Ready for the Weekend

I am taking a break right now from knitting.  I might pick it back up tonight.  Currently on the needles, a hat.  I am at the crown of this particular hat and it is the third one I have done this week.  More hats will follow this one.  The shawl that I started in the middle of the week is resting.  I will pick it up later.  I have found that if I do continuous projects of one variety I get bored really fast.  So with that in mind, I am going to work on hats for a bit then move on to something else.  This will get my hat quota out of the way and someone always needs a hat for winter.  Never fails. 

I have a ribbon yarn coming in that I snagged on sale.  I can't wait to get it.  It is a cotton/nylon blend.  It should be fun to work with.  I have plans for it.  I chose a pale pink mix for it. 
I have yarn sitting on my desk for mitts and mittens.  I have my color combinations worked out and I need to create a new pattern.  My software is on my laptop downstairs.  I will have to sit down and work out my charity mitt pattern for the year.  I have several options that I like.  I just have to work out what I want it to look like.  I haven't retired the original charity pattern, I will still use it.  I just like the idea of a new one. 

I still haven't started to paint the fall line up for the shop.  I am being lazy and I really don't want to start until I have to.  I admit, I have the procrastination gene.  It is rampant in my family. 

I worked on the chapter scrapbook and managed to get it caught up.  So, I am ready for the first meeting.  I just have to get the box tops and soup labels taken care of for my schools.  I am behind on this but, I will sit down one day and work on it.  It is a pain because they want the labels and box tops in stacks of rubber banded 100's.  It is ridiculous. 

It is big points for our chapter if we get them into the schools.  We get a nice big credit for it on our end of the year report card. 

My camera has pictures on it, I just haven't had the time to bring it upstairs since I am in the middle of the hat.  I want to get it finished then take more pictures of it.  So knitting candy Friday is on hold this week. 

I am washing laundry right now.  Yeah, it is supposed to be on Mondays but, my schedule is screwed up right now.  I have no idea what happened other than being lazy.  Yes, I have that in spades right now.  I am firming up nicely with my swimming and my diet.  I have actually noticed improvements on my body.  Okay so, I still have the turkey fat under the arms and the thighs need help and of course, I still have the spare tire around the middle but, the rest of me is looking good.  I am in a smaller size and working to get into the next smaller size.  I can't wait to get back down to the size I was when I met Gary.  Let's face it, if you are happy in your marriage, you get FAT.  We both did.  Gary has lost about 40 or more pounds.  I am behind him at 30 pounds.  He has been at it longer than I have.  I am slowly getting there and I was at a point when I couldn't get past my last weigh in number for about a month.  It was terrible.  I plateaued but, I am starting to lose that number.  Yay!  I got on the scale the other day and I had slipped past that number.  By the way, I still hate that damn scale and I did read that if you have lots of fat...the water in your body is hidden in the fat.  Lovely.  So, if the scale says that you are dehydrated, technically you aren't it is all in your fat.  I never should have bought the fat percentage scale, it is depressing.  I just want to slam it against the wall when it tells me my fat percentage readings and it is just damn wonky because it says a different number each time.  One day it is less fat, the next it is more.  I don't think it knows what it is talking about.  Or it could just be me.  Who knows.  I have some great advice, if you think you need the body fat percentages on your bathroom scale...save yourself some heartache and anger and don't do it!  You don't need that kind of misery! 

I would love one of those doctor's scales but, I am not parting with about $2000 for one.  No thanks.  I can live without it. 

I really want to have my body back to normal at the next blood work in October.  I really don't like being in the pre-diabetes stage but, it is better than being a full blown diabetic.  It has taken a lot of hard work on my part and a major lifestyle change but, I will tell you this, I no longer crave hamburgers and greasy foods.  I get sick looking at a fat laden burger.  It just sickens me.  I know it sounds really weird but, I drool in the produce department at the grocery store.  All those yummy veggies just look so damn good.  A good ripe juicy peach will have me drooling like mad.  We had some great ones in the fruit bin of the refrigerator.  I had one last night and it was so juicy, the juice was running down my hand. 

I am still collecting figs for my next batch of preserves.  I have to say that tree is going mad with fruit.  I think with the heat we have and all of the sunshine with some rain thrown in here and there that tree is going crazy.  I am sick of figs.  I can't wait to see the end of them fruit producing for the season.  I pulled up my green beans, the heat was killing them and they stopped producing.  The tomatoes are dead in the garden and I need to take the time this weekend to rip out the plants and pull all of the grass out and get it ready for my fall planting.  I am thinking we are going to do broccoli, lettuce, carrots, radishes and kale this year.  I hope it will be a big harvest.  I have one okra plant right now and it is slow going, it still hasn't flowered.  I planted it too late this year.  It is sympatico right now with the last of the cucumbers. 

I do enjoy gardening and producing my own food.  It is very stress relieving and restful.  It is a lot of hard work but, I do enjoy it.  The tall grass has taken it over this year.  I will chop it all out.  It also harbours lizards and geckos which I hate with a purple passion.  Ugh! 

Knitting Candy

Vlad is completely finished and blocked.  The top photo shows the shawl in it's entirety.  The middle photo shows a close up of the stitches and the yarn and the last photo is the hat I am working on for my friend's son. 

The shawl was fun to knit except for the 7 repeats of the body pattern, if you are one of those knitters like myself that gets bored on repetitive patterns, then avoid it.  If you love repetitive patterns, try it out.  The yarn was an absolute dream to work with and I think this is what kept me sane.  It stretched quite nicely as well.  I would definitely use it again.  I have several more skeins of this yarn in different colors.  Who knows they might be used to make simple shawls.  I didn't even use the whole 450 yards of this skein.  I have a pretty huge skein left.  I will be able to make someone something with it.  Who knows, it may become a smaller pair of socks.  The yarn is a lilac blend, not gray as many people think.  It just doesn't photograph well. 

The last photo is the hat that I promised my friend I would make her son.  I decided to give it more of a spiritual motif since he is highly spiritual and this will represent his beliefs quite well.  I love knitting Fair Isle.  There must have been someone in my ancestry who was seriously in love with this form of knitting because I can't seem to get enough of it.  I am using a bulky weight wool from Elann for this hat in Navy and the white portion is not white but, oatmeal and I chose to use Brown Sheep's worsted weight Oatmeal for this one.  I love Brown Sheep wool because you get a lot for a nice price.  It never fails, either.  It is a seriously good wool to work with. 

I am still trying to decide what the next project should be...I have loads of yarn in my stash that needs to be used up and I have many patterns to work with.  My goal, use enough yarn out of the stash to get rid of one plastic bin out of my house.  Next year I will try and get another one out of here.  The stash is out of control. 

I have to find my size 10 dpns to finish the hat and then on to the next project.