Cable complications

I got to row 10 on the Cabled Chapeau hat and just didn't like what was happening with the purl stitches in between the cables. I was ending up with loose purl stitches, particularly to the right of the cable (for most knitters this happens in the column of stitches to the left of the cable, but I'm a lefty so it's reversed, remember?) I started searching online for help and ended up with some pretty complicated methods to try.

Cat bordhi has a video for just such a problem, however it's a complicated move that I could not grasp. Side linked with this were clips on how to do the Norwegian purl stitch, which looks to be the same move. Again, a bit tricky. I read somewhere that you could leave out a purl stitch in each place where the loose purl happens, knit the garment, then go back and pull up a line of stitches in that loose area with a crochet hook. Sort of picking up a dropped stitch that wasn't there. This seems like a lot of trouble to go to, modifying the pattern, adding the potential for lots of error. Knitty has a great section on knitting cables that does mention the loose purl stitch problem and essentially says, pull it real tight!

I decided to rip back to the ribbing section and start the cables over. I realized though that my cast-on/ribbing section was looser than I normally knit, and so the stitch spacing of the whole hat would be off, and after knitting two rows I ripped it all out again.

On row 2 of the second try I noticed that when I joined the yarn I didn't join it properly and once again, I have an infinite loop instead of a hat. I did this with my second try for the baby berry hat too. I never used to have a problem joining, but it seems to happen when I use a circular needle that's longer than I need it. If I plan to use magic loop for the knitting I just cast on with the longer needle, but then it's very easy to twist the join without noticing. So, 6 days after starting the hat and knitting along, I cast on for the third time. *sigh*

I decided to reverse the directions for the cable. The pattern calls for a 4/4 LPC (slip 4 stitches to cable needle and hold to front) to make left twist cables. For me, since I am lefty, I do this and get right twist cables. I really like how the hat looks as is, so I held the stitches in the back.

I managed to finish the main body of the hat while away for Thanksgiving, and started in on the brim only to realize that I needed a refresher on short rows. The hat pattern does not include full instructions on short rows. Once I was back home and could sit in front of the computer I sought some visual aids. Everyone has their own way of explaining the strange 'wrap and turn' function that makes short rows possible. I found watching the video on knitting help to be the most straight forward for me. I think this time I finally understand! Maybe now toe-up socks won't seem so scary.

So, all I have to do is finish the brim, knit the band for across the front, find buttons, eat a container of Cool-Whip, cut a brim out of Cool-Whip lid, sew it all together, and...I think I need a nap.

I got motivated after returning from P-town and lugged the abandoned radiator cover upstairs. Here it is drying in my bathtub after a good scrub. It's bigger than my radiator but at least it'll be a shelf and it's worth trying right?

From One Hat to Another

I finished a project! Late Sunday night I completed the baby hat for my friend's 17-month-old. I made them matching hats out of the Berry Baby Hat pattern and used black and white, flipping the colors so mom has the white with black top, and baby has the black with white top. I hope I can get it in the mail tomorrow. They've already had a bit of snow there!

Very late Sunday night I started a new project, the Cabled Chapeau, a pattern from Stitch Nation which is free on their site and on Coats and Clark. Last year I made a hat I loved but it doesn't look good on me. I would also need to frog it a bit and make the crown a lot deeper to get the fit I'm after, namely, to cover my bloody ears!


I'm using Plymouth Encore Worsted Tweed for this project. It's a wool/acrylic/viscose blend that is springy and soft. I noticed when casting on that this yarn is a 'Z' twist. I hope that doesn't cause too much of a problem for me. The only other time I knit with a 'Z' twist was for a baby kimono sweater in 2009. The Lion Brand Microspun has a tight 'Z' twist which gave the knitted fabric a different texture. This yarn seems to knit up fast and is very cushy and lovely so I hope that will offset the irritation of cables. They are lovely after all, so I must put up with them.

Tonight when I picked up the hat to work on it, I noticed a weird stitch. Well, not so much a stitch a mistake. There is a loop of yarn pulled from one row up over 5 rows and knitting back in. I don't know how this happened, but I will be ripping back a bit tonight to take care of it.

Also, does anyone have tips on how to knit cables? I end up with some loose stitches on one side of my cables, and I think there's a trick to preventing that, twisting the stitch, or knitting through the back? Something like that.

Projects check in - late fall 2010

A few weeks ago I was sick and down for the count with the really bad cold that's been going around. My knitting friends tell me they are able to knit when sick, and I suppose I could probably manage some stockinette or garter stitch on a project, if I had one that was that simple.  I wish I spent more time working on knitting and other projects. When I'm sick I don't do much of anything, and when I feel fine I waste a lot of time on the internet or watching tv with knitting in my lap. Maybe I need to institute a rule that I can only watch tv if I'm actively knitting since I don't have any progress to show. I did try and knit while I was sick and realized later that I did have a stockinette hat in the round in progress, but instead had reached for my Lace Ribbon scarf - been in progress since, oh, May 16, 2009, according to my Ravelry notes.

Do I really knit that slowly? No. I have major startitis. It's disappointing that I can't seem to finish projects. Story of my life. REALLY. I think it might be time for a post about all of the 'in progress' projects and a run down of where they stand and why. Sound good?

I actually HAVE been working on some of these. Here's a quick list of what I've work on in the past month (fiberwise):

Babette - came out of hiding, looked at ALL the yarn. Started work on some in progress squares. Monday night 10/25 tried to start a new square and realized I can't remember how to start them. That's always been a stumbling block with this project, nothing new. Hate starting new squares.

Lace Ribbon scarf - this was next to the couch so I started working on it again 10/24. Have done 7 rows!

Citron - worked on at knitting group briefly 10/18. Realized I had a dropped stitch and panicked. Wasn't feeling good (impending monster cold) and set it aside with dropped stitch caught and marked. A big thanks to Jimmy who counted all 273 stitches and discovered that no, I didn't have any weird stitches going on and yes, just keep knitting. So, I've done another row, and put it down to work on

Black and White Pair, hat #2 - no excuse for this not being done other than monster cold. As I write this I am working on the i-cord stem of the hat, but stopped to post! I will definitely be able to follow up with another post on the finished product tomorrow!

Static Socks - probably 5 more rows knit because I was going through all my projects.

Emmaline - I stopped this because I reached the point in the armpit where I needed to continue on with the body, and the stitch count didn't add up. Now I've lost some weight and was thinking about ripping it out, but I think I will continue on and make the whole thing so at least I can say I've made myself a wearable garment. I was going to have to modify the belly area on the original pattern, but now I will knit it as written and see where I end up with the fit. Maybe I'll be finished by spring?

Wabenschal - I started this during my last flurry of startitis. I sort of like the pattern, but I am pretty sure I hate the yarn. Its scratchy and I can't think of anyone I could give it to who would be please to put this around their neck, so I'm going to move it to hibernation for now and probably frog it.
One project was in the current list, but...

Modified Twenny Dolla Sweater - officially frogged and put needles, yarn, etc back where they belong.


Posts coming up - an update on all my hibernating projects, sharing my new obsession craft, and reorganizing my craft bookshelf.

My very first spinning! Done at the Inaugural Fiber Festival of New England.

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The Bag in my closet

This evening after work, after spending some quality time with my cat Harry, after eating cottage cheese out of the container while watching clips of Michael J. Fox talk about Back to the Future (it's the 25th anniversary of when he went back in time, didn't you know that?), I settled in to do a bit of picking up. I picked through my aromatherapy oils and put something suitable in the burner, pushed play on the stereo to listen to Death Cab for Cutie, and began.

Putting anything away in my closet usually involves taking the contents of my closet out. The air conditioner has its own place, but to get to the empty box I had to pull out the mini trampoline and flattened storage boxes. Not a perfect system, but it works. I realized that there was no empty space in my closet and decided to pull everything out that didn't have a place, namely everything wedged behind and under the hanging clothes.

Out came rolls of wrapping paper, shoes, a purse, boxes of cat litter (actually those belong at the bottom of the closet, that is their designated storage spot) and last but most important, I pulled a Bag out of the bottom of my closet. Bag is capitalized because it means a very special sort of bag. The kind of bag that develops from my haphazard way of dealing with messes, stressors, company coming, lack of available surfaces, the urge to clean, etc. I end up with these bags stashed all over my apartment. They can be plastic grocery bags, but I seem to have moved on to paper grocery bags and more substantial reusable shopping bags.

Anyway, let's look at the contents. For the first time I am going to list what I find.

The bag itself - a paper shopping bag from The Container Store. How fitting!

Contents:
1 pair of pants - put in the bag when they were a little too small. Now they are too big. Into the donate bin!
1 scarf - a friend had one like this and it looked good on her. I have never worn this - would be good for a gift?
1 paper bag full of stuff - a Bag within a Bag.
silver tissue paper
2 cancelled stamps
1 plastic lid - recycle
3 unused Band-aids
1 expired coffee coupon
1 sewing kit
1 6 outlet power strip
my knitting needle gauge!
1 double pointed knitting needle - I've been looking for this for at least a month
1 crochet pattern
1 empty plastic grocery bag
unused tissues (yes I will throw them out)
1 teddy bear filled with catnip (now I know why my cat disappears into the closet all the time)
bubble wrap
1 return envelope
1 mini notebook with pen, with only the 2 pages used
8 plastic hanging file labels
4 bits of trash (post it note, wrapper, etc)
1 trouser sock
1 black lacquered strip of wood that looks like it fell off of something - wait - that's off a picture frame in the living room?
name badge from a sci-fi convention in January 2009

Phew! But wait...there was a Bag within a Bag. What is in THAT Bag?
cassette tape of a bootleg Phish concert, 1997
1 used Band-Aid (I know, gross)
catalog of accessories for my cell phone, in Spanish
freebie 2009 pocket calendar book
email printout of family Christmas lists, 2009
1 Christmas card that came back in the mail - maybe I should send it to my friend for this year?
1 birthday card from last year
Energy Guide sticker and new owner paperwork from the refrigerator in my apartment
hanging file folder labeled Astrology Stuff, which yes, contains my astrological chart
half of a Real Simple magazine, March 2008
paperwork from LL Bean return from 2005
pamphlet on the nutrition department at my doctor's office
sushi menu
pet store loyalty card
instruction sheet for my mini trampoline
a book forced on me belonging to someone I no longer know - donate
1 filter that fits into the lid of the litter box, but I tossed the lid this summer
crossword puzzle book
Comcast cable agreement pamphlet
insert from the Boston Sunday Globe, January 4, 2009
2008 wall calendar
Obama cross stitch pattern

I wonder if this could be considered a Time Capsule, a term that professional organizers and clinical psychologists often use when dealing with hoarders. Everything from one particular time gets dumped into a container, and time stops for those things. Time seems to have stopped mid January 2009. Eep!

Interesting that I did not find:
a rock
a marble
coins
receipts
I forget what else my sister says lurks in every bag I open, but whatever that stuff was, it's not here. I think this bag was worked over a bit before it ended up being a bag in the closet. There is a definite pocket of paper that should be in the recycle bin at the bottom. Hmm.
Well, that's what I did with my Friday night.

I think i have found the perfect trench coat! and i think there are 2 women wearing the same coat but in different colors both right next each other. Is that weird? I LOVE the belt detail. slit grommet things on a special fitted waist panel. beautiful! I managed to read Via Spiga on the buttons of the girl now sitting. I think I have to run home and look up this coat. I always love via spiga shoes when I find them on clearance at DSW. And the clearance price? Around $100. It probably doesn't come in my size anyway...

Slog along...

So, I was reading some posts by Mooncalf and trying to catch up so that I've read and seen all of her lovely knits, when I started reading a post called Slog Along 2010. In it she references a podcast by Stash and Burn as her inspiration, and it seems to have something to do with working on hibernating WIPS, so of course I want to know more. Didn't I just pull Babette out from the darkness and see what was what?

But what is this Stash and Burn? I typed it into Google and found a website with NINETY-SEVEN podcasts, ready for listening. How have I never heard of this before? I have only listened #97 so far, which prompted me to pull out ALL of the Babette mess that is on my yarn shelf...

Yes, that's 4 plastic shoebox-sized containers of yarn or squares and a bigger showbox, and a project bag of current squares and yarn. It looks like a lot but hey, if it's going to turn into a full/queen blanket then there had better be a lot of yarn! I bought the yarn in two stages. When I first committed to the project I waited until a sale at AC Moore and bought 20? skeins, in 17 colors. Then a long while later, the Vanna's Choice line was expanded to include brighter colors, and I went out and bought 5 of those. Doesn't it look nice with my blue couch?

On another note, the handle end of my Babette crochet hook is nicked and is bothering my hand something terrible. Any thoughts on how to fix? I wrapped the end in medical tape, but that's now a bit sticky and irritating. I know there's Plasti-Dip, cool handle dippy stuff, but it's probably cheaper to just get another hook right? Anyone has a spare round-tipped J hook that they can't stand the sight of and want to get rid of it?

Babette is back in rotation!

To prove I wore a skirt today... not saying it looks good...both the shirt and skirt are too big somehow. didn't I just go shopping? I did try on skirts but didn't find anything I liked. I wasn't quite ready to buy skirts. And as of this morning, 25 pounds gone since April 24. Hooray! Maybe that's why none of my clothes fit? This week's loss was 2 pounds. I ate more than normal this week and didn't work out once. Maybe my body just needed a break. I also feel terrible from getting a tetanus shot Friday. Like a mild flu. Blech.

Shaping up...

0918002328.jpg
Originally uploaded by bareblueskin

Not a great picture, but it was really late with low light and my cell phone. And I was a bit tipsy... This is what I wore to a pirate costume party. Not so much pirate as mime, dressed as french barista, dressed as pirate. Hmmm.

I took the photo because for the first time in a long time I felt good about how I looked. I fit into clothes I haven't worn in TWO years! And didn't have to suck anything in. Woot!

Mmm. Nothing like a grilled cheese on whole wheat with tomato and avocado. For breakfast. After a meeting with my nutritionst. Did I mention it's Muenster cheese? Mmmmmm.

Black and White Hats

Little Xavier grew out of his blueberry hat, and I've had a request for a new hat, but this time with a matching one for mom, and this time, in black and white! So, Xavier's hat will be black on bottom, white on top, and Emily's hat will be white on bottom, black on top. I bought the yarns months ago but I'm seeing them in two weeks (!) so I'd better get knitting. I managed to make the 6 month hat in a week before, and that was with cotton yarn which was tougher to work with, so I'm hoping that I will be able to crank out these two hats. (holy run-on sentences, Batman!)

That means I won't be able to work on Citron OR my new socks, and once again I have way too many projects sitting around collecting dust.

Rav link for hat project: Black and White Hats

This week has been long and tiring, and I'm struggling with being hungry and getting workouts in at all. This weekend is full of activities - book group, party, outdoor music, and while I do want to go to all of them and see peple I'm just so tired. Maybe tonight I'll skip the workout and just do laundry, knit, take a nap, have dinner, wash dishes, reorganize my apartment...

Parmesan-Cauliflower Fritters

***I found this post sitting in my draft posts, but it's all done as far as I can tell, and I've made this recipe a lot. I think it will be a good staple for fall.***

Sitting at work this afternoon I started thinking about what the heck I was going to make for dinner. It's dreadfully hot, I am sort of out of anything fresh (veg, fruit, meat, dairy, yep, all of it) and I'm NOT going to grocery store and walking my purchases home when it's 90 degrees out and sunny. Perish the thought, or perish myself, right?

I was going to walk through the harvard Square farmer's market on the way home, so I picked up some tomatoes, Narragansett Creamery cheese, local handmade chocolate, etc, but I had already decided to make a recipe that I made for the first time last week, which uses the oven. How crazy is that?

I found myself mentioning this recipe to my sister, to friends, it was that good!

Parmesan-Cauliflower Fritters

Biggest Loser Year 10!

Along with the fall 2010 season of the Biggest Loser I am starting a new challenge for myself in my fitness and weight loss efforts.

I joined a Ravelry group for some added motivation called Biggest Loser Fitness and Knitting*. There is a mini competition where people can sign up to keep track of percentage of weight lost, and will be matched up with motivation buddies and that sort of thing. There are already some discussion threads going about nutrition and exercise.  I am also helping out as assistant moderator.

Of course, since this group is on a knitting site, there will be some knitting and crafting involved. Hopefully there will be a knit-a-long too.

So far my goals are to:
-work out a minimum of 3 days a week
-convince my doctor to take me off blood pressure meds
-strengthen the muscles around my knee and thereby stop the creaking and occasional pain
-continue to lose weight - at least 1 pound a week
-lose 30 pounds by December 31, 2010
-buy and use a heart rate monitor to keep my workouts more consistent and more productive

The premiere is tonight! Off to buy healthy groceries, work out, and watch the show.

*You have to be a member of Ravelry to join the group.

Two dueling guitars - one plays American heartland, the other a screetching rock riff. two skaters trip by in the street, inline and old school big wheels paired together. In a back yard big band horns rehearshal takes place as 4, no 5 runners pass by. And yes, woodsmoke on the air to my door. This is my neighborhood at 7:25 pm on a Wednesday.

Grocery shopping

Thursday after work I went grocery shopping. While I was sitting at my desk at work, I wrote out a perfunctory list. I realized at the end of my struggle in the frozen food aisle that I had pretty much stuck to my list. I did buy a few extra items, but I also didn't get two things. I NEVER stick to my list. This is a milestone!

Here's what I bought:

*items that were on my list

*Yogurt
*Cheese sticks
*Dubliner cheese
*Cottage cheese
*Cheese (yes, after all that, I needed to write down just "cheese" because I didn't have enough. Yes, I bought 4 distinct kinds of cheese. No, I was not having a wine and cheese party. Shush)
*Zucchini
*Spinach
*Broccoli
*Tomato sauce
Mushrooms
Frozen smoothie stuff
*Grapes
*Melon
*Triscuits
*Beans
Bananas
Sweet Potato
Bagged lettuce (I've been craving salad and figured, why not?)
Carrots
Croutons
Skinny Cow single serve Cookies and Cream ice cream
Thin Crust Margherita Pizza (It was on sale!)
Still, my purchases came to more than I thought they would. I even bought lot of things on sale or in their natural state, and tried to stick to my list.
Total spent - $64.95
11 out of 23 items on sale
Total saved - $9.26
Most expensive item - 24 pack of low fat string cheese
Least expensive item - bananas, $.69/lb., got 2 for $.50
 
I'm just so irked at the cost of decent food. Ugh. Sure, I could have only bought sale items and store brand, and trekked around the city from store to store cashing in on the bargains. I don't have a car. The grocery store I go to is in the city and has a high mark up. I am however able to walk home from the store and eliminate the need for a taxi or long bus ride and total exhaustion, thought I do tend to collapse once I get home from the sheer irritation factor of having to go to the store at all.

I'm also kind of shocked at how healthy this list is and the fact that there's no chocolate (unless you count the tiny single serving of Skinny Cow and let's face it, it's probably not 'real' anything. My eating has really changed for the better!

Slow progress, or maybe not...

I finally saw some change on the scale this week. After three weeks of nothing, I'm 3.4 down, bring me to 18.4 down since April 24, 2010 (my starting off point). I should be excited, thrilled, blah blah blah. The only ting running through my head lately is "how long until I get to my goal?" Or even "how long until I get to my mid-way goal of 200?" Seems like a long time away. Forever. I've been using a free App on my iPod Touch called Lose It! to track food and exercise. It lets me put in a goal and plan how much I want to lose per week up to two pounds, so two pounds it is. Even with that formidable weekly target I will not hit 200 until January 6, 2011 (according to the program). I thought - that can't be right, let me do the math myself. I printed out a blank calendar sheet for September 1 - December 31 and wrote in what my weight should be each week with the 2 pound loss. Well, the tech program is right. January 6, 2011, If I stay on track and lose that much each week. If I never give in to temptation and don't hit any plateaus. Ugh.

*Yeah, if I cared about people knowing how much I weighed before, I guess I don't now. Whatever the number is now it less than my highest. So figure out whatever you want. Thbbft!

Taking time for breath

During my lunch break today I must have heated and reheated my lunch 3 separate times while poking through emails, printing out invoices, poking around the internet, and playing on Facebook. And squirming around in my chair, hunched with stress and back pain.

I decided to try one of Kripalu's Audio Yoga Breaks for a little mindfulness to break up the day. How do I feel? Is this how I want to feel? I listened to Yoga Taps with Danny Arguetty. It was about 4 and a half minutes long, and guided me through a standing sort of soft pummeling of my body, working through the limbs, belly, butt, back, etc. as a way to increase circulation, stretch a little, and just step out of the stress of the day for a few minutes. It was great! I felt calmer, less tense, more awake, and more present in my day. I think I might start doing that when I hit my 2pm slump.

Kripalu has about a dozen of these 'breaks' posted on their site. Try one and let me know what you think.

God, is it hot. I am laying on the bed, half-dressed in the path of the fan, and I just dripped SKinny Cow fudge pop on the latest weight-loss memoir I'm reading from the library, Half-Assed* by Jennette Fulda. Whoops! What did I say I would do when I got home? Oh, right, work out with the P90 Sweat DVD. Uh huh. Maybe in an hour. While I'm doing laundry, cooking dinner, and talking to my sister. I think I'd rather read.


*This book is #31 on my 2010 reads list. Still attempting to read 52 books in 52 weeks, but not pressuring myself this year to finish everything I start reading. If it's bad, stop!

Citron progress

I have finished Row 18 of the 5th section. The pattern calls for 5 sections of 20 rows and a border section of 12 rows. I am definitely doing two more sections. I will never wear it if I stop at this size. I know the pattern makes more of a shawlette, but if this thing will never cover my shoulders, I think I would fling it across the room and leave it there. Maybe if I knit every day...I'll be done before the snow flies! Two more sections is 40 more rows, and these are biiiig rows that get over 600 stitches across. Eeep!

I also want to pick up a project from last fall - a wedding gift of a cabled pillow for my sister that I lost momentum on as the wedding drew closer. I figure if I can finish it by her 1 year anniversary then I'm in the clear. And I think that switching from working on my lace weight Citron to a worsted weight project will make the rows fly by! If you happen to look at the project in Ravelry, I have more knit than shows on the project page. Honestly I do! I just haven't updated the photo. Which I will do. Tonight. Really.

Citron frustration

I was poking around on Ravelry looking at finished Citron shawls, and found poofus73's citron. She said it ended up looking like a tiny tea towel! That's exactly what I'm worried about. I am from healthy German stock and have the proportions to prove it. I don't want a big floppy shawl thing, but I also don't want to end up with a tea towel that I spent 6 months making (at this point) that doesn't look good and I won't wear out of the house. The shawl model on Knitty looks quite tiny and I can't see how that same size shawl on me will even come over my shoulders. I've now knit to the point where I am halfway done with the 5th and final section. Then there is a ruffle edge section which is 12 rows. I can sort of try it on now, but I certainly can't hold it AND see where it falls, let alone take a photo. I think there might have to be some photos taken at my knitting group tonight.

When I bought the yarn to make this shawl I bought two skeins of Malabrigo lace, planning on making it doubly big. I just don't want it TOO big. And I know it will stretch out a bit. Relax. Settle in to it's shape. So I don't want to go wild and add too many extra sections. I've seen some pictures of this shawl with anywhere from 5-9 sections. The thing is, in most of the photos, the shawl is laid out flat and NOT shown on a person. How do I know how big it turns out if people don't photograph themselves wearing it???

Hopefully photo of 5 full repeats to follow soon.

Taking a breath

Sleep has been hard to come by for the past few weeks. A combination of reluctance to head towards rest time, mental and physical distractions including endless self improvement, impossible perfection standards, and a midnight visit from a bat have kept me from getting more than 5 hours of sleep at a stretch. I am tired exhausted. I am starting to resemble an after image. I have not been able to quiet my mind because I haven't taken the time for myself to make it possible.

I've managed to read a lot of books during this time, but my knitting has suffered a great deal - mainly becuase I don't trust myself to knit when I'm tired and not drop stitches, make mistakes, or switch directions in the middle of a row, as I did during my knitting group a few weeks ago!

Starting to practice yoga more, even if it's for 5 minutes. It helps me center and quiet my mind, this ambitious beast clamoring to outdo Wonder Woman by sheer volume of accomplishments. I end up with a pile of started projects, but nothing to show for my spinning wheels. I know what to do, I just need to think I am valuable enough to take care of and spend the time. 

Last week I read this on PlanetYoga:

"Waking up this morning, I smile, 24 brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with the eyes of compassion."-Thich Nhat Hanh

Meditation for today: sit comfortably tall, close your eyes, listen softly to your normal breath. Smile.

Today's lunch

Today's lunch 7.28.10
Originally uploaded by bareblueskin

consists of steamed green beans (love those frozen steam-ready bags), half a chicken breast left over from enchiladas a few nights ago, salsa, and a mozzarella string cheeseover the top. And maybe some crackers and grapes later if I'm still hungry.

I tend to skip the protein and eat carb heavy, but I'm learning that is the main reason I can't lose weight - even if I'm good with calories and the kind of food I'm eating.

This actually tastes pretty good. Maybe I'll skip the crackers - I know my nutritionist would be happier if I did!

Knitting content coming soon...

I've been trying to get more produce at the farmer's market and I keep meaning to keep a tally on here of what I purchase, but as you probably have noticed I haven't been posting much.

Last week at the Harvard Square Farmers Market I bought 4 zucchini, fava beans (yum!), and Narragansett Creamery Angelito Herb & Garlic Spread.

This week I went looking for more fava beans, but there were none to be found. Maybe I got them at the Davis Square market? That happens tonight. Yesterday at the Harvard Square Farmers Market I picked up Tomatoes, Broccoli,  and of course, Narragansett Creamery Angelito Herb & Garlic Spread.

It's been very stormy here, with sudden thunderstorms in the afternoon accompanied by small flash floods. I haven't looked at my garden since Sunday because I don't want to see what's been flattened until the rain is done. maybe I'll take a look tonight, just to see if I should stake anything up.

Gettin' er done!

Finally, a productive Saturday!

It is 8:12 pm, and I have done the following:
wtered vegetable garden
watered indoor plants
folded/hung up dry clothes from rack and put rack away!
Washed kitchen trash can
dumped, washed, and refilled litter pan
took out trash, recyling, and compost
talked to big sister for 3 hours
knitted 5 rows (hey, that's a lot for me)
run backup on my computer
located and tossed rotten potato

Summer weekends

I feel like this was my first official summer weekend this year, and I spent it doing lots of summer things. I:

-sprawled out in front of the fan and watch BBC America for hours (How Clean is Your House?, You Are What You Eat, Top Gear)
-made a pitcher of peach iced tea and drank it all in an hour
-did my crazy P90 cardio workout and yes, the Ab Ripper 100 too
-ate lunch and people watched in Boston Common
-spent time reconnecting with someone from high school and I think she and I will now be great friends - it only took 18 years!
-went to the MFA and soaked up some good art, stinky cheese, and sangria
-went for pizza
-ate Abbott's frozen custard from my hometown but in Needham, MA!
-puttered around in the garden
-watched as my computer slipped into a coma (not sure yet what the problem is or if it's fixable)
-pulled out a hibernating scarf project and knit on it for a while
-managed to sunburn just my neck and shoulders
-pulled smaller summer clothes out of underbed storage. I put on my shorts to go outside, and realized they were baggy. As in, too big for me. Hooray! So I decided to try some of the "used to fit but don't right now" clothes and voila! We have fitting! (must be a sign of weight loss but I'm too nervous to check)

Progress Bars

So right now I think I have five different posts in draft form, all 90% complete, and they haven't made it out here to the actual page where you readers can see them. Soon, I promise, I will post those and more. But for now, my first quick attempt at adding progress bars for my Ravelry projects. Ta-dah! (looks right) And...the percentages display in white, on white background. Hmm. And no thumbnail photos...Well, at least there are bars, and I'll get to fixing hopefully tonight, or this weekend.

The start of Power 90 - I have now taken 50 kajillion photos of myself in current fat state. with shirt, no shirt, all angles. did measurements beforehand. i am pleased that some measurements are smaller than when taken in december. am blinded by the camera now and am okay to start the first scary workout. wish me luck!

Look - little tiny lettuce sprouts! I planted these seeds and tons of others on Monday and they're GROWING!!!

Just spent 2 hours digging

Just spent 2 hours digging away at grass and giant roots. now have a plot approx 33in x 6 feet. that's probably enough for today.

Trying on Emmaline

Emmaline take 1 - 05.15.2010
Originally uploaded by bareblueskin

I've used up one ball of yarn and started the second. I am 4 repeats in of the K1/Raglan Increase rounds and trying on Emmaline to see where the arms are. Are the markers that divide off the sleeve stitches supposed to meet under my arm? Is that how I know if it's long enough? For the large I need to do 8 rounds. I tried to take better pictures, but it's hard to hold the sleeve markers in place for the picture on my own. I guess that means they're not in the right place yet!

Proceed carefully

~Okay, I wrote this post over two weeks ago (looks like it was means for April 30), and when I posted it the middle bit was chopped out. I've been meaning to fix this post and rewrite it, but at this point I'm just going to fudge it.~

I always thought I was good at following directions and reading everything through clearly. Building bookshelves, a website, doing my taxes, catching important but minimally mentioned plot points, that's me.


Building a knitted garment, however, is not something my mind seems to want to do. Take for instance my early mishap with the Citron shawl. Having gotten through the strange 'knit a sort of square thing' with a lot of help from Amber (who says this cast on for shawls is used quite regularly) I jumped in. Knitting merrily along,


Row 1 [WS]: K3, place marker, p3, place marker, k3.


Row 2 [RS]: K3, slip marker, [m1, k1] three times, m1, slip marker, k3. 13 sts.


I get to the instruction Rows 3-5: Work in pattern as set, maintaining first and last 3 sts in garter st and working sts between markers in stockinette st. No problem. That means keep doing the pattern set up in Rows 1 and 2. I knit Row 6.
 
Row 6 [RS]: K3, slip marker, [m1, k1] seven times, m1, slip marker, k3. 21 sts. That instruction came after the section I had just knitted. Does this apply to the whole pattern? It doesn't seem to...but if I apply that to everything, then yes, the counts do come out properly. I ripped it out, started over, followed the instructions, and now I am much further along. Okay, further along for me. I am now halfway through the second section. Ok, that could have been a misinterpretation of instructions, but how about what happened last Thursday night?


What??? After this increase I am to have 21 stitches? I don't remember now now many I did have, but if I was going along increasing, starting with 13 stitches, plus 4, plus 8?, plus ??, so I had 40 or so stitches instead of 21. But I didn't notice that 21sts and I kept going.


Rows 7-11: Work in pattern.


By now I had WAAAY too many stitches, and I was looking at the counts, trying to figure out what I had done. A little further down in the pattern, it said


SHAWL BODY

Note: In all directions that follow, “work in pattern” means to work in stockinette st, maintaining first and last 3 sts in garter st as set.

~Here's where the bit I wrote disappeared. Crucial right? Anyway, figured it out, thought either the pattern/pattern writer/myself was having a bad day. Ripped it out completely, started again, which gave me practice with the odd casting on for this project, and ta-dah! I am now halfway through the second round of instructions.~

By the way, the white strings are dental floss lifelines so that I can rip back to the beginning of the section if necessary.

I was watching the finale of Project Runway (disappointing) and decided to dig in and make some progress on Emmaline since I had one and a half rows done. I was stuck on the row with RLI - right lifted increase - since I knit lefty and need to reverse the way I do the stitch. The instructions say:


RLI (Right Lifted Increase): Use the right needle to pick up the stitch below the next stitch on the left needle. Place it on the left needle, then knit into it. 1 stitch has been increased. 


Using this increase helps give the bulky yarn structure. I refer to the close up photo of the lovely, tight raglan seam of Emmaline. It looks like two solid lines of stitches drawn diagonally near the shoulder. 


And what did I do? Not that. M1 instead, which leaves a gaping hole beneath the added stitch. R-i-p.


After searching out instruction online, I started again. I now have about 10 rows of Emmaline so far, and I still don't think my RLIs look like the picture, but I have to keep going. It's the perfect weather to wear this now, and if I don't hurry up, it will be too hot. Maybe I should spend the weekend knitting?

knitting mostly

Or should I say, this is about other people's knitting, since mine has completely stalled despite the lack of lovely yarn and patterns covering my couch.

I just wanted to share this story by futuregirl about knitting with a stranger in the park.

I think I first saw mention of this by ElectroGirl, but it might have been mooncalf as she has the banner up now too, but a new-to-me blog I'm following is eskimimiknits.com who has organized the upcoming Knitting and Crochet Blog Week. The main post for the details is here but basically it's encouraging us crafters to blog every day for a week and also to write about unified themes. I hope to take part in this and continue this odd burst of blogging to hopefully continue it as a regular thing.

I've also been tweaking the layout - added a blog list of which ones I read the most lately on the right there, and added a link to my Flickr photostream. I like the boxes and colors of this basic blog template, but I don't like that there is so much empty page space. Maybe it's time to refresh my html skills and write my own templates again.

Oh, and today marks a whole week of tracking eating and working out. Go me!

I'm so out of shape! I just did the first 10 minute workout on the Biggest Loser 30-day Jumpstart dvd and I'm sweating. I guess that's good, but I was doing all the modified moves for the out of shape people! Tara led this one and she's definitely off her count but it was neat. The group was a hot mess though! There's a bunch of Bob's tips on this dvd too. I'm off to do another one!

Head up, young person

Last week was a good week. I am finally feeling better after being knocked out by an intense sinus infection for a week and missing Easter with my family.

Last week I:
-planned a visit home to visit with family and friends, and to say goodbye to my high school, Nazareth Academy, which is closing after 139 years of educating young women. I will get a chance to reconnect with people I haven't seen in almost 20 years. Friends that I wish I had been closer to in high school that I will hopefully forge a better connection with now.
-worked out at the gym. Finally! I have been trying to stay on track with being active, but having that sinus issue put me right off of life, never mind working out.
-cleaned the top of the stove. Doesn't seem like much right? I took the top of the stove OFF and put it in the bathtub, and scrubbed it with all my might using cleanser with bleach and a scrubby sponge. There is still one spot that is a bit stained, but it had built up over time so hopefully now that I have the stove top 99% clean I can remove that stain over time.
-gotten a new kitchen counter set up and picked up the kitchen - BIG project
-cast on for Emmaline, a bulky knit short-sleeve top
-washed 5 loads of laundry. Yes, I live alone, but I hate doing laundry and it builds up, and I had a big pile of towels and rags that I had used to mop up the leaks in my apartment when we had the bad storms a few weeks back, and yes, I'm just getting to them now.
-started back on the whole eat healthy, live healthy thing. Counting calories, counting everything, really, because I don't have a sense anymore of what I eat or what it contains. It's back to basics while I relearn what my body actually needs. I use the tools at SparkPeople, but if anyone has suggestions of other free tracker and community sites, I'm listening.

To-DO this week: (yes, I know it's already Tuesday but I forgot to post this entry Sunday night, so I'm modifying it, alright?)
-repot seedlings
-plant more seeds - lettuce, sage, (first ones seem to have died) tomatoes, and a few other things.
-go to the gym. Yes, AGAIN.
-keep tracking
-go to bed by midnight most nights
-do some yoga
-maybe get around to putting my laundry away
-read The Little Stranger for my book group meeting on Sunday (352 pages to go)
-oh, and knit

Ta-dah!!! 4.17.10

Ta-dah!!! 4.17.10
Originally uploaded by bareblueskin
Here's a picture of the new kitchen countertop! I can't believe how much better this makes the kitchen look. It even covers up the ucky hole in the linoleum. Score! I need to wait for the caulk on the top to dry for 10-12 hours and I can set up the microwave and such. I don't even know what I want to put on the shelves. Guess I'll have to experiment. Yay!

If you're wondering why this is so great, here is a shot of what the kitchen looked like before. It's like a still from Hoarders. This apartment kitchen has no useable storage. The cabinets are metal and hung a bit too high. I think you need to be at least 6 feet tall to see what it on the top shelf. The sink and counter unit is also metal and says "Beauty Queen" on it. On the right side shelves are too deep and short to be of much use, and on the left and under the sink it's just open space, so everything is piled on top of everything else. And I mention counter space? No, because there wasn't any. Until now.

Brows

I've drawn my eyebrows on today. Can you tell? I think my left one (on the right in the pic) is a bit too heavy, but that's the balding one so it was hard to do. I look like I'm wearing full-on makeup don't I? But it's just brows and eyeliner. Hmph.

Well I wasn't planning on...

Well I wasn't planning on blocking it. And it's going to drive me crazy. must be time to rip...iI'm only 8 rows in. better now than later.

Here is the beginning of my Citron shawl. I think I need tl start over. See the column on the right lf stktches that are bigger than the others? That means I have to redo, right?

Going green all around

Today I did many green things. I just watched the documentary No Impact Man. Earlier today I stirred up my compost bin and added more paper and soil because the mix has gotten a bit wet. I set up a light and moved my smallest plant seedlings under it to get them a bit stronger. I took photos of my lovely green malabrigo yarn and started knitting a swatch to make sure my needle size is correct. I still need to split up the seedlings so they have enough room to grow, but I figured the light is the most important piece of this equation.

Shawl sans spine in green

I was wandering around on Ravelry yesterday and wondered if Knitty had a new issue out for spring. Well no, they don't, but apparently I never looked at the Winter 2009 issue. In that issue I found my new project. Citron is a lovely little shawl/scarf with a ripple to the edge and some texture without really being lace. Sure, the pattern uses lacewight yarn, and knits up like lace, but the end result looks much more solid than a typical lace shawl. Here is the shawl on Ravelry.

I love the color used in the demo shawl, but when I got to Windsor they didn't have that in laceweight (lettuce, here on the right). Well, I found it in worsted and the color is much for yellow for me to wear anyway. Problem solved. Or so I thought, when I approached the Malabrigo lace basket and found two different greens and a light blue that all wanted to come home with me and become a shawl. I bought 2 skeins of Sapphire Green (in the middle). This is my first malabrigo purchase!! I'm excited, can you tell? The others in my knitting group rave about this yarn, and I fondle it every time someone brings a project with this yarn. I think it's time for me to make myself something decadent, that will be worn next to the skin, that will hopefully be my go to item. I bought some size 8 Addi lace needles, but I'll have to swatch and make sure that my isn't so tight that I need to up another needle size. The pattern calls for 6s, but I typically need to up two needle sizes.

Amy, if you're reading this, weren't you looking for a shawl pattern without a spine? I think this might be the one for you!

Grumpy

Seeds Update

Yesterday I checked on the seeds and the 3 pots with lavender had white fuzz mold on them. I cut those 3 out and tossed them so the mold won't spread. Those seeds were old and I wasn't sure they were going to grow, but I didn't think they would mold on top. Guess I need to get some lavender seeds, though I read that planting marigolds around your vegetable garden will keep the bugs away so maybe I should get seeds for marigolds instead.

I realized I didn't list what I planted on Sunday, and I also wanted to make a chart of the germination times, so here we go!

Seed Company	Vegetable Type	Germination Rates
Burpee	Garden Bean - Greensleeves	7-14 days
Burpee	Garden Bean - Royal Burgundy	7-14 days
Burpee	Garden Bean - Super Wax	7-14 days
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	Pepper - Purple Beauty	not listed
Burpee	Letuce - Burpee Bib	7-10 days
Botanical Interests	Carrot - Tonda di Parigi	10-25 days
Crosman's Seeds	Kale - Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch	7-10 days
Botanical Interests	Summer Squash - Black Beauty Zucchini	5-10 days
Seed Company	Herb Type	Germination Rates
Botanical Interests	Sage - Garden Broadleaf	5-15 days
Burpee	Sweet Basil	7-14 days
Seed Company	Flower Type	Germination Rates
Botanical Interests	Sweet Pea - Princess Elizabeth and Cupid Pink	10-15 days
Burpee	Viola - Helen Mount	7-14 days

Planting for Spring

Last year I planted seeds indoors on April 20th in a collection of toilet paper tubes, egg cartons, with no grow lights and not a lot of planning. It was a very wet and dark spring into summer, so my plants didn't have much of a chance anyway. My results, well, were leggy seedlings that didn't have much of a shot and died quickly.

This year I'm starting quite a bit earlier. Now. I've been holding off getting supplies until now so I wouldn't plant too early, but I can't wait any longer! The new supplies I bought for seed planting are:

Jiffy-Strips 10 - 50 little peat pots Jiffy plastic planting tray and lid Hoffman Seed Starter Mix - 10 quarts Burpee Vegetable Starter Garden seed mix Burpee Viola Helen Mount flower seeds

How to Plant Seeds

1. Place peat pots in the plastic tray.

2. Spray down the peat pots a bit so they're damp.

3. Fill pots with seed starter mix

4. Water thoroughly - I sprayed the seed mix from the top and sprayed all the sides of the pots as well.

5. Make markers for the seeds and place them in pots to lay out where to put the seeds. When making tags for seed labeling, make sure the tags will fit into the peat pots and you can put the lid on! I read a tip a while ago about using plastic knives for markers. I collected a bunch from the junk drawer at work, and wrote on them with a Sharpie, and went about putting them in the pots, and then I realized there's a lid...

 

6. Sprinkle the seeds in each pot on the seed started mix, being sure to read the packets to find out if you need to presoak or nick any seeds.

7. Lightly cover the seeds with a layer of the starter mix and spray again. I also poured some water into the tray. There are ridges in the bottom that will keep the pots from sitting in the water, but hopefully they won't dry out during the day.

8. Put the cover on tray, put in a warm place, and wait. I turned the lights on my seeds now to give them a little more warmth.

Ravelympics Update, and a little cross stitch

On February 12th I cast on a project for the Ravelmpics - insane knitting olympics madness. The Olympics began, and I plowed through, changing from 1 color to 3, handing my knitting over to a master for a fix of a skipped stitch 13 rows below (thanks Cassandra!), and changing out a broken circular for a spare. I had houseguests for two full weekends, a medical crisis, and chose eyeglasses (believe me, it's stressful!) and I am just now picking up my knitting again. I'm not done. It was a difficult goal for me if I had had nothing to do for two weeks. If I was on vacation for the full two weeks and did nothing but knit, I'm not sure I would have finished. I do like the pattern, but I've never done stripes before and that a little confusion. I am making the 6 month old size, but I think it's more likely going to fit a 2 year old. Time will tell. Here is a photo how my progress so far.

Now, I'm also supposed to be working on my big cross stitch project, Soul of the Rose. I belong to this other site, 2010 Weekly Stitch A Long, where people keep track of their main project and post updates. I've made some progress, added that long dark blue stripe, and the sort of green to the right of it. Hopefully now I'll at least work on it every week a bit.

Fidgety people drive me nuts. It's bad enough that I'm on a train that is not moving, escaping the rain that has soaked through my pants and knee-high socks, but now I also cannot enjoy my wonderful book because I can see you fussing in my peripheral vision. With your bag. Your wallet. Your scarf and how it rings your neck. Yes, you are straddling two open seats and mange to KEEP bumping into me. I want my space. I position myself in every situation so that I will not have to put up with unnecessary touching. Yes, put your headphones in NOW, after we've been on the train for 15 minutes. Can you hear me screaming in my head? And now the woman on my left is poking me with her bony arm. How many times do you need to adjust your iPod?

--updated 2/28/2010--
Um, yes, I was ranting a bit, but really people. Be aware of your body. PLEASE!

and that photo above is from when my big sister and I stopped at the cafe at the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum and had amazing coffee, divine mushroom soup, and some unspeakable dark chocolate bread pudding.

brunch

brunch
Originally uploaded by bareblueskin

knitting backwards

I'm participating in the Ravelympics again this go around (knitting olympics in time with the Olympics) and we're now past the halfway mark, and I'm knitting backwards. I'm far behind, but I should also say that I've had house guests for the past two weekends so when I thought I would be knitting I was out on the town instead. Really, a better outcome. But now, I'm sitting here looking at this little sister's dress I'm making and wondering how I'm ever going to finish by the crazy deadline of...you know, I don't even know what day the Olympics end? Okay I've just Googled it and the end is February 28th, so I have one weekend left. Phew!! Because as it is, I'm going to have to knit every night for hours in order to make it even close. And tonight? Tonight I'm knitting backwards. Last night I did the row where I join in the round, and switch colors, and somehow I knit the increase row, instead of just knitting. ARGH! So I'm unknitting the ONE row that I managed to knit this weekend while catching up on episodes of House when I should be going to bed. Oh well. I never go to bed on time anyway. And I need to have this sorted so that when I go to knitting tomorrow I can just fly.

If you're tuned in to Ravelry, here's my project.

Busy Sunday

Oops. I think I went a bit overboard. I meant to roast some chicken breasts and veggies, but I ended up with 2 roasting pans full of veggies. See what happens when you're busy watching Superbowl commercials?

Roasting Vegetables - 375 degrees, potatoes, sweet potatoes, sweet tomatoes, red pepper, carrots, parsnips, onion, salt, black pepper, basil, rosemary, thyme, garlic powder (didn't have any real garlic). I had intended to roast chicken breasts, but I wasn't really sure how to cook them roasted since they're boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I think I'll end up subbing the parmesan salmon recipe I use a lot.

I've been knitting a lot lately - working on a lace scarf that's slowly growing, starting a new lace scarf, and finally, starting on my first sweater. It's the Top-Down Raglan Cardigan by Laura Chau. Two of my knitting group friends made this sweater last fall and I've been gathering my nerve to start. I only have 12 rows so far, but I'm still figuring out how the pattern is written. I am using Caron Simply Soft in Charcoal Gray Heather. I bought 7 skeins, and I know that's overkill but I don't want to run out, and you can always find a use for Simply Soft.

Speaking of Simply Soft, for the Ravelympics I'm going to use that yarn in Orchid to make the Little Sister's Dress for my friend's daughter. Her 1st birthday is in June and I want to make sure I have something ready. This dress has been on my list since I first learned to knit and I think it's something I can manage to knit during the Olympics. I know for most knitters this wouldn't be a challenge, but I am very slow!

I've been reading a lot too, the Uglies series. I'm on book #2 Pretties. It's a fast read.

I also post weekly updates on my big cross stitch project, Soul of the Rose, on the 2010 Weekly SAL blog. Go over and check it out!

So many projects it's hard to choose.

I know what I'm doing this weekend! The yarn for my very first sweater for me came today! And some yarn for who knows what. I also stopped at the library because two of my requests came in. Um, make that 4 requests. Now do I knit or read? I haven't learned to do them both at the same time yet. Funny, in the foyer getting my mail and packages, a girl said "so you're the Ingrid who gets all the mysterious packages! Now I know." Do I get lots of packages? Have I mentioned that I love packages? Oh, and why is it that every project I make needs size 10 needles?

day 14 couch 1.14.2010

day 14 couch 1.14.2010
Originally uploaded by bareblueskin

Here it is, my beautiful new ikea couch! It's the Karlstad in Korndal Blue. I love it! Now I need to get something on the walls...

Clementines

01.12.2010
Originally uploaded by bareblueskin

Two weeks ago I split a box of Clementines with a friend. We bought it as a healthy treat after going to the gym. Last Tuesday I finally remembered to bring a Clementine to work to eat at lunch. I'm not a big fan of citrus, but these are so small I can eat the whole thing. The thing is, it wasn't all that tasty. I thought the flavor would be a lot stronger. Maybe they're getting past their prime...

Winter Birds

I'm sitting at my desk at work and I can see five robins and a blue jay skittering around on the brick steps, looking for a meal of bugs from in between the cracks of the stone wall. Here is the view from my office. My work is in the lower level of a house, sunken basement, so I see the steps, garden and driveway. There is so much activity outside this window! I know it's hard to see in the picture, but there are 3 robins on the stairs. Maybe it shows up better if you click on the picture. Today is the first day I've seen these birds. The winter here has been so cold even the squirrels have been in hiding.

Day 5 -1.5.2010

It's 11:30 am and I'm just now eating breakfast at work.

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2010 Stitching Project - Soul of the Rose

For the past two weeks I've been thinking a lot about all the projects I have going - cross stitch, knitting, home improvement, gardening, self improvement, etc. I start lots of things, and I even talk myself out of starting a lot more than I have started. I'd like to chip away at the projects that are laying around, but you know starting a new project is more fun! I've decided I can start one new cross stitch this year, and I'm going to use it as my stitch-a-long project to post updates on every week. That means I have to actually work on it every week. Even if it's just 10 minutes. I think I can do that.

Making excellent progress so far - I finished the stitching on 2 santa ornaments from the same pattern and I even put the away the remaining lengths of floss. Now I just need to do the finishing on these - find the backing fabric, stitch them up and stuff them. This time I'll be ready with an extra finished ornament for a swap or a gift. Yay! This is the same pattern I used for a swap last year and I wanted one for myself.

I bought a kit from the Dimensions Gold collection called Soul of the Rose, a Waterhouse painting January 19, 2009. I had wanted this kit for ages, and I even bought the mat and gold frame to go with it, so I was all set. But did I start it last year? No. Did I even sort out the floss in the kit so I was ready? No.

Today I managed to sort out two of the four bundles of floss. This is a very well put together kit, but it still takes time to pull the threads out and put them in groups.

The New Year Purge

It's become a New Year's tradition for me to spend Januery 1st organizing my closet. I mean everything. The entire closet gets emptied, dusted, vacummed, and then put back in an orderly fashion. I need at leat a full day for this because my closet is about 10 wide so it's mostly storage. I decided not to tackle the closet for my January tradition becuase I can't actually get to it. My whole apartment has reached a mess level that makes me anxious. SO, I spent today focusing on the living room. I did work a little in each of the other rooms, but this is where I spent the most time.

The sheer volume of my paperwork mess has me overwhelmed, but at least all the financial/health papers i have come across so far are filed. i know there are more piles of it lurking in the bedroom but i'm okay with not finishing everything by monday. i think everyone else has the same idea. i took 1 bag each of paper and jar recyling outside and their are piles of bags of trash and recyling along the side of the building. yikes! I did finish a craft project too and find my old aquarium rocks for the paperwhite. The desk resettling will be tomorrow. I think it's time to break for dinner.