New Sweater

So I have officially made my first adult sweater. I posted last about all my horrors with this sweater and I am proud to say I've overcome all of that and finished it. My favorite was the reaction of one of the housekeeping ladies. She was so excited to have seen it finished and raved about how she used to wear them all the time when she was my age. Apparently they used to/are called po-boy sweaters. At least that's what knitting group first saturdays called it too. They liked it as well.
Yesterday was our monthly meeting. This time in Jonesville, MI. It was a cute little town and the yarn shop Knits-n-knacks was awesome. Best yarn store we've been to yet. There was so much to look at. Yarn tucked in every corner, noro, lambs pride, cascade, etc. Even this beautiful yarn I got. I'm pretty good at only buying for specific projects, but this yarn was soo pretty that I couldn't resist. I think that I'll make some mittens out of them for next winter.
I bought three skeins to make sure I had enough for some sort of project. it's a brand called Di.Ve Autumno from italy. It's 100% Merino wool and soo nice and pretty. I'll definately post once I've made something with them.

I hate lace...

So after many hours of sitting in the health office queuing projects on ravelry and picking out the yarn on knitpicks, i needed a project. I went to Jo-Anns and found a ginormous skein of yarn, Bernat's Baby something or other. It has over 1000 yards to it. I said ginormous. So I decided to make the Cap Sleeved Eyelet Top from Hannah Fettigs Closely Knit book.

It appeared to be a slight challenge that might keep me occupied for a bit. However I had no idea what i was in for.

The rib on the bottom went along fine. Totally normal, nothing wrong with that. It wasn't until i reached the lace section that i'm debating whether or not I actually wanted a project, slight challenge or not, at all.

I made my way through the first set of V's when I realized I had missed bits and dropped some stitches along the way. An overall horrible job, but since I was learning the lace bit I was only mildly frustrated and ripped back and put it back on the needles to start over again.

I got sick, became unable to count correctly, partially why there was so much wrong with the first V's, and I put it down for a couple days.

Today I have picked it back up, made it through the first AND second V's perfectly, until the pattern now is telling me something i can't quite understand. After decifering it, and looking at all the completed projects on ravelry, I have realized I was not to do the second V's until i started my decreases. So yet again I have ripped back. I now have one set of V's on the needles and am getting frustrated with the last hour and a half wasted to only knit 9 rows and now rip them back.

Here is what it should look like in the end, only mine will be white. Notice the 4 V's on the bottom half and not 5 like it would have been if I did not rip back.

I hate lace.

long time no blog

So it's been about a month since I last put something up. I take that back. I did post something but had to take it down due to a number of events...anyway

I'm back and have a few updates on quite a few number of projects. So the oldest, and slowest at this point, project has been my sweater. I was going along strong, almost getting it done in a week flat, when I got down to the lace section, which is really the end. And I realized that the lace pattern is ridiculous to understand and cannot for the life of me work out all the numbers to make it work. So then I decide I don't really even like the lace on the bottom and I'm just going to make the bit of flair and be done with it. And then I decided to thread in a lifeline and try it on. Thank goodness I did because I was trying to make a sweater not a boob accentuater. It is nowhere near long enough. Then it got flogged...for about a month.

I just recently picked it back up again and finished off the sleeves. Since I knew it needed to be longer I even braved up to order more yarn but sadness, knit picks is out of the color till the 17th of April. Oh well I'll just have to find other projects to work on.

Like this....(baby sweater for an old co-worker/friend from Mystic Lake Camp)

And these....(more UNC tarheels gear for my sisters friends baby shower)

And ALLLLL of these....(fishies for the fishy blanket i've been working on)

I'm up to 29 fish...

Oh and don't forget about this one too....

I've also managed to make another seed stitch baby jacket in this time. Of course in UNC colors with a logo. I failed to take a picture of this. My bad.

You'll notice some of the items I've made are baby items. I'm baby stashing at this point. My maternal clock is waaaay ticking with pregnant dreams most nights of the week. However I am not nor do I see myself being pregnant any time in the near future. But I am going to make and save items and i'm not ashamed of it. I like to think of it as "preparing for my future."

it's been awhile

So last week I was sick with that thing that was going around camp...yuck. I pretty much spent the week in bed, getting up when kids came in. I'm still pretty tired and have needed to take one or two naps a day but it's slowly going away.

I did however become pretty productive this weekend in between my naps. On friday i made baby booties. Well almost, i havent found 4 matching buttons yet...

And i made an adorable lion washcloth...

And I finished my sisters cowl...

And i made a hat. A fishy hat. Not as big or labor intensive as the one before. My goal had been to make a new one since the first one was too big for the person I made it for, however, they have a freakishly small head apparently and this one doesn't fit either. It kinda looks like a bow in this picture, but i assure you it's a fish tail.

My older sister was also in town this weekend and so I visited with her. We got a late dinner at Chili's in Ann Arbor, which I was incredibly proud of myself. First off I was hungry the day before when I went to Meijer's for groceries and did not buy the donut that would have been easy to buy and eat, but instead I got myself a diet pop and an apple. FYI: I love Faygo, but their "Squirt" variety, i think they call it 60/40 in the diet version...absolutely disqusting. I do not suggest it. Anyway back to chili's, I got the grilled chicken breast with steamed veggies. I was incredibly proud of my food choices for the weekend. I did good.

I spent a little more time with her on Monday. We didn't work because of presidents day so we went out to lunch with a friend and I showed her around camp a little.

So now i'm just relaxing a little before heading in to work again. Tried to watch a movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, however, i'm only 16 minutes in and it's just way weird. I don't know if I can keep going with it.

Bronchitis maybe?

So theres this nastiness going around camp. And usually when staff all get sick it's only like one maybe two days max. Well not this time. It's taking people out for like four.

I'm lucky in the sense that i'm in the health office all day so I get to lay back a little but i'm still not feeling well. It stinks too cause there are so many people out that everyone that might be available in the least bit is out teaching.

One of the guys that's sick went to the doctor and they said it was bronchitis. I hope that's not what we all have. I'm trying my best to do what i can to not have it get really bad.

To everyone reading this, wash your hands, and if you start feeling sick get rest immediately. I slept for like 18 hours yesterday and it helped quite a bit.

first First Saturdays

So I went to my first First Saturdays meeting today. I found out about the group on Ravelry . We met in Clinton at the Woolen Mill Yarn Store. It was fun to see a new yarn shop and all the things they had as well as just get out of camp.

Everyone was so nice and I met a group among them that meet each Wednesday in Brooklyn. I'm really kind of excited about that. This week is a friends birthday so I might not be able to make it but my plan is to after that if i'm not working or whatnot.

I now know some people outside of camp which is great and relieving at the same time.

One more thing from my list is being worked on. YAY!

I hate technology

So I've been mildy bad in not posting for awhile. I'm working on it. Part of the reason is that i like there to be pictures with my posts and my camera has been making everything green. I'm sure this is due to the face that i've been messing with all the different settings, in an effort to get to know my camera, however i am apparently not as intimate with it as i had previously thought.

I've been spending a lot of time over the past week working on my sweater. I got the yarn in the mail last wednesday from KnitPicks and have been working on it since. I also got my first set of harmony needles with that shipment and am in love. I've been wanting to take a picture of the sweater but with my camera making everything green I can't bring myself to do it until it's fixed.

I did accomplish a few things from my list within the last week. I've cleaned out my car as well as gave it a nice wash. And tonight I did my first sketch in...well a long time. The picture makes it look bad since i had to fix it multiple times in photoshop. Not that it's that amazing anyways but i'm letting myself think it's ok since i've been neglecting sketching for quite some time now, and i only spent 20 minutes on it.

I also put up a new item on Etsy. (Another one of my goals) I have mittens to go up as well but after taking about 30 photos and not being able to fix any of them enough to put online I have given up for the time being.

I'm a hungry

So I was trying to think of what to post about and realized I was hungry. So I thought I might share that with you guys. So right now, and while I guess for over a year now I've been doing Weight Watchers. I started around Thanksgiving of '07 at 210 pounds. See fatty mc.fatterson picture below...


And I did really good all through the first half of the next year. By May '08 I had lost 55 pounds and was no longer feeling like a fatty. The biggest thing I loved is that I could fit into all my old clothes again, and by again I mean my clothes from high school because now being at 155 I was skinnier than I was in high school. I've never been thin by any means. See not so fatty pictures below... (maybe not the best pictures to see the less fattiness but certainly the most recent)


And now I've gotten into a rut. I haven't gained back any of the weight, I've been doing well maintaining since then but now that i've put it on my 101 list, we're getting serious about it. Weight Watchers says that for my height and whatnot I should be weighing 142. When I first started I thought that number sounded ridiculous but now I'm thinking it shouldn't be too hard or unreasonable really. So this week was my first week back on and it hasn't been too hard. I've just been really counting my points and cutting out alcohol and hopefully something happens. It's too soon to weigh myself for the week but I'll probably end up posting something about it when I do weigh in.


To anyone else that's loosing weight this year or following the amazing weight watchers program, good luck and if you want to exchange any awesome recipes let me know. I make a sweet baked potato soup. (sweet as in awesome...not as in yams)

My 101 in 1001 List

So I've decided to create my own 101 in 1001 list. I've seen a few other blogs with one and thought it would be a good idea to have something hold me a bit more accountable to do some of the things I've wanted to do for awhile. I'm ready to start saving and planning and not be scared. With 1001 days I'll have close to 3 years to get it done. I am holding off on the start date to be able to more fully complete this list.

Start Date: February 1st, 2009
Completion Date: October 1st, 2011


Personally
get engaged
Be more adventurious in trying new foods
get dressed up for halloween at least once (0/1)
create a recipe book
Get old computer hard drive put into container
Clean out car once a month (0/33)
Wash car once a month (0/33)
Regularly change the oil in my car (0/11)
Move everything of mine out of my parents house for good

Friends Community and Mystic
join a knitting group that doesn't meet online
participate in Work or Shirk each spring and fall (0/6)
reconnect with old international staff - Ronal, Rhiannan, Erica, Serhiey
keep up with old friends on a more regular basis - Melody, Dan

General Health
meet my WW goal of 142 by May '09
get a pedicure once
Get my hair cut at least twice a year (0/6)
brush my teeth every night and morning no matter how tired I am

Adventure
travel to a new country..this means not canada (0/1)
take a train to chicago
Go to a some concerts (0/3)
Go on a cruise like Melody and I always talk about

Holidays and Birthdays
Get gifts for family for each birthday - Shannon (0/3) Laura (0/3) Dad (0/3) Mom (0/3) Grandma (0/3)
Make a Christmas Card List
Send out Christmas Cards (0/2)
Have all Christmas Presents planned by Thanksgiving (0/2)
Have all Christmas Presents purchased by end of November (0/2)

Craftings
have my very own craft room
organize ALL craft subjects
start a knitting pattern book
learn a new craft...maybe screenprinting
knit sweater for me (0/1)
Participate in one more craft show each year (0/3)
Spin one skein of yarn
Learn to knit a pair of socks
Learn to knit a pair of handwarmers
Learn to knit a pair of gloves
Donate hats/gloves each year to kids that need them (0/3)

Education
take college classes for fun (0/2)
Learn more about photography...maybe take class

Money
save money for backup/travel/etc
learn more about stocks and invest

Career
Find a new job with health benefits and at least $30,000/year salary
fix retirement stuff with the YMCA
keep up my Red Cross/YMCA Certifications
Get LGI certified
Teach 2 sessions of swim lessons (0/2)

Dome Insulation
Post on Blog once a week (0/ )
Put up at least two new items each month (0/

Fish Hat Part DONE!

So I finally finished the fish hat. I would have like to have finished it over Christmas but with the amount of nasty cigarette nastyness that infiltrates anything that comes within 10 feet of my parents house I decided I would leave it, and all my yarn for that matter, at home. Sorry the picture is fuzzy, I was having difficulty taking the picture.

So I've been negleting my blog for a little bit. I apologize. I've been wrapped up in Christmas and then my birthday. But here's what you missed...



Yes...this is exactly what you think it is...this is my grandma playing Wii. My sister brought her Jewish gluten-allergy boyfriend to christmas this year...i know...and with him came not only wireless internet for everyone, mostly so they could play world of warcraft all weekend..i know...but the Wii came too. Needless to say, my mom and my grandma loved the bowling.

I also got the Fitted Knits book for Christmas. I'm so excited. I can't decide which one to make first.

I also made my first ever mitten. I'm trying to expand my shop on Etsy and i'm hoping to make up lots of mittens and hand warmers and then once i master that...gloves. This one's pretty crappy. I found the cheapest yarn in the pile and went for it.

I also needed to make a hat for my older sister. I need to finish it today but i'll probably hold off till tomorrow. It's for a baby shower. She graduated from UNC and one of her friends is having a baby so she wanted and UNC baby hat. I'm putting the tarheel feet on the earflaps...only i havent decided if i want one on each earflap or just one...i have some decisions to make. In fact it's the only reason i'm holding off on finishing it. I have a problem with everything needing to be perfect and this is no exception.

I've also begun my very first sweater. I saw a reaaally cute one on ravelry and decided it would be my first creation. I also realize that it is a baby sweater and that it won't fit me. I figured that since it was smaller it would give me a better idea of the time and effort it takes to make one before embarking on an insanely large project. First picture is the one from ravelry and the other two are how far along it is.