Finishing (or Why It Has Taken Me So Long To Post)

I've been busily working away on some projects, getting some done, getting others started. I kept promising myself that I would update just as soon as I'd finished (fill in project here). Problem is, I would finish one and see how close I was to finishing another, or start "just a quick project" that I would decide I needed to finish and photograph before posting.

Well, no more. I'm not finished with everything. Not even things that are Really Very Close to Being Done got completed. But, here's what I have finished.

Having decided to read 52 books this year (I'm currently at 27 read), here are 3 of my most recent reads:
Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodrigez. A very engaging story of the aid work one American beautician did in Afghanistan.

American Gods and Anansi Boys both by Neil Gaiman. Having heard a lot of praise for Neil Gaiman and "anything he writes", I decided to check things out for myself. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the books were as good as the hype.


As for my knitting, I've finished a few UFO's that have been OTN for too long:

This stole is "Serendipity" from the Mystery Stole 4 KAL.
It took me so long to finish for 2 reasons. 1)I ran out of yarn, and had to spin some more to finish it. Of course, I flubbed on the guage a bit, hence the darker area near the center. 2)The Drama. There was a big hullaballoo when the final clue was released, and I have to admit that spoiled the project for me for a while. Not the clue, not the pattern, just the way that the "discussion" went down. That said, I do like this stole a lot, and am looking forward to wearing it. And yes, I do have a place to wear it.


Next up we have La Luz.
I'd finished the knitting portion of this nearly a year ago. I had the lining all cut out and the materials I used to fill it. And yet, it just sat there, lonely and abandoned on a shelf, waiting for me to complete it.

It is done now, though, and I LOVE using it. I stuffed it with flax seed and lavendar and it feels and smells so lovely when warmed in the microwave for a few seconds. I can't believe I waited so long to finish it.

Finally we have the Lines 'N' Vines Cardigan. I REALLY dislike the way this turned out. I'm not quite sure what I did wrong on the knitting, but it doesn't seem to be quite even on both sides. Which is wierd because it was the same needles, same yarn, same guage, and same number of rows. And of course, the lumpiness of the wearer doesn't help. I believe I will simply harvest the buttons (which are wonderful) and toss the rest.

Not pictured, but also completed, is some bamboo roving that I was spinning into laceweight singles for a friend. I am relieved to have it done, but am having a hard time decideding what to spin next.

My works-in-progress include:

•A bamboo clutch purse that is knitted, but waiting for me to sew in the lining.
•A felted purse that is also waiting for a lining, and a bit of sewing detail.
•The Galveston Shawl which got put into time out when I realized I had flubbed about 15 stitches of the pattern, 2 rounds down. I can't decided whether to just drop and repair those stitches or tink back a couple of rounds. The dropping is the most appealing option, as each round is currently several hundred stitches (I've not got the actual count, but I believe it is in the neighborhood of 800).
•A new pair of felted clogs for Jordan, since his last pair are completely destroyed. I swear that boy is harder on shoes than anyone I know - including me!
•And another secret project that I can tell nothing about except that I'm doing a secret project. I can't wait 'til I'm able to finally start sharing about my secret projects; I'm so excited and happy about them.

The weigh down challenge is not going well, I'm afraid. I reinjured my knee by trying to do too much too soon, and have been somewhat out of commission for a while now. I am, however, finally mended enough to get rolling again on the exercise and am looking forward to finally seeing some progress. Some neat tools I've found to help me along my way:
The Daily Plate (this is the one I find to be the most helpful)
Calorie Counter Database
Nutrition Data

Onward and upward!

Weigh Down Challenge

My delightful sister is getting married in a few weeks (Woo Hoo!!!) and I've decided that this makes for an excellent deadline to do a weigh down challenge. Over the next few weeks, through a healthy diet and exercise, I will be striving to lose 20 lbs. Each Friday I'll be doing a weigh in to keep track of my progress. Wish me luck!

Spring in the Desert

So many people seem to have this picture in their minds of the desert as a burning wasteland, with, maybe, an occasional cactus. Perhaps there is a desert somewhere that fits that stereotype, but here in the Sonoran desert, there is so much more. Especially in spring.

There is Texas Sage with its pretty purple flowers

Ruellia "Katie" has lovely purple blooms as well

Palo Verde trees, with their yellow blooms and green trunks

*Rant 1: Though not in this picture, there are lamps that line the sidewalk you see in the above picture. They help to provide safe usage of the area regardless of the time of use. Parents, before you turn your children (or yourselves!) loose with a BB gun, make sure you let them know that lights such as this are not for target practice. The loss of light, as well as the broken glass debris create a safety hazard where none need be. And lest you think I'm randomly singling out BB gun owners, the perpetrators left little copper BBs in the debris. /rant

Red yucca (and some seemingly indestructible weeds)


Fairy dusters that are always in bloom

Ocotillo, with their bright orange blooms and sharp spines

Bougainvillea's beautiful pink "blooms" (they're not true flowers)

Oleander, too.

Anything but barren, don't you think?

And finally a gratuitous shot of my walking and photo shoot companion, Gypsy.

*Rant 2: If you're going to bring your dog with you on walks, be responsible and PICK UP AFTER THEM! Nobody else wants the presents they leave behind. /rant

Miscellany

Among my New Year's resolutions this year was getting fit. I haven't usually been a fan of exercise, at least if it feels like exercise, but I'd started walking and found myself enjoying it a lot. So when we got back from Utah, I stepped up my walk to 8 mi./day. I LOVED it. My family, not so much -- they disliked the amount of time it took me away from home. I'd planned on starting interval training (i.e. Couch to 5K), and, having found a podcast that went with it, decided to start.

Day 1: Super Easy (seriously, after 8 mi. walks how could 2 mi. intervals not be easy?!)

Because of this, I didn't take the next day off and so,

Day 2: Super Easy ---- Until I injured my knee.

Thinking this was not a good thing and that perhaps taking a day or two off would be wise, I did just that -- I took 2 days off. Since my knee was feeling better, though not totally healed, I decided I would do Day 3, but power walking instead of jogging. Bad idea. Bad, bad idea. Two weeks later I'm in the doctor's office having him tell me my knee is deranged (yes, he really did say that!), that I need to see a specialist because he suspects an injury that may require surgery to fix, and on crutches for the foreseeable future. Did I mention that Day 3 was a bad idea? Of course, I'm sure 2 weeks of pretending that it wasn't really injured didn't help either, but we're just going to ignore that. *Sigh* You may feel free to join with me in hoping that staying off of it and taking anti-inflammatory drugs will make it magically go away on its own. :)

In other news, we decided to upgrade the operating system for our computer. Turns out we also had to upgrade the memory. ($cha-ching$) Thanks to that little adventure, I now know that there are 2 types of RAM on my computer, and how to replace them. This was not something I'd had a burning desire to learn, but I find myself pleased by it anyway. Then I installed the new OS. Unfortunately, my hard drive is full with stuff that I know nothing about, the new and old OSs have programs on them that are not compatible, I can't get the entire new OS to load, and now many programs are just not working. Isn't it simply fabulous how much easier technology has made our lives?? And so, there will be no new photos until I can figure out how to make everything work because, one of those programs that's not working is my photo program. (Note to self: Add "become computer guru in less than 1 week" to to-do list.)

I've been knitting and spinning like a fiend, but don't have much in the way of finished objects to show for it. Mostly because they are all big projects, and I have apparently contracted knitting ADD (having a total of I-don't-even-know-how-many projects currently in process). I'm sure that the fact that I've read a total of 16 books this month, with another 4 that I'm currently enjoying has nothing to do with it. Ah, well. Maybe I'll add "Give up sleeping" to my list of New Year's resolutions. Then again, maybe not.