By Jove, It's Working!

South Beach, that is. After 2 weeks in my lamented carb-less existence, I have lost 6 pounds! Though I have suffered loudly and proudly - I swear I am worse than an ex-smoker - my clothes are certainly fitting a bit looser. This is what keeps people on diets - just that little bit of positive reinforcement. I was considering what to take for my snack tonight for my evening class break, but now I know it will be a cheese stick and a few nuts. This is huge!

Weight: 127 pounds
Breakfast: 1 Egg, chicken bits, Romaine leaves
Lunch: More chicken; diet yogurt (but with fruit - Phase 2 rocks)
Dinner:The cheese stick?

I spent another Saturday at the Farmers Market - It was quite a yarn-y, felt-y day. I spun a good bit too, spinning up a lovely white Shetland lamb and oatmeal roving. Later I hit the plying head, but with only 2 bobbins available, I will have to ply daily to keep up with my spinning.

Color change yarn has been selling. I need to 1. make more yarn and 2. write a pattern to boost sales. I think that pattern/yarn kits should sell nicely at the market. I started writing the pattern for the 'boyfriend hat.' Unfortunately, another Etsy seller has taken that name, so I think I'll call it the 'Guy hat' for my internet customers.

South Beach Continues...

Day 4 - Still on the diet; still okay with it. and I feel great! My Sweetie and a friend on Rosedale told me they went through feeling 'weird' and my sweetie felt quite deprived that he had to pass on a beer with his friends. I am just fine. I may be eating a bit more than I should, but since it's all legal foods, I'm not all that concerned.

Weight: Unknown - the Scale at B&J's said 128, but J confirmed that it's a few pounds light. The college health center is closed; so I will remain weightless.
Breakfast: bacon (quite lean) and egg over easy
Lunch: leftover chicken from yesterday, dollop of cottage cheese; cut up raw veggies
Last evening's treat: Breyers CarbSmart fudge bar Yum!!. Not sure how legal it is, but darn - it was good!

Actual knitting content: Sage Green hat about 3/4 done during staff meeting. Still managed to take notes, contribute to the discussion and make my presentation. When in doubt, see Franklin's article about the value of knitting! You are my hero!

Biggest accomplishment of the week so far: finally got onto the SAFF site to update it! Yeah!!

Work is calling. Deadline looms.

South Beach Day 1

No, I am not in Miami. Yes, I am on the South Beach diet. Although I have sworn many a time that I'll never go on those ridiculous high fat diets that don't let you eat an APPLE, for crying out loud, I guess I am face up to my carb addiction. If I lose 7-10 pounds, I'll be okay with that too.

I love carbs - cookies, candy, fruit, chocolate, beer. Then there is pasta, rice, corn on the cob. I will say that I never eat fast food -ok hardly ever - and I prefer brown rice and whole grain bread and I've only had one donut since Dunkin' Donuts opened and it made me feel really, really guilty. Still, I just love carbohydrates - cereal and fruit for breakfast, cookies after lunch, a yummy starch at dinner. Maybe a wee desert later. Sugar or honey in my tea. You get the picture.

So after about 20 grueling minutes of graduate-level research I selected the South Beach diet. I truth I found the book in a 'free' box at a yard sale, but I did read the fly leaf and a couple of the random case studies that pepper the book. The good doctor makes sense, so I am out of the sugar shack.

Beginning weight: 133 lbs (as of last Wednesday)
Breakfast: an egg, ham bits, romaine lettuce.
Lunch: sardines, cottage cheese, romaine lettuce.
Dinner (planned): Turkey slices, steamed spinach, asparagus.

Exercise units: several - yesterday 4 hour hike on Roan Mountain; today 2 walks across campus to run errands, one carrying heavy boxes to post office.

Actual fiber content: smokymountainfibers.etsy.com has had a good little run lately, thanks to my good customers. Note to self: get better at predicting shipping to Canada. Knit in the car while traveling to the Roan yesterday, sweet hat. This evening I'll be sitting the gate at the Grey Eagle dance, so more knitting time. I've been crock pot dyeing and spinning too.

Summer Knitting - and Dancing

For some people this means shells or other strappy summer tops - fun to wear RIGHT NOW. For others, it means socks - easy to pick up and put down, not a lot of heavy sweater parts to drag around. They also fit nicely in the travel knitting and strategic present reverse categories. I have done all that (though I have not made a cute little cotton top in a few years). but I'm knitting hats! Wool and mohair, cozy winter hats in 90+ degree weather!

In the past couple years I got way behind in my hat knitting and I don't want that to happen next winter. Work knitting: felt hats. I have a lot of reading to do to get ready for workshops that I am going to teach - so, knit and read! At home: Windy City hats and handspun hats. It's a good time of year for spinning too - then I'll have lots of yarn for knitting and for sale.

I've also gone back to making baskets. They are a nice thing to make on the screen porch - a bit wet, so a bit cool. I made a number of garlic baskets for sale at the Farmer's Market shop - sold one the very first day! I made a larger basket too - still a bit of work to get back up the learning curve. I think I need to loosen up my weaving, hard to tuck in the spokes!

On the dance front, the OFB's dance hall, Bryson Gym on the campus of Warren Wilson College recently suffered a ceiling collapse. Luckily no one was in the building at the time, but it is currently closed to the college and the greater community, including the Old Farmer's Ball and Summer Soiree. But, intrepid dancers that we are, the dance has moved to the outdoor pavilion. I called the week after the collapse with the Plum Creek String Band from Oberlin, Ohio. Band was great, dancers had lots of energy, but it was very crowded and the floor has an interesting 'bias.' We knitters know what that looks like - the dance lines curved decidedly stage left! It will be an interesting season until the building issues are resolved. These photos were taken by Dennis, one of our dancers - here is his web page. You'll find photos of the Bryson Gym interior here.

Locally Grown Arts at the Farmers Market

About 2 years ago, a couple of friends of mine started a craft booth at the WNC Farmers Market. Because they mostly make jewelry, they needed other members of the crafts community to help stock their store. It is run as a coop and you are expected to work the booth regularly, so while I was still in grad school, I could not take on another project. But last winter, I joined in the fun. Although late in the game, it has been an interesting experience. The shop pays it's rent from consignment splits and the few purchased items that we sell, and it's not terribly profitable for anyone. I view my time there as studio time - I usually spin or needle felt. But it is a good outlet for yarns, roving, hats and cute little felted pins. Oddly enough, it's fun! Although I have long ago lost my joy in retail sales (if I ever had it), I like the 'everything here is locally made' ethos that makes the little shop special.

This weekend I spent some quality time in the garden, digging out a healthy crop of Bermuda grass. I also planted cilantro, basic, a couple of tomatoes, prepped a bed for chard, pruned the shrubs that are past blooming and weeded all around.

Meanwhile, the dye crock pot has been working all weekend, making blues and greens for the Felter's Paintboxes in my Etsy shop. I also plan to make 'all natural' multipacks - just deciding the size of the pack.

On Friday night, I called the Advanced Dance at River Falls with the amazing Cailen Campbell. Although not my finest hour, the high skill and energy of the dancers combined with great music made the dance lots of fun.

Sunday at LEAF

If you have ever been to the Lake Eden Arts Festival, you have probably experienced its magic of music, dance, the healing arts and the community that it creates over the 3 days in the spring and fall. Growing out of an earlier festival held at the same site for many years, it is a uniquely wonderful experience for a very diverse group of people.

Although a long-time contradancer, I find myself more drawn this time to different kinds of music: gospel, New Orleans funk and the pure singer-songwriter ethos of Nanci Griffith. Don't get me wrong - the dancing was great! With music by the Latter Day Lizards and the Great Bear Trio and calling by Cis Hinkle and Robert Cromartie, there was lots of room to dance on Sunday (though the earlier dances were tight). Plenty of high energy dancing, great music and interesting people who come from all over.

Big Sam's Funky Nation played the set list from my father's funeral - but in a much more lively and exciting way. It also demonstrates that dear old dad chose his religious music from Elvis albums - I'll Fly Away, Just a Closer Walk with Thee, Amazing Grace. Third generation Charmaine Neville rocked the house too as she got off the stage and danced with the festival goers. She looked the part too - funky, fun, unglamorously beautiful.

But sitting in the 5th row for Nanci Griffith was pretty sweet too. Even with a bandaged right hand and aggravated voice (BBQ smoke blowing in from a nearby food vendor), she sang old favorites and a few cuts from her newest recording 'Ruby's Torch.' I always like her writing, choices, phrasing, and her amazing voice.

All in all, a very fine LEAF.

Obligatory Fiber Content: On Saturday, I staffed 'Locally Grown Arts', our farmer's market coop shop. Not terribly busy, but I got a good bit of spinning done, made a few stitch markers and knit a bit. I also knit most of a hat traveling to and from LEAF and while waiting for Nanci to come on. Next on the agenda, make up grab bags for the Etsy shop and the LYS. Staying ahead of the Etsy shop has been a bit of a struggle lately, what with the end of school, the DC trip and the rest of life. Gotta get on it!

Greetings from our Nation's Capitol!

I have a wonderful life.

In my professional work, I develop and implement Teacher Education workshops based on using primary sources in the classroom. I have been doing it for about 7 years after stumbling into a administrative support job that I considered not much more than an office temp gig. Turns out I love what I do, returned to grad school and began teaching undergraduate courses as well as the professional development workshops. The project had been funded by a Congressional earmark but is now funded directly by the Library of Congress.

One of the perks of this job is that I get to go to DC for meetings at the Library. This week, because there were a number of new project staff involved,they scheduled tours of a few different divisions, including maps and manuscripts. Extremely cool.

Because I have been to DC many different times,I have foregone most of the touristy things, although I did drop in on the new show at the National Gallery of Art, In the Forest of Fountainbleu. Lovely paintings. I love taking the Metro to get around! I feel like such a grownup, city slicker.

I have tried to make at least a part of this trip as a 'mini spa' vacation. We are staying up in Bethesda, Maryland. Although the Library staff was concerned that we were out in the burbs, the area is lovely and there are lots of restaurants. There are pretty neighborhoods behind the hotel, lovely landscaping - huge azaleas in full bloom. I have been taking long walks outdoors (about an hour each morning), crunching the abs in the hotel room and using the hotel exercise room for upper body work. I am eating light and healthy - at least most of the time. I really need to get in better shape and now is my opportunity to get started. Is fact, I hear the work out room calling me now!

Not much fiber today! A bit of sock knitting and the Etsy shop is doing fine without me! Selling a bit, but I'm not listing anything, so it's kind of in suspended animation.

On a sad note, Bunny FooFoo is no longer on the planet. He had (probably) a stroke over the weekend, all of a sudden couldn't walk or eat, so I had him put to sleep. He's in the garden now!