WIP Wednesday!

It's not often I actually work on a WIP on a Wednesday, but I've decided my list of WIPs is too long, so today's daytime crafting time went toward finishing a Work in Progress that was near completion.

Last summer, when we were up on Bailey Island, we went to a fabulous town-wide garage sale that Bailey and Orr put on every year.  One of the deals was that you could pay $5 and get a box, and put everything that would fit inside the box.

I didn't need too much stuff, but one of the things I found was a bag full of yarn--mostly cones of cotton, plus one really nice spool of pretty red crochet thread, either Aunt Lydia's or maybe DNC.  And then a little bit later, I found an old wind-up Timex watch without a band, and with a big scratch on the face.  I wound it up and darned if the thing doesn't work perfectly.  So I thought, I could crochet a watch band!  At the craft store I got some plastic rings, and began crocheting around them, crocheting them together... adding on a clasp.

I started it in August but then the new Term started so I put it aside.  I took it out once somewhere in the middle and crocheted a few more rings, but then the Gotta Do knitting took over.

I still have Gotta Do knitting: my OWL and my Phoenix are not where I want them.  But I had 8 WIPs yesterday.  Today I have only 6, because I finished the Barbie dress, which I shall show off momentarily.  So I've now finished two projects in two days.  Next Wednesday I'm going after the Galaxy socks, because I would really like one more pair of hand-knit socks for my wardrobe.  Meanwhile, I have a watch to wear.  Hooray!

And Barbie, of whom I'm insanely proud at the moment:

Knitting break??? WHAT???

Well, you don't think I'm gong to completely stop knitting, do you?  But it's the April Holidays in the House Cup.  We're still a couple of days out from knowing who won.  Professors are still calculating Bonus Points, Things are being discussed, and a ton of off-month activities have been posted (including the silliest April Fool's Joke ever.  Really, awesomely epic, and included a manatee in a space suit.  How could you go wrong, right?)

So, no knitting for points this month.  So I have a pair of socks going--trying to perfect my knit-to-fit method--and I just finished and sent out my Reducio swap yesterday--and I still have the Epic Shawl of Doom to complete, since it didn't get done for a badge this month and it still needs finishing.  And I'll be swatching for next Term's OWL later in the month--but I'm really aiming at that being the only new thing I cast on this month.

I shall fill my time thusly:

• I shall SEW!  I have several projects that want working on.
• D1's new comforter/blankets.  I've had the fabric for a year now.  Seriously.  I could at least get one done.
• The corners (and this is hand sewing, as I almost busted my machine trying to do it that way) of a blanket I've been making for ages for River.  Sigh.  
• The lining of Mary's Christmas stocking
• I shall BE HEALTHY!
• Thanks to OneNeedleKnitting, I found a site called MyFitnessPal.com.  It is another diet/weight loss/exercise tracking site.  All right: I love SparkPeople.  I love the SparkPoints; I love the trophies; I love that so many of my friends have found their way there.  But their nutrition and exercise tracking tools are hard to use.  So here's the plan:
• I will track my food and exercise on MFP.  The mobile app is easy to use and has--get this--a bar code scanner! I can scan about 90% of my food instead of trying to look it up!  So easy!
• I will use "quick track" on Spark People to keep track of fruits and veggies and exercise (I get SparkPoints for minutes tracked, but I get to eat more on MFP for exercise tracked, so I will do both.  It's not that hard).
• I will re-vamp the House Cup SparkTeam to make it a little more user friendly and encouraging.  More challenges!!! Hooray!
• I will continue to walk or do some other kind of exercise at least 5 times a week.
• I will continue to track my food.
• I shall conquer Lego Harry Potter!
• After the boy goes to bed
• I have my own copy for the DSi hidden carefully away.  Someday I shall also play it on the Wii... but I won't hold my breath.  April I will play a little LHP every night.  I've already finished the first Year, but I still have a lot of stuff I can go back and get after I gain more spells.
• I shall READ
• The Hunger Games.  So good!
• The Spark.  I'm finding it much more interesting and empowering than I thought I would.
• Catching Fire (book 2 of the Hunger Games cycle.  I will move on to book three if I have time).

So that's the plan!  I like plans.  But not much actual knitting will happen this month.  Still, wanna see what I did last month?

Streaks and Sparks

I don't even, as I start writing today, know what I'm going to call this post.  I think I'll wait to see what it's about.


Okay, I started back on SparkPeople again on Friday, and started trying to take walks during my break at work on Thursday, and it's been a pretty good run so far.  I have tracked my food every day--including today.  I walked Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Sunday was impossible: we had D's Blue and Gold Banquet and in between church and that, we cleaned the guinea pig cages.  By the time we were done, it was time to get ready.  So okay, I let Sunday go.


I didn't want to let today go, though.  I really didn't.  But it was snowing all day today.  And I'm sorry, I can't take my knitting and my iPod for a walk in the snow.  It's just Not Fun.  So I thought, okay, I'm going to go to the gym tonight.  When T comes home, I'll ask him if he'll hang out with the kid, maybe help him with that last bit of homework, and I'll go to the post office and fill my gas tank and go to the gym and spend 20 minutes, even, on a treadmill.


Except poor T is still at work.  It's 10:10pm, and he's still not home.  His fault?  Heavens, no.  He is working at keeping his business afloat and thus keeping us in a house and clothes and all that great stuff I appreciate so much.  But I really wanted to go for a walk today.  Someday we will own an elliptical trainer.  But right now we don't.


I think my only choice at the moment is one of my 20-minute Yoga videos.  I don't want to just give up at this early time.  So far, I'm on a "streak" and I want to keep it up.  I've finally chosen things I'm actually going to do to record, and I think I'd like to, you know, do them.  Every day.  10 minutes of exercise? I can do that each day, I can.  I've joined a Spark Challenge that has a trophy for doing 10 minutes of exercise every day.  Today, I start it.  I like trophies.  Trophies are wicked fun.  I need more pixelated trophies in my life.  It's like badges in the House Cup.  I will do a whole lot for a badge.


I'm reading The Spark.  I don't know why I resisted reading it for so long; I thought I knew everything there was to know by getting on the website.  But some of the things they ask you to do make sense now that I've actually read a few chapters, and, put in context, I now want to do them.  Spark Streaks are one.  


I'm adding a counter gadget--probably just me filling in numbers--for how many days I've been on my streaks.  Officially on SparkPeople I'm now on day one of most of my streaks, because I just set them today, but it's really day 4 for food tracking.


Okay, that's not the brilliant idea I had for a blog post this afternoon during lunch, but I can't remember that idea now and at least I've written something, right?


You wanna see my badges?

Ten PM, Munchie Time

Well.  It's 10pm, and as certain as clockwork, I have the munchies.  I find myself anxiously looking around the kitchen, thinking of food.  If I have to get up to do something, I look at, touch, and itchily consider eating pieces of food.  This is a difficult time for me.

Fortunately, today is the first day of Term for the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup on Ravelry!  I'm an official Sixth Year now (which means I've been at it for six three-month Terms, so going on two years at the end of this Term).  We're a big old humongous Virtual world, and let me tell you, I love it.  There are eight classes to choose from--you're only supposed to do six, though I've known people to do all eight.  I'm plotting *two* OWLs this term--long term, bigger projects that take at least a couple of months to craft.  So tonight I'll be starting a hat.  I've already done one small project (Mom!  You have earrings now, I just have to take pictures!) today and now I'm on to more ambitious things.  My yarn for my big projects isn't here yet, because I didn't order it until late.  It should be here on or about Thursday, and then I can swatch for my projects during the weekend.  So I would like to burn through a couple of projects this week: the hat, a pair of socks, and maybe start on my amigurumi design project.  And finish Tom's gloves.  Really really, I want them done.  But apparently not enough to, you know, actually work on them.

And my gals from the House Cup are joining me on SparkPeople.  Not only is Julia my buddy-sweet-buddy, but my Claws have a Spark Team just for us.  That was the problem for me on SP before, I think: I didn't know enough people.  My friend list has grown from 4 people (if you include the guy who started SP, who friends everyone) to 16 in two days, and I've been given credit for referring 4 people, which just makes me happy.  The other 3 people are two friends from Real Life and another Virtual Friend, Aunt Barb, whom I met hatching virtual dragons on LiveJournal about 4 years ago.  I love my Virtual Friends.  You can meet people online that you'd never meet in Real Life (Barb lives in Nebraska... when is that ever going to be on my travel list, right?) who have similar interests and care about the same things you do.

So before I sign out, I will give a recap of my eating day: we went to a party, so I didn't keep track.  I tried to make the healthiest choices I could, though.  I ate yogurt with fruit; squash soup; pickles; veggies and hummus; a couple of crackers; one scone.  At home I had stew I made in the slow-cooker, and it was delicious and nutritious (only about 218 calories for a 1-cup serving).  And I'm still hungry.  I think I will have to eat something.

I believe I will be going to find the yarn for Tom's hat now.  I have to finish a finger of that glove before I can cast it on, as they use the same size needle, which will bring the glove one finger closer to completion.  Good all around.

Er... a picture... um...

Detail of the Castle Cardi I made for EazyC last term.

I suppose it should come as no surprise that blogging is easier in August when I'm not working. Since returning to work in mid-September I've found that I have to carefully allocate my "me" time between knitting and sleeping, as allowing anything else time on the clock means I reduce one of those--and this, I cannot do.

The HPKCHC (That's Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup to the uninitiated) is about halfway through for the Term. I completed four projects plus 3/15 of my O.W.L. (I'm making 15 towels) last month. This month all my non-O.W.L. work is on D's Halloween costume. He's reading (we're reading together) the Harry Potter books. Actually at the moment he's upstairs listening to Prisoner of Azkaban, I may never see my iPod again. :-P

So of course when he decided he wanted to be Ron Weasley for Halloween, I jumped up and down and started planning knitting projects! I'm also making his robes "from scratch," as it were... I found a cape pattern with a lining and hood--I have to combine some different pieces to make it long enough but it should work nicely, and I even found a Gryffindor patch on e-bay. We'll have to find a tie and a wand, but if worse comes to worse there's a website that I can order costume-y ones from.

I'm also involved in the HPKCHC "Quidditch" match... it's all about knitting for charity this term, and while the Quidditch coach usually changes it up term to term, I'm loving this term's Quidditch play. My team is making baby hats for Knits for Infants, and not only are they adorable but they're needed. I've only made two hats, and one stripe for a team-effort baby blanket, but after D's costume is settled I'll have time for more.

That's the "what's new" part of this post; now I'm moving on to the "pondering" part. Oh, and yeah, I know I haven't mentioned a single thing about my life other than knitting. I could, but it would just be whining about work. I have thoughts about my dog learning to talk, but that's another post altogether. :)

Pondering...

I knit on a deadline for the House Cup. Really it's a series of deadlines, because each month's assignments are due on the last day of the month at midnight. And so, toward the end of each month, several things happen.

First, my stress level increases. Seriously. I was sorted into Ravenclaw for House Cup purposes, and there's a reason: my overachieving geekiness dictates that R'claw is where I belong. So when I'm not done with my projects I get a little bit on edge. Each project completed is worth 15 points for your house; each partial project is worth 5; O.W.L. earns 50 points at the 30% mark (if achieved before the last day of the second month) and another 100 points at completion. Last month I earned the 30% points but never finished my project, but I'm going to modify it to be a table runner instead of a tablecloth so I'm kind of glad I never finished it. So all this work is worth points... and right now the Slytherins are 600ish points ahead of us and I'd really like to see the cup back in Ravenclaw Tower! We came in 2nd to the Slytherins last term and there was just no way to catch up. Their lead this time is much smaller.

I might be a trifle competitive.

Second, my production level increases. I just barely finished those mittens for my nephew by midnight September 30, but I did it. And while that means I had to work like a lunatic to get it done, I also have his Christmas present all set and I don't have to think about it any more. I love having Christmas ready with time to spare. This month won't go toward Christmas at all, but next month will, and last month did.

Third, my sleep deprivation increases, which really isn't so good, but it's temporary. Once the month clicks over and new assignments come out I get back to somewhat normal sleep habits. Though I find knitting addicting--maybe I can just finish one more inch if I stay up just a little longer. So even mid-month during low-stress times, I stay up too late because I'm doing something I enjoy.

All this plus job stress led my Darling Husband (of almost 14 years!! time do fly when you're having fun!) to ask me whether it was wise for me to be getting all stressed out by the thing I do to "relax" myself... and so I had to stop and think and ponder. (Yes, finally made it to the pondering part!)

Do I knit because it's relaxing? I'd have to honestly say no. I knit because I love the finished results of my work, and I knit to challenge myself to do harder stuff. I knit because I love giving handmade stuff to people I love. I knit because, honestly, I enjoy people's reaction to the things I make. I enjoy being admired. Especially when I worked really hard at whatever it is they're admiring.

Should I knit because it's relaxing? Probably. I recently found information about a book called Mindful Knitting which I plan to look into. Perhaps then I would enjoy both the knitting part and the end results, who knows?

Should I stop participating in contests with deadlines? No. Because contests with deadlines make me finish stuff, and that's always been a problem for me. If I don't have a reason to finish something, I get halfway through and lose interest. And I really like having finished products (which is why I rarely attempt big projects like sweaters: much more likely to finish mittens or hats!).

Okay, I have to go face the world. And cast on the front part of D's Weasley sweater, which is going to be completely beautiful. And working kids' sweaters barely counts as a sweater, they're quick and easy! Wait until you see the one I want to do during Spring term for my O.W.L.!

I'll post pics later... most of what I've made is Christmas presents, so I can't post 'em for fear someone will see them who's supposed to wait until they open it... but when D's costume is ready, pictures galore!