I’ve been waiting to post until I had a finished project to show, or something interesting to talk about, but there hasn’t been much – just status quo. I finished Wicked v.2.0:

I like it a lot Now the weather just has to cool down so I can wear it.

I have three single socks, and last night and tonight I finally gave in and cast on for their mates. I figure if I do a little at a time on each one, I won’t get sick of them. I don’t usually do knit-a-longs, but Socktober is coming at the perfect time for me, so I plan to not only finish these three but try some new patterns as well. I have plenty of sock yarn (enough for four other pairs), and I promised myself I can’t buy any more until I use those up. My LYS started stocking Jitterbug and 4 oz batts of beautiful colorful roving, so I have plenty of motivation!

The only other news here is on the health front (aka – boring and more than anyone probably cares to hear), but it means a big change for my everyday life and I wanted to mention it. I’ve been thinking for a while that I had some type of food intolerance or allergy, and after a lot of thought and research I ended up thinking the same thing I thought two years ago…that gluten is my problem. I started a gluten free diet at the end of August, and within a few days I felt fantastic. Long story short, I went to the doctor today and he agreed that I have Celiac disease or gluten intolerance (the only way to tell the difference is a scope and a biopsy, so I said no thanks – the treatment is the same). The treatment: cutting out all gluten from my diet. No medications, no treatments, just a lifestyle change. It’s been tough, but I feel better than I have in a very long time, and that’s worth the change.

Why am I mentioning this here? Because everywhere I turn, it feels like people are offering me pizza, or cookies, or any number of other things I can’t have. When I say no, everyone assumes I’m on a diet and says “but you’re so skinny!” I just wanted to ask that you guys, who know me best and who care enough about me to be reading this, please be nice and don’t torture me (If I see one more Pizza Hut commercial I’m going to scream!)

On the plus side, I’m cooking more and eating much more healthy overall (no more fast food for me, even if I wanted it!). I did give in and bake cookies tonight – Mom’s snickerdoodle recipe, with gluten-free flour. It needs a little tweaking but tastes SOOO good after rice cakes and tortilla chips!

Okay, health break over. Back to knitting! And spinning! Christmas is coming…

I am a yarn ho.  In real life I am completely monogamous, but put me near malabrigo or handpainted sock yarn and I can’t be held responsible for my actions.  I don’t even have all my WIP’s in Ravlery, because I’m a little embarrassed about all the projects I’m working on.  I finally decided that the first step toward recovery acceptance is to come clean, and admit all the projects I’m working on. 

1. Monkey Socks: Cherry Tree Hill Yarn, US 2 needles.  One sock is done already.

2. Handspun Mini-Monkey Socks: Handspun merino wool, US 2 needles.  Halfway through the first sock.

3. Big Fat Pink Scarf: Improvised 2×2 rib scarf with big soft pink yarn.  Work project.

4. Toe-Up Socks: Sockotta yarn, US 1 needles, plain toe-up socks.  Halfway up the leg on the first sock.

5. Telemark Ski Sweater: Yes, this one is back from the dead.  I have three inches of the main body of the sweater done so far, and I need a new US 3 needle since I broke TWO knitpicks circulars on it last night.

6. Wicked the Second: Actually working on this tonight at work.  Calmer yarn, US 8 needles, should be finished in the next few shifts.

7. Bridal Knot Shawl: I’ve been agonizing over what to do with this.  Last night I cast off, so the center section is finished.  Unblocked it’s already 4.5 feet across, so I’m sure that blocked it’ll be close to six feet.  I think I’m going to find a border I like and knit it on, and be done with it.  I just can’t bring myself to tear out that center panel!

 Only seven…you’re saying to yourself, “That’s not so bad.”  I also finished the Thalia tank top last night, so it came off the list at the last minute

I have probably at least another dozen projects lined up, and all that’s keeping me from casting on is the guilt of all the projects already on the needles.  That, and I’m running out of needles.  So, I’ve decided that for each project I finish, I can start another.  I won’t be cutting down on my number of WIP’s, but at least I’ll be finishing things.  I don’t think I’ve ever been so motivated all at the same time, so I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts.  And I’m going to update the sidebar, just to keep myself honest.

icanhascheezburger is my new favorite website. lolcats are basically silly cat pictures with funny captions, and I’m addicted. I laugh out loud reading them

I found a lolcat generator, and here’s some of the results:

and for Mom and Paul…

I apologize in advance, I’m tweaking my blog and changing a bunch of things around, trying to figure out whether I’m satisfied with what I can do with my wordpress.com blog or whether to take the big switch to my own domain name and a “real” website. 

A lot of it is coming down to deciding what I want from my blog.  Do I want a website too?  How much bandwidth do I think I’ll need?    Do I want to seriously get into designing knitting patterns, and if so do I want to sell them or offer them for free?  Am I going to keep my blog directed mainly towards family and friends, or do I want to try to get more blog traffic?  I like the way I have things now.  I use my blog largely for general updates about my life and what I’m up to down here in Florida, as a way for family and friends back home to know what I’m up to.  Sometimes, I just post to vent or just to write, and I don’t expect anyone to read it or have any interest.

I also like the knit-blog thing too.  I enjoy posting updates to my projects and (occasionally) hearing from other people who have either made the same thing or saw it on Ravelry.  Ravelry has been great, and I really enjoy the community there.  I would like to get more into the knitting aspect of the blog and post more regularly.  As I said before, I also want to start designing and offering patterns on my blog, and I would like my blog to be more “knit-friendly” for people who aren’t intersted in reading about the minutiae of my personal life.  (I would also like to still be able to post things about my life without worrying about stalkers.)

I’m trying .mac, but I’m not sure it’s what I’m looking for.  I’m pretty HTML/CSS-illiterate, but I would like to learn more and design a blog/webpage that is unique to me, rather than a template.  The price for domain hosting would be about the same as .mac, so it’ll probably come down to which will allow me to do what I want to do, without being too complicated.

I’ve got lots to ponder.  For now, I’ve started putting my posts into categories, so people who only want to read about knitting, or gardening, or life in general can skim by category.  Any ideas/imput/suggestions?

More beads! Sparkly! Addicting