First Progress

The opening night of the Olympics led to the back spiral being knit on the In the Pink shawl.  Here is what was completed day 1:

I have now knit way past this and have completed the two side wings, the triangles that connect the wings to the center, and am now on the border that is knit around the length of the shawl before beginning the edging.  One thing I have noticed now is that the shawl looks like a giant blob and is not photogenic.  Probably will not post much the rest of the week given the crappy shots I will be getting, but I will post once I get some edging done and can take a better picture of the shawl as a whole.

Over all, it's an interesting knit and a very odd construction.  I am enjoying working on the shawl though and I find that I am not losing interest in it.  I say that now, but the edging is coming :oP

Knit on...

It Begins

I sat on Friday night with Renee, eating pizza and quite possibly the most awesome milkshake ever and watched the opening ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics.

Why I chose Singapore to take a picture of, I'm not sure, other than I was getting tired and was starting to pack up my things to head home.

I have been knitting furiously all weekend and I made some good progress on the shawl.  More on that tomorrow.

Knit on...

The Olympics

I look forward to the Olympics more than I do any other sporting event.  I love the non-stop TV coverage and I look forward to the stories of the athletes who have trained their whole lives for these events.  I cry, I cheer, and I celebrate each victory whether it be a Team USA winner or any other country on the planet.  It brings us all together and I love that about the events.

Tonight, the opening ceremonies will be broadcast starting at 7:30 PM EST on NBC.  I am going to go over to Renee's, where we will have Olympic-themed food and yarn.  When the opening ceremonies begin, so does the Olympic knitting.  Turns out that we are both knitting the same pattern, so that will be fun to have someone to talk to about the same thing while we bawl our eyes out at the grand spectacle that is the opening ceremonies.

So, wherever you are, go cheer your country's athletes and give them love.  They have all overcome many obstacles to get where they are and they are in for the challenge of their lives.

Knit on...

Weight Loss Update

Since I didn't give an update last week, I thought I would give you one this week.  I'm now down 7 pounds from when I started 5 weeks ago, so I am thrilled about that.  Better yet, I was able to get into an older pair of jeans again, so now I have two pairs I can wear without being uncomfortable. 

I am on a tight budget, and this means I can't really go out and buy new clothes.  When I started gaining some weight, I was annoyed because I had all these nice work clothes that were getting too tight.  So, I got some new clothes for my birthday and Christmas. 

Now that I'm dropping inches, I'm glad to be able to get back into those clothes again.  I'm still a long way from getting into the ones from when I was at my lowest weight, and honestly, I may never get into some of those again because I am not running myself to death this time and don't intend to go into the 150s the way I did before, which everyone, including myself, agrees was verging on freakishly thing for a nearly 6 foot tall frame.

So, I'm just plugging along.  I feel good and my body appreciates getting much healthier fuels now.

Also, I am now done with Eat and Run.  The book was fantastic and I can't wait to make some of the recipes in it.  I think first up will be making my own rice milk since I have cut out milk from my diet (was starting to upset my stomach.  Can still do cheese though, so I am not a complete vegan as of yet).

Knit on...

One Down, One To Go

I finished one of the peach socks now and I'm already working on the second one.  Nice thing about using larger needles is that the socks are flying off them quicker than they normally would if I was using traditional sock weight yarn.  So, now that I have one of the socks done, I am contemplating putting some non-slip soles on them since they are slipper socks for my grandma.  Have any of you out there used those suede soles that they sell in craft stores before?  I never have, so if Grandma consents to having them on the socks, I will be trying them out for the first time.

Anyways, here's a finished sock shot for you all:

Knit on...

The Peach Begins

I started working on the peach socks this weekend for my grandmother.  I decided on a size 3 needle for these as the yarn is heavier than a fingering weight, but not quite sport weight.  It's not as bad to knit with as I thought it would be, and it is very soft, which was one of the requirements my grandma gave me for this pair:

I'm going to try to knock this pair of socks out quickly as I want to have them off the needles in time for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.

Knit on...

Finished Socks

I finished the pair of Nutkins this weekend, so I am very happy about that.  I always enjoy having a new pair of socks to put on my feet and these turned out just lovely despite the crummy picture I took of them:

I loved knitting with this yarn and I really do like the colorway on it.  The yarn was Malabrigo Sock and I forget what the colorway is called.  It's blue and black, which is all I could tell you now that the ball band is long gone.

Now, on to the peach socks...

Knit on...

A Decision

I have finally made a decision on my olympic knitting project this year.  I knew I wanted to use the new Patons Lace yarn I picked up this weekend at Hobby Lobby, so I went in search on Ravelry and found the pattern called In the Pink.

After seeing how well some peoples' finished projects looked, I chose the pattern.  Here is what it looks like on the Ravelry pattern page (link above) (oh, and it's a free Ravelry download pattern, so check it out) :

I think this will be an epic knitting olympics project.  I honestly do not know if I will be able to finish it in time, but I am sure going to try.  I think it's going to be fun though and I'm looking forward to it.

Knit on...

Sock Progress

I am trying to finish up my paid of Nutkins this week so that I can work on the slippers for my grandmother before the knitting olympics start up and I'll be hunkered down with one project for a couple of weeks.

So, here's the progress on sock 2 of 2:

It's coming right along, and as you can see, I'm past the heel turn now and am in the home stretch.  I made a lot of progress on this while watching the IronMan Championships on TV on Sunday.  I enjoy watching the recap from this event almost as much as I enjoy watching the Olympics.  They profile several competitors and their stories are always very inspirational to watch.

Knit on...

A New Book

I have been waiting with anticipation for a book to be written by Scott Jurek.  For those of you who have no clue who he is, Scott Jurek is an amazing ultramarathoner who fuels his body on a completely vegan diet.  Since I live an almost vegan lifestyle, I was very interested in reading his new book Eat and Run to see how he does such incredible distances while not consuming any animal protein.

My copy arrived on Saturday and I am now reading a little bit each night before bed.  I'm enjoying the book so far and everything about what he has done is absolutely amazing and inspiring.

So, if you are a fan of the book Born to Run, go out and pick this one up.  If you've never read a book about running before, pick this up and read about one man's journey to ultramarathoning dominance.  You won't be sorry you did.

Knit on...

Yarn!

So this weekend I went out on an old lady date with Renee and we decided to go to Hobby Lobby as I was in need of a very specific yarn color.  My grandmother asked for a pair of soft slipper socks in peach yarn.  I don't have any peach yarn in my stash, and since these will need to be machine washable and smooshy, I decided to go look at baby yarns as they come in the color range and meet the requirements of care.  I found the yarn I needed and then we moved on.  While at Hobby Lobby and admiring all the whimsical crap that they carry, we came across several baskets full of yarn that were all on sale.  I was surprised to see Patons Lace on sale for $3.89 per ball.  So, I grabbed a couple of balls in a tan and peach colorway.  I honestly think this may have been a subconscious move on my stasher self to make sure I now have some kind of peach colored yarn in my stash.  So, anyways, here's the haul:

Peach worsted weight and two balls of Patons Lace.

Knit on...

Tour De Fleece Update

Yeah, there's not much to update you on in the spinning world.  It's hot.  Wool is hot.  Fans don't work well with fiber control.  So, here's how much I've done since the tour began:

Yeah, that's about the same amount that was on it last week.  In other words, I think I fell off the bike and need to get back on it.

Knit on...

Hooking

I haven't posted the fish progress in quite a while, so I thought I would do that today since I have no other knitting-related content to show you :oP

I'm about 3/4 of the way done with it now, so it's coming along.  I'm glad I chose the pillow size to do since I don't have all that much interest in this project aside from just getting it done soon.

Knit on...

Skinny Rules Update

Ok, just a quick update on week 3 of the Skinny Rules.  I lost another 2.2 pounds this week, so I am now down 7.6 pounds in 3 weeks.  I'm more thrilled with how well my clothes are fitting again and how I'm starting to firm up some now instead of being a complete marshmallow. 

On a funny note, I talked to my mom on Saturday and she mentioned that she was reading this book by Bob Harper called the Skinny Rules and wanted to know if I had heard about it.  Well, turns out that we're both following the plan and that was completely un-planned.  Mom seems to be liking the concepts in the book as much as I did, so I'm glad we get to go through this journey some together, even if we are several states apart.

On a sad note, while talking with my parents, I learned that one of my favorite softball coaches and his wife were in a horrible car accident.  His wife did not survive the crash and he is currently in critical condition.  Mark's team was one of the most enjoyable teams I ever played for.  I loved everyone on that team and am still friends with a good majority of them.  I received several messages over the weekend about the crash and each one made me want to cry.  If you're reading this, please send prayers for Mark Matheson, his daughter Emily, and the rest of his family.  I know I sure am right now.

Knit on...

A Finished Sock

Well, I'll admit, there has not been much knitting going on now that it hit 105 degrees outside.  It's taking all I have to get up in the morning and exercise in this heat much less cover myself with wool.  I did however manage to finish the first sock in the new pair of Nutkins:

So hey, there has been a little bit of knitting anyways!  I'll just use the heat excuse and say that I'm just getting ready for the Ravelympics :oP

Knit on...

Weight Loss Update

We interrupt today's Tour with a brief update on the weight loss journey.

This week, I lost two pounds, which brings me up to 5.6 pounds lost in two weeks.

I'm not worried so much about the scale, but it is nice to see it go down.  What I am enjoying more than anything is that some people have already started noticing.  I've had several comments from family members, and one from the guy who sprays for bugs at the apartment complex.  It's nice that even after two weeks people are already noticing a difference.

Here are some things I have noticed this week:

My skin appears much brighter

I bounced back from a cold much faster than I normally do

I still am finding that I'm not craving sweets.  I did add a little honey to my wheat farina breakfast and it almost seemed too sweet for me.

I am still very satisfied hunger-wise

Knit on...

Tour De Fleece Day 2

Here is my progress after day two:

The cop of fiber is growing!

Still enjoying the spinning from the batt.  I was enamored with the way it looked when fluffed out on the ground, so I thought I would share:

It's a jewel-toned explosion on my floor!

Knit on...

Tour de Fleece Day 1

Here is my progress after day one of the Tour De Fleece:

This is by far the most wonderful batt I have ever spun from.  I normally like roving more, but I couldn't resist this batt when I saw it at Stitches South.  I'm so glad I picked it up.  It's a dream to spin on the spindle.  On the other hand, I don't think I would enjoy spinning this fiber on the wheel as much as I do on the drop spindle.  It's funny how you find certain fibers lend themselves to certain spinning styles.

As you can tell, I'm blogging about my progress on a delay of several days.  I'll try to update daily on the spinning progress, but it will be blogged about after the fact since I don't always get on the computer every day to blog.

Knit on...

Touring

It's that time of year again.  No, I'm not talking about time for sweltering temperatures, which it appears it is also time for.  I'm talking about the Tour de Fleece. 

I decided to join at the last minute this year after I saw several people posting about it on Twitter.  I'm now out of the ankle boot, but the brace I am in and the tenderness in the ankle has made it hard to spin on the wheel.  I really wanted to play with fiber though, so I decided that I should join the Tour with my trusty custom-made Golding drop spindle.

So, this is what I will be working on:

The fiber is a lovely 4 ounce batt from Knitty and Color.  The colorway is called Quick Sizzle, which I thought would be appropriate considering it's about 103 degrees outside as I type this.

Knit on...