Obesity Revisited~ Learning a Few New Tricks

So yesterday I mentioned nibbling as a method of staying awake. I've found another way and this one has no calories.

I'm a creative person and a crafter from earliest memory.  I can remember sitting beside my grandmother at a quilting frame when I was old enough to stitch. Crocheting lace with cotton thread with my mother at seven years old. I first crocheted with yarn at nineteen. Also having my own embroidery hoop and floss collection at eight. Bamboo knitting needles and the like. At other times it was crafting with paper and scissors in cut work or origami. Getting my own easel and oils set up at twelve. I've crafted letters and words since I was ten years old so I became a freelance writer as an adult and author. Yes I love all aspects of crafting. I've really missed it since my stroke. Crafting is my way of relaxing like boating, hunting or wood working is to others.

I've been struggling to get my crafting abilities back since my stroke. I'm still mentally working on a way to spin fiber into yarn one handed. I presently cannot get into the garage to get to the work bench with all the tools to actual experiment building the attachment I have in my mind. This will be remedied with a yard sale now that the weather is nice.

I've struggled with knitting without two hands. The needle under the armpit method made it impossible to make small things because the needles had to be sturdy. The same thing with a needle between my knees. The cramping of muscles. The awkward positions I had to sit in to have access. Made it impossible for me to do it for long periods of time (over a hour) without having to put it down.

"Oh no! She's been watching youtube again!"Yep! I found an answer there...loom knitting. I've been at it for a month now and having a blast! I've made slippers, hats, and socks galore. For Easter, I made each of my eight grandchildren a bunny. At the back is a pompom tail and a gather stitch tied off with a bow. I placed a large plastic Easter egg inside stuffed with Jelly Beans. I enclosed some fiberfill and a yarn needle with matching yarn to take the place of the egg after the candy was eaten. I made them out of two skeins of Red Heart Light & Lofty yarn so they are fuzzy and cuddly. I think they turned out too cute and I'm proud of myself for the accomplishment. I couldn't have bought gifts for the $10 I spent for yarn and $5 for the loom.

My husband scoffed at the idea of giving our oldest grandson (16) a stuffed bunny rabbit. "That's not a guy gift! Get him something like an X-Box game or something! Geez, woman."
I loved watching him chew up his words and swallow them. Our grandson picked up his bunny and cuddled it. Then he entertained us all by making the bunny hop and talk. He twisted the head this way and that to make it more animated. Now honestly, the bunny probably went home and into a box, but he was entertaining to watch while he was with us.

Now I'm setting my sights on Christmas.I found a how-to pattern on (you guessed it) youtube for an elegant shawl for the female members of the family.  In our family gifts are usually handmade with love. Needless to say, for the past two years our gifts have been commercial. There is something less satisfying about gift giving that is commercially bought.

So this week I'll be busy scouring the internet for the right metallic silk blend yarns to make these shawls. I've only got eighteen to make by Christmas. AND not to be one sided about it, all the guys will get hats and scarves. The grands will once again get grandma knitted sweaters and other goodies. No they won't have a giant letter for their name like Mrs. Weasley did in the Harry Potter books. These are sweaters they will actually want to wear.

Yes, I'll be busy but happily so.

Nothing is impossible with determination.