Fiber Fool

Yikes! I can’t believe how crazy it has been around here. Last week was a whirlwind with a less than 24 hour stay at a hot springs resort for a family reunion that required 7+ hours of driving and resulted in only 45 minutes in the hot springs - all smack in the middle of the week. It kind of threw off the whole week, with Monday being jam packed with things that needed done before I left for work and at home. Then Thursday was catching up on everything else that landed on my desk while I was gone which overflowed into Friday. I didn’t even take any pictures on the trip. It was too short and DH kindly pointed out I’d just hide behind my camera if I brought the big one, which is quite likely true since it was his family and not mine. Once we were actually able to leave it was a good trip, although a bit much work for too little time.

This weekend though was all about resting and relaxing - at least after a trip to our fav coffeeshop which also serves fresh made juice from local and organic produce followed by a stop at the farmer’s market. I’ve been feeling horribly run down. I think it is part heat and part allergies or maybe a sinus infection trying to take over. So I’m pushing the fresh veggies and fruits like crazy. And Saturday even included a nap!

Before all that, I had a wonderful girly day with Amanda in Denver. She had a very rare all-day yard pass. We started off as one of the first 100 at Fancy Tiger Craft’s 6th anniversary celebration where we got goodie bags. We also had no trouble spending the $25 to get a free tee shirt. I got some fabric for two shirts and a vintage 1940’s dress (a pattern Amanda scored for me earlier this summer).

Then we wandered down the street a little bit to an interesting cafe that had been recommended to us - The Sputnik. I had the Vegan Power Stack - quinoa cakes with lots of veggies, including kale, zucchini and avocado. Amanda had a breakfast burrito that she said was quite good.

Then we wandered back towards Fancy Tiger and stopped into their old location which is now a coffee shop and got some iced lattes. I love their cold brew coffee set up and am kicking myself that I didn’t just order iced coffee! Next time!

The last stop on the trip was to hit The Pavillions and the new to us, H&M store which I think is coming up on it’s 1 year anniversary late this summer or in the fall sometime. I learned I need to go shopping with others more often. I still think like my 22/24W sized self and would look at things and say “I’m not small enough to pull that off yet” and Amanda would grab it and tell me I was trying it on, LOL! For the record, she was right! The striped number above? A fitted t-shirt dress that did end up coming home with me.

I also got this navy pencil skirt above for under $10! And, it’ll serve as a template for making my own. We discussed some styling ideas and I was so excited I had to play around with it as soon as I got home. Which is your favorite? I think a lime or mustard skinny belt would be nice too in place of the red and I have shoes for those. My mom was just asking me about web sites for accessories, especially belts. Do you have any suggestions?

Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the chai cake donuts. It is nearly all drafted and should get posted at some point this week.

I returned home from my two weeks in Minnesota at the family farm. It was a rainy and gray two weeks which I didn’t mind too much except when it was raining when I needed to walk between my sister’s place and mom & dad’s. It made it easier to keep my eye on my deadlines which are fast approaching. There were no distractions to have a photography field trip with my sister. Though we did take a Sunday afternoon to grab portraits of each other which I’ll likely share snippets of now again.

It was a good trip and nice to be largely away from the distractions that are so easily found online. My days were mostly dedicated to knitting, eating well and exercising. I even attended a yoga class with *both* my mom and dad. It wasn’t nearly as awkward as I expected it to be. It probably helped that it was my fourth class of the trip before we added dad to the mix. I totally fell in love with The Yoga Loft in Willmar and with its owner, Mary Beth. If you are in the Willmar, Spicer or New London area I highly recommend them. I took a Hip Opener class and a Yin Yoga class each week, both of which I found very beneficial to both my body and my mind. I also attended a Zumba class with my sister and another yoga class at the Y with my mom.

I’m now lusting after more yoga props. Mom did get me two long straps that we used in both classes as a birthday gift, but I’d like a bolster and a few book and DVD titles are speaking to me. I’m testing some meditation timers for my iPhone too. I could use some music for when I do not use a DVD. If you have yoga favorites (props, music, books, DVDs etc.) or are local and have some insight on the various studios and teachers around town I’d love your input!

Overall the trip was much like my own personal artist’s retreat, only with the comfort and familiarity of my old bedroom, LOL! It was also an ego booster. While my mom has lost 175 pounds and my sister crossed the 60 pound mark, I’m taking up the rear in terms of weight loss. I did discovered I was 25 pounds lighter than my last trip home, which is something to celebrate. Several people noted my improved complexion now that I’m making my own products and even got a “wow, you are looking so good for your age.” I discovered I can shop in a lot more stores now (which I wouldn’t have guessed if I hadn’t been encouraged to try stuff on). Before I left I tried on every summer weight bottom in the house and discovered only a few fit well. Only one fits ideally now. The rest are bigger! Fortunately I got to shop in both my mom and sister’s closets and sent two rather heavy boxes home. Some of the stuff doesn’t quite fit yet, but I got my butt and hips into several sizes I hadn’t even let myself dream of and realized they are not that far from fitting. My favorite jeans right now were passed down to my sister from a co-worker! That makes me their third owner! It is kind of nice to not only have some new to me clothes to wear, but nice to know that they are not yet destined for the landfill.

Though I am back, my work is not yet done. I’ve been averaging over 6300 stitches knit each day since my return and will need to continue this pace as long as I possibly can. I’m working hard to not fall into a trap of poor self-care, despite the ever closer deadlines. That is a huge struggle for me. I always want to push on at unrealistic speeds until my mind and body collapse. I’m working out a few times a week at the gym (did I mention I’m actually doing some interval training that has me running for short spurts?) and continuing with yoga at home. I’ll be trying out a class at one of the many studios in town today geared specifically to the neck & shoulders. I’m hopeful it will help me maintain the knitting and computing pace I need right now.

I will likely continue to be fairly absent around blogland and the various social media locales you often find me in less stressful times. I do check in once and while as a break, but am rarely taking time to comment. I’ll likely try to keep up with 10 on Tuesdays if I can and that will be the only pressure I put on myself in terms of blogging for the moment.

And one last thing… Thank you to everyone who sent positive energy and well wishes to my grandpa and our family last Tuesday as he underwent his second knee replacement of 2011. We are all thankful! The procedure went smoothly and he was released on Friday afternoon. He has his first PT appointment today and I’m sure he’ll do a bang up job as he is highly motivated to get back out on the golf course as soon as he can.

Yesterday was two weeks before my much overdo departure to visit my family on the farm back in Minnesota. It will have been nearly 18 months since I last visited. But, there is sooooo much to do before I leave. It will be somewhat of a working vacation as some exciting new things have landed on my doorstep with deadlines soon after my return to Colorado. I’m super excited about them and am hoping all the visiting and lack of high speed Internet access regularly will help me speed through those knits.

With all these things on my to do list I’ll be somewhat absent, probably for the next five to six weeks or so. I’ll try to update at least once a week, but I’m not going to pressure myself to do so. The last thing I need is another “to do” :-) Though I enjoy sharing my days with you all. You and Twitter and Facebook are like a virtual watercooler for me.

Do know that I’m reading and following your adventures on my phone whenever I get snippets of time to kill (waiting for a train, waiting to meet up with people, etc.) but my commenting will be sparse since the phone isn’t terribly conducive to commenting (and TypePad blogs seems to not allow me to comment from the phone more often than they let me).

While the plum tree did not put on a flashy show this year, the apple tree seems to be making up the difference! Despite all the work to do, it is so important to take some time for myself. I do not do so often enough. It is as good as guaranteed that I’ll have improved productivity when I return to work. So I did take some time recently to capture the apple blossoms and process a few of the photos. It was enjoyable and provided a tad bit of movement too - another very important thing I need to make time for. I even pulled out my macro filters which I don’t think I’ve done in nearly year!

So I’ve established that my plate is probably overflowing for the next six weeks. How about you? What will you be up to between now and mid-June?

1. Okay, you knew it was coming - Knitting! I’m particularly partial to socks for vacation knitting due to their portability and often no need to reference a pattern.
2. This one will be no surprise to you either - Books! I used to always travel with used paperbacks I was okay with leaving behind. Now, I’m traveling more with e-books instead.
3. Camera and related equipment, including lenses, flash, batteries for flash, battery charger, filters, memory cards, card reader, laptop etc. - surprised you again, didn’t I ;-)

4. Blank CDs or DVDs so you can back up any new photos taken just in case something would happen to your hard drive on the remainder of your trip and during the return. I like to make two copies and carry one set on me and put one set in my luggage or post it back home.
5. A GPS unit or phone with GPS capabilities can really make getting around in unfamiliar places much easier! Though my sister will be quick to tell you that her great friend, Greta Garmin, and I do not do well together in the long term. After a couple of days I start getting snarky and talk back to her. But I’m thankful for her help all the same and am glad that she always travels with my sister when we go on photo excursions.

6. Which brings me to good companions whose habits mesh well. A patient husband who puts up with your tendency to linger and lag behind because your shutter is clicking overtime or to stop ona dime to capture an amazing sunrise is always a great choice. Or a sister with whom you fought incessantly as an adolescent who you now find a fantastic accomplice in photo-centric travels and thankfully needs downtime on roughly the same schedule - at least once one of us admits we need it. We both require two weeks to fully recover from our vacations together, LOL!
7. A reusable water bottle. Hotels and motels can charge an arm and leg for bottled water, plus we don’t really need any more plastic in our landfills and oceans so I like to take one of my Sigg bottles with me. If you are flying, just be sure to empty it before trying to go through security!

8. A smattering of medicine cabinet contents - aspirin, tums, pepto etc. as eating strange foods and disrupting your daily reoutine can upset a system.
9. I almost always forget either this one or number 10. It seems to be a requirement of my travels. A toothbrush! Thankfully, forgetting that is pretty easily remedied (another time the GPS comes in handy - finding a drug/grocery/discount store near by).
10. Pajamas! Even if the travels are adult-centric, they make comfortable lounge wear and can prove handy if you need to answer the door.

This weekend was a full weekend. I took an all day photography workshop with Joe Coca here in Fort Collins (if you look at the “Things” category you may recognize a shot or two) about studio lighting. It was taught through the Center for Fine Art Photography. In the morning we walked through a few examples of lighting, some just virtually by stepping through all the various shots for a Handwoven magazine photoshoot. For one of the real time examples of studio lighting he walked us through he used my latest WIP! That was fun to see the process of deciding upon the lighting and how subtle changes highlight different aspects of the yarn or needles. In the afternoon we were broken up into groups and had to style and light a shot.

I think the biggest thing I learned was that I mostly know what I need to know (that was worth its weight in gold I think). I just need to be more patient and make sure I take the time to let my brain go through all of that. Oh, and if I’m working in a group I need to actually say what I’m thinking, not just think it and let them continue running farther off the rails. And, I could use an assistant and many more stands with clips and some lights, and the software to do live capture and,…and,… LOL!

Then Sunday I went on a mini road trip with Amanda to Niwot to visit The Berry Patch in search of the perfect finishing touch for my latest WIP and few secret FOs that needed some additional accoutrements. This was only my second time there, but I think I could spend vast amounts of money and time in that store. It is definitely healthy for the checking account to go there with very specific goals in mind, as well as a friend who can slap some sense into you when you start contemplating how much you can save in a month by eating only peanut butter toast to afford $72 worth of buttons for a project!

Unfortunately, Sunday is not the optimum day for road tripping as many of the stores of interest are closed - yarn, bead and fabric stores. Because of that we didn’t venture on to Boulder. On the way back home we did stop in at Bead Lounge in Longmont where they were having a one day trunk sale and we scored the very finishing touches was well.

It seemed only fitting to practice a little of what I learned on Saturday to capture some of the goodies from Sunday on Monday and share them on Tuesday :-)