Some completed projects (knitting and otherwise...)

Well all my resolutions to sit down at home and upload photos onto my blog were thwarted by Blogger last night , which steadfastly refused to accept any pictures.  So until I can get myself organised and Blogger in a cooperative mood, myself, the bots and anyone who stumbles onto this site is stuck with mere words.

Projects completed:

The Patchwork Scarf - which has also been given to its new owner, only six weeks after her birthday.  I have photos of both the scarf and the approximately 5 million yarn ends that had to be sewn in - fortunately this could be done while watching several episodes of Star Trek Voyager.

A 2X2 ribbed hat in pale pink Merino Supremo (80 stitches, 5mm needles).  This is a gift for one of the other girls in the program at Royal Women's Hospital.  It's all drawing to a close this week and we are doing a "Kris Kringle" style gift giving ceremony tonight.  We had to choose a gift costing $10 and explain why we chose it for that person.  I was lucky; my nominee sometimes wears a pale pink top and the very first time I saw it, I thought "I have some yarn exactly that colour in my stash".  The Merino Supremo usually retails for $7.95/ball but I obtained mine for half-price as the yarn is being discontinued (I don't know why; it is so soft and luscious to knit with).  Anyway, I had exactly two balls plus a few scraps of pink Merino Supremo and I've noticed that nearly everyone has a use for a woolly beanie at some stage.  My nominee also catches a lot of public transport and we are heading into winter now.

We had an "unofficial" gift-exchange on the weekend.  One of the girls organised an Intimo lingerie party on the weekend with a consultant who specifically caters for larger sizes.  I ended up buying a matching pewter-coloured bra and undies set.  Plus received a free pair of beige - or honey as they call it - knickers.  I was really sceptical as to whether there would be anything in my size but they seem to go in for vanity sizing  - everything is cut at least one size bigger than is usual - I wasn't even the largest size.

A few of us had also cleared out our wardrobes of anything that was either too big or too small or that we just didn't wear but was still in good condition.  One girl had a huge suitcase full of clothes in sizes 14-26 due to a hormonal condition that led her on a roller-coaster experience of body sizes.  I brought a regular shopping bag full of mostly unworn clothes, all too big, and some still with tags.  I wasn't expecting to bring anything home but ended up with a jacket, 2 jumpers, a cardigan, a couple of tops, 2 skirts and some pants.  Many were in styles I would never have considered buying for myself but were quite flattering.  It wasn't until I was trying on item after item of clothes in sizes 16-20 which fit me - and had to discard several lovely tops that were just way too big for me now, that it finally dawned on me that I must have lost some fat (I won't say weight as there has not been much movement there).  I had already noticed that more than half the clothes I had bought recently at the MySize sale were a little on the large side but it wasn't until this weekend that I appreciated that I really and truly was a "new" size (albeit one that would be considered way too large for comfort by most but who cares).

I had my "end of program" blood tests also this weekend and am really curious to know whether they will show any improvements.  I've decided I won't be too fazed whatever the numbers are because, after all, they are just numbers, and I feel so much fitter and healthier anyway.  I was just very relieved I didn't have to do a glucose tolerance test for diabetes (where you drink a huge revolting sugar drink and have blood taken over a three hour period to see how your body responds to it).

I wrote some feedback on the program but am not sure whether I will post it on this blog.  Overall it's been great but I could see a couple of places for improvement; while most of the staff were fantastic and focussed on empowering us so we could take responsibility for our own health and work towards being as happy and healthy and active as we can, a session with one of the doctors who focussed only the negativities of being overweight without any of the information that I know is out there about the benefits of making small incremental changes was very depressing and negative.  Rather than inspiring us to make positive changes, we then had to (again) fight against the "there's no point even trying; I can't loose 40kg" feelings that exacerbated many of our weight issues in the first place.  I still haven't lost that 40kg but I know I am much healthier and more active now than at the start of the program.  Which was actually the point.