Life unravelled…

Wow, things have just been going nuts here.  Tony got into a car accident on Wednesday right in front of his work.  It was embarrassing for him and it totalled our reliable car.  He is okay, mentioned his back hurt him a bit today.  I am hoping it is nothing that lingers with him.  We will be shopping for a new car soon.

I had a physical today and was told that maybe my caffeine intake is contributing to some anxiety stuff I have been having.  I need to quit it for 2 months.  I don’t know how I can do that and as I agreed to that I came to the realization that I think it would be easier for me to lose weight then to quit caffeine.   My doctor suggested both.  Again, I am told I need to do the zone diet and have been recommended the book,  Mastering the Zone.   In regards to health, I was asked about a cholesterol drug that I was suppose to be using, but knew nothing about.  So she is going to recheck my cholesterol.

If only I could do what everyone in my life thinks I should do to change myself.  I get tons of unsolicited advice from everyone.  I honestly get tired of people suggesting that if only I walked _ miles every day would I lose the weight or suggest that I stick to so many calories…

I just wanted to state for the record to the world and to myself that I am aware of what it takes to be healthy in diet and in exercise.  Why am I not in that place?  No explaination.

I think it is like telling a smoker, if you only quit smoking…blah, blah, blah…  There are people that can just quit.  There are people that don’t care.  There are people that do care and periodically try to quit and can’t and they sit at the brink of wanting to quit.  That is me.  I want to lose weight.  I want to be healthy.  I have tried many diets and yet here I am again, sitting at the brink…

Oh and on top of it all, I have a cold.   Didn’t I just have one a month ago?  sigh…Sorry for the depressing blog post.  I guess I do feel a bit depressed today.

Finally finishing things…

The first one is Knitty’s Anouk. It is done in Cotton-ease. You have seen the pics before, just finally found the perfect buttons for it, at Walmart of all places. I have realized there are not a lot of places in my area that sales buttons.

There are some imperfections, but overall I am happy with it. As much as I love cotton-ease (and am excited about its come-back,) I have realized it isn’t very forgiving. It splits easily and when you mess with it it doesn’t spring back.
This next finished project is one you didn’t even know I started, because I am shameful and pretty much broke my September challenge rule. Yes, I lied to you all, but not intentionally. I was crocheting this scarf thinking it would make for a fun beginner’s project for my classes. The first row wasn’t too bad, but the second row took me a couple of nights of crocheting…so it isn’t a 2 hour project to say the least. It was fun, though and makes for a very pretty scarf. It is Patons Curly Q Scarf. It took almost 4 balls of Patons SWS with a size K hook. The pattern calls for an L hook, which I don’t have, so I figured K is next best and would use less yarn.

This next project is one that will be in my beginner’s crochet class. It is a credit card/cash wallet. It is made with Patons Classic Merino with a size H hook. It is very easy. I still wonder if this is pushing it for a 2 hour class, but if I can get them past the button hole then I think it won’t be too bad.
Oh, and too my friend Amy, mentioned I am doing well. I am.! I have lost 10 pounds since I started my vegetarian diet. That isn’t a lot, but it is better than nothing. Tony has lost a lot more than me. My back has been killing me, but I noticed it goes in waves and is because I do things like carry Madeleine on my back and wrestle with the kids.

Dropping that class has made my stress go from a 10 to a 2. Seriously, I didn’t even realized I was that frazzled until in retrospect looking back. I think everyone around me knew it though.

Sierra is doing well, too. She has a “boyfriend” at school and kissed him on the cheek. I told her not to, but she told me she wasn’t in school, so it was okay (we were walking to the truck.) Sigh… He was nice and told me, “it is okay, I like it.” In school she is doing better. Her homework is coming back just fine. She isn’t crying after school and I think overall the teacher and her are communicating better. Either that or she is preoccupied with her “boyfriend” and so isn’t getting upset over the other stuff, I don’t know.

Madeleine has been “rough and tumble” lately. She is skinned up on her knees, on her chin, and has a bruise on her head. She is a little daredevil and is also sometimes clumsy. She is very much a comedian, always looking for a laugh.

She is talking more, full sentences. Though really only Sierra and I understand her. Tony doesn’t. She leaves the ends of words off, still and I am trying to work with her on it. Sometimes she says something to me and I don’t know what she is saying and it is frusterating to both of us. Also, I guess and she acts like I guessed right, but I wonder if she is just faking that and just being happy that I am giving her something.

Felted Ball

Here is the ball after felting. It is true that polyfill won’t felt. Michael’s doesn’t sell wool filling, that I know of so I am just going with what they have.

This isn’t a beginner’s crochet class.  It was suggested to me that I start off with beginner’s classes for the month of October.  Then in November to add a more advanced class so that people who took the beginning class would want to take another class of mine and learn more skills.  Maybe it will end up that people will only want to take beginning classes or maybe they will want to take more intermediate ones, I don’t know.  Teaching is so new to me and I am just treating it like a journey.

I would appreciate any advice out there about teaching knitting and crochet and if you have any short/small easy projects you can share with me, that would be great too!

Here is my Anouk, without buttons. I still didn’t buy any today.

A Ball!

My latest finished project is a Crocheted Ball. It is made with Patons Classic Wool. It will be one of my teaching projects at Michaels in November. I felted the ball (these are pictures Before.) It didn’t felt as much as I had thought it would, but now in retrospect I remember that single crochet doesn’t felt as well as hdc and dc. Just my opinion. It is still a really cute ball. I stuffed it with polyfill. I think it would make for some cute ornaments.

Oh, and Madeleine was eyeing my ball tonight, so I hope I can get an After photo, but if not it is because she took it.  As I was taking the Before photo, she was hovering over the ball, ready to pounce on it.  I tried to take a photo of her, but her batteries died, so they are charging.

Yesterday I made a Garterlac Dishcloth. It was a fun pattern, just don’t work on it when you are tired as it is easy to confuse yourself.

As part of my September challenge to not start new projects , I am pretty much finished with Anouk. I just need to buy buttons and sew them on. I know the ball and dishcloth are new projects, but the dishcloth is part of the KAL at Fiber Freaks. Fiber Freaks, by the way is doing really well. We have almost 90 members, are averaging 100 posts a day, and have active CAL’s and KAL’s. Tomorrow I am going to finish Anouk completely and start on my second Angelica sleeve. It is about time I finished that!

Oh, and I did the wrong decrease throughout Anouk. Atleast I was consistent, though. I was doing a SKP instead of a SSK. I know the difference, and hey…I never said I was perfect. Atleast it is slanting the correct direction. Also, the person who will be getting this won’t know the difference. I will post a picture when I get the buttons sewn on.

Okay…some non-crafty stuff…

Tony and I gave blood today. The lady poked me real hard and it hurt real bad the whole time. Squeezing the ball was difficult to do. I couldn’t straighten my arm afterwards and 12 hours later that still hurts. I have never experienced this much pain associated with a blood draw. I wonder if she somehow hit a nerve or something. I am sure tomorrow I will be better. All I know is don’t mess with a knitter’s/crocheter’s arm! Tony warned me I should have had them do my left arm. It was all for a good cause, though. They called twice this morning and really were in need of blood.

We also didn’t eat too healthy the past two days and I am telling you we both can “feel” it. Tony was craving a hamburger and bought us In and Out and after eating it we just about died. We felt so run down and gross and ick. Tonight the kids drank apple juice and it made them bounce off the walls and get really upset, etc. They aren’t use to all of the sugar. I am looking forward to buying some fruit and veggies tomorrow and planning out next week’s meals.

Spam me a recipe if you have one that is mostly veggie related!

Thanks everyone who posted a commented about me dropping that class. You are all right. I need to give myself a break. It is okay to admit that I can enjoy being just a mom and don’t need to rush into going back to school. If it isn’t going to work and makes me unhealthy or causes me to miss crucial parts of my kids young lives, then it isn’t worth it. These times are precious and this is such a developmental time for Madeleine that I really need to take my time with her and enjoy her before she is “grown up” like Sierra (or so she thinks.) I am still taking an online class and so will remain in the school’s system. We will see what happens this Spring.

Dropped Anatomy…again.

I dropped the Anatomy class I was taking.  I wrestled with this as I am pretty sure I would have done fine on the first test which was today.  However, the deadline to drop the class is this Monday and so I had to make a decision soon.  I have been under a lot of stress in all areas of my life.  There are other areas where I could have cut the stress out, but really it is this class, again that is giving me the most problems.

I can be a 6am riser if I go to bed early.  However, I realized that in order to go to bed and get a good amount of sleep I can’t study much the night before when the kids are sleeping.  It is that time at 9pm to 2am when I would get the most studying done.  In order to get 8 hours of sleep at night, which my doctor has told me I need to do, I would have to go to bed at 10pm and then I would have no time to study.

I am not able to get much studying done during the day because of the noise and just being attentive and active with the kids.
One day, when the timing is right I will be able to take the Anatomy class and wizz through it and get a good grade and move on.  Realistically this isn’t the semester.  Maybe some people who have young kids or even work and have kids can do it, but I am not able to.

I tried doing homework until 1am and getting to bed and getting 3 to 4 hours of sleep and what was happening was that I was literally falling asleep in the lecture class at 11:30am.  Even with 4 cups of coffee in me I couldn’t prop the eyelids open.  Luckily the first couple of weeks are review for me as I know cell anatomy and basic tissue anatomy.  I just know that this would have caught up with me so I had to make my decision.

I hate being a quitter, but I guess it is better than being a failure.  I will get through all of this.  I know this is the “weed out” class.  I think next semester Tony and I are going to really get a grip on what will be the best class schedule for me.  I think even if that means he has to move around his work schedule to accomodate me then that is what he has to do.

Reality for us is that our “financial freedom” is on my shoulders.  It is dependent on me finishing school and going into a career that pays well.  It will be my income that will help us get into a house and move forward in our lives.  It is scary and stressful always knowing that.

Sock Ornament

       Sock Ornament

Yarn is Caron Simply Soft Shadows:  color Autumn

Size 3 needles

This is my prototype for the sock ornament I will be teaching at Michaels in December.  It has every basic aspect of a sock, dpn, ribbing, heel flap, turning the heel, picking up stitches, heel decreasing, and toe decreasing.  It took me about an hour to make it, so I figure it will be a decent 2 hour class where I should be able to get the basics taught as the students knit along.  Once the ornament is finished they will have learned all aspects of a basic sock and will have a small finished project to take home with them.

Anouk – almost done

No pics…yet…sorry.

The “old” Wendy would stay up tonight and knit the side tabs, sew them on, pickup stitches for the collar and knit it, add the buttons and weave in all the ends.  That is how close I am to being finished with Anouk.

The “new” Wendy is deciding to go to bed “early” and that is before 1am so that I can get up early for the Heart Walk tomorrow.  I raised $405.     Thanks everyone for the financial, emotional, and social support!

I didn’t really have any major problem with Anouk, but it could have been written a bit clearer.  The “right” and “left” is mixed up on there so my button is not on the “correct” side.  I am surprised no one has mentioned anything but maybe people just don’t care.  Right front is suppose to be right front as if you are wearing it.  So the buttonhole should be on the “left side.”

Some people have right button Anouk’s and some have left…  why does it bother me??

…because I knit the back of my Anouk about a month ago and so when I knit the front I didn’t realize I followed the pattern’s version of “right frnt” and not the actual “right front.”  This is a good reason why I should keep a knitting journal.

When I went to line up my sides to join them, the live stitches were on one left needle and one right needle…yep, they didn’t line up.  It was an easy fix, just annoying.

I did say I was going to bed early, right?  Yikes…

Anouk and New Techniques

I finally was able to set some time aside to learn some new techniques. A few weeks ago I tried a provisional cast on like was demonstrated at http://knittinghelp.com. It just didn’t seem right and wasn’t very easy to do. My intarsia at that time failed miserably so I frogged the whole thing and vowed that I would try again.

My husband and I finally bought the DIY channel. He is getting into woodworking and we both decided there is just too many programs we want to watch on that channel to not have it. So, I have been watching episodes of the Knitty Gritty every day and am learning a lot!

I learned provisional cast on by crocheting a chain and then picking up stitches in the spiney nubs of the chain.

I did some reading on intarsia, went to knittinghelp.com and studied the videos on intarsia, and watched the Knitty Gritty episode on intarsia. However, it was this website http://vickidesigns.homestead.com/Intarsia.html that really helped me get it. She has videos and something about her videos really helped and I was able to knit up two pockets in intarsia (with a small bit of stranding.) There were a few areas where there were 4 stitches and I stranded the yarn in the back just because I was too lazy to add in another color. So, it is a mix, but you know what? I don’t care. I like it, there aren’t any holes, so I am happy.

I was suppose to make 2 pockets that were mirror images to each other, but…oops, didn’t read that part until the 2nd pocket was made.

If I get time to knit on Anouk tomorrow I will be finished with it.

edited to fix the links.

Heart Walk – Big Thank You!!

The Heart Walk is this weekend.  If you have donated to my walk, I am super greatful!  In fact, my mom and I have really been connecting a lot over this walk and are very excited!!
I am $245 away from my goal of $500.  I may not reach that goal.  However, my mom reached her goal of $500 and I am very proud and happy of that.

If you want to donate you can do so here at this secure link.   Wendy’s Heart Walk Webpage

Tony will take pictures this weekend.  Sorry I haven’t posted recently, just got burnt-out.  So I changed my eating habits, I am still a long ways from a picture of health.  My sleeping habit is the next big thing that needs to be changed.  3 to 5 hours per day just isn’t cutting it anymore.

Pumpkins already!

Here are some pumpkins I made, one crocheted and one knitted. Also, some fabulous “Halloweeen” sock yarn I found at my lys.