One Thing . . . That's All

There are times when my knitter's ADD even drives ME crazy. Yes. Right now is one of those times. When this happens, what I do is get rid of the excess crap that is getting me down - and just focusing on one thing. The simplest form of prioritizing is focusing on one thing.

Because I've been enjoying reading on my new Kindle2 almost to the exclusion of any other free-time activity, including knitting (amazing isn't it?) I am feeling overwhelmed with all the knitting projects I've started in past months and let fall by the wayside. I may be ripping out and repurposing yarn if I am no longer loving these projects.

In other words, I crave projects that are really easy, instant gratification type of things. I want to comfort myself in a non-food kind of way - knitting seems perfect for that, but only if I don't overwhelm myself with choices. One project at a time. I can't handle more right now.

So that's what I'm doing - the Roll Neck Wrap in a lovely coral color is the perfect project for this mindset. It is pretty and soft. It's all I need this lovely easy-going Sunday afternoon.

As far as the diet and exercise are going, I'm doing somewhat better. But I'm still not where I want to be. I'm staying on the program better. Exercising on most days.

Today is a pajama day. Perfect. One simple salad for lunch. One iced tea. One beautiful coral shawl in progress while watching one great movie called Monsoon Wedding.

What else does one person need? One thing - that's all. One thing at a time.

Red White and TRUE BLUE FIBER FRIENDS

Bob and I have both been feeling so harried and frazzled lately. We desperately needed to get away for an overnight trip, so on an impulse, we decided to go to Columbia, Missouri. It's a great college town that is about 90 minutes away - just a stone's throw, but far enough to seem like a mini-vacation.

We stayed at the Drury Inn, which is one of our favorite hotels. We always stay at Drury in whatever town we're traveling to. This one had an indoor pool which was very nice. And they serve a free breakfast. We made Belgium waffles.

We bummed around on Friday, visiting our favorite vintage shops on the strip there in downtown Columbia. The weather was wonderful - cooler and cloudy but not rainy.

We went to a wonderful microbrewery called Flatbush Microbrewery that we've visited before on other trips into town. We're not drinkers at all, and especially not beer drinkers, but when we go to Flatbrush, we get a microbrewery sampler and try a taste of six different beers. Our favorite this time was the Green Chile. Very unusual but good. They have absolutely wonderful food there - this time I tried the Chicken Mediterranian Pasta - not on my diet but it was to die for.


I also couldn't resist visting a yarn store. Since I usually go to Hillcreek there in Columbia, this time I decided to try the other shop in town, a smaller one called TRUE BLUE FIBER FRIENDS. Pictured are the owners. Bex (pictured holding the baby) was there on Friday and helped me deciper my gauge for a Elizabeth Zimmermann Ribwarmer that I've been trying to get right. I'm having a gauge issue, so she gave me some ideas and spent some time showing me how I could recalculate the pattern with the current gauge I'm getting. She was very nice and helpful.

Unfortunately she informed me that I JUST MISSED (last weekend)an Ozark Handspun fiber workshop that they'd had there at the shop last weekend featuring Dave of Ozark Handspun. Bummer. They had a cute (to me) but maybe FUNKY to other people, sweater on display that she said will be a free pattern up on the Ozark Handspun website in a few days. It's called the Crazy Blocks sweater and it's a free pattern, like many of the patterns on the Ozark Handspun website, though it can be tricky to navigate their website to find them.


There were some nice shoppers who came in wanting to buy some Mirasol Tupa yarn for some shawls they were making. I asked them about it and Bex pulled an attractive but very utilitarian shawl called "Roll-Neck Wrap" off her display to show me - it was a lovely green color, a simple three-sided shawl that she said she loves to wear as well as make because it stays put on your shoulders. The pattern is so easy it can be made in a matter of days. So if you need to make a quick gift or prayer shawl, this project is an excellent pick for that purpose.

The pattern was designed by a local customer and Bex sells it at her shop (see photo. The shawl has sold so well in her store that Bex has temporarily sold out of Mirabella. (She's getting in a new shipment on Monday after the holidays). But it's that a really great shawl? It's really easy. I cast on mine last night, and it's growing pretty rapidly. This is JUST the kind of mindless project I need to work on right now. If you'd like to buy the pattern, Bex sells them for $5 but there may be a small shipping charge.

So it was a pleasant Fourth. On Saturday, we spent the day with Emily and her friends and watched the fireworks at a nearby lake. It was a rare cool evening and though they seemed to have a shorter fireworks display this year due to the tight economy, we appreciated it even more. My favorite was near the end of the show, they had beautiful waterfalls on two sides of the sky. It was gorgeous. I've never seen that display before, and unfortunately I didn't bring my camera or get a photo so you'll just have to imagine it. This year, our chilly weather made it the coolest Independence Day I ever recall. And I delight in cool weather. What fun to sit in a boat and watch fireworks with a jacket on.

How was yours?

Help . . . My Treadmill Is Rolling Backwards

Ahhh!!! For 7 months now, I've been doing really good and dedicated to using the Jenny Craig weight loss plan. I like the plan, because it includes a good balance of exercise, prepackaged and preplanned meals, and weekly support by meeting with a counselor.

I lost 22 pounds from November to February. Then in February, I just started kinda of staying the same - somewhere between 136-138 pounds. I wasn't totally satisfied with that, but I had managed to get into a low enough size that I was proud of where I was, and hoping to at least maintain that loss and maybe gradually continue to creep down and perhaps eventually lose an additional ten less pounds. I'd be delighted to weigh in the mid to high 120 range.

But I've actually been really content to be where I'm at. At 5'3" weigh 22 pounds less than I use to is no small accomplishment. But ever since I started my new job in mid-May, I've been focusing on it, having some additional stress that the STRETCH part of my job has been creating, and in short, I've not been sticking as much with the exercise and eating plan the past couple of weeks as I should be.

It's finally showing up on the scale, at my Jenny Craig weigh-in yesterday, I was up to 140. Eeekss!!! Not that 3 extra pounds is all that dramatic, but it's a trend of gradually gaining and getting off program that I don't want to allow to happen.

I need to step back on the treadmill, literally and not let the lack of exercise and poor eating habits creep back into my lifestyle again. I feel SO MUCH BETTER when I am healthy and fit. So . . . . starting today . . . I'm back to wearing my pedometer, eating the JC foods instead of eating out so much, getting in 10,000 steps a day no matter what. I know that it will make me feel happier, less stressed, and more in control of my life. The exercise makes me feel so much better.

The word I picked for this year was "Priorities" and clearly I am not keeping my health and fitness center stage, where it needs to be for me to accomplish my fitness goals.


Another helpful tool I have been using, and need to watch today to recharge my motivation is called "Touchstones for Success." It is a Jenny Craig sponsored DVD and CD program that was done by Martha Beck, a writer who I've met in person at our local writer's conference and who has since risen to fame on Oprah. She has a regular column in Oprah's magazine. Martha is phenomenal. She provides insights in many arenas of life that are very helpful. So if you need a dose of inspiration in terms of fitness, I'd highly recommend this program. You can get it used on Amazon for around $16. I bought mine new at the JC center, but wherever you get it, it's worth every penny and MORE.

They say the first step to fixing a problem is acknowledging it. And as you know, I like to call a problem what it is a PROBLEM. Euphemisms like "issue" just tick me off and minimize the situation. So I'm facing a problem in fitness motivation, and I'm facing it head on. Okay? It may take me a week or two to see results on the scales. I can't control my mid-life hormones or many other things affecting the scales, but I can get on the treadmill, eat my JC meals, keep my food diary, and do the right actions to hopefully produce better results. I'll check back in by next week and let you know the results.

It's a (Big) Stretch

Several years ago, when I broke away from being a legal secretary and went back to my dream of being in sales and marketing - I started reading a book by Rhonda Britten called Fearless Living. I loved that book. Rhonda's personal story of how she overcame an extremely dysfunctional childhood makes you feel like by God, if SHE can overcome her fears and obstacles, anyone can. She shows you how to figure out what your deepest fears are - so that you can overcome them. If you go inside and feel the fear, you can tell what really makes your stomach clench up.

In the book, she talks about setting goals at different levels - some are easily obtainable, while some are "stretch" goals. Lately, I've been setting myself some stretch goals and in fact my whole job right now is a "stretch" job for me, but I love it so far. There's just so much to learn and do that I'm pretty much just focusing on it right now, which is why you haven't been hearing much about my knitting lately - I haven't been doing much except learning my new job and reading books on my Kindle.


Nevertheless, I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm enjoying the lifepath right now, which is SUCH a refreshing change. It's not all fun and games by any means, but I just returned from a 3 day trip to Vail, Colorado which was such a treat in the dead heat of summer. I learned a lot, I absorbed a lot of information about the industry, and I'm stretching my skills to a whole new level.

My boss and I flew into Denver's Stapleton airport last Tuesday and got back late on Thursday. We drove the two hours from Denver to Vail in a rental car and I was simply awestruck by the beautiful scenery. I've only visited Colorado one other time, and I have to say that I absolutely LOVE the mountains. Vail is the most stunningly beautiful place I've ever been. I wish I could have brought the family and stayed a couple of weeks. Oh well, back to reality now.

But it just goes to show that sometimes if you reach high, on a rare day, you almost feel as if you can touch the clouds.

Edited four days later (June 25th) to add: Yeah this job is a really different one than I've ever had before - some days I feel really happy and high with it and other days . . . like yesterday, I feel stretched TOO far. Felt a bit tired and defeated the last couple of days. A bit OVERstretched.

So what I'm saying is that there are definitely days where I miss the ease and comfort of my old comfy job. After exercise and stretching yourself, you CAN stretch too much and make yourself sore. This morning I'd give anything to walk into my OLD office instead of the new one. I'm tired and feeling down on myself - so opposite of the day I posted this, only three or four days ago? Self-defeat and doubt still creeps in - and I just wanted to reflect both sides accurately. Today it's a slog and I'm certainly not high with the opportunity. Glug, glug.

Really Into Lavendar Right Now

Ever since I started reading, THE WILDWATER WALKING CLUB by Claire Cook, author of Must Love Dogs, I have been fixated on Lavendar - both the color and the plant. This novel is about a 40-something senior executive woman who has taken a Voluntary Buyout from a tennis shoe company and feels at a turning point in her life. Her boyfriend has dumped her. She feels frumpy and depressed. With a ton of newfound time on her hands, she is creating a new life for herself. She meets two new friends who join her on a plan to walk 10,000 steps per day. They all wear pedometers and begin taking walks together every morning - in the beginning the goal is to get in shape, but as the main characters says (I'm paraphrasing here): "I started walking for vanity's sake, but ended up walking for sanity's sake."

The reason for the lavendar obsession is that one of the friends owns a lavendar farm and they all begin making lavendar sachets, dream pillows, lavendar and mint in their gardens, as well as cooking with it. I have been having a serious desire to go out and buy some lavendar to make my own Dream Pillow and maybe some Lavendar Essential Oil - to make who knows what concoction. The book is full of recipes that sound really fun to try.


I also started making a shawl for myself, the Aoelian shawl from Knitty, that I think will be beautiful in a lavendar-grey color called "New York." I have some lavendar beads to go with it. It's a beaded shawl and is my first attempt at ever making a shawl out of cobweb like lace. My extremely patient friend Kay helped me get it started. Though I LOVE making shawls, I hate starting them, so she got me on my way through the provisional cast on and the first few rows that were the most frustrating. I think I have 27 stitches on the needles now and am on like maybe the 8th row of the setup section of the chart.

Now I'm getting ready to dive into a bath of Lavendar and Chamomile.

Kindle 2

Where have I been? The new job has kept me hopping - busy, busy, busy in extreme crash learning mode.

But there's another thing that has snagged my time and attention of late and that is . . . . my new Kindle2. Here she is, and although we were a total blind date, since I'd never tried one or even seen one in person before buying, I have wanted one ever since the Kindle first came out, and when it arrived, it was love at first sight.


With the Kindle, you can download books instantly from Amazon thorugh their Whispernet technology, which is really fun. I love downloading the sample chapters of books to see if I'm going to like it before buying. I also love the free books that are available, many of the classics that I haven't read in far too long. Right now, I'm immersed in War and Peace alongside a Richard Bandler self help book called Get the Life You Want. He uses some sort of meditative, self-hypnotic exercises to move you into make changes in your mental and emotional life. Excellent.

Though I thought I'd really MISS the real page sensory experience of reading paper books, the Kindle is an experience in itself - very much like reading but better in some ways. More portable. Less expensive to download electronic books than to buy real ones. I sat cuddled up in my swinging porch chair today, reading my Kindle, and it reminded me of those carefree summer days in childhood when I sat in a tree swing and read.

This was a fun day - went to Lawrence, ate breakfast at Miltons with Bob, Emily and my Mom. We shopped around a little bit in the beautiful springlike weather - nice breeze. Read in my porch swing - knitted with the knitting girls. Then ate an absolutely delicous dinner with Bob at Bombay Palace, a new Indian restaurant in town. It was the most relaxing place - a real total sensory experience. We ended the meal by sharing mango ice cream and drinking hot chai tea.

Ah, nice day! And I am growing to love my Kindle2 more every day. But Bob's not TOO jealous yet.

2 At a Time Socks

Here we go again - I first bought this book early last Spring, and I tried and tried to learn Melissa Morgan-Oakes method of 2 Socks at Once using the Magic Loop method. This particular book is a cuff-down method - all her patterns are cuff down. The reason this method is so appealing is because I knit slowly, have a bit of the Second Sock Syndrome, since I'd ideally like to wear the socks immediately, without having to motiviate myself to do the sock mate. Another important part of wanting to work this way is the fact that I love to learn new things. Learning fresh techniques keeps the mind exercised and fresh. Keeps the thinking flexible and agile - which is important to me as a "woman of a certain age."


Opinions on the book? First let me say that I LOVE her concept. I love the patterns in the book. And I think it's the best $12.95 I ever spent on a knitting book. Hands down. However, the book is not without its challenges, mainly Errata galore. Be sure, if you buy this book, that you go download the Errata and save yourself a lot of frustration. Not only does it have more than it's share of errata, but unfortunately it sometimes affects key concepts. So I found the Errata, but even so, I found myself getting stuck on the heels. There is a Ravelry group that is dedicated to discussing this method, and I found their discussions tremendously helpful.

Even so, what has kicked me in the butt to try this method again is our Blue Springs Knitting Group which has started a sock Knitalong. We are all going to learn the Afterthought Heel technique together - and we're using different methods of making the socks. Several of us are learning this 2 Sock Magic Loop method, and Julie (Juliebug on Ravelry) is stepping me through this. I haven't gotten to the heel yet, so I'm still holding my breath, but now I have a real live in-person friendly knitter holding my hand through the process. That is making it more fun, and this time I'm determined to master the dang technique once and for all.