New Crochet, New Diet, New Me

Well I've had some interesting things going on. I joined a place called swap-bot.com. This place is awesome. It's not just for crocheters, it's for all types of crafters. If you love any type of crafting & sharing your crafts, then this is the place for you. It's free to join, so that was a total plus for me. :) As a new member you are only allowed to join 5 swaps at a time. Well my first swap was a quickie one, and it was bookmarks. I had 2 partners that I had to make 3 bookmarks for each, and then mail them off by a certain deadline. So, I crocheted 6 bookmarks and they were cool. Then my bookmarks came in and my partners worked with paper, and omg, they were beautiful. I will get a pic of them as soon as possible and put it up on my flickr page. So now I look for bookmark swaps. This way, I can get any kinds and styles of bookmarks, and they are really nice. The only problem is, I don't know if I want to use them or just collect & protect them. :) My second swap was granny squares. Again 2 partners, but this time 4 squares each, and the colors were listed for this one, purple and white. Unfortunately, one of my partners only likes soft wool or 100% cotton, and I didn't have any of those colors in either type of yarn in my stash. So, I was gonna go shopping to get some, but we had a nasty storm. I was lucky my partner agreed to accept off white as I had some in my stash. I received 4 of my squares so far and am still waiting on the others. It's so exciting. You get to see what styles others like to make and you get presents in the mail.

I also joined a group for an ATC swap. I had no idea what an ATC was or how to make one :) but it was for Beltane and I really wanted to do it. So on to google I went in search of ATC. All I can say is WOW. For those that don't know, ATC stands for Artists Trading Cards. These cards are handmade by any type of artists, and the only rules on them is;
a) they must be 2.5 x 3.5,
b) they are created by you (thru the computer, hand painted, drawn, any way, etc)
c) they are never sold only traded with other artists.

So, I made my first ATC, and if I say so myself, which I am, it came out awesome. I will upload a pic of it on flickr page. I received mine and I love it, again uploading the pic later. I will make more ATC's, but I know I won't become addicted to them. HA suuure. LOL

So the next new thing for me to happen is I went to see a new arthritis doctor. I have been having so much trouble with my knees it's ridiculous. Well this guy tells me after looking at my x-rays that the only thing left for my right knee is to replace it. He's not the first to tell me this, and he even showed me the x-rays and explained them out to me really good, even this old broad understood. He must speak old broad, LOL, or is it dumb broad. Whatever. My left knee is just starting to erode away. To help with that he recommended sinvisk. I've had that before for my right knee and it does help. It will work anywhere from 6 mos. to a year. So, between that and the injections of cortisone, I will be fine. But the right knee needs replacement as soon as possible. Only problem is, I need to lose 20 lbs. because of health risk factors. I know I'm overweight and I have tried losing weight even tried those stupid pills and stuff. I can't really exercise because of my knees so it makes it tuff for me. He recommended weight watchers or the local hospitals nutritionist.

Well those are out. First weight watchers is $65 to join for 3 mos. Way out of my league. And going to a nutritionist weekly or whatever is out, as I hate to leave the house. It's not that I'm lazy, I just don't like to go out. So, on to google I went and searched diets. About.com has way tons of info. Between that and all that google pulled up, I have a page that tells me what amount of calories I am supposed to eat each day even without exercise. I guess when you exercise you get to eat more. LOL Good incentive.

I also learned a while back that eating 6 times a day small meals and snacks will help. So, I created a type of diet just for me. I eat about 6 or 7 small things a day. I had a problem with drinking cans of sprite everyday because I have a overactive bladder and water made me have to go more. But at 140 calories per soda, I have cut myself down to one can of sprite a day, and water, 0 calories, all the rest of the time to drink.

I also know that even though I have a long term goal, I had to break it down to small goals as well. If all I had was the long term goal, and that is 90 lbs total, for 11 mos to 1 year, I would get discouraged because of the length of time. So, if I break it up into smaller pounds and smaller time frames I will have a better chance at success. Like, 8 - 10 lbs per month. Even smaller would be 1 -2 lbs per week. Now I also know there will be weeks where I will lose more, and weeks where I will lose less. But because I know this ahead of time, I won't get as discouraged. Or at least I hope I won't. And I also know that the beginning of this diet I will lose more and quicker, and then I will stabalize and lose slower. But that's ok too, cause one of my goals is to get more energy to at least walk a few times a week. I know because of my knees I have to go short distances and not too fast, but I can do it. Google has a pedometer map that will actually help me map out a walking plan for myself. Way cool.

So all in all on the right side of this screen where I keep track of my crocheting, I will also keep track with my major goal, and all my broken down smaller goals. This way I can actually see my progress. Now even after I lose that 20 lbs for the doctor to do the surgery, I ain't gonna let him touch my knee until late fall. No way am I gonna be unable to go swimming, or what have you for the summer.

So if anyone reads this besides me, and you want some, if not all of the info on swap-bot or my dieting, or a buddy to diet with, drop me a line I'll be glad to share all info with you and I wouldn't mind having a buddy or two to help keep the hungries away. :)

Well by for now. OH and Happy St. Patricks day to all.

What Crafty things have I been doing?

For the past month or two, I have been working slowly on Tiff's place mat set. This set consists of 14 squares each mat made from # 3 thread. The squares are finished all that's left is to put then together. The design is called Christmas place mats, but instead of making them in red and green, I am using the colors to her kitchen, red and black. Also, I won't be putting in the ribbon to make it look like a wrapped package. I decided to fix the slippers, after I take a pic of them, I will be pulling them apart and redoing the soles. I'm also working on a pair of cottage sox, one done and one to go. I'm making myself a granny square coat. This is a pattern I purchased from Maggies Crochet. I am doing it in red, purple, and black chenille. Oh feels so soft. I just joined a group called Swapbot.com seems like a fun thing to do.

I have been reading a lot lately. I have a very mixed genre of books that I like. I love reading books in series. Here is a list of writers and the series that I read:

Laurell K. Hamilton ---------------------------- Marjorie M. Liu
Anita Blake Series ------------------------------Dirk & Steele
Merridith Gentry Series

Kelley Armstrong -------------------------------Lilith Saintcrow
Women of the Otherworld-----------------------Jill Kismet series

Keri Arthur------------------------------------- Kim Harrison
Riley Jenson Guardian series--------------------Rachel Morgan Series

Christeen Feehan--------------------------------Nora Roberts
Dark Series --------------------------------------the Hollow Series
Shadow Walker
Drake Sisters------------------------------------ Rebecca York
Leopard Series-----------------------------------Moon Series

Other Authors
John Sandford, James Patterson, Patricia Cornwell, Sue Grafton

As you can see, I love to read. That's why I belong to paperbackswap.com. I trade books with other readers. I am all caught up on my series that I am constantly searching for new ones to read. So it's safe to say, if I'm not crocheting, I'm reading. :)

Well that's it for an update, gotta go cook dinner for DH.

What have I been up too!!!

Wow look at this, I'm back here sooner than I usually am. LOL Oh I have been having fun entering contests. It's the bloggy carnival, gets me every time. The best part is that I get to see other bloggers sites, read some new stuff and try and find like minded people. I love the Internet, it connects with so many people and so many new things.

I haven't been crocheting much as my hands have been bothering me. Have been bad too, haven't been going to photo-therapy. Not really all my fault though, the car was broke. In fact hubby finally fixed it yesterday. Also haven't started our Tai Chi classes yet, for the same reason. But we're going tonight.

Getting 2 new computer screens. 19" LCD flat screens. As I said in my last post my 17" LCD flat screen died. So because I love to shop on ebay, (I really have a problem buying on there all the time), I went and purchased the 2 new screens. Got a great price and the seller is sending them free shipping through FedEx. I got 2 cause DH wanted one as well. His screen is a 13" fat Dell.

I said in my last post that my BF is prego. Well, we were all at cards Friday night, we play texas hold em, and she was laying on the bed with her son, Brae, (she had just changed his diaper and got him in his pj's), when my grandson, AJ, went in and started wrestling with Brae. I told him to be careful of Beth and asked if he knew why. He's only 3, but a smart cookie. He said yea she has a baby in her belly. Then he proceeded to ask her if she knew if it was a boy or girl. She told him she didn't know yet. He says if it's a girl I won't play with her, but if it's a boy I will. So cute. There are 5 couples, Mark & Michelle, Bubba & Paula, Beth & Mike, Dave & me, and my daughter, Tiffany, (her DH works), that play. Along with this group is 6 kidz. Amanda (7) & Kristen (5) belong to M&M, Lexia (5) belongs to B&P, Braeden (1) belongs to B&M, and Tatiana (6) & AJ (3) belong to Tiff. As you can see AJ and Brae are the only boys. Well Brae is only one and can't play the same as the others cause he's a baby. So when the other kidz play, the girls say things like, lets play the girls against the boys. So not fair. Poor AJ gets left in the cold. For the longest time he would do mean things to the girls, like hit, pull hair and such because they always teased him. But then they'd come and tell the grown-ups and AJ would get punished. He wizened up to that a bit. He will go off and play on his own. Besides, I told all the girls the if they tease AJ and then come and tattle, then Tatiana was not going over any more, and I would be very upset. All the kidz love me. So, no one teases him anymore.

Well, enough for today. I am off to play POGO.
Blessings

past the holiday blues & into the freezing new year

Wow, it's been a while since I wrote here. With the holidays and all the work I was doing trying to get all of my items crocheted, and dealing with some health issues was so hectic. I crocheted quite a few things and guess what? I forgot to take pics of any of them. DUH. I was so excited that I had finished everything that I totally forgot the pics. Sometimes I can be a real airhead. :)

Today my monitor decided to croak. I had a nice lcd 17" flat screen and now it's gone. It decided to just up and die. I was so mad until I looked at the sticker on it that told me she was 10 yrs old. So, I realized I got a good amount of time out of her and now I can upgrade to a larger screen. But until I get my new monitor, I am stuck using my daughter's Dell fat 13". What a difference. This thing is huge and takes over my whole desk, goes right to the edge, and man is the screen small. Makes me really think I'm going blind. LOL.

The first project I decided to make for the new year was a pair of slippers for myself. HA HA did they come out funny looking. When I get a chance to take a pic, I will definitely be putting it up, just so I can laugh at myself. Then I made DH a ski mask hat. LOL that's a little funny looking too. I didn't compensate for using thick wool, I wanted to keep him warm, and it came out looking like a helmet from the day when men wore suits of armor. LOL He likes it any way. Gosh, nothing like starting the new year out laughing at myself.

I am now working on a butterfly shawl for myself from a pattern from the 70's. Taking my time on that cause I really don't feel like laughing over this one. :) I am also working on finishing up all the WIP's that I have lying around. I have 3 mittens missing their mates, a hooded scarf missing it's hood, a granny square afghan that just needs to be put together and it has been waiting for about 7 yrs now, and 2 slippers missing their mates. I think I'll also be working on a pair of sox, and something in thread. I like to do thread and yarn projects at the same time, this way my eyes don't go googly and my hands don't hurt too much.

Just found out, or I should say I guessed, my best friend is pregnant again. YAY. I just hope she has a girl this time. She has a little boy, Braedan, and he will be 1 on Feb. 9th. He is my little sweetie. But I really want to crochet some little girly clothes. I mean I make things for him and my two grandkids, Tatiana 6, and Ashton 3, but a baby girl would be so much fun. I am having fun searching out and making awesome little girl dresses, skirts, pants, tops, and such for Tati, and she loves it all. I made both grandkids a pair of mittens with a matching scarf just after Christmas, but Tati says she can't wear her mittens because they have holes in them. LOL. I tried to explain that those aren't holes just the way the stitches are made. She is just too cute.

Went to the knee doctor last month for him to look at my baker cyst and he didn't even look at that. NOOOOO, he said "oh look at that, both knees need to be drained of fluid" and then he never numbed it just jammed them needles into my knees, drained them, then shot them up with cortisone. Let me tell you, when in pain, I have a dirty, loud mouth. I screamed a nasty word, begins with F, in his office and he had a waiting room full of people. Then he told me I'll be walking like a 16 year old. Well, he was wrong. I still walk like I have a load of crap in my pants. LOL. He is expecting me back next month to do it again. NOT. I also started photo therapy for my Lichen Planus. I said cool free tanning. They make me cover my face. Some tan huh. My regular doctor thinks I'm in the early stages of COPD. I need to quit smoking, I tried, it's not an easy thing to do. I have not only an additction to nicotene I have an addiction to menthol. Someone told me that when I try again to suck on menthol cough drops. I just might do that as I didnt' do that last time.

DH and I started taking Tai Chi. Our goal is to become more flexible. I also think this will help me with my meditating. We did a 10 min trial and it definitely seems like this is perfect for us. We actually start this coming Tuesday. I'm psyched up for it. I hope we get the results we're both looking for. One of my new year resolutions was to lose weight, get physically more fit, and start eating healthier. This is step one, step two is using the dvd "no crunch abs", and step three is the food thing. That will be the hardest as we like to eat what ever we want. But now our bodies don't seem to digest like it used to. Ahhh getting old sux. :)

Well, that's it for today. I am gonna get the family members to take pics of their Christmas gifts that I made and email them to me so I can put them up in my flikr.

So, Blessings to you all, may you walk in the light.

crocheting, fall, life

Been a long time since I've written. So today I thought I'd catch up on all that I'm doing, and have been doing since August. Let's see, I've crocheted a gorgeous baby blanket for my daughter's sister-in-law, (forgot to take a picture) as usual. It's just a plain old mile-a-minute in blues, cause we know she's having a boy. I was working on the gorgeous Blessed mother shawl by Kim Guzman. This shawl is gorgeous and it's made in filet. I've only made one other thing in filet crochet and that was a bookmark. This shawl was, and is a challenge to me as I've had to learn to read the chart. There are no instructions on how to do it, just a chart to follow. Well, I wrote it out in a sort of short hand for myself and was almost done when my husband said it looked funny. So, I examined it closely and he was right. I had the lips going out, instead of in. So, I re-examined my written out instructions and I was off by stitches. I frogged it all the way down to the fourth row, (there are 93 rows). I sat with a magnifying glass and rewrote all the instructions again, after I color coded each row. Now I'm happily back to crocheting it and am on row 15. I will definitely take a picture and post it when I'm done.

I'm also working on finishing a shawl that I started last year for Christmas for my mother-in-law. I ran out of yarn and there was no way I could afford to pay $15 a skein to get more. Money is tight for us as well as many others. So, I was shopping in Job Lot the other day and lo and behold there was the yarn I needed for $5. I bought 3, even though I only needed 1. You never know. So that'll be done for this year as well.

I've been so lucky this summer with finding tons of yarn at the Flea Market near me. I made my mother a great set of placemats and coaster that needed to be trimmed in lace. I found the lace at the flea market for $1. This was a roll that originally sold for $2.99 per yard and here I got 10 yards for a buck. I also got many colors of yarns and lily thread to make more sets for all the women in the family. My stash has grown so big, I had to reorganize a whole room to store it all. I have it all computerized as well so I always know what I have, how much I have, and if I need more. I know, I'm a list freak. :)

So pretty much, for the past two months all I've been doing is living and crocheting. Pretty boring to most, but what can I say, I'm housebound.


It's November now and getting mighty chilly out here. Not too sure how that makes me feel. I mean everything is dying now and that part makes me sad. The fall colors are beautiful, but you can smell the death of the earth in the air. Snow is not too far off, I can feel that in my bones. When I think of snow, I think of sitting by a fire all wrapped up, and crocheting, or reading a really good book. Unfortunately for me, if I was near a fire, I'd be complaining that I was too hot. And all wrapped up, totally out of the question. I am one of those people, (OK, maybe I am the only one), who wears tank tops all year long. I'm always hot. If I am ever cold, then look out, something's really wrong.

Well it's lunch time, and I have to eat and get ready for a doctors appointment so, gotta run. I hope I don't wait to long to write in this blog again. And, I hope the next time I do, I'll have something to show for all my hanging around.

Summers over and time to get Crocheting

I can't believe that summer is over. It feels like it just flew by. We went on vacation the next to last week of August and it was nice. I enjoyed the fact that I was at the beach all week, but having the grandkids around that time was crazy. I think next year I will talk David into taking a week by ourselves. I think it would be much more relaxing for both of us. I got an awesome tan though, LOL. I took something to crochet with me, but never got the chance to do any.

Well, I am getting ready for Christmas, as in making my lists of items to crochet for everyone. I decided this year that I would make one bigh special gift for one person, and lots of little gifts for everyone else. This way I am not over doing myself and trying to do the impossibel. So, I chose my mom as my first big gift receiver, adn for her I am making the Blessed mother shawl by Kim Guzman. you can see a picture of it here: http://kimguzman.bravejournal.com/entry/20024 unfortunately the only way to get the pattern is to purchase it from someone else. My mom is a devout christian and I thought I would make this the same way a prayer shawl is made. I will sort of pray over it as I make it. I will put love, strength, health, and well being into it. As you can see by my blog I am not a christian, but my mom doesn't hold that against me. She's pretty cool about it, always asking questions, and comparing our religious beliefs. She will even send me and email that is religious in content and tell me to substitute the word "God" for whatever feels right to me. I truly love her for that.

For the rest of my family and friends I have decided all the women, (my 2 daughters, and 4 girl friends) will get kitchen & bath sets, and a hat & scarf set. Mom will get a kitchen & bath set as well. My grandchildren, Tati, will get doll clothes, and AJ will get a cowboy outfit, along with scarfs, hats and mittens. Now 2 of my girl friends have daughters that play with Tati, there are 3 of them and they will all get hat, scarf, & mitten sets. My other 2 girl friends, (one being my best friend) have sons. There are 3 of them as well. Twin boys, and my sweetie Braeden. the twins are 15 months old and Brae is 7 months old. for them, I will make a sweater set. Something cutesy. For the men, Hats, scarfs and hopefully sox. On my side bar I will have a meter that will show my progress as each item is completed. I think this will help me so that I don't get too overwhelmed. I have almost 4 months to complete all of this and I believe I can.

On my last post I talked about how much I loved making my top. Well, I have since then set it aside with the idea that I will work on it again after the holidays. I will frogg it and re-make it. If for some reason I can't, then it will be frogged a final time and I will use the yarn for something else. It will only mean that this top was not meant for me.

I am going to the Doc's next week and I am going to get answers to some questions I have. I was recently diagnosed with Lichen Planus it is a rare skin disease and they think it's linked to meds I have taken, but they aren't sure. I gave up my arthritus meds to help this go away, and that did not help me. I need some kind of arthritus medicine to help me. I am getting worse and can't stand it. It can take up to 2 years for this rash to go away. I'll tell you, it sux. I also have concerns about pre-diabetes. I know that is runs in my family and I have noticed some really strong changes that tip toward this. I also want the doctor to test my thyroid. Just precautionary, but my daughter has a slow thyroid and where I can't seem to lose weight even with diet and exercise somethings up. And the last thing, is I need to contact my knee doctor. I want my cortisone shots in my knees again. I can't stand the fact that I can hardly walk anymore.

Well until another day
Blessings to you all

AAAAHHHHHH Crocheting clothes SUCK

Last time I wrote, I mentioned how I was making the "light & lively top" from Lion Brand. It is such an easy top to make. YEAH RIGHT. I am now giving up on it, and I will be ripping it out again, and this makes, what, the fourth time. I thought I did everything right. There are no mistakes in the stitches, everything looks perfect, and I only have a few more rows to go to finish it before adding the straps. Well, last night I decided to sort of try it on. It's too freaking big. Go figure. I even went with a smaller size down than what I am. I measured, and re-measured and followed the instructions, and the top is way too big. I don't understand. The yarn I am using doesn't stretch all that much, so that's not it. But this thing is not just a little too big, it's like 6 - 8 inches around too big. I don't know if there is a way to fix it besides ripping it out and starting over. I so wanted to wear this next saturday. So now I will just work on something else. I have way too many items I have to make for the holidays, that I can't keep playing around with this stupid top.

I think because of my frustration, I am going to make a few small items before I get into anything big. I mean, I need to feel like I've completed something. Maybe when the winter sets in, I can go back and re-figure, and re-crochet the top again. You'd think I wouldn't have so much trouble with clothes, because I can make Barbie clothes. I mean Barbie clothes are tiny, and people clothes are big. Same difference, right?

In fact I will be making some Barbie clothes for my granddaughter, Tatiana, for her birthday coming up, on August 5th. I also got some patterns to make Barbie furniture, so I think I will make some of those also. Maybe some regular doll clothes also. These are small items and I will at least feel like I've accomplished something.

While I was thinking about that stupid top, (that's all I do think about now), I came up with some ideas on making some other tops for myself. These will be my own design, so if they come out crummy or not at all, then I have no one to blame but myself. But in my head, they seem easy, so I'll give them a go after I get the holiday stuff done.

Well, I'm off to try and make something. I can't get this top out of my head.
Ciao for now