Yay me!!!! *Kermit arm flail*
Just over an hour ago, I completed my first project of 2014. It's another Pimpelliese, this time in solid red Diamond Luxury Collection Superwash Merino DK :)
Only one problem: what can I cast on and finish in a month? It's one month to the cast on for the Ravellenic Games. Must go ponder queue and stash...
TTFN
Here it is. The final day of 2013. And here I am, lying on my bed with an attack of tendonitis in my left shoulder listening to "Mrs Crandell's Boarding House" by the Irish Rovers. My musical taste never really changed passed age 12 lol
What will happen in 2014? I can tell you what I hope to accomplish anyway.
Knitting Resolutions:
Gotta confess: these last couple years have been sadly lacking in the FOs. 2013 has netted me 3. Seriously. That's just sad. So, to start 2014 I'm determined to finish up my "Daydreams in Lace" (Brooke Nico; Rav project Majestic Dreams) and my "Ardrum Scarf/Wrap" (Aisling Doonan; Rav project Kinelea Lace). After that I have the yarn ready and waiting for Annie Modesitt's "Corset Top". That might be my Ravellenic Games project; more on that later. I want to complete at least 5 projects in 2014.
Dance Resolutions:
Although still residing in the middle of no-where in regards to dance, I'm determined to get off the couch and do something. Maureen, my darling 15.5 year old cat, gave me both Jean Butler's Masterclass and Colin Dunne's Celtic Feet for Yule/Christmas. I might not have a teacher pointing out my bad back foot turnout and my failure to kick my butt on my treble-hopbacks but at least I can move in a more proper Irish dance manner again. My resolution is to spend one morning a week in the company of one or both of the dvds.
Weight Loss Resolutions:
On April 1st, 2013, I started using the My Fitness Pal app on my phone. My goal was to lose 60lbs by April 1, 2014. As of December 27, I've lost 43.6lbs; less than 20lbs to go :) I'm quite proud of myself despite some setbacks recently. But I'm determined to make my goal in three more months. (And I think my Dance resolution will help with this too ;) )
General Resolutions:
I've covered the important things but knitting and dance and my weight goals aren't, unfortunately, my entire focus in life. What else do I want to do in 2014?
For starters, I need to find a new job. Much as I like my co-workers, the job itself is starting to feel soul-sucking.
That being said, the Roomie Sis and I have been discussing the merits of moving to Pretty City. A different job is pretty well guaranteed if we can make the necessary preparations.
What else? I'm not happy where I'm at in terms of being single far-longer than I care to admit. So I'm resolving to be more open to letting someone in again; not every guy on the planet is an asshole. I need to remind myself of that more often.
Thanks to the lovely website, Dress911, I've discovered the joys of vintage style dresses. Counting the lovely lavender one I bought the other night (due to arrive Jan 8th:) ), I now have 4 little numbers for when I need a little pick-me-up. I'm resolving to wear them whenever I feel like it, not save them for an occasion. Any day can be an occasion in a nice dress! Now I need to learn how to do something with my hair... ;)
I resolve to buy more shoes. This girl does not have enough pairs of heels ;)
I resolve to listen to music every day. I used to; I'm not quite sure what happened. I have a piece on my wall that says: "Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life"; how true is that? My soul is dusty; turn up the tunes and blow it away!
Maureen would like me to add her resolutions to the post:
nap more
thump Charlie hard enough to make him stop biting me
con Mommy out of more goodies
look cute and innocent
act surprised on my 16th birthday
enjoy more sun beams
signed, Maureen Mavourneen T_____
My wish is for everyone to find Peace, Love and Luck in 2014 :)
Happy New Year from Newfoundland, everyone!!
I finished Daphne more than a month ago. And you all still haven't seen the finished beauty. And I started/finished another Pimpelliese in that time too. And I have a ton of progress pics of my new blankie which shock of all shocks I'm crocheting. So today's post is gonna be all about pit-chers of the lovely yarny creations surrounding me. And as further proof of yarniness, I'm typing this while wearing my "piquant" tank from the Knitty store :) Let's dive into the goodies now!
Pit-cher #1: Daphne is finished and being modeled (somewhat scarily) by moi. Turned out quite nicely, I think. Such a different construction method working side-to-side. Not a difficult knit at all, although I do recommend having a couple row counters on the go for this one. Project details on Ravelry under "Opa!"
Pit-chers 2-5: Pimpelliese #6 aka Easy-peasy Scarfy-dealy. Since me and Roomie/Sis decided to go into Town and visit Big Sis #2 for their mutual birthday weekend, I needed a little something to knit on the two-hour drive each way and keep my hands from too much snacking while there. Hence another Peasy was cast-on. As always, such an awesome pattern. (Shared the pattern with Big Sis #2 as she not only knits but spins and thought it lovely and full of possibilities :) ) This is some hand-dyed I brought with me on my trek East that I had bought at Golden Willow in Regina. Project details on Ravelry under "St. John's Waltz (Easy-Peasy Scarfy-Dealy #6)"
Pit-chers 6-12: Giant Granny (from the Bernat Satin booklet "Around the Seasons Afghans"). Of course color changes have been made and a yarn substitution. Red Heart Shimmer and Bernat Satin Sparkle work really lovely together. Project details on Ravelry under "Not Gran's Blankie"
And there you have it; 12 new pics of the yarniness being created in my little corner of Newfoundland. Hope you enjoyed. The blankie is going quite quick so I may have something new OTN sooner rather than later. Just a slight tease to bring you back ;) If anyone's reading. Do leave me comment if you're there; makes it feel less like I'm talking to myself... or the kitten. Ooh, I'm going to leave you with a pic of furry-nephew Charlie. He'll be 6 months old on the 27th. Isn't he a darling?
TTFN
I'm completely fed up with myself. I've been in Newfoundland for 19 months and while I've got 43.6lbs gone now, my flexability has gone to pot. I decided to stretch and run the old class warm-up. I'm ashamed to say I can only kick as high as my shoulder 2/5 tries on my left and 3/5 on my right. Not acceptable. Not for the girl who not that long ago had the "title" Slip Jig Queen.
So rather than just realizing it and mourning the good ol' days, I've set my task reminder for my days off and one other day a week. A minimum of 3 days a week I'm thinking will have me back in dance-shape by the time we move to Town and I can join an actual class again.
I'm going to stop feeling like this motionless lump and get moving again. I'm doing this. I'm determined to do it.
Sorry for the rant but the more places I put this the more I'm going to stick to it. I took a pic during this morning's stretch. My feet are still strong, as are my legs. I can do this.
TTFN; knitting news next post, I swear ;)
Happy to report in 48rows I will have the second strap done and Daphne will be totally wearable :) Finished the body the other night and tried it on; stunning fit :) I have pics too! lol
In other news, ie a little shameless backpatting, I weighed myself yesterday morning and since April 1st I've lost 41lbs!!! So proud of myself and I feel fantastic, which is most important I think. That and I'm healthier than I've been in absolute ages :) When I hit 30lbs gone I ordered 3 patterns from White Lies Designs (Joan McGowan-Michael), so I'm really tempted to cast on one of those beauties next. Only 19 more to go to my healthy age/height weight :)
Anywho, off to work soon.
TTFN
I don't think anyone will be overly surprised that I haven't so much as looked at the Tempting sweater since my last post. All that ribbing is driving me looney tunes :P And I was up to Walmart on Thursday (waiting out some rain after a drs appointment) and lo and behold they had Red Heart Shimmer on clearance... so I bought 2 balls of black and 2 of purple after consulting my handy app and I have started the Daphne tank (knitty.com/ I really need to write down designers' names before I start writing a post). It's going nicely too :) This is a great pattern let me say. It's not difficult but it's a "pay attention to me" pattern. There's some short-row shaping, a basic stripe pattern plus the smocking pattern that gives the top its shape :) It's really a stunning piece :) Want to see pics? Of course you do! (currently listed on Ravelry as wedding top)
The photo shows a close up of the waist smocking.
Have to say, I'm really liking this yarn. It's very soft and easy to work with. But it's listed on the band and on Rav as a worsted weight/ medium and seriously I'm using a 3.25mm needle and it's not tight at all. I'd say it's more of a dk myself but that's my only quibble. Love the sparkle in it. Thinking it'll be nice with a black skirt and heels for Roomie's cousin's wedding (that somehow I'm attending) in early Sept.
That's all the news here in my corner of the knitterverse!
TTFN
Soooo...
Yeah, I guess I'm just not very good at this whole blog thing. But I do have pics to share! And one is even an FO; we don't see too many of those around here lately. Remember, project details are all in my notebook on Ravelry username knit-dance-repeat
Let's start with said FO: Sweet Little Cats Paw v2.0 :) Got this done in May happily :) photo 1 is the front and photo 2 the back. I'm quite pleased
I have picked up Wingspan (Ravelry; designer's name eludes me) recently and done a bit more (photo 3). The constant garter st gets to me after a bit though.
Which is why I have Day Dreams in Lace otn :) (Knitter's magazine; Brooke Nico) Here's a close-up of the yoke (photo 4) and an in progress shot (photo 5). Am almost to the repeating section of chart C :)
Of course finishing SLCPv2.0 meant I *had* to cast on something new. I chose Tempting (knitty.com; again designer name is eluding me). And like the Wingspan, it is in a constant pattern throughout (in this case ribbing) which nearly puts me to sleep if I do it too long. *sigh* But I do have progress to show (photo 6). AND I bought ribbons to swap out according to my mood (photo 7). Ribbon is good incentive I think ;)
So that's the WIP line-up here in Newfoundland. Hope you enjoyed the tour ;)
TTFN
