Erica's Blog

THAT, my friends, is what 50 POUNDS LOST looks like!  I am 79% of the way to my goal (as it is currently stated; that number is subject to change, though).  I have lost 25% of my original body weight.  As totally exciting as it was to realize I'd lost 50 pounds, it was also really humbling to know that I'd lost a whopping 50 pounds but still had more to go.

MAJOR props go out to Hubby for his patience through this whole process.  As painful as it was for him to watch my weight go up and down over the years - mostly up and up and up - he has been SO patient with me!  Yes, he had words to say about it at times, but I understand now how amazingly patient he really was.  Really, now - wouldn't YOU rather look at the person on the right every day instead of the one on the left?  (Yes, there's SO much more to it than weight/looks/attraction, but that's the aspect I'm discussing right this particular minute.)  I am so blessed to have a guy like him.  He has always made it clear to me that he loves me NO MATTER WHAT, even if he's really concerned about me.  What a swell guy!

I'm only 11 pounds from my "wedding weight", though time, three pregnancies, and a hysterectomy have definitely taken their toll on my overall shape.  Gosh, for years I've wanted to fit back into my wedding dress for our anniversary.  This year, it could be that by our anniversary (November 19th), my wedding dress is too big!  Wouldn't THAT be a trip?!

After promising to do so every summer for years, the Things & I made tie-dyed shirts this week.  Here are the fruits of our crafty labors:



T1's, mine & T2's, in that order.  T1 actually wasn't interested when it came time to do it, so se told me to do hers for her.  This is before they were rinsed; they're a little paler now.  I did, however, give 'em a vinegar wash to give 'em a little extra help in setting the color.

And to answer the question I know 80% of you are about to ask...NO, we didn't dye a pair of Hubby's chones. 

Way back in January, I offered to make our pal Becky a hat for her birthday.  She said she liked pink, and I knew she liked this style b/c I'd seen her wear a similar one she'd borrowed from her little sister.  Finally, in JULY, in the middle of my "Finish It Or Frog It" frenzy, I decided I needed a quick project, so I cranked this out for her.  She loves it!  I'm glad.

I suspect a certain male teenager of my acquaintance who likes to snowboard will receive the male version of this (w/skulls) for his birthday in December...

Took forever to find 'em in the shop, but I *knew* Kathryn had acorn buttons.  I think they just "make" the sweater.  Whaddayathink?

Thing Two:  [Thing One], why do you hate Mom so much?

I had some self-induced problems with this one b/c, thinking I was SO smart, I decided to do it in stockinette instead of garter stitch.  Near the end, a wee little voice at the back of my head said, "But stockinette stitches aren't the same height as garter stitches.  Won't that throw it off-kilter?"  When I was half-way done with seaming the second shoulder, I realized that the little voice had actually been The Voice of Reason.  OOOooops!  I ever-so-carefully undid the shoulder seams and added sort of a garter stitch shoulder saddle (for lack of anything better to call it), and it worked out.  Whew!  I was cutting it close, though; I ended up with only eight grams of yarn (in this case, 36. yards) left.

My other modification to the pattern was that I extended the length of the sleeves after the body was knit (but before I added the shoulder saddle).

Here 'tis, "Nerd Junior's" Baby Surprise Jacket:

Hubby decided that I needed a new laptop.  This one seems pretty good, and we got a good deal on it.  The only bummer is that it only came with trial versions of Microsoft Office and didn't include Outlook.  HellOOOOO?  I'm still copying data over from the old one to this one.  At this point, I'm only copying, not deleting off the old laptop, just in case.  This one has a 30-day, money-back guarantee, so if we don't like it, we can send it back.

Yes, I do believe Thing Two, like her mother, is multi-craftual...