Michal's Blessed Hands

Ethiopian Bat Mitzvah Project

2011-07-30T21:28:00.005+03:00

I was hired at the Mercaz Klita (Absorption Center) for the 2011 Ethiopian Bat Mitzvah Project. I taught 10 girls and their mothers (to our surprise, only a couple of the mothers already knew how) embroidery. This project was for the mother’s to help their daughters. Basically the mothers and daughters learned together. The first learning design I gave them was a chai.

I gave them other designs to practice and improve their embroidery skills. Some of the girls picked it up rather quickly and some just kept pulling the threads too tightly. I really enjoyed teaching them. Several of the girls would stay after our allotted time and one day, they even asked me to start an hour early. The girls all sat around me while working on their final embroidery squares. The final embroidery squares I put together into a quilted wall hanging. After I planned the quilt and ordered all the material, I found out that I would be one square short since there were only 9 mothers. There were twin girls in the group. I decided to embroider the Israeli flag to make up the last square of the quilt.

Some of my favorites from the final squares embroidered were the dove of peace, Queen of Sheba, the Shabbat candles and Joseph in his coat of many colors.

The girls were using thread colors that were more modern colors and their mothers used the basic colors that were used in Ethiopia. To tie them all together in the quilt, I decided to frame the mother’s squares with white and blue and the girls with the traditional colors of green, orange, red and yellow. The border surrounding the entire wall hanging was a blue and white flower print.

I worked a couple of 10 hour days fixing some of their embroidery squares so the threads not totally tied off correctly wouldn’t unravel and sewing extra pieces of material to the bunched up squares to make them square again and then sewing together the quilt top and ironing it. I worked 12 hours straight sewing the batting and backing to the top of the quilt, as well as a started on the quilting. I had one week to get it ready for everyone to see it after their Bat Mitzvah.

Several of the girls asked me if I was coming to their Bat Mitzvah in Jerusalem. The Bar/Bat Mitzvah was held at the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem. It was a joint Bar/Bat Mitzvah with twin families from England. I really enjoyed the Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. There was an Ethiopian rabbi and a rabbi from England with a wonderful voice. First the Bar Mitzvah boys came in and then their fathers. They donned Tefillin before the Bat Mitzvah girls came in. The rabbi from England sang Eishet Chayil to escort the girls into the shul.

The day after the Bar/Bat Mitzvah in Jerusalem, the British families were invited up to Tsfat to the Mercaz Klita to see all the Bar/Bat Mitzvah projects, the embroidery quilt was just one of the projects. It was a great project and wonderful to be included in it!

Plan Ahead

2011-04-29T14:26:00.002+03:00

It's raining again. We had a thunderstorm this morning - rather strange for the end of April! I'm still knitting with 100% cotton and cotton blends - they are really yummy!

I'm looking forward to making a couple shawls out of silk. I want to make myself a silk shawl for Rosh HaShana. If you would like a special lace shawl for yourself, order it now so it will be ready in plenty of time for Rosh HaShana.

For more information, email me at michalsblessedhands@gmail.com

Natural Fibers and Spring Shawls and Accessories

2011-04-07T19:39:00.001+03:00

I’ve been knitting instead of being online. I made a mohair lacey leaf beret which I finished while we were still having rain storms.

I’ve been knitting for spring with hand-dyed natural fibers from Soul Wool, a local company. Their cottons and cotton /viscose blends are really yummy and soft. I also like the way their viscose works up. I’m looking forward to making shawls from their hand-dyed silk.

I’ve made some headbands, a couple of hats and shawls. I have also made some necklaces. A couple women want to buy headbands to use with over their head-coverings. One woman even wants to use a necklace to dress up her hats. I sold a few headbands and a plastic bag holder.

I’ve had an invitation to come and help dye yarns at Soul Wool. I’m really looking forward to going there and actually dying some yarns. I don’t think I’ll be able to go before Pesac, but I really hope I can arrange to go afterwards.

Busy Summer Paid Off

2011-03-09T07:12:00.001+02:00

It seems my busy summer paid off! I have sold all but one of the horseshoe cable neck warmers except for the gray one. I’ve sold the circular shawl with a turquoise & green boucle (Vitalgo Malta) a couple of hats and scarves (one from some really yummy Italian yarn (thank you Roberta!) too and a special order kippah – one with a tree in the middle with “Coming First” and “Golani Shali” written on it for a soldier in the Golani brigade, a headband and a lady plastic bag holder.

I made (and sold) a child’s hat with one of the Bratz on it as and a newborn beret special orders. Still need to make the matching mittens for the beret. I need to deliver a leafy beret special order – hoping we can connect soon so she can still make good use of it in this freezing weather.

I busy finishing up a horseshoe scarf – he wants it extra long, a lacey shawl and a hat for a wedding present. I want to make more spring items so I have more things to offer and a conference I’m going to in April and have a table there.

I’m going finish up here before there is more thunder – want to shut down my computer.

A Busy Summer

2010-10-10T20:43:00.001+02:00

Now that the holidays are behind us, I now have time to catch you up on my busy summer. I spent my summer mostly knitting a variety of items. I also did a bit of alterations. It has been a beastly hot summer and the heat wave is just breaking now. It was hard to do much of anything other than being in front of a fan on high.

I made a charcoal ribbed neck warmer and horseshoe cable neck warmers in sparkling white, gray, variegated cream, light brown & orange.

Two open weave diagonal stitch scarves in cream and black fleck and two open crossover stitch scarves in a soft & bright variegated yarn and an ivory silky ribbon.

I also made a turquoise ribbed headband and a pastel green, yellow & white petal baby bib. Also using the silky cream ribbon, I made a haywire cable hat.

I made a cream drop stitch rectangular shawl. I also had a special order for a head covering for a newlywed. I’ve started another haywire cable hat in turquoise.

I made a circular shawl with a turquoise & green boucle (Vitalgo Malta). During Hol HaMoed Sukkot I got an order for this shawl, but larger in gray. I also had someone as me if I could make a jumper with the spiral in the middle. That is something I’ll have to give some thought to. I have also started on a spider stitch wrap.

They're Off To New York

2010-05-06T13:48:00.001+03:00

Today I delivered a black neck warmer and a light-weight black and white moebius scarf to a friend to take with her on her trip to New York next week. Both of these were ordered by a friend of mine in New York. I hope she will enjoy them and get lots of use out of them.

I'm doing the handles of the market bag and will be finished with it shortly. This is the second one a neighbor has ordered. He is using the first one and wants to have a second paperless grocery bag. Slowly Israelis are becoming "green". There awareness was brought her by the Americans and other English speakers, then the Russians and those of other countries jump on the ban wagon. It's been a hard concept for the Israelis to embrace. Why should someone make money off of us putting the plastic bottles in the recycling bin instead of the garbage?

I finished the gold drop-stitch shawl. Looking at it, it seems a bit small, but the yarn is very stretchy and look how long this rectangular shawl is. The yarn has fine little "hairs" on parts of the yarn and other parts of the yarn are without the "hairs". It's very soft and a nice dressy wrap for spring and cooler summer nights.

I have also finished a Long Cozy Moebius Scarf. This moebius can be worn totally open with a pin or hat pin holding in closed in from like a wrap. You can twist it once and wrap it around your neck for a loose fitting scarf. Or, for more of a neck warmer, you twist and wrap it around your neck twice and whala! a nice cozy neck warmer. It's a 3-in-1 moebius.

I am also about one-third of the way on another spring shawl. I'm using a light-weight turquoise and green varigated yarn. This is an interesting circular wrap.

Ravelympics

2010-03-18T17:44:00.005+02:00

I entered the Ravelympics (it started the same time as the Winter Olympics) and ended the end of February. I entered three events: Mitten Mouguls, Cable Cross-Country, Stash Compulsory Dance. I made arm cozies with a cable (first time I made the pattern) from yarn that was in my stash for over a year. I was able to finish the arm cozies in the allotted amount of time and won three medals!

I also have been working on a black and white moebius scarf / neckwarmer, sewed the buttons on the black neckwarmer, Zvi's white scarf and another market bag. I have an order for a special kippah - white with the name in blue with ducks on both sides of the name.

I also started on a gold shawl. Spring here does get chilly in the evenings. I want to get some made for spring to sell. I'm actually already thinking about what I should be knitting in August and September. I want to be able to take winter stuff to the Art Festival at Modiin during Sukkot. I have also finished up the quilted tops of the Judaica I'm making.

In Memory of a Dear Friend - May She Be in Total Peace

2010-02-03T10:23:00.002+02:00

Sunday I visited a dear friend whom I hoped would have been like the last time I visited her. Instead she was on her way out of this world. She didn't speak a word. Her daughter had some nice instrumental piano music playing for her. I don't really know if she knew I was there or not - I just can hope she did. She left us between Monday and Tuesday morning. In her memory and elevating her soul, I'm sharing some pictures of some of the chemo hats I have made.I must admit I have been distracted a bit and haven't been keeping up with posting my newest items. I had been more focused on praying for a miracle.

I did keep myself busy by making more hats and starting a moebius scarf, part of an order from New York and a white scarf for Zvi - hope this one doesn't go missing like the other one with a diamond pattern on it.

Here are the chemo hats I made and sent to Jerusalem. They are two different sizes so she can choose which on fits her the best. The first hat sent to her was a bit small - it fits, but slides off in bed. The second hat I made was a bit bigger, but when I was totally finished it looked like it might be too big. I decided to make another hat with her in mind hoping one will be the perfect fit!

I also made another hat, but made it more like a snood so someone with long hair could fit all their hair in it or if someone just likes bigger slouchy hats.

Another cable chemo hat - I don't like to make just ribbed chemo hats, especially since so many people cover their heads for religious reasons, I want them to be able to have a variety to choose from.

Here's another chemo hat I made, but more for spring time with lighter weight yarn and a nice spring color.

The more orders I get, the more chemo hats I can make. I always take part of my profit and put it aside to buy yarn for chemo hats.

Back at Home

2009-12-13T09:26:00.001+02:00

I've returned from California and getting settled again. I'm re-arranging my work area. Before I left California, I made a matching baby hat for the peach sweater I finished there.

I made a ripple moebius scarf / neckwarmer my last week in California. I really love this pattern! So did my mom and her friends. I gave a quick moebius lesson and the local knit shop. It's a neat little knit shop in Banning, California - the Knitting Nook. Women are always dropping in to sit and knit with the owner. She has some really yummy yarns there!

I also made a child's hat and started a matching scarf. While I was there I also did a bit of quilting. I still need to add borders, and the backing before I can finish those up. I need to check my stash and see if I have enough material here for the borders or if I need to get some material for the borders. On the plane I started on a purple hat.

No Vacation for These Hands

2009-12-01T17:39:00.001+02:00

I whipped up a blue houndstooth baby hat for Elichai David after seeing a couple houndstooth hats my mom had made. I like the look, so I asked her for the pattern. I also got another patter from mom - it makes a very soft and thicker appearance to a rib hat and scarf. I've finished up the hat and I'm working on the matching scarf.

Mom and I always share patterns.from her - it's a unique cable neckwarmer that's knitted in a thick yarn. I made a steel blue neckwarmer using this new cable pattern.

Sunday I started on one of my favorite neckwarmer/scarf patterns - the moebius. It has a special look - it has a twist in the front that I make while I'm knitting. Last night I finished the two-toned blue moebius neckwarmer/scarf. In this particualr moebius, there is nice ripple/wave pattern.

Keeping Busy in California

2009-11-20T08:28:00.002+02:00

Had a quick trip to Jo-Ann's. Felt like I was part of a game show having 30 minutes to get as much as I could - running around the store like a chicken with it's head cutoff, not knowing where anything was in the store!

Should have bought more of the purple material - I really like it, especially seeeing the finished hat. I made a "puffy" beret with a bow on the side for Yehudit yesterday. It's totally lined and has plenty of room to stuff lots of hair inside it.

I also finally finished the knit bag I started some time ago. I love the pattern, but it's not a quick knit. Tomorrow morning I'll be going with mom to a local yarn shop and we'll stay there to knit and visit with the owner of the shop and possibly another woman for a few hours. I'll see if anyone knows the type of stitch used in an ancient kippah I have a photo of. Someone asked me if could re-create it. Up 'til now I haven't liked the way it looks - the stitch isn't quite the same.

Crochet Hook - A Deadly Weapon!

2009-11-11T00:57:00.000+02:00

I packed black thread and small crochet hook (1.25mm) so I could work on Zvi's kippah while I was waiting for my flight. After waiting a half an hour in El Al's security line, I was told I couldn't take my crochet hook with me on the plane. It's considered a deadly weapon! I quickly opened up my large suitcase and put the crochet hook inside in the inner side zippered pocket so it wouldn't be confiscated.

After arriving in California Thursday morning, my parents took me to brunch. Afterwards got settled at their house and got to work on the kippah I really wanted to do while waiting at Ben Gurion. It wasn't the fastest i've ever crocheted, it was after all, black and very hard to work with. I finished the kippah Friday afternoon.

I think this is the last order for black that I'll accept.

Sahar's Duck Hat

2009-10-31T21:16:00.004+02:00

Just in time - I finished Sahar's Duck Hat. I gave it to him Friday afternoon. We had a very wet and chilly Shabbat.

He is such a good baby!

I'm almost finished with the wedding kippah - will finish it tonight. Sahar's daddy ordered a black kippah with the pattern I'm doing on the wedding kippah for him to wear to work. He also wants a white kippah too.

Thank Goodness for an Easy Order

2009-10-29T15:37:00.000+02:00

I am so glad my latest order is a pretty easy one to finish up quickly. I just got the order a couple days ago and thinking I had another week before traveling, I accepted the order. I started this kipah for my neighbor and then realized that Nov 4th is actually next week, not in two weeks! Give me strength to get everything done in time. The goal is to get this kipah finished by tonight so I can block it into shape tonight and then my focus can be on packing and finishing a website a slideshow.

Photographing Kosher Origami Tefillin

2009-10-22T06:48:00.005+02:00

Yesterday I was continuing to photograph the stages of making kosher origami tefillin. I actually sewed the kosher origami tefillin together with cow sinew so I could show the process of sewing the tefillin up. It was very interesting. I'm taking the photographs for the Kesher Tefillin Project website I'm building for Noah Greenberg. To clarify, if a pair of Tefillin is kosher, it is kosher. It's an "all" or "nothing" proposition. The halacha (Jewish laws) involved in making Tefillin are incredibly complex and the slightest error or lack of concentration at a critical step could easily render the Tefillin unkosher. The Tefillin are created are kosher and "authentic" in every way. Noah's design has the halachic approval of Rabbi Nissim Karelitz and his rabbinic court. Rabbi Karelitz is one of the pre-eminent rabbis in halachic decisors of this generation.

I know this isn't my usual handiwork, but I did help a bit in the creation of this set of kosher Tefillin while photographing it. I did use my creativity in photographing the various steps of making these kosher Tefillin and I thought about the experience all night and wanted to share it.

I truely am blessed to have been given this opportunity to actually sew these Tefillin together and to do a photographic documentation of the very meaningful project.

Variety is the Spice of Life or Just Bored

2009-10-13T14:30:00.008+02:00

I've done it again - I have my hands full, thankfully, with many projects and orders for plastic bag holders and market bags. I have just heard from my supplier of sock yarn, so I need to decide on the color for my mom and baby daughter order. I need to get final go-ahead on the order for matching mom and baby (girl) socks from grandma now that I can give her a price - sock yarn is more expensive, but worth the extra to make sure it keeps its shape.

Finishing Simcha's vest is a priority. I'm up to the arm hole and V-neck shapings. Black is one color that requires lots of patience. I hope I won't have a problem figuring out what row I stopped on so I can continue the pattern without it getting messed up. Let's hope I left myself a note as to where to start up again!

I've got one Market Bag finished and another one started. I need to get more cotton yarn for the third one I have on order. I only need to sew the eyes on the "Ducky Hat", but I need to make the matching "booties."

I've made a a baby kippah with his name and ducks on it for an old teacher's grandson. I've got a good start on another kippah ordered that will also have a name on it.

I actually like the kippah I made for my best friend's grandson Sahar - it's knitted, not crocheted, so it took longer, but it's special and all white and won't slide off his little head! I was up until 3:00am finishing it up so it would be ready for the brit. I gave the kippah to daddy at the brit and hoped that they might have put in on Sahar for the brit. Daddy seemed to appreciate it - he was very gracious and thanked me for the kippah. I sure hope his mamma likes the special kippah I made for her little bundle of joy.

How It All Started

2009-10-11T18:52:00.000+02:00

It is such a great feeling knowing I can use what I learned from my mom and turn it into a successful business, while doing what I enjoy. I first learned to knit and sew when I was 10 years old. Later I learned to crochet and quilt, also from mom.

I always liked knitting, sewing, crocheting and quilting, but it has brought so much to my life since I've been living in Israel. I started teaching about 9 years ago. I love to see my students happy and succeeding with their projects.

I'm truly blessed to have been given this lousy luck of being unemployed so much that I have been able to make money from what relaxes me and that I love. Thanks ma for giving this enjoyment and the skills I have to enable me to have a successful business selling my hand-made items.