Fiber Fool

I have made some progress on my projects for this week. Above you can see that I finally got to the casting on portion of the design project. I’m soooooo excited for this one I can barely contain myself or make myself go to bed. Since I’m so excited though I think I may try to get it published so I’ll only be able to give you undiscernable glimpses of it. Sorry! That does mean I got the charts completed. I actualy had about another two inches done on this piece and discovered that my gauge wasn’t as tight with my handspun as I typically get with commercial yarns on this size needle so I had to rip back. But I didn’t mind because I know I’m going to love this thing when it is done which means I want it as perfect as I can get!

I did get the singles off the bobbins and into center pull balls so it is just a matter of sitting down at the wheel to get them plied. So that has progressed slightly.

As for the skirt, I *still* haven’t sewn it. The fabric is pressed and ready to cut. I consulted with one of my sewing gal pals yesterday afternoon about sewing garments and she gave me some tips and helped me discern some of the confusion I had about the cool two-tone skirts in that pattern. So, I think if I get my act in gear I may still get two skirts sewn before the trip. I am going to make sure I have at least one done. It’s a good goal and motivator.

Reading has slowed drastically. I think partially because I have so many of these other projects in the fire. I don’t think it is a measure of the book, but really 75 pages isn’t a great place to make judgements about a book either. I do suspect that Still Waters is not as good as say Ashes to Ashes or Dust to Dust because it is the first published novel by Hoag. But, we’ll see.

Well, I think I’m going to try biking to/from water aerobics today. I’m going with money in my pocket to take a break between water aerobics and biking home uphill. I’ll go get a bagel and then if I still think I need more rest before biking home I’ll stop at the gelato/coffee bar and knit some. Wish me (and my butt that hasn’t been on the bike for a couple of weeks again) luck!

Despite all the upheaval, there has been *some* progress around here. I finished the first half of the second pair of Trekking socks and am on my way on sock number two. I’m getting much faster at knitting those traveling stitches now! Phew!

AmyP has also been busy and she finished her Dimple Socks. Go check it out! Speaking of that, I’ve started a group at Flickr where people can share pictures of my knitting patterns in progress or completed. So, if you are on Flickr or have been thinking about joining Flickr, please go join the group and share the photos of your DK knitting projects! That includes all the free patterns, BTW!

There has also been some trekking going along with all that knitting, though nothing too exciting. Last weekend DH dusted off the bikes and pumped up the tires and I’ve been on a few bike rides.

It was funny because we rode to the senior center as a trial on Sunday night to see how long it would take me to ride to/from my water aerobics class. It was an easy ride there and I was all ready to hop on my bike next week, but then we turned around and I realized that the vast majority of the ride home was up hill. I don’t think I’m ready to do that. I mean I made it just fine. I didn’t die or anything, but I’m not sure I’m up to the ride there, a hard water aerobics session for an hour and an immediate turn around to ride uphill home. But, I’ll get there. Right now I’m kind of excited with what is within a doable bike ride for me. Around the senior center is a great bagel shop, an Asian market, an Indian market, a smoothie shop, a coffee shop (with Wi-Fi I believe), one of the weekend farmer’s markets, the discount movie theater, a couple of Asian restaurants, an amazing pizza shop etc. That is kind of exciting! Of course, it’s been awful hot to bike anywhere when any of those places would be open right now. In fact, yesterday morning we had only gotten the house down to 76 degrees! :-( Blech!

When we got home on Sunday I thought I’d never feel my ass again, but when I woke up on Monday I wished it was still Sunday night, LOL! I gave my butt the day off, but on Tuesday at noon I did a short ride to the grocery store and got a free deli sandwich I had coming to me. It hurt so bad when I first got on the bike, but I did okay and now my butt isn’t hurting too much. I just have to keep getting back on it so my butt stays broken in, LOL!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

For a few weeks now I’ve been sitting at a significant weight, but I’ve wanted to hold (or loose) for a bit before making the official announcement….

Please start the drum roll now…

I’ve officially lost 50 pounds!!!! I’m not done. In fact, if you consult charts I probably *should* loose another 80, but my first goal is 30 more pounds away. That will mark the weight I was at when I got in my car accident in 2000. I was happy there. I could buy clothes in most stores. I was pretty healthy at that weight as well. I come from large stock. I’ll re-evaluate once I get there.

This 50 pounds has taken me over a year to shed. That is slow, but I think it can stick that way because it has been a gradual change in both exercise and eating habits. In fact, next week water aerobics is on hiatus as the pool and the entire senior center is closed for the annual major cleaning and maintenance. I’m not looking forward to it. I will need to call another pool today and find out if my pass for open swim is good there and whether I can do my water aerobics in the morning during the lap swim period that is for adults only or if I have to wait for the recreational swim period that begins at noon and is open to all ages. I have to admit if I have to wait until afternoon and deal with kids in the pool I probably won’t go. But, I do have three different yoga DVDs which I haven’t tried since I’ve gotten into better shape.

Aside from the improved self-esteem and obvious health benefits, I have to say in the last year I have become much more flexible which is wonderful and my flares with pain and such have reduced drastically in severity and frequency (though I’m having a bit of one right now).

I’ve lost 6 inches in the hips, 4.5 inches in the waist, and 2.5 inches in the bust. In the picture to the right, I’m wearing a skirt I bought last July 29th in Minnesota. Now it is so large that I can see my feet between it and my stomach! That one (and hopefully a few others) I will be altering. I’m really excited because I’m now at the point that *most* of the patterns in the knitting mags will fit me with minimal of adjustments. There is even one in the Fall Vogue! I’ll be picking that one up when it is out on the newstands!

To celebrate, I treated myself earlier in the week to some fabric and a couple of sewing patterns. I’m headed to Minnesota again in September to visit with my granmother in the nursing home (she is slipping slowly and getting very weak, but there is no immediate danger) and I’d like to have a few items that fit properly. So, perhaps there will be some sewing FOs coming up soon!

EDIT: The pics I pasted together from a site call My Virtual Model. These images came from the Prevention Magazine one, though I have played with all three of the “All Sizes” variety. I’m not quite where ally of them would work for me, though once I hit my goal weight I’m home free and can use any of them. Thanks for all the kudos too! I really helps keep yourself motivated!

First up, Scout put out another call for knitting spots. Well, I moved mine yesterday… Not permanently mind you, but I spun up 2 ounces of my Northern Lights BFL roving yesterday while sitting under our plum trees in the back. It was nice and breezy and mostly shaded (though my chest which is now a tomato doesn’t quite agree with that). I’m a bit ashamed to show you what I could see from my set-up, but our yard is a work in progress. We got a terrible yard when we bought it. We signed our contract four months before we closed and in that time the people we bought it from stopped watering, mowing, cleaning the house, etc. And, they amused their children while packing by giving them crayons and pencils to color on the walls (all of them) and then strategically placed boxes over them for our final walk through…. Oooo, I got off on a tangent there didn’t I? Ah, my spinning and knitting space from yesterday…

Well, there has been no significant weight loss in the past two weeks and I’m afraid my walking of Emma has dwindled as it has gotten warmer and the pollen counts have been rising. But I’ve maintained which is okay.

I have noticed more toning though. This past weekend I realized that I once again have biceps. I don’t know that I can express how happy this makes me. I grew up on a farm. It was good to be strong and not have any troubles moving around 40-lb feed bags and 70-lb bales of hay. Not that I did it very often, but it was good to be independent when it came to heavy things. I wouldn’t be stupid and go out and lift heavy things for no reason now, as I still have some back/neck issues. But, it has been at least a few months since I had a real bad bout of muscle spasms. And, ultimately that is my real goal and any benefit of weight loss is a plus.

My eating hasn’t been as good as it could have been, but it hasn’t been terrible. My biggest struggle is lunches. It’s so much easier to go through a drive through after water aerobics. I can do pretty good if I got to Wendy’s. If I get their grilled chicken sandwhich with a fruitcup, water, and a junior frosty it is only 11 gm of fat, leaving me 29 gm of fat to spare for the rest of the day. I do like my miso soup and edamame and that is very healthy, but I do need to mix it up or I’ll get sick of it fast. What are you favorite healthier lunches that are quick and easy for one??

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There hasn’t been any progress on Icarus since 5/16 or so. I was too busy trying to get those citrus hats completed for the baby shower this week as the shower was only announced about ten days before it happened. I also got sucked into the lure of my recieved dye-o-rama yarn and have cast on a sock - not the brightest idea considering the Trek-a-Long begins soon, but oh well, you go where your muse takes you, right? I’m dedicated to Icarus and she’ll be completed by summer’s end I’m sure.
Well, that is about all that is worthy of update.

I’ll have the Amazing Lace intro and an update on my Dye-o-Rama dyeing early next week. I’ll also have another Spectrum Sunday. Though I may opt to take Monday off. We’ll have to see. I find it hard to get things done when DH is around and under foot…

I hope those of you in the US enjoy the long weekend and the marker of the summer vacation season. Be safe!

Well, I thought I’d come clean about this week. My allergies have kicked my a$$ this week, so I skipped water aerobics on Wednesday. But to sort of make up for it I have taken Emma for a walk 4 times this week, including a longer circuit today. Also, I worked my butt off today in water aerobics. The instructor even noticed and shouted to the class to pick up the pace because I was going for another dress size, LOL!

I haven’t been the best on making good food choices this week either. I do this all the time - when I feel crappy I eat crappy. But, we’re changing that tonight. We’re having teriyaki tofu and I’m making a chopped salad with a low-fat asian pear-sesame vinegrette on it so that I eat less of the spicy peanut noodles that DH will make when he gets home. I’ll have left over tofu with miso and edemame for lunch early next week probably.

Also along the lines of becoming fitter, I decided to join Margene and Norma in their Trek Along. I think it sounds fun and is just the excuse I need to get that state park pass for the season and get DH and I out of the house and moving on the weekends. We’ll probably start out on some town paths first - shoot I walk the trail in our green space behind the house at least a few times each week. The combination of these will hopefully help me keep moving and walking even when it gets hot and all I want to do is lay around naked with the fans blowing on me, LOL! Plus, I have three balls of trekking XXL in the stash and haven’t knit with the yet, so why not now?
In semi-related news we *may* soon have another 4-legged friend to walk which should also get us out and on the trails. There is a puppy dog we have been eyeing for about a week and Emma is now up to date on vaccinations and such and once again has a clear bill of health so DH said we can be serious about looking. This particular pup is ~1 yr old and is at a rescue in Lamar, CO, but they are doing an adoption fair in Colorado Springs this weekend so if they bring him we *might* bring home a playmate for Emma. Yeah! Emma *loves* to be chased and have someone to run around with. She enjoyed Gaston’s company towards the end of their visit but was a little disappointed in his inability to play well (too serious being a Seeing Eye Dog, at least when mom was in sight). I haven’t heard back yet in response to our application and whether they are indeed bringing him to the fair. But meeting him in CO Springs tomorrow would cut an hour or so off of travel time to see how the two get along and such so we’d prefer that. Wish us luck!