Monday, July 21, 2008

I Can't Think of a Title for this Post

Its been a while since I posted. So much going on so I will try to catch you up on what's been happening the last few weeks.
I finally made it to the ear, nose and throat Dr and he took a look at my vocal cords with a camera scope. It goes up your nose and down your throat and is uncomfortable at best. Yup, its annoying but at least the numbing spray really helps ease the discomfort. He told me that I had some nodules on my vocal cords and I need to see a Speech Therapist. He said that the nodules can occur for many different reasons and one is vocal abuse. Now, all of you out there will automatically think that it comes from yelling to much and yes that can be ONE of the reasons. I found out however that whispering puts more stress on the vocal cords than yelling. I never knew this. Also, since I had throat surgery a few years ago (thyroidectomy), my voice changed and was never the same. It was upsetting to me at the time because I have been a singer since age 6 and I was actually going to continue on to music school with my singing. I decided that even though I loved to sing more than anything, not to go to music school for fear that if anything happened to my voice I would be out of a job. Seems I made the right choice! The Dr also said that the area behind my cords were very red and inflamed from severe acid reflux. I say severe because I already take a medication for my acid reflex and its supposed to be a 24 hour medication. He suggested I go see my gastroenterologist and get an endoscopy. I am due for a colonoscopy also so I might as well get them both done at the same time to spare the torture of going in twice. Originally I was supposed to go into have a colonoscopy when I turned 35 because colon cancer is on both sides of my family and the Dr seems to think that we (my parents, me and my sister) might carry the gene for colon cancer. This is the reason he wanted me to have my first colonoscopy at 35. I had a few other things happen that delayed my colonoscopy but I promised that I would get one in the coming Fall/Winter.

Speaking of Dr's appointments, my next PET Scan is coming up due next month. Can't wait.

My Mom is doing the AVON WALK FOR BREAST CANCER for the third year in a row. Its a 40 mile race in NYC thats done over a period of 2 days. I was going to do it with her until my leg surgery in 2007 threw a monkey wrench in my plans. I can do a 5K walk, maybe even 10K but there is no way in hell at this moment in my life that I can do 40 miles even if its over a 2 day period. If I do to much walking now I get severe charlie horses in my thigh under the incision site. It sucks. Hopefully with me being on Weight Watchers and losing weight, I will be able to do the walk with my Mom someday. If anyone would like to donate to her walk, you can click on the link in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the AVON Website and my Mom's page where you can donate. She hasn't reached her goal yet but she has a few months to go. I am hoping that she raises more than her goal like the first year she walked. Last year I made up this whole plan on how I was going to get more donations for my Mom but it didn't work the way I had planned. This year I have a special offer for readers of my blog. I know that there are not that many out there but there are some. In no way am I as famous as the 'Yarn Harlot' or Ann and Kay of 'Mason-Dixon Knitting'. If I was I would have a hell of a lot of money raised!

This is what I am proposing. Anyone who reads my blog and donates to my Mom's walk can e-mail me with your name and amount donated. For every $10 you donate you get a raffle ticket put into my magic hat. After my Mom's walk I will have a few prizes raffled off using all the names in my magic hat. The more people donate, the more prizes there will be. Since most readers of my blog are knitters I think yarn and knitting related prizes will be part of the raffle. Maybe even some of CurlyBrunette's Creations Stitch Markers and Jewelry designs will be a part of the prizes. I am hoping this will help my Mom reach or even surpass her goal. This raffle is only for readers of this blog who donate and then send me their info via e-mail. My e-mail link is on my profile page. I know times are tough right now with everything being so expensive and all but I want you all to know that any amount is greatly appreciated and its going to a wonderful cause. Someday soon we will eradicate this horrible disease.

This is Knit Picks Bare DK weight Superwash Wool that I dyed with some Kool Aid and extra food coloring. Not bad for a first time dyeing experience hey? I gave it to my neighbor so she could crochet something with it. I knew she would love the color and she needed some cheering up. She was so surprised to hear that the color came from Kool Aid! I cant wait to see what she makes.

Kool Aid Dyed Knit Picks Yarn

I finally finished my Garden Anklet socks from my LYS-Knitting Central's Sock Club! These were made with Colinette Jitterbug in the Florentine colorway. I also had some leftovers which surprised me since the yardage with Jitterbug is skimpy at best. I LOVE this yarn and how it knits up and I will definitely be using more of it in the near future.

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Here are my No Pearl Monkeys made with Blue Moon Fiber Arts-Incredible Shrinking Violet colorway. I decided not to use the pattern that came with the yarn. The pattern was Cleopatra's Stockings by Yarnissima. After all the chatter about it being a little of a challenge I decided to use a different pattern. I will probably knit it in the future but I wanted to make sure I was finished with these by the time the next ones came along. The new kit is due to arrive soon since its the 3rd week in July already. I am hoping this next color is one we havent yet received such as PINK, which happens to be my favorite color. Whatever it is I am sure I will love it.

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Another thing I hate to admit since I said I wasnt going to do something that I did. Well, I wanted to get my hair cut the way I used to-the Curly Girl Method invented by the head Curly herself, Lorraine Massey. Up until I discovered Devachan in NYC (thats her salon) I was abusing my curls and straightening all the time. I bought her book, The Curly Girl Handbook in 2002 and within a week I had an appointment with Carlos, one of her top stylists that trained under her wing. He was AWESOME and FABULOUS and I never loved my hair more. I let it grow to my waist and I only needed it cut every 6-8 months. Then it became harder for me to go to the city so I changed over to a stylist up here in CT where I live. SInce my hair was all one length at the time it was easy to trim. This guy I started to go to was fabulous but after chemo I didnt need to see him for a LONG time. After my hair grew back I got attached to another stylist who is also great but sometimes can be a bit scissor happy. He is still great none the less. Anyway, I wanted to go for a Curly Cut last week but no one had anything available so I caved in and went to the guy who used to cut my all one-waist-length hair. He didnt do a good job and cut my bangs so short that when they attempt to curl up they look really bad. I am so pissed at myself I could spit especially since I have a wedding to go to in September. I hate when I get impatient with myself and act upon my impulses. This is why I need to be patient and let it grow. Sometimes a bad cut can turn good once an inch or two grows in. After it grows in I think I need to either return to Carlos, Devachan, or another Deva trained stylist. I will not make the same mistake twice.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Joe Cool

I am so excited that everyone is starting to get their Joe Cool Sock Kit from Woolgirl! I am sure all who have received it have realized that I made the stitch markers in the kit. I dont have an Etsy shop at the moment but probably will in the future. Most of my creations are jewelry as you can see in my older posts but I do love me some stitch markers once in a while. The stitch markers represent the colors of Mr. Joe Cool himself, Snoopy. Happy knitting to all!

This is a very short (and boring because there are no pictures, sorry) post and its been a while since I posted last. I have a few WIP's that I am in the process of completing. My next post will definitely be more interesting, I promise.

Friday, July 04, 2008

Independence Day 2008

"Freedom's a thing that has no ending, it needs to be cared for, it needs defending."
"A great long job for many hands, carrying freedom 'cross the lands."


Happy 4th of July and remember to thank the veterans for the gift of freedom they have given you.
Never forget that freedom is not free.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

I (Finally) Did It!

Yup, I finally did it. At first I was nervous about doing it and put it off thinking that I could do it on my own without help. Things got worse and I grew unhappier by the day so I finally decided it was time. I got my friend Theresa (who has also wanted to do it for the longest time), and we did it together. What in the blazes am I speaking of you ask? Well, we joined Weight Watchers last night! I am sick and tired of looking and feeling sick and tired! I want to be a healthy weight for my height and I am overweight. I may not be considered obese but I certainly feel it especially when I went to buy clothes, which at the moment is extremely depressing. Nothing would fit right and it was a never ending battle finding something nice to wear for special occasions.

I drew the final straw when I went to my GYN for my yearly exam and I got on the scale. I want you to know that I debated whether or not to put my weight down here but I decided that I wasnt going to be ashamed to do it. It will only motivate me to get to my goal weight so here I go. When I went to my GYN and got on the scale I weighed 176 lbs!! My height is 5 ft and a half and inch so I round it off to 5'1". Thats overweight. Since I found out what my weight was I started to watch what I ate and cut out a lot of things that I was doing like having more than one ice pop at night while watching TV and having smaller portions. So for about the last 3-4 weeks I have been doing well. I knew when I got on the scale at my first meeting last night there would be a lower number than the one I saw at my GYN's office. My starting WW weight, at last nights meeting (July 1st, 2008) was 167.6 pounds. I am off to a good start before I even started the program with an 8.4 pound weight loss! I am psyched!

Weight watchers has a couple of different programs. The last time I did it was 10 years ago and the points program was what worked for me. It worked for me the last time so I decided that I would do that one again. This time it looks like it will be a lot easier because they have what's called FLEX points that you get for the week in addition the the regular points you start every day with. They didn't have that 10 years ago. Meetings are once a week and I am hoping that by the time my cousins wedding rolls around (September 27th) I will be looking svelte. Plus our 10th Wedding Anniversary is the 26th of September so I want to be looking good for that. What I really want is to be healthy. I definitely DO NOT want to be super skinny and boney looking. I have always had curves and I intend to keep them. A healthy body weight for me from what I read of all the literature they handed out is anywhere between 102-128 lbs. Thats a huge gap but they are taking into consideration if you have a large, medium or small frame and also everyone is not the same shape. There are all those different shapes like apple and pear. I dont know which fruit I am, maybe a banana! LOL. I will keep you all posted on my weight loss journey. Now on to some knitting content!

I have been working on this scarf since December of 2007. It got put on the back burner for a while because I was busy with other projects. I finished it yesterday and I decided to add a flower with leaves on one end. I then embellished it with some gorgeous Swarovski crystals around the petals and center of the flower. Isn't it pretty?

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Flower Adorned Scarf~Coming up Roses from Vogue Knitting's Crocheted Scarves Two
Rowan Wool Cotton in Off White, Citron and Petal
Size H crochet hook

This is a wire crocheted creation of mine that I made 2 days ago. I used Sterling Silver 28G wire, an H hook and some glass and quartz chip beads to make the necklace and earrings. At 16-17" it's meant to be a choker and is very comfortable, even for someone like me who doesn't like to wear necklaces to tight

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