(my) currents

borrowing something else from mary!
listening -the second hand on steve's GT clock

eating -nothing yet-maybe oatmeal for breakfast?

drinking - on my second cup of coffee since 5:30-ish.

wearing - leggings, socks, house shoes, nightgown and hoodie (letting sophie out first thing in the morning is NOT a glamourous event)
reading - the coffin dancer by jeffrey devers
weather -32 degrees, but will be much warmer for my walk this afternoon (and sunny!)

knitting - working on 1st sleeve of my dark and stormy-nearly done with this project-yea.
wanting -my yarn dyeing this afternoon to be successful
needing - to print photos, now that i know what the problem was. update my downloaded/listened to podcasts. write some letters-part of my 2012 plan.
enjoying - having sophie in the room and letting me get caught up on emails, blog reading, etc before church.
looking forward - PJ coming home for spring break (mid-march), and this weekend a wine and cheese class with steve, and mexican with the family.
wondering -if i'll ever get caught up on my photo projects-not sure with all the knitting calling my name!

how about you?

friday focus: week 8 FOs

i'm real excited about this week's focus-FINISHED OBJECTS!!!! first up-be my valentine socks-i can't believe how fast these knit up-love them, even kitchnered the toes without instructions. ends woven-in-just need to block.

next-crocus-i ran out of yarn for the edge, and decided to get crazy and use some left over liberty wool for the last 3 rows and the cast off- i think it did okay-again, the ends are woven-in, so just need to block-yea!

purple passion-aka moch cardi- like the fit, but might do something different with the closure, and will definitely take better photos. you can't really go wrong with merino and cashmere.

i'm glad i've got these projects finished, cause i have a serious case of startitus.  so hopefully i'll be able to swatch this weekend.  the rose quartz by swan island will be for current by Cecily Glowik MacDonald.  the taupe yarn cascade 220 tweed, will be graham also by Cecily.  finally the green will be overdyed (this weekend i hope) to a spruce for the new york cardigan for erin harper.  yarn for summer flies is wound and waiting too. 

so what are you FOCUSING on right now?

10 on Tuesday. 10 Favorite Chocolate Treats

quite appropriate for valentine's day.

1. dark chocolate-the older i get the more i enjoy it, especially with a glass of red wine!
2. chocolate cake with chocolate icing
3. whoopie pies
4. brownies-NO nuts
5. chocolate chip cookies
6. chocolate mousse
7. chocolate bark-dried fruit and nuts of almost any combination makes my heart sing
8. chocolate dipped strawberries
9. peanut M&M's
10. chocolate truffles rolled in something fun and interesting.

happy valentines day!

wishing a happy valentines day to all the sweet people i know, and to my every patient husband. i forgot to take a photo of the cards i made, but i think the heel flap of my "be my valentine" sock makes a great subsitute-love the "hearts" that the knit stiches make.

(forced) relaxing.

this was my position from about 1:00 until 8:00 pm on sunday.  i spent the day recovering from horrible muscle spasms in my foot that required a trip to after hours care. fortuantely we had a care center close by, and i didn't have to sit in a hospital emergency room. the pain subsided fairly quickly once the meds kicked in, then i spent sunday morning in bed.  luckily after lunch i was cognizant enough to do some knitting. i watched lots of food network and big bang theory, and i finished the 1st of the "be my valentine" socks, and cast on the 2nd.  i guess this is one way to FOCUS on the task at hand?!  however, sophie managed to get into my knitting and really mess up 2 of my signature dpns (grrrrrr). 

friday focus. week 6

fo•cus


1. A point at which rays of light or other radiation converge or from which they appear to diverge, as after refraction or reflection in an optical system:
~~ The distinctness or clarity of an image rendered by an optical system.
~~ A center of interest or activity
~~ Close or narrow attention; concentration:

my OLW defined above with the emphasis on the other definitions-i love how it includes the words clarity, center of interest, narrow attention and concentration. that's really what i want to get out of this project (process) this year.  reflecting on this week, i was able to evaluated an important relationship (for the good!), it was the week that my Psalm Bible study met so the focus on faith can be added.  we had great conversation last night about Psalms 1, 15 and 133.  i'm really enjoying the group of people who are in this study with me.  most of them i know from other Bible studies or Sunday school, and there are a few that i'm having the chance to get to know better.  tonight sophie and i have a play date with kathy and anna at the park, so not only will i have a chance to get an extra walk in, we'll have a chance to get caught up without too much interruption.  i'm giving myself the "day off" from my normal saturday morning power walk since i'll be getting this extra exercise in-so yea me!  i've had a pretty clear calendar the last few saturdays-which i'm loving.  i enjoy making plans with friends, but after being at work all week it's nice to just take it easy, get caught up, enjoy my coffee, and wear yoga pants ALL DAY LONG!  hopefully this weekend will be a bit more productive as i've got some sewing deadlines to meet, and i'd LOVE LOVE to get my moch cardi finished.  i might even get my sock done, as i'm well into the foot. my formula for focus (F=F+F+F(K+S) is working pretty good right now, but i also know that if i need to make shifts to keep myself focused, and i'm open to that as well. am liking the opportunity to keep myself accountable through my blog. here's to a focused weekend, hope your's is everything you want it to be too.

what i like right now.another twist with yogurt

i posted here about my yogurt fixiation, but i've discovered a new fruit that adds just the right amount of sweetness-clementines, cut the wedges into bite size pieces so each bite of yogurt has a bit of fruit! i also love using greek yogurt as a substitute for sour cream-so versitle, and healthy. i'm hoping the peach crop this year is as good as it was last year-that'll be my next experiment!

maintaining focus.

i figure if i'm going to be successful this year with my OLW for 2012 it'll require me to give examples and check in every now and then. i've gone back and pulled the january information from ali's class, and had a chance to get better in touch with my word. i hope to post in february a recap of both months. the photo is my desk in the office (basement) and i try to keep my laptop here, so that the distractions are minimnal when i want to get "things" done. being sorta secluded helps me to monitor how much time spend on-line-pinterest, facebook, blog reading/writing, flickr-you know what i mean!.  no matter where i go somehow sophie manages to find me and wants some mommy-puppy time, but that's OKAY.  i'm learing that some things that are "focus important" and require me to purposefully setting aside time and give X my full attention.  steve and i had great together time in new orleans-no agenda, no distrations, just whatever-those times are very few and far between, something i hope to remedy.  i've also found that by sticking to (focusing!) my week day routine (housecleaning, laundry, exercise, etc), i can plan and better enjoy the times i set aside to spend with family and friends on the weekends.  friday night pizza has become one of those habits which i really enjoy-andrew and i move through the kitchen as if we were in a ballet. while he still refuses to embrace the mushroom (a pizza requirement) we manage to get hot pies out of the oven in time to watch episodes of the office and the big bang theory while we munch on gooey cheese and crispy crust, if i'm lucky there'll be frozen margarita's too! while i haven't gotten as much sewing done as i'd like, i am managing to get more knitting time in-completed 2 socks and am making progress on the sweaters.  i also managed to queue only 2 projects since the beginning of the year.  i think i'm doing pretty good so far.

sure-will you pay my way?

got an email about writing memoirs in the loire valley-the stuff dreams are made of-not writing my memoirs, but going to france!