Be of Good Cheer

I am coping with my diabetes very well if I do say so.  My friend, Michelle has mentioned to me how well I am doing, my doctors all tell me how well I am doing.  My goal through this dreaded disease is not to let it win.  I am a fighter and as such, I am fighting as much as I can to get through it, to take care of me and try to get rid of the pills. 

Today I am in a slump.  I woke up yesterday feeling completely awful.  I checked out the side effects on one of my new meds...it says stomach cramping and stomach pain is a side effect.  Say what?  Yep, it is part of this particular medicine.  Great.  I have to be on it for 10 long days.  Will I make it?  I am seriously wanting to know.  I will, I just have to bitch about it. 

I am searching for a particular yarn and I can't seem to find it...see previous post.  I am making something for a friend and I need more of the yarn.  I am also selling off several of my KVZ purses.  They are going into the garage sale line up.  I am sick of having so many purses hanging around my home.  They must go.  I am trying to declutter my life and I am getting rid of dishes, I know...that one is hard to believe.  I am selling a bunch of crap, I am sick of the clutter.  I just have to find out when my sister is having her garage sale. 

I was knitting mitts but, I grew bored and threw them to the side for now.  I will pick it up later. 

I need to get back to work painting yarns...I am not really interested in working right now.  All part of the slump. 

I do want to make a lap quilt for myself.  I have the fabric, I just need to find the inclination and get to work on it.  I want one to snuggle with on the couch.  Something to keep me warm when I need it.  Nothing too big, just something that will fit me.  I know what is going to happen, I am going to make one and then the hubby will want one.  I will see how the first one turns out and then go from there. 

In Search Of

I am searching for a certain yarn, if you happen to have my color, I am willing to trade yarn or do a custom skein of yarn for you.  The yarn I am in search of is discontinued and the yarn is made by Paton's.  It is called Brilliant and the color I am in search of is crystal cream.  I have 4 skeins, I need two more to complete my project.  If you happen to have this yarn, and you are willing to part with it, please contact me and we can figure out how to arrange a trade or a custom paint. 



Thanks! 

Jump for Joy

Today it is raining, I am not complaining since we had none over the summer and winter.  I am happy about this but, I won't be driving my car in this kind of weather, it slides.  I do many many fish tails in that little car. 

I am trying to figure out some paperwork that has to be turned in before February 1, 2012.  I can't find a blue pen and I am trying to figure out how to get several signatures since I won't be seeing the ladies who need to sign it until February 16th.  Well, that is just how it is and if they don't like it, not much I can do about it. 

I am working on knitting a mitt for that contest I mentioned previously.  I am hoping the mitts will turn out like they are supposed to or I will be starting another pair in another color combination.  Just how it goes sometimes.  I know I am harder on myself about my knitting then other people would be.  I might even have to go up a needle size for the next pair.  It is just one of those things we deal with. 

I cleaned house two days ago and managed to get my upstairs hallway done, last night, Gary steam vac'd the carpet and it looks so much better.  The dogs are loving the clean carpet, they are sleeping on it.  Before they just looked at it. 

I managed to get myself better organized where my dyes are concerned.  They were out of control and I fixed that problem.  I just have to fix more of my current problems, where to put fabric, etc. 

I think I am going to sew myself a small lap quilt.  I am a novice seamstress and well, my sewing does have it's issues but, I want to make a quilt for the family room.  Something to throw over my legs and feet as I sit on the couch.  I know Gary would love one for his legs.  Right now, we are sharing one of the full size quilts from the guest bedroom.  It works. It just isn't personal enough.  I want something pretty that I created with my own two hands. 

Once I get good enough at quilting, I can tackle my maternal grandmother's crazy quilt top.  I have it and it needs to be finished.  I just didn't know what I was doing.  Now, I think I can do it.  After one of the ladies in the chapter showed us all how to quilt, I figure, I can do it.  It involves sewing and well, I am working on that right now.  See the zippy bags in my shop, I made those. 

Time for me to go deal with my chores of the day.  Ya'll have a safe and happy day where ever you may be. 

Life's Little Lessons

Today was  the trip to see the dietician, she and I had a long talk about my bad eating habits.  Did you know I am a fat and sugar junkie?  Yep, I love butter, I love milk, I love fried foods.  Bring it on.  I also love cake.  This is my downfall, I am so aware of it.  I have food charts for items I can eat and guess what, I get to eat mini bagels, I get the multigrain ones and I can have part of a blueberry bagel, my faves.  She also gave me a sample of ideal, a xylitol product to replace sugar. 

I am supposed to avoid stress.  No more stress for me since it raises blood sugar.  I can understand that one.  No more 2% milk, either.  Well dang, what am I supposed to drink?  Skim milk.  Okay.  I have to learn to balance my fats, my carbs, and my proteins.  She pretty much let me know that if I lose the weight, I can get off of the meds.  Oh, wouldn't that be exciting?  I am so ready for that. 

I have noticed that my sugar has gone up recently and I think I know what the culprit is...it will be staying out of my diet for a while just to see if it is the problem.  I think it is.  My sugar as a whole is pretty good.  So, that is one good thing I have going for me. 

I am in need of a nap, I haven't been sleeping well lately and I can tell you, I can really feel it.  I want to put on my tennis shoes, grab the ipod and hit the streets on my bicycle.  If I don't get to ride my bike then the exercise bike will work for me. 

I am knitting again.  I have a mitt that I am working on, it is one of my patterns that I wrote and I am thinking of entering it into a contest.  More on that later. 

What a Crock

My new socks that I had knit for myself were supposed to be machine washable.  What a freaking lie that was.  I washed them in the machine with some reservations, I should have known it wouldn't work.  The socks felted just a bit.  So, I pulled them out and put them on the sock blockers.  I will be hand washing them from now on. 

Today I rode my exercise bicycle since it has been raining here.  I have an appointment with the dietician this Friday so, this should help me out.  I get to find out what I can or can't eat.  I had some soup today and gave the other half of the can to the doggies.  They love getting free hand outs. 

I have plans to work on some new outfits for my niece, Maribeth.  I have the fabric for her new outfits.  I just have to cut out the patterns and get to work on them.  I think the pattern that I chose for the first outfits are going to be really cute.  These will be for summer. 

My Aunt Cecilia always made outfits for us when we were kids and I want to keep the tradition alive.  They were great play clothes.  I want Maribeth to known how much fun hand made clothes can be.

 I have plans to knit some more socks for myself.  I have some really nice yarn that I have been wanting to use for ages.  There is some nice yarn sitting on my desk that screams the '80's.  I can't wait to wind it into a ball and use it.  I noticed the other day when I was shopping for two of my nieces that the electric colors are coming back into fashion.  Awesome.

Silk Zippy Bag

This was my project of the day, this little pencil zippy pouch was made with my niece, Maribeth's silk fabric.  I even have some left over and it will be going back to her.  She will be the only kid in her school with a silk zippy pencil pouch. 

For those of you who don't know it by now, she is a purple fiend.  It runs in the family.  I am giving her the pencils as well as part of her Valentine's day present. 

I had to fight with Hank, Jr.  This is the name of my Singer sewing machine since he has a tendency to be like the original Hank, my Mom's old White sewing machine.  This machine nearly took a nice throw across the room when the bobbin winder decided to pull it's usual brand of crap.  It doesn't like to wind and I have to stop the foot pedal and wind by hand.  It just pisses me off to no end. 
Anyway, Hank was a piece of crap but, it was all we could afford so, we used it until we burned out the motor and had to replace it, the motor, not the machine.  Daddy wasn't one to replace, he would fix it or if it wasn't fixable, buy the part that was dead.  I think my sister, Cheryl managed to get Hank.  Hank's original name was Hank the Hunk of Shit.  We called him Hank for short.  Since my Singer has it's issues, it became Hank, Jr when it decided to pull it's version of shit.  So, I have a few choice words for it. 

I have been searching my house in vain for a pattern to make a rain poncho for myself.  I haven't been able to find it for 2 weeks.  What do I find in my office tonight?  The pattern that I have torn my house apart for.  I should have known it was up here.  So, I need to clean off my dining room table to cut out the pleather for my rain poncho.  I am going to be styling in this thing. 

Today I went to the doctor for my follow up on my bladder and kidney infection.  I came home with another medicine.  This time, it is for the foot.  I get the antiviral for the foot, he thinks that I may have had some nerve damage from my last outbreak of shingles.  I have ghost pain in that foot.  Not only do I have the MRSA in the foot, I had shingles in it as well.  Not fun.  Drives me insane. 

As for my diabetes, I am doing really well and my numbers are coming down.  Oh, I can't take two of the tabs he prescribed since I have a really bad reaction to two pills.  I can take one, it doesn't bother me.  He said I have the weirdest body chemistry he has ever seen.  Tell me about it.  Coffee puts me out, I can sleep on one cup of coffee.  I get jittery on two cups.  I can't exercise right now since I am on the antibiotic and I can't be out in the sun with it.  I will get all crispy and I don't need any more issues I have enough. 

I had a problem today that really scared the crap out of me, my blood sugar dropped and I felt completely awful.  What happened was I missed my 3:00 pm snack and I didn't realize that my body would do this to me, it dropped and I felt so awful.  I can't even describe how nasty it was.  I had to grab a Glucerna bar and down it.  It literally wiped me out.  I had to go on a sugar search.  I should have popped a glucose tab.  I found a small bag of peanut coated candy. Then I had a huge glass of ice water and fell asleep on the couch.  Gary woke me up asking me what I wanted for dinner.  I wanted to be left alone.  He made me eat.  I am still feeling really gross from it. 

I lost 6 pounds on my diet.  I am so proud of myself.  Most people wouldn't think this is a great thing but, for a diabetic it is amazing.  It feels great.  Now if I would quit craving cake.  I would kill for a piece of cake about now.  That is my serious downfall.  I love cake.  Then I found out there is such an animal called sugar free cake.  I mean, it just sounds so good about now, and sugar free icing.  Oh, that sounds heavenly to me.  Gary thinks Stevia sucks, hey, I am really liking it.  It tastes fine to me since I pretty much can't use cane sugar.  I had a lemonade with it the other day and it was really good. 
 
We discussed putting me on Neurontin if I have issues with my feet.  The only bad thing about that, it makes a person gain weight. Uh, no.  I don't want anything that will put pounds back on me.  I guess this means the cake is out.  sigh!  He said it is too soon for me to have any sort of neuropathy.  I don't want any issues with my feet, they are sensitive enough as it is.  I make sure they are doing well.  I examine them constantly.  It started when I caught the MRSA from the beach. I check to make sure they are doing well.  I wash them with lavender soap.  Lavender soap is antiseptic.  It works great on my skin. 

Tomorrow, I haven't decided if I am going to venture forth to the cloth store or stay home and work on Maribeth's socks.  I had to rip out a whole sock because I dropped a stitch in the middle of the pattern.  I wasn't happy but, I had to do it.  I reworked some problem areas and I am thinking these are going to be really cute when they are done.  I have decided that I love the Elann Dankai socks.  They are the most comfy socks I own.  I wore them to the doctor's office today.  He was admiring them.  The girls in the office all are curious as to what I am working on every time I go in.  I always have something on my needles.  One of them asked me how hard it was to learn to knit.  Not hard, it just takes practice. 

As most of you can see, hardly any yarn in the shop.  I can't decide if I should continue on with my yarn painting or if I should back off and take a break for a while.  I can't afford to buy yarn from my wholesaler.  Last year was an incredibly bad year for my shop.  So...after the lady buys the yarn she wanted me to hold for her, you might not be seeing yarn in my shop for sometime.  I have to think about this and decide what I want to do. 

I just know that I am no longer knitting for anyone other than myself and Maribeth.  If someone else wants socks, they are going to have to find someone else to make them.  I don't have the hand strength right now to do all of this knitting.  I am having issues with my carpal tunnel on my right hand and the sprain sure didn't help it. 

This is one of the reasons why I pulled out the sewing machine and started sewing.  I can do it and it really doesn't take much hand strength to do it. 

Miss Libby

This is Libby, my sister's Pug. Isn't she just sweet? I took this picture of her smiling at our annual family Christmas. Yes, dogs do smile. My boys always smile and they have such beautiful smiles.
Who can resist that cute face?

A Time to Sit and Knit

Yesterday was an off day for me.  I wasn't feeling all that well. I did find the time to sit and knit.  I sat down, did the heel flap with my 2 inch heel and then did the turn on it.  I am past the gusset and onto the foot.  The yarn is okay at this point, I can't stand the way it splits. I am using the Elann Dankai.  It is that self striping yarn in the big color changes.  I have several more skeins of it but, I will work around the splitting issues to knit myself more pairs of socks. 

Another thing I read about diabetes, foot care.  Oh boy.  I have to constantly wear socks or shoes around so, I don't damage my feet in any way.  I guess it is a great thing that I live to knit socks.  I will be wearing a lot of them.  I find my wool socks are more comfy than cotton socks.  :)  Right now, I have on a blend of cotton and wool which are pretty comfy.  I have to wash yesterday's socks in the sink and let them dry.  Gary did mention his wool socks need washing, like I don't have enough on my plate right now.  He can haul his butt into the laundry room and throw them in the washer just as easy as I can.  I made him the superwash/nylon socks.  I know, I am a smart lady. 

I want to finish my current sock and start another one.  I have some gorgeous yarns that I have been looking at for some time now.  I just need to wind them into center pull balls from the hank.  I have so much sock yarn around here it isn't funny.  My resolution is to use my stash yarn as much as possible this year and see how many bins I can go through.  I think it is a good way to use what I have and save money at the same time. 

Another thing about sock yarn, it can be used for other things like shawls.  Sock yarn makes beautiful shawls.  I have one started in a lace weight but, I thinking of changing to a sock yarn for faster delivery of the item.  I have the yarn sitting on my desk right now and I am thinking it will work out nicely.  :) 

I also want to complete several hats that people in the family need for winter.  I know, I am late doing this but, I have to find time for these projects.  Life is complicated and I knit when I can.  I have one family group taken care of.  I have to work on the next set in the family line up.  When all is said and done, they will all have hats and I can sit back and relax.  I know several of them have expressed more interest in socks but, I am to the point that if you can knit, you too can learn to knit socks.  This means my sister, Melinda.  I think now is the time for her to learn.  She does knit beautifully on straight needles and tells me she hates circulars.  I can't understand that one.  Circular needles are great for holding big projects.  I guess she doesn't realize it. 

Oh well....time for glucose testing and my breakfast of eggs and bacon.  Yummy. 

Happy New Year

I have been remiss in posting but, I have been learning a few things about myself this whole time.  I have learned that yes, I can live without bread and flour.  It was tough at first but, I am getting pretty good at having a normal life without it.  I also found out cheese is a good thing.  I love cheese so this isn't a problem.  I have found a yogurt that works well with my diabetes, it is skyr.  Thick stuff and I can get used to the no sugar in it, it has agave nectar.  I found that if I take a clementine and run it around the cup, it is just down right fabulous. 

I am slowly working on the second sock and I have realized something, when they say to use a 2.75 inch heel flap, why?  I have found that 2 inches works damn good on my foot.  It fits much nicer and the heel doesn't bag which makes me insane. 

I had a glucerna shake for breakfast this morning, hopped onto my bicycle and added some distance to my route.  I was told it was warm this morning by the hubby, what a lie, it was freaking cold and I was trucking.  I have my gear ratio set at 2 with a gear of 6 on the bike.  I even ordered in a basket for my mountain bike.  I have been using Gary's big ipod since mine needs to be uploaded and he has all of the songs on it that I like.  Today I rode to Poison. Yesterday, I rode to OMD.  I have a little bag that fits on my handle bars but, it won't hold water or coconut water.  It does hold my garage door opener and the ipod quite nicely. 

My sugar levels are coming down.  Today I was actually at 129 which isn't good for resting but, when I started this whole mess 2 weeks ago, I was at 289.  I was in sad shape.  I felt completely awful.  Now, I am really feeling wonderful.  I haven't had my snack yet but, I will grab a clementine and that should help.  I love celery and it is fabulous with peanut butter.  Hummus is another great snack for me to have.  I have Wassa crackers which does have whole grain but, very low carbs which works great for me.  Today for lunch we went and had Mexican food which would normally be bad but, the local place has added healthy cooking to the menu, which I love.  I had the grilled fajita steak with the green beans, salad, and whole kernel corn.  I had a few chips with the green salsa and that was it.  Water was my drink. 

Today I am cleaning out my refrigerator and freezer.  My niece, Meagan and her husband are getting all of the old good foods that I can't eat anymore.  The gelato, the ice cream, the prepackaged meals, etc.  She is going to be living high on the hog for a while.  She appreciates it since they are newly weds and paying off college loans, and it is rough for them right now.  When she told me they couldn't afford lettuce, I knew it was bad.  So, I went ahead the last time she was here and gave her some fresh lettuce out of my garden.  She also received some lemons.  I need to go pick some more for her and send her home with some. 

Gary is smoking ribs for dinner, and I am going to boil some cabbage, fix that can of black eyed peas, and maybe even cook some butternut squash for dinner.  It should be good. 

My resolution this year besides getting my blood sugar under control, losing weight, yadda yadda....is to get my life back on the right track.  Knit more things, paint more yarns, teach people my craft and hopefully, get better at sewing.  :) 

I have yarn left in the shop and until it is gone, I won't be adding more.  I have one skein waiting for a customer to purchase it and the other two are waiting for someone to buy them.  I might even give someone an incredible deal on them.  I don't want to pay taxes on those skeins of yarn. 

I found an incredible grilled chicken salad down at El Rey on Hwy 6 near West Road, it has the usual greens, pico de gallo, grilled zuchini, grilled squash, grilled red pepper, tomatoes, avocado, and mango chunks on it.  I get the cilantro lime dressing, it is beyond fabulous.  I have had it for two days in a row.  The hubby was sick of it so, we had the Mexican food for lunch. 

Have a wonderful start to your new year and I hope it is a healthy, happy, and prosperous one for each and every one of you.