Funny thing the Boy said:

“Mommy, did you cut your hand on a dog?” (referring to my now mostly healed dog bitten hands)

Knitting update:

Yesterday, Monday, was a super fun day for me. I went to Chris’s place to spend a lovely, peaceful afternoon knitting. She knits like the wind!! I finished the heel and got an inch done on the cuff, while she knitted 12 or 13 baby bibs (slight exaggeration). Muchly inspired me to practice up on Continental as soon as I finish Dickinson Pullover. The kitties were so beautiful in person and it was quite nice to see them in their natural habitat. Chaos didn’t appreciate the Aretha Franklin and Rolling Stones ringtones on my cell. I got to see the Mayhem/Goldfish fun, too. Mayhem reminded me so much of my beautiful kitty, Babu. Really made me miss having a cat that likes hanging out with us. We have a cat, he just never wants to hang out upstairs with us. Anyhoo, I was a very bad blogger and didn’t bring my camera or anything.

Dickinson Pullover : Front, back and now one sleeve finished. Second sleeve, sewing up, and neckline to do. This project has definitely reached the “when will it all be over stage?” I’ve got about 1.5 inches done on the second sleeve.

Jungle Juggle Socks: Heel turned on first sock. Half way up the cuff. Going slow, but the yarn is a total dream to knit with.

Forest Plains: No progress to report. I still need to skein up the formerly kinky yarn.

Sorry for the crappy knitting pics. It’s evening here, but if I’d waited for the good daylight, I’d never get anything posted.

Knitting night: Held at Cafe Bene in St. Paul and I had a blast. We discussed a group yarn crawl, saying how fun it would be for 10 of us to descend on several different stores just to see their faces. It was even funnier when Theresa suggested we all dress as zombies for the event. So, you know, if you see zombies invading your local yarn store, don’t be afraid. It’s only us. Actually, be afraid. After all, it’s us.

Last night the Boy was sitting on the couch with me to read books right before bed. He was wearing a diaper only and I asked him if he wanted pajamas so he wouldn’t be cold. He said, “No, I want your shawl.” My shawl = my Clapotis. My beloved silk and wool Clapotis. I let him wear it sometimes, so I got it for him and wrapped it around him while he snuggled up to me on the couch. Cute, huh? Yeah, cute until I realized he meant to take it to bed with him. Down that road lies disaster for me and my beloved Clapotis. I know how this stuff works…let him form a sleeping attachment to it, and before you know it, it’ll be his blankie. My most expensive yarn I’d ever bought (at least at that time), took forever to knit Clapotis - morphed into a security blanket. It is to weep…so being the kind and benevolent mommy I am, I set him straight post haste. No, I didn’t rip it out of his sleepy little fingers…I wanted to, but I didn’t. I told him flat out that this night was the one and only time he’d be bringing my Clapotis to bed. Not tomorrow, not the night after, not ever again. “Just tonight?”, he says with big eyes. And I looked right back into those eyes … and told him, “Yes, just tonight”. You have to draw the line somewhere on this selfless sacrificing parent stuff, and I’m drawing it here. My Clapotis. Mine. Mine. Mine.

the Rock Star took him to Edinbourough Park this weekend and they had a ton of fun. Here’s a couple pics.

Knitting update:

Done!!

Fetzensocks, started August 28th, 2007, finished October 9th, 2007
Pattern: Fetzensocks from the Sockamaniac Yahoo Group. I converted it to toe up and did my usual CTH toes and heels.
Yarn: Lisa Souza Pumpkin
Pattern Notes: The pattern itself was fine, but my ability to keep track of where I was, was horrible and I had to unknit rows several times. I just never got into a rhythm.

I’ve officially put the LFFCS/BOBA in hibernation. Since the broken cable incident, I haven’t had the heart to pick it up again.

Dickenson Pullover:

Finished the back:

Started the front:

You can see from this picture how far I’ve gotten on the front. Only about 3 more inches til the armhole/v-neck decreases.

New technique:
Taught myself how to cable without a cable needle. Wendy’s excellent instructions and pictures are here. I highly recommend this technique. So much faster and less fiddly.

Started:

Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport Forest. Nothing fancy here, just a plain stockinette sock with my usual CTH toes and heels.

Socks done before I started blogging again:

Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Gold Hill. Feather and Fan pattern from Wendy (link opens a pdf file). These have been sitting in my “need to change something pile” for a long time. The first sock I knit a plain stockinette rolled edge for the cuff and the second sock I did picot on the cuff. I like the picot better and kept meaning to go back, tear out the cuff on the first sock and redo in picot. Today I finally decided, I’m never going to get around to so fuck it. That’s why you can’t see the whole sock in pic. I covered the cuffs with my pants. Short row heels. Too snug, but wearable. I need gussets. Can’t remember how I did my toes, but I do know I knit these toe up. The feather and fan cuff is really pretty and I love it.

I bought the yarn on eBay. I love it. It’s soft and pink! A fun pink. A cheer me up pink. I’m wearing them right now and the happy pinkness of them is helping me survive this day. Toe up, short row heels. Don’t fit great, but are wearable and comfy. I’m not sure if they are superwash wool or not…I guess I’ll find out the first time I accidentally mix them in with the regular laundry.

New Yarn:

Knitpicks Panache, 12 skanks each of Coal (the Black) and Dusk (the Blue). Panache is being discontinued, so I snagged a bunch.

It has been a really rough week, but things are looking a little better. My little dog Rupert is getting old, and her back legs just don’t work that well. The right one doesn’t work at all. With the left one weakening, she’s been having a harder and harder time getting around. I just felt like the deterioration was more pronounced last week so Friday I went to have her checked out. As expected, the vet gave me no hope for her legs to ever get better. In fact, when I said I’d begun to prepare myself for the end, he said that was probably a good idea. oooof, *stomach kick*.

Friday night she was so bad off, I was absolutely sure I’d be taking her in to be euthanized on Saturday…but by Saturday morning she was doing better. She’s on a new pain medication, and it seems to be helping her a lot. She still can’t use the right back leg, but the left is doing it’s job better. It’s Sunday now, and she is as good as she was 2 weeks ago, which isn’t great, but better than she was last week…so, it’s not time to give her up yet. I know it’s coming soon, but I have some time left with her.

Today we worked on our 2006 taxes. Yup, we’re that far behind…but I took a chunk out of what needed to be done.

Later in the day, I drove the Boy with me to drop off a doggie and to pick up some cat litter and dog treats. He fell asleep in the car so I got about an hour of knitting in. Check this out:

See the rain on the windshield? It was just pouring down. The rain sound was quite nice. I’d have preferred a big easy chair and a steaming mug of coffee…but it was still very nice.

Knitting. Hmmmm…look how much difference one needle size is making:

The one on the bottom is the one I’m knitting now. On top is the one that my gauge was off on. I’m actually feeling pretty glad I started over! I think this is going to be much nicer.

Same concept, different angle:

Notice the helping hands. That photo is the last one of my handy little tape measure before it was heinously tortured to death by those “adorable” little hands. This supposedly sweet little boy did wantonly and viciously stretch that innocent tape measure so far out of its container that it broke, and now won’t go back in. *sad* It’s a horrible thing when toddlers go bad.

Well, I’ve started over.

I’m sure I’m breaking some cardinal rule of knitting, but frogging the 17 inches and rewinding the yarn made me feel pukey, so I’m just knitting right off the dead part. I cast on directly from the part I’m ripping out and just frog as I knit. It sits in my lap and my knitting bag so nicely.

Do-overs are a bitch.

Our neighbor gave the Boy a pumpkin. Do you think he likes it much?

We got trouble, right here in knittin’ city, my friends. Trouble with a capital G, and that stands for gauge!

I think I may have to start all over on my Dickenson Pullover. I did knit the gauge swatch, but figured it was ok when it came out a quarter to a half inch to short. I was anxious to start knitting, so I told myself the sweater would be a bit snugger than on the model, and that’d be ok. Well, snugger IS ok, but it’s turning out to be quite form-fitting. My unblocked, unstretched work so far measures about 16 in. across. Extrapolating from that, the whole sweater will be only about 32 inches around. My bust is 38 inches and my waist is 34. Unless, I stretch/block it out wide every time I wash it…it’ll be quite snug. Snug can be good, but clearly this sweater is designed to be loose fitting.

I’m so stuck. I’m sort of having a hard time facing facts that I’ll have to start over. And it hurts to have wasted an entire weekend of knitting. Especially because I should have taken my time and knit the swatch a few times with different size needles, doing it right from the start. *sigh* Moral support will be muchly appreciated.

The second Fetzensock is coming along nicely. I’m past the heel and working on the cuff, so it won’t be long til these socks are ready for the fork! Next socks? Dunno. I have some Wollmeise (Lowenzahn) coming from The Loopy Ewe. I’m desperate to knit Bellatrix…but I’m holding out for Wollmeise Poison #5. It’s hard to get a hold of, but I have patience…wait a minute…no I don’t!!

Did I ever show you my Clapotis? I finished it more than a year ago when I wasn’t blogging so it never made it up here til now.

Brooks Farm Fourplay in Varsity. It’s yummy!!!

We had a really great time on our camping trip. The drive there was easy and I got lots of knitting done. The campsites at Sibley State Park smallish, but we found a nice one and set up. We were putting up our tent around 6:00 pm. As we were unpacking the dry box we started making a list of all the things we forgot. We always forget lots of things. Every camping trip we drive to the campground on Friday night, set up, spend half of Saturday in the nearest town buying all the stuff we forgot, then pack up on Sunday morning and drive home leisurely. We resolved this time, that we’d just make do. No trips to town. mm-hmmm, right. That plan lasted til we figured out we’d left some crucial prescription drugs at home. *sigh*

After the roaring campfire turned to coals, we put a couple racks of ribs on. mmmmm, I just love ribs for dinner when we’re camping. We let the Boy set his own bedtime on camping trips. Whenever he’s sleepy enough, he just lets us know and we help him get snuggled into his sleeping bag. This time the Rock Star had purchased a new pad for my sleeping bag. It’s about twice as thick as the thermarest I’ve been using. It was super comfy but Ididn’t sleep all that well, cuz the meds I left behind were my sleeping pills. The next night I slept like a rock, though.

Boy Pics:

I knit every possible moment. I absolutely love knitting by firelight. I have a very nice headlamp called a Petzl. It works great!! I always bring a supply of charged up rechargeable batteries and between that and the firelight, and even a bit of help from the nearly full moon, I can see just fine for knitting.

I worked on the Dickenson Pullover the entire weekend. I got about 12 inches of the back done. It’s turning out great!! But. There’s always a but. My gauge is way off, so the sweater is knitting up small. I’m actually ok with that. It’s big and baggy on the model, and I think I’ll like it closer to form fitting. This is my first serious cable project. At first I had a hard time figuring out how to keep track of all the different pattern repeats, but once I figured it out it was easy. The work is immensely satisfying!

Here’s what I have so far:

That color isn’t really accurate, but it was the nicest picture. Here’s one of the main cable section:

Here’s me eating breakfast, notice the knitting bag within reach:

I’ve cast on for the Dickenson Pullover in Interweave Knits Fall 2007. My first sweater for me. I think I have the gauge thing figured out. I cast on 5 selvedge stitches, then 62 for the cable pattern, and 5 more selvedge stitches, then knit for 15 rows. Put the swatch on the broken 60 in cable and soaked it. (didn’t want to use one of my good cables). I laid it out to dry and the next morning measured the 62 stitches in the middle, hoping for 10 inches. It came pretty close, so I’m casting on for the 40 in finished measurement and it’ll be a bit smaller than that, and that’s ok. I’d like it to fit a little closer on me than it does on the model. Here’s a picture of an evening’s work. The beginning of the back piece:

I’ve gotten to the gusset increases in the second Fetzensock. I love this sock, but I don’t seem to be able to get in any sort of groove with the pattern. Seems like bout every 5 rounds I make a mistake and have to tink back.

We’re going camping this weekend. 2.5 hour drive to Sibley State Park and I’m hoping to get lots of knitting done.

the Boy is loving his big boy bed, but hasn’t exactly settled into the idea of SLEEPING in it. It’s more like a giant toy at this point, and the bedtime routine has been very much disrupted. I know if we stick to it, he’ll get used to it and go to sleep sooner than the 2 hours he’s been averaging all week.

We taught him how to say “You feel lucky, Punk?”. The effect is a bit diffused by the huge grin on his face! Music Class starts again tomorrow morning! He’s excited about that, plus the camping trip, plus breakfast with Curious George we have scheduled next weekend.

I’m volunteering in Al Franken for Senate office these days. I went last Thursday and helped fold a stuff a mailer. I go back again today (going to try for every Thursday)

That’s one done. and the second one is started. I got the toe and one whole pattern repeat done last night. I haven’t been enjoying this pattern as much as I thought I would. Not the pattern’s fault, though. It just doesn’t lend itself to to one or two rows at a time, and that’s really what happened with this sock until after the heel was turned. I kept losing my place in the pattern and was too stupid or lazy to get a sticky to mark my place on the chart when I was done for a session. Then when I’d come back, I’d try to figure out where I was, knit a round, realize I wasn’t where I thought I was, and have to tink back and do over. So, not the pattern’s fault.

My heart has really not been into the LFFCS/BOBA since the cable broke, I’ve yet to go back and repair that spot and continue on. I think if I could just bring myself to repair that spot, it would be a good time to just let it rest. My knitting desires have turned to warm sweaters and socks and hats. Fall is in the air!

I’ve been trying to do a gauge swatch for the Dickenson Pullover from Interweave Knits Fall 2007. I have that nice pile of Cascade 220 Heathers Blue for it. I’m completely confused as to what to do for the swatch and am plucking up my courage to post a question on Ravelry about it. Here’s what the pattern says about gauge.

21 stitches and 27 rows = 4 inches in 8-stitch textured pattern from chart on larger needles, after blocking & 62 stitches of 42-stitch center cable combined with 10-stitch rope cable on each side from chart measures 10″ wide on larger needles, after blocking

If anyone is reading this, and help me understand how many to cast on, what to knit, and how to measure it (count stitches per inch), I’d be very, very grateful.

Recipe for Squeeeee

1 tiny baby
2 tiny knitted booties

Fold baby into booties. Don’t shake or stir. Preheat your camera flash. Take pictures until the other coffee shop patrons start shooting you dirty looks. Serve warm. Makes 1 serving, 0 carbs, 0 calories.

This is a high smile, high squeee treat. Very rich, but you can never get enough.

These are very close up pics of the LFFCS/BOBA lace. Pretty, eh?

Last night I promised myself I’d get at least 4 rounds (640 st each *ugh*) done on my LFFCS/BOBA. I was doin’ it, too….knitting like the wind. Then disaster struck.

**WARNING** This next part is not for the faint of heart.

The skirt is on my 60 inch Knitpicks options cord and the cord came unglued from the join. It happened as I was moving the work along, you know how it gets all bunched up? I’ve done this hundreds of times before, but this time the cord just pulled out…around 40 stitches were dropped off and I just about had a heart attack. This yarn is cotton/rayon and super slippery. And it’s all lace…yarn overs and PSSOs. If I so much as moved a muscle, the stitches would start to unravel and I would never be able to get it all back. I gasped out loud and said, “OK, don’t anybody move.” Mostly to myself, but my dear husband stopped in his tracks and turned around to see. The first thing he said was, “What do you need me to do?” I was frozen and I barely dared move my lips. I’m not exaggerating about how slippery this yarn is… I was envisioning weeks of knitting going to hell.

I had a pair of 16 inch circs laying on my desk and asked him to bring them. He held part of the work and a needle still, while I tried to find and pick up the dropped stitches. I’m pretty sure I didn’t breathe for at least 10 minutes. I managed to get it all secured, then I set it down and started to breathe again.

It took me about an hour to move the entire project onto another 60 in. cord, find all the dropped yarn overs and replace the stitch markers. I’m pretty sure I got it all, but it’s definitely going to look wonky there. My only consolation is that this is a flowy drapey skirt and I’m sure it won’t be massively obvious to the casual viewer. I prolly won’t be showing it off to any knitters, though!

Damn, I got all tense again, just writing about it.

I called Knitpicks today. A nice lady named Millie, actually gasped out loud when I told her what happened. She was very sorry. I never had any doubts that they’d replace the cord, and of course, that’s what she said she’d do right away. Knitpicks is known for their outstanding customer service. The cord was only $3.99, so it’s not about the money. It’s about the trust. How can I trust that it won’t happen again? The trust and comfort is gone…I s’pose with time my complacency will return. I only hope that another disaster like that doesn’t happen again.

Next yarn? Something super wooly, that will stick together no matter what. Something that felts from the sweat on my fingers…yeah, that’s the ticket!

Tonight I’m turning the heel on my Fetzensock. Nice and safe.

Well, time to write a bit about our recent trip to California. The impetus for the trip was the Rock Star’s cousin S’s wedding to the beautiful M. The wedding was planned for the day before Labor Day, but we went out 10 days early so we could visit the Rock Star’s father and step-mother. After the parental visit, we planned a few days in San Francisco with his brother (including one night of extreme debauchery for the bachelor party). Then we drove north the Anderson Valley area of California for the wedding. This first vacation blog entry will be about the parental visit and the drive to SF. Parts of it are not a pretty tale, so I’ll try to go over them quickly…and get to the parts where I molest, fondle and buy yarn.

(more…)

Therapeutic knitting has been happening.

Make two of these and call me in the morning. Can’t. Stop. Plotzing.

Ravelry. OMG. Crazy, amazing!!! You can just click for hours, and never get bored. I love, love, love the part where you can look up a pattern and see everyone else’s version of it, complete with all the details of knitting it. And it’s very intuitive to use. It only took a moment to get my bearings and enter my very first project. There are interesting forums, groups, and every kind of knitter you can think of. I imagine I’ll settle down a bit after I’ve been on it…just one day, and I’ve got knitting projects planned for the next seventy years.

I read a great forum thread that included info on Combination knitting and now I’m very interested to learn it. The post was actually about getting faster with your knitting.

Latest progress pic of LFFCS/BOBA? Here ya’ go:

Wondering how that all turned out?

Doing fun stuff with my hair was one of the things I promised I’d do when I reached my goal weight. Since I’m within 2 lbs, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get started. Plus it’ll be fun for the trip to California next week!

I just checked my status on Ravelry for the second time today. Yeah, I’m anxious!!

Found you!

* You signed up on June 15, 2007
* You are #9328 on the list.
* 57 people are ahead of you in line.
* 17067 people are behind you in line.
* 35% of the list has been invited so far

Only 57 people ahead of me!!! I may get in tomorrow!!! yeep!!

Only 207 people in front of me on Ravelry!! omg weeeeeee! Just a couple more days.

My LFFCS/BOBA (Luna Flickering Flames Circular Skirt/Bucket of Boiled Ass) is progressing nicely. I’m just at the point where I increase from 320 stitches to 640. It looks roughly the same as the last picture. Since progress is really boring to report on this project, I’m going to catch the blog up on one I finished before I started blogging regularly again. I have several of these I’m holding back for blog fodder. So without further ado, I give you:

These are the Horcrux Socks that I knit for the Six Sock Knitalong. See the lightning bolt pattern above the ankle? The pattern designer was wondering if Harry’s scar was a horcrux and so named these socks. They’re knit in Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Black Purl. I love this yarn and the socks were fun to knit. It got a little weird around row 15, but I figured it out. I knit them toe up, 2on2 circs using Crazy Toes and Heels. Finished May 15, 2007.

According to my handy dandy spreadsheet, there’s only 4 or 5 more days til I get my Ravelry invite. weeeeeeeeeeeeee. I’m excited. The part I’m looking forward to the most is looking up a pattern and seeing who all did it and how it went. oh, and the needle inventory. I really, really need that!!

I got about 5 rounds done on my Flickering Flame Skirt yesterday. It’s moving right along, but it really seems slow. Plus it’s hard to see how this thing will ever stretch out to be a full length skirt…it takes faith to knit lace. I’m just knitting away and keeping the faith.

Interweave Knits mag Fall of 2007: Got it yesterday. I don’t think I’ll have to buy a pattern for anything else for years!! There are so many things in this mag I want to knit, I don’t know where to start. I love the Tilted Duster and the Place Cabled Aran and the Dickenson Pullover equally!! What’s a knitter to do?

Plus it’s not like I haven’t got 4 projects lined up already: finish the skirt, Bellatrix Socks, Fetzensocks, February Sweater!! I have the yarn for all these…well except for maybe Bellatrix. I’m going to try it in the purple Cherry Tree Hill. If that doesn’t look good, I’ll get STR Stormy Weather.

So what am I doing even looking at this mag?!!

In the immortal words of … hmmm, I can’t remember whose immortal words these are*…I just know I didn’t make it up: Lace looks like a bucket of boiled ass while you’re knitting it. Just so, immortal lace words sayer. Just so. Here’s my bucket of boiled ass:

The knitting is fun and interesting. The 10 st pattern repeat is super easy to memorize and since each round consists of 32 repeats at this point, I can work up some real speed. The yarn is like dipping my needles into butter (especially after the hemp) and feels really nice. I could complain that it splits like crazy. In fact, I will complain that it splits. And heaven forfend I have any jagged nails or dry skin patchs, cuz swear to FSM the yarn will catch on them every single time. and split. Did I mention the yarn splits? It’s cotton/rayon with oh…I dunno…maybe 276 plys. Ok, exaggerating. But you know what I mean. Still I’m really digging it. There’s always that magical moment with lace when you stretch it all out and it becomes a thing of beauty. Until then bucket. Of boiled ass.

Update: Chris kindly pointed out it was the ever amusing Rabbitch who coined the phrase here. “I’m told that all lace looks like a bucket of boiled ass until it’s finished and blocked, and I’m just going to take that at face value and keep on going.” A completely apt description of knitting lace as far as I’m concerned.

Ze Hemp Skirt, she is finally finished. Finito. Doneola. Doneorama. Nothing left to do. Beads bought & attached, finale picture taken.
A close up of the beads.

Beads sewed on:

Finale:

I love it. I had my doubts and troubles as I was knitting it, but now it’s done and I love it. Really love it. Thank FSM I got used to the yarn, I was just to Scottish (read: cheap) to give up. It was easy, and it fits and it seems like it won’t be baggy (going to wear it one evening next week, just to make sure). Buying the beads was fun. All the pretty silver beads I liked were in the $15 - $20 range, to rich for my blood. But they were also 40% off! Like Goldilocks I was all, “this one’s too small, this one’s too big” and when I got to “this one’s just right”, I actually got a funny feeling in my tummy. It was sort of like (but not as dramatic) as when I tried my wedding dress on for the very first time. I just knew. They were so perfect and it all just clunked into place, and I actually did a little excited wiggle dance on the spot. I was all omg squeeeeee, all the way home. So. There. Done. Yay!!!

Seems like a good time to post my pre-Atkin’s picture. What with me lookin’ all skinny in the Hemp Skirt Finale pic above.

171 lbs to 139.5 lbs. Lovin’ the Atkin’s.

Update on the Luna Flickering Flames Circular Skirt: I knit several rows, then put it on much bigger cables (love the Options) and the 160 CO fit just fine. So I’m off and running on this project. It’s pretty fun to knit and seems to be going fast, but I don’t think it will be done in time for Cali.

Didja ever notice how a project is never just done? Or is it just me?

The Hemp Skirt is finished knitting, bound off, i-cord done, ends woven in, and almost done drying as it’s blocked, and there is still just one more thing to do…I need to find some beads or doo-dads to sew/tie onto the end of the i-cord drawstrings. Then it will be done. Really done. Then I can make a post that says the Hemp Skirt is ready for it’s fork, please. Maybe tomorrow.

I cast on for the Luna Flickering Flames Circular Skirt last night.

Pattern says gauge is supposed to be 4.5 spi on size 9 (5.50 mm) needles. I knit up the swatch and absolutely hated how wide open the lace looked. So I tried a bunch of other sizes and finally settled on 3.75 mm needles. When the swatch was stretched and pinned out, I measured about 5 spi, sometimes 4.5. It’s hard to measure lace gauge, I think. I knit about 7 rows of stockinette between each needle size and that’s where I measured. 4.5 spi x 160 cast on stitches, should give a waistband of around 35-36 inches. My waist measures 33.5 inches. The waist band is going to have to come up over my 40.5 in hips. I toyed with the idea of casting on 180 and adjusting the pattern, but that would mean I’d have to order more yarn. It was cheap , but I don’t feel like hassling with trying to get the same lot or if I can’t trying to adjust for that. So my plan is to cast on the 160, knit the waistband and one pattern repeat, then put it on some longer cables and see if it goes up over my hips and doesn’t look all stretched and yucky in the waist. I figure that knitting time is the same as if I futzed with trying to get more yarn. I guess we’ll see tomorrow.

I hit my newest low weight this morning. 139.5. Yay me!! I’ve finally gotten under 140. We’ve been on Atkins for almost 30 weeks now and I’ve lost a total of 30.5 pounds. My goal weight is 130. I’m losing an average of 1 pound per week. I probly won’t be there by Aug 31 like I hoped, but soon after. I’m happy as hell with how it’s going. One of these times I’ll post the before and afters.

Ravelry. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about. I’ve been hearing about and anxiously awaiting my invitation to it for ages now. I signed up on 6/15/07 and I’m #9328 on the list. There are 1159 people in line ahead of me. They’re averaging 114 invites per day. How do I know the average? Because I’m a obsessive freak who has a spreadsheet page devoted to tracking this. I have a few websites that I automatically open each morning and Ravelry Check Where You Are in Line page is one of them. My spreadsheet also includes a projected forecast for my day of invitation and right now thats falling on 8/24. Nutz!!! We’re leaving on the Cali trip on 8/24. Gone til 9/3. I won’t be able to even do anything with it until I get home. booo-hoo.

Random Cutenossity:

Fourth of July fun. the Boy just loved playing on the tractor all day.