Jennymac Knits

Bigger and better

2010-11-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

It's been a crazy year! I've been knitting my little guts out however I've also been focusing a lot on my health.

Since having children I've never felt 100% happy with how I've looked on the outside and as I got older I began to worry more about how my body must look from the inside. I joined a gym and when I wasn't knitting I was running and working out. My body became much tighter and I had more stamina to run to those yarn sales and push my way through hoards of ladies to get at the good stuff first.

When I had my two children I had two c-sections, one emergency and the other planned. No, I'm not upset that I didn't do it naturally. For those who did...congratulations. I'm not poo-pooing on your ability to push a watermelon out of a straw. Good job! I was not so fortunate nor was I worried about it. I just wanted those babies out of me in whatever way possible. So, I go through life with a lovely little scar just above my pubic bone and a lovely amount of loose skin that sags almost to the floor when I do pushups and planks at the gym. Very sexy I tell you! There was always a muffin of skin hanging over my pants and you know there was nothing I could do about it....or was there?!!!

I went to my doctor to see if there was a lotion or an exercise that I could do to help get my stomach back into shape. Unfortunately plastic surgery was the only way to go. Shoot! There goes all my hope of ever getting rid of the muffin-top. I put on my jacket and went home, defeated.

I told my husband the news. He said that he'd support me no matter what I decided and that if I did want to go ahead with the surgery that we could finance it. My hope started to return...but wait...there's no way I could do it. That is a big surgery and not to mention gross! My friend had it done and told me the horror stories. There's no way I could do that to myself...or could I? I called and made an appointment with the best plastic surgeon in the area.

This man wanted to know what I expected out of the surgery and why I wanted to do it. He had me sit on the table and took a look at what he was up against. After taking a look he said no problem, he could do it.

On October 6, 2010 I arrived at my local hospital, was put under for the first time and woke up to a whole new me! They brought my abdominal muscles back together by 2 inches (they had separated during my c-sections) and removed 6 inches of skin. I have no regrets and a lovely new belly button. My doctor came to talk to me after recovery and was so happy to see that I was up and walking around within 3 hours of the surgery, he sent me home for the night and told me to get up as much as I can over the next 48 hours. Within the 48 hours I was up and doing laundry, getting in and out of my chair and with very little discomfort. By the end of 4 days I was taking my dog for walks around the neighbourhood with my drains tucked up under my jacket. Within a week I had my drains removed and I was moving around like nothing happened. By 2 weeks I was back at work and back to normal. It's been 3 weeks since my surgery and I'm doing great! The binder is still on but all the stitches are gone and my incision is already healed and disappearing more and more every day. Where it was a bit bumpy, I have noticed it is already flattening out. I have returned to the gym and although I don't feel comfortable running yet, I am walking at a brisk pace on the treadmill with a 4.0 incline.

Now if only I could knit as fast as I can heal.

Drugs, Rock n Roll and Lace Knitting

2009-11-11T03:59:00.000-08:00

I really do need to get more consistent with my posts!

I've been knitting socks again. I've finished a few more pairs but I'm really bored with socks now. They are so boring in fact that I had to put my knitting away for a bit.

Last night I attended my first knitting class. Never thought I would need to take a knitting class but this one sounded interesting, lace knitting. I had never done lace knitting before so I thought what the heck.

It was a great class! The teacher taught us how to cast on using a crochet needle to begin. I've never casted on this way but I really do love how it looks and it is super easy so I may use that technique later on other projects as well. She also taught us that when we are winding our balls to wind it over a finger so as not to pull the yarn too taunt and stretch the life out of the yarn. I never knew that.

Once the first row was cast on we began the lace part of the knitting. It really consisted of a few yo and k2 tog so it was easy however we were working from a chart. I've never knitted from a chart either so it was an evening full of firsts.

Another first for me was listening to two 57 year old women talk about how fantastic the 70s were and all the things they got themselves into. They talked about how easy it was to have fun, how free they were when it came to sex, the drugs they took, the parties they attended....really interesting stuff but not the kind of conversation I would have expected at a knitting class. It was a great surprise really!

The other student (there were only 2 of us due to illness) was working in a fine, black alpaca lace-weight yarn. It looked like a fine cobweb however it also seemed to be more difficult to work with due to the yarn slipping around the needles and being harder to control. My yarn was a 40% merino, 40% silk and 20% bamboo mix. It was a bit heavier but as light as all get out so it was perfect as a beginner yarn for lace knitting. The scarf I am knitting is looking so luxurious. I absolutely love it! The bonus is that I am using up some of the stash I brought back with me from Calgary this summer.

Once I get a little further along I am hoping to post a few pictures and maybe share the pattern. It is really quite pretty and soft.

On a side note, the fitness plan is coming along perfectly. I have lost quite a few inches and have lost many a dress size. I feel great and almost ready for Mexico in February.

Well the clock is ticking and with Christmas just around the corner and so much left to do I'd better get back to knitting.

Where I've been.....

2009-07-02T10:56:00.000-07:00

Where have I been? Well I was knitting away so much that I knitted myself sick. I knew that if I didn't take a break from the needles I would stab myself with them and have one of my children hide my body in my stash. Believe me when I say that there is enough yarn there that I could, most likely, hide a few bodies for a period of time. My goal to reduce my stash has been thwarted by my work schedule and my workout schedule.

Recently I have taken an interest in becoming more physically fit. I go to the gym to meet my trainer 3 times a week and I go to boxing for 4-6 hours a week. Obviously there isn't much time for knitting with this routine.

I did work on my daughter's Elizabeth Zimmerman sweater and only have a few inches left on the sleeves to do. In fact I knit one sleeve full length when it should have been 3/4 length so I will have to rip it back a bit. It's a little big on her but I expected that since she is very small for her age and I am knitting the sweater using a lady's pattern.

On Sunday I leave for Ottawa on another training course for work. I will bring my knitting with me just in case I have a moment to spare. Maybe I will start another pair of socks or something. In August I leave for Calgary to visit my sister and her family. Again, I will bring my knitting with me but we'll see if it gets pulled out of the bag.

Summer has begun!!! Now if it could just stop raining for a few minutes it would be great!!!!!

Help! Help! Help!

2009-03-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

I have found the coolest sweater pattern on the blogs. It's an adaptation of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Sweater on Two Needles but it has been adapted for a grown woman!!! Of course I have to try this one out however I'm having one little problem: I don't know how to knit button holes and the pattern doesn't tell you. I've been to a few sites but I just can't follow the directions very well.........I know, I may as well be illiterate. You can imagine my dismay. I cannot proceed without this knowledge and although I've tried it just doesn't seem to work out the way the pattern is meant it to.

Does anybody out there know of any easy to follow button hole directions? Do they exist?

I'm such a knob but I can't very well go to my local knitting oasis to ask seems how I didn't buy the pattern at her store and I'm trying to use up yarn from my old stash bought before I discovered the heaven that is her store.

What to do, what to do?

No longer MIA

2009-03-09T13:01:00.000-07:00

I've taken on a new job so I have neglected my blog. I do apologize, especially to those who have been waiting for the tutorial.

Here's the update on what's been going on:

I've been knitting up a storm in my spare time (or what time there is). Since my last entry I've knitted 2 scarves, 5 pairs of mittens and 4 1/2 pairs of socks, a felted needle case and I'm working on another pair of socks now.

This is the scarf I've knitted for my son with leftover little balls of Briggs and Little yarn. I ran the threads before I gave it to him of course. He seemed to like it well enough.

This is a mitten I created without a pattern. It's a little big on my daughter but it was for her brother. I knitted her a lovely pair of wool socks from Briggs and Little yarn in a dark dusty rose colour however I didn't get any pictures. Nor did I get pictures of the pairs of socks I made for my sister and my stepmother.

These are the socks I've been working on lately. I have completed one sock already (not shown here) and I'm almost ready to turn the heel on the last one. This yarn is sooooo soft you work with. The needles are made of walnut and made right here in good ole NB. They come in a set of 5 and are absolutely wonderful to work with. They stay so nice and warm in your fingers and are a nice change from the cold of metal needles.

I have finally learned how to knit cables! I knit myself a pair of pink cable mittens however I haven't taken a picture of them just yet.

My next project will be another sweater. I bought a Vogue Knitting magazine and there are some beautiful sweaters in it. I have also been reading 2 books on creating my own knit patterns so when I feel I'm ready I'll see what comes off my needles. I would also like to knit some felted slippers.

I spent a week in the beautiful Dominican Republic with my husband. I have a disposable camera picture of me knitting and drinking by the pool. I did bring my knitting with me to knit on the beach although I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't knit on the plane.

I brought my knitting to a pub for the first time last Saturday!

Now that I've updated you I'll try to keep this a little more current with nice pictures.

Happy knitting!

A tutorial is in the works

2008-11-24T15:28:00.001-08:00

I am knitting up a mitten pattern that first appeared in a 1947 edition of Good Housekeeping. I'm going to work out the bugs with the first mitten but once I begin the second I'll be posting a tutorial on how to knit it. So far it's pretty easy however my camera really does suck so the pictures may not be the best.

On that note: I've taken a few pictures of the scarf I knit for my son however they aren't of great quality so I'm going to try again this weekend by taking them outdoors to get natural light. Hopefully I'll finally be able to post some pictures on this very blah site to spice it up very soon.

I finished a pair of socks for my daughter as well this weekend. I'll post those too. Soon my pretties, soon........

Cough, cough, cough.

2008-11-05T12:01:00.000-08:00

I sit here in my cubicle at work hacking my guts out as I type. Hack, hack, hack, cough, cough, cough!

Despite my unending illness I've managed to continue knitting. I've completed my daughter's scarf however I have recently found more matching yarn so I may attempt to take out the cast-off row and knit it longer. For those of you who've knit with eyelash material before know what a job that will be.

Last weekend I finally sorted out my stash. Yes, another small piece of the hot place has just frozen over. I found so much yarn that I didn't even remember I had. I did take some of the yarn out of my stash only to create a new stash for my daughter. It is good to teach her bad knitting habits early. If she loves and nourishes her stash it will grow and grow and grow. My stash doesn't seem to be shrinking despite all the knitting I've been doing lately. It appears that I must be working in a black hole or something. I am now working on a scarf for my son that is just plain ribbing (k2, p2) but with random sized gray, red, green, blue, black and orange stripes. Hopefully he'll like it.

Every weekend there is so much to do but I think I'll just forget to do it and knit instead.

Casts Off - a must read!

2008-10-23T04:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my SIL and I were wandering around downtown on our lunch break when we happened to stop into the best independent bookstore in the city. We were browsing through the vast selection of books when my heart began to flutter with excitement. I couldn't believe my eyes! It was a Yarn Harlot book!!!!! Could this really be true? Could there really be a Yarn Harlot book sitting right there in front of me in my little city? This was unbelievable!!

And there is was with a halo of light and angels singing on high - "Casts Off - The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting" by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.

I took the book off the shelf and felt the vibrations that can only happen when a book chooses you. I cracked open the cover and was immediately taken by the clever words and humour. This book had to be part of my collection, I had to buy it. As soon as I got back to work I began reading little bits here and there between clients (I work with the government so reading for fun on the job is frowned upon). The book has little letters, definitions and facts that amuse knitters.

Although I've only gotten through the first dozen pages I am hooked. I am counting down the minutes until I can open the book again and read through the world of knitting with the Yarn Harlot. It reminds me a lot of Erma Bombeck but with much better subject matter.

Here's the write up on the back of the book (beware, you too may be sucked in):

Knitting's Yarn Harlot, with her wry humour and unapologetic, obsessive love for everything about this remarkable place, invites you to join her on a hilarious tour of the land, its people, customs, and culture. She tells it all - from unusual geographical features such as the giant stash to common ailments you may be susceptible to, like Yarnesia, Finish-It-Upitis, and the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome. Along the way, you may get lost in Stitches or engrossed by the beauties of Lace, but, whatever happens, it's sure to be the journey of a lifetime.

I've got my yarn and needles packed and I'm ready to go. Wanna join me?

I am now part of a 12 step program of my own making

2008-10-14T10:43:00.000-07:00

My name is JennyMac and I'm a knitaholic!

I have a huge, and I mean huge, stash of yarn. It is overwhelming when I think of the amount and how much space it takes up in my room. My goal was to use all of that yarn and knit my little guts out creating all these wonderful finished products for my family and friends.

Well the truth of the matter is that I've finished several projects but my yarn stash doesn't seem to be diminishing; in fact, it is growing!!!

Today I bought another 4 skeins of yarn, beautiful sock yarn like I've never bought before. I'm so excited to begin knitting with it however I must finish my daughter's felted bag first. All that is left to be done are the handles. I am also knitting her a felted knitting needle holder. My challenge to myself is to knit the handles and have them felted by the end of the next weekend. I would also like to finish the felted knitting needle holder by the following weekend.

Really, I just want to leave those projects on the needles and start in on this beautiful sock yarn....but I won't.

Today I visited the local yarn store, YarnonYork, and found out that a bunch of people get together and knit there on Thursday nights. I think I'll start knitting with them as well. Maybe I can start some sort of knitting event in my city such as the events occurring in other wonderful cities across our nation (such as knit the city in Toronto).

Well, I must get back to work so I can pay for my knitting obsession. I have admitted that I have a problem but I don't think I'll move to step 2 anytime soon...I like the obsession!

I've been designated as a spam blog!!!

2008-10-07T09:08:00.000-07:00

You read it right readers. My blog has been considered spam. How can that be? Nobody even knows I'm here, there are no readers to my blog!!! I was looking for a place to show my love of knitting and I've been labelled as spam.

I am waiting for the 2 days for the blogger people to rectify this situation and I should be back up and running again.

I have completed my sister-in-law's sweater and will be posting a picture as soon as I can get her to model it for me. It turned out much nicer than I expected really. Today I found a very chic looking sweater that I will attempt to make for my daughter once I have completed a few Christmas projects.

Have you ever used that eyelash material before? I really like the feather stuff but this eyelash material tangles like crazy and if you make a mistake forget about going back to fix it because it just won't work. I'm making a scarf for someone for Christmas however I'll be super happy to have it done so that I can move on to making something with less annoying material. Regular wool is a no-fail choice for me.

Well back to knitting. I will be back in 2 days when they've cleared me from being a spammer (can you imagine?!!!!).

Welcome to Jennymac knits!

2008-10-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow knitters! I know you are out there somewhere; I can't be the only person in my city who still knits. I'll be looking for you. There are some really great knitting blogs out there right now that you may be interested in. They will be linked to my blog in the near future so that you can access them easily.

My grandmother taught me the basics of knitting when I was very young, 5 or 6 years old maybe, and ever since I've loved the feel of yarn between my fingers, the smell of wool and the sound of needles clicking together. Every now and then I take a hiatus from knitting but I always come back to it, especially now that I have such a large stash of yarn that my husband has pleaded to me not to buy another skein until I've used up at least half of what I have.

Since I was little I have been creating my own patterns. I didn't know how to follow patterns for the longest time but I knew how to knit, how to purl, how to knit 2 together, cast on and cast off. Did I ever make a lot of clothes for my Barbies! They had the nicest little knit ballgowns! Eventually I learned how to follow patterns and how to knit on 4 needles. My mother taught me how to knit socks and mittens; my parents ended up with so many pairs of wool socks after that. I knit a pair of socks for my husband and that's when he knew that I was the one for him. The first sweater I ever knit was for him.

One day I was looking for some knitting patterns online however most of what I found were old patterns that looked so old-fashioned that I would never wear the finished product in a million years. I was not easily discouraged and I kept looking. One day I came across a picture of a Siamese cat wearing a funny little knit hat. It was so funny that I read further and discovered that this was a knitting blog written in the perspective of the cat. How ingenious!!!! I wanted to find the pattern for that hat but there wasn't one however there were links to other knitting blogs. Hours went by and I was still reading through all of these wonderful lives involving knitting. I found one-of-a-kind patterns and a whole new world!!

I've been knitting up a storm and just finished a really pretty cardigan sweater for my sister-in-law. I wanted to make something that was modern and a bit more stylish so I found a really neat pattern at the local yarn shop. It was a knit down cardigan which I've never done before. After a small mishap with wrong sized needles I finally finished it and as I speak it is drying flat on the table.

Knitting is no longer for old ladies people! There are some really chic knitting patterns on the Vogue Knitting website and lots of new techniques to create felted bags and more. I finished knitting a bag and I am about to do the felting process tonight. I've never done this before so it should be interesting.

Soon I will add all the knitting links and a few more that I find interesting in case you would like to browse around. Happy knitting!!!