New WIM's!!

I bought the new Family Circle Easy Crochet magazine last Friday evening. And do I ever love it! There are modern twists/yarns to vintage 70's patterns, really pretty fall fashions that would be great for work or going out, a section on felting and some cute little kids patterns too.

I'm thinking of crocheting this one first ("A Fine Romance"):



I like the look of the Patons Pooch yarn, however I have to feel it myself to see if I really want to use it. Since it's calling for a bulky weight yarn, I might even use some black boucle I bought at the Patons sale in Listowel.


Next up is the one called "Border Patrol". I figure it would be great for the office and to wear to church. Not too sure I like the look of the Patons Mosaic yarn though. I have got to find something else in my stash for this instead.




For something fun, I thought about "Floral Sense". Cute capelet isn't it? Another bulky yarn here, which is good 'cause I have tons in my stash. I really love this colour thorugh. What might deter me is the picot edging and we know how I feel about those... There's also a hat to match which is adorable, but I'm not much of a hat person. They don't suit me much.




This coat also looks so warm & cozy and it's aptly called "Comfy & Cozy". This one's done in Patons Bohemian but I think I might have some Lionbrand Homespun in nice autumn colours that would do the trick. Now I don't know how warm it would be in the v-stitch though. Would it look to holey?



So, have I tempted you enough to buy this magazine yet? I must say, I like it much better than some of the other crochet mags I've seen out there lately. JMHO. :-)

Take the Canadian Quiz

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/special/canquiz2005/

I scored 17 out of 20:
Excellent! Are you sure you didn't write
"What Canadians Think About Almost Everything?"

Yah, right. It just means I pay attention to the news, read Maclean's or Canadian Living magazines once in a while (while on the subway ride to & from work of course) & sometimes give The Globe & Mail or The Toronto Star a passing thought when I have time. I am a Proud Canadian though and I really can't think of a better to place to live. We have it all, although we certainly take it for granted. That's for sure, eh? (Had to throw that in.)

Anyhow, I figure 17 out of 20 is a pretty good score for someone coming from Toronto, where we supposedly only think about ourselves and think we're on some high horse! LOL!! Believe it or not, I get that all the time during various phone conversations at work with associates from around Canada. The worst of it comes from Alberta or the East Coast. Trust me, I'd rather be elsewhere than here on many many many occasions!!!! People may think we're snobby here, but we're really not. Especially if you come from the burbs like I do. Those few who show no manners or seemingly act snobbish just make the rest of us look bad. Anyway, I think the same can be said about any big city...the hustle & bustle and stress of big city living just takes over. Myself, I'm trying to do less of that these days although it seems a constant battle....(and I'm not usually winning either.)

Charitable Thoughts

Even with my hectic life & schedule (which is about to get worse with the boys' swimming classes & Demetri's skating classes starting AND back to work on Monday after two glorious & refreshing weeks off), I think about doing more for charity than I already do. Through my crochet work, I already support Warming Families, Heartmade Blessings & Angels For Hope, PLUS I constantly declutter & purge & donate what I can out of my home, and support charities such as the United Way, the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation and The Robert & Maggie Bras and Family New Drug Development Program. However, I still feel the need to do more especially after the events of the past couple of weeks. I guess it's human nature to feel the need to do more when disaster strikes, even so far away as in the Gulf Coast states of the U.S. Hurricane Katrina really did a number out there.

A couple of days after Katrina's landfall, I thought about the Greek Orthodox population in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and how they, the churches and the parishes were faring. (I'm of Greek heritage, first generation born here in Canada, and an Eastern Orthodox Christian.) So, I surfed to the website of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and soon found myself in the message forums reading about the hurricane news & relief efforts. I then got directed to the site of the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) and found myself reading about assembling Health kits, making donations & other relief efforts. I was then excited to find out that Shopper's Drug Mart had tubes of toothpaste on sale for 58 cents each. I knew I could buy 6-packs of toothbrushes & nail clippers at Home Hardware for next to nothing. So after I picked up Demetri from his first day at school, we went to the mall and I spent less than $10 on the beginnings of 6 new health kits. I had lots of extra glycerin soaps at home that I was saving for the guest washroom (and were being used oh-so-slowly). I also had tons of large zipper closure bags. My mind started to race. Plans were being formed to visit the nearest dollar store & purchase the rest of the items. I posted to the forum asking how to send directly to parishes affected and in need. (The response was to send to the Church World Service / IOCC and they will distribute...click here for the post -- near the bottom of the page -- however please see Presbytera Brenda's reply on the next page as well.) So, I continued to make plans. I was going to contact friends and have a health kit assembling party of sorts. I was getting excited. I was on a roll. I felt I was fulfulling my philanthropic, Christian and brotherly/sisterly duty.....

And then some personal financial woes hit. I forgot about my ambitions for a couple of days. Then I saw the bag with all the health kit stuff in it. I thought I could still go ahead with my plans, but then I realized that it now made no sense to spend so much money on what would become atrocious shipping costs from here to the U.S. I felt so saddened by this reality check, however, my mind started to work again and I thought about trying to find something more local. I checked the website of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto (Canada) and to my surprise I didn't come across anything regarding relief donations for Katrina victims. So, I will now check with my parish priest and see if our church has organized anything (I haven't been to church in a while, shame on me). If not, then I'll send a monetary donation to an organization I deem appropriate when that time comes. I now find this whole thing a bit frustrating, but I guess if I had kept my ambitions a little more low-key to start with, I wouldn't have encountered these little stumbling blocks which have been somewhat educational as well.