Knitting Caboodle

I was doing my usual summertime blog hopping (I hear it’s called blopping) yesterday and came across Daily Stitche’s Pay It Forward offer.  I hesitated joining because I get so tired but a year is plenty of time to fulfill an obligation!

Here’s the deal:  I want to pay it forward and thank my community of bloggers with a handmade item.  I have a year to make and send these items.   I’m not closing the offer until next Wednesday (July 25th), and I’m not limiting it to 3 people.  Your only obligation is to pay it forward again to 3 more people.  All you have to do is leave a comment and make the commitment on your blog.

Come on and join in.

BC wanted to show you how his Lego StarWars Scout Walker shoots.

I wanted to show you my mohair scarf.

The pattern is Cat’s Eye from A Treasury of Knitting Patterns, Barbara Walker.  It is a 4-row pattern for multiples of 4 stitches.

Also, I made the ends of the scarf slightly frilly.  I cast on 3 times the number of stitches in the scarf.  On the first row, I knit two together all the way across.  Then the next row, I knit one, then knit two together, repeating this two stitches all the way across.  The next row starts the main scarf body.

I love how soft and light mohair is but I won’t let it touch my neck or face.  This scarf will only be used under collars or over turtlenecks.  It is beautiful but oh so itchy!

I couldn’t go to the Air Show with BC and MC this weekend.

BC took pictures of things he found interesting to share with me including this one.

MC took pictures to share with me too… they were all of BC.

BC hot on the pavement, BC eating ice cream, BC pissed because he dropped the ice cream… it was just like being there!

After a very frenzied couple of days, Frazzle and I had a sit down about the Flickr situation.  I ran out of space on my free account (why oh why does the free well always run dry? ). So, I went in and cleaned out some photos that I considered non-crafty.  Then I went back and deleted some more crafty but redundant photos.  Then I kept only those pictures that were of the utmost and vital craftiness.  After that major purge, I had room to upload my umpteen million bag tutorial pictures.  Frazz’s fur settled down and she let out a mighty purr.

About Flickr… I’m not mad at them.  I have had the account for over a year and a half so I forgot the teensy little detail that you can only display 200 pictures in free accounts.  If you try to upload more than that, Flickr asks you to upgrade to a paid account, and then they will display more than 200.  I really think that a pro account is worth the money.  Soon I will upgrade, because I don’t want to delete my tutorial pictures to make room for future blog pictures.  Frazz would not be pleased.

Another cat picture! You know what that means… no craftiness.

Frazzle does not like having a camera shoved in her face.  If you went by pictures alone you might think that the white boy cat, Marble, pictured yesterday is friendlier than my black girl cat. And that comparison is WAY off!

Marble never shows his face when strangers are about.  That includes friends that come over frequently… I’ve been accused of lying about cat ownership. Marble won’t even stay in the same room with BC.

Frazzle on the other hand is all sweet and purry, and loves a good ear scratching from even the strangest strangers.  Unless you have dog scent on you, then she gets a bit huffy.  She hates our dog.  She hates all dogs.  I’ve seen all 8 pounds of her attack a huge golden retriever that dared come toward her.  Poor dog just wanted to say ‘hello’ and she went off on him.  I’ve been in human situations like that, I felt sorry for the dog.

Another post without pictures.  I’m sorry, I should start taking pictures of the dog for these posts!

In response to my post about my health, one person commented that she thought getting 40% carbs in my diet would be hard without wheat and sugar.  It certainly is! I gravitate to fruit and grains automatically.  This diet is not too bad once you get a picture in your head what it is supposed to be like.  Each meal comes down to lots of veggies, a typical serving of protein, and some fat (apparently it is better to overestimate fat than underestimate it).  I can fit in fruit, legumes, and grains as long as they don’t take over the diet. My hardest meal of the day is breakfast, I traditionally eat carbs in the morning.  This week, I ended up switching my midmorning snack with breakfast because figuring out a balanced Zone meal was too hard on my sleepy brain.  Today, I actually had breakfast first.

Caffeine is supposed to be a no-no but you can only give up so much in a short period of time… I’m still drinking either coffee or tea.  The cool thing is that I don’t want as much caffeine as I used to want.  I also haven’t been craving sweets… pms kind of affected that one day, I had frozen yogurt.  But then I was right back in the saddle by the next meal.

In the Zone, you go meal to meal.  Each meal you are either in the zone or you are not… you make minor adjustments to your meals according to how you feel after your last meal.  However, I never have to eat less because I overdid the last meal. You start with a clean slate every meal.

There was  another comment about Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome.  The answer to that is that my body temperature is lower than average.  The idea is that if your average body temperature is too low, the enzymes that convert T4 to T3 (thyroid hormones) don’t work very well.  WTS is another one of those syndromes that doctors passionately, or disdainfully, disagree on.  My doctor leans toward being conservative so I didn’t even discuss the WTS protocol (treatment with T3) with him.  I feel better on Synthroid (synthetic T4) so I’m not going to push him.  If I have more problems with my thyroid in the future, I will probably have to change doctors.  I already have another name lined up just in case.

I have so much more energy now compared to the last 6 months.  I attribute this mostly to treatment with Synthroid (hypothyroid) and then partly to changing my diet.  Do I have as much energy as I had 10 years ago? I don’t think so but then again I was 10 years younger and I didn’t have a child!

Here’s where I would have put a picture of my latest project if Flickr weren’t acting up. Is anyone else having problems with Flickr, or is it just me?

Picture a raspberry red knit tank top.

I would have finished it last week but the dreaded virus set in. This one is called “The Tank Top That Will Make Me Feel Like An Oblivious Size 0 Starlet Lounging On The Beach With Some Nameless Hunk Next To Her”. The name is a bit long but kind of catchy, don’t you think?

Is it too much to expect life changing experiences with our knitted projects?

I can’t say for sure but I don’t think this one is going to live up to its name. It may be the “size 0″ thing… that is going to take some powerful strong imagination! It might be easier to just give it to a size 0 starlet who is interested in lounging on the beach oblivious to everything while her gorgeous, yet nameless, hunk gazes fondly on her.

Okay, daydreaming is over…

Do you remember the list? Here it is again:

1. Up the amount of exercise but bring down the intensity.
2. Cut out most sugar.
3. Cut out most wheat.
4. Think ahead on projects.
5. Get out of these jammies!

And here is what is happening:

A. I went on thyroid meds… and HELLO! I forgot what energy felt like!

My hormone levels fell into the no-man’s land of thyroid medicine. If you do a search on TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) levels, you will be very confused because some doctors use the older range, other doctors use the newer, narrower range. My family doctor uses the old range and wouldn’t treat me. My endocrinologist considers more than just the number, he looks at symptoms as well. And he looks at all the numbers, not just TSH.

B. I have to wait an hour before eating in the morning because of the thyroid meds. Then Wham! Hello, hypoglycemia, my old friend. I don’t know about you but I can’t do anything when I’m having a low sugar episode.

Back to the list:

1. I am slowly raising the amount of exercise I do. I have to be careful about the combination of intensity and duration because I get very, very tired if I do too much (I’m hoping that will change with the meds). I cannot exercise at all when I have hypoglycemia. And exercise can induce low blood sugar if I’m not careful.

2. and 3. These two items (sugar and wheat) are now combined. They both affect my blood sugar levels. Last week, I started on The Zone diet to control my hypoglycemia. It is a 40% carbohydrate, 30% protein, and 30% fat type of diet. I am pretty sure it is working.

The Zone works by controlling the amount of insulin and glucagon that is let loose in your system (or something like that). This diet almost automatically excludes sugar and wheat because of the increased insulin reaction to these high glycemic load foods.

I am a sugar addict. Give me a big package of candy, and I’ll give you an empty bag. The great thing about The Zone is that I am not hungry or craving sugar. If I do, then it means I’m out of the zone, and I have to tweak my diet to get it back into the zone.

4. Think ahead on projects. Ha! I’m going to keep working on this. It would help if I could find a notebook that I can tote with me all the time… like chained to me. I have several notebooks now but they are always in the other bag when I need them.

5. Get out of these jammies! Hahahaha! I love comfy jammies. I’m still in mine now. I suppose I will have to change soon because I promised BC I would take him to the park. However, I have done quite a bit today, and that was the point of getting out of my pjs. Most people tend to be more productive when they get dressed for the day.

Whew! That was a long one!

The good news is that I finished the socks, using up more stash yarn. The not-so-good news is that I ran out of the wool sock yarn and had to finish with what appears to be (and worse… feels like) acrylic fingering weight yarn. Oops! Haha. At least the yellow matches… sorta.

I used fewer short-row turns on the second heel. I forgot to add length to the instep to compensate for the shorter heel. So the second sock is just a smidge short. That’s ok, these are experimental house socks.

Also, good news is that I am almost over the most annoying cold in history. Each symptom has come individually… why not all at once? Then I would be over it. Really good news is that I haven’t had a migraine since the last one. But I have had bad sinus headaches. The kind that make you want to put your head down because your neck is tired of holding 20lbs of mucous (sorry).

I haven’t been doing much crafting since I finished the socks because of the virus. But I feel the sewing bug kicking in. I cut out a bag today. I need to run by a certain crafts store to find the right handles. They are rearranging the store and the handles have been put away “somewhere in the back”. Too bad for me because the handles are on sale right now. Arg.

I’m also feeling the quilting bug again. I want to use my AB fabrics but I only have enough for a lap quilt. Or, I can put the quilt idea aside again and make more bags from the fabrics. Quilt or bags? What do you think?

Gotta run… BC “really wants” me.

These Amy Butler fabrics came today:

The blue medallion fabric on the far right is slated for a bag. I’m thinking about making a small quilt with the others.