Soooooooo - the blankie will undoubtedly be done for Christmas. Or I'll mail it as soon as I get it done. This is what I have so far. Almost 9" done - need 28" before I do the ruffle. The ruffle is interesting because you pick up and knit, then do that 3 more times; you don't turn corners... you whipstitch the corners together. This could be frustrating...
I do have a bit of a problem with my square Kollage needles; I'll have to see how this shakes out. The metal part of the needle is about 6" long, and the heel of my hand rests on that bent part of the very soft cable. I'm afraid I'm going to break it.
I will cry.
I do like that the cable doesn't kink. I don't like where it sits on my hand, and I can only move my hand up a bit before stitches start being knit off the tips, which I don't like.
We shall see...
I'm having a mad moment of "frog it, crochet one - you're quicker with crochet" but I'd have to figure out how much yarn it would take - you know crochet takes -- wait. I was almost going to type "you know crochet takes more yarn than knitting" but then I decided to look it up.
Well - you could blow up the internet by searching "crochet vs. knitting yarn usage" because Yahoo Answers (not experts) claims anything from 30 - 50% more yarn used in crochet. But at least two bloggers who are in the crochet business claim that this is "utter bunkem."
I mean, I'm a pretty ferociously fast "hooker" - and with the fact that I have almost 750 yards of this yarn, I could potentially frog. I've used just about 3 balls - that's almost 280 yards. I could do a quick half-double crochet or even a double crochet, making a lacy blanket. After all, the kid will live in South Carolina - hardly Minnesota when it comes to winters.
What am I talking about, and who am I kidding?
Plugging along on what I'm already doing. But the next one will be a crochet blanket.
Hot Flashes Are Not Cool...
My thermometer is like Elvis: it has definitely LEFT the building. (I paused here to put in a few more stitches on that blanket.)
I'm at work, the night shift today, and it's been "sweater Hokey Pokey." My fan is running. It's 52* outside. It should be chilly.
I'm roasting.
I purchased my usual old-reliable, non-hormonal supplement, Shatavari. I'm hoping against hope that it kicks in quicker. It's herbal; I know - it'll take 6 to 8 weeks. Period. I can't rush it.
Losing some of this weight and exercising will help. But in the meantime, I'm not sleeping well, and feel like I've been hit by a bus.
That, and probably the iron infusions will help even out what's going on.
The Do-Date...
I'm reading a book called "Eat More, Lose More" and it's by a nutritionist who basically cribs off Atkins: larger portions of low-carb veggies, limit the high-carb, eliminate sugar and beef up (ha) the protein.
But I'm thinking that perhaps I will go back to Atkins. Because as I'm reading the recipes, the person who created them uses xylitol - a sweetener I don't like. I'm actually only happy with True Leaf stevia. There's nothing in this but stevia and it's the only one that's "not" sugar that doesn't remind me of chewing on tinfoil.
She also (the chef is a woman; the author is a man) uses guar gum and xanthan gum. Not sure about those two things. I can almost deal with the whey powder. But I'm not sure of the other things.
So I have a couple of days to decide. The upside is that there are some recipes that don't use that stuff, and look pretty good. I have also been looking into a program a local chiropractor has, but I'm leery of a "quick fix." I have to get the weight off, and I have to do it sanely.
The other thing is, I need to work on the exercise. What this book says that I do agree with is that interval training is a good way to exercise. That makes sense, and I can work that with my yoga work as well. It'll be a nice balance.
So sometimes, books on 'the right way to eat' can be a bust, but sometimes there are hidden gems in among the chaff.
I haven't stepped on a scale in a couple of weeks. I'll take measurements, start over on November 1 and see what happens if I mash up a few different ideas together. As far as the Halloween candy, I've finished buying it for the campus. What's left is left, and it's stuff I don't like, so that shouldn't be a problem. The students will finish that off.
Halloween...
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| Ohio Grove Cemetery |
And yes, in case you wonder: the kids love the Halloween-themed pencils.
Speaking of which, see the lovely graveyard? It's the Ohio Grove Cemetery, right outside Sycamore, IL, and it was established in 1839.
I'm not the only one with a cemetery fetish. Lots of historians love these places. I met one at lunch today and we shared cemetery pictures.
Hello, Cello....
Except there wasn't a cello... This was part of our concert series at the church we attend. We have periodic free concerts, and at those concerts, we take up an offering for a variety of charities.
Hello Cello is a group of guys who mostly do covers. There is a cello player, except that this past Sunday was his wedding day. You've gotta be there, right? So we had 3 of the 4 and it was really interesting to listen to rock music in the sanctuary. The acoustics were decent, but the vocalist was a little shy - we kept telling him to bump up the vocals!
And as usual, our church's hospitality committee outdid themselves with a feast later. I actually managed to contribute (still-warm) pumpkin-chocolate bread - which Lillian the coffee lady says "is to die for!" She stashed a loaf (there were 2) for this coming Sunday's post-service coffee hour... Smart cookie!
Persevere...
So my little petunia is a bit beaten up by the bunnies... As you can see, it's a little nibbled, and just about buried in leaves. 
It's still an inspiration to me. Cropped up out of nowhere, and I didn't plant petunias this year. It's a gift from Mother Nature. Speaking of gifts from Mother Nature, this morning was a perfect example of fall in the neighborhood.
Storms were just leaving the area. When I came home from yoga last night, it was just starting to sprinkle. Overnight, the wind came up and early a.m. storms started us off. The light was really weird and the cloud cover was interesting.
This is the shot out the front window. The ground is covered in fallen and blown leaves; the marigolds are giving up the last of their color. The tree is "on fire." And the neighbors have jack-o-lanterns on their stoop. The odd coloring of the sky and the bare tree across the way - all of it spells Fall to me.
Random Picture...
Yes, this is Tippi at her last therapy visit. And yes, those are "lady bug" deely-boppers. Her bandana has 3 little lady bug buttons on it. I have to lower the buttons and tack on the badge a bit better.We're a little sad. Tippi went with Raisa and Quinn to the eye doctor. Tippi was there about 4 years ago. She has a cataract in one eye (which I had noticed, but I knew would mostly be inevitable at her age), and uveitis - an inflammation of the eye. She has drops and it's fixable, but it's sad. Cataracts are an old-age thing. I hate to hear the inevitable. She's 7, which is still young.
But she's had a rough life, and I don't know her family tree. All we can do is speculate and overall, she's healthy as a horse. (Ahem - and almost as big as one, but I swear we don't over-feed her.) She doesn't like a lot of exercise; she likes to walk, but the youngsters like to run. Running isn't her style - at least not at long distances. When she comes to my campus, she'll "zoomie" up and down the hall for about 3 minutes and I do mean ZOOM. If you're in her way, she surprises you with her ability to zoom around you with a hair's breadth of distance between you and falling over. Once she does her rounds, she's done. She wants a nap. One of these days, before we close this place, I'll have to bring her in to just take a video. It's amazing that that much dog can move that fast.
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