Loni's Life

Oh goodie, this one is almost done!! Finished up the sleeves and have them pinned in. Went to do the last 4 rows of border across the front panels and collar... and wouldn't you know, not enough yarn. Luckily enough, I was able to get another ball in the same dyelot from the local yarn store yesterday and finished up those border rows last night. Sigh of relief; I bought the yarn at the end of December at their end of year inventory sale plus they had the Debbie Bliss workshops on January 19th which most of their Debbie Bliss inventory was totally picked over. Lesson learned- buy 1 extra skein if possible. Anyhow, the sleeves are pinned in; so all I have is to sew in the sleeves; sew the sleeve seams; the side seams; weave in all the loose tails; and they sew in the satin ribbon ties. Also started a simple red vest for baby Vladi and have a caterpillar scarf pattern for Ivan on its way. So much knitting... come on Lotto Gods bless me with a huge win so I can spend all my t...

Woohoo! Finished the right front of the Ballerina Wrap sweater to go along with the back and left front and cast on a sleeve... yippee! Just these 2 sleeves; the edging; the seams and the ribbon tie. Love the Debbie Bliss cashmerino baby yarn! When I get done with this sweater for Madelyn, I'll switch to the new sundress for Zelenka on size 6 needles to get a break from these size 3's.. and then I'll work on finishing the other half of the pink baby blocks afghans on 8's.

I finished Zelenka's poncho. It was made with Caron Simply Soft Brites (Limelight) http://www.caron.com/yarns/brites.html Love it! Pics with Zelenka soon to come... according to her Mom, she loves it... wore it all last night until bedtime and then wanted it again first thing this morning. It's sized to fit ages 2-4, so it's a little big on 14mos. Pattern in Candi Jensen's Total Baby Knits.

Well, we've got rain and more rain.. but at least not freezing rain at the moment. We're only 20 days into January 2007 and we've already gotten 5 inches in some areas of rain.. which is great for area lakes which are really low due the the past few summers of drought conditions. I had a loss on the JC scales today :) Yippee, slow and steady. Then I treated myself to a trip to LaMadeleine's for a croissant and some scrambled eggs and then to Starbucks for a hot chocolate while waiting for Barnes & Noble and Michael's to open. I picked up Simply Baby by Debbie Bliss with a B&N gift card and then picked up some yarn for a scarf project with a Michael's gift card. Finished the left front piece of the Debbie Bliss ballerina wrap sweater; picked up the ribbon for the closure at JoAnn's today.. and I also picked up some embroidered daisy ribbon for another baby sundress- have pattern and the yarn, so it's in queue awaiting other projects to be co...

I got to meet the lovely and talented knitwear designer Debbie Bliss at The Woolie Ewe in Plano, Texas. I picked up 4 Debbie Bliss pattern books while I was there as well and even stood in line for the autographs :) I was good, though, and didn't buy any yarn... especially as they were presently out of the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in the colors I was looking for... plus I currently have 4 projects on needles and another 3 in queue. I will be starting a quick an easy project as a break from the size 6 baby yarns... I get to play with some more eyelash yarn to make a new scarf hoodie wrap for my College Mom Cheryl. I also found the perfect purple tote to use as the base for a lovely purple cable bag for Rita in lieu of a scarf.

Ok, so after I got done laughing over baby Vladi's head stuffed into his too small hat, I made a new hat in more of Santa Style and even added a pompom. He's got a little room to grow in this one!

Now since baby Vladimir's mama was on medical leave for what seems like the last half of her pregnancy, I sent her hats to fit everything from a 3 pound preemie to 6 pound preemie and then he ended up nearly full term and almost 8 pounds. A couple of months after his arrival, this was my first attempt at a hat for baby Vladi -- his mama said it would fit; other mamas in our group said it would be too small. I agree with the other mamas, but he's still a cutie!

Here's the 6x6 page we did at SU Regionals in St Louis (Nov 2006). I added the photo when I returned home. The photo was taken by me at Yosemite National Park (Old Faithful Geyser in the background) in Jul 2005. Journaling points were bullets about me including that I am a Gemini, Married, Systems Engineer, SU Demo (Stampin' Up! Demonstrator), Knitter, Scuba diver, Cyclist, Romance Novel Junkie & Chocoholic.

Ok, I'm feeling better; even worked onsite today for a very long 8hr day. Had a 1 3/4 pound loss tonight at TOPS; so 1 3/4 down; 23 1/4 more to go... but i'm just working toward 1 to 1 1/2 a week. Hopefully, I'll be able to return to some light exercise as I get past this nasty bout of bronchitis.

Well, it's another Monday.. and an icy one at that. Working from home due to icy road conditions as are many of my co-workers. I've started the 2nd half of Zelenka's poncho in Caron's SoSoftBrites Limelight. Will get hubby to take pics of all my latest projects so I can upload them to share.

Finally starting to feel better... have managed 2 full nights of sleep. Am still on cough syrup and another couple of days of antibiotics. Started a knit poncho in Caron's Simply Soft Limelight, I think it will be really cute and it fits ages 2 to 4, so Zelenka should get plenty of wear out of it. Also about to package up Sydney's birthday present, a pink knit sundress and Madelyn's spring bolero sweater.

Been sick since last Friday.... it started with the sniffles and congestion and by Monday had a fever; by Tuesday had a higher fever and off to the doc I went. Dr. Kwan was booked solid so I had to see Dr. Berg.. seems like I always end up seeing Dr. Berg when it's cold/flu season. 101 fever and some pretty good wheeziness going on and diagnosis was Acute Bronchitis. Have some Rx cough syrup with codeine that knocks the cough out and puts me into a good nap.. along with some horse pill antibiotics. Am finally feeling well enough to work 1/2 day remotely today and tomorrow.

Knitting.... what an addiction... I've only been knitting since New Year's Day 2006. I've come a long way from cursing the needles for their lack of hooks! I had been a crocheter since age 10, though I hadn't picked up hooks in years... it's like riding a bike, you never really forget. I finished up the short sleeves for Madelyn's sweater this morning.. now to sew the shoulder seams and attach the 2x2 rib border and then the finishing seams {not my favorite part that's for sure}. Off to the gym or videos tonight as I haven't hit the gym yet in 2006; but I have been on track on the nutrition front.

Ah well, the holiday and vacation time is over and it's back to work today. I had a great start to the new year yesterday with cereal, milk, pears, and water for breakfast. A Jenny Craig bar and pineapples for an AM snack. Off to the Black-Eyed Pea Restaurant for lunch with my hubby. Dinner rolls with butter, diet coke, pot roast with mashed potatoes and black-eyed peas and cornbread for good luck of course. I had ordered carrots instead of mashed potatoes; but they were busy and I didn't want to wait so I didn't say anything.... the taters were marvelous. Dinner was Jenny Craig Macaroni & Cheese with green beans and tossed salad with blue cheese. Also had 6 peanut butter hershey's kisses. I completed Mina's scarf and I got the body of Boo's sweater off the needles.. now to just do the sleeves when I can get her to hold still for a fitting. I have Madelyn's bolero sweater started- the back and left front are complete... just the right front; ...

My goals for 2007 Knit/Crochet 1 item for charity for every pound I lose this year with a goal of 25 pounds! Follow the Jenny Craig Program to lose those extra pounds Ride in the DFW MS150 cycling tour in May Ride the 25 mile short route of the Hotter than Hell 100 cycling tour in August Exercise 3x per week Knit a pair of socks Learn 1 new knitting technique Take steps to eliminating credit card debt Follow Fly Lady's system for decluttering and simplifying Do more scrapbooking and rubber stamping Send 1 package per month of cards to Ronald McDonald House Charities Dallas Celebrate my 40 th birthday! Other Planned knitting projects: Finish Boo Kitty's sweater Pink basketweave baby afghan Bolero sweater for Spring for Madelyn (age 2) Scarf for Ivan (age 5) Sweater for Sammy Hart (Yorkshire Terrier, age 6) Hat for Stan Sundress for Sidney (age 1) Sundress for Zelenka (age 1) Dinner at Tiffany's pearl collared tank sweater for me Cable purse for Rita Cable scarf