Three on Thursday - Happy Things

 Three things that are making me happy this week.

1.  This Japanese maple is gorgeous and makes me happy every time I see it.  Except when I glance at it through the little window in the door and think the house is on fire.  

The tree doesn't look that great in the photo.  It was extremely foggy and three minutes from flooding rains when I took the picture.  You'll just have to trust me.  Actually, it's so bright, you may be able to see the glow from your house.

2.  Victoza.  Several of you asked about and/or commented on my weight loss medicine.  It's actually a blood sugar medication but it also makes you loose weight by removing your appetite.  And it helps with cholesterol.  After taking it for almost two full weeks, I think the way it works is that it makes you so queasy, you don't eat so you 1) don't get blood sugar spikes, 2) don't want a bunch of fatty foods so your cholesterol drops and 3) you don't eat because you feel like barfing 23/7 so you automatically loose weight.  But really, it's not that bad.  The queasiness is a weird mixture of feeling hungry, having to go to the bathroom, queasiness and having MASSIVE butterflies.  You know that feeling of finding a certified letter from the IRS in your mailbox?  Or your doorbell rings and you find a policeman standing on your porch?  Yeah, those are the kinds of butterflies.  But really, it's okay.  

I'll gladly have butterflies for the results I'm getting.  From the first of April to mid October, with daily exercise and watching what I ate, I lost ten pounds.  But with Victoza, in eleven days, I've lost eight pounds.  And really, for the last four or five days, I only feel nauseous for a total of about four or five hours a day.  I have high hopes that by this time next week, the butterflies will have all flown away.

(And before y'all get worked up about the weight loss, yes, I'm still eating.  I'm just eating a lot less.  I'm not hungry so I don't need to eat a giant plate full of mashed potatoes.  I'm happy to eat a plate full (a much smaller plate, I might add) of vegetables instead.  I'm also aware there could be some unpleasant side affects.  The doctor and I will both keep a look out for signs of a problem.  And, the medicine is not a long term plan for me.)

3.  I really, really need to remember to take photos in the daylight instead of waiting until the night before I need a blog post.

Mountain Colors yarn.  Oh!  My! Goodness!  This yarn is pure, unadulterated bliss.   These two skeins are from the Twizzlefoot line in Summertime and Big Sky.  I'm holding the two skeins together to knit a modified Simple Yet Effective shawl for my niece.  No wait.  She's a great niece.  Damn, I am old!

If I'm honest, I'm having a hard time believing I'm using this yarn (two skeins of it!) to knit a scarf for an eight year old.  But I'm trying this new thing where I don't hoard my yarn and save it for "something special."  Besides, my great niece is pretty special.  It's just that she's only eight.  

But luckily, eight year olds are fairly small so the scarf won't have to be huge and I'm hoping there'll be enough left over to knit myself a cowl or some fingerless mitts.  If not, I guess I'll just have to buy some more.  Pity.

Three Yarns for Three on Thursday

I'm joining Carol for today's Three on Thursday gathering and I'm hoping you can help me choose which of these three yarns to knit next. 

What to knit next?

I don't have the mental bandwidth to knit much more than flat garter or stockinette in the round at the moment.  Casting on may even be a problem.  I have to admit, the new living situation is taking way more out of me than expected.  I knew it wasn't going to be ideal but I was not prepared for the reality. 

I'm sure it will get better once we are all settled and the packing boxes are gone, but that won't be for another week or two.  My husband is still staying at the old house doing the final cleaning and punch-out type stuff.  He's living on a mattress on the floor so he's cranky and not available to help us and the MIL went 48 hours without sleep which means I went 47 hours without sleep so I'm cranky....  Oh, and there's a spider in the shower stall and Mike's not here to take care of it.  

The whole situation is an eye opening, frustrating adjustment.  But, we are getting to spend precious time with the MIL and as of next week, we'll no longer have a mortgage payment and will be 100% debt free.  I just need to keep reminding myself of that.  Besides, sleep is underrated.

Anyway...  Enough whining.  Let's get on with my three yarn choices.

Do I knit a simple hat or maybe some mittens with that lovely brown wool from Love Ewe Farm?  My hesitation on that idea is that (1) I don't have the mental capacity to deal with dpns and I've never been a fan of magic loop.  And (2) I feel like that yarn deserves more than simple stockinette in the round.  And (3) this choice would involve winding the yarn and while I have unpacked my swift, I haven't come across my winder yet.

Or do I start a Close to You shawl with that pretty bluey, purpley, greenish skein of Mountain Colors Twizzlefoot I picked up at the Center of the Yarniverse's birthday bash/grand opening of the new, bigger shop a few weeks ago?  I'm dying to knit with this yarn, I think it would be an excellent match for the pattern and I've been wanting to knit a Close to You for ages.  But... this yarn needs to be wound too.  

My third choice is a Garnet Heather sweater out of Wool of the Andes Tweed.  I really, really want to knit myself a sweater but I haven't decided on a pattern and I'm not in the mood for gauge swatching.  Like I ever actually am, or even do, for the matter.  Who am I kidding here??  But.... while I don't want to swatch, I also don't want to knit a sweater that doesn't fit and the yarn looks thinner than 'normal' Wool of the Andes.  According to the ball band it's the same but...  I've never knit with the Tweed before so I'd be afraid to guestimate like we all know I will actually do when I finally start knitting a sweater.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.