Work It! I'll put my thang down flip it and reverse it...

There's nothing like a good Missy E song to get you in the running mood. What started out to be a rest day turned into a running morning. The weather was perfect with a nice breeze before the rain that I knew was coming. Despite 4 hours of sleep (I dunno why), I got out and did 4 miles and week 4 of the Couch to 5K podcast by Ullrey. Again, I should remind you dear reader, that when I say 4 miles, I end up walking most of that. Also, before you get jealous that I am on week 4, remember that I have been doing this for about 2-3 months. Yeah...I'm a little slow.

So, what's on my list of running necessities nowadays?

• chapstick - preferably with SPF protection
  
• sunglasses - for looking cool  for protecting my retinas
  
• ventilated hat - to catch the sweat before it runs into my eyes and shade the sun
  
• iPod with Nike plus - for tracking my time, pace, mileage. This thing is so cool. I've seen mods for affixing the shoe pod in non-Nike shoes so you don't have to buy the special Nikes. At any time during your run you can press the center button on your ipod and a voice tells you how far you've gone and time and current pace. Accuracy? Meh. It's close enough for me. At the end of your workout she will tell you your stats. If you happen to have run your longest or fastest, you may get a verbal "atta boy" from Lance Armstrong or Tiger Woods.
  
• Tech clothing - is becoming verra verra cool. Most days I throw on a comfy T-shirt and above the knee yoga pants, but on hot days a moisture wicking "tech" shirt is great! I also bought some "tech" socks that are supposed to keep your feet drier than cotton. Wouldn't you know they have some wool content? Duh.
  
• Road ID - (no affiliation) You may laugh, but as I get my aged, ample rear on the track, I think about what if I have a heart attack or get hit by a car or pass out? This little bit of geekery has my name, birthdate, emergency phone numbers, blood type and allergies engraved on it. Kinda lame, but gives me one less excuse for running.
  

On the knitting front, I am getting SO CLOSE to having my house as it was before hurricane Ike. Just in time for this next hurricane season! I thought I would share some before and after pictures of my lovely room. BEFORE:

Insulation everywhere

You can see part of the ceiling hole in the upper left corner of the picture

AFTER:

I just love my new cabinet for yarn! It is the Linnarp cabinet by Ikea. It is a solid wood cabinet (except the back) stained red and is the perfect size. I'll bet you can't tell what my favorite color is!

The Adventures of Marshmarathon and KnittyKnurse

WAIT! (insert superhero fanfare) What was that that just zoomed past at 4 miles per hour? Faster than a speeding tricycle, more powerful than a loco moron, able to leap small curbs in a single bound. Is it a gnat? an ice cream truck? NO! It's MARSHMARATHON!!!  Yes, Marshmarathon...a strange ample woman who has an alter-ego with inflated delusions of running a marathon, with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal infants. Marshmarathon - who can change the course of mighty running tracks, bend nickel plated knitting needles with her bare hands, and who, disguised as Knitty Knurse, mild mannered nurse who knits with other mild mannered knitters...FIGHTS A NEVER ENDING BATTLE...OF FLAB, APATHY AND TO HAVE HER OWN WAY! And now, another exciting episode in the adventures of Marshmarathon...

Yes, I changed my blog title, so don't get all confuzzled. I just wanted it to reflect more of who I am now rather than "Knitterly Diversions" which is a milk-toast, golly-gee-willickers sort of title that I didn't care for much when I created it anyway!

What's behind the new title? My daughter talked me into an INSANE thing called a marathon in about 8 months. I had only been jog/walking sporadically for about 2-3 months when this idea popped up. I'm going to try to post semi-regularly to keep you apprised of my progress (or lack thereof). 

I've been quite apprehensive about telling anyone about the prospect of a marathon because...well...I don't really look like the "runner" type. I'm a bit...more..."ample" you can say. Some days I feel like the female running version of the Stay Puft Marshmallow man...hence the name "Marshmarathon".  I still have not told anyone in my family, except my daughter (whose crazy idea this was from the beginning). I wanted to avoid any negative comments or looks of incredulity. If you see me in person, please resist the urge to giggle and point. I'm fine being your source of amusement as long as I'm not aware of it.

I've been training more seriously for 3 weeks, jog/walking 4-5 days per week following a combination of Couch to 5K using podcasts from Robert Ullrey and Hal Higdon's plan for running. My hopes? Lose some weight, improve my time, and finish a marathon without dying.

I have bad days and good days and will regale you with tales of both. Today was a good day. It's good to start a new blog focus from the perspective of a good day. I was able to progress to week 4 of the Couch to 5K program! Woohoo! I even improved my best pace, although I'm not ready to reveal my pace to you guys. I'm only in competition with myself at this point. 

SO...stay tuned to this space for continued tales of Marshmarathon and KnittyKnurse!

The Week's Best

Best quote this week: "I'm impressed with the potential you see in me." ~Michael Scott from The Office.

Best thing I got this week: A roof! I've been waiting for 4 months to get a roof and I finally got one!! The crew showed up right before I left for work and by the time I got home the roof was finished and every scrap was cleaned up like they had never been there. It was like the roof fairy had come! But 4 months later? Was I bad? Too bad it was almost dark when I got home. It will be like Christmas when I can wake up in the morning to go outside and look at my roof. For those without ever having hurricane torn holes in your roof, you will never (thankfully) know...

Best comment made to me this week: one of my co-workers has noticed my weight loss! 15 pounds today!

New Years Resolutions

Normally, I don't make resolutions...mainly because they are so resolute! I tend to think of it like pirates think about the topic of parley - more as a guideline than a rule.

1 - blog more. nuff said

2 - not have too many UFO's going at once. I tend to get overwhelmed when I have too many and don't get around to actually finishing much. I'm not going to set a limit because cast-on-itis can hit at any time.

3 - spin more. Well, since I just got my spinning wheel, this shouldn't be hard to achieve.

4 - Get this house decluttered when I finally get my third bedroom back from the devastation of Ike. I plan to make it more of a creative studio than a junk room.

5 - Get back into running. I always enjoy it, I always feel better after having gone running, then why do I avoid it???

6 - Worry less and enjoy the little things in life

7 - Go on a trip with my daughter. I would love to go to Hawaii. I guess that means I need another resolution. See next...

8 - Lose weight and eat healthier. Yeah, this turns up on my resolution list every year, but it's been a resolution I've been working on. I only gained 2 pounds over the holidays which is a record for me!

9 - Knit a little every day. Even if it's just 5 minutes

10 - Knit more from my stash. I seem to have gone into a yarn buying binge lately! I'm not going on a yarn fast because they just don't work and I end up binging...just like food.

Knitting Year in Review

19 projects were finished in 2008 (listed below) and I became the proud owner of a Majacraft Rose spinning wheel! The wheel is the Christmas present to myself this year and I am still getting used to the whole process. The yarn is a little wonky but that just gives it character, right?

Anyway, I hope to have more knitted items this upcoming year. My queue is full!

To begin:

You Snag by ms. pixie riot

Calorimetry by Kathryn Schoendorf

My So Called Scarf by Allison Isaacs

Silver's Sock Class by Kristin Bellehumeur

Chevron Scarf by Joelle Hoverson

Knitted Lacy Round Cloth by Rhonda White

Mug and French Press Jacket by MK Carroll

Tribble by Abigail - 1870pearl

Baby Sweater on Two Needles (February) by Elizabeth Zimmermann

February Hat I used instructions from:
http://www.intertext.com/lauren/2008/02/february-hat-explained.html
using the gull lace pattern from EZ

Mary Jane Booties by April Cromwell

Gust by Anne Hanson

Broken Rib Tea Cosy by Pamela Henderson

Clapotis by Kate Gilbert

Felted Cable Bag #143 by Patons

Brea Bag by Norah Gaughan

En pointe -tossut by Ilu

Monkey by Cookie A.

Evangeline by Michelle Szeghalmi

And a partridge in a pear tree...

Parade of Christmas Knitting

So, where have I been? Feverishly knitting up Christmas gifts! (see my Ravelry project page)I do this EVERY YEAR and always spend the last week knitting my fingers into a perfect gnarled claw. The thing is, I always start early enough, but somewhere in the middle I get that gift-knitting-melancholy that only a deadline can bring me out of.

So, I'm guessing you want pictures, right? Okay...you asked for it!

Our first model (yes, those are my sexay gams there) is wearing the En Pointe Slippers - Tossut by ilun handu duunaa (free pattern). Ilu is a Finnish knitter with a blog in both Finnish and English and always has gorgeous blog photos! I'm a sucker for blogs with great photos. Don't judge my "hurry-up-and-snap-a-pic-so-I-can-put-them-in-a-gift-bag-and-run-out-the-door" style. These were made for my teenage niece with the matching Brea bag below.


The Brea Bag (another free pattern) from Berroco, was a very fun knit and well written pattern which seemed to magically come together before my eyes. I had put off seaming (who doesn't) and had originally planned to line the bag, but time got away from me. She loved it and I couldn't have been more thrilled.


Our next knitted item, I nicknamed the "Felted Bag-O-Doom"(aka Felted Cable Bag #143 by Patons...my name sounds more interesting). This is a free pattern, but you must login to the Patons site in order to access their free patterns. It goes without saying that you must knit items much larger than they will be before you felt them. This bag seemed to take forever! I had originally started the bag as part of the Ravelympics Games to knit a project at Olympic speeds and have it done before the end of games. I didn't receive my yarn for several days after the games started and kind of lost momentum from there. After knitting the bag, with much trepidation, I gingerly placed the finished cabled Bag-O-Doom in the washer and stood over the it like an expectant parent checking after every minute of agitation. I actually had a cold chill creep up my back when the wool mess hit the hot water. The felting actually helped straighten out the wonkiness. I dried it on a sweater rack with a couple of wire mesh office trays to hold it open to dry faster. I think it turned out well.


Our next model (yep, my legs again) is wearing the Monkey Sock by Cookie A (another free pattern, of course) in Zen Yarn Garden's Bamboolicious yarn in the Down By the Bay colorway which was part of a Harmony Semi-Solid sock yarn club shipment. This yarn is so soft and was a joy to knit with. I did get a second sock syndrome and had put this project on hold while I worked on other things, but I loved how it turned out. After finishing both, I tried them on and seriously thought of giving my sister something store-bought instead because they fit my feet perfectly and felt so soft...which meant they would fit hers perfectly also. (pouts) I finished these while watching one of our favorite corny holiday movies, Mixed Nuts.





Last, but not least are the Evangeline fingerless gloves I knit for my daughter (free Ravelry download) out of Malabrigo in solid black. These are the gloves that sparked my last post. I knit my fingers to the bone at a feverish pace to get the wristwarmers finished in time for Christmas. I finally wove in the last stitch on Christmas Eve, trimmed the yarns and beamed at my accomplishment. Excited about this finished project, I enthusiastically tried on the pair of wristwarmers….only…
they.were.both.left.handed.gloves. (hangs head)
I made a right handed glove and gave them to her 2 days later. I'll just make another rightie and have myself a pair!



I am now, working on a Central Park Hoodie which is my first adult-sized sweater! I even made a gauge swatch and everything (gasp, horror).
Have a Happy New Year!

Yarn Foolery

Now that it’s cold, my daughter is whining about me making her some wristwarmers when I have Christmas knitting to finish! (okay just half a sock) but still! I showed her the malabrigo I bought and she says “do you have anything softer?” I told her to go catch some angel farts and I would be right on that. I think she’s thinking of those fuzzy yarns that are so soft they snag on your hands. If she’s thinking of my Handmaiden Camel/Silk yarn, she’s crazy. She may be my only child but she can’t have that. I can see the headlines now:

“Another Obsessed Knitter Neglects Child”
-by Lotta Crylic

Authorities are tracking yet another insanely obsessed knitter bent on neglecting her child. Forced to wear hand stranglers of M-M-Malabrigo, the child is forced to share living space with what is referred to as “the stash”. Scientists believe the microabrasions found on the childs hands could be the result of either the alleged Malabrigo or aggressive video game play. We may never know. Unable to find the softness she so rightly deserves, this anonymous child sought the help of AFU news correspondent Lotta Crylic.

According to the child, she reports that the mother often engages in secret group meetings with other yarn-crazed women. These women often display knitting gang signs and have intimidating gang names like tehstix, TwistedTexan, MsLilly, Webecca, Kate and Tifftastic not to mention their matriarch, Mopknits. It is also confirmed that her mother has recently been on a yarn rampage in the Texas Hill Country with other random women she met on the interwebs, leaving her helpless 18 year old child home alone to fend for herself.

I went to speak with the mother who answered the door with two long metal spikes, trailing some yarn she had just disemboweled. I could see behind her some kind of primitive, wooden yarn-torturing wheel device and thought better of entering. I asked the mother if she would give up her Camelspun/silk yarn for this poor suffering waif to which she replied “frog you!” and slammed the door.

It appears that we may not have an answer to this epidemic of yarn-foolery. The subjects are left feeling fleeced and we have yet to find an antidote for this Mal-Abrigo.