Adventures in Knitting a Baby Blanket

Deciding to knit a baby blanket was the easy part.  Search through Ravelry for the perfect blanket design and then buy the suggested materials? Noooo, not Haze. That would have been far too easy. I had a vision.  Fuzzy, like watching an old tv signal from an antenna that didn't quite pick it up .. but still a vision that I knew I had to follow.

I knew it had to be crib (cot) size. Not too big, not too small.  About this wide (what you can't see me stretch my arms?) okay, about a yard/metre wide, give or take 6 inches.  And roughly 50'ish inches long. Yes this was very mathematically calculated and precisely measured, why do you ask?

I knew it had to be edged with satin blanket binding. This was a no-brainer for me.  Because what baby doesn't love the feel of satin between their fingers as they suck their fingers or thumb?

I knew it had to be varying shades of  mauve, yellow and blue. This was part of the vision. You don't mess with the vision!  I found the most colourful satin edging at....wait for it... Walmart.  Yes, I bought satin edging that had all the required colours in it!  When knitting a blanket, who doesn't go and buy the satin edging first?
 
Next I  started the search for the yarn.  This little grandbaby is going to be born and will live in Australia.  Australia = Hot. Wool = Out. Acrylic=Out. Cotton = In. Bamboo=In.   So with binding in hand to match/contrast colours,  off I go to Ram Wools Yarn Co-op.  After a brief discussion with the very helpful gal that was working that day, we chose Estelle Cotton Cloud. Soft, lightweight and hopefully durable (we'll find out). I purchased multiple skeins in yellow, mauve and a shade of blue that I always call pencil crayon peacock blue, and that didn't clash too badly with the binding! 


I knew it had to be backed with blanket fleece.  This would make it warm enough on those cold Australian winter nights (yes, it does actually get cold at night there... it's all relative) And it would also be a nice thick pad for baby for tummy time on the floor. And hopefully to be snuggled up with as baby grows into a toddler and beyond.

With Sating binding and a braid of the three yarn colours in hand, I trek over to the fabric store.  I had a vision of (yes again with the visions) a deep blue that would compliment the peacock blue and contrast vividly with the yellow and mauve.  Fail.  I had 4 choices,  Goldenrod (puke yellow), Hot Pink (my daughter had been very explicit in her command to limit the amount of  pink...oh, did I not mention that at this point we knew our grandbaby was going to be a little girl!), Brown..really an ugly, pooh brown.  Or White.  White.  Who doesn't think White is a great choice for a baby blanket that will be dragged around and used on the floor?  Yes, I bought the White.  I only have to make it, I don't have to wash it!

I knew I was knitting quilt squares and I wanted them all different textures.  This is where Ravelry came in handy!!  I found various knitted afghans that had been knit in squares.  I knit the ones that moved me at that moment (again, this was all very specifically planned and thought out! Not!)

Now, quickly, glance up at the name of this blog.  Creative Procrastinator.  I know myself well enough to know that if I knit a bunch of squares that had to be sewn together I was going to have yet another bag with a partially finished project stuffed into a corner in my craft room.   I decided to knit the squares together as I knit them.

I started knitting in June.  Aylen Patricia Joan Robenn was born on July 20.  I knew I was going to see her in November.   I finished the blanket!!

I posted more information on the squares and more pictures of the blanket in progress and finished on my Ravelry Project page.

Merry Christmas!!

This is Saturday... only about 4 and a half months after my commitment to 2 posts per week...

So no more promises. Well, One Promise. I promise to be true to my self on this blog. I will speak the truth. Might not be often, might be more often than not.... but it will be truth as it applies to me.

Since my last post I have been sick. Most of the time. Nothing serious, but just enough to get you down. Aches, pains, cough, sinus infection, ear infection, stomach pains..well that's been ongoing for a few years now, but intensified to the point of being sent for all those lovely, personally invasive tests that some sicko invented. If there is somewhere for them to stick a probe, they did it. Nothing. Nada. The medical profession has determined that there is nothing they can find that should be causing me the amount of discomfort I am having. It must be in my head...oh wait... maybe it is!!

I am starting to think that all my aches, pains and illnesses are related to my emotional being. To my inner self. To my spiritual being. It makes sense that if I am an emotional eater and I am fat because I am an emotional eater then it should also follow that my body can be adversely affected by the inner turmoil also.

I have started attending a yoga class. Warm Yin Yoga. I have attended once and really liked it. So much so that after class I purchased a 10 class pass. I'm thinking about attending the restorative yoga class later this morning....

It was my friend Faye that started me on the yoga journey this time (oh yes, I have taken a few classes a couple of years ago). Faye also got me to attend Aqua-size classes with her.... and now it looks like another gym membership may be in my future. Thank you Faye :) Physical journey started.

I have also started reading up on Chakra Healing. Not sure where I'm going with this, but I'm starting to look into it. It's been around for thousands of years, maybe there is something to it?

Does anyone have any opinions on this? Any recommendations for reading?

2011? Really?

It's time to blow the dust off this blog! I'm going to commit to 2 blog reports per week.
One for my knitting and crafting, which I will post in a day or two.
The other weekly post (starting today) will be for the never-ending 'life style change' that goes hand in hand with being fat.

Yes, Fat. Not plus-size, not over-weight, not any of the other politically correct terms we hear now to describe someone of my size.... reality check.. I'm Fat. But that is NOT the end of the story. It's not the beginning either. I've been on this journey, or roller coaster ride, for most of my adult life. Sadly for the first several years I didn't realize that I was actually a healthy weight! Really, I'm 5'9" and used to think and feel fat when I weighed over 130lbs.!! I remember thinking I was going to die when I hit 160. What I wouldn't give to feel THAT fat again! My current weight is 250lbs. (Yes Oprah, it IS about the number when the number is that big!)

I cannot begin to count, or list all the diets I've been on. I've had several 'lifestyle changes'. I've eaten cabbage soup, grapefruit, protein shakes, Slim-fast, Atkins..Atkins does work if you follow it properly, trick is to stay away from the birthday cake and ice cream, heck they probably all work if you stay away from the ice cream! I even handed over my wallet to U-Weight Loss Centres, but I'm not saying anything more about them, they are bad for my blood pressure and sense of serenity... I'm currently a paid up member of Weight Watchers on-line, but can't remember my password, I own all the Biggest Loser Books (yes I joined there also, but cancelled my membership) I have bought and given away most published diet books. Currently own and recently purchased The Core Balance Plan, Dukan Diet and The Cleanse. I own several exercise DVD's, Wii-Fit, Treadmill, York Gym and AeroPilates (must admit I do like doing the pilates workout).

So that's a brief history of my journey. Sort of looks like my golf game, all over the course and if there's a water hole I'll be in it!.

So today is the first day of the next stage. I'm going to be taking everything I've learned from all the various sources and figure out what works for me. I'm going to commit to doing some sort of exercise every day and I'm going to journal what I eat, how I feel and what is going on emotionally. So that's today. I'll be back next Friday with a report on how Week One goes.

All Fixed?

I've been battling with my Blog for a few months now. It looked all wonky and the photo's weren't showing. I think it's all fixed now? If anyone still has trouble with it please let me know.

I've been tagged... quite some time ago, but just now found it :)

09 June 2008

I've been tagged...

... by Patti Blaine who is such a talented knitter that I am honored that she has looked at my blog.

Here are the rules of the game which are to be posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What was I doing 10 years ago?

10 Years ago? WOW! That was 1998. I was fairly new to cross stitching then and was on the hunt for OOP Teresa Wentzler designs. I had discovered E-bay and was avidly buying and selling...see the buying part comes first because I did more of that. I might even have been starting to plan my wedding...must have at least booked the venue.

10 years ago I still able to curl and was on 3 teams, 1 mixed team from work, 1 mixed team from the legion we belong to, and one ladies team, which was a bit more serious than the other two. I started curling fairly late in life, I was in my mid 20's before I did more than just bonspiel (another way of saying we partied more than we thru rocks). Sadly curling ended for me about 7 years ago when my knees go so bad I could no longer be guaranteed that I'd be able to get back up out of the hack without tears.

10 years ago I was still in the same job. 10 years ago we lived in a tiny little house that we were renovating.

What are the 5 things on my to do list for today (in no particular order)
1. Stitching on a UFO RR piece that was supposed to be in the mail on August 11th, but I asked for an extension.
2. Laundry
3. finish covering the garden in newspaper and black poly.
4. Excercise
5. make a to do list?

Snacks I enjoy
My latest snack passion is sliced apple with peanut butter spread on it. My guilty pleasure is Taco Chips.... and chocolate... but not at the same time... and I'm not fussy about what type of chocolate, whatever is available will do ;)

Things I would do if I were a billionaire
I would buy land and build a waterfront home in Lac Du Bonnet, Manitoba (cottage country). I'd build "Safe Haven" for street kids/runaways in Winnipeg. This has been something I've been thinking about for years. To have the funds to just dive in and do it my way would be fabulous.
Leaving enough in an endowment fund so that Safe Haven would always have it's financial needs met would take a good chunk of money. I'd also set up endowment funds for scholarships for kids that live at Safe Haven.

Places I’ve lived
I was born in Ayr, Scotland. Lived in Ayr, Troon, Kilmarnock and Cumnock and London, England in the first 4 years of my life. Moved to Winnipeg when I was 4. Lived in Stonewall Manitoba for a year. I spent 15 years in Gillam, Manitoba from age 18 to 33, then back to Winnipeg.

People I want to know more about
I'm not going to tag anyone else right now because I'm not sure who all has been tagged already.

Our Yard

Basement Renovations

We've been renovating the basement of our 1970's bungalow since shortly after Christmas. I just now realized that I don't have any 'before pictures'. It was wood panelling painted yellow, 1970's geometric brown and orange rubber backed carpet, and hanging ceiling...you know, those ugly ceiling tiles. Really dark and dingy.

We pulled all the panelling off, upgraded the insulation, ripped down a closet that was in the middle of the space, tore down a wall that was used to create a 'storage' room. Moved shelving into the furnace/water heater room to use as shelving. Ripped out the wall that was used to create a 'cold' room off the laundry room. Insulated and drywalled, painted and put shelves in the space for more storage.

The old storage room became an space for my excercise equipment. We used laminate floor in this space to make it easier to clean and move the equipment around if I want. In the pictures below I put a black chair as reference. The main space is 15' x 30'. Tonight we'll be moving furniture down there. I'll take more pictures when it's furnished.

The Left Twist stitch

The Left Twist is really a two stitch left leaning cable. You can put the first stitch on a cable needle and hold it in front, knit the second stitch, then knit the one from the cable needle. Or, you can knit into the back of the second stitch, pull the loop thru, but do not take the original stitch off the needle. Knit the first stitch, then remove them both from the left needle.

how I Knit

There's a thread on Ravelry asking 'I'll show you mine if....' well it's all about the many different ways people knit. This is a bad video of How I Knit. First the Purl stitch, then the Knit stitch.