I've been a member of Ravelry for a couple years. I thought I'd use this opportunity to give a shout out to all those I know and love through Ravelry. It hasn't helped me with my diet, but it's helped me to become a better knitter, to have some amazing discussions, and to find groups that have become comfortable places.
This past American Idol season, I joined a group of AI lovers, and for the most part we've had a blast. And the fun has continued past the season. We've had drama and snark and the occasional misfit crazy person stopping in to sprinkle woecakes, but that's the way of the world.
The diet is failing miserably. The knitting and crocheting are succeeding brilliantly, and my Transister and I have gotten so caught up in it all that we've started a business, Stitch Sisterz. We're having our first sale at Knitters Connection, a fiber event next week in Columbus, Ohio. After that, we're going to stock our online store at Artfire with Have-Price yarns.
I know that some people moderate comments on their BLOGS. Just so you all know, I've never felt the need to block an opposing viewpoint. Comment away!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Oh, Crap!
It's Friday, my self-appointed weigh-in day, and I forgot to hop on the scale first thing this morning. Four hours later, I jumped on. The bad news is that the scale says the same thing it did last Friday. The good news is that this was after two mugs of coffee and a Transitions Shake. I vow that I'm going to stay off that scale until next Friday, so there will be no chubby updates until them. Notice I'm not as brave as my sister in declaring my weight for all the world to read! I'll just let you know when I've reached my goal, far away as it is. When I do, I think I'll get a wagon full of chicken fat, just like Oprah. Hopefully, I'll keep it off, unlike Oprah!
I've been busy sewing a Nappy Bag, complete with changing mat and mat bag for a friend. It's an Amy Butler pattern, and I was planning to use Amy fabric, but I fell for some coordinating Michael Miller prints.
I'm still working on the Hey, Teach sweater and will be starting a prayer shawl for a co-worker at the hospital. Sewing is currently a dress for Elder Dear Daughter in a black stretch twill with a dusty peach pinstripe.
We have a new friend here in Toledo - Goomba the Roomba. Goomba arrived on my doorstep yesterday, and I already don't know how I lived without him. The dogs wanted to eat poor Goomba up the minute he cycled on and started dirt sucking. The cat is just beginning to realize that there's some playmate potential in Goomba, unlike the dogs who just want to get crazy with poor old Natty-cat. Goomba is currently enjoying the upstairs hall and a bedroom. It's wonderful that I can now knit and vacuum the house at the same time. This is much safer than knitting and driving!
I've been busy sewing a Nappy Bag, complete with changing mat and mat bag for a friend. It's an Amy Butler pattern, and I was planning to use Amy fabric, but I fell for some coordinating Michael Miller prints.
I'm still working on the Hey, Teach sweater and will be starting a prayer shawl for a co-worker at the hospital. Sewing is currently a dress for Elder Dear Daughter in a black stretch twill with a dusty peach pinstripe.
We have a new friend here in Toledo - Goomba the Roomba. Goomba arrived on my doorstep yesterday, and I already don't know how I lived without him. The dogs wanted to eat poor Goomba up the minute he cycled on and started dirt sucking. The cat is just beginning to realize that there's some playmate potential in Goomba, unlike the dogs who just want to get crazy with poor old Natty-cat. Goomba is currently enjoying the upstairs hall and a bedroom. It's wonderful that I can now knit and vacuum the house at the same time. This is much safer than knitting and driving!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
It's NOT a miracle - it's YOU!
It's that old Pennsylvania German will power that is keeping you on the straight and narrow! I have to admit, I baked dessert for a potluck dinner on friday and a superbowl potluck on Sunday, and utilized - gasp - one whole pkg. of unsweetened chocolate, a bag each of dark chocolate chocolate chips, mil chocolate chips, white chocolate chips and a half a tin of cocoa, not to mention a half a cow's worth of butter and cream. However, I will not be doingthat again until at least next year, I hope. I have been sneaking bits of the Ben and Jerry's HotFudge sauce - recipe is online, google it, but my glycemic index guide says cocoa, butter, and sugar have insignificant carbs. Hallelujiah! I'm really starting to get into looking everything up in the guide and trying to keep away from the high GI stuff. It's not as bad as I thought. I've been trying to do the shakes for breakfast and the Transitions meals ( 5 bean and the lentil+beef are my faves) for lunch. Of course, dinner with hub has to be more substantial, but I just try to give him twice as much food as I get. I'm down to an even 160 lb. Thank goodness we have a balance beam scale in our gym, as I'm used to the kind of scale where if I give a good jump onto it, I'm 5 pounds lighter than I was the day before. Of course, now that I'm letting my hair grow, that's a ton of weight right there! I have joined, thanks to Bonnie's networking abilities on ravelry, a great group of knitters here in florida. They all knit with great yarns - no plastic crapola, and are all interested in new books, yarns, patterns and techniques. Some are yar rounders and some of us are snowbirds. it's very much fun. Thanks Bon! Your red sweater is beautious! I've finished my blue Silkience top and will add a photo hen I finally learn how. I'm off to the MarketAmerica ( parent ofthe Transitions program among others)convention in Miami on friday and Saturday. I will keep you posted of any new dieting tips. As for now, keep trying to get to the gym, and enjoy the coninued shrinkage. Every little bit adds up!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Who Would Ever Think
that making crocheted buttons could take so long? I figured half an hour, an hour at the most, but noooo, 4 hours from start to finish. I made 5 crocheted buttons, sewed around the buttonholes on a sweater, and sewed on the buttons. It's 4 hours later and I've finished AND taken pictures.
The buttons look good, but were they worth 4 hours? I'd already spent several hours and miles of driving looking for the perfect buttons. I looked in Ohio and in Florida and finally gave up the hunt. So, I've spent about a dozen hours total on these darned buttons.
This is the Provence sweater from Ella Rae Book Seven, knit for Younger Darling Daughter. It's knit of Ella Rae Silkience, a cotton/modal (what is modal?)/silk/rayon blend with a band gauge of 21st/24rows/4 inches. I loved knitting with the yarn and the finished sweater is quite pretty. In person, it's more cranberry or ruby red looking with a much more saturated color. The pictures look sort of washed out. Oh, well. I'll soon be making this sweater again in a bright blue/green for Elder Darling Daughter.
The buttons look good, but were they worth 4 hours? I'd already spent several hours and miles of driving looking for the perfect buttons. I looked in Ohio and in Florida and finally gave up the hunt. So, I've spent about a dozen hours total on these darned buttons.
This is the Provence sweater from Ella Rae Book Seven, knit for Younger Darling Daughter. It's knit of Ella Rae Silkience, a cotton/modal (what is modal?)/silk/rayon blend with a band gauge of 21st/24rows/4 inches. I loved knitting with the yarn and the finished sweater is quite pretty. In person, it's more cranberry or ruby red looking with a much more saturated color. The pictures look sort of washed out. Oh, well. I'll soon be making this sweater again in a bright blue/green for Elder Darling Daughter.
I was supposed to get to the gym this morning after finishing up the sweater. Is that going to happen? The jury's still out. I'm still doing the Mount Everest of laundry, I need to wrap birthday presents for Younger Darling Daughter including this sweater, get to the post office and mail said presents, pick up a pattern I ordered from the local quilt shop for a bag for Elder Darling Daughter, and return a pair of expensive shoes that fell apart after three brief wearings.
.
On the "Who Would Ever Think" theme. Who would ever think calorie counts could be wrong? I wanted some toast, pulled a loaf of bread from the freezer, and read the calorie count - 140 calories a slice - GOOD GRIEF!!! The label said there were 16 in the loaf. Being in total disbelief, I counted the slices - there were 27, not 16. Getting out my trusty calculator, I discovered that it worked out to 87 calories per slice so I had two and rewarded my efforts with a 60 calorie slice of cheese melted on the toast. Mmmmm - grilled cheese sandwich.
.
Back to Mt. Everest!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
It's a miracle - another pound
Another pound is a miracle? After three weeks? Yes, indeed!!! After a week in Florida and a severe case of the Honduran Hack, it's truly a miracle that I've lost anything at all.
On the flight to Florida, I sat in front of an adorable little Honduran child who hacked, coughed, and snotted continuously, all while standing on Mommy's lap and hanging over my seat back. Needless to say, the Honduran Hack immediately found its way to me. And I am a true believer in "feed a cold and starve a fever". Of course, if I have a fever, it somehow becomes "starve a cold and feed a fever". I must maintain my health at all costs!
I started my go-to-the-gym program on Monday. I've vowed that, without fail, I'll be at the gym every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless I have to work. Being a nurse and running up and down the long hospital halls for 12 hours is enough exercise on those days. Here it is, Wednesday, I'm home, and I've already broken my vow, but with 8 inches of fresh snow in the driveway, I'm not going anywhere.
The exercise of the day is doing laundry. Sounds like a chicken's way out, but this is the Marathon of Laundry. Back on January 3rd, the Wonder Sons destroyed my washer. As of yesterday afternoon, it's working. So, from January 3rd to January 27th, not a load was washed. The sheer volume of laundry is mind boggling. The chute was backed up from the basement to the second floor, plus all the laundry the Wonder Sons left behind in their rooms after they went back to school. I shut the doors to their rooms and ignored it until now. What was I going to do with it - wash it? So, I'm up and down from the basement to the second floor, over and over and over again, and bending and squatting to load, unload, sort and fold. Every bed in the house needs to be stripped from the holidays - five beds worth of everything. I haven't started that yet, still working on the clothing and towels. Oh, and the rugs the damned cat peed on.
With all the laundry activity, it's a good thing I have my Transitions foods to get me by. I am loving the pre-made meals. For lunch I had a Five Bean Casserole . It was so tasty, it might be my new favorite. I forgot to eat breakfast - oh, well. I know it's not supposed to be good to skip breakfast, but it's 1:30 in the afternoon, so I guess it's too late to worry about it.
Back to the laundry!
On the flight to Florida, I sat in front of an adorable little Honduran child who hacked, coughed, and snotted continuously, all while standing on Mommy's lap and hanging over my seat back. Needless to say, the Honduran Hack immediately found its way to me. And I am a true believer in "feed a cold and starve a fever". Of course, if I have a fever, it somehow becomes "starve a cold and feed a fever". I must maintain my health at all costs!
I started my go-to-the-gym program on Monday. I've vowed that, without fail, I'll be at the gym every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless I have to work. Being a nurse and running up and down the long hospital halls for 12 hours is enough exercise on those days. Here it is, Wednesday, I'm home, and I've already broken my vow, but with 8 inches of fresh snow in the driveway, I'm not going anywhere.
The exercise of the day is doing laundry. Sounds like a chicken's way out, but this is the Marathon of Laundry. Back on January 3rd, the Wonder Sons destroyed my washer. As of yesterday afternoon, it's working. So, from January 3rd to January 27th, not a load was washed. The sheer volume of laundry is mind boggling. The chute was backed up from the basement to the second floor, plus all the laundry the Wonder Sons left behind in their rooms after they went back to school. I shut the doors to their rooms and ignored it until now. What was I going to do with it - wash it? So, I'm up and down from the basement to the second floor, over and over and over again, and bending and squatting to load, unload, sort and fold. Every bed in the house needs to be stripped from the holidays - five beds worth of everything. I haven't started that yet, still working on the clothing and towels. Oh, and the rugs the damned cat peed on.
With all the laundry activity, it's a good thing I have my Transitions foods to get me by. I am loving the pre-made meals. For lunch I had a Five Bean Casserole . It was so tasty, it might be my new favorite. I forgot to eat breakfast - oh, well. I know it's not supposed to be good to skip breakfast, but it's 1:30 in the afternoon, so I guess it's too late to worry about it.
Back to the laundry!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Another Day Another Pound - actually more like a week and TWO pounds!
It's been a week since the start of this adventure in weight loss. I stepped on the scale today to find myself two pounds lighter. Of course, two pounds less from a tub of lard doesn't make much of a difference, but it's a start. And it's certainly better than no loss or, heaven forbid, a gain.
I'm waiting for the washer repairman. Soooo much fun. The dogs are snoring and I'm thinking about food. No wonder - it's after noon and I haven't eaten. Being lazy and wanting to avoid searching through the refrigerator, I think I'll have a Transitions Shake. I love those things.
Yesterday, I tried a Transitions meal, a beef burgundy with rice, on my lunch break, but I'm saving those for days at work. The meal was delicious. I don't know what kind of rice was in it but it had a great texture, nothing mushy like some frozen meals. It was just enough to fill me up without feeling gross. I was satisfied, and the feeling lasted for the afternoon. Someone brought bite-size chocolate coated pretzels to work, and I had enough will-power to only eat two of them. For me, this was a miracle.
I hope that in 7 days, I can report another 2 pounds. It would be wonderful.
Knitting is moving right along. I'm doing the sleeves, two at a time, on a sweater. If I don't knit two at once, they never come out the same length no matter how much I count and measure. I'm up to the sleeve caps, then it'll be time to sew and put on neck and button bands. After that, I'm going to start a Hey, Teach sweater for a friend who's student teaching. It's just the cutest sweater, and pretty quick to knit.
I'm waiting for the washer repairman. Soooo much fun. The dogs are snoring and I'm thinking about food. No wonder - it's after noon and I haven't eaten. Being lazy and wanting to avoid searching through the refrigerator, I think I'll have a Transitions Shake. I love those things.
Yesterday, I tried a Transitions meal, a beef burgundy with rice, on my lunch break, but I'm saving those for days at work. The meal was delicious. I don't know what kind of rice was in it but it had a great texture, nothing mushy like some frozen meals. It was just enough to fill me up without feeling gross. I was satisfied, and the feeling lasted for the afternoon. Someone brought bite-size chocolate coated pretzels to work, and I had enough will-power to only eat two of them. For me, this was a miracle.
I hope that in 7 days, I can report another 2 pounds. It would be wonderful.
Knitting is moving right along. I'm doing the sleeves, two at a time, on a sweater. If I don't knit two at once, they never come out the same length no matter how much I count and measure. I'm up to the sleeve caps, then it'll be time to sew and put on neck and button bands. After that, I'm going to start a Hey, Teach sweater for a friend who's student teaching. It's just the cutest sweater, and pretty quick to knit.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Yesterday Did Not Exist
Yesterday in no way resembled a day in the life of one who is striving to slenderize. Yesterday was the day of the "good-bye" meals as the Wonder Sons prepared to head back to school. Younger Wonder Son left at 3 pm, but not before a family meal of hammy, hammy bean soup. Mmmm - it was yummy so I ate too much, and crackers, too. Elder Wonder Son requested burgers, big ones with cheese, as his good-bye-I'm-leaving-in-the-morning meal. Feeling a bit blue about his leaving, I ate mine without a second thought although I did pass on the potato salad. Evening brought one of Wonder Son's friends to the house with cake, and not just any cake. This was the ultimate CHOCOLATE CAKE from a gourmet cake shop far, far away, flown into our little island of midwesternness by one-who-could-afford-to-have-cakes-flown-in. That trip on an airplane did nothing to diminish the calorie content, and a big glass of milk was, of course, necessary to complete the orgasm of chocolate bodaciousness.
Today began early, early, early with a 50 mile trip to the airport. Elder Wonder Son has left the midwest! My day started with coffee and a yummy Transitions Peanut Butter Chocolate nutrition bar, grabbed on the run as I headed to the car. Lunch was a Transitions Shake. Today, I did half vanilla and half chocolate - this could be my favorite!
So now I'm faced with a refrigerator full of leftovers, all the remains of the Wonder Sons' favorites. Having been raised by the woman who saved old panty hose and the last five peas, I cannot simply clean out the refrigerator into the trash. And I still haven't gone to the gym.
Today began early, early, early with a 50 mile trip to the airport. Elder Wonder Son has left the midwest! My day started with coffee and a yummy Transitions Peanut Butter Chocolate nutrition bar, grabbed on the run as I headed to the car. Lunch was a Transitions Shake. Today, I did half vanilla and half chocolate - this could be my favorite!
So now I'm faced with a refrigerator full of leftovers, all the remains of the Wonder Sons' favorites. Having been raised by the woman who saved old panty hose and the last five peas, I cannot simply clean out the refrigerator into the trash. And I still haven't gone to the gym.
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