Craftiness, Patterns, and Work!

Good afternoon everyone.  I just realized it's been almost two months since I have posted to my blog. I'm a slacker, I know!

I have been working on three new patterns, which I am hoping to get to the finished stage sooner rather than later. 

I'm working on a crocheted scarf pattern featuring a diamond shaped motif which looks beautiful when made with two different colors of yarn.

There is also a color-charted (not sure of the correct term for this) knitting pattern which I am getting ready to test  knit. I posted about this one last November, but I got caught up knitting my "That Damn Coat" and haven't had a chance to get back to the charted pattern yet. It will be my first knitting pattern with stranded colorwork so I am hoping it turns out well.

The third one is going to be a revamp of my Super Simple FIngerless Gloves on Ravelry. And On This Blog The finished product turns out to be a bit too big, and not snug enough to keep from moving around on the hands. It was my first attempt at fingerless gloves, and I should have tested the pattern more before throwing it up there.

So at some point some errata will be posted, or I'll revise the document and reupload the PDF to the site. I will also post the revamped version here on the blog for those who prefer to get it from this site or don't have a Ravelry account.

I am making some contacts to see about teaching various crochet classes in the near future. There is a semi-annual fiber festival organized by one of my fellow guild members and I may commit to a morning and/or afternoon there teaching a class on one of my patterns. 

Fingers crossed!

A Rut With A View?

I am in a rut again.
I've gained back 5 lbs so far of what I lost while I was taking the Rx for appetite suppression.
Mainly I've fallen back into old habits. It isn't even about the Rx. The Rx did it's job and then some. By taking that every morning it was a visual/visible reminder of my goal.
 
I tell myself time and again that I'm not going to eat this, or not going to eat that, and I feel like I do well by not going to the cafeteria every break like I used to, but I'm still moving backwards. And the more I move backwards, the more my subconscious reminds me that it's just so much easier not to try at all.
 
And the more I want to listen.
But then I hate myself (okay not hate, strongly dislike) for thinking that way.
 
I feel like visual motivators are my thing. Not just the motivational memes you can find on google or anywhere else, but things realistic to me.
In the room with the treadmill for example, I want to post my last A1C number to remind myself not to slip back into being diabetic.
Or a picture of a baby or something because that's a goal too, and one that has a very finite time limit on it.
 
I haven't been able to come up with anything I can post anywhere at work where everyone else won't see it. It's not so much that I care if people see it, I just don't want questions. "What's 384 mean?" (My highest weight) or "What's the picture fo the baby for? I didn't know you had a kid" (Sigh. I don't.)
 
I've had many questions about my "Be Present" and "Slow Down" sticky notes and those are tiny and barely noticeable. So yeah... If anyone has a legit idea on something visual I can post at work that isn't overtly obvious I am open to ideas.
Maybe I can stick something next to my credit card, so I see it when I pull it out, but not everyone in the world sees it maybe?
 
Anyway, back to the rut and self-pity for a minute.
 
I decided to go back to counting my calories and measuring what I eat, because I can't trust myself not to backslide apparently. It is kind of a pain in the butt to have to measure everything and read every label every time I reach for a cracker, but it's NECESSARY.
Life is hard. It shouldn't be, and it doesn't always have to be, but it is anyway, isn't it?
 
I feel like I can get to a point eventually where I don't need to do this, but apparently now is not that point. I let the 40lb loss make me feel entirely too good about my capabilities at responsible eating.
 
Also, time for a serious talk with the Husband (who is entirely supportive) about getting some more of the junk food out of the house. I don't eat it much, BUT, when I do, I go whole hog so to speak. Things like "I just want to stick my whole face in it" come out of my mouth. I don't do that, but...I say it, and I think it.

 
But if I tell him we have to stop buying so much of it he'll be okay with it. There are some things he likes that I don't ever eat and so we can have that if he wants it because I'll leave it alone.

 
Picture a woman (A customer of size if you will *eye roll at the airlines for that one*) standing in a dark room alone. Under a spot light of judgement and shame. The room is very small. 7x7 or so. there is just enough room for her to turn around and see that there is No. Way. Out. Of. This.
That's me, when I let my subconscious talk. It's like I'm my own little Smeagol/Golem (I'm listening to the LOTR trilogy on Audiobook right now) and I just keep having this "I can handle it / no you cant, you're stupid" sort of conversation with myself.

 
Okay, enough self-pity. Every minute is a chance to begin anew. (Enter your own witty and motivational sentiment here if you don't like that one).

 
I'm going to start climbing out of this rut...again...after I get my face out of the ice cream container. (j/k I'm not stuffing my face into an ice cream container...at least...not while I'm at work)
 
Breathe in.
Breath out.
Stay Shiny.

My First (Volunteer) Crafty Teaching, Guild, NaNo

My cousin decided that she wants to learn how to crochet. Her schedule and current situation (living 45 min from town), prohibit her from being able to pay to go to a class at a specific time of day each week. 
Soooo, guess who volunteered to teach her. This girl.

For starters I have been wanting to teach crochet and other crafty good times, but have been shy about it. I have been training people at work however, since March of this year so I have gotten over much of the shyness.

Secondly, I need the experience before I go advertising myself all over hell and asking for students.
Thirdly, I like a good challenge:
Since she is 45 min away and has a crazy work schedule, I may have to learn how to use some video editing software and make some youtube tutorials.

I have been wanting to do some other artsy stuff on youtube anyway, so this might be a good intro to that.

- - -

My guild had officer elections on November 13. I went from being Secretary to being Vice President. Woot. I and one of the co-Presidents have been splitting some of the VP jobs because we didn't have a VP for a year or so. So basically I'm dropping the Secretary duties and keeping the VP stuff so it shouldn't be very overwhelming.

- - -

NaNo is going okay. I'm a few thousand words behind, but shouldn't have too much trouble catching up if I focus a bit harder. Which is easier said than done lol. Considering how busy I have made myself this month. 

I started a huge knitting project (A coat!) and that on top of overtime at work (8hrs a week plus Saturdays) and NaNo (1667 words a day plus Saturdays ;-) ) and I'm pretty damn busy.

On the up side I am learning to manage my time better.

Have a great night, everyone!

NaNoWriMo, Spark People, Crafty Good Times

Good morning all.

It's been a while since I posted, I know. I got excited about being back on Spark People and thought it would be a breeze to keep up with the extra blog and just copy/paste everything between all my sites. But it's not. Heh. Each time I copy and paste I have to reformat some of the text and images, plus I have stopped using the site every single day like I used to. Too many things get in the way, so I have been doing more offline on my own. 

So you will be seeing less Spark People related posts and hopefully more crafty related posts since this is after all, a crafty blog.

National Novel Writing Month is upon us again and I am participating, of course. I managed to get my first day's word count done and then some. I like to keep ahead a little bit. This year's story is going to be Part 2 of the one I wrote for NaNo 2012, and will hopefully be the conclusion of that story. I don't think I've ever completed a book during NaNo. I most always get my 50k words in, but the story is generally not finished at that point. 

So, On to the Crafty Post.

I have been working on a new pattern. I am in the swatch stage at the moment to see how the colors I picked work together, and if the pattern can be seen clearly when knitted as I've written it. It's going to be a little bit different than my previous patterns in that this one will be a color chart. No symbols to read, just a grid with color-coding on it. 

I recently made a handbag using a pattern written in this way and it was very easy to follow. It will all be knit/purl (Stockinette), and the knitter should be comfortable with stranded color work (Fair Isle Style). 

Once I have finished the swatch, I will make a prototype  and post pictures along with the full pattern both here and on Ravelry.

In other crafty news I have taken on the sizable project of making a "Neck Down Long Cardigan" by Knitting Pure & Simple. This is partly for me and partly for my November Stash Bust Challenge on Spark People. I have never made a garment other than a tank top I tried once. And this is certainly much much larger than a tank top!  

Currently I have 34 rows, and since it's a top down, I'm still on the hood section of the pattern. I need the finished product to be about 4 inches bigger than what the pattern sizing calls for, and I am making it shorter than what the pattern calls for. I have started with 1700(est) yards of yarn, and am hoping that will be sufficient.

Neck Down Long Cardigan on Knitting Pure & Simple
And for those of you on Ravelry: Cardigan Project Page on Ravelry

I am alternating colors every two rows to give it a more striped and variegated effect overall .So far I like the way it's coming out.

Another project I finished recently was a Fair Isle Style handbag and a pattern called "Nordstrom Crocheted Hobo Bag". Both just need their linings sewn in and straps attached at this point. Pictures of finished projects will be forth coming within the week! 

So, I should get back to writing since this blog post doesn't count towards my 50k words for the month, and my characters are calling me...

I Was So Focused On The Weekly Numbers---

...that I just this morning realized that I am only 2.5 pounds away from hitting the 70lbs lost mark!!!

Sometimes I get wrapped up in "Did I lose this week or not?" and "How are all the ways I messed up today?", and I forget about the big picture.

• Like dropping 6 jeans sizes (I was a 32 when I was 384 lbs, now I'm a 26).
• Like barely being able to finish 1 taco at Rudy's (I used to be able to polish off TWO (huge) tacos AND three sodas)
• Like being able to play tennis for an hour and a half at a time (instead of the 20 minutes I barely made it through before).
• Like not complaining about walking all over a large department store such as Target or walking up the hill at one of the places we visit. (I used to refuse to get out of the car if I thought I'd be doing 'too much walking'.)

All these milestones that took place over the last couple of years, and most recently over the last 6 months...and some days I'm more concerned about where that one pound increase came from on the scale.

Time for some perspective.

Project 2, Mpls, Coffee, and Clutter

I finished the shrug I started for the September Stashbuster project. I used EuroBaby Maypole in colorway 18.
Knit Shrug.
I love the softness of the yarn and I love the colors. I do not love weaving in the ends or joining with this yarn. It is SO slippery and chunky that it doesn't stay put. I used a different yarn to seam the sides up, and weaving in the ends was miserable work.

I have no idea how other people do this with such slippery yarn. Oh well, the project is finished and I used all the yarn and then some called for in the pattern, so I "achievement unlocked".

In other news, Owen and I went to Minneapolis last week to see Paul Weller play at the Varsity Theater in Dinkytown. The website for Dinkytown sort of sells it as a shopping district type area, but we discovered it is 98% restaurants and bars, and everything else there caters mainly to the students from the university as it is in that district. So we didn't do any shopping to speak of, and decided against looking for the yarn shop I found online. We are going to plan another trip up there and do a regular shopping day like we normally do.

The whole point of this trip was the concert, so nothing was lost really. And on the bright side, we did get to eat at a local place, rather than a mass franchise. At least I don't think it's a mass franchise lol. Didn't seem like one. Burrio Loco Seems Legit, Right? I had the wet burrito which was basically a burrito (a la pancheros or qdoba) and then smothered in delicious enchilada sauce and some cheese. Magnifique.

The hotel room was nice also. A bit swanky with a large bed, a huge desk and a sitting area, plus a full kitchenette. We didn't get to take advantage of the kitchenette since we were only there the one night. The most awesomest thing though at the hotel was the posh coffee machine in the lobby! It was FREEEEE for guests.
As Samuel L Jackson says in Pulp Fiction "This is some serious gourmet shit." Yeah it was that good.

This week's focus has been on uncluttering the house, bit by bit. I rearranged my magazine shelf and finally got around to buying a portable file box for all of our important papers like home owner's insurance...and mortgage documents...stuff that responsible adults should probably know the location of...

We also rearranged the kitchen so that it feels more open and less messy. The microwave has a new home and the island where we attempt to do food prep is finally free. The next item on my list is my office. I have boxes that haven't been touched since we moved in last year, so it's about time I do something with those.

Crafty-wise there isn't a ton to report. I will post some pictures of the shrug soon. I am sort of brainstorming ideas for my next project.  I am making a Trillian scarf using Madeline Tosh Sock yarn in Forestry colorway. I love their colors; they have texture and depth to them that is just unbelievable.
Link to the Project on Ravelry. It's a nice, repetitive pattern that I can do without a ton of thinking while I watch my tv shows or listen to music, etc.

For crochet, I found a book called Crochet One-Skein Wonders 101 Projects from Crocheters around the World. I am thinking about making the Quinby, the Montana, or the Peacock hats. Can't decide which one. I made the felted clutch but felted too much and now it's just a tiny, dense mess. Sigh. Thankfully I didn't pay much for the yarn.

The Montana Hat on someone's Ravelry Page
The Peacock hat from another Rav Page
Quinby Watchcap

So we'll see what inspires me, I guess.  Winter is coming, so I'll probably throw in some fingerless gloves for good measure.

And now, off to bed.

Have a great weekend everyone!

September Stashbuster Project 1 Complete

Closing out the first week back on SparkPeople; I weighed in this morning and discovered that I am exactly where I was on 9/1 when I went to the doctor. I'm not bummed, since it technically hasn't been a full week since my last weigh in, but I went ahead and did it anyway. My actual weekly weigh in is Monday mornings.

I decided, since I haven't been able to get out and play tennis and the treadmill didn't seem fun, that I would look at some spark videos instead. I found three that use the resistance band and are considered low impact and good for beginner level. So I did all of those, plus 5 minutes of stretching for flexibility.

I ended up with 38 minutes on my fitness tracker. It didn't feel like 38 minutes. The first videos were only 5 and 8 minutes long. The third one was closer to 20, but worked upper, core, and lower body.

I wish SP had some kind of favorites system so I could save videos on a list somewhere. I used my browser's book marking feature in stead, however which will work just as well.

It has been educational coming back. The site has had many improvements since I was here last, and I'm feeling a level of commitment I haven't felt before, between what I'm doing on my own and what I can supplement from the site.

In other news, I got my first of two projects done for the September Stashbuster Challenge finished.



I have some yarn left over from it, so in order to be really correct I will need to find some small thing to do with the left over yarn. Shouldn't be too hard though.

I'm planning to start my second project either tonight or tomorrow depending on how I feel.

Overall I feel really good about what I've done this week. I even picked up some more Greek yogurt to put into my morning shakes. From the produce section I got some apples called Ginger Gold and something called Cotton Candy Grapes. So without even really trying or thinking about it, I'm trying more new things.