by Kat | Apr 18, 2017 | General, In This Moment
Updates and thoughts for a Tuesday.
- Colonoscopy’s have changed dramatically since my last one… not the actual colonoscopy part (nor the prep, oy vey!) but the meds they give you to “twilight” you out have…and for the better! Also, can I just say that the staff at the UPMC South Hills location were amazing – from start to finish. With these amazing improvements in medication, there was NO NAPPING needed! Really, I felt like I do when I wake up in the morning and I was out of “recovery” and in the car in about 15 minutes. I felt so great afterwards that we did a ton of yard work when we got home. Oh, and no scary news from the colonoscopy, which with a family history of colorectal cancer is about the best thing ever.
- Yesterday morning I hit a milestone in my dieting journey – I have now lost 50 lbs. I know, it is such a good thing. I have a bit more to go (okay, actually more than a bit… lol) but hitting that milestone feels so good! I have way more energy and generally feel better not lugging all that added weight around! However, this is the most curious thing ever – my cholesterol numbers were much better before losing all this weight. The good ones were way high, and the bad ones were way low. Now, it is almost the exact opposite. Yeah. So apparently, reducing fat from your diet is not all it’s cracked up to be!
- Because by now you are probably sick of hearing about my health and diet updates… I have added in the third color to the Air Soft Shawl (aka Brambling) and I am still loving this process! Today, I will be pulling out the remainder of the KSH stash to find some additional colors to add in. If you have not tried intarsia or knitting with Kid Silk Haze – this seriously is the project for you! No yarn overs, no long-ass rows, and super clear and easy instructions. It looks far more intimidating that it is – really. Take it from someone who HATES knitting with KSH – I love how it looks, but knitting lace with it is horrendous, imo! However, in this project, I am LOVING IT!
- This week begins action #7 – We Belong Together. This is part of the Women’s March ongoing initiative since January 21
– and this one is really awesome, I think. Because, well, we do belong together! It is part of the Kids Week of Action and it is asking us all to “unite with children and families across the country…commit to making communities a welcoming place for all”. So.much.yes! If you want more information about this, you can find it here.
- Speaking of resisting…apparently Representative Murphy does not know how to schedule a town hall, nor does he understand the importance of doing so. However, we don’t want him to fail at this, so we have taken it upon ourselves to help him organize one! That’s right – tomorrow night in Bethel Park the constituents of Rep. Murphy have gotten a venue, advertised it, and all that is left for him to do is show up and talk with us! Rep. Murphy, if you are reading this (hahaha) you will see that we are not paid, but rather volunteers and your REAL constituents! Do I think he will show up? Nope, not a chance! However, I do hope the press will!
- Because all things MDK are all the rage – there is a KAL starting Friday for KK’s Colorwash Scarf in MDK’s Field Guide #3 – I have tossed my stash and found three potential options. Now, please help me choose! (Also, no comment on having 3 possible colorway choices in my stash – be glad I did not come with 6, which I thought about! LOL) Here are my color choices… please let me know which you like best!
Choice 1: Fleece Artist Trail Socks in Spruce with Sokkusu O in Into the Darkness
Choice 2: BMFA Socks That Rock Mill End (unknown colorway) with Sockhiogheny
Choice 3: Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock in Sitka and Grouse (a lighter and darker version of the same colors?)
And, that is enough random for a Tuesday, don’t you think? What is on your agenda today?
P.S. I would like to extend a cordial invitation to you all to join my Lipsburgh Facebook Group! Really, I would love to have you! If you want to know more about LipSense or the SeneGence opportunity, just ask me!
by Kat | Apr 17, 2017 | General, In This Moment
Perhaps in the grand scheme of things, scheduling a colonoscopy on the day after Easter is not the most genius thing ever…
But, as far as being Monday? Well, I think it is safe to say that I it will go by practically unnoticed! So, take that Monday!
As far as the weekend went, all in all it was pretty darn nice (if you exclude Sunday from noon to 9PM)
Steve had Thursday and Friday off at work and we got a minute amount of yard work done and we put the top on the pergola and worked on opening the porch for the season.
We also caught up with Homeland. Yikes! And, that is all I will say about that!
I did some knitting – brief moments, but of course it was not on anything that I needed to be knitting! Rather, I was inspired by Vicki to do a bit of stash diving and cast on the Brambling Shawl from the Year of Techniques. I had enough colors to get started and tomorrow I will pull out the ‘deep-deep’ stash and find the rest of my KSH stash…
I am seriously loving how light and airy this is knitting up! And, even though the colors are not very spring-summer right now – I think I have fuchsia, blue, and maybe a teal. Colors aside, I think this will be the perfect little wrap for the summer! So far, so good on the knitting with KSH (or KSH wanna be’s)
As for today, perhaps a nap, more knitting on the fluff on these needles, and maybe some reading. Tomorrow will be soon enough to get back to reality knitting.
Hope your Monday is awesome! See you tomorrow!
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by Kat | Apr 14, 2017 | General
The latest issue of Taproot magazine is filled with good things. From homemade bitters to Wendell Berry to Tasha Tudor to these cute hens. If you have not had the chance to read Taproot – it is worth a look, and this month especially!
The latest installment from the Sheepspot Fiber Club is really quite stunning… and scary: Teeswater Top (Top or Roving, the difference between them) I simply love how the fiber took the dye and I am really quite nervous to spin up this incredible stuff! Yeah… this spin will be something that I focus on – no watching Netflix while spinning!
And, finally Tattoos! In the credit where credit is due category… a huge thanks to Mitch McConnell for making “nevertheless she persisted” the most popular tattoo of the year! Across the nation women have been gathering to tattoo this motto on their person, and April 23rd Pittsburgh (and the surrounding area) is joining in the fun! The event will be raising funds for Women & Girls Foundation’s GirlGov program designed to provide local girls with the opportunity to learn about civics, government, philanthropy, community involvement, women’s history, and leadership! It will be held at the Irma Freeman Center for Imagination on Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh! You can sign up for the event here – and Yinzer’s can you help me out by sharing this in your social media sphere – THANK YOU! I am going… and I hope you are too!
Now, how about some links this week?
On to the sweater category…
That is all I have for this week! Have a great weekend and a very Happy Easter!
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by Kat | Apr 13, 2017 | General, Words
This week’s Think Write Thursday prompt is to write about a tree house hideaway.
I am not sure if any of you have seen any of Treehouse Masters on Animal Planet, but I have watched occasionally. Pete Nelson is a creative soul who brings to life a person’s dream tree house.
And, really – who did not dream of a tree house when they were a kid? I sure did! There was a sassafras grove in the woods behind the house where we lived and my sister and I spent hundreds of hours there. I wished for a tree house in that very spot! It would have been perfect!
However, if I was going to have Pete Nelson’s team build me a tree house today – I want it to be modeled on those childhood dreams but with a modern amenity reality that really would make it an oasis.
I know that space would be at a premium in a tree house, so an annex for crafting would be necessary – I mean I am not going to my tree house to get away from the things that relax me most!
But, in the main house, I want there to be windows… so many windows! I want to see the view that the birds and the squirrels see! And, it would need a small kitchen because happy hour and snacks in the tree tops might be the best thing ever.
A loft with more windows and a bed would make it the perfect ‘camp out’ place, don’t you think? Oh… and it would need a bathroom, thank you very much!
A hideaway in the trees might be the best place in the world to spend time!
What about you? Would you like a tree house?
You can see what others have to say about their hideaway in the trees here. If you would like to join Carole and me in these Think Write Thursday journeys, we would love to have you join us! You can sign up here!
by Kat | Apr 12, 2017 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Hello, Unraveler’s!
Well, it is a week where lots of unraveling is happening here. My sweater that was so close to having the body finished, has been ripped back again – good thing my yarn can take all this knitting and ripping back!
So, why am I ripping back? Simple aesthetics – I don’t like how it looks! The problem is centered around the very thing I liked about the sweater… the line of increases and decreases on the sides. The pattern for my size calls for completing them every 4 rows. However, imo, this was too rapid because I began to worry that the sides would be too big and the front would be too small. (Does this make sense?) So, I tried doing no more increases and decreases but that did not look right… at all. So, I ripped back and tried doing the increases/decreases every 8 rows (and I forgot to do them on one round and did not catch it until 5 or 6 rounds later – so that meant more ripping back.) So here I am ready to do the band at the bottom of the sweater and I look at my knitting and I am really not happy with how it looks. So, I am ripping back, again…all the way back to the point of picking up the stitches at the armholes. Yeah, that far back! It has taken me all week to get to this point, ripping out hours of work is never something to take lightly.
But, this time I have a plan. I will do the decreases less frequently, which I think will give me enough movement on the lines that I like but in a more gradual pace and hopefully the front will still be the front and the sides having some movement forward, but not too much. Does this make me happy? Honestly, no. But, I would be less happy with a sweater that I did not like (which would translate to something I would not wear). It is silly to put so much time into a project and not be happy with it. That is why, sometimes, unraveling is the best solution. It is not painless, but the finished product will be better.
My reading has been usurped by a new book, which I found via Bonny and her suggestion of Netgalley. I am reading The Mountain in My Shoe by Louise Beech. I have a deadline but I am about a third of the way though. I hope to have the book finished by the weekend (well in advance of the deadline!) I will be sharing my thoughts on the book when I have finished it – however, I can tell you this; it’s a mystery and I have no clue who “did it” yet… (which is usually a good thing!)
Some weeks the unraveling is painful – but somehow starting again never is. With determination I am moving forward, even if I had to take some pretty big steps backwards!
I hope your Wednesday will have nothing to unravel but your blog post! And, as always, I am so happy that you are joining us!
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by Kat | Apr 11, 2017 | General, In This Moment
Hi.
Yes, it is Tuesday…and I got nothing.
Not.one.single.thing.Tuesday.
So, I am making a post out of all that nothing.
- Since I told you yesterday about my Rhubarb Dilemma… it has gotten much bigger. Transplantation.must.happen.today.
- The Sweater (apparently from hell) is on the verge of rip-back…again. I am very unsatisfied with the way the increases/decreases are looking. Currently, there is an internal debate raging about whether to frog back and re-do them at a different pace…. Yeah. Excitement for this sweater is nil right now.
- Some weeks this is the truest statement ever: The faster I go, the more behind I get….
- We went from spring to summer in 2.4 seconds, apparently. Now, here is the kicker…. Neither Steve or I were dying from the 80 degree temperatures. We joked about no AC until we went to bed and Sherman was panting and miserable. Perhaps AC and flannel sheets will be all the rage this summer….
- I feel like I have this great cloud looming over me… you know, when you feel like you are forgetting something and have absolutely no idea what it could be? I have triple checked my calendars and journal but I find nothing. Yet, the feeling persists.
- Speaking of persisting…on April 23 I am attending a Tattoo Fund Raiser and yes… I am getting “nevertheless she persisted” tattooed on my person! I am super excited for new ink!
There you have it, a nothing Tuesday post with somethings. I hope your day is filled with more somethings and absolutely no nothings!
