I have a few new obsessions.
1) Knitting mittens and hats
A thrummed kid mitten in Bijou Basin Bliss.
Cast on 32 stitches, k2p2 rib for 2 inches in the round.
Knit for 1 inch (thrums optional) then for the thumb place stitch marker before 1 stitch at the end of the round and backwards loop cast on either side of that stitch (all 3 are now after the marker), and every other round you add two stitches to each “side” of this thumb until you have 11 stitches.
Set those on a stitch holder to be knit later, knit the hand to desired length and decrease as you wish at the top. IÂ sometimes just k2tog all the way around, knit a round then do it again and again until I get 8 or less stitches so I can pull the yarn through.
For the thumb I knit desired length then k2tog all around and closed it up. I used a lovely BFL combed top I had for spinning for the thrums.
28 stitches in a random worsted weight wool (nothing super wash). This was some sort of random yarn that was originally meant for longs/soakers so it was perfect for mittens. Thrums added for fun. The thrums have to be super tiny for little mittens!
After my first 5k, wearing a hat knit from 1 skien of Bijou Basin Bliss hat that I adore, which looked nice with my favorite blue running top.
2) Finding really cute clothing that I can run to the grocery store and also do yoga/zumba in. (see photo above)Â
I may have bought a few items at Athleta… shhhh! They have a really good return policy!
3) Organizing my house
I have no pictures of this but I cleaned out 2 closets and my MIL cleaned out BGs closet and now I plan to install some Elfa in there like we had in Georgia. I adore Elfa closets. You can only get them at The Container Store and they are kind of pricey but if you are smart about it, it doesn’t cost much. This below is BG’s closet in GA. If you will notice at the top there is the normal shelf that comes in a house when you buy it. The shelved below is what  I installed. Each closet costs $100 to $200. If you go into the container store with the measurements of your space, make sure to measure from the floor to the bottom most part of the top shelf (the support part) so you can see where you can lay the “track” for the shelves.
They cut it to your height (50 inches is good). So they put the track in which is about 4 less then the width of your back closet, then the 50″ tracks hand down from it and the shelves are attached. Otherwise they try to sell you an entire new closet system which includes the top bit you don’t need to replace.
See those white wooden shelves? They are ridiculous, they cost $48 on sale. But the plain ventilated shelf on the right are I think $8!!! The bottom left ones are around $14. So its very easy to add a shelf system for a normal sized closet for about $100, and the price only goes to $200 because they try to sell you two of those shelves, and also the price goes to $400 or more because they want to sell you the top part you don’t need to replace! Most of those $400 and $500 closets they try to sell you have 4 or more white shelves, sometimes 6. I do love those white shelves but it would be better to wait a year and then buy those. My kids never attempted to climb them and they held up really well in GA.
You can easily add a rod to have a little spot your small child can reach their own hangers! I can not WAIT to get these, I am ordering them online and talking to a sales person on the phone to make sure I get the right parts. I’ll just call the closest store though it is 2 hours away.
4) Makeup
I’m getting older, I rarely in my life have worn makeup but it seems like its more the thing to do now and it makes me feel better about myself and more confident, and its kind of fun! I was purchasing my sister a gift card for Bobbi Brown at Norstroms and of course if older sister likes something, little sister has to try it to so I bought some foundation and I kind of love it. So I went back with my sister for an eye makeover and now have a nice set of under eye corrector, concealer and eyeshadow. Makeup lasts a nice long time for me and I felt at 35 I am allowed to splurge on some nice makeup. I’ve never in my entire life even bothered to own anything beyond foundation, all of which I bought at target. I do get Clinique for my moisturizer and have always put that on my face but the first time i bought eye shadow last year when I bought the Naked Palette which has been so popular.
The guy at Bobbi Brown did such an amazing job on my eyes, I wish I could look like this everyday! I am still learning, I’ve not attempted to put on the navy eyeliner yet! Did get this lovely sparkly eyeshadow that I love, its very sheer and just the right amount for daytime if your feeling fancy!
