Oops! Missing posts!

Somebody has hacked into my blog and deleted some of my posts, a couple of which I have been able to recover (though I had to make an educated guess on the dates). Sorry for the mix-up! It won't happen again.

Promised Pillow

I kid you not, I did not plan a single thing before making this pillow. I just started cutting and pinning and sewing. No sketches, just a general idea of what I wanted which continually evolved throughout the creation process (no puns were harmed in the making of this blog).

Here's my pillow next to the pincushion I knit for myself last year or the year before and the Hello Kitty sewing machine I got for Christmas from my brothers. I love them to distraction. And I really hate the red color on my bedroom walls. I am waiting for the weather to cooperate so I can paint it the color the Pacific turns in just the right summer conditions, at which point I will redecorate with my pretty Simply Shabby Chic duvet (and shams, I think?), this adorable little accent pillow (and hopefully some new friends for it soon), the "Sweetest, Softest Nap Blanket and Lambie (pillow) on Earth" (from Bath & Body Works) which I also received for Christmas, from Mom, and pink sheets yet to be purchased.  I will also be repainting all my furniture ivory and sanding the edges for that coastal Shabby Chic look I love so much but can't afford (Can't you drop your prices a little, Rachel Ashwell?)

Here's the front:

And the back:

Close-up of front:

 

Up and Up

So, what have I actually accomplished since my last post?

1. I frogged my sweater fronts down to the beginning of the neck and have started to knit them up again the right way (albeit slowly), both on the same circular needle to avoid the "Sweaterfront" variation of Second Sock Syndrome;

2. I finalized my collar pattern (or so I recall);

3-5. These are useless to start until the sweater is actually finished, so I haven't bothered;

6-7. I decided to start spending some alone time with God and my guitar, so there's another accomplishment;

8. Just 1500 envelopes left, and my gym dues just came in yesterday, but I may have a new job looming on the horizon (praise God!);

9. Camp meeting was last night, and there's another meeting for the girls tonight, and I'm so excited!!

10. Mom has decided I have enough underwear, seeing as I "can only wear one pair at a time," so that's that;

11. $5 for 8oz. of my signature fragrance is pretty sweet: I--I mean, Mom saved $7;

12. The new Guitar Hero III controller actually works (what a concept);

13. PacSun just ran out of Zach's size belt in that style (every store all at one, I kid you not), but he found one he really liked instead (for the same price! Isn't God good?), so it's cool;

14. Vitamin levels are looking good;

15. Mom wasn't in the mood to buy me extra supplements that weren't essential (and by the time I found them it was too late anyway), so no glutamine;

16. Lunch was smashing for two Wednesdays in a row (though the second was eaten on the way home from study as I wasn't needed in the Office);

17. Both Bible studies were finished (the important parts, anyway), though the second was finished at study;

18. Found out online that I just needed to loosen the screw on the bobbin case, so my tension problem's fixed;

19. Calibration is for wimps! Who needs accuracy anyway?

20. I made my discipleship calls a week late, and I have some more to make by tomorrow;

21. I'm still working on the whole "bedtime" thing, but I'm getting better;

22. Made that training appointment and a few others;

23. Threw out some bad stuff, and this morning I found some rice from the ninth in the back of the fridge that needs to be thrown out;

24. Used up my iTunes gift card but I'm waiting for some yarn to come back in stock at Knit Picks;

25.  Cam up with new to-dos and such, blah, blah, blah.

The important thing is, I actually got some stuff done, and more besides! For example, I have a pillow ready to be sewed that took me all day Tuesday to cut and arrange (you'll see why when you see the pictures of the finished product). I also knit and unraveled a rainbow-colored beret --twice. I have returned the yarn to its former skein form, complete with reattached label. I'll try to find another pattern for it someday, but it just wasn't enough for a beret. Oh well.

So that's all for now; I'm too tired to think right now and Mom promised to knit.

And knit she surely shall.

To-Do Blues

To Do:

1. Unravel both sweater fronts to top of button band, put band stitches on holder, reknit the rest (with slight shaping modifications).
2. Make final adjustments to collar pattern and knit the collar. Don't forget to factor in the white trim!
3. Weave in all loose ends.
4. Block and assemble. Take pictures for blog.
5. Redraw charts and write out pattern. Prepare Sailor Sweater pattern for submission.
6. File nails short enough to play my guitar again.
7. Practice playing my guitar.
8. Stuff 9,000 envelopes to pay off bills. Try not to think about the gym dues coming in later this month.
9. Prepare for High School Winter Camp '08. Make a list, check it twice, don't forget organic snacks for the girls in my cabin. And extra underwear.
10. Buy said skivvies.
11. Buy more body lotion at Bath & Body Works.
12. Exchange Zach and Nate's Guitar Hero III controller at Best Buy.
13. Exchange Zach's belt for the next size up at PacSun.
14. Buy more coral calcium and fücothin at Vitamin Shoppe. Make sure everything else is well-stocked before you go.
15. Oh, and pick up some glutamine while you're there.
16. Pack lunch tonight for between bible study and volunteer work at church tomorrow morning/afternoon.
17. Finish Bible study before it starts tomorrow morning.
18. Call Janome and find out how to fix bobbin/thread tension on Hello Kitty sewing machine I got for Christmas. If they aren't helpful, try a Jo-Ann store. Or Nancy your next-door neighbor.
19. Find a composite track and calibrate Nike+ sensor so it stops grossly overestimating your achievements. Try not to be too disappointed with the truth.
20. Make discipleship follow-up calls later this week.
21. Start going to bed the night before the morning on which you plan to awaken.
22. Get ready for personal training session Monday morning at 0830 hours.
23. Check kitchen and medicine cabinet for products of questionable viability and throw out anything that's expired. Look surprised when all of the boys' horribly unhealthy foods magically disappear around the same time. ("Who, me?")
    
24. Figure out what you're getting with your $15 gift card for iTunes and your $40 gift certificate for Knit Picks. Have fun spending other people's money again. (^_~)
25. Try to remember anything else I may have forgotten. Sigh.

2008, here I come!

You know, it probably says a lot of bad things about me that it took Mom promising to take up knitting to get me to blog, but there you have it: weekly blogs from now on, as per my end of the bargain.

A lot has happened this year, most of it not so fun, but here at the end of December I can look back and see the refining work God has been doing in my life; and believe me, there was plenty of dross to be skimmed off, and plenty more where that came from. I've realized that I needed to get some things straightened out in my own heart and in my daily walk with the Lord, people and habits I needed to get free of, and complacent laziness that needed to be dealt with, before I can be ready for the work God is preparing me for, and before I can become the woman he created me to be. It's been a tough year, but now all's said and done, I couldn't be more grateful for His loving grace to save me from not only Hell in death but anything short of Heaven in life, His perfect plan for me, not the pretty good one I'd wind up settling for if He didn't love me enough to save me from myself.

I've spent AD 2007 discovering who I am and who God is, and rediscovering the great need for prayer and fellowship in order to experience the vibrant and abundant life my Father had intended for me from before the foundation of the world, and will continue on this journey of discovery, self- and otherwise, through AD 2008.

Speaking of which... (Stop rolling your eyes; you knew it was coming...)

Resolutions to Break in 2008

1. Post a new blog at least once a week

2. Go to bed earlier

3. Pray more fervently, more effectively, and more often

4. Get back in fellowship with other believers my age and stop being such a hermit

5. Start running on a regular basis

6. Start saving money

7. Stop buying stuff

8. Add more traditional Japanese foods to my diet

9. Finish my Sailor Sweater

10. Stop waiting until the last possible minute to do my Women's Inductive Bible studies

See, now I've started, I don't want to stop, and I have so many things to blog about: the awesome stuff my awesome family gave me this awesome Christmas, the awesome fleece sweater I sewed for Mystery with my awesome new sewing machine, the awesome results I'm seeing after several sessions with my awesome personal trainer, my awesome plans for redoing my bedroom, my awesome "Specialtea" recipe using awesome teas I found this December and Silk light chocolate and vanilla soymilk...

But alas! all this will have to wait for a later post (and a photo shoot now that I finally have batteries for my digicam). So for now, I bid you adieu.

I'm Still Alive, I Promise!

Oh my, how time has flown by since I last posted here. I'm sure anybody who sees this is wondering

what on earth could be wrong with me to make me so slack in keeping up my obligatory blog, and for once I do have several legitimate reasons... But I must admit: mostly, I just didn't feel like it.
Let's see, what has happened since August sixth?
1)I'm working on a sweater I designed in hopes of a perfect fit and a Vogue Knitting-worthy design; 2)I haven't been called on to volunteer but a few times in August, and not at all since September; 3)my brothers and I were given a fairly steady fulfillment job by my dad's boss to be done at home for very good pay; 4)I dragged my family into joining LA Fitness; 5)I've been adding to my bento collection (I promise pictures as soon as I get batteries for my camera!); 6)I got my first real credit card (pink, with Hello Kitty, no less! ^v^) and was recently approved for a very nice (very free) checking account so I can stop paying my dad to pay my bill from his; and 7)Women's Inductive Bible Study started back up in Romans.
Prepare yourselves, faithful readers: this one's a doozy.

The Sailor Sweater
I came up with the idea almost by accident, actually. I was toying with the idea of knitting a kimono-inspired sweater and quickly realized I would also have to design it, as I was immensely dissatisfied with the existing patterns available. So one day at the beach as I flipped through my Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book for tips (I got it because of the sizable chapter on design), stumbled across the section for collars, and was immediately drawn to the sailor/midi collar, reminiscent of those super-cute Japanese schoolgirl uniforms, and since I was already planning on a v-neck sweater, the idea was just perfect, and my design was completely redrawn.
I ordered fourteen balls of Knit Picks Swish DK (100% superwash merino wool) in Dusk, a bright navy(ish) blue, and one in white for accent, knit a gauge swatch, printed out graph paper in exactly the right proportions (knit stitches are not quite square, they're a bit smooshed from the top), took my measurements, and started drawing.
Here's an early sketch before I decided on a color, and here's my test swatch:












































The whole thing is going to be knit in this unbelievably soft Dusk (which looks much less royal and much more navy blue in person), and the parts colored in the sketch are where the textured seed stitch pattern seen on the edges of the swatch will be placed. I will later embroider in a white trim around those edges and sew on beautiful gold buttons with anchors on them. God took the picture I'd had of them in my head and made sure there were real (and inexpensive!) buttons to be had; isn't He the sweetest Daddy ever?
Here they are, wrapped in the swatch to mimic the finished look of them being sewn into the textured trim:

I've also added vents to the back and to the sleeves, the latter having the smaller decorative buttons holding them together (two reasons: 1) I never unbutton my sleeves anyway, and 2) I forgot to knit in the buttonholes ^_^;). The collar also will sport a small button in either corner for decorative purposes only.
Currently, I have finished the back, both fronts, and the left sleeve of the sweater, and have only the right sleeve and collar left to be knitted, and then the assembly. After the sweater itself is finished and many artsy pictures taken in and around Newport Beach, I will rewrite the pattern and redraw the charts so that they may be easily understood by anybody else, and they will be sent off for submission to VK and Knitty in hopes of publication. Ooh, or maybe in a book or something. I'm finding myself increasingly dissatisfied with the knitwear design I've seen in books and magazines, and discovering that just maybe I might be able to do something about it. God help us all.


The Fulfilment Job
What was once a sporadic rush of envelopes, booklets, cards, boxes and packing tape has turned into a steady stream of activity around our house, between my dad, my brothers, myself, and, lately, my mom. And since the boys bought a TV to replace the one that died in the game room downstairs, we are no longer limited to only the family room or to a single program, movie, or game (as played by someone else, obviously) to distract us from total boredom as we stuff envelopes. The money is pretty nice, because the boys are both saving up for cars and stuff like the very nice HDTV they just bought to go with our (I pitched in too) Xbox 360 for playing Halo, my parents are looking at future home improvement projects, and I am happily spending most of mine almost as soon as I get it (and until I tightened the loose screw in my head, sometimes before ^_^;) on specialty groceries and phthalate-, paraben-, and carcinogen-free personal care products (gotta love Burt's Bees!), bento boxes and accessories, Sanrio stuff (I'm a sucker for cute) for a buck at Target, baking stuff for a buck at Target (okay, maybe I'm just a sucker), dishes, and presents for my family. The latter are by far my favorite expenses, and I have grand plans for my youngest brother Nate's upcoming birthday at the beginning of Christmas shopping season especially. Christmas...? Well, let's just say I'm keeping my options open. (Read: "I have no idea what to get anyone!")

The Gym
I love working out. I really do. I don't know why, but for some reason, when we get to the gym, I like to really push myself. For example, on Saturday it started raining as soon as we got to the beach for our bike ride so we came home and went to the gym to ride theirs instead. I just felt like running at first, so I started on a treadmill and wound up running a mile in 9:11! That is a big deal for me; my last record run was over a minute longer! Since we've started, I've noticed a reduction in some of my measurements, which although they may affect the fit of my sweater once it's done, are immensely encouraging to me after a loooong plateau.
Mom and I go four days a week, and would go more were it not for church services both morning and evening on Sundays and Wednesdays, and for our bike rides on Saturdays, and I absolutely love it! My brothers come with us often, and my dad comes occasionally (because of work and stuff lately, it's been hard for him to make it). We have a lot of fun, and I really enjoy having something we can all do together as a family. Here's a shot Mom took of me on the assisted dip/chin-up machine with her cell phone:

















At the time I was not amused, but now, after seeing the shot, I can better appreciate the long and lean silhouette produced by the stretching effect of the machine. (^_~)


I will post more on some of the other subjects later, especially on my studies in the book of Romans, but right now Mom just got home from grocery shopping so I really need to get in the shower so we can go to the gym soon.

Psalm 12

God is just so good! I came across this beautiful psalm in my reading the night before last, and Mom came across it randomly yesterday twice; it so speaks to my situation and brings comfort while expressing my utter disappointment and frustration with some of the "Christians" I know... To think that the Creator of the universe cared enough to highlight these verses for me at a time when I so need encouragement... it just blows my mind.

Psalm 12
To the Chief Musician. On an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David.
1 Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases!
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2 They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,
And the tongue that speaks proud things,
4 Who have said,
“With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own;
Who is lord over us?”

5 “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the LORD;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”

6 The words of the LORD are pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
7 You shall keep them, O LORD,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.

8 The wicked prowl on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.