Flying

Well, I meant to post this yesterday, but I lost track of time cleaning. Yes, I said cleaning. This doesn't happen to me. Ever! Sure, I've lost track of time taking on the phone, running errands, and yes knitting, especially knitting. But rarely, if ever, cleaning. We'll blame Fly Lady.

Today I want to introduce you to Fly Lady. This is Fly Lady.

Why Fly lady? F.L.Y. stands for Finally Loving Yourself! I really like this concept.

I stumbled on her website a few years ago. She has an entire website dedicated to getting rid of C.H.A.O.S. (can't have anyone over syndrome). I was doing really well for a while, and then I fell off the wagon, and the wagon moved on leaving me suck firmly in the mud. Fast forward 2 years. To my utter surprise and amazement, the wagon has circled around. It even slowed down enough for me to climb stumble back on.

Because I had been gone so long, I decided that I would go back to "Getting Started". How does one get started? I'm glad you asked. You shine your sink. You take everything out of your sink and you clean it, I mean really clean it. I won't go into details, you can find them here. So, I shined my sink.

Here it is, my newly shined sink.

Well, this clean a sink can't sit in a messy kitchen, so I straightened the kitchen. I have been moving slowly around my main level for the last week of so. Which brings me to yesterday and my sitting room.

The sitting area was the biggest holdout. I was ever so slightly overwhelmed by the chaos and clutter that had collected. But what's a girl to do? The other rooms were whispering at me "you can't leave us sitting here all nice and clean with that mess lying around". In comes Fly Lady with her saying:

You can do anything for 15 minutes!

So I set the timer for 15 minutes and away I went. I was so proud of what I accomplished in the first 15 minutes, that I set the timer for another, and another... Anyway you can see where this is going. Before I knew it, the morning had just disappeared. I won't post pictures yet, because it's not quite where I want it to be.

 Glove Update:

I was definatly disusional in thinking I could have my gloves finished by yeaterday.  I made a valiant effort however, and I have 1 1/2 fingers and the thumbs remaining.

Yarn Bombing

First what is Yarn Bombing?

In a nut shell Yarn Bombing is a type of graffiti that uses yarn instead of chalk or paint. It employs the use knit or crochet items to turn everyday objects into a work of art. If you are interested in more amazing examples, just Google it!

Yarn Bombed car

Today I got to be a part of a unique Yarn Bombing event. Playhouse Square teemed up with one of our local yarn shops, Soft 'n Sassy, to cover the Place theater with a rainbow of knit items; hats, scarves and mittens. All of these warm and cozy items will be donated to Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital at the end of the event. (more info here.)

I met two of my wonderful Knit Sibs Erica and Jen for a knitting marathon. We, along with several other industrious knitters worked on hats an scarves to add to the growing collection of knit goodies.

We had a great time!

I also produced my first finished object of the year!

The pattern is Tinker. The yarn is Caron Simply Soft. All in all it was an enjoyable and productive day!

Sidetracked

I did have something planned for today, but I got sidetracked. So I will leave you with two of my more crazy organizing tools.

Information Center

Meal Plan - I can't take credit for this one, I borrowed it from here.

On the knitting front, my gloves have not made as much progress as I had hoped. I'm still optimistic delusional that they will be done by Monday.

Eddy

Well, it actually looks like winter has arrived here in Northeast Ohio. I'm cold!!! There is no getting around it. The thermostat is still set at the same temp, but I'm freezing! I'm bundled up in a hand knit hat, sweater, and fingerless mittens, but it's no good. Maybe a nice hot cup of coffee will help.

Today is the perfect day to sit on the couch and knit some. In that spirit, I thought that I should introduce you to my first knitting project of the year. Every year after my Holiday knitting is complete (normally on Dec 24th), I start a project just for me. This year I've chosen:

Eddy!

The pattern is designed by Julia Mueller. Her designs are just incredible. (If you are not on Ravelry you can find them all here.)

I'm using Knit Picks Essential in the colorway Sarge. The yarn was a birthday gift from my wonderful Knit-Sib Deb!

I'm just getting ready to add the fingers

For those of you who know me, I always knit my gloves/mittens/socks/sleeves/etc two at a time. Therefore, not to worry, the right glove is also awaiting fingers.

A new year

First I think I should tell you why I started this blog. As I looked back over 2011, I had a hard time finding any evidence of accomplishment.  I looked at the scale and I hadn't lost a pound. If anything, I gained. I looked around the house and I think it is in more chaos than when the year began. The only evidence I have is in my knitting, and I have Ravelry to thank for that! I was also reminded that people don't think I do anything but knit because that's all I seem to post to Facebook. So I started this blog to have a record of what I'm going to do this year. I know it's very optimistic of me! Please join me on my journey through the winding hilly road that will map out 2012.

Well, it's that time of year again. The time when I make all sorts of resolutions for the New Year. Most of which I don't keep. (Do any of us?) Here I go again. 

1. Losing, or not...

1. Every year I say I'm going to loose weight, and every year I disappoint myself. So this year my resolution is different. It's about what I want to gain. I want to gain...
   
   Self Respect!
   
   I want to truly learn to love the person I am, and embrace all my flaws. Hopefully along the way I will also find a happier and more productive me.
2. OrganizationThis is another one that I make every year. I need to declutter and organize my house. This year however I have a plan. I'm going to start flying fluttering with Fly Lady. Have you heard of her? She has has a whole system set up. I'm feeling confident delusional. I've at lest started the year with a clean kitchen.
   
   Just don't look at the rest of the house. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
3. KNITTING!
   As the title suggests, I would rather be knitting than working on the first 2. This is the big one. I already have a few projects in my queue.
   
   Traveling Woman Shawl (My knitting group is starting a knit along next week.)Girls Cardigan
   Lazy Kathy (again)
   Prism bag
   Nevis Cardigan
   Ardrum Scarf/Wrap
   
   If your on Ravelry, check out my queue.
   
   As the budget around here is pretty tight, I'm also attempting to knit all most of this from my stash as much as possible.
   
   And last but not least, attack my pile of UFOs (Unfinished Objects).

I think that about wraps up the unrealistic list of goals for 2012. A good year to all of you and I hope to see you along my journey!

Last Day

Today is the last day of Hanukkah,

and the last day of our trip. We met my sister " The Teacher" at The Chelsea TreeHouse.

We all had a ton of fun

A BIG "Thank You" to my in laws for letting us take over stay at their house!

Getting off the ground!

I've been toying with the idea of starting a blog for a while now. I'm not really sure who would want to follow me, but here goes...

My first post.

I feel like I should have something really monumental to say, but I don't. We are still visiting family for the Holidays. And I can't sleep! If you hang around long enough, you will find that sleeplessness (is that a word) is is a common theme in my life.  I normally knit when I can't sleep, but the only project I have with me is too fiddly to work on when I'm this tired. Maybe that's why I thought this was a good idea.

Please give me a little leeway as I try to get the hang of this blogging thing. Maybe I should ask my friend Deb she's a pro.