Why I support Fat Talk Free Week

Last winter, while spending time with family in Colorado, my visit happened to correspond with that of a family friend. She was 14-years-old at the time, very petite and sadly completely visually impaired as a result of an adverse drug reaction known as Stevens Johnson Syndrome.

She had lost her sight around the age of 3. My cousin also experienced the same reaction, resulting in her partial vision loss which is what brought these two young women together as the best of friends.

I spent a lot of time with them over the trip, taking the teenagers sledding and to the mall.

What stood out to me the most was that despite her lack of sight she was just as concerned about her appearance as any other teenage girl.

One evening when dressing up in cocktail dresses she asked if the dress made her look fat.

At the end of meals she would suggest not accepting dessert, because she did not want to gain weight.

I was floored. This was a 14-year-old, 90-pound girl, who had no concept of what being ‘fat’ would look like.

Obviously these conceptions of weight and social standards must be coming from somewhere, beyond magazines, fashion designers and movie stars. Fat Talk is the only reason a visually impaired child would have this perception of body image.

After this experience, I found new realization in why we need to work to remove Fat Talk from our conversations. Not only are unrealistic images of beauty being portrayed in the media, they are also portrayed in our homes, with our family and friends. This has to change.

We have to present ourselves as strong, empowered women not only to ourselves, but to those around us. We need to challenge those stereotypes in our own conversations and we need to have meaningful conversations with those we care about who struggle with this issue themselves.

I’m going to share the message of Fat Talk Free Week with the girl I mentioned as well as the rest of my friends and I hope that you will decide to join me.

Fat Talk Free Week is October 18 - 22. Visit www.facebook.com/FatTalkFree to learn more about this years events and how you can get involved in the movement to End Fat Talk.

Chocolate and Pecan Cookies

¾ cups all purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
¼ cup milk
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Add butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Use a mixer to beat until combined. Add egg and beat well. Add milk gradually and mix until combined.

Stir in chips and pecans.

Place the mix in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Drop spoonfuls onto cookie sheets. Bake for 10 mins.

So I just finished reading.... some book... about a couple... who moves in together.... and the trials and tribulations of blending their eating habits together...

I can't remember what it was called because I returned it to its owner.

It was good.

The couple in the book, a real -life story, live together in a small former industrial building in NYC.

Every time I read something about living in New York I have this insane urge to pack my entire life into a carry on suitcase and run off to live the studio apartment life.

Then I look at the kitchen gadgets I have shoved/hidden/forced into the undersized cabinets in the 2 bedroom apt I share w/ a roommate and realize that not in a zillion years could I fit all of my belongings into the type of New York apartment I could afford.

I think the entire idea of a studio apartment in New York City is this romantic fantasy I've toyed with since childhood. It probably comes from reading the "All of a Kind Family" books and fueled by too much Sex in the City throughout high school. There's something glamorous about living out a shoe box and looking like a rockstar with (as the all of a kind family would attest) huge family, terrific neighbors and a close knit community.

Now the reality of that is probably not something I want to become accustomed to. I'd have to toss half my clothes, most of the kitchen gear and learn the difference between streets and avenues. The clothes and kitchen gear loss I could handle.

The streets on the other hand is something I'd never adjust to.

Life lessons I've learned from my KnitPicks Ball Winder

Generally speaking I love Knitpicks. They carry everything, have amazing products and sell yarn for a good price. However, the more I use the ball winder I got last May the more I wish I had spent slightly more to get something that doesn't make me want to rip my of hair out.

So before I search the internet to find a hack to fix my issues I have some knowledge to bequeath.

Lesson 1: You get what you pay for. If you are paying 20.00 for a 40.00 item you might want to investigate more before making a commitment. This lesson also applies to cars and men.

Lesson 2: If you start in the middle you are looking for a disaster. Never mind that this ball winder makes a center pull ball. If you start there, you will have a huge knotty mess. So start from the beginning, there are no short cuts in life.

Lesson 3: Too much tension will cause an emotional break down. Too much tension on the line and you will have yarn wrapped around the winder, the base, the table, and your arm. Too much tension in life same deal, minus the yarn. Could probably apply to cars and men.

Lesson 4: Listen to the advice of others. If the masses didn't like something, don't think oh thats just them. No, chances are you won't like it either. Yes, this definitely applies to both cars and men.

Lesson 5: If you are going to pay good money for something, let them finish their end of the bargain. If you buy yarn at an LYS and they offer to wind it, let them. They bought a really nice winder and swift. I have a chair and this piece of plastic. This also applies to cars and men.

Lesson 6: When you make an investment, make a committment as well. I should have also gotten the swift to take the chair out of the equation. Once again this probably also applies to cars and men.

Amazing how much of knitting applies to cars and men.

Amish and other assorted friendship

Last night I attended the Pioneer Woman book signing at Borders. It was insane and wonderful and exhausting all at the same time. I was exhausted after having only attended so I can only imagine how she must feel after an entire tour of smiling, signing, chatting and taking pictures.

I spent 6+ hours in Borders, made an assortment of new acquaintances, knitted an entire hat, ran into an old acquaintance, and traded off some Amish friendship goo to someone would is, lucky for her, friend enough to get some goo in a bag.

When I finally did get up to the table to have my book signed I was hoping to have something profound to say [I seem to always be hunting for that profound moment] but alas I was much too tired to come up with something worth remembering.

As for the goo....

If you've never made Amish Friendship Bread you probably have no clue of what I'm talking about and since I have no camera at the moment I am without the ability to show you.

Amish Friendship is a sweet bread that you cook after 9 days of starter bag mushing and share with 3 friends. EVERY 10 DAYS. After last night I am officially out of actual friends in Texas to give this to. Trust me, you'll have bread for months if you keep the process going.

There is a point of this goo story somewhere I promise.

As I handed off the gallon ziplock of bread goo someone else, a total stranger, walked by and raved about how she just cooked her bread and how amazing it was. I would bet money that somehow her bread is connected with my bread.

It's a six degrees of Kevin Bacon moment. I should have taken advantage of the opportunity to interrogate the woman and find the connection but I was working on coming up with something profound.

I may not have something profound but I do have one knitted hat and a cookbook full of amazing recipes. I vote evening well spent.

Mobius or not to Mobius

I keep having this debate about whether or not I like the whole Mobius scarf thing that's going on right now. I'm pretty certain that if I had one I wouldn't understand how to wear it.

Conceptually is a big piece of material that goes around and around and is attached so it has all this so called versatility.

Wear it as a cowl, wear it as a hat, wear it as a scarf, wear it as a wrap, wear it as a shrug. Doesn't that seem like an awful lot of expectations for a scarf? Plus it sounds like something the late great Bill Mays would sell.

"It keeps you warm, it's fashionable and it slices AND dices. For only 6 easy installments of 29.99 we'll even throw in a matching mitten set. What a DEAL"

The sick thing is even though I don't understand them, and I think they are kinda ugly, I still want to knit one. I blame the advertising.

[Image borrowed from ravelry's denicol, beautiful work!]

Hugs and Kisses - Rav Download Live

After nearly two months of trying to understand how get hooked up as a designer on Ravelry here it is, my debut as a digitally published designer. You can visit Ravelry to download now.

Here is my finished product, with many thanks to patterwhisper for taking the pictures.

It takes about a half a skein of NaturallyCaron.com Spa but as you can see from my pattern testers it is a great project for stash busting.

You need basic crochet skills (single & double).

Please feel free to share your feedback in the comments!