Lace and Weight Loss

I'm designing a scarf. I came up with the fish lace motif a few years ago, when I made my Ichthus Shawl. I never did publish the pattern, so I decided to take the motif and put it into a scarf instead.

I'm using KP Alpaca Cloud laceweight yarn, which is incredibly soft. I really like how it's turning out. It's a pretty simple design, which is a nice diversion after the hood and glittens I designed recently. I'm already planning the photo shoot for this one....I'm going to need a white sundress...and a warm day.

I'm so ready for winter to be over. This past week, there were several days when the temperature didn't reach zero. And it snows every day. And it's cold. And windy.

♥

In other news, I've been working out since the beginning of January. It's a secret, though. Well, not a total secret. But the fact that I've lost 13 pounds since New Years is. It would have been more if I hadn't taken a week and a half off from my intensive workouts because of injury(did yoga instead). I'm keeping my progress a secret from my family until I go visit them. I'm hoping to get time in March to do that. By that time, I should have lost enough for them to see the difference and be shocked. Hubby hasn't noticed yet...and I'm not pointing it out to him either. I'm waiting for him to notice. He's going to be traveling this next week, so I'm hoping that I can reach my first goal of 20 pounds while he's gone. 

It's not easy; I'm working out every day(using the PACE system), and eating less than I used to. And I'm drinking water almost exclusively. I allow myself one soda on Friday nights, and alcohol is only for very special occasions. I discovered a day-spa water recipe...I know, that sounds goofy, but it's good! I slice an apple and put it and a cinnamon stick in a pitcher, fill the pitcher halfway with ice, and fill the rest of the way with water. I put it in the fridge for an hour before drinking it. I'm up to almost a gallon a day, which is huge, because I never used to drink water! I'm adding in green tea now; I've heard that it's great for weight loss. My problem with tea is that I hate unsweetened tea, and I detest fake sugar. I usually use two teaspoons of sugar to a cup of tea; I'm cutting it down to one. 

I'm not using any faddish gluten-free/carb-free/all-liquid/protein-shake diets, and no diet pills of any kind. Just the good old-fashioned exercise-more-eat-less diet. No alcohol, no caffeine(well, almost), and I'm allowed to eat what I want as long as it's only a little bit. If I want chocolate, I have one. If I want chips and queso for lunch, I get a very small dish of queso, and only as many chips as it takes to eat up the queso. We had spaghetti tonight, and I really wanted seconds, but I let Hubby have it instead. If I want a cookie, I have one. I've learned that when I refuse to allow myself a little splurge now and then, the craving gets so bad that I end up having a big splurge, and then feel so guilty I give up. Not letting that happen this time.

13 pounds down, 47 to go...

And once I've lost this weight, I'm going to look terrific in my as-of-now non-existent white sundress and Ichthus Scarf...

New Patterns!

I've already talked about these patterns, so I'll make this a short post. 

Willow Carroldine is available on Knit Picks for $2.99.

 Cathie is also on Knit Picks, for $1.99.

Enjoy!

Cathie is done!

I finally finished my Cathie scarf! 

 I decided to make it a bit shorter than I usually do for scarves. It was supposed to be done three months ago. Now the pattern is finished, and in the hands of Knit Picks.

Here's a closeup:

And now I'm on to other designs. I'm almost halfway done with my R&R Shawl sample; and should have yarn waiting for me when I get home, to make Hunter Socks. I've got a friend proofreading my Willow Carroldine pattern before I send it in. 

If I knit fast enough, can I count it as exercise?

Angel's at camp!

I dropped Angel off at church this morning, so she could go to camp.

She's been very excited about it for months, but she looked a little apprehensive when it was actually time to go get in the bus.  Her counselor posted on Facebook a little while ago, saying they made it to the camp, so now I can relax.  I hope she has a wonderful time, and doesn't miss us too much.  She's never been away from family for this much time before.  She and Princess spent a week with friends back when Kitty was born, but the two of them were together.  This time, she's alone.  She's a little shy, but at least she kind of knows some of the other kids from Sunday School. ☺

♥

I've finished the "A Girl's Best Friend" Scarf, and made a pair of mitts to match, since I had plenty of yarn leftover.  I'll post pics of that tomorrow; the mitts are still blocking right now.

I'm still here!

Hi there!  I realize I haven't blogged in almost a week.  I've been busy, and haven't had time.  First, since all I talked about last week was the kitchen, yes, Hubby liked it. We didn't get a chance to talk about the cabinets, though, since he was only home for two days, and then off to London.

♥

While he was here, on Saturday we went to a ball.  It was a West Point Founders Day ball, which I always enjoy.  The first one I went to was eleven years ago, when we were engaged.  Now, here we are, old married couple...

I wore the Waltz shawl that Sandra made for me, and it came in very handy, as it was a chilly evening.  I got a lot of compliments on it.

♥

Okay, on to what else has kept me busy!  I finished this pair of socks yesterday morning.  I had started them a while back, and last week I got the first one out and realized I was ready for the toe decreases, so I might as well finish it...and when I finished it, I thought I had better go ahead and start the second one, even though I've never caught Second Sock Syndrome.  And then, after I'd finished the ribbing and started on the heart lace pattern, I volunteered to test-knit a sock pattern for my friend Sieglinde....and then realized that the needle I wanted to use was in my second heart sock.  So I zoomed through the second sock, getting it done in one week!  And here they are!

I think, since I finished the second sock in a week, this counts for my Socks In A Month KAL.  But just in case anyone disagrees, I'm still knitting socks.  I started on Sieglinde's sock immediately after finishing the second heart sock, and just over twelve hours later, I had turned the heel.  I would have gotten farther on it, but I kept getting distracted, by lunch, by dinner, and by this:

That's right, it's a crochet project!  And I'm not a crocheter.  Not that it would be a bad thing if I were; I just prefer to knit.  But I couldn't resist this pattern!  It was designed by my friend Michelle, and is available on Knit Picks: http://www.knitpicks.com/patterns/Diamond_Exchange_Crochet_Scarf___D10886220.html  Isn't it a gorgeous design?  And it's simple enough for a beginner like me to do!  I'm using some lovely sock yarn that was dyed by my friend Mara(the blue/green tonal) and a Paton's yarn to go with it.  All three of my girls were begging me yesterday to make it for them.  I think I will, but I won't tell them.  I'll make three, in different color schemes and set them aside for Christmas presents, because by the time Christmas gets here, they'll have forgotten about them.

♥

And just for fun, here's something I made a while back, and forgot to post a picture.

I made this sock for a swap spoilee who likes to knit socks.  I think every sock knitter should have a sock blocker keychain. ☺ I still need to make a sock for mine...

Avonlea is on its way!

I've finished my Avonlea scarf and pattern, and both are on their way to Knit Picks today!  I did a photo shoot(photographer: Angel) on Saturday, which didn't go exactly as I'd planned, but turned out alright.  I had planned to wear a terrific dark green silk blouse, which would have looked awesome and Christmassy with the red scarf, but I could barely get it buttoned, and it showed every bump and bulge, so that one went back into the closet, on the lower bar with the other clothes that are just a little bit too small and will fit when I lose about 10 pounds.  Then I had to take a look at my other clothes and find something that would work.  I realized my super-easy, casual wardrobe, while being perfect for my homebody lifestyle, isn't right for modeling.  Even though it's only modeling my own designs.  Most of my nicer tops are red or pink, because those are great colors for me, but they wouldn't work with the red scarf.  I would have picked navy blue, but I only have that in t-shirts.  So I went with this gray-green, slightly-nicer-than-a-tshirt knit top.  I think it worked well enough.

 That first one is my favorite, since I cropped out my backside, and I don't look quite as chunky as I do in the following pic.

 And of course, here's the pic of the scarf being modeled by someone much more photogenic than myself: my deck.  Haha.  Just kidding.  Kinda.  I think the deck makes an awesome background for pictures; it's interesting without being distracting.  Once I get the deck stained, it'll be even better, I think.

Anyway, this scarf is headed to Vancouver today, after we have our geography lesson.  We're learning about Alaska, and watching "Sarah Palin's Alaska" is part of it.  ☺ I love homeschooling!

Hooray!

Woohoo!  Knit Picks likes my Avonlea Scarf design!  I am shocked, because it's such a simple design.  But I'm thrilled, because they like it! *doing the happy dance around the family room*  So now I need to get the scarf finished and write up the pattern!  I'm nearly done with the scarf, though I have hardly started on the pattern.  So I'll cut this post short, and get to work! Hooray!

Cabling, cabling, cabling...

I've finally finished my Upstream scarf!  Now I just need to get the pattern finished and send it and the scarf off to Knit Picks.  I hope they accept this pattern too!

 I tried to get some good pictures of myself modeling the scarf, but I didn't end up with any that I really liked.  So I basically wasted an hour, putting on makeup and fixing my hair, then another hour taking pictures.  Oh well.  Hopefully, Knit Picks photographers and models will have better luck.

♥

And now I'm off and running on the next design...

This is my Avonlea scarf, and I just sent the design proposal to Knit Picks on Monday.  I hope they like it!  I might not hear back about it for a couple weeks; they're a bit backlogged on patterns, from what they told me before publishing my second pattern last week.  Anyway, I'm using Knit Picks Capra yarn in "Scarlet" that I got from a friend in a swap. ☺ I am in love with this yarn!  I want to design a bunch more patterns using it!

♥

Knitting up a storm...

Okay, I've finally got time to blog about my recent knitting projects! While on vacation I completed this baby blanket:

Here's a closeup of the lace pattern. I showed the blanket to my sister, asking whether she liked it, and her baby Evellyn grabbed it and claimed it as her own before Sara could say a word! I hadn't been able to decide on a name for this pattern before then, so its name is Evellyn Anne, after my little niece.
And here is Angel, modeling a shawl I made on vacation. She doesn't yet know that it's for her. I'm giving it to her for her birthday on Monday. She'll be nine years old.

And since we got home from vacation, I made these mitts! These are the samples I'll be sending to Knit Picks, as soon as I get some good pictures of them on someone's arms. The blue ones fit me, but I won't be modeling them because I have no fingernails right now(thanks to my nervousness over flying). I think I'll ask my neighbor to model them. Angel will model the red ones, once I get a chance to paint her nails.

And here is the beginning of my new Upstream scarf. The picture was taken a couple days ago. I've completed five repeats of the cable pattern now. The photo doesn't do the colors justice. There's much more variation in the blues, and a hint of green; it's a gorgeous colorway. This is also a sample for Knit Picks. I am very excited about the prospect of having two more patterns published.

Juliet pattern

I've written up the pattern for the hat I posted about yesterday. Click on the link to the right, for "My Pattern Blog", and you'll find the free pattern for "Juliet".

♥

I finished "The Waltz", the lace scarf my friends and I are knitting together. I did 30 repeats of the lace, as the pattern instructed, but I think I would do more if I were to make another one. It's only about 4 1/2 feet long with 30 repeats. Anyway, even though it is short, it is very pretty. I really enjoyed knitting it. I think I will make another one, for myself, after I finish a few other projects.

♥

And now I need to get back to work on my other projects.....

Knittin', and Not Knittin'

I just realized I haven't blogged for a whole week. Oops. Sorry about that. There hasn't been a whole lot of knittin' goin' on, because I've had a migraine for several days. Before it started, though, I was working on a lace scarf. We're doing a Knit-Along and Swap in the Bunker. We're all using the same pattern: "The Waltz" (http://stickchicky.blogspot.com/2008/06/waltz.html) and knitting it in a color and fiber that our swappee would like. I'm making Monica's, and Sandra is making mine. I haven't taken any pics yet, but I've finished 20 repeats of the lace pattern so far, and the pattern only says to do 30, so I might be 2/3 done. I'll have to see how long that makes it when I get to 30. I'm using Knit Picks Shadow(100% merino) Lace in the colorway "Vineyard"; it's a rich, dark purple, with little tiny bits of green and brown in it. Not like a tweed; more like a heather. It's lovely yarn. And since I had two skeins, I should have enough left over to make a scarf for myself, or to give as a gift to someone else. I love this yarn. It's very soft and light.

♥

I'm stalled on my sock. I finished the foot and turned the heel, and worked one repeat of the cabled lace pattern. But when I tried it on, I realized that the cables were pulling the fabric in too tightly around my ankle. So I'm going to frog back to the end of the heel, and put in some increases before starting the cabled lace in the back of the leg. I'm certain that will make it less tight; I just hope it looks right. I had planned on adding increases anyway, but further up on the leg section. Looks like I'll have to add more increases than I'd planned.

♥

But for now, I need to get back to the laundry...

Back to knitting

I took a little time today to work on some of my WIPs(works in progress). Here's my white lace:

It still doesn't have a name, but I'm narrowing down my ideas.

And here's a very brightly colored "Cathie" scarf. I'm planning on giving it as a Christmas gift; I don't know yet who it's for.

And in this bag is my latest Posy Patch.

It's about 4/5 done. But I still have to keep it hidden, until the new colors are released. It's a very pretty color, and that's all I'm saying for now. ☺

♥

About the dryer balls in my previous post: they really do work. I've been doing a lot of laundry in the past two days, and not using dryer sheets, just the balls. My laundry is fluffy and static-free! I think I'll just use the dryer balls from now on, and save the dryer sheets for keeping mosquitoes away when I'm working in the yard.