Real Name: Lisa Wuertz Member Since: August 10, 2006 Last Signed In: April 30, 2008 Profile Views: 3880 Blog Views: 3353 What I've learned about love and romance Not what I expected... A little knitting and a little music Tweed, cables, bananas and chocolate Everybody's gonna dance tonight "You never know where a marsupial is going to pop up" Citizen journalists tell the story better My holiday New family member! Customer satisfaction December 06 January 07 February 07 March 07 April 07 May 07 June 07 July 07 August 07 September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 
RSS 2.0    |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Me: I feel hot today, as in HOT not warm
Husband: Like a fever? Me: HOT as in I look good Husband: Oh, like a hot mama. Yowsa! Me: You know those jean capris that I bought with Ruth and she has the same ones? Husband: Like a feva' Me: The kinda piratey ones, that I never wear because they are skin tight and uncomfortable? Husband: They fit better now? Me: I put them on this morning. No struggle. Button closed with ease. Totally comfortable. Husband: Good job! We need to keep up with the walking and the better eating. Me: Yeah Husband: Work it. Me: I'm hot and proud. Husband: (laughs) Originally posted on yarn-girl-lisa.blogspot.com My latest project I've been working on is The Girlfriend Shrug. I decided that I would really like a similar shrug for myself (i.e. grownup sized). I've also been eyeing this Araucania Nature Cotton in the most delicious green at my favorite LYS (local yarn shop). At first I thought I could maybe just use the same pattern as far as casting on and increases, just on bigger needles.
Well, after a couple of rows it became clear that was not going to work. So, I came to the realization that I was going to do some MATH. Ugh!
This was me in the recording studio with Stephen last night:
Me: I need your phone for the calculator because I'm going to have to do some serious math for this thing.
Stephen: What do you need to know?
Me:What's 19 times 3 and some other stuff....
Stephen: Bring it on, I'm studying for the GMAT, remember? Me: Yessss.... I hate the math! So, anyway here' s a math lesson in figuring out how to create the sleeve of the shrug courtesy of my husband... so much for Mr. I'm Not One to Give Fashion Advice...
First, I did a swatch, my first one ever. This is where you knit up a small square so you can get the "guage" which is a measure of how many rows and stitches there are per inch. So I found out that on size 8 needles, my yarn has 4 stitches per inch and 6 rows per inch. This is important for the math lesson.
Next I measured my arm.
-My wrist is 6.5 inches around
-My upper arm is 12 inches around
-My arm is 19 inches long So 4 stitches per inch times 6.5 inches is 26 stitches. This means I will cast on 26 stitches.
4 stitches per inch times 12 inches is 48 stitches, this means I need to increase to 48 stitches by the time I get to the shoulder of my sleeve.
6 rows times 19 inches is 114 rows.
Now here is the really tricky part with division and stuff.
The difference between 48 and 26 (i.e. 48 minus 26) is 22. When you are increasing, you usually increase one stitch (or more) at each end of the row, 1 plus 1 equals 2. 22 divided by 2 is 11. This means if you want to increase evenly over the course of the arm, then you need to increase 11 times.
114 divided by 11 isn't a nice, even whole number. However, 11 times 10 equals 110 which is pretty darn close.
That 10 means that you will increase every 10 rows, however since we need to go to 114 rows, we'll increase at row #14 for our first increase.
Alright, hope you're not confused. Based on all that crazy math here is the pattern, in knitting terms that I came up with.
Cast on 26 sts
Work in 1x1 rib for 7 rows.
Switch to St st and work for 6 rows.
Next row (increase row): k2, m1, k to last 2 sts, m1, k2
Continue working in St st, working an inc row on every 10th row thereafter until there are 48 sts on your needle.
Please note that I have not actually gotten to the end of sleeve #1, so I could be totally wrong here... Also, I haven't quite decided what to do next, so stay tuned... To make up for all the borning math, I've included a picture of what I've got so far.
It was curling up a little bit on the right side, the increases are exactly the same and even on both sides.
Originally posted on yarn-girl-lisa.blogspot.com
...the wearing up and headbands is still possible. Other than that it grows back.
I still can't decide if I even like it. I think I don't like it.
Maybe if Stephen's hair wasn't so long I wouldn't feel so tomboyish. I think maybe I don't want to cut my hair ever again. Oh and it's like the biggest pain to style in the morning. And what on earth am I going to do with all these lovely headbands I just knit up now? (see second picture) And in other weekend happenings... Daisy lost its ugly hood which was replaced with a cute little beenie (see third picture). Monday, April 16
Me: "Do you think this looks good? The blue with the yellow trim?"
Husband: "I don't know, I'm not one to give fashion advice on baby items." Me: "Well, couldn't you just look at it? Come look, pleeeease." Husband: "Yeah it looks good." Me: "Do you think if I embroider daisies on it in the yellow and then have daisy buttons too that it will be too much daisy?" Husband: "Umm... yeah probably too much daisy. I think you should get some big yellow buttons." Me: "But the button band is yellow. Then you wouldn't see the buttons at all." Husband: "Okay, well I guess some big bright blue ones would look good." After a trip to the craft store, returning with three buttons that looked like blue pearls. Me: "Do you think these go?" Husband: "Well I was thinking of something bigger. You know those really big buttons?" Me: "But the button holes on this thing are really small. How would I fit them on there and make them work" Husband: "Well can't you just extend the button hole?" I took Charlotte to the vet on Tuesday to get her booster shots. Dr. Holland said, "She's no porker, but she went from 13 pounds to 18 pounds since her spay surgery." He said we might want to make sure we feed her the amount on the bag for a 15 pound dog and get her on an eating schedule. Looks like there's two of us in this house that need to get on a diet.
Finally! Finally! Finally!
I love it, it is the best thing ever. I'm going to wear it every single cold day that we have left. Pattern: Norah Gaughan's Capecho from the cover of Vogue Knitting, Winter 2006 Yarn: About 9 and 1/2 balls of Karabella Aurora 8 in #7 (red) Needles: Two sets of size 6 bamboo DPNs Modifications: The pattern used a different yarn and called for different needles. That didn't work for me. So, I ripped the whole thing out and started over. I dropped two stitches from the cast on number (the salvage edge) and decided on my second attempt to work the pentagons in the round. I used one DPN for each side of the pentagon which is why I needed two sets. There is absolutely no seaming in my version. On the collar, instead of making it up and then attaching it, I sort of attached it as I went by knitting a stitch from the body together with the end stitch. I also wound up cinching up under the sleeves to make it less cape like and more shrug like.... okay so I lied that would require a little bit of seaming.... like 2 inches on each side. Start to Finish: Counting the re-do I've been working on this since January! For: Me! No way am I giving this much work away to someone that probably wouldn't even begin to know how to appreciate it. Special thanks to Bonnie down at Creative Pursuits for all the moral support along the way! :)
Another unexpected benefit:
Being a little more active (taking walks) and eating better over the last few days has helped me sleep better. I usually have some problems with insomnia, but I have been sleeping great the last few nights. My FitDay Journal I just did the weigh in this morning. It was a weigh in and measurements actually. I didn't get the measurements so I don't know them. My official weigh in weight was 155. My goal is to weigh 120 by the end of the contest on June 22. That means I need to loose a little over 3lbs per week.
So I took the plunge. I joined our company's Biggest Loser Club today. I weigh in tomorrow. I'm tired of looking in the mirror and feeling like crap. I'm tired of getting rid of the hundreth pair of much too tight pants. I don't want to live in gauchos the rest of my life just because they are stretchy. I got back to keeping track of what I put in my body this last week. I am using a really great tool located at www.fitday.com and man! I have not been doing that great so far. I've got to be much more careful when picking out recipies. I've been using www.allrecipes.com lately because it converts everything to exactly however many servings you need to make. This is really great when you only have to cook for two people and most cookbooks are designed for families. Usually I just pick things at random or look at menus other people have created or try to search for something I already have in my kitchen. The last one is what led me to Red Potato Chicken, our meal for tonight. It was delicious, but you can imagine my surprise when I found out that one serving of the stuff has 1,277 calories as I was entering my intake for the day on FitDay. Today I consumed 2,413 calories, but only burned 2,045. I can hear my athletically inclined sister in my head right now, "Duh. Calories in has to be lower than calories burned out if you want to lose weight. It's just common sense."
There have been other meals in between, including a Jewish inspired one in honor of Passover. This one was pretty and I remembered to take a picture.
Angel Hair pasta with shrimp and basil • 1 tablespoon olive oil • 4 servings worth Angel Hair pasta • 1 garlic clove, chopped • 8 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined • 1 can Italian style diced tomatoes, drained • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese • dash of Wondra gravy flour (optional) Directions: • Cook pasta according to package directions. • Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add tomatoes, garlic, basil, parsley and shrimp and cook until shrimp are pink and liquid is thickened. Add Wondra gravy flour to desired thickness (optional). Add pasta and simmer 1 minute more. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve. Eric's salad • 1/2 orange, chopped • Enough lettuce for two salads • 1 green onion, chopped • olive oil • red wine vinegar • salt Directions: • Rinse lettuce and tear into bite sized pieces. Dry in salad spinner. • Add orange and onion to lettuce in medium bowl. • Coat ingredients with olive oil. Add vinegar and salt to taste. Should be slightly tangy and salty when it is right. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
