The Big Reveal

I have just emailed Yarntherapy to let her know who I am and that I am her secret pal. I have listed her blog under the Secret Pal 5 button.

When I hear from the lovely person who has been spoiling me, I will add her to here as well.

It is all getting so exciting, I can't wait until Laurel reads her blog and learns who I am and I can't wait to find out who has been spoiling me. I have read so many if not all of the blogs listed and I have no idea who she is.

Stitch N Bitch on Saturday was another great afternoon, it is really hard to make a move at 5pm to head home, next month we are going to go out for dinner, as I made a mistake and thought September was the dinner afterwards, but it was August, so a couple went for dinner, I haven't read yet how it was or where they went.

I got the Patons Patonyle Family Accessories Pattern book on Saturday from the local Spotlight store, it has so many great patterns for socks (the main reason for buying it), scarfs, hats, mittens, a lacey wrap, all in Patonyle 4 ply.

At the moment I am knitting for my Mum, she was going to knit a feathers scarf for a 4 year old girl and her teddy bear, but when she broke her foot, the fall has damaged the bone in her arm and elbow, which she didn't know about, and is having trouble knitting, so she rang the other night and asked if I could do it. Mum & Dad are off travelling around and I will have to send them to Mylestone (near Coffs Harbour) next week as they will return there for another week before heading home.

Hat of all sizes

Decided to take out my bitch about work and holidays, that damn mind of my, felt I shouldn't talk bad about work things, so on knitting issues - This week I have knitted two premmie hats for a girl at work's baby born last friday, he is just over 4lbs (I know we are in metric, but I grew up on imperial sizes and metric came in the last year I spent at school - 1974) I finished the second hat last night just before the last episode of Lost started. I did two different sizes, both are very tiny.



While watching Lost I decided to get the Lobster Pot Cable beanie on the needles ready for SNB on Saturday and guess what a few hours later and it was finished. Cece said it was a quick knit, it is gorgeous. This wool and pattern are from Lobster Pot Yarns in Cape Cod USA, both from a wool swap with Cece.

The wool was great to knit and the cable pattern is easy. I must become a hat person, just that hats look good on some people and I am not one of those people, even though I love them.

I still have the poncho on needles so looks like that will be my project while at SNB, or I might dig out some cotton yarn from the stash and do some more leprosy bandages for the Knitters Guild charity knitting, they are simple and don't need my concentration, so that means more drinking, eating, chatting time.



Saturday is going to be a better day, first thing in the morning I am having a haircut and colour, gotta hide the gray some how, then off to SNB, meeting Tiarne across from Novotel for lunch, I don't know what time, I hope to be there say by 12.30pm, then for a great afternoon with other knitters at SNB.

Knitting, magazines, diets and bikes...what a combination

I remembered to weigh myself this morning, and was very pleased with myself, 1 kilo off. I haven't change too much what I am eating, just trying to eat less. I have cut out the couple or so biscuits with my cuppa at work around 10am, instead I have fruit and I am trying to drink more water.

On the needles at the moment, I had some Fiddlesticks yarn in purple, green, yellow, and the yarn is from very thin to thick unspun like. I decided to knit a poncho, I saw an easy drop stitch pattern the other week and remembered most of it so when I got back to my car I quickly wrote it down. I didn't remember though if it had a border edge or not, I have been thinking while knitting that maybe is should have a border egde on each end, but hey, I am not one for ripping back if I don't have too, so I am not going to. I am just going to knit for about 75cms and make two pieces. I got my 8mm bamboo ciculars from Xotik yarns (thanks Donni) yesterday so I can start on the lobster pot hat with the pattern and yarn from Fiberfish, I will get this on the needles for Stitch N Bitch this saturday.



I finished another baby beanie this time in yellow, they are so easy to knit.

I also got my first issue of Interweave Knitting on Friday, and I must say (or whinge) I was not happy with the way it turned up, no packaging, bent ends, it looks like I found it in the garbage. I can't believe that they send a magazine through the post like that with nothing holding it all together.



This is for Tiarne - a picture of the mural Steve had put on his bike the other week. He had similar on the other fatboy, this is heaps better. Both our younger son and Steve have the same Ned Kelly tatoo with "Such is Life". YS got it first then dad decided he wanted the same.

Chocolate, Bourbon; Seafood, Bourbon...yummy

Here is the baby hat picture take 3, still not happy with the picture.



While grocery shopping I got a family size dark chocolate with nuts and was very good, I got home unpacked groceries, sat down and opened the chocolate and ate my 3rd and drank a can of bourbon while chatting with DH, we then went out shopping for some clothes for DH, he said we would get chicken and chips for dinner, I said I didn't want chicken and chips, so I went off to the fish shop and bought 1/2 kilo of prawns and 1 dozen oysters in the shell, we got home I sat down again and ate to my hearts content followed by another bourbon. So I felt that was pretty good going for me. DH had his chicken and chips.

It's friday and the weekend is all ahead of me. Saturday Knitters guild and Sunday ride with local HOG group. All in all a pretty good weekend.

Another notch in the belt

I didn't lose anything last week when I weighed myself on Monday morning, but this morning while getting dressed, put on the belt and guess what!.....went to the 4th hole in the belt instead of the 3rd hole. I will not weigh myself until Monday but I am feeling pretty good that I can see a bit of a change happening. Well that will be until tonight...shopping day today, I will rush around the supermarket in my lunchtime, and what happens on shopping day...CHOCOLATE HAPPENS...yes the good old family chocolate, which I do share with 2 others, DH has his own jelly snakes, so it isn't too bad as I only have a third of the chocolate, that is if I am in a sharing mood....have you heard the saying "doesn't share well or play well with others" well that can be me sometimes especially when it comes to Chocolate.

I have knitted a newborn pure wool dark pink baby beanie with hearts all around it, it looks pretty good. I am going to try and sell some stuff on Ebay, so I am going to knit some more things and see how they go, but on checking out ebay, there are so many items of clothing for all ages for sale.

I have put a picture here of the beanie but I plan on taking a better picture of it tonight, this one doesn't do it justice. Nah on second thoughts forget the picture until I take a better one.

I bought the CSIRO Wellbeing diet book yesterday, people at work were talking about it and some are doing the diet. I read about it a bit more on their website, and I liked it because it is like the Atkins diet, but you can have fruit and bread, which is what I really couldn't cope with while doing the Atkins diet before, I can lose weight easily on high protein, low carbs diet. So this might suit me better. I have that many recipe books and diet books of all kinds, so hopefully I am armed with a bit of knowledge on eating better, just have to put it in practices more often.

Knitting Guild this saturday can't wait to get together and see every ones projects and catch up.

How do you live your life quiz

How You Life Your Life

You are honest and direct. You tell it like it is. You are always tactful and diplomatic. You let people down gently. You prefer a variety of friends and tend to change friends quickly. You tend to always dream of things within reach - and you usually get them.

How Do You Live Your Life?

Hopeful

On Yarn Therapy's blog she has information on this beautiful top by Jenna Adorno's Hopeful, as seen on DIY network's Knitty Gritty. You can purchase this pattern for $5US, with 120% going to a Breast Cancer Charity. It uses Rowan 50% Wool 50% Cotton.



As summer is just around the corner I think I may knit this. I am going to check out the closing down sale of my LYS, the only LYS in this town, looks like I am going to become very dangerous with my visa and online yarn and accessories shopping.

And the winner is...........The Socks

Well I have to say, I loved knitting the socks. I am on the look out for the new Patons Patonyle 4ply pattern book, it has some great sock patterns along with hats, scarfs and gloves. I called into the LYS at lunchtime to see if she may have it, as she has sold the shop and changes over in a couple of weeks. She just laughed, and the bad news is that the people aren't going to buy the shop now and the lease runs out next week so she is having a half price sale and shutting the doors in a week. Well I was already running late but I had to see the wool, well I couldn't think of what I wanted to knit so I rummaged through for a bit, then decided to come back on Monday when I kinda sort out what I might knit, and the budget has to be juggled again a bit, why does that always happen, all the bargains are around when I haven't got much money....bugger.

Anyway here are the socks, they feel great on.





I will keep going with the Christmas stash and finish the mohair scarf in the "Lacy Scarf" pattern from the Australian Creative Knitting magazine, I am still waiting for one of the needle sets I ordered, hopefully they will come today, otherwise I will have to wait till next weeks mail comes.

Socks are done

I finished both socks, photos to come. I have been off work sick the last two days, and did manage to get some knitting done. I am just waiting for the 8mm circular needles to arrive from Xotik Yarns, then I can get started on the Lobster Pot hat with the wool from Fiberfish, in the meantime I have started another scarf in that Mohair (you know the one) for another Christmas present. I am on my stash reduction as well as my weight reduction program....I even ate a home grown Mandarin for morning tea, no biscuits for me today.