A new goal....warm weather always does this to me

Anyone who has ever been in good physical shape at one time in their life, and is not anymore, will be able to identify with this. I was in the Army. I went through Basic Training in 1990. I left home in a size 16 at 148 pounds and came back 5 months later STILL 148 pounds but in a size 6. That equals a lot less fat and a lot MORE muscle. From there, I gained weight on top of that muscle and have not see 148lbs in a loooong time. I stopped looking at the scale during this time in my life, because no matter how thin I got, I was always very heavy. When I met my husband he was very jealous of my muscular legs, considering the fact that I sat on my a$$ most of the time and he worked out and ran nearly every night.

It's been 7 years since we met and I have gained quite a bit more weight, due to my complacency and contentment. I have had good intentions over the years to lose weight. I even have a very expensive elliptical trainer at the foot of my bed that I have used maybe 5 times in the past 5 years.

I had always hated running, but of course, did a lot of it during training. It always made me feel good afterwards. Now I am always tired and my body aches. I need to get active in order to feel better. I know this, but do not have the willpower to do anything about it.......that is, until yesterday when I was blog spying and read a blog written by a girl named Kris who is in a bag swap with me. So, guess what I did last night? I BOUGHT A NEW PAIR OF RUNNING SHOES!!!! Thanks Kris. I will keep visiting your blog for inspiration. Now I need all of my "blog followers" to keep my true to my goal. :)

Knitting Aspirations and Accomplishments

Things I want to try but have not done yet

1. Knitting with metal wire
2. Afghan
3. Two end knitting/Tvåändsstickning
4. Knitting with camel yarn
5. Mittens: Tip-down
6. Knitting with silk
7. Moebius band knitting
8. Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
9. Knitting with banana fiber yarn
10. Domino knitting (modular knitting)
11. Knitting with bamboo yarn
12. Toy/doll clothing
13. Slippers
14. Norwegian knitting
15. Knitting with someone else’s hand-spun yarn
16. Teaching a male how to knit
17. Dying yarn
18. Steeks
19. Knitting with cashmere
20. Darning
21. Jewelry
22. Gloves
23. Knitting with linen
24. Knitting for preemies
25. Free-form knitting
26. Pillows
27. Dying with plant colors
28. Knitting items for a wedding

Things I have accomplished

1. I-cord
2. Fair Isle (or other stranded) knitting
3. Knitting with cotton yarn
4. Knitting with soy yarn
5. Knitting in public
6. Shawl
7. Baby items
8. Socks: top-down
9. Mittens: Cuff-up
10. Hat
11. Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…)
12. Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on one or two circulars
13. Participating in a KAL
14. Charity knitting
15. Knitting with circular needles
16. Continental knitting
17. Designing knitted garments (bag and socks so far)
18. Writing a pattern (Shamrock Shenanigan Socks)
19. Participate in an exchange
20. Scarf
21. Teaching a child to knit
22. Knitting to make money
23. Knitting with dpns
24. Holiday related knitting
25. Knitting a gift
26. Knitting with synthetic yarn
27. Bobbles
28. Knitting and purling backwards
29. Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegated yarn
30. Knitting two socks on two circulars simultaneously
31. Fulling/felting
32. Knitting with wool
33. Kitchener stitch
34. Knitted flowers
35. Purses/bags
36. Knitting with beads
37. Swatching
38. Intarsia (working on a bag now)
39. Short rows
40. Stuffed toys
41. Sweater
42. Buttonholes
43. Cuffs/fingerless mits/arm-warmers
44. Thrummed knitting
45. Knitting with alpaca
46. Knitting with your own hand-spun yarn
47. Knitting with dog/cat hair (Glittens knit with Great Pyrenees Dog Hair)
48. Socks: toe-up
49. Cardigan

Things I have no Desire to Do

1. Graffiti knitting - don't know what this is
2. Publishing a knitting book
3. American/English knitting (as opposed to continental) (why bother?? LOL)
4. Knitting for a living
5. Machine knitting
6. Knitting art

A Proud Moment

I have officially "rubbed off" on someone!!! I guess all of my bags have been inspiring. Today when I got into work, one of my co-workers walked over to my desk and plopped the Stitch 'n Bitch book down on my desk. She explained that she mentioned to her boyfriend that she would like to learn to knit after seeing everything I have been making so he went out last night and bought her needles, yarn and the book. (isn't that sweet?) She said that she spent hours trying to figure out where to put the needle to knit and then finally realized that she was going between stitches and not into one.....LOL I invited her over tonight to knit in front of the American Idol finale so I could give her some pointers. I have a g-e-n-u-i-n-e in-the-flesh knitting friend! :0) LOL (not to discount all of my wonderful online knitting peeps of course!!)

And I must say thank you to the person who posted that they were impressed that I have only been knitting for 6 months. Thank you for your compliment! It made my day!!

This is the Berroco Tioreg Bag. The pattern is from the #257 "BAGS 2" pamphlet that came out this Spring (2007). The yarn is Berroco Love It in Monday Monday, which is exactly what their sample was knit in. I loved the color combo!! I bought the handles at quilting warehouse (believe it or not) http://store.quilting-warehouse.com/083505.html . They're an awesome price for the pair.

Now that I have lined my first purse, no bag is complete without one, including my famous zippered inside pocket. But I added something new to this one. You can see in the bottom picture that I made a little pocket for my debit card, which gets a lot of use, and also included two pen pockets. LOL This is addictive

This is a bag I designed for a co-worker. She fell in love with my Rose Bag but wanted a tote bag shape and wanted longer knitted straps so she could wear it over her shoulder. I made an i-cord closure that loops over the middle rose to close the tote. The lining is all black (again what the customer wanted), and has a zippered pocket. I put a piece of plastic canvas in the bottom before sewing in the lining to help the bottom keep it's rectangular shape. Before you ask, I never wrote down the pattern as I went a long. LOL Live and learn I guess. This is my first design.

My beautiful daughter...

This is my oldest daughter (the one who makes me feel old - even though I had her when I was 6....j/k).

Not knitting related, but she just sent me the picture and I wanted to share it. I don't see her nearly enough!!