W.I.P. Wednesday - Spider-man Afghan

Well,  I was really hoping that I would have finished this by today - that was my goal but alas, unfortunately, I came down with a pretty bad cold that knocked me out of commission for about 3-4 days so I just wasn't up to working on it.

I don't always wash my afghans before gifting them because they are kept clean and my hands are kept clean while working on the project.  However, since I did have a cold while this was in the house, I will be washing it when it is finished.

Anyway...it is getting there.  Only one more round of blue and then a round of red and I think I'll be done.  It has grown quite a bit since last week.

W.I.P. Wednesday

Goodness gracious, it has been a while since I posted a Work-In-Progress.  That is mainly because I haven't done much crafting in the past few months but as mentioned, I did make a baby blanket and a kid's blanket for one of my employees.

I thought I would post this W.I.P. - another Spider-man blanket.  Speaking of Spider-man...why is it Spider-man (with a hyphen) but it is Batman and Superman, one word and Iron Man, which is two words...what is up with the inconsistency in naming super heroes (or is it superheroes)? 😊

Here is the blanket so far.  I am hoping to finish it by January 30th because the 7 year old that I am making it for, starts his second round of chemo on that day and I want to get it to him before then.  I know I am going to do another round of red, 2 more rounds of blue and then perhaps finish with one round of red - which is what I did on the last one.  I did wonder if the last one was big enough but my co-worker informed me that it was perfect for her 7 year old and he is a pretty tall kid for his age.

Keto Crack Slaw

I haven't shared this with a lot of people, but I am sharing here (which means I am still not sharing with a lot of people because no one ever reads my blog - haha).   At the advise of my doctor, I started following the Keto Way of Eating (or WOE as we call it).  I don't call it a diet because it isn't a "diet" in the traditional terms.  It truly is a way of eating.

I started on October 2, 2018 and stuck to it 100%, that is until about 2 weeks before Christmas and I did slide here and there, having a cookie or two every once in a while and eating my mom's high-carb Christmas dinner.  But I got back on track January 8th and have been following it since.

Some people just drop the pounds like dropping a hot plate.  I read others on the Facebook group saying things like "I've been doing Keto for 3 months and I've lost 50 pounds" or "I've been on Keto for 2 weeks and have already lost 20 pounds"

Well..that simply is not me.  I don't lose weight easily - I just don't.  I know people don't believe me when I say that I have followed Keto religiously for 2 weeks and haven't lost a single pound.  They are like, yeah, right, you are not following it then...but I am not one to lie to myself and I KNOW when I am following a plan and when I am "cheating".  I am sure my doctor's don't believe me when I go in and I haven't lost weight since my last check up - they think I am not exercising or that I am eating the wrong things but I'm not...I just lose very, very, very, very, very, very, very slowly.  That is just how my body works.

But...I stick to it because Keto has other benefits.  Namely, anti-inflammatory.  Since eating this way, I feel so much better, my joints don't hurt and my lymphedema is even better - I still have it of course, nothing can cure it but it doesn't hurt like it did - I'm more mobile and I just feel better. 

So...I am so grateful that one of the Refupeas suggested Kristie Sullivan's Keto Living Day by Day book.  This book is my "Keto Bible".  I had been reading and using The Keto Diet by Leanne Vogel, which is a very good book too, but Kristie Sullivan's story more closely reflects my life and she is just not as technical/medical as Ms. Vogel.  I can just relate to Kristie Sullivan more and her book is so easy to read and use.

She also has a You Tube channel and a Facebook group and both have helped me.  One of the recipes in her Keto Living Day by Day book and also on her You Tube channel is Crack Slaw.  While I don't care for the name (I don't like any recipe that uses the name that starts with Crack - they use it because it means it is addicting - like the drug but people that use crack have a big problem and I don't like how some will use the term so lightly when crack is a serious subject.  But I digress.

I did modify it slightly but not enough to effect the macros

Kristie's Crack Slaw (6 Servings) 1 1/2 lbs Ground beef (recommend 73 % lean / 27% fat) 1 tsp Bacon grease 1 Tbsp Onion Powder (I substituted for dried onions) ½ tsp Salt 1 Tbsp Ginger Powder (I used this instead of fresh ginger, which I didn't have on hand) 1 tsp Garlic powder (I doubled the amount because I love it)
1 tsp Red Pepper flakes
2 oz. Coconut aminos (see note) 4 cups Shredded cabbage (I found pre-bagged, pre-shredded - saved a lot of time)
1 tsp Toasted sesame oil
Brown ground beef on medium/high. I drained the pan and then added the bacon grease. Over medium heat, add onion powder, salt, ginger powder and garlic powder and red pepper flakes. Stir until mixed. Add the coconut aminos and stir. Add the cabbage and cook until tender (about 10 min). Turn off. Stir in toasted sesame oil and serve - makes 6 servings.
Note: Coconut aminos, which is similar to soy sauce but not as salty and tastes much better, were a little hard to find but since Keto is becoming more popular, it is getting a little easier. I found it at Walmart. It isn't cheap, about $8 a bottle but the flavor is worth it and it should last a pretty good while.

Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Oh my goodness - this is so good! I ate one serving (as I always do) but I wanted more. I couldn't wait until the next day to have some leftovers at lunch and was sad when all the servings had been eaten. This will become a regular! And I don't even usually like cabbage but it was good in this!

Spiderman, Spiderman, Does Whatever a Spider Can

One of my employees had a baby back in October.  She has a 26 year old, a 7 year old and now a baby!  I told her that she has had a child in every decade of her life (20s, 30s and 40s) - Haha!  I think she was actually 18 or 19 when her first son was born, but you know, close enough to 20, right?

Her nursery had a nautical theme, and I have never knitted a baby blanket before (always crocheted) but I have loved this pattern (Come Sail Away) for many years and wanted to make it but didn't have the right person to make it for.  I just knew she'd truly appreciate it so I decided to knit it for her.

She didn't give me much time.  Due to prior miscarriages (so sad for her), she didn't want to tell anyone until she was in her 3rd trimester and she did a great job at hiding it - she wears kind of blousy dresses and tops anyway so she just knew how to hide it well and boy I had NO IDEA she was pregnant until she told me.  She told me around the first of July and her due date was October!  That only gave me 3 months to knit this, which for some may seem like plenty of time.

However,
(a) I am a slower knitter and
(b) July-September is my "busy" season at work, lots of overtime.

So, when I wasn't working, I was knitting!!  Anyway, I am so glad I made the effort because she loved it and she cried when she got it - I knew she truly was grateful for it. 

I must admit, I was really happy with it.  I did make a little mistake on the border but only I can see it (and probably another knitter).  It is very soft.  I used Knit Picks Swish Worsted in Baby Blue.

Well...I wanted to make her 7 year old an afghan too because I didn't want him to feel left out that the baby was getting all these gifts.  Sadly, since I didn't have enough time, I didn't get to finish the afghan for him in time for the baby shower or in time for the birth of his little brother. 

Then, since the employee was out (because she did have a baby after all), I was having to do 2 jobs (mine and hers) and working lots of overtime so it didn't leave much time to make the other afghan.  Plus, I now didn't have a deadline really so I didn't work on it a lot...however, knowing that she was coming back after the New Year, I was determined to complete it so she'd have it to give to her son when she returned to work.

I made him this Spiderman Afghan, because, lets face it, what 7 year old doesn't love Spiderman?  He loves the Black Panther but I couldn't find a project to make related to that character so I stuck with Spiderman.  Like the Come Sail Away Afghan, I've wanted to make this Superhero Dreamcatcher Afghan for years! Years, I tell you...originally, I wanted to crochet it for my Godson when he was about 10, but I never got around to it and now that he is 19, I don't think he would appreciate it quite the same. 😃  So I was very happy to have a 7 year old little boy to crochet this for.

I am very happy with it.

I did find a problem with the pattern though.  When you switch from red to blue or vice versa, you are supposed to put a ring of single crochets in black, but after the first round of red, it didn't say to add the black (although it said to do so after the rounds of blue).  After I finished the blue, I realized that it looked funny not to have the black ring around the first rounds of the red, in the center, so I had to rip it all out (ugh), add the black round and then re-crochet the blue rounds in the center again. 

It is funny, because even the photo on the website, shows the round of black after the first red round, but is is NOT written that way in the pattern!.  

I'm making another one for a little boy at church.  He received a heart transplant 3 years ago at age 3 and now at age 6, he was diagnosed with lymphoma - cancer on his lung, near his aorta.  (Please pray for him if you are reading this - his name is Everett).  He is responding well to treatment and I heard yesterday that he may be even going home Monday (he has been in the hospital since Dec. 20th.)

I am working pretty quickly on it so hope to have it finished within the week maybe...we shall see.

View from Heaven with Thatcher

If you ask me what I think Heaven will be like...I imagine it will be like this for me.

One day I will be sitting by the seaside with Thatcher and we will just enjoy the view.

Facebook Pet Peeve

I have never liked those colored boxes on Facebook - they are annoying to me.  One thing I have noticed is that the folks that tend to use them, also seem to be the ones that appear to be less mature and often seem to have little education.

I made this little example (but I didn't post it on Facebook) to give you an idea of what I mean.

Happy New Year

It is 2019 - hard to believe...sometimes I still think about all the hype with Y2K and it doesn't seem all that long ago but it was 19 years ago! Wow!

New Year's Day is a day of hope and renewal, but it is also a day of sadness, for me at least.  Today would have been my brother's 59th birthday.  On my birthday each year, he'd call me and tease me about getting old and I would always say "Yes, but I will always be younger than you!" But … I am no longer younger than him.  As of my last birthday, I am now older than he was when he passed away.   I have lived longer than he got to live and that seems so unfair.  I look at his beautiful grand-daughter and it breaks my heart that she will never know him except through photos of the 2 of them together up until her 1st birthday, since he didn't live to see her 2nd. 

Isaiah 55:8 says ""For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD."

While I know that to be true, it is still hard to accept it.  Plus, January is also the month that of my dad's birthday, the month he passed away and the month that Thatcher, my beloved dog, passed away.  

I know the New Year is a clean slate, so to speak, a brand new blank book, but at the same time, January 1st reminds me of those that are not here to start begin the year with me - it is a reminder that I have lived another year without them.  I am grateful for those that are in my life but it doesn't mean you stop missing and hurting for those that aren't there. 

Unlike most years, I don't have any resolutions this year.  I am just going to focus on living for the day and living day by day and keeping my focus on the Lord. 

I hope that 2019 brings lots of love and happiness and joy to everyone that is reading this and that God blesses you in ways you could have never even imagined.