Crafternoon: Winter Knitting

I was reminded of my love for knitting during a girls’ weekend in St. Louis.  Both of my friends had adorable knitting projects for their babies and I thought about how much I love the soothing sounds of clicking knitting needles and the benefits of having something to do with my hands after dinner to help me stop snacking on holiday M&Ms.

I can really only make scarves, but I have made some real winners!  I made a scarf for T when we first started dating and I didn’t buy enough yarn and quickly ran out, leaving a tiny half scarf.  He said it was perfect, which was sweet.  I have a scarf that I wear almost every day in the winter that gets me compliments every now and again, most recently at an art museum which felt extra nice!

So after my St. Louis inspiration, I was reading Krysten Ritter’s interview in Women’s Health (librarian plug: read your magazines for free using your library’s eMagazine services! Lots of libraries subscribe to services like this!).  She talked about how much she loves to knit and that she creates patterns for the company We Are Knitters and I thought, this is a sign!

I went to the website and ordered a couple of kits.  I like taking the guesswork out of what needles I should get, or what kind of yarn will work.  I also like the helpful videos and modern designs!  A lot of them are easy too, or at least that is the promise!  I have been loving these crafternoons and crafterevenings, working on a purple scarf while watching reruns of The Office, I can’t say I have slowed down on the M&Ms though!

(img by T)

 

I’m loving: Mrs. Maisel and Mrs. Tatum

My most recent TV binge was The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime.  Lots of people have been loving it and I will chime and say that I love it and you should get on board!

Yes, it has all the fast-talk that you love/loathe from Amy Sherman-Palladino, and if that is not your thing than it might be too much for you.  But I say give it a shot anyway! It is funny, charming, has a great lead (Rachael Brosnahan who was criminally underused in House of Cards), a great supporting cast (I will follow Tony Shalhoub anywhere!) and the costumes!!!

I also have been loving Jenna Dewan Tatum’s new YouTube channel.

I love JDT for many reasons.  I loved her cancelled too-soon show about playboy bunnies and the one when she was a witch in Eastwick.  I love that she started the beloved Step Up franchise.  I love that she was, by far, the best performer on Lip Sync battle.  And now she has a YouTube channel!

Come for the “mom snack” ideas and stay for the dancing videos! WordPress is breaking my heart and not letting me embed YouTube videos anymore so please click on the link to see JDT dancing to one of my favorite driving jams, Portugal. The Man’s Feel it Still.

I want to live in a world where we get a dance video from JDT, don’t you??

 

 

Top 5: Newbery winners

Hello there!

I want to start making some quick top five lists and thought I’d start with Newbery winners since they are on my mind!

We started Nerdbery this week at school, which is where the school tries to work together and read all of the Newbery winners going back 50 years.  I am excited because the kids are exited!  Half of the books are already checked out.  Here are my favorites:

 

One of the many reasons why I love doing this challenge is that it forces me to go outside of my reading bubble and try something new.  I have been on the record many times saying that I have a heart of stone when it comes to books about animals.  I have never really been into them, but Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH and The One and Only Ivan are two books that made me change my tune and I would have never read them without this challenge!

From the Mixed up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and The Westing Game are both classics that I have loved since childhood.  Probably because of the smart and young heroines!

The Crossover is my newest fave.  Kwame Alexander is an artist and his debut novel is perfection.  It has gotten so many kids through the library doors excited about books and reading because of this book and for that, I give him all of the awards!

 

wknd @ the zoo

I’ve said it once an I will say it again, winter is the best time to go to the zoo!  It is way less crowded and a lot of the animals are moving around a lot to stay warm.  The giraffe exhibit is my favorite stop, but only when they are walking around outside.  Not so much when they are in their (roomy) pens.

So I saw the giraffes walking around and it made me think a cute book I read recently

Yours Sincerely, Giraffe was translated from Japanese last year and has hit a lot of the best books for kids lists.  It is about a very bored giraffe who hires a pelican to deliver a letter to the first animal it sees beyond the horizon.  A penguin receives the letter and starts a correspondence with the giraffe, an animal he has never heard of before!

This book was funny and cute and would be a great read-aloud for Kindergarten and 1st grade and up!