It almost makes me feel toasty, but then I realize it's because it's unseasonably warm.

When you build a campfire, you put logs down. Some people put newspapers under the logs. However, when you light the newspaper it lights fast but burns out quick–the logs don’t have enough time to catch from the newspaper. To build a good fire, you use kindling (like twigs) that catch quickly but burn longer. The longer burn from the kindling will ignite the logs and your fire will burn.

This is very simplistic, obviously, but think of it like this. The newspaper is your simple carbs–white rice, processed foods, white bread, etc. The kindling is your complex carbs–vegetables, beans, whole grains, etc. The logs are fat. It is infinitely harder to lose weight if you eat simple carbs. Your body will work better and more harmoniously, if you start off with complex carbs and in turn, you will burn fat better.

It’s simple and beautiful, and it really resonated with me. Obviously, it doesn’t include a lot of the why it works–that starts getting into chemical reactions and mind-numbingly scientific stuff–nor does it address other issues (like quantity), but it makes it very clear why you should look at what you eat.

Goal 1: Yarn

I have not bought any yarn this month. I bought accoutrements, but no yarn. Okay, that’s not 100% true. I bought yarn for Yarnkettle from knit picks so my order would get free shipping. The yarn stayed in the box, hidden with my knitting books, and then went directly to Yarnkettle where she paid me for the yarn. Wow, when I read that back, that seems extreme–I mean, it sounds like I hid the box lest I gaze upon the yarny goodness and run out to buy more, more, more! Really I was simply trying to get it out of the way. No, really.

I finished Skew, but sadly that yarn was never put in my stash so stash busting for the month is at 0. I am almost done with a full skein of both colors for the Husband’s scarf so maybe by the end of the evening I’ll be onto another skein. Sadly, that doesn’t remove stash items from Ravelry because there’s a couple more skeins of that yarn left.

I do think I need a secondary project since the scarf requires so much focus and I’m going to need some breaks. I’m thinking either a felted purse, a cowl, or a shawlette. Oh, maybe all 3! Apparently, I’m starting to revert back to an ADHD knitter. What are your favorite patterns for those items?

Goal 2: Exercise Consistently

I started off very good this month, hitting the gym 5-6 days a week which is what I want. Then I got sick and exercised like 3 times in 2 weeks. However, I’m very happy with my exercise overall for 2012. Sometimes illness gets in the way and you just need to stop and rest. It doesn’t make you a bad person nor does it make you lazy, worthless, or *insert the word you use in your head here (you know the word you use when you miss a goal)* I did not feel guilty for missing most of the two weeks and you shouldn’t either if it happens to you. We  simply pick ourselves back up and start again. No harm no foul. February will be better. Heck, today will be better and that’s the most important day.

Wow, I must be tired because that was all sugary and cheerleader-y. Rah rah!

Goal 3: Post at least once a week

I met this one, hopefully to my lovely readers’ delight. I even got multiple entries in a week. Woo-hoo! I think of the 3 goals, this is the hardest. I’m a rather dull person and slow knitter, so there’s not too much to write about. In an effort to start building content, ask me something you want to know. It can be knitting-related or life-related. I don’t promise to answer every question, but I’ll answer some. Hopefully. Either leave a comment or ask at Formspring.

So that’s it for January! Not a bad month. Send me your questions and any patterns you recommend. If you don’t, then I may have to buy yarn just so I have something to write about and then it’ll be all angsty with the “why did I buy yarn!” and I’ll have to write bad poetry or something and you will regret it.

On Wednesday, OP was sent home with fever. The Husband took her to the regular doctor and she has a sinus infection. Thursday, the Husband went to the walk-in clinic and came home with a diagnosis of sinus infection. Everyone’s on some sort of drug and everyone is tired of being sick. The Husband and OP are getting noticeably better. I, on the other hand, no longer have a pink eye. I’m feeling better overall, but not as well as the rest of my antibiotic-filled family.

I have snot!

On top of all the illness, this was my first week of my class. I was a little nervous before hand. First, as we all know from my non-graded, knitting class I NEED AN A. Second, I’m feeling the old. I’m only 35, but I’m almost twice the age of the freshmen. For those who don’t have a calculator, half of 35 is 17.5. Freshmen are 18. I’m old.

The first day of class was…frustrating. The professor is an expert in his field and I’ve heard he’s very good, but he’s the type of teacher who should be teaching barefoot, sporting love beads, and playing bongo drums. I’d say he would be smoking, but it is an exercise science class. The first class was devoted to the professor learning all 45 students’ names and having random conversations about something everyone said. My little inner Baljeet died a bit inside.

The second class was much better, although, again he was missing the bongo drums. Class covered an intro to what Exercise Science is and progressed into homeostasis, steady state, and inner control systems. I learned a lot. Thankfully I read the assigned chapters before class (go inner Baljeet!) because the book content was rushed over thanks to the intro and some outside conversations about health. Of course, the best part were the outside conversations.

So far I like the class, although we haven’t really gotten into the knitty gritty of it yet. There was no lab this week, so I’m sure I’ll be nervous next week before lab. I think I have to wear exercise clothing for lab. Oy. Hopefully I can exercise without hacking up a lung next week or I really will feel old.

Look, I'm mommy after a slow walk. Sick makes mommy's exercise funny.

These socks were cursed. They took forever and I had to frog the left foot after knitting the whole thing because I knit it on the wrong sized needles. I was looking at my projects the other day, and while I’ve done many many techniques and have a pretty varied knitting cache of projects, I’m still such an idiot when it comes to knitting. I mean, really, the wrong needle size?

That said, I do like the final product.

Skew is a nice pattern. I think it drove me nuts (okay, more nuts). There’s so much in increasing and decreasing that I wanted to throw the project on my driveway and repeatedly drive over it, but even though it was maddening it’s a very understandable pattern and really, pure genius. It’s not your standard sock pattern which is refreshing.

I think I bought Socks that Rock at two different Rhinebeck Wool and Sheep festivals. The colors were pretty and the line was out the booth, so it must be good yarn, right? I think so, for the most part. That’s pretty wishy-washy, isn’t it?

I’m far from a prolific sock knitter like some people, but while I like the colors of Socks that Rock, I’m not noticing a huge difference in the yarn itself compared to the socks I have in Lorna’s Laces and Ellen’s Half Pint Farm. Not that the yarn is bad, I just don’t see much of a difference between the fabric. I have to say, though, they striped really, really well.

Sadly, I didn’t have this yarn in my stash on Ravelry, so I did not decrease my official stash numbers. Next project, I guess.