Mama's Christmas Present 2013

I like to knit things for my Mama. She has the best reactions when she receives them. :-)  I am normally scrambling last minute to finish her gift and this year was no different. I had all the knitting done, but didn't have all the millions (maybe a slight exaggeration) of ends woven in. 

I finished it last night and there was much rejoicing. 

My Mama the model!  

So second FO of 2014. 

Here's a preview of my next project:

First finished object (FO) of 2014

I finished the kitten mittens this past weekend and delivered them to the happy (!!!) recipient tonight. I love, love, love giving knitted things to people who know knitting. 

Pre-blocked:

Now it's on to weaving in ends on my mom's Christmas gift so I can put up pics of that one. I'm so so so thankful that I had awesome knitting teachers. It is amazing what one little hobby has brought to my life. ❤️

2014

I am tanking inventory of my WIPs.  My knitting goal this year is to finish what is on needles. Two things are from Christmas and those will be finished first. 

 

The next two are ones I started for me in the latter part of the year. 

The remainder are ones that have been on the needle for way too long. And as I sit here I realize I didn't take pictures of one thing, but I'm not counting it because I've only done the cast on and no knitting yet. 

After my two Christmas knits I have a beautiful shawl to start for someone and then I'll focus on these. My one other knitting goal is to knit myself a sweater (from my stash). 

Finally one last pic. Belle enjoying access to yarn. 

She's Alive!!!

Where in the heck has the last year gone?  So many momentousness things happened; Mom successfully beat breast cancer, Dad took a tumble out of the back a truck, I got a new job and so much more.

One major thing that has changed for me is that I'm now going to a trainer at the gym and I LOVE it.  I'm getting stronger and building muscle and stamina.  I've even started doing exercises at home.  I found this interesting idea on Pinterest (my latest addiction):

These are sticks I picked up at Michael's craft store and there are 15 of each color.  I asked my trainer to give me exercises that would be beneficial for the four major things we work on:  core, cardio, lower body and upper body.  I liked the four different colors so if I was working on Lower body and cardio one day I knew what stick to pick.

I'm hopeful to get back to the blogging thing.  I have lots of knitting things to share.  Mom & I are knitting gloves for the family that is walking the Race for the Cure. I'm so very thankful that we are walking to celebrate the survivors in our lives.  So more on that when I get them done.  I have 2 pairs left to go by the 2nd weekend in May.  I guess I better knit for a while.  :-)

First FO of 2012

I finished my first knitting item for 2012.  It is a baby bunting and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.  (Ravelry Link).  It is the same pattern that I made a couple of years ago, but I did some tweaking to it.  I knit it all in once piece so the only sewing I had to do was the arms, I could have finagled that so I had no sewing, but what fun would that be?  The other change this time was to put snaps & decorative buttons on it instead of a zipper.  I think it ups the cuteness factor! 

Next on the list is a pair of fingerless gloves for a gift and then a scarf for the business.  Lots of knitting in the future.


  

Randomness

Wow!  Look two posts in one month!  I'm on a roll.  :-)


So updates on the c25k program.  I'm on week 5.  I'm feeling stronger and my legs are not as sore as they once were.  That being said I feel like my progress is very very slow.  I started this program in November (more than 5 weeks ago) and I am only on week 5.  I suppose I'm thankful that this is a go at your own speed program and not having to increase until I'm ready.  My next increase is to run for 9 minutes all at once.  My most to date is 6.  I'll do another time of running six to see how my legs feel and then move to the 9.  I will get there.  I will run a 5k in May.


I know a lot of people that exercise in the mornings.  I see the benefit to that, but I'm just not one of them.  I actually like to exercise in the late evenings.  It calms my stress, I can go directly to the shower and then to bed.  I sleep better and I think I am more rested when I wake up in the mornings.  Plus I'm on a kick of getting to work by 7:30 and having to get up at 6:00/6:30 is early enough!  :-)


I'm looking for a good meal planner guide, or way to meal plan.  I've seriously fallen off the wagon with that aspect of weight watchers.  It needs to be rectified.  Also I don't really care for their food tracker so I'm looking for something else to use that can travel with me.  The thing that I love so much about WW is the meetings.  The one that I attend is always so fun and the leader is so enthusiastic about our journeys that it can really help to uplift your spirits if you've had a not-so-great week.


I said adios to my papisan chair today.  It is going to live with someone that will use it for more than a cloths catcher and I must say how much I love the space it has left in my bedroom.  I moved furniture around today in the bedroom & the living room and it just feels so much better.  I have a need to move things around at least once a year.  It's inherited from my Mom.  Plus it is a chance to do a good cleaning.  Something I really need to improve on!!

Happy New Year!

It is crazy that it is 2012! The last part of the year seemed to fly by at an incomprehensible speed. Work has finally slowed down a big, the holidays were a wonderful time spent with family and I even sold my first item at The Top Button. It seems I have a log of to do items with the business. One of them is to get some posts up over there as well. Specifically about the scarf that I sold. We (mom & I) figured out how to make labels using twill tape and iron transfers, they look really nifty.

I made quite a few resolutions last year and didn't do so well, this year is a bit lighter on resolutions. My main one is to continue to work on bettering my health. I'd like to really get the diabetes under control with just how I eat and the exercising and get off any medication that I have to take.

I also want to keep experimenting with recipes and different foods. I'm pretty much a wheat eater, but I'd like to cut out all refined white foods, although I'm not sure what all that would include. I received a bread maker for Christmas and I have some whole wheat recipes to try so I'm excited about that.

Beyond those two I really do not have any resolutions. Things I would like to improve in my life, but those are the major things that I'm focused on.

I am still doing weight watchers and I've started the couch to 5k program. I am up to week 4 of 9. Though it has taken me longer than 4 weeks to get to this point, it is still progress. And amazing that I can now run.

So here is to a fabulous new year. I hope you all had a wonderful end of 2011 and an even better start to 2012!!