More fun with knitting and beads

If you're a regular here, you know I'm making a cabled cardigan for my granddaughter for Christmas. There are four different charts to follow, and as I was starting out, I had trouble remembering which section of the knitting corresponded to which chart.

Beads to the rescue! A box of colorful alphabet beads and some coilless safety pins were the perfect solution to my brain lapse, as illustrated. I just glance at the bead to know which chart to follow. Now that I've gone through all the charts more than a couple times, I really don't need the bead-crutch any more, but before I took them off I wanted to share my tip o' the day.

I've made fewer errors on this cabled project than on any other I've ever done. In fact, I almost passed on this pattern, because the "C" chart is the kind of cabling that I tend to mis-cross or otherwise FUBAR.

I wish I were inspired to write something motivating and insightful about weight loss and fitness these days, but I'm just not. I'm happy to be able to walk outside again. Food choices have been good. I'm not drinking as much water as I did when the weather was hot, and I've been forgetting vitamins, as well. There's always room for improvement.

Thanks Lori and PQ for your thoughts about stats. I still haven't heard from SiteMeter about the lapsed week, but it's a holiday weekend. Maybe they're all taking some time off.

The tree is up and I bravely tossed some holiday decorations we'll never use. Mr. Shrinking Knitter isn't as enthusiastic about Christmas as I am, so decorating is strictly up to me. I've had the same tree for about a dozen years now – very girly-girl, with white lights, pink and silver glass balls and yards and yards and yards of pink tulle for a tree skirt. He doesn't seem to mind … I guess he's just very in touch with his feminine side. Heh.