Soooooo cute!

The bowls, before:

The bowls, after:

[That's a 100-gram ball of sock yarn, to show the size.]

Are those not adorable? They're just rolled-brim hats, really, but little and cute. I made mine a little deeper than the pattern says to, because I want to put some shredded paper [aka Easter grass] in them and I still want room for candy for the grandchildren.

I think I'll make a low, wide bowl to put on my dining room table. Although maybe the reason these work is that they're small. A wide bowl might just end up being too floppy to be useful. I feel an experiment coming on.

I haven't mentioned how much I'm enjoying the NCAA tournament this year. I picked Georgetown to win it all when the games began, and they really played like champions yesterday in their overtime win over North Carolina. Since I'm originally from Ohio, it'll be hard to root against the Buckeyes, but I'm sticking with Georgetown.

Don't you just love reading articles that tell you if you just do these five or 10 things, you'll lose weight? As most of you know, I followed an eDiet plan last year [I'm now loosely following the YOU: On a Diet plan], so I still get a fair number of eDiets newsletters with hints and tips and inspiration. Can't have too many hints and tips and inspiration, right?

So this morning I learned that if I change these simple things, I'll have dieting success:

• Stop drinking juice.

I can't remember the last time I drank fruit – eating it is much more satisfying, and if I'm consuming something liquid it's either water or coffee. Probably not in that order. Heh.

• Cut the use of oil in half.

The article says instead of a quarter cup of olive oil on a salad, use two tablespoons and mix it with a quarter cup of balsamic vinegar, herbs and spices. I doubt if I've ever used a quarter cup of oil on a salad. I dress my salads with straight flavored vinegar these days, and maybe a teaspoon of oil if I'm feeling daring.

• Eliminate mayo.

The author is talking about ordering fast-food sandwiches sans mayonnaise to save calories. Um, excuse me? Fast food? On a diet? My standby fast-food order is a grilled chicken salad, which you can get just about anywhere nowadays, and which McDonald's does best. In my not-so-humble opinion.

• Boost fiber.

Oh, please, as if we haven't heard that one before.

• Eliminate fried foods.

Ditto.

So. All I learned from that article is that I'm doing the right stuff and holding my own. I think the only reason I read these articles is that maybe – maybe – there will be some new, useful information I could try that might make A Difference.

I'll let you know if that happens. And when pigs fly.

Yesterday was a total rest-from-running day, but I did manage to get the dead leaves cleared from one very long perennial bed. It's so cool to pull those leaves away and see the sedum and daylilies shooting up. Mr. Shrinking Knitter and I also picked up all the windblown twigs and branches that have fallen over the winter. It's almost mowing season! Our grass is really green, the flowering pear tree is ready to burst into bloom and I hope-hope-hope we've seen the last of Old Man Winter.

Thirty-three days until race day.