Diet Motivation

I've lost a whopping 8 pounds this year. That's a whole pound a month for those of you who are math challenged. My goal is still 44 pounds away. I am very pleased that I have not gained 8 pounds, don't get me wrong! Because certainly when we were evacuated I chunked up a bit, about 15 pounds in fact.

Mark and I had a lot of chat time on our ten hour drive the other day and we're both going to get ourselves healthy again. We must, we're both a bit run down. And chubby. And just getting older. We figure if we take it easy and smart we'll both be able to drop a bit by the holidays. He thinks I can lose 2 pounds a month, a relatively easy thing considering how committed I have been so far this year. His goal for me is 20 pounds. Before you get mad and think, "he has a goal for her!?!!!?!" I have a goal for him too, it's 30 pounds. And since he thinks 20 is all I need to lose when I know it's double that, well, you gotta love him.

Since I am lazy with a capital "L", I had to come up with an alternate motivator. Two of them, in fact.

First, no more yarn OR pattern purchases until I have dropped the 20. Holy smokes, no yarn OR patterns? Outta my way, I need to find my exercise shoes! The only new thing coming into this house will be my Make One Sockaholics Anonymous! Paid for earlier this year, so it doesn't count as new.

Second, a couple of White Lies Designs patterns I bought before we left for vacation. Naughty ones. Things that are just not going to look that hot snugged over this almost three year old baby belly.

I'm looking forward to this challenge. I haven't been motivated enough just by looking in the mirror. The idea of no yarn is enough to make one m&m really satisfy me. For the week. Because I have this little addiction to fiber. I weigh in on Saturday mornings, so I hope I'll have some progress to share here. Any ideas for how you've lost it or are losing it or some other motivation will be gladly accepted too. Remember, this one's for the yarn.

And what have I been turning yarn into? All sorts of goodies!



PeeWee's newest favorite toy, a snazzy little sheep. A sheep which looks like a hedgehog. It needs ears, too. But we love it. A bit of tweaking and the pattern should be perfect.



And another pair of socks. Christmas socks in fact. It's so hot here it may be Christmas before I want to wear them. They are some yarn from last year's Rockin Sock Club, which I chose not to rejoin this year for different reasons. I think I have used the yarn well though. Kind of subtle in a way I like. Because I'm so subtle, you know.




Here's the progress on my father's Christmas gift, his orange vest.



I keep waffling on the pattern, but I really think he'll wear it as it is. He's all about color and really appreciates handmade things. If nothing else, he'll wear it when I am around. I like it so that works for me!

Pictures!

Blogger let me post pictures again, so here are the goodies from my Sockapalooza pal:



There is just no way to take a sexy picture of your feet:



But I DO love these socks!!



And inside that cute little froggy? Fabulous sock yarn and markers!

Darn

That's what I'm going to have to do.


My favorite socks and a great big hole. Probably because I wear them at least once a week. Went to put them on and sure enough, the floor felt awfully cold on the bottom of my foot. Darn.

These are PeeWee's newest favorite socks. She loves to pull them up as high as they will go and marvel at her pink socks.



My little runway star tried on the sweater. You might notice it has short sleeves.



Yes... it was pointed out to me by a very intelligent Big Brother that it's only going to be cold a few more weeks at most, why was I making her a sweater. Well, advice taken, I turned it into a short sleeved top! It's coming along nicely. I have about 20 stitches to pick back up before I get back to it. She wiggled quite a bit trying it on and got ahold of the needles as I was pulling it off of her.

I have too much Mardi Gras going on this weekend to worry about it too much. I found a long black skirt to fix my small problem of nothing to wear to the ball. Just call me Cinderella. I found several things in fact and will be returning which ever I don't wear tomorrow. I won't know until I am getting dressed how the outfit will come together.

I also took the kids to Michael's to get costumes together. We're going to wear butterfly wings. A little foam core, a little tissue paper, a little paint... no big deal... Big Brother said no way to that so we got him the makings for a basket of fruit to go on top of his head. He can throw on Mark's overalls from last year and we'll be good to go. It should all be picture worthy. I hope the weather is nice for Tuesday!

Knitting in Action

Some days a quick walk around the block is enough to shake off a funk. Lately it's been difficult for me to stay organized around here and it had been getting to me. Yesterday I wrapped up in my scarf and took a quick walk to the coffee shop for a treat to start the morning.



It was just what I needed to get me started on a day of total organization. It was great. Not only did I do a lot of organizing, I worked on a few things that had been neglected. Mark hung some hooks for me, rehung the cabinet doors (did I mention the cabinets were installed with the doors opening the wrong way? oops) and was generally helpful but out of the way. A good combination for someone who was cranky and wanting to get things DONE.

I worked on PeeWee's sweater. I have a serious problem with sleeves. For whatever reason, there's always an issue. I admit, if I used patterns, I would most likely not keep running into the same problems over and over. This time they are tight. Too tight. I know I will have to rip them out. I hate the idea of doing that. They are just the right size for her doll though so maybe I will put them aside on stitch holders for a sweater for Teetsie. Imagine making sleeves so small they fit her doll instead of PeeWee. Like I said, I have been a little off lately.



Tomorrow I am going to a Mardi Gras ball and am in serious denial. I pulled the dress I was planning on wearing out of the closet and it was covered with MOLD. Argh. I was stunned! I took the skirt and (gasp!) threw it in the washing machine. Yes, the washing machine. I figured it was a lost cause anyway, it's gotten plenty of wear and the mold had left a big yucky stain on the front. I ran it through, figuring it would either be ruined or not (again, the mood) and I was surprized to find it was lovely when it came out. Lovely and stained. I ran it through a second time with the same result. One more try this morning then I am off to the fabric store to get some fabric for a basic black skirt. I haven't sewed anything in a long time. I am a little anxious about trying with PeeWee around. Big Brother is off from school today so maybe he can earn some babysitting money and keep her busy for me.

Hearts Everywhere

It's been a week of hearts here. Mainly PeeWee's heart. We have been seeing some strange behaviour from her circulation the last few weeks and so we brought her in for some pictures of her little heart. We got a good checkup again, with a further in depth scan being done at the end of the month to give her cardiologists some more information. This is good news. I am always an anxious mess when it comes to her, but she is tough as nails.



And she has grown! Wow, Teetsie, her doll, is wearing one of her shirts. And it was BIG on her!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! We went to dinner Monday night and celebrated early at one of our favorite spots, Muriel's. It is in the French Quarter and it was sadly eerily quiet. Businesses are really struggling down there. Makes me so much more aware of the need to shop local here. The horrible press we get is not helping. The French Quarter is as lovely as it ever was, in fact we have a great new clean up contract with the city and it's cleaner than ever.

It is Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day today. Check it out if you have a minute. So much more common than people realize. When I was pregnant and I found out about PeeWee's not normal heart, I had no idea of any of it. I thought that kids were born with oles in their hearts, and I knew some had to have open heart surgery, but the extent of it? I had no concept. Because I had no reason to.

What happens when you haven't got a knitting plan but you find yourself with time to knit? Insanity.



I am lucky PeeWee is such a little thing because I am not sure how long my momentum might have lasted with this one otherwise. Mark's head is kind of big, huh? He's been such a willing model lately. I am loving this sweater, but I will admit it is a bit rediculous. PeeWee will love it though, so all is good. And just imagine the look on her face when down the line she pulls it out of storage to put on her own kids one day. Oh yeah. Makes me smile just to think of it.

The socks from the stash are almost finished. I like 'em. I took Big Brother to his math tutor last night and sat in the car by the park and knitted away until the sun went down and I couldn't see to knit any more.



Tornadoes blew through town night before last and there was a lack of street lights because the power was not fully restored just yet. Yes, another natural disaster for us to deal with.

Hey, there's a floor under there!

I spent a little time this morning cleaning out my studio space. It had gotten particularly bad. Over run with debris piles, photos in containers waiting to be put in books, yarn all over the floor, the tables, up on the shelves, spillling out all over the room. Generally messy, and not at all a good work space.



I got a lot of it organized and contained, resorted. A big bag of yarn to send off to a friend who's daughter is a knitter. Some other odds and ends to donate to the school near us. Stuff that's been in the way for entirely too long. I have been much more precise in my yarn purchases in the last few months. I am trying to rid my space of anything that's not destined for a specific project. Sounds brutal, but I need both the clean space and the clean mind. No more guilt about having yarn around that I have no reason to keep. It feels like a huge space now. And if we get another rain where water seeps in the laundryroom, I'll be covered. Things will be up off the floor and it'll be easier to dry things out. Last time, I panicked and the whole room was dragged out into the hallway. Part of the huge mess was dragging it all back in there for Christmas, completely with no order.



All the other studio stuff is pretty much disorganized too. I'm working on it, I need to have a space to work in the next few weeks. I have committed to a piece to donate to an auction, and that's coming up in about 10 weeks. I have it in my head though so that's a start. It's a New Orleans themed thing and I am planning on collageing (is that a word? looks wrong...) a New Orleans shot-gun house. Hope it turns out worth while! (meaning someone actually bids on it)

I went to the doctor today for a checkup, figuring I would have a long wait, and possibly a few other tests. I packed up my new bag with a couple balls of yarn, my needles, the pattern, and scissors, everything I needed for the long haul. I waited just 15 minutes to get in! That is definitely a first for a doctor's appointment, and wouldn't you know that was the time I set aside to work on the sleeves for the hoodie? Well, I didn't get but a few rows done. But they are going as quickly as the rest of it. Bulky yarn is good for quick.

no excuses

So I have been in another land I guess. No real excuse for not updating in a few months- whoa, a few months? I resolve to get myself back here. I have gotten a hint here and there that I need to update, so here I am.

PeeWee had her second birthday and all went well with her latest cardiology checkup. We hit a bunch of milestones with her too, and she is all of a sudden talking up a storm and doing things well beyond what she had been doing even a few weeks ago! Yay! We love that here.


Big Brother is being, well, a big brother. Hanging out, being a good teenage boy. He's keeping me busy driving him all over the city to where he needs to be. And he is growing. He's going to be 6ft tall if I blink. Who knew a shorty like me had it in me? He got a bass guitar for Christmas and is actually pretty good playing it.

The hospital fundraiser was a huge hit, we made a bunch of money and replenished the fund that helps families who have to travel here for medical treatment for their children. We depended on that same type of fund in California so I was thrilled that is where the money went. Another hospital fundraiser I was working on raised money to purchase a robotic birth simulator to teach nurses, medical staff, residents and interns, medical students and doctors what to do in an emergency with mother and child. Very cool stuff. It was a satisfying way to spend a lot of my time this fall.

I also reconnected with several friends I had lost touch with over time. We all went to a 40th birthday party and that was great. Reminded me I very much need to get my lazy rear end back into my studio and really get to work. I need to get it from my brain to the page. I got a very nice camera from my parents for Christmas so hopefully I will have some more inspiration from playing with that.



And knitting? Yes, I have been doing lots of it. I started a complete failure of a vest for my father, I need to sneak in his closet and measure one he has and go from there. Now that I have the gorgeous light blue yarn for it. I have made a few pairs of socks, a sweater for PeeWee, finished Jadon's blue sweater (finally!!!) Boy did I lag on that one. Hmmm, sounds like nothing knit but I know there's more... OH! A very nifty hat- the color swirls right up it! I love that hat. For me to actually wear something I knit out in public and get asked about it! Very cool to me. I have been finishing up some stalled projects, too. Or ripping them out, knowing they will never see the light of day and winding up the yarn for another project in the future. I have been trying to use up my giant stash of Cascade 220. It felts so beautifully. I have made some pot holders out of it. I better come up with a better use though because it does not take nearly enough yarn to mae a pot holder. I started a blanket for friends of mine getting married in June, then realized I need to make them a blanket out of washable wool so all my work does not accidentally get shrunken up and become a floor mat or something like that.

I am trying to use up a lot of stash yarn. I made PeeWee a jacket from some Cashmere blend I had laying around. I had literally just enough to finish it with not yards left over. If we would just have more cold weather. We had great sweater weather for a few weeks but we are back in the 60's now. I am hoping we get another blast soon. Usually in February we get freezes. I hope so. (But please, no broken pipes. We had water in the house with a big rain and I kind of gave up. Then a major plumbing leak. And another one while trying to repair that one. More water than I need. Everytime it rains my heart races. Post traumatic stress?)

While working through the (entirely too large) stash, I came across some big old bulky acrylic yarn (who knows what I originally bought it for) I am making a hoodie out of for me. All my jackets were neatly put away in the downstairs front hall closet right before we evacuated for Katrina so I am seriously lacking jackets. I bought myself a nice coat but need some hanging around jackets- something to walk over to the coffee shop on chilly mornings. I made most of the hoodie, didn't like it and am ripping it out and doing a totally different one. Yep, I think I can be called a process knitter.



Everyone got socks for Christmas in this house. PeeWee got some pink knee socks and some pink and grey socks from leftover socks I made for myself. I love how the color bands change completely with socks in her size. Big Brother got some green socks I must have made back in March, but kept for his gigantaur feet. He wears a 13 1/2 now. I started him a pair of socks on tiny #1 needles, maybe I will finish the gigantic things in time for next Christmas. My One and Only, Mark, got green and blue socks. Yes, all these socks were stash yarn! Woo-hoo! Burning through some of that yarn I have piled up all over the house, stuck in nooks and crannies. I am determined to knit up a lot of it. Or give it away. I am hoping to knock out a few crocheted baby blankets. I know, crochet? Well, it is very quick and easy for those baby blankets, much faster than knitting and I can knit up a tiny matching hat to go with it.

So Happy New Year! I hope you can all bear with me and my sporatic postings.