Fiber Fool

I’m taking a break from fit Friday this week. Not because I haven’t been doing stuff this week, but there isn’t much to report and I have no photos. So, today I’m going to share with you what I gave you a glimpse of in Tuesday’s post - a finished knit object! Yes, I finished knitting something. It is a minor miracle!

I received a somewhat last minute invitation to a birthday party for a one year old. I had limited funds and limited time, but wanted to bring something to mark the occasion. I happened to have three balls of Austermann Bambou Soft in the stash in boy-appropriate colors - one ball of camo-inspired variegated and one ball of coordinating tan. At first I thought I’d do an inverted version of Amanda’s riff on my Sundog pattern, Sunpup. But with it being May, she pointed out it was likely to get forgotten by the time the weather was appropriate. Plus I had no clue what size this boy was for his age as I hadn’t seen him since Halloween. So a softie seemed like a better option.

I’m so glad I went that route as most all of the presents given were hard plastic toys and several made lots of noise. The softie stood out amongst the crowd of gifts and was well received by the birthday boy, his parents, and several of the party goers too!

Pattern: Knit Hedgehogs by Purl Soho
Yarn: Austermann Bambou Soft, 65% superwash wool, 35% bamboo - I used a single strand of the tan for the face, ears and belly and doubled the variegated for the body/back portion.
Needles: The called for US 4 and US 8

The pattern was pretty straight forward, especially since Purl Soho always includes a lot of step-out photos along the way. I think it took me about 3-4 hours total of knitting. I suspect if I knit another one in the semi-near future it would go even faster. I did like doubling the variegated yarn for the body as I knew the face and body were compatible and since I drew the yarn from different ends of each ball and made sure colors didn’t line up when I started I had no pooling. I think the result is adorable, even though I was a little dubious about the camo colors in the softie in the beginning.

I’ll definitely keep this pattern in mind for any future children’s gift knitting I’m wishing to do. It isn’t a huge investment of time or yarn and is a fun knit.

In my blogging break I obviously fell way behind on my book reviews. So I’ll be catching up a bit over the next week or so. As always, you can stay on top of my reading most by connecting to me on Goodreads. I’m also on LibraryThing and Shelfari, though I only update those in spits and spurts (mostly due to the lack of a phone app for those). My Shelfari is kind of nuts because I catalog my Kindle books there and pick up a lot of the freebies for loaning out so I don’t really recommend that one.

Has anyone tried the new social book site that popped up when Amazon acquired Goodreads, Booklikes.com? I’ve heard a few recommendations, but am loath to add another site to the list. Have you joined?

Only Flesh and Bones by Sarah Andrews - 4 stars. Once I hit my stride in Only Flesh and Bones it was hard for me to stop. I wanted to see what Em was going to uncover next and how she was going to get herself in trouble - something she never fails to disappoint us with. There were elements of this book I found somewhat rare for the genre - the crime was around a year old and the focus of the investigation was a dead woman. The only way we got to know her was through journals. It was an enjoyable change of pace, but didn’t stray too far from what I expected.

I very much enjoyed this read and will do my best to not let so much time lapse before I dive into book 5! See full review here.

Wined and Died by Cricket McRae - 3 stars. If you enjoy crafty cozies like Monica Ferris’ Needlecraft series or perhaps Susan Wittig Albert’s China Bayles series, but have an eclectic taste in crafting interests I think this series is worth reading. This craft-centric cozy mystery series took a little while to grow on me. I think it took a couple of books to really connect to the characters. Unlike many crafty cozies, this series highlights a wide variety of crafts instead of just one. There are always a handful of tips and recipes for DIY bath and beauty products in each of the books but deep down, she loves learning and exploring DIYing of all types.

In the end, the plot did not strike me as terribly complex, though I did not fully settle on the culprit until very near the reveal. I enjoyed the book and seeing Sophie Mae and Barr’s married relationship form and the growing pains of her business. The sprinkling of brewing information was interesting to me as we have done a bit of it ourselves and I think that actually helped carry the story a bit. Ultimately, I think my prior connection with the characters and the crafting elements carried this book for me more than the mystery element. I still look forward to see what Sophie Mae is going to dip her fingers into next! See full review here.

Soulless by Gail Carriger - 4.5 stars. Take a Victorian era London where werewolves, vampires and other supernatural beings are free to roam as desired as long as they are registered and add zeppelins, glassicles and other interesting inventions. Then throw in a mid-twenties woman with no soul, literally, who is scientifically minded and not prone to the typical niceties of the era and is surrounded by superficial half sisters and a mother similar to the Bennett girls of Pride and Prejudice who are unaware of her soulless state and there is little to not love. Pit this woman against a government official who also happens to be a recently adopted pack leader of the area werewolves and sparks will start flying.

Gail Carriger has built a wonderful alternate London, weaving supernatural and steampunk elements into a rich world for her Parasol Protectorate series. Her characters I found equally rich and well developed. Of course, I most loved Alexia with her poor social etiquette and inquisitive mind that tends to get her into trouble. Her head butting with Lord Maccon, a werewolf pack leader and government worker, only added to her charm and made me fall equally in love with him as well.

So often while reading this first book of the series I was chuckling out loud and caught by my husband that he immediately started reading the book once I was finished! It is very rare for me to do more than crack a smile when reading - chuckling or outright laughing is nearly unheard of. If that isn’t a mark of a great read for me, I don’t know what is.

I normally try to space out books by an author, but I don’t think I’ll be able to put off the next in the series for long. I’m dying to learn what other trouble Alexia and Lord Maccon can get wrapped up in!

A Taste of Trouble by Gina Gordon - 3.5 stars.
A Taste of Trouble by Gina Gordon was a fun weekend popcorn read. It had everything I expect in a fun romantic read - a heart damaged heroine, a great group of pushy friends (on both sides), a reforming ladies man, and plenty of conflict romantically and otherwise. I enjoyed getting to know Liv and Jake and their respective friends. While definitely supporting characters, Liv’s friends especially stole my heart, but Jake’s friends did as well. The plot and pacing and the quality of writing was good.

The best part was once the characters gave in to the electricity sparking between them. Although, isn’t that true of most contemporary romance novels? The scenes were steamy, and sticky, without being pornographic. But Gordon took her time in getting them to bed which I appreciate.

If you enjoy steamy contemporary romances with the support of great friends to knock some sense into the main characters ala Bridget Jones Diary and the like you will likely enjoy A Taste of Trouble by Gina Gordon.

I received an electronic ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Creed’s Honor by Linda Lael Miller - 3 stars. This second Creed Cowboys book was more or less what I’ve come to expect from Miller. A hunky cowboy meets a great woman; both have internal and external struggles to overcome before romance can be forged.

It wasn’t my favorite contemporary western romance. In fact, it was a bit flat compared to the first book of the series, but I enjoyed it and will continue reading this series for the time being.

1. Amanda treated me to yummy sushi as a belated birthday lunch.
2. I knit and read, often at the same time.
3. I mowed the lawn and watered the garden.



4. I went to a BBQ to celebrate an adorable little boy’s first birthday.
5. I went to the farmer’s market.
6. I did massive bedroom cleaning, including flipping and sanitizing the queen size mattress. I think I could have sold tickets to that one!
7. And I ended up having to take apart the vacuum to accomplish it too! The bare floor setting now works, which it hasn’t since we got bare floors and it is heaven to have them vacuumed!
8. I watched some of Longmire season 1.



9. I harvested a ton of arugula and made pesto which I used to dress a salad of millet and canellini beans with grape tomatoes and caramelized onions.
10. I went to see Star Trek:Into Darkness with my friend, Dee.

Not too bad. Would have liked to have done some sewing in there, but the fresh bed and dust-free floors were not a bad alternative! How about you? What did you do this weekend?

(This is from my birthday last year, so mid-April 2011. I don’t have any newer “workout” photos. Looking at that, while I think I look pretty good, I can see some difference. Partly because those clothes are no longer compression wear and are baggy spandex on me. But I see a difference in shape and tone too.)

With Drew’s departure last Wednesday evening (yes, I survived the first week), my lack of any real strength training in 6 months since my club membership ran out, and the generosity of parents and grandparents on holidays and birthdays I rejoined Raintree Athletic Club last week.

There have been so many advantages to being back there:

• Strength training equipment of all varieties - medicine balls, resistance tubes, free weights, Star Trac machines and on and on.
• Pool! While I don’t often have terrible flares that would otherwise keep me from exercising, I do like to mix it up and get in the pool every now and then for some resistant cardio, but if I’m really achey it is especially nice. The steam room and sauna can be nice on occasion too, especially with allergy sinuses.
• Yoga classes - which not only help my body, but my brain as well. While I can do the yoga at home, for me classes are more meditative because I’m not having to concern myself with timing my positions (in Yin you hold the positions for 3-5 minutes so you really do have to time things unlike with a flow). I even took advantage of a couple workshops this past week - tennis ball massage and breathing into backbends.
• The free session with a nutritionist upon signing up. I didn’t learn anything new, but it was pointed out to me that I had slipped back into my habit of under eating. Since the bronchitis I just never really got hungry. But upping my food slowly over the week I noticed yesterday that I did get hungry. Still with a longer time span than ideal, but it is progress. A small sign that my metabolism is ramping back up
• The free session with the personal trainer. My session with Tracy this time around was amazing. She was my preferred water aerobics instructor last time around so she had a feel for my fitness level to a certain degree and we already had a rapport. But most importantly, she called me the night before to confirm the appointment and find out what I was looking for in my session so she could prepare ahead of time. Since I already knew how to run the basic equipment - treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes and the Star Tracs I asked to learn more about proper form on the rowing machine and for some non-Star Trac strengthening. She delivered! My arms and core are declaring it a rest day today.
• Even if I don’t really interact with anyone while working out the staff always says hello and goodbye with a smile and I’m surrounded by people. Sometimes that is all I need to chase away the loneliness.
• If you had asked me before I rejoined if people would remember me upon my return I would have told you that the instructors from the three classes I took most frequently would likely but no one else. But my previous personal trainer did as did a handful of people from the yoga classes that I hadn’t been to since my stint in working full-time outside of the home, so over a year ago. And while progress this past year has been so slow I almost don’t notice it, several of these people were astounded, which is always a nice boost for the self confidence.

I have had an issue with rejoining though — taking my time and wading in! I just want to jump in and try every class that is different since the last time and do this and do that. It has been difficult to keep myself reigned in. As it is, I think I’m teetering on the edge of over training again between my low caloric intake, having been not exercising beyond walking in over 6 weeks and the yard & garden work on top of the workouts. So today, I am really going to listen to and trust my body and have a rest day. I just have to keep telling myself that the classes will still be there next week and next month. None of the ones I’m most interested in are flagged as low participation so I should be good.

Are you a member of a club or YMCA? What are you favorite classes or pieces of equipment?

If you don’t have a membership, how do you strength train at home? Do you have some equipment? The only thing I really did was run when my club membership ran out. Occasionally I’d throw in some traditional crunches, pushups and planks but I was bad about doing it regularly. For equipment, all I had was a 2 pound and a 5 pound dumbbell from a stint of PT for my shoulder - yes, only one each :-/

I’m closing in on having lost a total of 95 pounds now. It has been a very slow year, but I think it has allowed my body to catch up a bit because there have still been significant clothes-fitting changes even though the scale has only budged a little bit. I am hoping to cross that 100 pound mark before DH gets home and would love to cross into the “Normal” category as well, but that could be a tad bit unrealistic. We’ll have to see if all the yardwork, gardening and rejoining the gym pick up my pace :-)

I did hold back some of my large clothes. There were a few things where I just really loved the item or the print and didn’t want to part with them. Before DH left I did some alterations on a few things. First up was a black and white linen sheath that was one of the first pieces of clothing I bought when I moved here to Fort Collins Memorial Day Weekend of 1999. When I bought the dress I was at my then smallest size as an adult. I remember being so excited to be buying an XL piece of clothing and not something plus-sized.

The beauty of sheaths is that they are classic so I decided to finally jump in and alter it to fit better. I used an existing woven shirt dress to guide me on where to put my new seam lines. The shirt dress has some stretch so I was generous in drawing my new seam lines. Though in retrospect a shirt dress is less fitted than a sheath so I really didn’t need to worry about that. I didn’t cut the fabric, instead I tried it on inside out after putting in the new seam lines and decided some areas needed brought in more so I put pins in to rough out the changes. I applied the changes to one side, then used it to match the other side. Again I didn’t cut, I just put the new seams in to the inside of my previous ones in case I needed make more changes. It was good, so I cut, pressed and finished the seam allowances. Overall I took out about 4-6″ in circumference depending on the area.

Here I am wearing it with a light weight cardigan, tights and boots. It was a cool spring day, but the white of the dress made the outfit still feel spring-like. I’ve since worn it with and without the cardigan but with heeled black sandals when the temps have been more summer-like. I’m so glad I hung onto this dress. It was always a favorite. Plus, for just a few yards of thread and less than an hour I have a new dress in my wardrobe!

This new button up tank top was from a short sleeve 1X shirt my mom had bought but never worn before she shrunk out of it. The sleeves were puffed, which isn’t a good look on me, so I cut them off and turned it into a tank. I used the above dress as a pattern for taking this in. This shirt also has some stretch like the shirt dress so I knew it could handle the more fitted silhouette of the top part of the sheath. I had originally planned to use the sleeves to make bias tape to encase the armholes. There was so little fabric in those short sleeves that I ended up with lots of seams in the bias tape so I scrapped that idea. Instead, I used used some 1/4″ double fold white bias tape to face the armholes on the inside.

This one isn’t quite as thrilling as the dress. Boy am I glad I did the dress first so I was enthused about altering/refashion! This one being a 1X resulted in the existing bust darts landing too low for me now (a little less so if I wear my “wow” bra). It is still totally wearable and I have a nice little red cardigan I can layer over it on cool nights or in AC which totally disguises the issue. Here I’m wearing it with my dark skinny jeans (which aren’t so skinny anymore and require a belt), but I could see wearing it with my navy pencil skirt and skinny red belt too.

Have you ever made drastic alterations to your clothing or thrift store finds? I may be a bit more motivated to troll the thrift stores now after these successes! I have a 4X linen big shirt from J. Jill that was always too big but I loved the striped fabric. I want to turn it into a sleeveless tunic of sorts. Because it is a big shirt it was meant to have generous ease so there are no existing bust darts to worry about. But, I don’t want the tunic quite that shapeless so I’m pondering if I could add in bust darts. That would make the front side seams shorter than the back though… :-/ Although maybe I can put in a bit of a split at the side seams and have the back be longer than the front? Anyone know of any good tutorials on making a split side seam on shirts?

I have another dress I want to take in, but the fabric is kind of slippery and it is another favorite from about the same time period as the sheath so I’m procrastinating on that for fear of ruining it. I have two knit skirts I need to hem yet and two - three other handmade skirts I want to try taking in at the side seams. Then I have fabric and supplies for two Laurels I want to dive in and do as well. Though I keep waffling a ton on what size is the right one to cut and procrastinating on making a non-wearable muslin. I also have a couple top ideas (and have the fabric for them), and the fabric and pattern for a fun tank top too. Now if I can figure out how to set up my space so I don’t have to take down my computer set-up to sew and my sewing stuff to work and I’ll be golden! I’m looking forward to having a refresh of my wardrobe for summer!