What Were They Thinking!?

When we moved into this apartment last year, the old tenants didn't have to paint over any walls as part of the agreement.  So, our kitchen is bright red, the bathroom is blue, and the computer room is teal on three walls and striped on the fourth.

That teal is painted on textured wallpaper.

So this weekend we decided to take off the wallpaper.  It was peeling badly in one area anyway.  Apparently we should have left well enough alone, because look at what was painted on underneath.

It's a lot darker in person, and now we need to paint sooner than we realized!

July Update

Current WIPs (new ones are bolded):

Sweaters/Cardigans:

Rosemary Cardigan, Cascade 220 Heather
Quivira Coat, Patons Classic Merino Wool
Easy Top-down Raglan, Noro Kureyon and Patons North America Ballybrae
Wee Speedy, Sirdar Peru Naturals

Shawls:

Dancing Bees MKAL, Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace
Girdle of Melian MKAL, Classic Elite Yarns Alpaca Sox (Frogged - yarn didn't work)
Girdle of Melian MKAL, Bernat Cotton-ish

Hands and Feet:

2aat Toe-up Socks, Lorna's Laces
Cuff-down Vanilla Socks, Patons Kroy Sock Yarn
Morgan, Loops and Threads Woolike

Blankets:

Snowflake Blanket, Red Heart Comfort Solids
Fuss Free Baby Blanket, Red Heart Eco-Ways; Bernat Cashmere Natural Blends (started September - oops!)

Finished Picea!  Love that shawl.  Went to work!  Played Guild Wars 2 every day!  Ok, I always do those last two ....

And so there's this MKAL that I had to do, because my favourite designer's doing it for her latest shawl pattern (Raven Knits), and so I started one, then started another in cotton.  That was last weekend.  I probably shouldn't have marathoned Clue 1 for the second shawl in one day.  My right wrist hurts so badly now that I haven't been able to knit much at all this week!

Okay, so July Goals:  Solve wrist issues and try to keep up with the MKAL on the alpaca shawl.  Or at least only be one clue behind.

Must've injured my wrist really good this time.  Finally knitting more, but only for short periods of time.  I am five clues behind!

August Goals:  Finish Clue 2.

June Update

Current WIPs (new ones are bolded):

Sweaters/Cardigans:

Rosemary Cardigan, Cascade 220 Heather
Quivira Coat, Patons Classic Merino Wool
Easy Top-down Raglan, Noro Kureyon and Patons North America Ballybrae
Wee Speedy, Sirdar Peru Naturals

Shawls:

Dancing Bees MKAL, Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace
Picea Sitchensis, Cascade 220 Heather
Girdle of Melian MKAL, Classic Elite Yarns Alpaca Sox
Girdle of Melian MKAL, Bernat Cotton-ish

Hands and Feet:

2aat Toe-up Socks, Lorna's Laces
Cuff-down Vanilla Socks, Patons Kroy Sock Yarn
Morgan, Loops and Threads Woolike

Blankets:

Snowflake Blanket, Red Heart Comfort Solids
Fuss Free Baby Blanket, Red Heart Eco-Ways; Bernat Cashmere Natural Blends (started September - oops!)

Finished chart two/B.  Ate (lots of) pizza.  Lost another five pounds.  Went to work (a lot more than I wanted to).  Success!

I even knit some rows on the vanilla socks!

June Goals:  Finish Chart four (D) on Picea (I'd love to finish the shawl, but my subconscious likes to mess with me).  Go to work some more (I actually do work Monday-Friday, but hey, it's a goal I can make!).  Play Guild Wars 2 once a week.

Finished Picea!  Love that shawl.  Went to work!  Played Guild Wars 2 every day!  Ok, I always do those last two ....


And so there's this MKAL that I had to do, because my favourite designer's doing it for her latest shawl pattern (Raven Knits), and so I started one, then started another in cotton.  That was last weekend.  I probably shouldn't have marathoned Clue 1 for the second shawl in one day.  My right wrist hurts so badly now that I haven't been able to knit much at all this week!

Okay, so July Goals:  Solve wrist issues and try to keep up with the MKAL on the alpaca shawl.  Or at least only be one clue behind.

I Just Wanted To Clean Up My Closet

On February 15 (it was Family Day this year) I cleaned up my closet.

You know, the regular 'this doesn't fit' and 'I haven't worn this in months years' and 'I don't think these jeans are supposed to have holes there'.

So that's what we (my husband and I) were doing.  Innocently.  And then it happened.

Or, rather, I happened upon a pair of jeans I hadn't worn since Hallowe'en 2010.  I looked at them.  They stared back.  I said 'Hey, husband (well, I said his name, but whatever), look at these!'  I had converted them into flared jeans with some Beatles' Yellow Submarine fabric.  I thought, well, I'm never wearing these in public ever again, so may as well toss them!

Then I made my mistake.  I looked at the size.

My thought processes went insane.  I hadn't been a size 6 in six years!?  What happened?  I knew my weight had been steadily increasing since my employment at that local coffee shop, and marriage didn't help that.  But ... I'm a size 12/14 now and 190lbs (sometimes 193 on bad days).  What the heck happened?

Something broke and I said I wanted to fit into those jeans in February 2017.  So I swore off pop.

The next week, after swearing off pop (and being quite successful at it), I asked a co-worker for some tips.

Thus began continued my journey.  And I'm happy to say that now, almost four months later, I've lost 30lbs and my size 12 jeans are getting really loose.

But I'm not looking at sizes the next time I clean up my closet.

May Update

Current WIPs (new ones are bolded):

Sweaters/Cardigans:

Rosemary Cardigan, Cascade 220 Heather
Quivira Coat, Patons Classic Merino Wool
Easy Top-down Raglan, Noro Kureyon and Patons North America Ballybrae
Wee Speedy, Sirdar Peru Naturals

Shawls:

Dancing Bees MKAL, Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace
Picea Sitchensis, Cascade 220 Heathers

Hands and Feet:

2aat Toe-up Socks, Lorna's Laces
Cuff-down Vanilla Socks, Patons Kroy Sock Yarn
Morgan, Loops & Threads Woolike

Blankets:

Snowflake Blanket, Red Heart Comfort Solids
Fuss Free Baby Blanket, Red Heart Eco-Ways; Bernat Cashmere Natural Blends (started September - oops!)

Hmm.  Not a lot of knitting happened in April.  I'm halfway through chart two on Picea, might have knit a row on the sock but who really knows, and still can't remember what project I was gonna do with the oldest yarn.

May Goals:  Finish chart two on Picea.  Eat some pizza.  Lose another five pounds.  Go to work.  I think I got this.

Finished chart two/B.  Ate (lots of) pizza.  Lost another five pounds.  Went to work (a lot more than I wanted to).  Success!

I even knit some rows on the vanilla socks!

June Goals:  Finish Chart four (D) on Picea (I'd love to finish the shawl, but my subconscious likes to mess with me).  Go to work some more (I actually do work Monday-Friday, but hey, it's a goal I can make!).  Play Guild Wars 2 once a week.

Today I Brought My Camera To Work

April Update

Current WIPs (new ones are bolded):

Sweaters/Cardigans:

Rosemary Cardigan, Cascade 220 Heather
Quivira Coat, Patons Classic Merino Wool
Easy Top-down Raglan, Noro Kureyon and Patons North America Ballybrae
Wee Speedy, Sirdar Peru Naturals

Shawls:

Dancing Bees MKAL, Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace
Picea Sitchensis, Cascade 220 Heathers

Hands and Feet:

2aat Toe-up Socks, Lorna's Laces
Cuff-down Vanilla Socks, Patons Kroy Sock Yarn
Morgan, Loops & Threads Woolike

Blankets:

Snowflake Blanket, Red Heart Comfort Solids
Fuss Free Baby Blanket, Red Heart Eco-Ways; Bernat Cashmere Natural Blends (started September - oops!)

Well, I finished winding up the oldest yarn.  Does that count?  Also, I did cast on and knit several rows on the second sock.  I ignored the blanket though.

April Goals:  Knit two rows on second sock.  Finish up to chart two on Picea.  Try to remember which project was planned for the oldest yarn.

Hmm.  Not a lot of knitting happened in April.  I'm halfway through chart two on Picea, might have knit a row on the sock but who really knows, and still can't remember what project I was gonna do with the oldest yarn.

May Goals:  Finish chart two on Picea.  Eat some pizza.  Lose another five pounds.  Go to work.  I think I got this.