Hello all! This week hasn’t been perfect, but I’ve been tryin’. The fourth just killed my routine.

Monday was spent sleeping in, packing up, and driving home from a real pleasant but quick trip to Hood Canal. Belfair to be precise, in case anyone is interested. I ate fast food for the first time in a very long time, as in, I can’t affix a date to the last time I gut-bombed. When you aren’t used to fast food, it really isn’t as satisfying or delicious as you remember it to be. Anyway, I went swimming with the family Monday evening. Not really swimming, just fooling around, but we spent 1 1/2 hours in the water, and I moved around quite a bit, so I’m counting it for 30 minutes of aerobics. (Little sparkly flower sticker for me)

Tuesday, I just did physical therapy.

Wednesday I did physical therapy and a hula video.

Thursday was physical therapy and my 2 mile walk. (I kicked butt. I think I walked the fastest ever. This is very exciting for me, because I have somewhat of a gimpy leg that keeps me from walking as fast as I’d like)

Friday I did upper and lower body weights and my physical therapy exercises.

On that topic…… (Warning- a very long rant follows, feel free to skip it) This is my first time going to physical therapy. I had no idea what to expect, other than a long routine of tedious physical movements that are supposed to help my bodily discomfort. I knew that part by reputation. Anyway, it appears that I am highly strong and flexible. I’ve always known that I am really strong for a woman. (Mostly in my lower half, I think my upper half is pretty wimpy.) Every doctor, specialist, and exercise equipment salesman I go to sees a very overweight stay-home mother of three small children and makes assumptions. (That is my guess anyway). Once they get around to actually examining me, they all say things like, “Wow! You’re really strong!” and, “Wow, you’ve got good muscle tone.” “Most women can’t do that.” Etc, etc. So, I’m in the physical therapist’s office for our first meeting a couple of weeks ago, and he’s asked a bunch of questions about my pain and lifestyle, and starts in on the physical examination. Once again I get the shock and surprise at my strength. The thing I wasn’t expecting was shock and surprise at my flexibility. It appears that I have full range of motion and extreme flexibility throughout my body that most people don’t have, including the therapist and his assistant. (I had a great PE teacher in junior high school that graded very heavily on stretching, and I’ve benefited from it the rest of my life) The therapist said that I was going to be a “fun and interesting case” for him, because I’m already strong and incredibly flexible, and he’s not exactly sure how to help me. They have me doing some good stretches and strength building in my upper/mid back that I think will help, but we haven’t done much with my hip and the base of my spine yet. (I have a torn disc.) I’m just wondering this….. If I am so strong, so flexible, exercising (my resting heart rate is about 52 beats per minute), drinking a gallon of water a day, eating well, and have remarkably good blood pressure, WHY IN THE DEUCE AM I FAT?!!!!!

(OK, back to our regularly scheduled Health Group meeting.)

Food-wise this week, I did pretty good. Not as wonderful as last week, but still pretty darn good.

And the scale? 229.5. Score. I’ve been in the 220’s most of the week. I’m pretty stoked about that.

Your turn………… Or you can just sing me a happy “Hooray For You” song. Whatever tickles your fancy.

I am a no talent hack. That is my husband’s favorite self-deprecating phrase when he is feeling the artist’s equivalent to writer’s block. And sometimes, he is suffering from writer’s block, ’cause he does that too. But I am a no talent hack because I CAN’T GET THESE MISERABLE EYES RIGHT! AAAAAAAAHHHHG!

Ahem. Yes, well, now that I have lost all composure and any imagined dignity, I am going to retreat into a hole and lick my wounds. The rebel backpack is now singing the Siren’s song and I am going to succumb. Poor Abigail gets a blind doll with no skirt, and I move steadily towards the light at the end of the tunnel, which right now is my mom’s sweater. How I long to knit that beautiful sweater. It has a pattern. Did you catch that? A PATTERN! It is simple ribbing and cables. Ah, the relaxation, the simple sweetness that is knitting from someone else’s sweat and frustration realized in a beautiful, tidy pattern. (Please don’t ruin my anticipation by reminding me that the yarn for said mom sweater is cotton. You know, the evil, unforgiving fiber that is mercerized cotton? We are not thinking about that right now. Looking forward to knitting that sweater is the only thing keeping us going. Wait a minute….. We? Us? Great, next I’ll be calling for my precious.)

I spent most of yesterday working on and organizing my house, laundry, etc. so I didn’t spend much time knitting. I finished Abigail’s doll’s sweater and tried to give her eyes. Neither went very well. The sweater is cute, but my seaming is atrocious, and I can’t get the eyes right.

Aargh!

Well, I’ve bound off the top of the bag so that I can pick up stitches and knit a flap that will cover the drawstring. Of course, now I’m going to frog part of the bind off and just knit the flap directly out of the top like I originally intended. Does that rambling make any sense? No? Probably just as well.

And yes, those jade/teal dreadlocks yesterday are the hair to Abby’s doll. I’m almost done with her sweater. I’m going to make a skirt next because having to put those bell bottoms back on my doll after every 3-4 minutes of playtime with the girls has gotten very old. They just slide right off, and I don’t have the stomach to surgically attach them. Yuck!

I am working on the backpack, really, I am. The problem is that between my stupid, not paying attention to my stripe chart mistakes, and my frog and redo because I am entirely making this thing up as I go mistakes, it doesn’t look like I’ve spent much time on it. However, the miserable, “unpredictable and malicious yarnovers that are going to serve as drawstring holes whether they like it or not” are done. The bag part is done. I am now to the point of deciding how exactly I’m going to do the flap. After that will be (well, more frogging I’m sure, and then) the straps. Doesn’t sound like much fun, does it? I really don’t know why I haven’t been enjoying this backpack. It makes no sense. Maybe deep down, I’m really scared that it is going to be a flop. (Shudder)

So, want to see what is fun? OK, just a peek….

Gee, I wonder what that is! :-).

I love these dolls. I really like them, too. This doll pattern is great. And did I mention, I love these dolls? :-).

Seriously, I bow to Alison and Kerstin for introducing me to this pattern through their blogs. I’d been looking for a good, worsted weight doll pattern for a couple of years, to no avail, and now I have one I am totally in love with. Thanks ladies!

So, wanna see?

Her name is Corrina, because her hair looks just like a big haired girl I went to junior high school with by the same name, and I can’t get over the likeness. It was not intentional, but why fight it? So, Corinna it is, and she is mine. I’ve already started on Abigail’s. They go so quick, I’m going to sneak it in between other projects I need to get done, like Olivia’s backpack, and mom’s sweater.

Do you still think I need to embellish the sweater? and if so, what should I do? Here are some options I’ve been thinking of: A big, wide red stripe that goes along the top of her sleeves, (like starting at the top of the cuff, up the shoulder, around the front and back of the neck, and down the other shoulder to the opposite cuff), a big heart on the front, red polka dots, or a thin red line around each of the cuffs, about 1/2 inch up. FYI- the pants are red and fuchsia.

UPDATE- Now that this issue of IK is sold out at the publisher, and I continue to get inquiries for the pattern, I contacted IK and asked them how to legally and ethically obtain the pattern. This is the email I received in response:

Dear Laura,

Thank you very much for your sensitivity to this issue. You are right
that it is a compromise of copyright law for you to copy the pattern.
And yes this issue is out of print. A copy of the pattern can be gotten
through our office for a $4.00 shipping and handling fee. Email Debbie
Mountford at debbiem@interweave.com for the copy. Thank you again for
your help.

Best regards,
Susan

Susan Sternlieb
Editorial Assistant
Interweave Knits magazine
Tel: (970) 613-4690
Fax: (970) 669-6117
susanslb@interweave.com

Welcome to week four of our online Health Group. As always, I’ll start us off…..

Monday, I did weights only.

Tuesday, I skated for 45 minutes, and did my weights.

Wednesday, (and you won’t believe this), I spent 30 continual minutes grinding wheat with my manual grinder, because my electric is still out for warranty repairs. I checked periodically, and my heart rate was up and aerobic, so it got counted, and I got a sticker. I also did my weights.

Thursday, I skated again, but only for 30 minutes ’cause I was really tired, I worked a sweat at my physical therapy appointment, and didn’t do any weights.

Friday, I did the physical therapy routine, upper and lower body weights, and a two mile walk with Abner. Mwahaahaahaa.

Now, a discussion about food.

I’ve been kicking caloric butt this week. Thus far, I haven’t ingested a single thing that I should not have. I’ve snacked on mushrooms, tomatoes, and red bell pepper. I’ve eaten a lot of steamed broccoli, yellow squash, and carrots. I’ve had a very modest amount of my whole wheat bread, (mmm, bread), and I’ve eaten a few boiled eggs.

I’ve also been eating tons of watermelon, blueberries, and cherries. (The cherries were generously donated by my neighbor Julie, by the bucketful. You rock Jules!). The fruit and berries have completely satiated any cravings I’d normally be having. I’m eating all day long. I haven’t been hungry. I haven’t felt deprived.

Well, ok, Thursday night I made some pasta with a meaty ground turkey sauce for dinner. That translates to some empty, refined carbohydrates. It was still low fat, and I wanted some meat.

So now, the scale. I hate the scale today. I’m 230 today. I’ve been down into the 220’s for the first time this year most of this week. I got down to 226.5 on Thursday morning. That was a happy day. But today, 230. Again. Sigh.

The floor is now open to anyone that wants to participate. Angie in TX, how’re your injuries? Are you feeling better?

Hmmm, depending on how you look at it, the trip to the craft store was a success. I successfully avoided making an expensive grommet gun purchase that I might later have regretted, and I picked up some fun stuff.

There are some little snaps in there, some big snaps, some embroidery floss, a magnetized pin holder, a backup retractable tape measure (because the one I already own is a hot item with the girls, and frequently goes missing), and some excellent little seed beads that may or may not look cool as highlights in doll eyes. I also got a big $5 coupon for a future visit! Ooh, ahhh.

So I talked with a couple nice ladies in the fabric store, and they said that they would definitely go with the felted yarnovers over the grommets. Humphh.

Does anyone out there have an opinion as to how big these yarnovers should be? I am trying to decide between double, triple, and quadruple yarnovers. Should the holes be just barely big enough for the i-cord to pass through, or huge to give it room to move around freely? (Oops, I just realized that I haven’t told you what I’m wanting to do yet. I am putting a drawstring around the top of the backpack, a few inches down from the top, to draw the sides in when the flap is down. Make sense?)

Moving on…… The doll, (who really needs a name. I’m thinking about Meredith), is now only half naked. I knit her a sweater yesterday.

I intend to work up some cute, striped pants today, and I’m thinking about doing some embroidery on her sweater. What do you think? Does the sweater need some embellishment?