With all of my free time lately, I’ve been knitting like a mad woman. Though I’ve yet to pick up my 2-years-and-counting Central Park Hoodie that has sat in Time Out for the past month, I did eventually grow bored after knitting my fourth dishcloth in a week.

During my short dishcloth obsession, something strange happened — I fell in love with cotton.

Normally, I detest knitting with dishcloth cotton as it does feel a bit brash, especially compared to my undying loyalty to the 8th wonder of the world — the unbelievably soft Malabrigo wool. But somehow, my fourth dishcloth left me wondering if cotton could be softer; maybe a cotton blend plied with a much softer fiber.

Before picking out which cotton yarn to try, I decided on a cute lace tank top, the Heart Lace Top. (*FREE knitting pattern altert!)

I ended up buying 3 skeins of Lion Brand’s Cotton Ease (a cotton/acrylic blend; significantly softer than 100% cotton), and so far I’m impressed. Though the color is less than what I was hoping for — I’d have loved a dark, rich purple like the photo on the pattern page — but it was the best of the choices at hand. Because I don’t normally wear such light colors, I plan to knit or crochet a black border along the bottom and I’ll knit the bodice and straps in black as well.

My progress photo doesn’t look like much, but I’ve knit another inch or two since last night when the picture was taken. My goal is to finish the tank by the end of our next race weekend in a few weeks.

I don’t have a great track record when it comes to finishing new projects in a timely manner, but a girl can hope… right?

Yesterday marked the beginning of a strict non-dairy diet in hopes of eliminating my frequent nights of throwing up and stomach cramps so awful I fear that I might faint. Sam and I have narrowed down the possible causes and we are now testing the theory that I may be lactose intolerant. This means that for the next month, I’m restricting myself from eating or drinking anything with:

• Milk
• Butter
• Cheese
• Yogurt
• Ice Cream

I’m happy to report that after 24 hours of eating absolutely no dairy products, I successfully slept through the entire night without waking up to a raging stomachache and excrutiating cramps. Our lactose intolerance theory holds true, at least for now.

I’ve also decided to take this opportunity to start another task on my 101 Things in 1001 Days list – ”Go vegetarian for 30 days”. I wasn’t planning to do this so soon, but I figure what better time than a period where I already can’t eat dairy? I mean, that’s already half the battle right there. So starting Monday, June 21, 2010, I’ll be eliminating the following foods from my diet, as well as those listed above:

• Meat
• Poultry
• Seafood
• Eggs
• Dairy

And in exchange, I will be eating an abundance of these types of foods instead:

• Soy and Rice Milk
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Leafy Greens
• Whole Grain Products
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Legumes (beans, chickpeas, lentils)

Tomorrow is my 25th birthday and we’re throwing a small BBQ in celebration. Because of the massive amount of meat Sam will surely grill, I’ve decided the most sensible day to start my 30 day test of willpower and integrity is this Monday.

Monday will bring a new day, a new week, and one helluva mission over the next 30 days. I’m excited for the challenge and I’m anxious to see how the vegetarian diet affects my current Crohn’s flare. Wish me luck!

In celebration of my birthday this weekend, my Crohn’s Disease is attacking in full force. I have now spent three of the past four nights running to the bathroom to throw up every 20 minutes. Then, while I’m back in bed trying to will the cold sweats (from massive amounts of pain) and misery away, I’m doubled over in the fetal position from the portion of my intestines that feels like a steak knife is being stabbed repeatedly into my abdoman. Sam and I are once again on the “What the fuck is causing this?!” mission, and we’ve narrowed it down to three possible scenarios:

1. I didn’t eat soon enough yesterday. [Logic: When I don't have anything in my stomach for more than a few hours, I get physically ill. Last night, we didn't eat dinner until 9 pm.]
2. Lactose intolerance; at least when my Crohn’s is flaring. [Logic: I have had significant success during past flare-ups by cutting dairy out of my diet until my flare-up goes into remission.)
3. A combination of scenario 1 and 2.

Starting today, I’m back to drinking soy or rice milk instead of cow juice, and steering clear of everything dairy. (Which makes me really sad; I love cheese and now I can’t even have ice cream on my effing birthday.) I am, however, anxious to get this stomach issue figured out as this has been happening off and on for months now. I’m sick of being sick, and I’m ready to solve the problem.

On a lighter note, I did a large load of laundry last night consiting of 4 possible birthday weekend outfits. I washed 2 party dresses, my favorite pair of jeans, a pair of shorts in case the sun decides to make an appearance on Sunday, and a handful of shirts, skirts, and leggings. I’m also rocking a tiara for the rest of the week. Sam loves it and I feel like a princess (albeit a princess in dire need of a digestive tract transplant).

Every girl should own a tiara, in my opinion — it’s like an anti-depressant for your girly side.

I’m home sick today with a stomach bug. Wednesday must be having sympathy vomiting, as I’ve now cleaned up three piles of cat puke. I can’t describe how fun it is to clean up the contents of someone else’s stomach while trying to hold down my own.

We’ve been quite the pair today, Wednesday and I.
I’m grateful for the company.

P.S. Her eyes match my new hair color.

I’ve caught a terrible cold. Yesterday I stayed home from work to rest up. After throwing up sinus drainage from 5am to 7am, I forced myself to drive to Safeway for more cold medicine, apple and orange juice, antibacterial tissues, and 3 cans of chicken noodle soup. Then I settled in with blankets, pillows, and 2 snuggly, warm kitties on the couch. I barely moved until it was time for bed around 10 pm.

Around noon while watching one of 3 fascinating documentaries (I’m definitely obsessed with documentaries), I decided to work on the shawl I’m currently knitting. A few rows in, I fell asleep with my knitting on my lap. I’m not sure how much time went by before Gir stealth’d his way in and grabbed it, dragging yarn from the living room to the dining room and back again.

I woke to what Sam and I now call the unmistakable I’ve Got Your Yarn! Growl. I look over to discover the yarn massacre;  Gir looking up at me from the corner of the room in a crouched position, a tangle of yarn in hanging from his mouth. (Wednesday was poised on top of the futon, watching this scene unfold. She knows better than to partake in yarn-binges. She clearly has significantly more self-control than her counterpart.)

Thankfully, my shawl was left in one piece - not a single stitch was dropped from my needles - but my beautiful center-pull ball of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn was strewn across two rooms. Just thinking about untangling such a mess left me near tears.

I forced myself off the couch, successfully removed the yarn from Gir’s teeth, piled it all together, and set it down on a shelf far from kitty’s reach. My Traveling Woman shawl was abolished. That’s what I call a project Time-the-fuck-OUT.

Enter Kristin, the amazing woman that she is, who absolutely LOVES untangling nasty yarn messes. Why? Don’t even ask, because I couldn’t tell ya. It boggles my mind, the workings of her logical reasoning when it comes to tangles, but I’m not complaining in the least. I purposely brought my yarny mess to work with me this morning knowing that once she laid her eyes upon the brutality, she wouldn’t be able to resist untangling it, yard by yard.

When first break rolled around at 10pm, she went to town. I mean, if there were an award for Master Level 3 Yarn Untangler, this girl takes home the Gold. This isn’t the first time she’s saved my knitting project (and my sanity) from certain death, and I give credit where credit is due.

Kristin — thank you, dollface. If it weren’t for you, this project would have been thrown into the firey pits of hell by now. Because that’s how I deal with tangled yarn messes when left to my own defenses.

Here’s a crappy cell phone shot of the cute little yarn ball I can now happily knit from after Kristin spent 15 blissful minutes untangling.

I also realized I have quite a bit more yarn left than I originally thought. I just might have enough to finish this thing with one skein. Maybe.

After resting up on Friday after a horrible stomach bug that lasted over 24 hours, Sam and I spent the daylight hours of Saturday and Sunday at Portland International Raceway with his first his second love; his race car. The first practice and race day of the 2010 SCCA Solo Autocross season, I happily sat track-side armed with my SLR still camera, our digital camcorder, and my knitting bag.

The best part? I wasn’t the only knitter on the track. Shortly after Sam registered for the event, he mentioned he had overheard a girl arguing with her boyfriend who was getting ready to race. He heard her yell, “If you want me to be here, I’m going to be KNITTING!” We both had a good laugh about this, as I had already been knitting in the truck for a good half hour by this point.

And that’s when I noticed the friendly lady I had met at the SCCA kick-off party about a month ago. She was camped out in a chair knitting away near the exit gate of the track — directly in front of the time box. Prime seating! And she’s knitting! There were now 3 knitters on one race track. Who knew!?

I walked over to the woman I’d met before, asked if I could share her ultimate spectator spot, and then happily plopped down and opened my knitting bag. It felt absolutely liberating. Not only was I knitting at the race track, I was knitting in public – something I don’t normally like to do. My hands, arms, and wrists are sore from the hours and hours of knitting time I don’t usually have, but I made some truly impressive progress on the shawl on that race track. Especially considering this is my first shawl ever.

I plan to make a short video soon with the racing footage I filmed over the weekend, but until then I’ll leave you with a peek at my sparkly Bat Shawl as it looks after a weekend of uninterrupted knitting until my hands and arms felt like they were bleeding.

I’m calling this project about 50% finished, as I’m finally done with chart A and steadily cruising along on chart B, the second and last of the pattern. As the shawl grows, it takes longer and longer to get from one side to the other; therefore I’m working harder and harder while the project is growing slower and slower. Knitting has definitely built up my patience.

P.S. — I can’t wait to hit the gym tonight, it’s been too long. Being sick on Friday, we only managed to go twice last week. I can’t wait to sweat out all of this built up guilt!

I’ve spent most of the day in bed feeling sick, sick, sick. Having thrown up more times than I can count in the past 24 hours, this is how I’ll be ending the evening. Tomorrow’s a big day, I hope I’ll be ready for it.

This morning as I made my way across our driveway to start my car, determined to go to work despite fighting off the last of this damn cold, Sam just shook his head and said,

“Baby, you’re leaving a trail of tissues behind you…”

Number of workouts this week: 4

Starting weight: 234 lbs
Week 2 weigh-in: 223 lbs
Pounds lost this week: 1

Total pounds lost so far: 11
Pounds left to lose: 73

Notes: Despite 4 super hard workouts this week, I only lost 1 lb. this week. I was really bummed at first, until Sam pointed out my guns. ;) And then he reminded me that muscle is heavier than fat. I’m now able to benchpress 50 lbs, leg lift 105 lbs, and run for a total of 4 minutes (1.5 minutes longer than last week) before slowing to a power walk. I definitely feel stronger and my legs & arms are more firm. I feel good!

I have officially been working out for 1 full week, with just one day of rest. After 6 hard workouts I am already feeling better than I have in years. Yes, I said YEARS. I feel proud, I feel rejuvenated, I feel good.

With 1-2.5 hours a day devoted to the gym just 6 times so far, my body is noticeably stronger, my energy level and stamina has increased significantly, and I now crave healthy foods packed with nutrients instead of junk food. I can benchpress 45 lbs, powerwalk a full mile in 15 minutes, and jog for 2.5 minutes (which is 2.5 minutes longer than I could jog a week ago). Sam even convinced me to shoot hoops with him for 15 minutes last night - since when am I athletic?! Who is this new person I’m turning into?! I kind of really love her!

I’m obsessed with three things right now (in healthy moderation): iceberg salad blends, hard boiled eggs, and fresh orange juice - all of which I have stocked up on among other healthy meals like bananas, skim milk, and Cheerios. I am also diligently eating only a palm-sized portion of healthy, vitamin-rich foods 5 times a day to help boost my molasses-like metabolism.

I will be weighing myself every Thursday to track my progress. This afternoon will be my second weekly weigh-in (inspired by The Biggest Loser). Last Thursday, which I’ve dubbed “D-Day” as it was my very first workout after 7 years of living a sedentary lifestyle, I weighed in at a whopping 234 lbs. Instead of spiraling into depression, I accepted the number on the scale. And then I made a promise to myself. A promise to make a positive change in my weight, my body, and my lifestyle. So far it feels amazing!