*cough*

I'm sick. Stuffy head, post-nasal drip, cough, sore lungs, sore muscles sick. I would normally say "bad head cold" but the presence of a mild fever yesterday and the muscles--- oh, crap. I have/had the flu.

Be back later... no gym for me today (or since Friday last week) b/c enough energy is required to either take a shower or sit up on the couch today.

Think good non-snotty thoughts for me this week!

:) Mini

...and puppy dog tails

That's what little boys are made of! Our friends, S and D, are expecting their 2nd child this spring... a boy! They have a wonderful toddler/pre-school age daughter, A, who we just adore. She's a great kid with a delightful personality,but I have to say--- she's the ultimate girly-girl. She was just a year old when she started carrying a poodle purse and asking for chapstick?? :) Either way, a second child and a boy will certainly change things in that house!

But, 2nd babies get the cast-offs, don't they? No baby showers to welcome baby #2. No spending hours getting the nursery ready... it's already done! Hmm... but when you are a knitter, you can make a second child a just-for-them gift.




























A baby blanket in the making. The pattern is my own. I will post it with the FO photos. I wanted something soft, rugged, and 100% boy... it's made with Paton's Shetland Chunky (Ice blue and Earth brown) on US 10s. Very simple and easy. And, look for the pattern (for free) here next week.

And, while I am knitting, Pumpkin and PC were doing some of their best deep thinking. (I'm not sure who was snoring louder... PC or the cat!)

Happy St. Pat's to you!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm Irish and I think I'm required to drink a beer today.... something about defending the Guiness family against the recession. :)

But, I won't be. Sadly, no. My WW point tracker (side note: do any of you use the online system? Is it crazy or is just me?? the defaults to 'breakfast' are killer and I feel like 99% of the organic brands aren't listed!) says I have 8.5 pts left today. So, what's 8.5 pts??

• 5 cups of baby carrots and 1 100-cal fat free ranch dressing
• 2 100-cal snack packs of cookies + 2 popsicles (sugar free, of course)
• 1 3-ounce chicken breast, 1/2 cup of corn, broccoli and a slice of lite oatmeal bread
• 2 laughing cow cheese wedges + 36 all-bran crackers (garlic seasoned is the best)
• 1 glass of wine + 1/2 cup of Edy's slow churned ice cream
• 12 almonds and 1/2 pint of Guiness

Pretty variable huh? I'm liking the "accountability" of WW again, but I am desperately trying not to eat my AP (activity points) that I earn while at the gym. B/c when you think about it, you are really only going to lose weight if you burn more than you eat, right?

My trainer did all these crazy calculations about my body fat, my weight, my metabolic rate, etc when I joined the gym. Now, most of this is 99% to scare you into hiring a trainer. But, something caught my eye and I flashed back to college. We were able to determine how many calories you burn just being you. It's a calculation like "lifestyle + weight + height + body fat" and you end up with the number of calories that will keep you at the weight you were at. Now, disclaimer: that equation is nowhere near right. It's an example. Okay? So, don't sue me if you calculate that you are 100lbs and need to eat 4500 calories to stay 100lbs and you end up 200lbs. Okay?

So, back to my fat ass at the gym. (a little self-deprecation is good and it keeps me from throwing things at the wee blonde girls at the gym who don't sweat. I mean c'mon! It's the gym! Sweat already!) At my current weight(ahem: 290), I need 3000 calories a day to stay this way. On WW, I am allotted 35 pts/day (plus my 35 'extra points') which is roughly 1pt = 50 calories, so.... 1750 calories per day. That's less than the doctor recommended 2000 calories non-dieting people eat. Also, each workout at the gym (50-60 minutes) earns me 12-14 points (600-700 calories).

Does this mean in reality I am only giving my body, at most, 1150 calories per day to run on? Hmm... no wonder I'm hungry! And, with the strength training, I am burning calories longer after my workout, which is fabulous.

So, a non-knitting post from me. See you tomorrow!

Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's another FO!

Pattern: simple 56 st top-down heel flap sock. Reduced stitch count to 52 for the foot. ( I have fat calves).
Yarn: Lana Grassa Meilenweit 6FachSpecial; #8844, lot 26826
Needles: US 2 rosewood dpns
Thoughts: well, I have a whole bunch of the yarn left over. But, I am very happy that my socks are pretty much twins. :)














(ignore pasty white legs the same color as the wall)













Action Shot!
Photographs are courtesy of the lovely PC.

Speaking of PC, I had the unique opportunity to watch PC in a sport tonight. I know! PC curls at the local curling club, Broomstones, and I watched a game tonight. It involves a 'stone' (42 lbs of granite) and 'brooms' (used to smooth the ice so the stone can go faster and longer) and targets. It's a wee bit like bocci ball, but the target doesn't move. :) It was fun and I can see the draw to this kind of game... it is uber-social and very gentlemanly. Everyone was really really nice and I had (besides PC) a personal tutor courtesy of a very patient curler who was waiting for his game to start. And, ladies? If you have a partner who curls... 2 hours of great knitting time near a BAR. With beer. :)

So, when you leave a comment--- don't forget to tell PC "Good Curling!" (It's the equivalent of "happy knitting!" to the non-fiber peeps)!

More FOs this week and a guest-post from Pumpkin. She's been trying to hack into the blog again (changed the password) and I think it's just better to let her say what she needs to say and maybe she'll give me back my knitting needles. :)

Miss Lucille

Meet Miss Lucille. She's the Noodle's new bestest friend!



















Pattern: Sunflowers and Ladybugs (Twist Collective Spring 2009)
Yarn: Cascade 220 (red, white, black- 1 skein each)
Needles: US 2, dpns ; US 6 for wings



















Modifications: I outlined them in Ravelry:

1. no separate shoes. Her shoes are simply a color change from her legs to her feet. Small shoes would have been a choking hazard.

2. face, hands, legs are all the same color. I only had an ‘off white’ wool, so that’s all she’s made from.

3. Her wings are shorter and knit at a larger gauge. I wanted them to have more ‘play’ and I lightly stuffed them with polyfill/wool batting.

Overall, I love her. I can't wait to make another one...I am thinking a Betty the Bee for Noodle's first birthday this summer. What do you think, Noodle? Should Auntie make you a bee to go with your Ladybug?? I need to make the sunflower people for Abby-Cadabby's birthday this summer. I am thinking 3 dolls for her: sunflower boy, sunflower girl and a butterfly. Her's will have removable outfits... Noodle's too little for that just yet.

Oh, and Lucille is the OFFICIAL Island Yarn Sale announcer. Get your butt to Island Yarn today: BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE of the same color for a lot of yarns. And I mean a LOT. Vicki's cleaning house for spring deliveries....and that means she needs room! So, a ton of yarn is on sale--- buy one get one free!!! Last night was the preview sale for the Never Enough Yarn club members and I imagine it got wild.

Example: Mirasol 100% baby llama --- $8 a ball--- buy one, get one free of same color. She has whole BAGS of this...

You People Must Hate Me

(Cute cat photo to distract you)

And by you people, I mean you. And you. Oh, and you , over there... yes. You!

It's been weeks since i posted. Weeks.

Gah.

I've been knitting. Alot. I've been job-hunting, which takes a surprisingly large amount of your time. And I've been working out. Some of you saw me at SPA and said hi... and hi right back at'cha.

Working out. Good lord, I have a young, somewhat cute, young trainer named Diego. He's a sweet kid (and truly, he's a kid) who seems to have figured out new and unusual ways to torture me. But, he makes it hurt so good, y'know. I've worked out with a trainer before and loved it. And if I could still afford my old gym, I'd be right there with my old trainer.... kickboxing and loving it. But, the trade off is : new gym is less $/month, more $ for trainers and exactly 200ft from the casa de Mini y PC. So, I go there now. Daily. I know! Me, the chunky, funny girl has been.... RUNNING ON A TREADMILL. I feel very "Biggest Loser" when I am in there--- fat people all huffin' and puffin' on the treadmill and then doing squat thrusts... yeah, I do squats. But, most of all... I feel great when I walk out. Head held high. Thighs quakin', knees shakin'... but I am doing it.

So, 60 minute daily work outs + weight watchers online. Dude, I will be svelte by the Sept wedding PC and I have.

Knitting. Island Yarns in Waltham is having a HUGE buy 1, get 1 50% off sale! I have a gift card there ... oh, the damage. :)






























Okay, so I have to find the ball band for this yarn. It's called "calypso" or something like that. I got it at Island Yarn... it's got an insane amount of yardage (400 + yds) and it's a wool/acrylic single that is super soft. The color changes are amazing. I would guess in total, this is about 8 hours of knitting.

Super Free Pattern (from me):

Cast on 36 stitches
Row 1-3:* k6, p6* (repeat from * to *)
Row 4: *cable 6, p6* (repeat from * to *)
Row 5-8: * k6, p6* (repeat from * to *)
Row 9: *cable 6, p6* (repeat from * to *)

Knit until you run out of yarn.

Cable 6: slip 3 stitches to cable needle, hold in back, k3 from LH needle, k3 from cable needle.

:) mini