I Can Count

When working on knitting projects, I always have a hard time keeping count of my rows.  Someone will start talking to me, and my multi-tasking goes to the waste side...I will almost always forget my count.  I am sure more experienced knitters have no problem looking at their work and are able to just count the rows.  Not me.

I now present to you....the counting stick...(or very simple Abacus)

Every fifth bead is the same, so I can count in fives.  After each row, I slide one bead from one side to the next.  Simple, right?  The charm is to mark my place, when I need to put the project down.

Here is how I made it:

Materials:

Metal Hanger

Wire Cutters

Pliers

Beads

Hot Glue Gun/Glue Sticks

Yarn

Directions:

The straight bottom of the hanger is your "stick".  Using the wire cutters cut where indicated in the picture below.

"String" beads on the wire.  You can make a pattern, or make it random like I did.  I would suggest every 5th bead using the same beads to make it easy to keep your count.  Also, leave enough room to be able to slide the beads over from one side to the next, and have the definition to see the division between the two.

Using the pliers, bend the ends into a circle.  The main purpose is to create a stopper at each end so the beads don't fall off.  At this point you could call it done.  I decided that the ends needed a little more decoration so I crocheted around the wire, and added a couple beads.  I also used hot glue to adhere the sharp end of the wire to where it meets to form the circle. 

I Think I Can...I Think I Can

Remember this post... "Now What" ...I picked it up again!  I found the yarn by looking around online and now have enough yarn to finish the project.  The shirt/vest I am making is completely an "on the fly" design.  I am just making it up as I go along and so far it is looking great.  I am noticing that with my weight loss it may be a little big, but plan to adjust when it is complete.  Maybe with a little sewing I can take it in a little...but I will just have to wait and see when the piece is complete.

How sweet it will be to finish something!

Pyro-maniacs!

Happy Fourth of July!  (a little late)  While everyone else was wishing their family and friends a happy 4th of July, in all their Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter accounts, I was busy setting up a firework show for the city.  You would not believe all that it takes to put on a big firework show.  It is a ton of work, but oh so worth it...

The day started off with scattered showers, just as you were getting use to the patch of blue sky above you a grey cloud would cover it up, laugh at you and start raining.  Up until two o'clock, I seriously did not think that we were going to have good enough weather to shoot the fireworks off.  Water and electrical equipment are not good together.  To my surprise, the weather broke and we had good clear skies through the show.

Camping or Crafting?

Well that is a hard question!?! 

OK, not really...

Losing and Being Lazy

In the past 3 weeks, there has been very little exercising.  In order to reach my goal, I need to make sure to stick to my routine...watch my calorie intake and exercise!  Watching my calories is surprisingly easy.  I watch them on my plate and then I watch them get shoved into my mouth.  Kidding aside, I have done pretty well with the calories, slipping up just a little.  I am ok with slipping up though.  I don't believe in denying yourself of stuff you crave, because when you deny you binge.  It's all in moderation and being aware of what you are eating.

Where am I at towards my goal?  I am down a total of 16 pounds, in two months, and still 10 pounds to reach my first goal.  The last month has been slow and not very motivational, but at least I seem to still be losing and not gaining.

Back to the treadmill....

New Product

I have wanted to come up with a cute crochet journal, and a few weeks ago my mother helped me come up with this great idea.

This pocket sized journal is about 3"x3" square and 3/4" thick.  I used a nice drawing paper for the inside pages and cotton yarn for the cover.  Record your thoughts, draw pictures, use as a phone book...it's up to you, be creative!

Here is another view of the journal...

I am making them in varying sizes, colors and paper.  For sale soon!  Inquire via email.

I made nothing Monday.

Last Friday, a crazy storm hit the island.  It was raining so hard you were soaked the minute you walked out into it, the wind was blowing in all directions, and at one point during the day the rain was pelting my office window so much I couldn't even see out them.  It felt like a hurricane and we don't get hurricanes here.  Needless to say, I was planning on a stay at home weekend full of rain, dark clouds and crafting.  If anything I needed to make something for "I made it Monday", right?

I woke up Saturday morning to an amazing sight....blue skies and SUNSHINE!  So Saturday was spent at the Races (a local race club has weekend races during the summer and you can go to watch, dirt bikes, four wheelers and stock cars race) and Sunday was spent sitting in front of a camp fire next to a calm river with my hubby and dogs.  No crafting, but lots of vitamin D! 

Doesn't this look relaxing?

"I Made It" Monday!

There has not been massive amounts of work getting completed.  I blame it on the fact that I am hungry!  Ever since I started cutting calories I am always hungry, and even if I am not hungry, I am still thinking about food....I AM ALWAYS HUNGRY! 

Back to something better than my whining...

Crochet earrings are definitely on my inventory for the bazaars this coming holiday season.  I may even start putting them on my Etsy for sale or do a giveaway on this blog.  I am absolutely in love with the way they look and feel.  I may have to invest in a magnifying glass after making too many pairs, but for now my glasses are doing their job.

Pigging Out

There are two things everyone here looks forward to when they leave the island....Food and Shopping.  With only a handful of restaurants to choose from, (same goes for shopping) we tend to go crazy when we enter a big city with so many choices.  Even my 34 year old husband drooled like a toddler that was just sat in front of a huge pile of lolly pops.  "I want to go here...and there....oooo and over there".  "You will only be here for three days, pick wisely", I kept telling him.  "You can't eat everything."  (Maybe he could of if I would of let him)

Needless to say, when you live where I do you don't even try to stick to diets on vacation, and I did not.

Belly Fat

Losing weight.  I am sure most women have a story.  Its hard to maintain a healthy weight, when it is so easy to pack on the pounds, right?  If you knew me in High School, and saw me now you would probably want to ask, "what happened?"  Starting in junior high and all through High School I was between 100 and 105 pounds.  Skinny!  Now I am...well numbers don't matter...we'll just say I am far from 105.

So the journey begins...or continues...

With the inspiration a good friend, a month ago, after swearing off diets I decided to try counting my calories.  Research on the Internet informed me to lose weight I needed to eat only 1200 calories a day.  So I tried it....the first week, with only counting calories I lost 2.9 pounds. Yippee!

The second week, nothing.  Nothing gained and nothing lost.  A little discouraged, but not defeated (yet), the third week, I decided to start walking while still counting my calories.  4.2 pounds lost.  This last week, 3 pounds.  I think I am on a roll now.

The goal right now is to lose a total of 27 pounds.  Each day is till a fight to stick to the plan.  Write down all calories, walk everyday, and drink lots of water.  One day at a time, but hopefully I will get there.

Must.....finish.....something!

The weekend was very productive.  Saturday was filled with sunshine so I spent a good part of the day, walking around the trails of one of the islands famous WWII Parks.  It was just a good friend of mine, my red nose Pitt bull, Kane and I.  We just walked around exploring new trails and bunkers I haven't see before, chatting about life and it was wonderful.

Sunday was not filled with sunshine but rain and lots and lots of rain.  For some reason I woke up at 8:30am and couldn't get back to sleep, so on the coffee went and after about an hour of waking up, I dug through my yarn stash and found some tweed yarn.  I only had 2 balls of this tweed yarn, because it was given to me by a friend, who bought them for me while on vacation in Florida.  So the mission was to make something that only called for these 2 balls.  This is what I came up with.....

I did have to go to the store and purchase the yarn for the border, but I was ok with that.  I am very happy with the way it turned out.

As promised here....."Did I Actually Finish Something", a picture of the Cullotes.

Put Some Sunscreen On

The weather has been fantastic lately.  Full sun, slight breeze and between 50-60 degrees.  Summer is on it's way, which means time to get the some projects done outside.  Last Saturday, it took me all day, but I managed to prune, and clean up the raspberries bushes, and the entire side yard where they live.  In their lifetime, they have probably never been looked after. 

Do you have raspberry bushes on your property?  Do you know what you need to do to produce great bushes each year?  I didn't till a week ago, now that I do, I feel I need to share with the whole world!  A raspberry "cane" (basically a stick growing out of the ground), produces fruit the second year of it's life.  Meaning one raspberry bush, or whatever you want to call it, will grow two canes...the first year cane #1 will produce fruit and it will grow a second cane that will not.  The following year, cane #1 dies and cane #2 will produce fruit and so on and so on.  All you have to do, each year around this time, is break off the "dead" cane.  You will be able to spot these as they will not have any buds on them and they should break off fairly easy.  If you live in a place that gets cold winters, I suggest clipping off the tops of the canes that will produce fruit (about 5 to 6 inches), as the tips are probably burned by frost.

That's it really simple.  Now what to make with your raspberries when they come in??

• Raspberry Muffins
• Raspberry Jelly
• Raspberry Butter
• Raspberry Pancakes
• Throw them in your salads
• Raspberry Cheeses Cake

There's really so much you can do with them...it's endless!

Daily Movements

Each day could very well blend into one great big long day sometimes.  Monday thru Friday, wake up...make coffee, take dogs outside, get ready for work...work...lunch...work...go home...make dinner, watch a little TV...go to bed....do it all over again.  It can be so hard to break up the monotony of daily life.  But trust me you have to find some way to break that.

Crafts:
It only took me 2 months to finish a hat for a co-worker of mine, but I finally finished it.  It was a simple crochet hat with a brim.  I had to re-do the brim 5 times before I could get it the right shape...talk about frustrating!  The hat turned out great and she loves it.  I was so glad to finish it and get it out of my house that I didn't even take a photo of it.  Now on to the numerous other unfinished projects.

Life:
Walking.  I am finally into a routine!  It only took a couple months to get a schedule down to actually walk everyday, but I have finally done it.......till the next time I decide "I just don't want to walk today".

Peace

We're Going Global!

Every Friday night I am invaded by "Man Night".  My Hubby and his buddies get together in the man room and play cards till all hours of the night.  This Monday, the hubby comes to me and asks if I can make a Tee Shirt with his Poker Room Sign on it.  Hmmmm, I thought....been wanting to try a technique?!?!

 

Why?  Well, for the past several months, every Thursday night a local bar in town has been holding Texas Hold'em tournaments.  The winner each week won a seat at the final table...tonight.  The winner tonight wins round trip tickets to Vegas to play in a tournament.  If one of my hubby's buddies win, he is going to give them the "Bob's Poker Room" shirt to wear when they are down there.

What I did was very simple, and I plan to experiment with a few things, with a couple other projects.  How it was made.......

Materials:

• 
  
  Tee Shirt
• 
  
  Gel Bleach Pen
• 
  
  Cardboard
• 
  
  Chalk

1. Start by putting the cardboard inside the shirt to separate the back and front, so you don't get any bleed through.
2. Using the Chalk, draw the design you want.  I would make it fairly simple, too intricate would be hard to draw with a Gel Bleach Pen.
3. Next, with the Gel Bleach Pen, carefully "trace" over your chalk.
4. Let the Bleach do its job.  I left the bleach on till the gel was practically dried out. (About 45 min)
5. Rinse off the Gel.
6. Wash in washer.
7. Enjoy!

Loving the Great Outdoors

The best way to refresh and relax is to take advantage of a beautiful day.  It is one of the biggest reasons I love where I live...the "wilderness" is anywhere from an hour to only 5 minutes away and just look at that view.

 Last Saturday, the hubby hopped on his bike and I loaded the dogs in the van.  I packed burgers for my Hubby and a Garden Burger for myself, my mini charcoal grill, seats, trail mix, chips, toys for the dogs...you name it I probably packed it.  We started off without a destination, just out the road.  We found a quiet, sunny spot next to Kalsin River, a river usually packed full of fishermen. We all unloaded and just.........played and played and played.