turned off by the last story in this book. I know it was trying to convey another story about how God can make you a mother but I think the lesbian piece of it could cause controversy depending on your specific beliefs. Otherwise, I have no complaints.


View all my reviews.

A book review

I just read The Shack by William P. Young. There is a website set up for it here. I found the book very moving. I will admit I knew a little bit about the book before reading it as I heard a sermon on the book at a local church. So I went into the book with high expectations. I knew it was fiction and I knew that it wouldn't solve all my problems. But I felt like I could relate to the main character a little bit. Mack is a father who loses his 6 year old daughter in an extremely brutal way. He has a lot of anger. I have a lot of anger. I am still anger about the miscarriage and I am angry about dealing with infertility on top of all of that. So I was hoping to get something out of this book to help me let go of some of my anger.

All in all the book was good. There were moments I cried when the characters said things that I totally felt. Like when Mack said he felt so lost. I just started crying because I have said that same thing myself. But there were other times when the story was too predictable and I remembered it was just fiction. It did give me another perspective and helped me with my anger. I am still angry but I feel like I can talk to God more directly about it. I just started reading Empty Womb, Aching Heart by Marlo Schalesy. It is a series of short true stories of women and families dealing with fertility issues and their own faith journey with God. I think reading The Shack made me more open to reading this book. Before I think I would have been to angry to read their stories.

So should you read The Shack? I think so. I think even if you haven't had a horrible tragedy this it is a new look on God. I was taken back at first by the way God was written in the book. I found Jesus a much easier character to accept but I think the characters were written that way to get the story across. Even if you aren't a Christian or do not believe in God, this book is a good story and an interesting work of fiction.

My first pattern

I recently made a sweater for my friend's daughter and had a bit of yarn left over. I decided to make a head band to go with sweater. The lace pattern is a chevron lace pattern adapted to be used in the round. Here is my attempt at writing up the pattern:

Lace Head Band

Child size

Lace Pattern (worked on 11 sts)

Round 1: Knit all stitches

Round 2: K3, K2tog, yo, K1, yo, SSK, K3

Round 3: Knit all stitches

Round 4: K2, K2tog, yo, K3, yo, SSK, K2

Round 5: Knit all stitches

Round 6: K1, K2tog, yo, K5, yo SSK, K1

Round 7: Knit all stitches

Round 8: K2tog, yo, K7, yo, SSK

Gauge: 5 stitches per inch in stockenitte on US 5

This pattern is easy to adjust in size by adding or decreasing a lace repeat.

Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Wildflower DK (took less then a ¼ skein)

Needle: Size US 5 circular for magic loop

Cast on in multiples of 11. For a child size to fit a 6 -12 month old, I cast on 77 sts (so 7 pattern repeats.) Hint: Place marker after every 11 sts.

Cast on and join in round being careful not to twist.

Round 1: (worked on 77 sts) [K2, P2] repeat until last st, K1

Round 2: repeat round 1

Lace pattern (worked over 77 sts)

Round 11: repeat round 1

Round 12: repeat round 2

Cast off loosely

Weave in ends

Copyright 2009 by Tracy Adams (tracy99)

Here is a picture of the finished product (I'll have to get a shot on a child soon):

Rose Bowl Parade

Some pictures from the parade:

Fly over by a bomber (B2 I think)

The blue band:

I have a lot more pictures. I put them out in a web album with picasa. I am going to try to figure out how to link to the web album from the blog. Stay tuned.


Ok got the web album page. Fingers crossed that works. Tons of pictures in there. A lot that aren't all that great but I figured I'd share them all instead of trying to pic and choose.

Happy New Year!

Yes I know. I haven't posted in weeks. Sorry about that. My holidays were pretty good. I got some cool stuff for Christmas including a new camera which is awesome. I will work on putting some pictures up this weekend. The hubby and I went to the Rose Bowl where Penn State preceded to dominate USC for 3 out of the 4 quarters. Too bad we had to count that 2nd quarter or else we would have won. Totally worth the trip anyway.

I have only made one new year's resolution and that is to put myself first. Hopefully this will help me to focus on what is important to me and declutter my life and help my sanity. :-)