Stand Up, You!

In an effort to increase our longevity Husband and I ditched our sitting-down desk for a standing-up computer desk.

Since our old desk was one of those “build your own” jobbies from Ikea, we swapped out the original legs for some adjustable height legs, and… VOILA! A standing-up desk!

Oh look! The Airport!

Husband’s side still has a chair, which I think we may swap out for a bar stool at some point (Husband has scoliosis, so he can’t stand up for super-long periods of time), but Fraidy Cat has taken up residence under my side of the desk.

he also claimed the cushion from Nina's Throne...

Now before you get nervous, you’ll be happy to know that Miss Nina typically sits right on the desk between the two of us – she’s sitting there as I type this, actually – she just happened not to be there when I took the photo.

Anyway,  I’m totally in love with my standing-up desk; I feel great, I get more things done, I’m more focused, and now my default position is standing, so sitting down to take a phone call or read a book is doubly rewarding!

(And yes, I crochet standing up as well – I’ve got a little craft station set up on the bar in my kitchen).

Here’s a really great article about how Sitting Is Death (literally):  http://www.medicalbillingandcoding.org/sitting-kills/

And here’s one that explains why switching to a standing-up desk is a great idea: http://mashable.com/2011/04/22/standup-desks/

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Free Pattern Friday: Bar Stool Cover

I’ve had this stool since…mmm… high school, maybe:

See that water stain?  Doesn’t it just accent the ugly 70s faux-leather perfectly?  I also had a stash of several balls of partially used yarn – not enough to actually make anything, but just enough that I felt bad tossing them.

 

Something had to be done.

 

Soooo, I channeled my inner Lucy (the mastermind behind the color explosions over at Attic 24), and came up with this:

Pretty Groovy, eh?

 

You’ll need the following stitches:

Double crochet, double crochet increase, double crochet decrease, back post double crochet

Here’s the pattern:

1: Using a J-sized hook, ch4. sl st to form a ring.

2: ch3 (counts as 1st dc), dc 11 times into ring (12 total).

3: dc inc around

4: (dc, dc inc) around

5: (2dc, dc inc) around

6: (3dc, dc inc) around

7: (4dc, dc inc) around

8: (5dc, dc inc) around

9: (6dc, dc inc) around

10: (7dc, dc inc) around

11: (8dc, dc inc) around

12: BPDC around, SLST TO JOIN ROUND.

13: dc around, sl st to join.

14: (8dc, dc dec) around, sl st to join.

15: (7dc, dc dec) around, sl st to join.

16: (6dc, dc dec) around, sl st to join.

17: (5dc, dc dec) around, sl st to join, FO.

 

An appropriate pattern for a New Year’s Eve post?  You betcha!  Be safe this weekend, friends.  })i({