Safra-Knit

There have been many songs from the 80s appearing on the radio stations that I listen to (mostly 88fm–coincidentally when I just went to find the link they were playing “Don’t you want me” ).

When I heard Nik Kershaw on the radio, it made me think back to high school.  I grew up in a small town, and “non-standard” music (anything other than Rock and Roll) wasn’t easy to come by.  New Wave music, or anything other than top 40 was hard to find, and also hard to find people who enjoyed it.  I remember trying to buy a Marillion album during the brief time that there was a music store  in Cobleskill, and I tried special ordering it a few times before I gave up. 

Senior year I remember two music related incidents that really showed what the situation was.  One was that I went to see Howard Jones in concert at RPI, and Marshall Crenshaw opened for him.  When I told people who I was going to see, nobody had heard of him.  Then one time I brought a walkman with a tape of James Taylor, and other than the teacher commenting in the positive, those around me laughed at me.

I wonder how things would have played out for me had I lived in a different place.  Would I have become more involved with this kind of music, or would I just have hunted for something else not mainstream.  In college I did like the alternative Rock station (WICB) more than the Album Oriented Rock station.

And I still don’t own a Marillion album.

I’m home with a cold today, and have spent the day watching Private Practice (and one episode of Bones), while knitting away.  I’m currently working on a cowl for my dad, made with Plymouth Encore, in a lovely blue, which has hints of a purple-ish red in it.  After working on that for a while, I started a convertible mitten pattern with some stash bulky acrylic.  I made it a bit too small for me, but it would work for a larger child (pre-teen maybe).  The colors for that are blue/white beige.  They look pretty good.  I stopped right before the thumb, so I’ in danger of not completing it.  Hopefully I’ll work on it later.

Off the needles: I completed another soldier hat, time to get them delivered!

My third letter for 52 letters wasn’t what I expected.  I was planning on writing to my Aunt, but then I found out a friend was leaving Israel for the US, in what could be an extended stay.  She is an amazing person, and her daughter and my eldest are friends.  They had a going away gathering last night, and asked everyone to write up something.  I decided that counted as a letter.  Unfortunately, my three year old, got hold of the paper and scribbled all over it, so I had to write it twice.  There were lots of tears at the gathering.  I’ll really miss her, but I realize that she must go to the US at this point in her life.

Nearly time to pick up the girls…it was a relaxing sick day…tomorrow I’ll use the drugs at work to keep me going.

I’ve made it through week two of 52 Weeks, 52 letters…I sent a letter to my Uncle, which included pictures from our trip to Prague.  He isn’t someone with internet access, so I know he will appreciate it. 

As far as knitting has gone, I knitted my "sandwich girl" a thumb  guard to help her stop sucking her thumb, and as would be expected, it was lost after one day.  I’m making her a new one, that has a "bracelet" attached, so it will be harder to lose.  It is made from a fine light brown wool, so it isn’t too obvious looking, but won’t be worth sucking on.  It is her decision to try this out…

The big girl got her first pair of glasses last week.  There is a bit of a saga brewing with her eyes, but the most important part now, is that she can see from a distance, and she looks beautiful in the glasses.  As for the saga, that deserves a post of it’s own.

My other "on the needles" projects are a cowl for my dad (which I’m not sure I like) and a soldier hat.  I’d like to finish them both quickly so I can move on to something else. I guess I should pick the something else now…  There was an amazing pattern in the new Knitty magazine.  It is a cape with a belt.  Gorgeous!  I’ll have to think about this one…need to consult my knitting wizards to see if my yarn will work for it…

That’s it for now…three posts this year…doing good.

Letter number one has been written, sealed, addressed and is just waiting for the stamp. (I don’t even know how much an international first class stamp costs in Israel!).  The letter is going to the “madrich” (group leader) from my first trip to Israel.  This trip was way back in 1985, and I’m in touch with close to a half dozen..maybe more people from that trip.

The group leader is a doctor, with a common name, so he wasn’t so easy to find, but Google saved the day!  Unfortunately I only found an office address, but that is better than nothing!

I’ll let you all know if I hear back from him.

Technorati Tags: israel, azyf, 52letters

And because writing a letter every week isn’t enough activity for me, I’ve decided to join in Pay it Forward 2011.  This is where 5 people comment on your Facebook status and they receive something handmade by you.  It can be anything as long as it is handmade.  I have no idea what I’m going to make for the people on my list, but I figure I can test out crafts I’ve never done, or knit things that I’ve wanted to try, but don’t want for myself…

I’ve also sat down and made a list of what I want to knit during the coming year. This should help me from finding myself stuck without a project to work on.  I’ll go through the list another time, but one of the items on it is 12 washcloths…one for each month.  Also I want to make three soldier hats.  I just finished a washcloth and have a soldier hat in progress….. I also have another washcloth in progress, but it is my "filler project."  I do two or three rows when I finish another project.

Oh my…this is great and scary at the same time.  On the Non-consumer Advocate Blog, she has created a challenge to write 52 letters during 2011!  I think this is a great idea.  Here is the summary:

 “One piece of “real” mail sent out each week. It can be a letter, a postcard, a care package, a thank you note, handmade art, etc. I’m searching for all of the cards and stationary I have collected over the years and gathering them into one place with pens, envelopes (regular & padded), lots of stamps (.28 & .44), a glue stick, unlined index cards (great for making postcards), and a few USPS Small Flat Rate boxes. Oh, and I’m updating my address book.”

This is something I’d like to do.  I’m going to try, because I still have some family without email, and I have a few people that I’d like to write to…I mean really write…(if they can handle my handwriting.)  For the difficult weeks, I can always send out a card with one of my completed knitting projects.  Wish me luck!

My biggest hobbies lately have been knitting and streaming TV shows.  I’ve worked my way through House and Glee, and am now working on Bones.  I’m trying to combine this with knitting, because then I feel I am accomplishing something.

I’ve been working on an amazing project created by a fellow Israeli-knitter named Galia.  It is a bandana like scarf called Baana, and you can find it on Ravelry.  I’ve gotten far, but because of the restrictions on knitting during the 9 days, I’m working on a project to be donated, instead of my regular projects.  I just finished off a soldier hat for the Israeli soliders.  Previously, while making a sample fingerless glove for a friend, I ended up with a pair of fingerless gloves to be donated, so now I’m starting a hat.  It isn’t anything exciting, just a basic rib brim  with a bit of a swirl of purls going through it.  I’ll put up a picture when I’m finished.  The yarn was left over from a previous mitzvah project, so I don’t feel I can use it for anything else other than a donation.

My next project to start will be a market bag for mom.  She taught me to knit, yet she hasn’t been a recipient of any of my knitting.  I’ve already made myself one, and it was a nice project.  Especially good to work on in the summer, because it is cotton, and light weight.

I’m trying to get back…back in shape, back to blogging etc….  I think sometimes putting it in print is the best way to start (even if my readership is probably somewhere between two and four people.)

Since I stopped nursing my youngest, I have gained some weight…and the question about my tummy is never of the “do you need to lose weight?” variety.  So, I’ve started taking some “power walks” in the evenings.  I’ve been walking about 2.5 miles (around 5000 steps) in 45 minutes around the neighborhood.  I’ve done this about 2 times a week for about 3 weeks.  I also walk my eldest to school on Fridays, and have the little one in the stroller during that time.  Not as fast a pace, but definitely excercise.

I’m also trying to cut down on eating junk.  My method isn’t great, but if it isn’t something that truly interests me, or if it is late evening, I won’t eat it.  I’m not stopping to buy Reeses Peanutbutter Cups, but only eating one at a time, not three in one sitting.

I’m also trying to drink more water, which is not something that comes natural to me.  This is sometimes harder than exercising.

In other news, I’ve started a great new knitting project.  It is called Baana and was designed by a local, Israeli knitter.  The yarn I’m using was given to me in a swap, and is mostly brown with some orangy-yellow and turquoise.  I like how it is coming out, but it is going to take me some time.  I knit while watching my two new online addictions….House and Glee.  Definitely a contrast between the two shows, but both are fun for me.

And now to do my nightly knitting and viewing….

I need to get back into blogging…I think the best way is to start with some news clips….

 I enjoy listening to talk radio in Israel.  It helps me work on my Hebrew, and there is always something new to learn.

 Today on Reshet Aleph, there was a show about the image of "Russian Speakers" in Israel.  The panel included a member of the Knesset, and some journalists.  (I"m having problems with their website, so I can’t get the names of the other participants.)  The main issues were how Russian speakers (since most aren’t from Russia, but Ukraine, Lithuania, Ukraine, this is the proper address for them) are pigeonholed in negative ways.  For example when there was a horrendous murder of a (Russian Speaking) family, the first assumption was that it was connected to the Russian Mafia.  The truth was that it was just a disgruntled former employee with a big grudge.

They also spoke about how having an accent can prevent you from getting television show spots…despite being attractive, intelligent etc..   It was very interesting.  The one place where an accent works is the weather reports…there is an Anglo man who has been reporting the weather on the radio forever.  Also there are some rather annoying radio spots with both a fake Russian and fake American accent…painful to listen to both!

Anyway, this is just an example of one of the shows…I’ll share more in the future…

We had a wonderful vacation during Hanukkah.  I had three days of vacation saved up, the girls had the whole week off (more or less) and hubby got us a room at a "zimmer" sort of a cabin type place) in the Golan Heights.  Since we’ve only had a car for a little more than a year, we haven’t done much traveling.  This was our first "overnight" not staying at a friend’s home.  And we haven’t really done that since #3 was born,. (BTW..she just turned two.)

 The selection of the Golan at Hanukkah is a bit illogical…most people go south where it is warm in the winter..not north where the rain is falling, but it was a great decision.  The way up was beautiful…the weather was overcast but dry, and we took Route 90 which runs along the Eastern border with Jordan. 

 Our first stop was Gan Garoo…an Australian Park.  We even were able to feed and pet the Kangaroos!  It is run by Kibbutz Nir David, outside of Beit Shean.  Beit Shean is the home of Felafel Zahava (oft mentioned in the blog world).  Everything there was great…except for the Peacock who nearly drove my little one mad!  He was big and kept trying to pick up her crumbs.  No matter how much she shouted Peacock go away, he kept coming!  I have a video of it, but I haven’t had the time to upload it yet.

 More info in future posts…