Too Crafty for Her Own Good

Wednesday, 28 February 2018

February 2018

Thus far the Comfort Fade Cardi has been a struggle. I cast on, decided my gauge was too tight, so I cast on again, then I separated for the arms an it was at that point I tried it on, and it fit PERFECTLY, no sarcasm sign required, sadly the rate at which I was going there was no way on this earth it was going to be long enough. So I frogged back to the first colour and then did about 2 rows and realized I had a 4 mm needle and a 5 mm needle and I had done 2 rows when actually I needed a 4.5 mm needle. I feel cursed. The good news about this cardigan is it will use up about 6 skeins of wool, this causes me lots of joy as the yarn hoarding has become dangerous.

Sadly this project has faced a third frogging....as of February 20, 2018. Alas I again realized I would not have enough yarn, and the transition from the second colour to the third was far too dramatic, or is it? I am on the fence. Also, the third section in comparison to the rest is far too large, and now that I have more yarn coming it should all be better. Really should have just done more planning for this before I jumped in with both feet, but It will be okay I think, I hope.

Wish me luck!

Let's see if we can finished the Frog in February...the alliteration will make it all worth while. (I did!)

It was also National Cupcake day on February 26th, so here are the cupcakes I made.

I also went to wear my Midnight Shrug and it was not right at all. I tried:

the super stretchy bind off
the regular bind off
some other form of bind off,

it was twisted bind off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YzKPDOZrPc, it looked awful, maybe it was my lack of experience or patience with it
and the tubular bind off.

All with very little success. I am currently working on an i-cord bind off. So far so good, its stretchy, it could be stretchier, but blocking makes many things better. It is blocked and slightly better, it is currently just on a hanger seeing if gravity will take hold and just give it that extra stretch we have been looking for.

FO's:

Figario Frog

He is too cute for words, it is all in the toes.

About 10 or 20 Be Loving hats to donate

That makes a total of 75 hats that I have completed this year so far. Look at them all.

WIP's:

Tardis Afghan
Sexb-omb (name of the yarn) Socks

Comfort Fade Cardigan
Lestrange Cloak

I had to cast this on because I needed more yarn for my Fade Cardigan :)

Hue Shift 5 colours

1 quarter to go!!!

CO is 18 stitch maker CO 17 with a CDD (I keep forgetting what my cast on is, so here we go, never to forget)

The sad part about this is if I just sat down and got on with it I would have the last quarter done in a week, the edging would take a touch longer.

Languishing WIP's:

Illuminated Lines Blanket: Thank you Knit Picks
Circlet Cardigan: Thank you Knit Picks - so pretty! I cannot wait to see this finished.

The 4 year sweater...it was cast on in January of 2014

Future Cast On's:

Camp-side Cardigan
Touch the Sky Cardigan

Books:

Moll Flanders
Worlds of Ink and Shadow
DragonFly in Amber
Gone With the Wind
~~The Siren~~ - I read this in a day! I am so proud of me.

Colouring Book Page:

Accomplishments of 2018

2018 Goals

Remarkably these look similar to my 2017 goals. Well if it worked last year, it should work this year. Just need more dedication towards them, and so we shall beign.
- Knit 1 project a month, preferably, finish a languishing WIP
- Read 1 book a month, preferably, finish a book you started eons ago
- Colour 1 colouring book page a month
- Finish some art projects!!!
- Make photo collages for posting on the blog, this should make them nicer, and make my blog look like I put more effort into it
- Keep going with your podcast!!
- Become the fit fabulous Amazonian you know is lying in wait in there

Knitting:

This year for convenience sake, and to give me more space for pictures I have decided to separate by month. I think it will give me a much better idea of what I am spending the majority of my time on, and break things down easier for future reference. Hats do seem predominately get finished, however they take about 2 - 3 hours per hat, and I find that is a much easier block of time to commit to something than sweater etc. Also, I cannot knit a sweater on the treadmill or stationary bike, and I do spend a huge amount of time on both those pieces of equipment.

January:

Querencia Socks
Be Loving Hat
Be Loving Hat
Be Loving Hat
Be Loving Hat
Be Loving Hat

February:

Figario Frog
Be Loving Hat
Be Loving Hat
Be Loving Hat
Be Loving Hat
Be Loving Hat
Be Loving Hat
Be Loving Hat
Be Loving Hat
Be Loving Hat
Be Loving Hat
Be Loving Hat
Be Loving Hat
Be Loving Hat
Be Loving Hat

March:

Comfort Fade Cardigan

Be Loving Hat

Be Loving Hat

Be Loving Hat

Be Loving Hat

Be Loving Hat

Be Loving Hat

April:

May:

Shiver Socks

June:

Unicorn Socks
Figaria Frog
Unicorn Socks
Weasly Jumper

July:

Dino Teal socks for Charlotte
Streckle Socks for me
Figarita - she is adorable

August:

Vacation Socks Pair 1

Vacation Socks Pair 2

3 hats for donation somewhere

September:

Up to the Mountain Shawl for Kim :)

October:

Campside Cardigan
OMG Socks for a special small person
Donation Hat
Donation Hat
Donation Hat
Donation Hat

November:

Jessica's Christmas Hat
Jennifer's Christmas Hat
Leah's Christmas Hat
Hayley's Christmas Hat
About 5 CHAS hats....

December:

10 or so CHAS hats
Evil Twin Socks

Friday, 16 February 2018

Journey and Amazing Me

Full disclosure this post will have nothing to do with yarny goodness, FO's or anything else that I tend to let you enjoy in this space. Sorry, I just need to express this.

I have rarely been content with my size, I am six feet tall and not my ideal weight by any means. I am around food all day everyday and that will not be changing anytime soon. I have very little will power and even less staying ability to stick to things or make a commitment to anything that makes me, sore, uncomfortable, unable to function on a day to day basis, or restricts me from being able to do what I want to do when I want to do it.

It was, I thought, time for a change. About 5 weeks ago now I signed up for a New Year's transformation with a personal trainer, to see if finally I could kick myself into gear and make it so that my pants would no longer be tight, my collection of amazing shirts fit again (front buttons and a bust are no ones friend), and make my amazing collection of dresses fit again.

So I began this journey hopeful that something would in fact take hold, but alas I feel I have again led myself down a path that is not working.
The transformation offers almost everything one would need in order to succeed, we are told:

What to eat
How much to eat, down to the gram
When to eat it
How much water to drink
How much cardio to do each day
What weight routine to do 5 days a week
What group exercise we are doing together that Saturday
and a human coach that we have access too should we have questions

My issue with this is I feel every text I have sent has fallen almost on deaf ears, and the responses have not always been in response to what my question was

Five weeks in, I have lost 4 ish lbs of fat, gained 1 lb of muscle, and only lost an inch from 5 measurements over the body, see the picture below. I feel larger, heavier, more disgusting than I felt before. I feel sick to my stomach when I eat what they are telling me to eat, I feel lethargic, angry, hungry, weak, teary, headaches like never before, taking afternoon naps that last 3 hours, anything bad you could feel, I feel it, and I am hating it.

TMI: I am farting like crazy and it smells so bad that I cannot bear to be in my own company. SORRY, I just needed to say that to someone, so of course I tell the internet .

We are eating chicken (or other white meats, turkey, white fish), kale, cucumbers, brussel sprouts, broccoli, brown rice, quinoa, a protein pancake with eggs, salad, almond butter, rice cake (gross), the odd berry item, 1/4 of an avocado, 1/4 of an apple (how do you eat 1/4 of an apple or avocado? So I don't bother, as I cannot find anyone to eat the other 3/4's, and if I start on the apple or avocado I might as well eat the whole thing, it's easier to not start).

We are eating all good things, so why do I feel so DISGUSTING, all the time? That is the part I cannot figure out and I cannot understand, and is illogical. When I eat something I consider my old life style and I feel AMAZING and I could be powered for days, weeks, years. I have crystallized ginger on hand at all times to keep my stomach at bay, and I have dark chocolate on hand as well to keep my energy levels from crashing to a point beyond repair, like right now. Full disclosure I do not drink, nor do I like coffee, so that is not part of my plan.

Onto the work outs.

We are doing 45 - 60 minutes of fasted cardio every day (Sundays optional), I am now doing about 4 miles in 45 - 50 minutes, which for me is huge progress, burning 500 - 700 calories in that time. But then I have to do the weight workouts which I either skip entirely or only do half of, or only do the parts that I feel I can do with success. There are 3 reasons for this, firstly after my run I feel exhausted, and as though I am going to throw up. Secondly I am so hungry that I could eat my own arm between the treadmill and the workout, but I like having my arms so I don't. Thirdly, as I mentioned above I hate being sore, so the first week when I was doing what I was meant to be doing I was unable to sit on a freaking toilet seat, and when my working out affects my ability to sit or function getting me to do it is impossible, as my lack of mobility is worse than having a muffin top, I would rather just stay the same.

The summary of this is all to say that I am not entirely sure why I keep bothering to try and make myself better it does not feel like it is working, the only place I feel I have lost any weight is my neck, and I am so over the entire experience that I cannot tell you how glad I will be when it is all over. I am tired of being cranky, having unpredictable moods, and in general just feeling like a bag of old garbage. I am tired of feeling guilty for not eating what I am 'meant' to be eating, and feeling guilty for not doing my work outs, even though they make me feel worse and as though I shall just throw up anyway. I truly wish it had worked, and maybe by March 11th when it is all finally over and on the final day I will feel differently but for right now I am feeling very unmotivated and at a loss as to know what to do to see any real results.

Wednesday, 31 January 2018

January 2018

Hello January 2018.

Well another year has gone, and that is all I have to say about that.

I have done some math and it appears that I have 118 skeins of yarn in my stash *YIKES* so I am on a yarn buying freeze until most of that is knit, because I have more than enough to keep me entertained for quite some time. Just keep knitting, just keep knitting, just keep knitting.

The question now becomes, what shall I knit? Hopefully something big, that uses all the yarn at once...too funny.
The exciting part of January is that the bag of shame is gone (for now). I have woven in all the ends from this bag, and I can start wearing the items. This makes Ashley a very happy girl. I just hope that this does not happen again, and that I manage to stay on top of getting my ends woven in.

In other news I have signed up for a personal trainer. To start I am doing 8 weeks, this is to see if I like where I am headed, it has been good so far, who knows what the future will bring. Day one I was SORE, tired and full, lets hope the sore and tired bits subside, and are replaced with amazing and bouncing with energy. As of January 23rd, I felt like crap, actually it was earlier than that, but who is counting.