Noolie Knits

Wednesday Night Bullet Post

It's that time again; time for the randomness of a WNBP.  Let's just get right to it, shall we?

• Remember the sweater my friend Mary made for her great-nephew?  Well, to everyone's surprise, she actually got it packaged up and mailed before he graduated from high school (just teasing ya, Mary).  Check out how handsome the little guy looks in it.

What a doll!
 

• More kids in knits:  my great-niece, Ella, and great-nephew, Colin, in the sweaters I made them for Christmas.  Aren't they just the cutest kids?  I'm so happy that the sweaters fit them so well and yet there is enough room in them that they should still be able to wear them for at least the beginning of next winter.

• The wrap I'm knitting as a booth sample for Lark is almost finished.  Just a couple inches left, a picot edge on each end, a trip to the blocking board, and I'm done.  No progress picture yet, it looks just like the last picture only longer. 

• I've really got mixed feelings about finishing this.  On the one hand, I can't wait to see how it looks after it's blocked.  On the other hand, I'm going to be really sad to package it up and mail it off.  But, I'm really happy with my work on this project and I hope Lark will be happy that she chose me to knit it for her.

• I have enough of the Luminesence yarn in the color Redwood to knit one for myself, and that's exactly what I plan to do.  I'm thinking I'll wait until either late summer or early fall, though.  Can't knit the same pattern two times in a row.  It's a rule.  I wouldn't want to become known as a rule breaker ;-)

• Last night was Chicks with Sticks night, which requires a mindless project (at least for me).  I brought the crochet shawl I showed you yesterday and managed to add a couple of inches to it. 

• Weight Watcher's is still going well, for both myself and Samm.  I'm down 20.8 pounds!  I'm kind of surprised at how fast the weight is coming off this time around.  I'm not complaining though.

• Speaking of weight, when is it ever appropriate for a coworker to tell you that you were "not at your sexiest when you were at your thinnest" and then go on to say "you kind of started to look like a boy"?  Yep, you read that right, and yes, it was a male coworker.  How do you respond to that?

And the most important "bullet" of this WNBP:

• Please send lots of good thoughts hubby's way tomorrow.  He has an interview for a dispatcher's position at a nearby police station.  This is just the second step in the hiring process; he had to take a test about a month ago, and if he does well in the interview tomorrow, there will still be a background check and a lie detector test.  It's quite a lengthy process.

 

WNBP

YAY for Wednesday and the WNBP format that the Sheep so graciously allowed me to steal from her.  Let's get right to it, shall we?

• Last night was our weekly Chicks with Sticks knit night (I just typed knit knight) which I look forward to every week.  I was especially looking forward to it this week because I knew we were going to have a very special friend visiting us.  Melissa was in Maine visiting her brother (the best weatherman ever even if he is predicting a nasty weekend for us) and decided a trip to The Yarn Sellar was in order.  Unfortunately, Rusty stayed with Melissa's brother and nephew for some male bonding time, so I didn't get to see him.  I'm pretty sure he begged her not to bring him; I don't think he really likes me very much. 
• Another member of our group decided to grace us with his presence. Mel's been very busy lately and we haven't seen much of him.  He's been terribly missed and we were all very happy to see him last night!  He showed us the beginnings of his gorgeous kilt hose (we even got to see it on his rather sexy leg!).
• Progress has been made on the lace wrap; I've completed the first of 11 repeats of the second chart.  I brought it with me last night, but I'm not stupid enough to think I can knit lace at knit night.  Fellow chick, Kit, knits lace at knit night all the time and it never ceases to amaze me how she can concentrate!
• I only had 1 other project on the needles, a sock, and I haven't really been feeling like knitting socks lately. (You may have noticed that I've not knit a single pair of socks this year!) 
• I had to find something else to knit, but what? "V" was the logical choice.  It's Amy's V-neck pullover pattern that came free with the purchase of this gorgeous yarn at SPA.  I'm cold all the time and the colors are "Spingy" enough that I'll still be able to wear it once I finish it. 
• It will be my Tuesday night knitting and "taking a break from lace" knitting until it is finished. Of course, I gabbed so much last night that all I managed to accomplish was the 6 rows of ribbing and about 10 rows of stockinette.  Sounds like a lot, doesn't it?  Don't be fooled; this pattern starts out with the sleeves.  Obviously, that's not enough to post a picture; that will have to come later.
• Weight Watchers has been going well; as of last Saturday, I've lost a total of 14.4 pounds (in 7 weeks).  Like I mentioned the last time I posted about WW, it really does help to have someone else on program in the house.  Samm's doing incredibly well, too; she looks fantastic!
• Another thing that has helped immensely with my motivation lately, is the Ravelry group "Less W8 in 08".  I'm currently involved in a competition in that group.  There are 4 teams of 5 people and we each earn points for eating fruits and veggies and for exercising.  Last week was the first week and I did pretty well in the fruit and veggie department, but was sorely lacking in the exercise dept. 
• I'm working on getting my exercise mojo back. Samm and Clover met me  at lunch today, and we went for a half hour walk and I went to the gym with Patti tonight, so that'll earn me (and my team) some points!  I'm hoping Samm will come walk with me a few days a week at lunch time; it felt pretty good.
• I've saved the most important (in my opinion) bullet post item for last.  Yesterday, I was reading my good friend, Dana's, blog, and she got me to thinking.  I know, hard to believe, but every now and then I do think.  She wrote about how we often put much unnecessary pressure on ourselves to do so much more with our craft, than is reasonable.  Please, you really MUST read her post; she says it much better than I.  Go ahead, go now; I'll wait.
• Dana has decided to stop the madness, and set four simple goals for herself, and I have decided to do the same.  With her permission, I reprint those goals for you to read and think about.

1. I will enjoy knitting first and foremost;
2. I will not press myself to complete the project;
3. I will not apologize when my life supercedes my knitting time a.k.a. "if it takes me twelve months to finish, that's perfectly fine;" and
4. I will commit to no more than I can reasonably accomplish.

I'll end on that note.  Have a great night!

I'm Losing It

And I don't mean just weight, although today's weigh in did register another loss.  A small one, just 6/10's of a pound, but I'll take it; it's certainly better than a gain and it brings the total loss to six pounds. 

What the title is referring to is what I noticed while standing in line to be weighed this morning.  I just happened to look down and this is what I saw:

Yep, I went out in public like that.

Oh well, at least I provided some entertainment to everyone while they waited in the long line to be weighed in :-)

(What's worse is that after leaving Weight Watchers, I went shopping like that.)

Look What Followed Me Home

Finally, I have pictures of the loot that followed me home from SPA:

1) 4oz. BFL from Spunky, Riverwalk color  2) 4oz.70/30 alpaca/merino bump form White Barn Meadows, Redwood color  3) 4oz merino from Spunky, Mandy color  4) 4oz BFL from Spunky, Cheeky Monkey color  5)70/30 alpaca/merino bump from White Barn Fiber Mill  6) Bunny blend from Oasis Farm Fiber Mill  7) Bunny/merino/silk blend from Oasis Farm Fiber Mill 8) Louet Northern Lights wool top, Cotton Candy color  9) Door Prize 10) 3 mugs from Spunky  11) Yarn from Spunky to make her "V" sweater, Joshua Tree color  12) I Spun at SPA bag

A few of those items are for gifts.  I can't say who for; I want them to be surprised.

What you don't see there is the 8oz bag of Louet Northern Lights Teddy Bear (aka Ice Cream) fiber.  That would be because I didn't even think about taking a picture before I spun it all up. 

   
On the left is the 60 yards of single ply yarn I spun Friday night.  I wasn't enjoying spinning it that way so I switched to spinning a thinner single on Saturday and Sunday.  I was able to spin 3 bobbins of fairly thin singles and then I Navajo plied it and came up with what you see on the right.  Boy, Navajo plying really eats up the yardarge; there are only about 200 yards there.  That's okay because it's 200 yards of some seriously pretty yarn (IMHO).  I think this is the best yarn I've spun to date.

I think I controlled myself fairly well in the vendor room; I went with a certain amount of money to spend and a plan to buy fiber to enhance that stash and  yarn for Amy's "V" sweater.  I also planned to buy a couple of gifts.  I strayed from that plan only in that I bought a mug for myself (you would have too; they're adorable) and a tote bag.

Today is Saturday and Saturday is weigh in day for Samm and me.  I didn't think we were going to be able to make it with the snow we got last night, but the roads looked pretty good after a while, so we went to the final meeting of the morning just to weigh in.  Results:  down another 1.8 for a total of 5.4.  Samm did really well too, she's also lost a total of over 5 pounds.  Having someone else in the house on the program is a big help!

Have a great evening :-)

Eye Candy Friday on Monday

I meant to post before leaving for SPA on Friday, but never got around to it, so I thought I'd share some Eye Candy  and fill you in on the wonderful weekend tomorrow.

She's growing up so fast!
12 Weeks already
(her feet don't actually reach the floor in this; she needs a pillow under them,
but she seems to like it)

And, just so you don't think I've already given up on WW, here are the results of my weigh in (I went on Friday morning, so this is after 6 days instead of 7):

Down 3.6 pounds!

Pretty good start, I'd say.  I did not count points over the weekend, but I also did not go crazy with the food.  Back on program today.

Randomness

~ SPA, Knit and Spin is in just SIX days!  YAY and YEEHAW and WOOHOO too!  Do you think I'm anxious to get away for a couple days?  This will be my second trip to SPA and I just can't wait.  Last year, I met several of my blogging friends  for the first time in person; that was so awesome.  I've gotten together with some of them a few times over the past year, but I am so looking forward to seeing them again and meeting some more of you.  SPA is being held this year in Freeport, Maine at two different hotels; the Hilton Garden Inn  (where Patti and I will be staying) and the Harraseeket Inn (where the spa services will be located).  Patti and I are heading up there on Friday afternoon and staying until Sunday.  So, who else is going and where are you staying?  I hear there is going to be a blogger's get together at the Hilton bar on Friday night after the vendors close.  That should be fun!   

~ Samm's sweater, Clover's turtle, and the spinning have all been put on hold while I've been working on this:

for Clover's new best friend:

Olivia was born Wednesday, Februay 13th around 9pm; she was 5 weeks early, but is doing great.  She weighed in at 5 lbs, 12 oz.  Olivia's mother, Jeannie, is the daughter of my good friend and coworker, Mary.  Jeannie and Samm were best buddies for years when they were little.  It's so cool that they have had babies so close together!

~ I want to share with you what we did at work for Valentine's Day this year.  For a couple of weeks before VD, there was a decorated box for us to put Valentine cards in for our coworkers.  Then on VD, the Valentines were placed in individual bags and distributed (just like we all did in elementary school).  It was really kind of fun; check out the goodies:

(Lambert and Lucy were not part of the loot; they just live on my desk). 

But wait, there's more.  Each year for all the years I've worked at Town Hall (and before that, I'm assuming), one of our coworker's, Tim, gives all the women a long stemmed red rose for Valentine's day.   Isn't it lovely? 

~ As most of you know, I quit smoking back in May (YAY); what you may not know is that since then, I have gained a "bit" of weight.  I joined the "Less W8 in 08" group on Ravelry in mid January and set some goals for January (which I promptly ignored).  I've avoided the group since because I've felt like a failure.  However, Samm and I are joining Weight Watchers today and I WILL get back on track and get my weight back to where I want it.  I know WW can work because several years ago (Aug. '01) I joined WW and lost over 90 pounds (by Feb. '03)

Here are my before and after pictures:   

  (click pics for bigger; I can't bear to put them any bigger than this)  Believe it or not, the before picture was actually after losing almost 30 pounds!

Here I am now:     Granted, I'm nowhere near where I began in '01, but also nowhere near where I was from '03 thru mid '07.  My plan is to report in to all of you each week to let you know how I made out at my weigh in for the week. I'm hoping that putting it out there for all to read will help me stay motivated.  My goal is to lose 25 pounds, which doesn't seem unreasonable.  If I could lose over 90 pounds, I can certainly lose 25, right?  Wish me luck!

Have a great day and a great weekend!