Happy New Year!!!

Wish you all a great year full of love, laughter and happiness!


PS: It is not snowing now but was last week, I am off to London to see my dad!

Christmas present to myself Part I

Coloumar Cashmerino cobweb yarn, originally uploaded by bb03aav.

new cobweb yarn from Colourmart

Winning another battle

I have been knitting a sweater for my DB for the past two years. The pattern is not that difficult but there are just way too many problems with it. To start I've decided to knit it in the original yarn which have been discontinued for a very long time... Why, because I've done another sweater in it and really like it, so I went ahead and bought enough on the e-bay... Well, I though that it would be enough based on the yardage suggested, little did I know that it was oh so wrong and I would eventually run out of yarn twice!!! Fist time happened last year just when it is been in the making for nearly a whole year, I was lucky and bought 2 more balls on Ravelry (just to be on the safe side).
The sweater was supposed to be a birthday present, so this October I've picked it up... and run out of yarn yet again! Now after over a month of searching I have enough to complete... And what happens.. sleeve caps are completely wrong: they are massive, enormous, gigantic!!!!!!!!!!!! I do not like to assemble sweaters, even less I like to recalculate sleeve caps, this time however, I was forced to do just that... one sleeve is in now, the second is waiting, then the collar... Oh the struggle continues but I will not be defeated by some wool

Merry Chrismas!

I hope you are all having a great festive day with your loved ones...

German Christmas Market 2009

Every year Birmingham hosts the largest German Christmas market outside Germany. There is plenty of traditional food, souvenirs and glintwine! Here in England it's been a cold and snowy weekend, so we had had an amazing Christmas experience despite me being sick... and a national traffic gridlock. Here are some of the pictures I'd like to share

FO: Eskimo hat

Another FO: a very quick knit (one hour of work actually) done from recycled yarn. It is bulky, big and very warm. The hat was done two weeks ago and worn extensively. In fact it got so popular among friends and colleagues I was asked to knit them a copy and since replicated it in 3 other colours! Here is my one with my new birthday coat and shoes...

FO: CheChe

Another finished FO, something I never though I would make and from the yarn I wasn't particularity keen on... In the end I think it was destined to become a CheChe, a lovely shawl I actually do feel like wearing those days ;)

Small things

that make life brighter ;)


There are no new pictures of knitting today, they are all in a complete UFO state and not yet to be seen. Instead are some lovely vintage things I have recently purchased to spice up my wardrobe. The shoes are absolutely stunning and should go very well with some of my vintage bags and hats form the early 50-s, late 40s period. All purchased at etsy And photos are courtesy to sellers

FO: Peacock Tail and Leaf Scarf

Finally a proper FO! A spontaneous project knitted on a whim of inspiration. I love Nancy Bush designes and so her recent book Knitted lace of Estonia isn't an exception. This scarf is my second project from it and I have to say it is most definitely not the last. I fell in love with this scarf from the start but did not have any green coloured yarn in my stash, so one day last month I was looking at one of the blogs I am often reading and there I saw the yarn! It was a beautiful shade of green, beautiful yarn, so I quickly went to etsy shop got the desired skew in colour Marigold. And not only it is simply stunning it is also entirely organic!
So the yarn came in two weeks ago and very quickly I could not knit anything else. I guess there is no need to say I LOVE the end result and have been wearing it daily through last week. More pictures of the scarf are on my Ravelry page

April FO: Roza Socks

This is the last pair of sock I have knitted, they are also the last item I have completed in a long time. Finished in April during my water fasting experiment are Roza Socks by Grumperina from IK Spring 2007.



I have shamefully taken the yarn and colour idea from Navi (I really like your version much more than the original). More info on Ravelry

Cross roads

my work sucks big time right now, there is soooo much politics involved, there is no time or energy left to actually do science. And when you do it gets blown into pieces. Do you guys ever have days when you just do not want to leave the house and would prefer to quietly hide in the distant corner? It has been tough here for the past 2 weeks and I have to push myself every single day. Why or why I take work so closely to my heart... I think I might go for a looong run today just to clear my head

What I really need though is a long weekend away hiking, just like we did this summer

CRUK 10K in Cambridge

I've run my second race today and oh boy was it a difficult one for me! For starters I do not like running on the grass particularly if it rained the night before, I also do not enjoy running on the grass where cows roamed... It is very difficult to believe but here in Cambridge there are cows roaming large public grass land. Since it is "public", animal right activists think they have the right to put their cows there and apparently they do. I've been a vegetarian for the past 9 years now but even I cannot stand them, they block the path and they do their dirty business everywhere... So imagine 2000 people running on that field, I was not impressed. But some of the path was through colleges and fellow gardens and that I have to say was amazing, particularly once the sun came out.



By the time I've done 5K I thought I would die and during the last one I was literally counting meters down. I thought that was strange since I always do 10K on my practice runs now and this Tuesday I went all the way to 10miles... so I was pleasantly surprised at the finish line to find out I run my fastest 10K ever with just over 60min (usually I am 10-15min slower!). I have another 10K race coming in just under one month in London, so hopefully I will improve my pace even more...



And on the knitting front I am slowly but surely sticking to my sweater, I am now about 25% done (based on the overall number of yarn); I am knitting the main body in the round since I do not like sewing parts together (particularly stripy ones) and it must be about 1/2 of the length...hopefully in 2-3 weeks it will be finished, so I can finish Camden sweater for my DB birthday

Back...

It's been a long time since my last post and I was around all this time, just not writing. In the beginning I was too busy with summer and not knitting. Really this non-knitting for about 6 months completely demolished any desire to write.
My last post was on cross-stitch and since then I have not done a singe stitch, I am not allowed to due to recurrence of visual problems. When you spend a lot of time in front of the microscope or even worse a confocal microscope, cross stitch is not the best idea.

Also I discovered the joy of outdoor activities such as hiking, scrambling and running. Running is a separate topic since I am seriously getting hooked on it. I used to be one of those people who hates runners or just not sees the point in that. In fact if anyone had told me I will be running 4 times a week 6 months ago I would have laughed. But ever since loosing weight in the spring my body was aching for exercise, so I started running once or twice a week. I am slow, really slow but it doesn't bother me any more; I do my 10-12K in over an hour with every single other runner overtaking me and I like it. I run for myself for the joy and freedom it brings. And today I did my first fun run of 4.5K. Running a properly organised event is a completely different experience, it has it's ups and downs but it is simply great. I am running a 10K race in Cambridge for Cancer Research UK next Sunday with friends, so hopefully large crowds will not scare me any more.



Oh and now the most important part ;).... I am slowly starting to knit again! That's right I am still a knitter. To get back into it I even bought more yarn and started a new project!

CS project #1: Tall sundae

Here is the first project I picked up 3 weeks ago, it is not going too fast but I am really enjoying the process! It is going to be one of the two sister pictures for my kitchen, something bright and easy to stitch just as I am getting back into shape.
There are 4 pages adn this is about 1 and 1/2 pages done (picture taken on Friday), it is now almost 2 full pages completed.

Life after fasting

I haven't died. I fasted for two more days following the last entry and then started to feel pretty sick and had to slowly start eating.
I am doing fine and put on very little weight in the past 1 1/2 months of eating. The lowest weight went down to 62.8kg and now I am 64.5kg. My life had changed in the process, I fell in love with the food I could not stand before and stopped liking many things I did.

Unfortunately, I have also stopped knitting, the more I fasted the more I wanted to stop. I am into cross stitching now, something I had stopped 5 years ago when I picked up knitting. I did put on weigh around that time, so maybe there is a connection. I like looking at my yarn and do feel guilty about not knitting but really don't want to do it now.

Here is how I look now (with my mum visiting Ely)

Day 30!

I am still alive and doing well! With both crises being over, I can simply enjoy myself now. And considering how busy work wise I've been all week, I would say not eating certainly has plus sides. For instance, I do not have to think about lunch and dinner, I can just go on with my experiment without rushing for a quick one now and then.

My tongue is almost completely pink now and I am starting to feel hunger pangs for about 2-5min every couple of days, therefore I am not sure I will fast for another full 10 days, maybe just 5. I do not want to abuse my body and I am pretty happy with the way I look now.

I am down to 64.1kg

Day 20: Half way point!

I am half day done!!! Well I am currently just way too tired to be cheerful, not feeling that well at all today, was sleepy all afternoon and once again found it rather difficult to walk up the stairs. Just really want to feel more energetic again. So I am off to bed,

my weight is the same today

Days 17-19 and Dulce

Sorry for not writing, I haven't stopped fasting I had my crisis point. And oh God was it bad, At some point I thought I would not make it through. My whole body was hurting really bad for two days. I am only happy it happened during the bank holiday weekend and not during the working week, that would have been a complete disaster. At any rate it is over now, and I did have a good night sleep tonight since haven't slept at all previous night. I would not wish anyone to go through it, all books say crisis it tough but I was not prepared.
I am down to 66.7kg!

Also, just to show what loosing all this weight means in turns of clothes is the picture of Dulce. When I've started it it in mid-March I swear it was a perfect fit for me, not any more. More info on Ravelry

Day 16

I don't know what to write really, just another day full of work. I am feeling OK and not that hungry. Didn't sleep that much last night because of work, so feeling tired today.

I am down to 68.5kg

Day 15

Today is a bit of a crappy day for me since I do not feel very well, nothing major, just a bit there and there. A bit nauseous, a bit cranky. Want to get home but there is too much work in the lab, so don't think I will finish before half 10 :(

My weight is the same, nothing changed.

Day 14 (two full weeks)

Two weeks done! I am feeling generally fine but in the morning was a bit nauseous. It seems that if I drink a bit more than 250ml it gets too much for me. Also I forgot to take magnesium supplement yesterday so ended up with a crump today.

I am down to 69kg, -9kg overall.

Day 13

Another one down, almost two weeks without food. I am the same weight as yesterday but did lose cms. In fact most my clothes is now too big. I was trying the new top I've finished and it is huge! A bit upset about it since I have never actually wore it, will have to be gifted.

Day 12

Here is me again, I am feeling fine although a bit shitty in the morning. I think I must be entering the crisis time soon, after which body will feel much better. Strangely enough I still do not have any bad breath!

I am just back from the S&B knitting meeting (trying to finish my second Roza's sock).

I am 69.7kg!

Days 10 and 11

I didn't get the chance to write last night, so today is a brief summary for two days. On Friday night we went playing badminton, after about 30min I was already tired bit still made it till the end. We were playing no-stop though, so it was pretty intense.

Yesterday I spend half a day in the garden doing some cleaning, planting more flowers and sorting out seeds and and seedlings. This year I am planning on growing two types of tomatoes, two types of courgettes, some sugar snaps, French broad beans, spinach and basil. Only and one or two of each though since the garden is tiny and communal (we are shearing with two other neighbours). I am very excited about it, cannot wait until end of May so I can plant it all outside!

We also went to Gary Moor concert last night, that was nice but very tiresome, I've never been in the standing before in my life, balcony or tables is just so much more comfortable!

Oh, I am doing abit of knitting as well, nothing much but I have finished a top which I simply cannot photograph due to the ever chaning weather; next week will be even worse with continious rain :(((

I am down to 70.1kg

Day 9

Almost a quarter done! I am doing OK, not so much tired today. I had a massive cramp in my leg last night, horrible one I must say. So I did a bit of research and found out that is most likely to be due the lack of magnesium. Paul Bragg does recommend hard water and hard water is very rich in magnesium, but I cannot get it here. And it doesn't store in the body much, so I have decided to get a supplement. Feeling much better now.
I am down to 70.8kg

Day 8 (1 full week)

I know I should feel pretty happy about it but I am not. I am just sooooo tired to day. Past two days have been an absolute nightmare, I don't know whether this is due to the lack of food, or period. Today I am just tired and hungry, and then more tired. Cannot wait to get home. Work has been very difficult and time consuming around here and it is only going to get worse. Oh well, will see how it goes.

I am down to 71.2kg

Day 7

Everything is fine, no pain just a bit of tiredness, but then again I did have a 13hr working day today. I've noticed that in the past couple of days my lips started to get very dry, a bit annoying that's it.

I am down to 71.7kg today and this is including my first day of period. Overall I am very happy!

Day 6

This is going to be a short one, I had such a long day a work today, just need to rest. I am feeling OK, my stomach is hurting quite a bit and I think it is due to an excess of acid. Hopefully it will go soon; also my left tonsil is hurting probably because not all the stuff is cleaned from it.

My weight in the morning was the same as yesterday 72.5kg but I have lost about a cm in waist, hips and thigh. I am not measuring my chest/breast circumference at all since I would not mind loosing a bit there as well but it is not critical.

Day 5

I am fine! We went out with a bunch of friends last night, no one knows what it is I am doing so I just said I already had a dinner and have to do disections in the morning, so there was only plain water for me. The thing is physically I do not feel hungry anymore, but sicological reflex still prevails.
I am feeling OK today and so did yesterday with the exception for being tired in the afternoon, we went to the gardening centre and my stomach was killing me. I think it might be shrinking because it does gramble a lot particularly at night.
My left tonsil is getting a clean up which I am very happy about, so today there is almost no bad breath for me!

I am down to 72.5kg, clothes is getting looser now, yey!!!

Day 4

Today is already day 4 of my adventure. I am much better with denying myself any food by now. Last night I couldn't go to church for the Easter service because I cannot take communion, this is probably one of the big downsides for me, but there was no other choice. Refusiong to take it would have beed like slapping the priest.

I did experience a lot of kidney pain through out yesterday which is very unusual to me as I never ever had any problems with them, I think it is because I dehydrated myself, so I bought mineral water with low salt composition and drank about 4L of it. The pain has gone completely by now. But now I have a slight burning in my heart...

My tongue is completely white which is a typical symptom of detoxification of the body, oh and my teeth look so much whiter now as if I professionally cleaned them (that is probably due to the lack of coffee and tea ;))

I am 73.2kg today! Almost -5kg

Day 3

I am still sticking to it! Yesterday was so much easier, I managed to devote 3hrs to non-stop flat cleaning (finally), cooked dinner for DH and went for a two hour walk. All in all I still think I can do it, but sometimes I have hunger pangs and I did become very short tempered. I also have a very changing mood as one miute I am perfectly happy and the next I feel like screaming at the world. I now understand why most people seek solitude when they undergo it. Another thing, I notice that as with my mood, I feel energized and 20 min later need a break.

I am down to 74.2kg, almost -4kg overall

Day 2 (take 2)

No, I haven't broken my diet yesterday, in fact I took it further and turned it into the first day of water fasting. I am feeling much better, getting used to it, feeling much more energised. Last night I did develop a sore throat and a headache (seems like headache is going to be a permanent feature of this process).

I actually gained 0.5kg taking my weight to 75.9kg but lost 4cm around my hips and 4.5cm around my waist.

Hopefully I will get used to it soon, things I miss the most is coffee in the morning and tea in the evening, also for the past two nights I've been having food dreams ;)

Day 3

Yesterday was very difficult, it was horrible to say the least, by the end of the day I ended up with a headache and couldn't fall asleep until 3am. Today is so much better: no headache and no hunger. I haven't eaten at all today, cannot even look at the buckwheat any more ;). If I do not anything by the end of today I will consider it my first day of water fasting.
I am down to 75.4kg, sugar is fine, still feel salty in the back of the throat. Yesterday I must have drunk at least 5L of water

Day 2

One day down 6 more to go... Well excluding last night it is not that difficult! During the day I was too busy to think about food much and plain food for lunch haven't bother me, but the evening came and all have changed.
I was super hungry, do not think it was a real physiological hunger more like me being so used to having a nice dinner with my DB. And he was having his in front of me and watching the great British menu where they showed an amazing fish pie. Have to say it did nearly resulted in me suffocating from excess saliva ;) Tough, I really had to pull all my concentration, hopefully it will get better today.

On the positive site: I did not get any headache in the evening! I was experiencing a lot of saltiness on the back of my throat through out the day (this was very annoying) and to my goals. I managed to go down to 2.5L all together (by 1.5L I have meant cold water I take during the day but also I am having a large cup of warm one before meal intakes and in the evening). And I am 76.4kg today, I know it is not fat yet, just excess liquid but still I do feel better and less bloated.

I am back...

Hi, I am back or sort of back... I will be using this blog to keep me motivated with my weight loss and not knitting because really I do not have much time for knitting with work completely taking over for now. In August I have started WW but did not like it and after coming back from a conference in September decided to take more drastic measures by completely cutting down some carbs and sweets and going to the gym 3-4 times a week. I did lose 10kg and started to feel much better...

However with work being the way it is now I have no time for the gym and want to start running in the morning instead because I could do it at 6-7am before work. But with my current weight it is a bit tricky, 3K in 25min is my maximum with 2 short breaks and being out of breath for the next 40min. Another issue is salt. I love salt, I am addicted to it and can eat by itself, and as a result my joints are starting to hurt. Last two weeks had been particularly painful as my 2nd MCP on the right hand was killing me and what is worse preventing my lab work.

To do it ideally I would like to fast for 40days... My parents are both huge fans of water fasting and have been doing it at least once a year for the past 10 or so years, but I could only manage 10 days once. So I am not sure I can do it right now. Instead I am starting a buckwheat diet for the next 7 days. And if I am fine after it I will reconsider a 40 day water fast.

The diet is simple I can eat up to 250g of hot water boiled buckwheat a day with no butter/oil/salt added to it, absolutely plain, with last consumption being at 7pm (6 hours before sleep) I can also drink as much water as I fancy.

So, today is day 1: My weight is 78kg and currently I am consuming a minimum of 2.5-3L of water a day (not counting tea and coffee).
My goal is to lose 6-8kg and most importantly lower my water consumption to 1.5L a day.

I will be measuring my blood sugar levels in the mornings (starting tomorrow) and hopefully with blog daily to keep myself motivated.