Sewing? Oh, no!

I want to try making this blouse but will need to lose another 30 pounds, and do many thousands of reps with the free weights, before I can wear it in public.

Being on bed rest is great for the knitting time. I knit Dashing in two days! Now I have to get somebody ambulatory to take it to the PO and mail it to Ohio. My next goal is Ishbel in 4 days, for my mother.

further updates

Shelter has picked out he mittens: the Selbu mittens from Folk Mittens. She even wants them in the same colors, but done as a fraternal twin set. I haven't convinced her that white cuffs will go grey or brown in about 3 wearings.

Tommy bought my mittens at the charity auction and he's happy with getting them in September before he leaves for college. The pattern is #20 in Mostly Mittens and he wants Bates colors: burgundy and silver.

Mel bought my second set of mittens in the auction, but hasn't picked out a pattern yet.

My "real" computer is still at the shop, so no pics yet...

Project update!

Matt has picked a pattern! It's #11 in Charlene Schurch's "Mostly Mittens." He's requested light blue, royal blue, and white (or cream) as the color scheme.

The Juicy Fruit scarf is almost 20 inches long.

My mum helped me by sewing the buttons on the baby sweater. Now, once I've taken the memorial pics of it, I can hand it over to Brooke and Jeff (and Maxwell, the true recipient.)

This is not a diet blog

and yet it's the thing I think about most these days.

Today was a Good Day. All meals straight from the diet plan except for the small piece of banana bread at 10am.

Yesterday was Not So Good. First there was the chocolate cupcake (dare I believe the website that says it's only 150 calories?) and then I went out for sushi with friends and definitely ate double my allowance of dinner foods.

Kitting continues with no pictures, as my computer is still in the shop. I've got about a foot of the Juicy Fruit Scarf and about 4 inches of the Wild Sock. Still no thumbs on Axel's mittens, but that's on the schedule for tomorrow. Maybe I can also finish the second Xmas ornament and sew the buttons on the baby sweater. (Hey - finishing 3 projects in one day would be AWEsome!)

As to what happened with my Olympic knitting... well, it's a sad tale. Apparently no one in the family likes to wear tube socks. I was almost done with the first sock before my sons told me to rip it back and add in the heel. So the sock languishes until I have time to tackle it again.

So here's the project summary:
Ishbel: 15% done, no deadline for completion
Maxwell's baby sweater: needs buttons; must be done ASAP as the kid is already a month old!
Axel's mittens: need thumbs; must be finished by June 15th when his family moves away.
The Xmas stocking ornament: needs to be sewn up and have the loop made and attached; must be done by December.
Juicy Fruit Scarf: 20% done; no deadline
Wild Sock: maybe 15% done with the first one. (This takes HEAVY concentration so I can't do it casually)
Matt's Mittens: he hasn't even picked a pattern yet
Shelter's Mittens: ditto
Mittens at auction: once I find out who bought them, we'll start discussing patterns and colors

The "i" Diet

It used to be called The Instinct Diet, which I like a lot better.

I'm on day 3. It's been rough. Last night I completely fell apart and ate an entire extra meal (brown rice, pakora, steamed broccoli, and saag paneer) at 9pm so I would be able to sleep through the night.

DH is being a champ about trying it out with me. But when I fell apart, so did he, so now we're both back to Square 1.

I need to make a list of things I will use to reward myself when I do stick to the diet. Here are my starting ideas...

Books:
Crochet for Bears to Wear
Berroco's new book on afghans
the new JD Robb mystery
The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag

Any other suggestions for me?


Yarn:
a skein of mini-Maiden to make myself a scarf (pattern unclear as yet)
Enough Cascade Ecological Wool to make Jared Flood's Girasole

Project confusion (and 100 posts)

I seem to be suffering from Project Confusion.

I have one pair of socks, one half-done scarf, and three more pairs of mittens that need to be done by the end of June. I burned through two pairs of mittens in the past two weeks and thought I was on a roll. Then the confusion hit...

I taught myself to knit backward so I could make an Entrelac Noro Scarf. Knitting backwards isn't bad. Knitting backwards with two colors turns out to be much harder (for me) than purling with two colors.

I saw a pair of Pomotomus Mitts and knew I was going to try them this summer.

I dug out my copy of Top Town for Toddlers and made plans to knit the Cabled Pullover and one of the cardigans.

Oh - and yes, I've nearly finished two mini-stocking ornaments (you'll have to scroll pretty far down the page to see these) and keep plotting to make entire sets as Xmas gifts.

My computer should be back in my hands early next week, so I hope to be able to add some pictures to my 101st blog post!

Christmas Presents

What?!? Yes, it's the middle of April. I just saw this site:

http://littlecottonrabbits.typepad.co.uk/free_knitting_patterns/2007/06/knitted_mini_ch.html

and knew that I would be working on these at the lake this summer, hoping to have a pair for each of my cousins by Christmas time. That got me looking around the Internet for more patterns. I love the idea of making miniature sweater ornaments with the recipient's initial(s) on them, but haven't found the perfect pattern yet.

I've knit several more mittens since the last time I posted pictures, but I'm on a borrowed computer and don't want to mess around with loading the pictures here.

Twist Collective (spring/summer 2010)

First of all, my usual gripe: that Table of Contents is impossible to navigate!

OK, now on to the good stuff:

While I disliking the stereotyping in "Knits Men Want" I have to admit that the book sounds intriguing.

"Wallflower" socks - lovely colors, gorgeous pattern, and what looks like some interesting construction details on the heel. It's probably beyond my current level of ability (and patience!) but this would make a fabulous present...

Intrigued by "Goose Rocks" (a hooded cardigan) and in love with "Timpani" (a jacket-style cardigan.)

Adore "Celandine" but must lose a lot of weight before wearing something sleeveless and close-fitting.