2 be Bliss, as I dance along the road to Nirvana...

. Yep, that's what I've been doing for the past month or so. It's been fun as well as a learning experience for me. I've been crocheting for over 30 years and for most of that time, I've had an aversion to reading patterns. I'm not sure why. Many many years ago, I made a cardigan for a baby cousin. I don't recall any problems reading the pattern and the cardigan looked like a cardigan when I was done. But since then, I believe I've only made things I haven't needed patterns for. Until now. I don't remember how I came across Save the Children's "Knit One, Save One" campaign. After I read all the details, I decided I was gonna dive in and make some tiny little baby hats. Although I was told that I made a hat for the same baby who got the cardigan all those years ago, I don't remember making one. My first hat was flat panel that I stitched together and gathered at the crown. The idea of crocheting a circle was s...

A sista has been so busy that blogging has just fallen by the wayside for a bit. One of my cousins dragged me back to Facebook and I've been hanging out there for a while. lol I've also been hanging out on Ravelry.com, which I joined at the suggestion of a few members of one of the needlework groups I belong to. (Which now number three.) Of course we were busy getting ready for Christmas. I haven't celebrated by giving gifts in a while but this year I decided to change that. God is always helpful and it was evident on December 16 when I logged onto Walmart.com for a little browsing. The clearance section had a ton of stuff for $5 or less. I could not believe my eyes. So I ordered a bunch of stuff that I decided to give as Christmas gifts to my family and myself. Now, I've been know to take the occasional side trip into the Land of Expensive Things I Want But Don't Need. However, I am truly Frugal and Practical in my heart of hearts. Consequently, I ...

One of my favorite songs is "Fly Like an Eagle". The version by the Steve Miller Band was my favorite as a young girl. Today I love Seal's version as well. I don't know why I liked the song back in the 70s. But learning the lyrics all these years later has given me a real understanding of how I relate to the song. First, it's timeless. The requests -- or demands, depending on how you see it -- made in the song are eternal. Or seem to be. I'm guessing that babies have been hungry, children have been shoeless, and people have been homeless in every era known to human kind. And people have been asking for (or demanding) remedies to those ills since the conditions have existed. Secondly, it inspires me to action. I can't save the whole world but I know what I can do to help and I do my small part as often as I can. Lastly, the song also inspires me to transcend my current physical body for what lies beyond. It reminds me of dreams of flying and of e...

(my soundtrack: "Sunshine on My Shoulders" by John Denver) Mr. Bliss wears his exceptionally well and I'm jealous. Not that I would ever think of dying my gray hair, but it gets me kinda pissy that he was seven years old when I was born and his gray hair is almost invisible. Mine seems to sprout in the wee hours, while I'm doing laundry or blogging. He also looks really young, that Mr. Bliss. He's welcoming 50 with open arms but his face could be mistaken for late 30s. No joke. I saw a picture of him taken when he was 25. He looked 15. Seriously. So I know his momma dyes her hair. But she still has a lot of it at 70+. (And everyone already knows she's best friends with Miss Clairol so I'm not revealing any secrets.) When Father-in-law Bliss died at 74, he had a head full of thick silky strands of silver with a whole lot of coal black still visible. And he didn't look a minute older than 60 or so. Now I'm not hating cuz my family has...