Update: hobbies in progress!

I've been to another cake decorating class. We did the shells, star and swirled flowers, faces, dots, and parts one and two of the wilton rose. I did okay with everything but the rose. I just can't seem to figure it out. (Did I mention that I'm left handed? LOL) I've really got to practice. My Harry Potter scarf is slowly growing, but I had to stop to make some adult and child hats for my church mission charity. The group is looking into making cool ties for soldiers stationed overseas for the summer months. I'll post pictures as soon as we get them going. My son is turning two tomorrow, but his actual party is this Saturday. I've already got the goodie bags made up and I'm planning on doing most of the food on Friday so I can decorate for the party while he takes his afternoon nap. That's the plan, anyway. We bought this Six Flags Water Park inflatable to set up in the back yard for the guests plus he's got his outdoor stuff for the kids to play with. I hope all goes well. I'm been hovering at the same weight for almost two weeks now. I don't think I'm getting in enough water and protein. I also need to find a better vitamin system. My hair is falling out and my acne is getting pretty bad. I keep reminding myself that it's temporary; it's supposed to stop after six months out, but I wish it would get here already........LOL. Well, that's about it for now but it's a lot for my plate!

My other hobby!

I'm currently taking a Wilton's Cake Decorating Class. My son's birthday party is in less than two weeks. Tonight was week two of the class. I just had my first ever experience with decorating a cake. It, of course, was in the shape of my son's favorite obsession, a car. I did a "test run" using the actual pan I'm using for his party, since I had to take something for the class anyway. I figured I would do something that I wanted to actually learn...... (i.e. the car cake pan). I think it turned out pretty good, considering I've never touched a cake before other than to eat it (lol).... I decided to let my dear hubby take it in to work, so he and the other soldiers eat it..... They do plenty of PT so they can work it off! Let me know if you like it! Night All!

Harry Potter Scarf progress!

I've been knitting away! My Harry Potter scarf has begun to take shape. I actually didn't follow the posted pattern below, but did it a little differently (30,5,7,5, repeat). I think the gold rows are too big, so I will use the original pattern for another one. Oh well, it will be good so the nephews can tell them apart.

Unraveling the Mystery of the Harry Potter Scarf!

I have been looking everywhere for a Harry Potter Scarf pattern for my KK's. I did find one on the yahoo KK discussion board, but when I got to start making it, I started thinking that this couldn't be right. So I got looking online for a picture from the Movie of the characters with their scarves. I did find a good picture, so I'm posting it. With the picture plus the help of the pattern I had, I came up with this variation. I"m using a 2 over 1 method with a single strand of Red Heart Super Saver in Claret and Gold for a Gryffindor Scarf.

Knit 30 rows first color,3 rows second color, 5 rows first color, 3 rows second color, and repeat from beginning. Knit to desired length (This is a long scarf so I'm estimating 1 1/2 times the child's height would be good-just use a measuring tape.) and end with 30 rows of the dark.

Colors: Gryffindor: Dark Red(Burgundy,scarlet) and Gold
Hufflepuff: Yellow and Black (for this House the light is the predominant(majority) color; the others are dark as primary color. Therefore it would look mostly yellow with little black stripes.)
Ravenclaw: Dark Blue and Bronze (book) or Blue and Silver (movie)
Slytherin: Dark Green and Silver

My thanks to the ladies to have posted attempts to decode the mystery before me. I hope my nephews will love this as much as I do! I'm debating making one for myself as well...
Until next time.......... Constant Vigilance!

It's ALL About ME! (Yeah Right...)

Well I'm a 28 yr old mommy to my son, who is about to be 2 at the end of the month. I stay at home with him and try to keep the house from looking like a tornado went through it....lol..... the tornado being my toddler. My hubby is a Staff Sgt. for the United States Army, but this will be his last year of active duty. I named this blog the shrinking girl and her hobby because I had gastric bypass on December 20,2005. At the time I weighed 339lbs. Now just a little under four months later I weigh 256 lbs and still loosing. To keep myself occupied on something other than food, I started finding hobbies for myself. Enter my addiction, the Knifty Knitters. I quickly realized I could only make my family only so many knitted hats, so I started a group at my church to make hats for babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Medical College of Georgia (my son is a former patient of that facility). In about 6 weeks, we have delivered 82 Hats and four sets of booties to MCG, and we've sent 14 Adult Hats to soldiers serving in IRAQ. I hope to add a pic of the hats that the group did, but I don't currently have a picture. We currently have about 14 members, with more showing interest every week. I'm loving it!

Right now I'm adding a new project for myself. I want to knit two Harry Potter scarfs and two matching hats for my nephews (ages 10 and 4) for this coming Christmas. I've bought the yarn and found the KK pattern on the yahoo group for KK owners. I found a website that makes Harry Potter Patches (patchpalace.com) at a very reasonable price so I'm ordering a set to hand sew on the scarfs once I'm finished for a really authenic look. I can't wait to get started.

Another interest of mine is that I just started taking a Wilton's Decorating Class. I'm doing this so I can decorate my son's birthday cake. It's really funny if you think about it cause I can't eat the cake.Another reason I'm taking the class is the fact that I can't stand the cakes at Wallyworld (too sugary and half the staff aren't trained very well). My mom's parents actually ran a cake and donut shop when my mom was a kid and teenager and my mom still makes the most gorgeous cakes. So I wanted to see if I had just a little bit of her creative genes hidden somewhere in my body...lol. I just went to the first class this past Monday. I was so shocked about how much stuff I needed for the class. Thank God my state refund just came in, because my grand total was.......... drum roll, please........... 84.32 for supplies..... And I still need to go get toothpicks, parchment paper, foil, crisco, powdered sugar, and a few cake mixes. Thank god Michaels at least had a special that the class itself was half off.....lol.

My son is obsessed with cars, especially Hot Wheels( see the picture?). So in honor of that obsession, his party will be Hot Wheels themed. I also found a Wilton Cake Pan that is a 3D Car Cake. So that will be what I get to practice on for next Monday's class. The teacher told me to bring the unfrosted cake as my "practice" before I actually make it for guests on his party on the 29th. Until next time!

Setting Up My Blog!

I did it! I've taken the plunge and started my own blog. I wanted to show what I was working on to my other loomers. I discovered the knitting looms at Michaels back in January and caught them on sale. An addict was born that day... heh heh. I can't wait to start posting my projects.

My current hobbies are:
Knifty Knitting (looming)
Wilton Classes
Home Canning

What I've done in the past (and some I pick up now and then):
Knitting
Crocheting
Embroidery
Cross Stitch
Scrapbooking
Stamping

What I've attempted but not very good at:
Sewing


Keep in mind that this is my first blog (I've never even made a website before) so bear with me. It's a work in progress..... More to come!