Morning Hodgepodge

My Aunt emailed me last night, and asked when I go to work.  I assure you, I do (a girl has to have money to buy yarn and art bits), but sometimes it’s a struggle.  The weekends are never long enough to do everything I want to do.  Here’s a little wrap up of some of the creative mess that took place in my house this weekend.  Mom, if you’re reading, it also explains why the house is going to be a frigging disaster little bit unorganized when you get here on Friday.

First off, spinning.  It’s never far from my heart.

This

is now two ounces of this funky thick and thin.

This was also a big yarn dyeing weekend in my house, as we had fall sweaters to dye for and I’m in the middle of working on a new little venture (you can see a sneak peak here although it isn’t operational yet).  The pink/purple/green yarn towards the front is the new superwash merino I’m working with and I confess to being totally in love with the way it sucks up the color (and the idea that I won’t have to worry about the little kids’ sweaters felting this year).

I’m especially happy with this sock
yarn, called Fate

and with this as-yet-unnamed (Miss Ellie can only work just so hard in any one weekend) bulky merino

While all the yarn was batching, I spent some time looking at patterns online, and stumbled across this incredibly wonderful blog, Saartje Knits.  In addition to being one of those blogs you could get lost inside of reading everything, Saartje has some great free patterns, including her bootees and a cool Noro hat pattern, both of which I printed out and want to start in on soon.

The ten week plan is marching on.   For those of you who asked, it’s a sort of embarrassing diet, but if you must know, I do the Suzanne Somers low carb variant.  I’ve been told it’s close to South Beach.  I like it because I can eat all the fruit I feel like I need to eat, and whole grain pasta and breads in moderate amounts.  Essentially, it steers me towards the foods I’m inclined to like the most.  Since I’m not a white bread kind of person, a couple of fresh veggies, a good salad, and meat as sort of a side dish suits me just fine.  For instance, tonight’s dinner is braised lamb shanks, spinach & roasted garlic, and caprese salad.  I’ll add on couscous for the kids.  Bed time snack will be a big dish of blueberries, fresh from the farmer’s market.  After I had Miss Ellie, and was hunting around for a way to take off baby weight, a friend on my Parents Place Pregnancy board suggested this diet and a bunch of us went on it together.  It worked great that time, and again after my fourth baby was born.  I’m hoping it’s also the cure for the onslaught of middle-aged sluggishness and excess tummy that is afflicting me.  The key for me seems to be getting off of sugar.

The Giotto tank is happy to have progressed it’s necessary one inch for the week.  I knit it while reflecting on the importance of taking time for oneself.  No pictures, but I’m a little bit nervous that I am noticing a proficiency with the moss stitch/ribbon yarn issue on this front side that is not evident on the back.  At least this first little bit is compact and even in a way that the back of the tank isn’t.  I’m hoping I won’t feel compelled to rip out the back and reknit it after I finish the front, because I really am hoping to wear this tank when my ten week plan is up!