It's Friday

In front of me I see 4 blissful days of reading (i.e. listening to books since that's what I do while I'm...), knitting, playing with kitties, hanging out with David (who actually took off Monday and has off Tuesday).  We should be good and relaxed before having to go back to work on Wednesday.

I plan to work on my Skew and get it finished.  I'm at the point where I'm increasing for the heel bump.  Wrap?  part?  it's an interesting section of the pattern, anyway.  I'm going to try working on the Dragonfly Cowl again.  That should be fun.  If I can't concentrate on it for very much I'm going to have to seriously reconsider my plans for the yarn.  Seriously...a cowl on the needles that is just slightly over half done is better frogged and becoming something else that I can enjoy knitting than it is as a half-finished cowl on the needles that makes me feel bad for not finishing it.  I'm not always a giver-upper, but I do need to be honest with myself about how I feel about the pattern, etc.

I'm still trying to decide whether to go out or eat in tonight.  I want to do both, so maybe we should eat leftovers and then go out for a couple of drinks...that's a thought...

I'm super excited to report that the daughters' dreams are coming true.  Both have jobs at Disney World starting in mid-May.  They will be working "attractions" in the College Program.  We don't know any more details than that and won't until they get there but it's very exciting and step 1 to establishing them permanently in Orlando.  Yea for dreams come true!

We're in the throes of Mardi Gras around here.  Locals don't really go to parades, which is something I find interesting and kind of funny.  None of my student workers WANT to go to New Orleans...I know I certainly don't.  Everyone eats King Cake though (I'm not, obviously.).

So, my picture today is a "throw-back" to a Mardi Gras scarf I made for a co-worker.  I love this scarf and need to make another.

I spy...

...a long weekend coming up.  I'm taking off Monday and we have Tuesday off because of Mardi Gras...so that means that I have 4 days of knitting and sleeping and playing with kitties coming up and I'm very happy about that.

It's been a rough couple of weeks.  I really don't know why.  I think I may be having a mid-life crisis.  I don't want to buy a red sports car; instead, I want to quit work and go to art school.  I even went so far to look at programs on line and I'm fascinated by a few.

If only I didn't need to pay bills.

Oh well.

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Here's a funny.  Elizabeth was cleaning house yesterday and concerned because the kitties didn't come to greet her as usual.  She hunted for them all over the house thinking that they may have gone into one of the closets.  She found them here.  In David's bed.  In-between two quilts.

I love you, Skew

I took this picture last night...or really David took the picture since I think it's probably impossible to get this shot unless you're a contortionist and I'm not.  But isn't it gorgeous and fun and all things wonderful? I'm very excited about this sock.

I started the second one this morning since I woke up at 5:15 and didn't have my choice about going back to sleep.  I didn't mind too much since I knew I could get a head start on the second Skew.

I love the yarn.  Vesper yarn is always special.  I'm like a kid in a bag of skittles...Look the next stripe is bright orange! (duh!  Orange always follows green...it isn't a surprise, but it's so exciting every.single.time I see the color change point).  My thoughts on this color scheme is that it's pretty perfect.  The black and grey perfectly tone down the bright orange, blue and green...resulting in a really fun color effect that didn't get out of hand.

And the pattern.  It's lovely.  Perfect and wonderful. Each step is a bit like magic and the instructions are super-clear.  While the pattern looks very complicated, if you've made a bias scarf, this is a piece of cake.  Increase on one side, decrease on the other.  After a few rows it's intuitive.  You just have to check your intuition at the door and be sure to follow the pattern because some "interesting" things do happen from time to time and without them that heel would not look so freaking awesome!

I use the "Knit Minder" app on my iPhone and have counters for the stitch count as well as rows within each section.  I added a counter for "repeats" when necessary and I had absolutely no trouble keeping up with the pattern.  The only time I had to unknit anything was when I forgot to do an increase at the beginning of the round and I was only a few stitches away when I realized it.  Definitely a pattern to try and impress yourself--not to mention all your non-knitting friends who will decide that you've leapt from the normal knitter into one with super-human powers.

A great way to start my day

I hope you had such a good morning as I did.  I woke up 10 minutes before my alarm and decided I might as well get out of bed because that left me 10 minutes to do something that I don't get to do in the mornings:  knit.  See, I have this sock that NEEDS to be finished and sleep is definitely getting in the way.

So, I got up and worked on it.  I'm on the "short row" part where you're basically filling in the triangle that was "skewed" and thus is empty.  Again, I'm trusting the pattern and doing what it says.  Again, it isn't hard, but my brain is slightly challenged when understanding design in 3D.  I'll get it though.

I've even figured out an easy way to remember where to stop and turn.  Simply knit until the marker, then turn, slip one stitch, knit/purl one stitch, place marker and go to the end of the needle.  Makes things remarkably easier, and I don't have to count, which means that I can enjoy being around people while working on this sock.  Simply amazing and wonderful.

I present to you  Skew as it looked last night.

 You can see how that bump that was in the picture yesterday has now disappeared around my ankle and I've worked up the leg decreasing the mini gusset on the left side of the sock.  Fun!

Working on my attitude

My attitude has taken a quick downward spiral.  It started mid-week last week, improved a little over the weekend, but has since gone back down this morning.  I'm trying to take deep breaths, remind myself that I'm probably overreacting and just take things one at a time, but it's hard.

So, I'll go quickly into denial and step back to my really nice weekend and show you all the fun stuff I did.

I finished Bjork.

I absolutely love this pair of socks.  I'm wearing them today and think they are just about as lovely as they can be.  Very comfortable, the yarn is splendid, soft...perfect in every way.  These will be a long-time favorite.  I'm so glad I decided to do the Cookie A Yarn Club because I have really stretched myself with the two patterns and I made HUGE progress!  2 pairs of socks in 3 weeks.  That's impressive if I say so myself.

In fact, working on these two patterns gave me the confidence to do the next exciting thing from my weekend:

The yarn is from Knitterly Things.  I do the yarn-of-the month club and this is from October 2013, Son of Spooktober.  The colors are wonderful...and this sock pattern...  SO MUCH FUN!  I haven't had this much fun knitting anything ever.  While it's really hard to tell what's going on, this is the foot of the left sock.  The bump at the top right is where my big toe will go and the bump at the bottom right wraps around the ankle and heel and is eventually sewn together.  I've gotten past the heel shaping, sewn it together and started working on decreasing the other gusset since taking this picture.

This pattern is simply genius.  Unless something majorly goes wrong, it'll be in my "go to" binder too.

Pattern:  Skew by Lana Holden, Knitty Winter 2009

Weathering the storm

Loyal readers know that there was a tornado that hit our house a little over a year ago.  I have to say that it was the single most terrifying event of my life.  I still can't stand to be in a thunderstorm.  I understand Pearl's desire to hide under the coffee table all scrunched up and hope it ends soon.

We had a bad storm last night.  And I was terrified, sick at my stomach and could hardly sit still and get anything done.

To make matters worse there were tornadoes associated with this event and since that was the case and since the safety of some of the viewers was more important than their coping strategies of distraction or denial, they muted the Olympics, put the visual in the upper right part of the screen and talked us through the entire 3 hours of this storm event.

I was home alone.

And really I just wanted to cry.  I kept thinking "if we get hit, I'm not going to go through the trauma of fixing this house again."  I'm not sure what I could have done about it but I would not have fixed it.  That ordeal may have been worse than the tornado.

Not really, but it WAS pretty bad.

In case you're wondering this is how Zora spent the storm.  It should have made me feel somewhat relieved to know she wasn't cowering under the furniture, but when the tornado hit last year, she was just happy that the other two cats had abandoned their food bowl so that she could eat them all.  I think she looked up once, the dork.

At any rate, I made some progress on my sock and I found something out:

Knitting monsters really does hurt my hands.  I don't know why.  It doesn't feel any different than, say, knitting a sock, while I'm doing it, but there's something about it and my right hand is really sore today.  I was working on double point needles with a fuzzy yarn (IF I can manage to finish this one it's going to be hilariously cute)...but ouchy on my hands today.  I'll have to leave off working on it until my hand feels better, which means, of course, that I likely won't be able to get through all of them before the end of the term.  We shall see.  It kind of makes me sad.

I think I made a decision

I'm not entirely sure, but I think I've made a decision...about the knitted gifts for my kids.  I could still change my mind--obviously I'm still me and always keep that option open) but maybe I won't.

I'm going to knit some tiny monsters for those kids using yarn scraps and bits of my time.  I worked on this adorable critter last night:

She took about an hour and a half to make.  David said she looks like an owl, but she has whiskers and owls don't have whiskers, so I don't know what he's talking about.  And a tail...owls don't have tails long enough to wrap around their plump little bodies.  Anyway, She's pink with turquoise eyes and she's cute as a button.

I think I'll make a bunch of little critters.  I found 3 other patterns as well and will make several of each and give them little stories and then we'll have a white elephant during our appreciation lunch/party and the students can pick for themselves which monster buddy they want.  I think it should be fun, and hopefully I can manage it...I'll be sure to keep you updated.

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Pearl helped me exercise last night.  It was the most fun I've had on the elliptical ever.

Bjork 1!

I finished the first Bjork sock last night and got through the knitting of the cuff on sock 2.  I don't really like knitting cuffs, so try to get them done as soon as possible.

And I shouldn't say I don't like knitting cuffs because obviously I must if I'm on such a sock knitting rampage as I've been lately...BUT...it is a tad tedious right there at the start and I try to find ways to make it a little less so.

I wanted to show you the foot of Bjork 1. It's so lovely that I fear I made a mistake knitting up a patterned sock instead of a vanilla sock...

Did I?  I mean, look how pretty that yarn knitted in stockinette?  Did I ruin the effect by using a pattern that has depth and character?  Did it take away from the yarn or simply not add to it?  I just don't know.  Look at the front of the sock and let me know.

Because, truly, I love this sock.  It feels very comfortable on, the colors are rich and lovely, the yarn itself is super soft.  And I want to do it justice...and I think the sock is fabulous.  I probably worry for nothing.

Or I could just walk around on my tippy toes (barefooted of course) so everyone can see the spectacular feet of my socks!

Progress

I'm making good progress on my Bjork sock.  See!

The yarn is so gorgeous and the pattern so beautiful...my feet don't do it justice, but that's ok.  Tonight I'll finish the toe and have a gorgeous sock to put on one foot at least.  Then I'll start working on the second.  I truly do predict I'll get past the cuff.

My initial reaction to how quickly these are knitting up continues.  I started them on Saturday afternoon, folks...I expect to be finished this weekend.  That's pretty amazing!  Especially since, as I said yesterday, I didn't knit them all day on Sunday.  I'm not sure why, but it's pretty awesome and I'm very excited about it.

A couple of things I want to do but am kind of scared to start:

1. the dragonfly cowl.  I've had such amazing progress on these socks that the dragonfly cowl feels like walking through quicksand.  I'm really quite close to finishing, so I should do it, but I'm finding myself dreading it.  I don't want to rip it out...I've put in so much work as it is, but really...I'm hesitant and not sure what to do at present. I'm not going to make any rash decisions, but I don't want that project to linger much longer.  I'll give it until next week and see what I can manage on Monday and Thursday nights when David's not at home.
2. a passel of monsters for my student workers.  They are such a sweet group of kids--14 in all--and they have been so nice and supportive to me throughout this ordeal with my dad.  They even bought me a gift certificate to my favorite restaurant and gave me a giant Valentine's card (little did they know that that's what my dad did every year and that alone made me want to cry on Friday).  I want to give them something, but I fear having enough time and hand strength to get it done.  I've found a couple of, what I hope are, quick and easy monster patterns and will start and see how far it gets me.  They want me to knit them scarves and socks and other things, but that just can't happen.

SO, I have some thinking to do as I work on my Bjork sock and see how things go.  I'm considering bringing the monster knitting to do as my lunch time knitting and see how it takes me through...how many can I get done in a week, etc.  I only have March and April left to get through them, so I don't know if that's possible.  I'll keep you updated.

Cookie A Yarn Club

I am so glad that I asked for this yarn club for my birthday.  I think this is going to be my birthday present every year as long as it goes on.  Two patterns designed by Cookie A, some unique and beautiful yarn, and two cookie recipes.  IF I were baking cookies, I'd probably be as excited about the cookie recipes as I am about the rest of it, but that's no longer part of my life, so I'll pass those recipes along to friends and family and happily knit myself silly on these socks.

SUCH beautiful socks.  I knitted the first pair (Possibly Maybe, see this weekend's post of the finished pair) in 10 days.  That's amazing.  I'm not a fast knitter, I don't have a LOT of time to knit (what time I do have I'm usually knitting, though).  But this pattern was so beautiful and the yarn so lovely that I just knit and knit and knit until they were done.  The pattern is fairly forgiving of minor mistakes and was easy to follow.  It was so addictive because I couldn't wait to see how it turned out.

But mostly I just wanted to wear those socks.  Which I'm doing at work today with my new denim pencil skirt.  (and, yes, I propped my feet on my desk to get this shot :)  And yes, that's a bright pink Turkish bed sock on the needles)

I started the second pair of socks from the Cookie A club patterns on Saturday about 10 minutes after I finished the Possibly Maybes. This pattern is named Bjork in honor of the singer and are really quite lovely.  When I'm able to get one sock finished you'll be able to see how pretty the lace pattern is.  But for now you'll just have to admire the really cool striping that happened with this yarn. (these are not self-stripers, btw,  This is just how the colors stack...a beautiful brown and rose colored spiral).

Yarn: Tosh Sock Onesies by Madelinetosh in colorway Wilted Rose

I can hardly believe that I'm really near finishing the first sock.  I suspect that will happen tonight, or tomorrow night.  I didn't even work on them last night while watching the Olympics because the daughters were over and I didn't want to zone out when I was paying attention to the pattern. (I worked on my mitered square blanket)  Again, very quick to knit, very satisfying, and so far, only a couple of forgotten yarn overs...which I was able to figure out on the next round and correct with a knit front & back...not a perfect solution, but hey, I'm knitting for fun, and un-knitting is decidedly not fun.

I'm enjoying knitting with the Olympics this year, but I have to say I'm almost ready for them to be over so I can get back to enjoying some quiet time in the evenings to listen to my books while knitting.  I also have to say that man...Snowboard Cross is insane!  As Alyssa said, "All you have to do to win is make it to the finish line!"

No words necessary

Exercise

I hate exercise.  I don't know why, exactly, but I've hated it ever since I can remember.

About the only exercise I've ever enjoyed for any length of time is dancing and yoga.

And after losing all this weight I KNOW I need to exercise, on a regular basis...but man...I really don't want to.

Part of the problem is finding the time.  I decided I would do it when I got home from work while David was cooking dinner, but that didn't work.  I came home and put on my pjs, because that seemed like the thing to do.

Then I thought I'd get up at 5am, drink some coffee, exercise for 30 minutes and then get ready for work., but that didn't work either.  I should have known it wouldn't.

Then after much thought and wrangling with myself, I asked what my goals for exercise were and why I felt that I need to do it.  Here's what I came up with:

1. overall good health
2. toning--I've lost all this weight, being tighter would be nice
3. being able to travel and walk without discomfort or weariness

And that was really it.  I don't have any aspirations to run marathons, 10Ks or even 5Ks.  I don't want to look like a model, nor do I care to join a gym or exercise socially.  When it all comes down to it what I want is to be able to travel, see things and not feel limited by the physical condition of my body.

That accomplished I took a little advice from Dr. Phil and decided that I needed to make a rule that would force me to exercise.  I decided that I would not be able to put on my pjs and knit until AFTER I'd exercised.  That means that when I come home from work, I change into my exercise clothes, eat supper, clean the kitchen and then exercise.  

It's worked for 3 days in a row now, and I have to say that mentally I'm "getting this."

I'm doing 2 days a week of yoga, 2 days a week on our elliptical and if the weather holds out on the weekend David and I will go for a walk.  I'm good with this for now.  I'm enjoying the fact that since I'm having my shower at night, I can spend my first 30 minutes awake sipping coffee, catching up on e-mail and facebook and playing some games...

I'm optimistic this might work.

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Of course this does mean an hour less of knitting each night, but I look at it this way.  I'll live longer, so it's an investment in my future knitting possibilities.  I can handle that.

And Pearl told me last night that she's very proud of me.

Boredom...Focus...Knitting

If you've read my blog for a while, you'll know that I do not deal with boredom very well.  I hate it...despise it...and even fear it a little.  It leads to me becoming dissatisfied, wanting to run around and do something a little crazy just to stir things up.

I can't seem to help myself.

Yesterday I was bored.  I didn't want to be bored and tried to make myself focus, but to no avail.  Luckily I was wearing a new dress and felt unbelievably cute, so was able to avoid the nasty mood that usually comes along with boredom.

So...what does a girl do when she's bored at work?  Knit of course.  I don't like to do that outside of my lunch hour, BUT, when no one is up here and nothing is going on and even the boss is complaining about not being able to focus...well, one should definitely take advantage and knit!

and voila!  I finished a pair of Turkish Bed Socks for Alyssa.  Intended to be a Christmas present, but apparently something else captivated me in the meantime.

Yarn:  Felici by Knit Picks in color Firehouse (I think...not listed on their colors anymore).

Yarn Club #2: Magic

I'm addicted to this knitting pattern.  I've worked and worked and worked and hardly feel like I've done anything but play.  The fact that I'm having to read a chart (which I usually don't like) and doing so while also watching the Olympics (which I usually can't) is testament to how beautiful and perfect the design is for this pattern.

I've never knitted anything quite like it.  Quite that captivating and thrilling.

I usually shy away from difficult patterns.  Not because I'm not capable of doing them, but because I've discovered that I don't always have the mental tenacity to stick with a project that is hard.  But this sock is pure magic.  From the twisted knit rib (which I usually hate doing, btw) all the way to the toes.  Magic.  I'll let the pictures of Sock 1 speak for themselves.

I can't really tell you if this pattern is difficult because it simply doesn't feel like it.  It looks super-complicated and very detailed and involved, but it is not difficult to do.  It flies off of the needles, not because there isn't much knitting to do, but because the knitting being done is just purely so much fun.  I also feel like I'm really learning to "read" my knitting.  On the "resting round" I'm able very clearly to see and know what I need to do without looking at the chart...AND I'm learning to look at the symbols and easily understand what they mean and what I need to do.  I feel like I've grown as a knitter while having the time of my life.

I cannot wait to show you my finished pair...probably by the end of this weekend.  I have decided that I'm doing the next pattern from Cookie A in my Dream in Color Smooshy yarn I had set aside for my next sock project (I'm not completely ignoring the 4 (maybe 5???) other pairs of socks I currently have on the needles...but these patterns must be knit).  I'm thinking of setting aside a notebook with the patterns in it for my "special go-to" sock patterns.  Hickory (the Bertie Bott's from earlier this year), this one, and Simple Cable socks...and of course vanilla socks.

And then after that??  Well, in the spirit of yarn clubs, I think I'm going to finish up that Rockin'Sock Club sock that I started last year sometime...it's an ankle sock and the first one is already finished and the 2nd one started.  I have no idea what captured my attention to drag me away from that loveliness, but that should be the next pair, don't you think?  If I manage all of that by the end of February (possible if I'm not distracted by fairies...fairies are pretty prevalent in my house, btw)...that will be 5 new pairs of socks in the first 2 months of 2014...amazing if I can say so!  (oh, and that's not counting the Turkish Bed Socks I'm working on during lunch...and I'm almost finished with one pair of those!)

Yarn Club #2: Beautiful

Ok...Cookie A has astounded me.  Her patterns are beautiful and encourage such a confidence in my knitting abilities.  I no longer feel like a beginner who can read a pattern and make things look nice but an intermediate knitter who can follow a pattern intuitively and make something beautiful.

If you're in the Cookie A club and haven't gotten your yarn yet and haven't looked at the pattern yet, look away...read this post after you've received your goods because spoilers abound.

Need proof?

I started the cuff night before last.  I just needed to get the project on my needles.  Feel the yarn, work through the easy part and build my confidence for tackling what looks like a pretty complicated pattern.  Pearl loved my work almost enough to eat the needles.  I had to convince her that it was a bad idea to eat knitting needles but she didn't believe me.

Last night I worked farther on the sock.  I was having the best time until I realized that I'd read the pattern slightly wrong.  Nothing major, I was just doing my decreases slanting in the wrong direction.  I did this for 3 rows before I realized it, but I was proud that I could look at the way the knitting was going and realize it.  I decided not to go back and enjoy the "wabisabi" of the mistake...it's not huge enough to notice, and certainly not huge enough to go back 6 whole rounds to fix (6 because there are "plain rounds" inbetween  "Pattern" rounds).

Anyway, at one point I see a black arm dash out from under the chair and looked down and saw this.  She didn't know I was watching her too:

That cat is just so freaking adorable.

I made it this far before calling it quits.  Beauty.  I could have knitted all night just watching the pattern unfold, holding onto this gorgeous yarn.

Yarn:  Plucky Knitter fingering, Colorway "Going Steady"...exclusive for Cookie A February 2014 club
Pattern:  Possibly Maybe by Cookie A, exclusive for Cookie A February 2014 club

Sparkle Socks

Life is happy, especially when wearing sparkle socks.  See how happy those feet are!

Yarn:  Sparkle Gnome by Gnome Acres
Colorway: Under the Tree
Pattern:  Firefly in Knitter's Book of Socks

I really enjoyed working on this pattern and making these socks.  They were quick, fairly easy and super-rewarding.  The yarn is wonderfully soft and the sparkle...so pretty and just makes me happy thinking about it.

I was sad that I only had 40g left when I finished...I'd hoped since I made the socks a little shorter in the leg, I might have enough to make another pair, but alas...this yarn, too, will go to the scrap basket to be made in blankets (for which it will be ridiculously happy, trust me).

The pattern will show up better in a solid or semi-solid yarn, but it looks nice in a variegated yarn too, even one this variegated.  The color runs are usually around 1-2"...never more than 2", so there are only a few stitches in each color before shifting to the next.  Even so, beautiful pooling and swirls occur, making for a very lovely finished product.

The fit on this sock is a bit tight in the instep for me.  I lengthened the instep a little knowing that it was probably going to be too small, but it has to be eased over my heel...it's comfortable once on, so I'm not worried about it, but if I do this pattern again, I will make the heel flap a little longer to give me some extra stitches to pick up and that should make the gusset more comfortable for my high instep.  Otherwise, the pattern is perfect and looks and feels wonderful.

And because I can't get enough of these socks today...here is a close up so you can see how the little cables really do make one think of pretty packages under the Christmas tree.  (click on the photo for a better close-in view)

Oh, and yes, I started my Cookie A socks last night.  Photo to come when I'm far enough along to show off the pattern...it'll be worth the wait, trust me.  This yarn is gorgeous and the pattern...wow...

Thoughts on goals

Some people really like goals.  They write them down, figure out what steps are necessary to meet the goal and then work very hard, assessing themselves along the way for progress.

My husband is like that.

I'm not really.  I like to have a general direction in which to strive, but I typically don't set hard and fast goals for myself.  One reason is that I'm likely to not meet them in the time I've set for myself--therefore, it can be assumed that I set unrealistic goals.

I do this with knitting all the time.  For instance, last night I was going to finish my "under the tree" socks and cast on my "possibly maybe" sock.  I wanted to have it ready for wearing to work today (even though I'm wearing a dress and wouldn't wear the socks with this particular dress, though I do that sometimes.)

More than anything I wanted to cast on the new project...I wanted to start working with my Cookie A yarn.  It's so beautiful and perfect for this time of year (I think everyone needs some color!).  And no matter what, every single pair of socks is a little bit of magic, so knitting a pattern that looks like magic with yarn that looks like magic...oh, it will just be the perfect thing all around.

But I couldn't.  Yesterday I was hungry all day...and I was a bit stressed and grouchy all day...I don't think it's related to the hunger, but I could be wrong.  Even so, I was hungry and grouchy so when I got home I also had a back ache and was tired.  I was snippy at David.  It couldn't be tolerated.

So, I sat down with my knitting, and then when it was evening snack time, I had that AND some chocolate and wine.

Then I started feeling better and more realistic about my expectations...and the silly goal I'd set myself to finish my sock.

After all, isn't knitting supposed to be fun?  Relaxing?  The thing I do to make myself feel better?  What's all this anxiety to get something finished RIGHT NOW when I have tomorrow, next week, next month...this weekend?  What was the rush?  Why the hurry and what is the expected return I'm going to get from it?  I found myself laughing that I was getting all in a rush to finish THIS sock, when all I want to do is cast on another.  How is the new sock really that different from this one?  Different pattern, sure.  Different color, definitely.  But really, it's a sock, and it's knitting and the thing that it'll give me isn't really any different than the thing that this current sock is giving me and there was no reason to stay up past my body's determined bedtime (9pm last night), get some rest and work on the bad attitude I had yesterday.

So, that's what I did.  I didn't meet that goal last night, but I'll finish the sock tonight AND start the new one.  And I'll be very happy about it this evening when I'm sitting and knitting and relaxing.

It's all good.

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And you want to know what's even better?  I set a size goal for myself when I started losing weight last year (11 months ago...almost 1 full year, hard to believe).  I'd dreamed of being a size 10 for the longest time.  I graduated from high school in a size 14 and haven't been smaller than that since.  A size 10, to me, seemed like the "end all"...smaller than my body would probably get, but as in all goals I set for myself, I set one that I reasoned was too high, and was curious to see where I'd end up.

Well, here I am...comfortably in a size 10 dress.

I don't look like me, except I know that's me.  It's weird and wonderful and ridiculously exciting all at the same time.

I still haven't met my weight goal...in fact, I'm still about 40 pounds away from my weight goal.  I think I may have to abandon that one as I abandoned the goal of finishing the sock last night.  I continue (and WILL continue) to eat healthily, watch my portion, rein in my hunger.  If I continue to lose weight while doing so then that's great.  If I gain, I'll have to rethink how I'm eating and fix it...but I'm happy where I am and looking forward to seeing where I'll be this time next year.

Surpassing my goals, I guess!

A little fortune

Yesterday was the great arrival of three of my yarn club purchases.  And boy did they surprise and delight me.

I won't give anything away for a week or so since people still haven't gotten theirs...but I will describe a little about the joy the yarns brought me.

(yes, I'm a simple girl at heart).

First, I came home, got the packages from the porch and then heated up supper.  Even though I'm technically not dieting any more, I find that I'm hungry a lot of the time, and waiting on supper, or snacks, even for yarn, is just not going to be a good idea in the end.

SO, I ate, then I put all my packages together and took their picture and sent that to David who was in class last night.

And then I opened them one by one starting with Vesper.

The colorway name for this month is Abracadabra and boy it is perfect.  Beautiful.  5 of my favorite colors.

The next package I opened was the Cookie A.  I'd looked at the patterns during dinner and knew they were gorgeous...and I'm really excited about knitting another Cookie A sock pattern...the yarn is sumptuous and I cannot wait to cast those on (as soon as I'm finished with Under the Tree).  There are 2 patterns, and I'm going to make the first one with the Cookie A club yarn and the 2nd one with something from my stash.  Both are gorgeous and lovely.

Now, I will NOT make the cookies...I may collect all the cookie recipes and have a giant bake-off at Christmas...maybe.  We shall see.

Finally I opened my Rockin'Sock Club yarn.  I was really conflicted about whether to join again for 2014, but I've been in the RSC for 2 full years now and love the yarns that I've received during that time.  And as I said yesterday I've made a few of the projects.  I have a special place on my shelf to store the yarn and don't take it out of the clear package until I'm ready to use it....I was so excited to see this installment, though.  Bright colors, beautiful, rich bright colors.  Pretty patterns, too, but probably not ones I'll use.

OH...and the theme for this month's color is the Chinese New Year, so there was a fortune cookie in the bag...here's my fortune:

Here's my plan for handling all my club yarn:

Club Dragonfly--cast on as soon as I get it and work a little each day until I'm done.
Vesper--keep a simple sock on the needles at all times for travel, work, and social knitting
Cookie A, pattern 1--cast on as soon as I get it and work a little each day until I'm done (after I'm finished with CD)
Rockin'Sock--keep one project with RSC yarn on the needles and work on a little each day until I'm done (after I'm finished with CA, this does not have to be the most recent shipment)
Cookie A, pattern 2--cast on with stash yarn and work on it a little each day until I'm finished (after RSC)

Of course I probably won't finish all that knitting before the next installment comes along or the next desire to work on something else comes along, but this should keep me busy with interesting projects at least until April when the next installments arrive!

Yarn Clubs

This year I am "doing" 4 yarn clubs.  2 are ones that I did last year:  Rockin'Sock Club from Blue Moon Fiber Arts and the Vesper Sock Club from Knitterly Things.

I have made several pairs of my Vesper socks, but saw last week that I have about 9 balls of yarn that will need to be made up into something luscious and wonderful.  I love my Vesper sock yarn.  They are all striping and while I feel like I have enough striped socks, I find myself casting on a pair as soon as I finish another one.  They make up into amazing socks that have worn well.  The colors stay true, the yarn doesn't fuzz or felt or otherwise wear out.  Really very lovely.

Rockin'Socks?  Well, I have only completed 3 projects from the RSC.  The first was a pair of purple socks.  Cables...and my first attempt at cables.  I made a few mistakes, but generally I love those socks.  My one complaint is that the dye wasn't set well and the purple bled and bled and before I realized I needed to put them in some vinegar water for a bit and the bleeding has stopped...but not before it lost a lot of its color.  The other project I finished is a gorgeous shawl that I love love love.  The 3rd was a colorwork hat that I made in April last year while living at the apartment.  The hat was gorgeous but too small for my head, so it now belongs to the daughters. I have only had one month's pattern/yarn combo that I wasn't crazy about but the rest have been wonderful....Still...I want to make them all and will do something different with that yarn with the chicken pattern.

The new clubs?  Club Dragonfly (which I got a couple of weeks ago and showed you the pic of the lime green and purple cowl with dragonfly colorwork) and Cookie A sock club.  I'm very excited about these.

And you know what's even more exciting?  That 3 of these yarns are supposed to arrive today! yea!

So, all weekend, Pearl was adorable.  More so yesterday than usual.  This, is pretty much what she did all day.

And, in case you're wondering, she is NOT inviting tummy rubs...unless you enjoy getting your arm and hand chewed off.

I'm hoping to have a pair of socks to show off in a couple of days.  Stay tuned.