Countdown to the Brown Suit Finale
Countdown to the brown suit finale. I have hemmed the skirt (thanks for your lesson, Sonja!) and added sleeves to the long jacket. Problem is, I think I made the sleeves too narrow. I was at Newtons yesterday and showed the ladies my jacket and asked what I should do. Their suggestion was to add a gusset to the seams of the sleeves and down the sides of the jacket. Yes, the jacket is a little snug (as in, I wouldn't be able to button it), but I wasn't planning on closing the jacket over my boobs. I am thinking about that suggestion. I could add a lacy or textured panel to those areas, but wouldn't that be creating more work for me? Wouldn't it be easier for me to just unravel the sleeves and re-do them? I wanted to finish all the parts by tomorrow (Monday) night so that I would have time to crochet the edges, if that is what I've decided to do. I have to think about this.
Another thing I have to take care of is the edging around the jacket. I think I might borrow once again a technique from Sonja's knitting blog and do the cabled edging. She did it recently for her Dusk. It is pretty and she said it was easy. If I decide to go the gusset route (as opposed to the frogging route), then my panels will have mini-cables.
While I was at Newtons, I bought new ribber clamps for my standard machine. When my kids came home for the holiday winter break, I took down my machines and misplaced the ribber clamps. Now that I have a set, I can finish the bands on the camisole/tank for the brown suit. I also bought a ton of magazines at Newtons, since they were on sale for $1. I prefer the old Knitking magazines, because the patterns seem more professional, and do not look so home-made. But, I've discovered (through my current stock of Knitking, Machine Knitting Monthly, and Machine Knitting News) that the 1980s were a dismal decade for knitting patterns because of the darn dolman sleeve. It just looks so dated. Most of the Knitking magazines I bought yesterday were from the 1970s. The styles then were more crisp and professional. I bought the magazines with suit patterns, since suits and wardrobe enhancement will be my new knitting obsession this summer. Aside from the suit patterns, I bought the Knitking magazines because there are usually some new techniques that I might like to add to my repertoir.
I also found some other really neat reference and pattern books: 137 Crochet Edgings by Yo Furuta, Finishing Techniques also by Yo Furuta, Brother Chunky Knits, several patterns by Sandee Lightfoot (Summer Twin Set in Thread Lace with Pleated Skirt, Bomber Style Jackets for the Bulky Machine, and Head to Toe [lined mittens, circular knitted socks, gloves, and mittens, etc]), some punchcard designs by Tricia Shafer, Woven Coats by Jill Stern, and The Garter Bar by Alles. I love all of my new books! I know and have bought patterns from both Yo and Tricia, and I love anything that the late Alles Hutchinson wrote. She was a genius when it came to the knitting machine.
Okay. Confession time. I lost 2 pounds last week at Weight Watchers, but I gained 1.4 this week. What a bummer. One of my friends wrote me a pleading e-mail to join her at a WW meeting, so now I have a WW buddy. We met yesterday morning, but our regular day will be on Thursday. The pressure is on!!!!! I went to the gym this morning and was so disgusted to see how big my body has gotten because I haven't respected it enough to feed it right and exercise. I was truly grossed out. So now, I am doing the WW Core Plan, and I pledge to work out at least 3 more times this week before I leave for Boston. No more fries for me!!!! No more fried zucchini! No more breads, cakes, or other desserts! My gym buddy and I have figured out a way for me to work around the food at the hospitals. The food is catered, so it's usually not the yucky stuff they serve the patients or in the cafeteria. I will eat my oatmeal and drink my decaf coffee in the morning, and then at around 10:30 a.m., I will have my pre-lunch meal of tuna and veggies. That way, I will be full by the time I get to the hospitals at 12 or 12:30. I will eat a salad and ignore the desserts.
Okay, that took care of the diet part of my Looking Good Plan. For the exercise component, I will try to go to the SuperSport gym in Glendale in the morning, do the bikes, swim, do weights (not necessarily all on the same day!), and stay there and shower and dress for work. The SuperSport is 10 miles away, kind of on my way to work. My favorite gym (the Panorama City gym) is 10 miles in the other direction and it is in the 'hood. My daughter will not even set foot in that gym because it is in the ghetto. I like it because I've worked out there for the last 4 years (except for the 1 year I was doing chemo and radiation) and I am familiar with all the machines and the people and the parking is free.The Glendale gym is so much better, but I am philosophically opposed to paying for parking when I pay so much to the gym already. More importantly, the people are nice and they are REAL. I was a member of the Spectrum Club in Santa Monica (used to be part of Sports Club L.A. group of clubs) for seven years and it was really a scene. Lots of movie industry movers and shakers, as well as other high powered professionals, and let me tell you, a lot of them were so superficial. That old saying "you are only as good as your last picture or big deal" is true. Not all the people were like that, of course, but a lot were.
Plus, the hours at the Glendale Club are limited. I like 24 hour access, JUST IN CASE I FEEL LIKE DOING THE ELLIPTICAL AT 2 A.M. It's rare, but it's been known to happen.
Another thing I have to take care of is the edging around the jacket. I think I might borrow once again a technique from Sonja's knitting blog and do the cabled edging. She did it recently for her Dusk. It is pretty and she said it was easy. If I decide to go the gusset route (as opposed to the frogging route), then my panels will have mini-cables.
While I was at Newtons, I bought new ribber clamps for my standard machine. When my kids came home for the holiday winter break, I took down my machines and misplaced the ribber clamps. Now that I have a set, I can finish the bands on the camisole/tank for the brown suit. I also bought a ton of magazines at Newtons, since they were on sale for $1. I prefer the old Knitking magazines, because the patterns seem more professional, and do not look so home-made. But, I've discovered (through my current stock of Knitking, Machine Knitting Monthly, and Machine Knitting News) that the 1980s were a dismal decade for knitting patterns because of the darn dolman sleeve. It just looks so dated. Most of the Knitking magazines I bought yesterday were from the 1970s. The styles then were more crisp and professional. I bought the magazines with suit patterns, since suits and wardrobe enhancement will be my new knitting obsession this summer. Aside from the suit patterns, I bought the Knitking magazines because there are usually some new techniques that I might like to add to my repertoir.
I also found some other really neat reference and pattern books: 137 Crochet Edgings by Yo Furuta, Finishing Techniques also by Yo Furuta, Brother Chunky Knits, several patterns by Sandee Lightfoot (Summer Twin Set in Thread Lace with Pleated Skirt, Bomber Style Jackets for the Bulky Machine, and Head to Toe [lined mittens, circular knitted socks, gloves, and mittens, etc]), some punchcard designs by Tricia Shafer, Woven Coats by Jill Stern, and The Garter Bar by Alles. I love all of my new books! I know and have bought patterns from both Yo and Tricia, and I love anything that the late Alles Hutchinson wrote. She was a genius when it came to the knitting machine.
Okay. Confession time. I lost 2 pounds last week at Weight Watchers, but I gained 1.4 this week. What a bummer. One of my friends wrote me a pleading e-mail to join her at a WW meeting, so now I have a WW buddy. We met yesterday morning, but our regular day will be on Thursday. The pressure is on!!!!! I went to the gym this morning and was so disgusted to see how big my body has gotten because I haven't respected it enough to feed it right and exercise. I was truly grossed out. So now, I am doing the WW Core Plan, and I pledge to work out at least 3 more times this week before I leave for Boston. No more fries for me!!!! No more fried zucchini! No more breads, cakes, or other desserts! My gym buddy and I have figured out a way for me to work around the food at the hospitals. The food is catered, so it's usually not the yucky stuff they serve the patients or in the cafeteria. I will eat my oatmeal and drink my decaf coffee in the morning, and then at around 10:30 a.m., I will have my pre-lunch meal of tuna and veggies. That way, I will be full by the time I get to the hospitals at 12 or 12:30. I will eat a salad and ignore the desserts.
Okay, that took care of the diet part of my Looking Good Plan. For the exercise component, I will try to go to the SuperSport gym in Glendale in the morning, do the bikes, swim, do weights (not necessarily all on the same day!), and stay there and shower and dress for work. The SuperSport is 10 miles away, kind of on my way to work. My favorite gym (the Panorama City gym) is 10 miles in the other direction and it is in the 'hood. My daughter will not even set foot in that gym because it is in the ghetto. I like it because I've worked out there for the last 4 years (except for the 1 year I was doing chemo and radiation) and I am familiar with all the machines and the people and the parking is free.The Glendale gym is so much better, but I am philosophically opposed to paying for parking when I pay so much to the gym already. More importantly, the people are nice and they are REAL. I was a member of the Spectrum Club in Santa Monica (used to be part of Sports Club L.A. group of clubs) for seven years and it was really a scene. Lots of movie industry movers and shakers, as well as other high powered professionals, and let me tell you, a lot of them were so superficial. That old saying "you are only as good as your last picture or big deal" is true. Not all the people were like that, of course, but a lot were.
Plus, the hours at the Glendale Club are limited. I like 24 hour access, JUST IN CASE I FEEL LIKE DOING THE ELLIPTICAL AT 2 A.M. It's rare, but it's been known to happen.
posted by knutty4knitting @ 1:19 PM
1 Comments:
At 7:01 PM,
knutty4knitting said…
Hi Sonja! I did exactly that. It was not difficult at all. I ripped the sleeves and then re-did them using a larger size (I'm not telling what size it is, either!) sleeve. It looks great and more importantly, it was fast and easy! My goal tonight is to do the bands for the sleeves and the neck on the shell. And then start the edging you did on your Dusk sweater. I'll let you know how it turns out!
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