I still need to weave in the ends and attach the buttons, but I think I can finally label this long-standing project as “complete.”
About a year ago, I ordered myself to stop buying new yarn until I work through at least the larger part of the sizeable stash I amassed. This cardi answered the challenge, being made 100% from yarn I already had.
For the body, I used Leonardo yarn by Ice Yarns. It looks like they’re out of the color I used, Ecru, but I’m including the link so you can see the specs. It’s a single-ply DK weight yarn composed of 66% merino wool and 34% organic cotton, which makes it 100% biodegradable. The cotton addition also creates a slightly cooler and crisper yarn than 100% merino, which is perfect for a warm-climate area like ours.
You know I love sharing my experiences on working with different yarns, so here goes. The Leonardo is fairly soft; not as soft as Malabrigo yarns, but still feels nice and not scratchy/itchy. It has nice traction on the hook. It also has a slight halo, which makes for middling stitch definition and a real pain to unravel your work if you discover you made a mistake.
The border is made with 100% wool DK self-striping yarn I bought once on eBay, but I can’t find the link/company right now.
I’m off to choose buttons for my cozy new cardi, store it until next winter, and move on to summer projects now.
I’ve always had some difficulty with the well-known rabbinical opinion that Israel is the safest place for Jews. Living in Israel has an element of instability that’s hard to ignore.
Yet now, with antisemitism rearing its ugly head all over the world, I’ve had to reassess. From what I understand by browsing social media and communicating with friends who live abroad, Jews outside Israel feel the rug being pulled from under their feet.
Socially, today Israel is definitely safest for Jews. It’s about the only place in the world where we don’t have to deal with any restrictions in practicing our faith or contemplate hiding our identity. Politically, that’s another story. Many people are displaced and/or living under constant threat.
But the danger and instability in our world are by no means limited to Jews or Israel alone. Deranged and destructive mobs are sweeping over major cities, seeking to sabotage peace, order, culture, freedom, prosperity, and everything else humanity has been working for throughout hundreds of years. If they win, the world gets thrown back into the Middle Ages.
I believe that when the present is scary and the future seems bleak, the only thing that can, practically, give us more safety is a resilient community. For Jews, that’s either Israel or an area abroad with a population that has shown overwhelming support for the Jewish people.
If you aren’t Jewish, I’d still look for a close-knit community of people with a strong moral compass and robust survival skills. Personal weapons are good to have too. Most of the civil unrest seems to be going on in densely populated urban areas, so small towns and the countryside may be safer in the long run. If I lived outside Israel and had the resources, I may have considered investing in a long-term bug-out location.
I hope we all get see a safer world someday soon. In the meantime, I’m taking a little mental vacation by working on my fiction projects. I’m pleased to announce that my newest elemental fantasy novel, Cursed Earth, is now available for preorder. I’m also writing the sequel right now.
May we all get to see a safer world someday soon. In the meantime, take care.
I’m writing this long overdue update at a time that is both the busiest in the year (just a little over a week until Passover) and fraught with uncertainty as we expect an attack from Iran any moment.
We’ve been doing our best to prepare for a SHTF scenario: stocking on drinking water, canned foods, hygienic products, candles, medicines, and other supplies.
I’ve been cleaning the house with all I have to make sure I complete as much as possible as early as possible, in case we spend most of next week at the bombshelter.
I’m (mostly) caught up on laundry, I have cash on hand, money in the bank, and the bills paid. We also have plenty of non-digital entertainment (books, board games, craft supplies) to relieve stress if the internet connection goes down.
We aren’t panicking, but things aren’t looking too promising right now. If you’re in Israel and reading this, stay safe and on high alert. Have your self defense weapons ready if you have them.
If I can, I’ll keep preparing for the holiday in the next few days. There’s still quite a bit of cleaning to do, switching to the Pesach dishes, bedding to change, and other odds and ends.
I’ll try to update when I can. Please keep Israel in your thoughts and prayers. 🙏🏾
Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com
When I got married, I was under the illusion that I’d have very little to do with money from then on. I’d just cheer on the sidelines and be frugal, and everything would work out fine… right?
Several unemployment periods, a bunch of financial crises, and one massive fraud (on the victim end, of course) later, I realized that sometimes, things don’t work as you mean them to.
I think my top financial tip for anyone planning to get married would be: Don’t pool everything together. Yes, we always think in terms of joint accounts and finances, but if your spouse owes money or makes a big financial mistake, it can wipe everything out clean. Having my own account has become a source of such major comfort and security I would never give it up today.
If you already have a joint account, I’d set up a separate one, or, ideally, three accounts: one belonging to each spouse and a third for joint expenses. As long as there’s good communication and no childlike offenses (“don’t you trust me?!”) it can work great.
Second, keep stashing something away. Even if it’s very, very little. Just keep adding a tiny bit to that savings pile, and you’ll have yourself a nice little emergency fund for SHTF times.
Third, know the difference between a situation in which you just need to tighten your belt a bit, and a massive wake-up call. I had wrote once about how I found myself scrounging the freezer for a couple last cups of flour. It was an awful feeling. If you’re in a situation when you have no food security, reach out for help.
And one last tip: Never work for free. Your time is precious; yes, unpaid internships are a thing in many industries, but if someone is clearly profiting off your time and not paying you anything, don’t fall for that.
Every winter, I think that maybe it’s time to finally splurge on a dryer. And every year, by the time I’ve almost decided to take the plunge, the rainy season is over and I can happily go back to this:
I’m lucky enough to live in a dry climate with plenty of sun and whole seasons without rain. But when it rains, I have to resort to indoor drying racks, which can be extremely annoying. Washing bedlinens usually waits for good weather days.
Here are a few tips to make indoor air drying more effective:
One, place the clothes with as much space between them as possible to help air circulation. I often use two racks when I could fit everything onto one, because clothes dry faster that way.
Two, go back after a few hours to a day and flip the clothes over to the other side on the rack. Yes, it’s a bit of extra hassle, but it speeds up drying.
Three, if space allows, place the drying rack in a room that you’re heating anyway. It will add moisture to the air, and your items will dry more quickly.
Finally, a bit of foresight: I love natural fabrics, but during stretches of rainy weather, we often wear synthetics. Synthetic materials dry in a flash, while my favorite cotton long-sleeved shirts can take almost a week to dry indoors completely.
And, of course, make sure you have enough changes of socks, pants, and other items, especially for kids. Young kids aren’t terribly careful with keeping clothes out of mud and puddles.
What can be better, once I’m on a crochet roll, than breaking into my stash and pulling out another gorgeous yarn by Malabrigo? Silky Merino, a 50-50 merino and silk blend, will delight every yarn enthusiast. I chose the stunning colorway Mares, which I think goes great with the simple and timeless shell stitch I picked for this quick project.
I used two 50-gr hanks with a little left over (about 75gr total) and a 3mm hook to make a pair of fingerless mitts/handwarmers. I wanted a pair that would leave the fingers free for typing on chilly mornings when my hands crave a little extra warmth.
As usual, I didn’t work off a pattern, but you can easily make these mitts if you know how to make stretchy ribbing and shell stitch. Start with the ribbing, working a rectangle in single crochet in the back loop only. Close the edges when the piece wraps comfortably around your wrist. Crochet shells into the top; I made 7, but you can fit in more or fewer according to the size of your hand. Work your way up. Make a thumb hole by working a chain instead of a shell in one row. Keep working up until you reach the desired length.
I LOVED working with Silky Merino. It’s the perfect answer to “Why would people still choose single-ply yarns when plied ones are so much more durable and less prone to pilling?” Well, this one is simple: because it’s irresistibly gorgeous.
Even when my head knows that a 3-ply or 4-ply yarn is the more practical choice, my heart still tugs in the direction of lofty, fluffy, squishy single-plies. However, Silky Merino is, in my opinion, sturdier than the average single-ply yarn thanks to its high silk content. Silk is an amazing fiber, both strong and soft – and, of course, it adds a superb luster.
The result is a stunning yarn: buttery soft, both in the hank and when it works up, warm, with a luscious shine that compliments its vivid colors beautifully. It’s a rather light DK, with 150 yards/137m per a 50-gr hank, or 300 yards per 100 grams.
As you’d expect from premium yarn with 50% silk, Silky Merino is pricey. A sweater made with this yarn, while dreamy to the touch, would be outrageously expensive. But if you’re on a budget, two hanks should be plenty for a hat, a cowl, a pair of mitts or gloves, or a scarf. Garments worked with Silky Merino feel absolutely delightful against the skin and are 100% non-irritating. Of course, care would involve hand-wash only.
A word of caution: before you start working with this yarn, make sure you’ve made up your mind about the stitch and pattern. I wasn’t sure what stitch I wanted to use, so I had to rip a few rows out, and it was an absolute pain. Since it’s a single-ply, the micro-fibers of its fine halo stick against each when you’re frogging, and the strand can break, which is a pity when you’re working with such expensive yarn.
Final verdict: This might be my favorite yarn by Malabrigo so far! Dreamy softness, luster, texture, and stitch definition.
Domestic Felicity 