Felt Like Knitting

Ten on Tuesday: Ten Things To Do At the Beach

                              Knitting on the beach at "Sharky's on the Pier"

Praise God - It never fails.  When I see the ocean, I realize again that the world is a very cool place and that God created it.  It's too easy to forget that when I am in my usual routine.

Knit - I take my knitting, of course!

Fly kites - One year we took our kites and that was great!  I keep meaning to pack them again...

Pick up shells - Some beaches are better for this than others or maybe it just depends on how close to the beach I'm staying.  If we have a condo on the beach, it's a lot easier to get there earlier.  

Sift sand for shark teeth - A lot of shark teeth can be found in Venice, FL.  My FIL has a basket on a pole that makes sifting easier.

Talk - We are usually with family at the beach, so we chat while we...

Sit in the sun -  I frequently stay in the shade of the umbrella, but sometimes it's nice to feel the warmth of the sun.

Eat - When we are at the beach at Sharky's, we have lunch there.

Go for walks - I love to walk on the beach with my family!  If there's a dog beach, that's even better.  It's so fun to see the dogs running into the water to retrieve balls.

Take photos - It's great to document our trips.  You won't ever see a picture of me that far out in the water.  :)

 

What are your favorite beach activities?  Head over to Carole's to share.

Mother Bear Project: Daniel

 

         
                       Mother Bear Knitting in the Round Seamless Pattern

Recently I've been listening to podcasts as I do my back exercises.  This makes the time pass much more quickly.  Mary recommended I listen to 2 Knit Lit Chicks, a mom and daughter podcast which is about knitting, books they've read and a bit about what's going on in their lives.  I've listened to a few podcasts (and enjoyed them a lot!) and joined their Ravelry group, where they are encouraging people to make bears for the Mother Bear Project.

I had seen the Mother Bear Project website before, but for some reason it really grabbed my attention this time.  I felt compelled to knit a bear and now that I've made one I can say that it won't be my last.  I'm calling this one Daniel in honor of my youngest brother.  

I just love this photo!  (My brother claims to hate it.)  I can't decide which one I like best, so here's the other.  Wasn't he a cute kid?! 

It's tempting to make a straw hat for Daniel Bear, but I think my time would be better spent making another bear.  That bear will be his square dancing partner.

If you have a few hours and some leftover worsted weight yarn, please consider making a Mother Bear.  It's a lot of fun and you'll be spreading some love to a child who needs it.

Social Media - How much is too much?

When I was a teenager, I was afraid of being old.  Now that I'm closer to being old :), I am doing more things to try to stay young and current.  Keeping up with social media is a great example.  

Recently I started thinking about Twitter.  Each night during the Olympics, Ryan Seacrest gave a social media update.  I wondered if Twitter was really that big or if NBC was just looking for something to add to their coverage.  So I dusted off my Twitter account and enabled notifications so I could see tweets on my phone.  Yes, Twitter really is that big.

Now that I'm tweeting, I'm wondering how much social media is too much.  I recently took stock of my social media connections:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Ravelry
• Pinterest
• Instagram
• Typepad blog and Google Reader
• Google+ (just joined)
• Yelp (although I don't routinely use it)
• LinkedIn (again, I don't use it much)
• MySpace (haven't signed on in months)
• YouTube (haven't signed on in months)
• Skype (Does this count as social media?)
• Grooveshark (Haven't used in a long time.)
• Flickr
• goodreads
• SeamedUP (like Ravelry for quilters)
• Yahoo groups (don't use any more)
• Texting
• Good ole email

Whew!  A person could spend all day connecting with other people.

What do you think?  Is it better to pick a few social media outlets and use those a lot?  Or is it better to have a presence in many of them and use them each a little?

Please excuse me while I check my Twitter feed...

Olympics Withdrawal

I'm missing the Olympics.  As you can tell from my absence here, I was really wrapped up in them.  I've watched more TV the last few weeks than all the last year combined.  And now I don't know what to do with myself.  :)  Okay, that's not exactly true, but I am feeling myself reaching for the remote and my knitting then remembering there's nothing on to watch.

I participated in the Ravellenic Games and that's why I watched so much TV.  I wanted to knit as many hats as I could for 7 Bridges to Recovery and I ended up with ten (plus one that I knew wouldn't be done in time).  I also knitted a pair of mitts for Emma because she was going to buy some on Etsy.  No way was that going to happen!  And I frogged two projects.

But now I need to catch up on emails, blogs, etc.  It's too bad there isn't enough time in a day to do everything I want to do!  I'm looking forward to reading your blogs to see what you've been up to!