One Goal - A Continuous Struggle

I went clothes shopping which I am not a fan of. I guess it is because I am tall and I always have issues with length in pants and sleeve length for tops and sweaters. But my newest issue is weight gain. I know there are ones that can relate to this. It is a struggle especially for most of my life I had no problem.

Some say they knit or crochet or think if they start then the problem with eating or snacking will magically go away. Well, I multi-task very well. So that does't work for me. A little bit of knit and crochet and a little bit of snacking goes a long way. I just have to continue to make better choices, especially when I go out for dinner.

So as usual around the end of the year I start to work on goals for the next year. But this one goal of eating healthier and loosing a few pounds is a continuous goal. I don't want to use the word diet because eating healthier has mostly been a part of my life. I do enjoy sweets but especially things with salt. Several years ago I could eat and eat but not gain a pound. Life catches up with ya. My knitted and crochet tops I made in the past fit just a little bit too snug and don't look right so that is another reason to loose.

Let me change this subject to what I've been working on. Well, I have just finished this crochet cowl called Berry Harvest Bandana Cowl. It is free through Ravelry. I love the pineapple design so this caught my eye. I made it out of the Lana Grossa Cool Wool Print. I do love the yarn. It is 100% Virgin Wool. I would call the spin of the yarn a coil tight spin but it is spongy with a stretch. I put a little different edging on it which I like. As you can see the yarn blocks beautifully. I wish I would have showed it before blocking. I am always amazed at what blocking does which I've said before, brings the stitches alive.

I've also made another cowl from the Crochet Noro book called Granny Triangle Cowl. This is made up of six triangles and then seamed together and finished with a top and bottom edging. The edging is one row double crochet but the next row is my favorite edging stitch - the reverse crochet. This gives such a nice finish to it. I am making this out of two different yarns - Juniper Moon Farm (Moonshine) along with Spud & Chloe (sweater worsted). They worked well together. I used the spritzing of water on just the edges and the seams to block it out then added the finished edging to it. I didn't want to stretch this anymore because the measurements were exact. If I would have used the immerse in water method then it would have stretched too much. With blocking you need to figure out which method will give you the results you want.

I have this shawl I am finishing called Blossoms by the brook using yarn I purchased from Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this year - The Verdant Gryphon (hand-dyed DK merino wool). It is really soft and nice to work with. The shawl I am enjoying the construction of the shape because it is different than other shawls I've made. You can follow how the design should line up clearly from the pattern. I think it will be really nice to wear.

I had fun making these and have others in the making. As is said, "You can't just eat one Layes potato chip." And I can't just have one, two or three projects at a time. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy creating and having fun doing it.