emusing details

Excuses

The struggle continues. Life has gotten in the way, but that is an excuse. I let life cause me to stress eat and break the good habits I spent over a year developing. Fortunately, not all my good habits are out the window and not every day do I go "off the rails" so I have managed to keep the weight gain to a minimum--too much over goal, but still lower than I was this time last year. That means I have kept the majority of my weight loss off for a year now. That is a success for me! I deserve to be proud and celebrate ME! Past weight loss would have been back by now. This time is different. AND I have the ability to get this gain back off and keep it off. I still do miss the online WW community and the challenges. That kept me going back online everyday, if nothing more to be aware of what I was doing everyday and being accountable. I'm a closet eater, so being accountable to just myself is not enough. I'll lie to myself over and over again. But others make me accountable and more honest with what I'm doing. I did this for me and I need to keep reminding myself that this is for me.

Taking Mom on a European cruise 10/23 so I have three weeks to lose this extra weight before we go and eat in Italy and France mmmmm. I want to be able to do that guilt free, but that means putting in the work now. I can do this. 19 days till sailing. Day 2 of SFT. Walked 3 miles last night.

My September Color Inspiration

Labels: autumn, color, design, fall, flowers, garden, palette, September

Starting Again (and Again)

I started this blog many years ago, but was never much of a blogger. I started attending Weight Watchers (WW) meetings April 2015 after so many weight loss/gain roller-coaster rides, like so many of us. This time was different. The day I started meetings, I was actually supposed to be using crutches because the pain and swelling in my knees was so bad. Fast forward to "leap day" February 29, 2016 I had lost 60#, walk 3-miles a day and made my Lifetime Membership. WW works if you work it, as they say. One of the things that worked for me was the online community, blogging my journey, reading about others and interacting with them, and participating in monthly challenges to lose a certain number of pounds or walk daily. Well, WW changed the plan and eventually did away with the community that had helped me so much. Weight maintenance and good health is a lifestyle and a lifetime challenge. This summer has made me realize how much I enjoyed my WW community, not just attending meetings, but also the online friends I made. WW social media component, "Connect", is OK, but it doesn't give you the stories that the community blogs did, immersing you in someone's weight loss struggle, making you feel like you are not alone. Connect is just not the same. I do also miss those challenges, but that might take a little more thought and creativity to recreate. For now, I can blog and find others, some old some new. Enjoy my E-musings!

Labels: weight, ww

"Mickey" ears crocheted hat pattern

My mother ("Grammie" to the kids) has decided to spend some of her retirement money and take the grandchildren to Disney World while she and they are still young enough to enjoy it. Needless to say, the kids are VERY excited. So, I decided to try and make "Mickey" ear hats leading up until we leave for the trip in February. I tried to find patterns online, but wasn't having much luck. So, I made my own. I'm still experimenting with yarns and such, but below is the gist of it.

So far I've used Red Heart Super Saver yarn in black. This creates a stiff hat, which is good for the ears, but maybe not the most comfortable hat. Might be better with washing, not sure. I was able to make two (2) hats with one regular size skein of the black. I've attached a picture, not the greatest quality, so I will try to take a better picture later. This pattern fits an adult (teenager) head. I will be making a children's (under 10) size and baby size, so I will post those adjustments later.

Here are the directions:
Hook size H/8 (adjust for gauge) Gauge 17 single crochet and 20 rounds = 4" (10 cm)
Ch 4, then join with a sl st (slip stitch) to form a ring.
Rnd 1: Ch 1 (best to use a stitch marker to mark this stitch; while you work in rounds, move the marker), then 8 sc (single crochet) into the center of the ring, join with sl st to top of beginning of ch 1.
Rnd 2: Ch 1, 2 sc into each sc, join with sl st to beg ch 1. [16 sc]
Rnd 3: Ch 1, *2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in next sc*, repeat from * to * around, join with sl st to top of beg ch 1. [24 sc]
Rnd 4: Ch 1, *2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in each of next 2 sc*, repeat from * to * around, join with sl st to top of beg ch 1. [32 sc]
Rnd 5: Ch 1, *2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in each of next 3 sc*, repeat from * to * around, join with sl st to top of beg ch 1. [40 sc]
Rnd 6: Ch 1, 1 sc in each sc, join with sl st to top of beg ch 1.
Rnd 7: Ch 1, *2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in each of next 4 sc*, repeat from * to * around, join with sl st to top of beg ch 1. [48 sc]
Rnd 8: Repeat Rnd 6.
Rnd 9: Ch 1, *2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in each of next 5 sc*, repeat from * to * around, join with sl st to top of beg ch 1. [56 sc]
Rnd 10: Repeat Rnd 6.
Rnd 11: Ch 1, *2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in each of next 6 sc*, repeat from * to * around, join with sl st to top of beg ch 1. [64 sc]
Rnd 12: Repeat Rnd 6.
Rnd 13: Ch 1, *2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in each of next 7 sc*, repeat from * to * around, join with sl st to top of beg ch 1. [72 sc]
Rnd 14: Repeat Rnd 6.
Rnd 15: Ch 1, *2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in each of next 8 sc*, repeat from * to * around, join with sl st to top of beg ch 1. [80 sc]
Rnd 16: Repeat Rnd 6.
Rnd 17: Ch 1, *2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in each of next 9 sc*, repeat from * to * around, join with sl st to top of beg ch 1. [88 sc]
Rnd 18: Ch 1, 1 sc in each sc, join with sl st to top of beg ch 1.
Repeat Rnd 18 until hat measures 7" (18 cm) tall from center top straight down to bottom edge. Do not fasten off.
For first ear flap:
Row 1: Ch 1, 1 sc in next 15 sc, turn (at this point you are no longer working in a round). [15 sc]
Row 2: Ch 1, dec sc (decrease single crochet) by inserting the hook into the sc, yo (yarn over) and pull through, then insert the hook in the next sc, yo and pull trough (you now have three (3) loops on the hook), yo and pull through all 3 loops; then 1 sc in each of next 11 sc, then 1 dec sc, turn. [13 sc]
Row 3: Ch 1, dec sc, 1 sc in each of next 9 sc, dec sc, turn. [11 sc]
Row 4: Ch 1, dec sc, 1 sc in each of next 7 sc, dec sc, turn. [9 sc]
Row 5: Ch 1, dec sc, 1 sc in each of next 5 sc, dec sc, turn. [7 sc]
Row 6: Ch 1, dec sc, 1 sc in each of next 3 sc, dec sc, turn. [5 sc]
Row 7: Ch 1, 1 sc in each sc, turn. [5 sc]
Repeat Row 7. Fasten off.
For second ear flap:
Row 1: Count 29 sc stitches from the first ear flap. Attach yarn at this stitch, then 1 sc in same sc you attached the yarn, 1 sc in each of next 14 sc, turn. [15 sc]
Row 2 through Row 8, same as above, first ear flap.
Weave in ends.
For "fringe" "ties" on the ear flaps:
Cut 10 lengths of yarn about 24" long, for each flap, a total of 20.
In each of the 5 sc on the bottom of the ear flap, insert 2 of the cut lengths of yarn and fold in half.
I now took somewhat equal amounts of the long yarn fringe and braided them together to form the ear flap "ties". I created a braid about 5" long then knotted at the bottom and left about 1" of actual fringe.
Do this on both ear flaps.

For "Mickey" ears (make two):
Ch 4, then join with a sl st (slip stitch) to form a ring.
Rnd 1: Ch 1 (best to use a stitch marker to mark this stitch; while you work in rounds, move the marker), then 8 sc (single crochet) into the center of the ring, join with sl st to top of beginning of ch 1.
Rnd 2: Ch 1, 2 sc into each sc, join with sl st to beg ch 1. [16 sc]
Rnd 3: Ch 1, *2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in next sc*, repeat from * to * around, join with sl st to top of beg ch 1. [24 sc]
Rnd 4: Ch 1, *2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in each of next 2 sc*, repeat from * to * around, join with sl st to top of beg ch 1. [32 sc]
Rnd 5: Ch 1, *2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in each of next 3 sc*, until you reach a total of 30 sc then stop and turn (you are no longer working in rounds). [30 sc]
Row 6: Ch 1, 1 sc in each of sc, turn. [30 sc]
Repeat Row 6. Fasten off (leave about 6" of yarn to sew ear to hat). This gives you a kind of flat bottom to sew to the hat for the ear.

Sewing the ears to the hat:
I positioned the each ear about 2" from the center of the top of the hat on either side.
Using the length of yarn you left fastening off and a yarn needle, sew the ear to the outside top of the hat.

If you use a softer yarn, you may want to cut out felt backing the same size as the ears and glue or sew to the back of the ears for extra rigidity. Alternately, you could try using a pipe cleaner or piece of wire, weaving it in to the last row of the ears as you crochet. This way you can actually form the ears and again, keep the rigidity.

I hope what I have provided here is helpful to some. Forgive any typos or mistakes in my pattern. It's free, what more do you want? :) Happy crocheting! --erin