Brrrrr. It’s cold here this morning. And I have a headache. BUT…

Good morning everyone!

Monday, Tuesday, and Friday I did 50 minutes on the treadmill. It felt great getting back to it. Wednesday and Thursday I took off, due to an incident that landed me in the doctor’s office, but I appear to be all better now. (Be quiet, Gayle). I’ve been holding off on weights this week because of the injection I had last Monday. I figured I’d slowly build back up to my regular routine, and I’ll start weights next week. No sense in damaging myself, and I’ve felt pretty fragile since the procedure.

I’ve lost another couple of pounds, which pushes me over 30 POUNDS LOST!!! This is good news. This means I’m 1.5 pounds away from having lost 1/3 of the weight I want to lose. I was 213.5 this morning. I’m thrilled.

For those of you that have been with me since the beginning, and for others of you who have since clicked the link in the sidebar and read the very first Health Group post, you know that knitting has been very helpful as a motivator for this dedication to health and exercise. I’m dying to knit clothes for myself, and seeing so many wonderful patterns that are too small for me keeps me working. Well, I’m starting to see more clothes that will fit me. My chest measurement is 47 inches right now. I don’t remember exactly where it was when I started in January, I think 50 or 51, but at 47, I’m seeing some great patterns that would fit me! Plus, I’m happier with my body which increases confidence that I could make something that I would still like once I’m wearing it.

All of this translates to a lineup of sweaters I want to make for myself. My question is this…. It seems that my weight loss has picked up pace a bit recently. Should I start knitting my sweaters now, or should I wait awhile?

Right. Enough of me. How are you all doing out there? I’d like to thank you all for the comments and support on a weekly basis. This Saturday post continues to be a strength to me. Have a wonderful weekend.

The cool thing about having my five year old take FO pictures is that I can ham it up without reservation. Behold, the Neapolitan Hayden.

Cute, no?

My friend Gayle has finished her Hayden, using Lamb’s Pride, but we couldn’t get a picture in time for today’s post. It looks really nice, however.

Laura-M has finished her Hayden, and has a really funny post about it, here. Nate was way amused. Good job, Laura!

Maddie is just about done with hers. I had a great time helping her with it last night at EB, where it was formally decided that I am NOT a knitting instructor. Why? because I laughed. That’s all I’m going to say here. Gayle, remember to ask me more about this, you’d find it particularly interesting.

Lisa is working on hers. I love that light blue. Let me know if I can help you with sizing :-).

Have I forgotten anyone? Don’t hesitate to remind me. I’m aware of the fact that I forget things. Also, let me know when you’re done, and I’ll move your name in the sidebar.

This is really fun. I’m enjoying seeing my hat in so many colors, knit by many different people.

In other news, I’m seaming mom’s sweater! The sleeves are set in, and now I’m sewing up the sides. If I didn’t have issues with this yarn before, I certainly do now. MERCY! it’s slippery. I am having to be sooooo careful to make the seams tight without bunching them. It mooooooves, sneakily I might add. Stinkin’ mercerized cotton. Love ya mom! I’m hoping to have this to you before Thanksgiving. You’re definitely going to need to wear it with a camisole, so you may want to start shopping for one. Black would be good, unless you want to get a flesh colored one and keep them guessing! Hehe.

The problem is, The List isn’t quite finished yet. Watch me stall…

Oooh, look! It’s Mari in her poncho! Sorry for the bad picture. She left for the airport before the sun was fully up, so we had to make do with the nasty flash. She also highly dislikes having her picture taken. It really did look fabulous on her. You can’t tell, but the fringe ruffled around her in a cute, girly kind of way. We really got stuck with a dud of a photo, and now she’s headed for Virginia.

Let’s see… I’ve also joined a new knitalong. See sidebar for button.

And, like many others, I’m thinking seriously about this. Here are the colors I’m leaning towards. Be honest, tell me what you think.

New leaf on the body, and Redwood for the sleeves. There’s a peachy/red combo I like, but these two were right next to each other on the site and they really grabbed me.

Stalling worked. I now know what to do. I’m going to make a The Short List, so as not to commit to more than I can handle at this point. Once again, these are not necessarily in order.

1. Finish sewing up mom’s sweater (this only made the list because I’ll be able to check it off soon, and I want the thrill)

2. my 2 tone green clogs for the Green Along (button in sidebar)

3. Poor Pete’s satchel bag thing I still need to write a pattern for

4. the flower for the Flower Swap (also, see sidebar)

5. while we’re at it, might as well add the Harry Potter sweaters (which are, you guessed it, referenced in the sidebar, and I’m still not talking about it)

6. Best Friend dolls for Olivia and Veronica for Christmas

7. My brown Lopi sweater

8. possibly some thrummed mittens to match something I’ve already knit someone, for Christmas

9. the flower basket shawl

10. and there’s the two hats dancing around in my brain

I’m going to stop now. I did say this was a short list. Sheesh! The scary thing is, it really IS the short list. My list on paper is much longer, but first things first.

Yesterday, I finished Marianna’s poncho. I’ll hopefully get a picture of her wearing it later this morning, and will post it tomorrow. Seeing something on a body makes for a much more interesting picture than on a hanger, plus, you’ve already seen it that way. Regardless of how it is displayed, you will certainly not be able to see how magnificent this yarn is. It is the same stuff I’m making my FIRST EVER SWEATER FOR ME out of. (Coming soon, I promise. I’m giddy). Back to the yarn. It isn’t like the other Lopi I’ve seen, or the other Lopi they had at the warehouse. It is hairy. It has long, very thin black and white hairs. It is soft. It has this “you know you need to touch me” look to it, and it doesn’t disappoint.

I spent a lot of time yesterday sorting the stash. Or cleaning the stash. Or however else you want to say it. Basically, I was feeling the stress of having my stuff stashed here and there and not all in one place. I began to be in constant fear of losing something. Plus, all the books and magazines I’ve spent good money on, or I should say Nate spent good money on since he’s the main purchaser of said magazines and books, were getting bent and rumpled, and that was getting on my nerves too.

I took the yarn that was crammed between my couch and the filing cabinet cleverly disguised as a side table, and the yarn that was no longer inconspicuously hiding behind my knitting chair, and the yarn surrounding my bedside table spilling over to under my bed, and the yarn and books/leaflet patterns in various bags, baskets, etc that represent WIP’s, or soon to be such, (is that enough of a run on sentence for you?) and I dumped it all on my bed. I began sorting, tossing, organizing, compiling, (and grouping for new future projects. I couldn’t help it. Color therapy, you know) and ended up with some space in my brain, not to mention my house. For me, right now, happiness is an organized stash. Don’t be too envious, the only reason I was able to do it is because my stash is not. very. big. Seriously. If you don’t count the second hand acrylic stuff, which I don’t, it all fits into one of those under the bed Rubbermaid thingies that are hinged in the middle and open on either side. And a large yarn store bag full of beautiful brown Lopi. But that’s it, I swear.

Ok, ok, I know. The title to this entry is The List. Since I am organizing things, (did I mention I got all my needles and notions back where they belong? You’d think I was nesting), I thought I’d work up a new list of projects.

First of all, let’s re-visit the last one. The last one, remember, was in no particular order, and so I have done some rearranging. I was going to link everything, but you can find most of them in the sidebar.

1. Mari wanted a poncho- DONE!

2. Clogs for Nate- DONE! which reminds me, I spent the entirety of yesterday wearing them. They are amazing, despite being too big. I think I need some. Also, check out the Recently Completed section of the sidebar for a new picture of the hubby and his slippers.

3. Knitalong for my slipped garter stitch hat, AKA Hayden- DONE!

that was the fun part, now here’s the rest of it…

4. Flower Basket Shawl- In progress. Haven’t blogged about it yet, sorry.

5. Poor Peter’s satchel thing- sad to say, haven’t done a thing, but I will, and soon, because it’s eating me.

6. Ah yes, the daisy swatch/scarf- considering it really is just a swatch gone nuts, I feel no guilt whatsoever. I know it will always be there for me, and it is happy to fulfill that role. I am happy to let it. So I guess it’s waiting awhile, probably ’til spring when I’m sure the desire to wear it will be sufficient motivation.

7. Frost Flowers and Leaves shawl, and the Lily of the Valley shawl– how do you convey snorting derisively on a blog? Sufficeth to say, these ain’t gonna be happenin’ anytime soon. Sad, but so it is.

8. Oooh, the Lopi cardigan for me- which has since become the Lopi sweater for me. I am so excited for this one. I know what I want to do. I think it will look really nice. And I’m thrilled I’m happy enough with my body now that I’d knit something for myself that isn’t a hat, pair of gloves, purse, shawl, stole, etc… This one’s happening soon.

9. Veronica’s poncho- well, she hasn’t been asking, so I really don’t know if and when this is going materialize.

10. Olivia and Veronica’s dolls- Christmas gifts. I’ll have to blog sneakily, most likely with links because while neither of them can read, they like to look over my shoulder at the pictures.

11. Socks- this was added because of the gorgeous Koigu I had recently acquired. I still love it. I’m not feeling in a rush to make socks, however. I’m enjoying knowing that I have the yarn, so when the call comes, I can answer. For now, I’d rather have the clogs. (They’re SO great!)

That’s it for the list. I am pseudo-adding one that I remembered shortly after compiling this list, which would be the Harry Potter sweaters. I am acknowledging their existence on the list, but I don’t feel like talking about it right now. When I do, you will know.

WOW, I’ve been wordy this week. I think I’m going to end it here, and post The List- part 2 tomorrow. Cheers!

Do you know what that is? That is mom’s sweater, with shoulders seamed and neckband knit, blocking. This is very exciting to me. The sleeves are also wet, and are draped casually over the back of my knitting chair. I learned from the last time I washed one that they don’t need to be laid flat and pinned to look excellent when dry. The sweater itself has been carefully positioned, measured, and pinned.

This is Mari’s poncho before being bound off and fringed. I am in the process of fringing now. Holy cow, it is taking a lot of yarn to fringe this thing. I don’t remember using as much on my poncho, which has many more stitches around, and therefore took many more fringes. How fast the memory fades.

And finally, the definite highlight of today’s post…. Nate’s first FO.

He may or may not add a big pouch pocket on the front. There are a couple other things that could be done to it, but it is done enough for the munchkin to wear, and it is cute. She is beyond thrilled that daddy knit her a hoodie.

Way to go, Nate!

Be warned. The following is a really long, drawn out and possibly boring account of my tormented yesterday.

Believe it or not, I am a relatively inexperienced knitter. I learn many things with each project. I haven’t worked with many different yarns. Some of what I think I know is based more on what I have read than what I have experienced first hand. When I see something stated over and over again as fact, I will tentatively believe it. This leads to my expecting certain results when venturing out into new knitting territory. Are you confused? I am.

Okay, correct me if I’m wrong, but my understanding of cotton is that it doesn’t block. Isn’t that right? Isn’t that a widely perpetrated fiber philosophy? So then why, exactly, is the sleeve of my mom’s merciless (mercerized) cotton sweater that I had to wash, laying all nice and smooth and flat and, well, BLOCKED!!! as opposed to the rest of the rumply and curly pieces??? Hmmm? Does anyone want to tell me why, when all over the place I’ve read that blocking a cotton garment is pointless because it is a fiber that does not like to be manipulated and will therefore appear unmoved once dry, my mom’s sleeve looks completely different from the pieces that weren’t washed? The defiant purl stitches that flank the cable have been whipped into shape. They are firm, they are uniform. Do you know how much stress and worry I could have been spared had I KNOWN this, say, several MONTHS ago? Sigh.

Don’t even consider talking to me about washing swatches. I don’t want to hear it.

If I’ve learned anything knitting this sweater, it is that mercerized cotton is wack. It is completely weird. I can’t predict it. I can’t control it. (Well, that’s not entirely true). I simply don’t know what to expect.

I think I can move on now….

So I’m frogging mom’s sleeve yesterday,

and I look a the pile of very crumply yarn, and I tell myself that if it blocked so well the first time, it’ll probably be good the second time too. I proceed to reknit. I am mildly concerned about how the new stitches will turn out, mainly because I am severely in denial. Three rows into it I decide to face the reality that this is not only a bad idea, but I’ve made a really big mess of things. Then I realize that I still have most of a ball of unwashed, un-crumply yarn to work with. I frog, cut, join, and begin again. After a significant amount of time, as I’m approaching the point of final bind off, it becomes apparent that I have too many stitches. I spend about five minutes comparing the two sleeves and trying to figure out how in the WORLD I could have miscalculated a second time, when I realize I forgot the bind offs at the VERY BEGINNING OF THE CAP SHAPING. Which means that I have not only wasted the last couple of hours, further drawn out the already long completion of this sweater, and really annoyed myself, but I had also crumpled new yarn. Don’t laugh. It isn’t funny. On the plus side, this newly crumpled yarn hasn’t been BLOCKED!!!, so it is still usable.

I’m finally getting tired of this story.

So I reknit the cap, correctly this time, and I am all done with mom’s sweater. Sans the finishing. I’ve seamed one shoulder. I am trying desperately to figure out how to pick up a whoooooole lot of stitches around the neck so I can knit the two rows of neckband. (I’ve picked up stitches before. I know how to do it. On mom’s sweater, it looks like crap. I think this is where the whole cotton thing comes in again). I would like to take this opportunity to say that while I have really enjoyed complaining about this sweater and its quirks, it has been a very satisfying knit. I’m not sorry I did it. I enjoyed much of it. It took for-freaking-ever. I will be happy when it is done and I’ve heard that it fits magnificently and the Smithsonian has called to ask if she’d donate it for the cause of art. What?

Good morning. I don’t have much in the way of exercising to report. As in, nothing whatsoever. The truth is, I’ve been feeling quite fragile since the procedure on Monday. It hadn’t occurred to me previously that it’d be a good idea to take a week off from exercise while I recover, but that’s what ended up happening.

However… I lost a phenomenal amount of weight this week. I don’t think it is related to Monday’s hospital experience. In fact, I kind of went off the “no refined carbs” thing on Monday. On our way home from the hospital, we stopped at Spuds Fish and Chips in Juanita because I wanted some. Then after we were home, my sister-in-law made this fabulous chicken stew for us, with lots of potatoes. I ate them. Finally, my friend Gayle brought over a plate of her very yummy chocolate chip cookies. I probably ate about five. (Sorry Gayle, I keep forgetting to tell you. Thanks. They were good). The REST of the week, I’ve been good. And I’ve been loosing pounds steadily all week.

This morning, I was 215.5. I lost 5 1/2 pounds this week. I’m in shock, actually. At this point, I feel compelled to remind you that I’m not doing low carbs. I’m doing complex carbs. Last night for dinner, I had three large slices of my homemade, whole wheat, raisin cinnamon bread with butter, hot out of the oven, and a little bit of cold ham.

I am anxious to get back to exercising. I miss it. Monday should find me on the treadmill once again.

Soooooo, how are you all doing? I’ve had a few emails this week from new readers that have just discovered our Saturday group. Welcome! There are no rules. I, as you can tell, have no problem posting extremely personal information about myself. That is not necessary or required to participate. Feel free to use our group to the degree that it is helpful to you.

I’m still reeling a bit from what the scale has been telling me all week. It’s about freaking time! I’ve been working my butt off for months. That’s all I have to say.

Have a great week!

I have FINALLY started my next Hayden. The reason for the delay is that I had lost my needle. Well, someone lost my needle. I’m not willing to accept all of the responsibility. So my needle was lost, and the three stores I had tried so far didn’t have it.

It showed up yesterday. It was laying, innocently, on top of my purse, neatly coiled. No one is ‘fessing up. I am very happy to have it back, but goodness it was a long time coming.

Anyway, here are my swatches.

And my hat so far

I am going to make a hat based on the top swatch as well. Nate says it’s weird. I think it looks rich and yummy. They both do, actually. In the comments awhile back, Maggie said the color combination looked like chocolate and raspberry. Too true. As I was knitting last night, all I could think about were berry filled chocolate truffles, and neopolitan ice cream. It was quite pleasant.

I’ve been highly productive recently. I already have projects to post for Monday, and today and tomorrow are going to afford a LOT of knitting time. I think today I will frog that cap on mom’s rouge sleeve, and reknit. There are other things that need to be done, like the laundry I’ve been neglecting all week, and a few other chores. The hospital experience on Monday took all housework ambition out of me, as well as any desire to exercise. I’ve just wanted to sit with my feet up.

Soooo, how’s it going out there fellow knit-alongers?

You could’ve beat me with the skeptical stick! But check this out-

Can you freaking believe that? They were HUGE before felting!!! I have to say, I’m amazed. I’m glad, certainly, but amazed. Don’t they look cozy?

After Nate came home and tried them on, we determined they are still a little big. They’re perfect in length, but they’re too wide. I’m going to throw them back in the washing machine and see if we can’t get them a bit smaller. My thought is that if they shrink some more, I can stretch them to get back to the right length, while eating up some of the width.