It's just painful!

The wind chill! It shouldn't be this cold this early, I tell ya! Glove liners notwithstanding, my little fingers were numb again and my face ... ouch. It looks like it's going to warm up later this week and start raining. Rain = warm. I shall endeavor not to complain about the rain.

I'm now on a mission to finish up my Noro Raglan. I'm almost done with the second sleeve decreases and then it's the cable ribbed cuffs and then the only thing left to do will be to pick up stitches around the neckline and decided if I want to do a cable rib or just k2 p2. I made a rather large, square neckline so I've got plenty of leeway to do any number of things. However, if I were to do anything trickier than a simple K2 P2 rib, that would involve decreasing..... actually, as I type this I realize that I'll have the raglan increases there and visible so I could just start decreasing at those points and it'd be easy. In fact, with all of the yarn I have left I could actually do the cabled rib and make it a funnel neck or turtle neck. Could be pretty. Nice thing about picking up stitches, if it's ugly or not working you can just rip it out and RE-pick up the stitches. It's not like when you have to rip back to live stitches which = scary in my book.

I also want to make a big drive to finish up the second Koigu Crusoe sock so I can have a new pair of socks to work on when I go to Paris and Amsterdam. I have decided that I need some kind of project (duh) to take with me but I am determined to pack SO LIGHT this trip since I'll be traveling a bit and I hate hate HATE to have to lug a suitcase when it's so heavy. People move quickly on those trains and in the train stations and there are also plenty of stairs. If the suitcase is too heavy it's a drag getting it up and down the stairs. Last January when I was in Paris and traveled to Luxembourg I had that damned back pack with the Big Blue Sweater I was making, PLUS a heavy suitcase, PLUS another bag just for shoes. Not this time, my friends. Two pairs of jeans, four sweaters and that's it. I did leave a bag in Paris because I bought a larger one to take home, so I have that smaller bag waiting for me that I can fill up with ... oh, wine and yarn come to mind ... and I'll be able to check that on the way home. Socks are of course the perfect thing to carry on a trip. I'll have two long-ish train rides - to and from Amsterdam. One I'll have company but the other, not. I don't want to take an almost completed pair. So that's the long way of saying that after the Noro Raglan I'm going to make a push to finish that sock!

It happened again!!!

Another bad football weekend! How much more can a girl take?? The poor Huskies lost yet again in overtime. What a heartbreaker. The Seahawks ... *sigh* .... I don't even want to talk about it. Good news is that we're playing the Raiders next Monday night and I've got tickets. Bad news is that it's now possible that we could be beat by the worst team in the league on national TV. Oh this time last year was so exciting! Now this year - ick. But that's the way of the game. So I shouldn't complain.

I did another race this weekend. This time it was the Pumpkin Push in Seward Park. My friend Kate went with me and we had a wonderful day for a run. It was chilly, but not raining. I was feeling strong and started off really great, running the first half of the race in 15 minutes. But then there was the hill. Not a little hill, mind you, but a freakin' great huge hill! Quite honestly, I didn't even pretend to run up it. I figured it was much more efficient to just walk. This hill was so steep that even today, Monday, I have soreness in my calf muscles which is so very hard for me to get considering I ride my bike all the time. It was brutal! The walk up the hill notwithstanding, I still had an almost identical time as the last race. Unfortunately for some reason they didn't have a timing pad at the start of the race so my time is just guntime, which is not accurate. It doesn't make sense to me that you wear the timing chips and there's not a pad at the start and only at the end. I wanted to see if I was better! The walk up the hill messed up my time, obviously. The next race is not until Sunday, November 19 which as it happens is the day I'm leaving for my trip to Europe. But you know what? I'm going to run it anyway. It's in the morning and my plane doesn't leave until 6:30 which means I don't have to leave home until 4 pm so I'll have all day to pack and I'll be nice and tired.

So Saturday was a big day - not only did I have a run, but my dryer broke. And that's the worst timing considering I've got two huge bags of laundry for my Dad to get through. As luck would have it there was a repairman available so I did get it fixed. I was last on his list but gladly waited to get that machine up and running again. I can't imagine if I had a family to take care of. Lucky it's only me that I have to do laundry for and I make enough!

I finished up the sleeve and started the second sleeve on the Noro Raglan. I'm going to have yarn left over! I bought 10 skeins for this and it looks like I'll use only 8 at the most! I could have made more cables. Well I bought another 10 skeins of a different color - it has autumn oranges and browns and greens in it. I think I'll make a raglan cardigan and do a falling leaf lacy pattern down the front of the cardigan. I should be able to do that as well with less than 10 balls. And maybe find a raised leaf pattern to do down the sleeves - or even the same lacy one. I don't know yet.

I also made good progress on the sleeves for the Ogee Tunic. I'm almost at the part where I'll shape the caps. I'm going to block those babies right away when I get done with them.

It turned cold this weekend. Yesterday it hailed! And it was so cold at night that my heat came on. This morning was a very very cold ride in. I'm going to have to switch up to the winter garb pretty soon. It snowed in the pass yesterday too! Might be some early skiing.

Something new

I tried something new (to me) last night - duplicate stitch. It's easy. Beats the heck out of intarsia, I can say that for sure. Here's a picture of the finished Ski Patrol Hat with the duplicate stitch cross on the front. Again, bad picture. I'm holding it in my hand so the bottom part of the first aid cross is shortened. In reality it's even with the top one. I must say it's gratifying to have a picture in one's head and to be able to make it a reality.

I think for this weekend I'm going to concentrate on finishing up the cabled raglan sweater. It goes so quickly that I am pretty sure I could finish it up, even though I've got a busy weekend. I will have all of this evening to work on it so I should easily be able to finish the first sleeve and get a good start on the second. Saturday is going to be a very busy day -- first a 5K in the morning (the Pumpkin Push), then haul more wood in from the dry cleaners and then PJ's football playoff game. The evening will be a girlie night - dinner and movie in front of the fire. So I should be able to knit my little fingers to the bone! Sunday is football and raking leaves and chores and ... knitting! If only I had a housekeeper. hah

Instant gratification

You gotta love those instant gratification projects! I don't know ... I think those types of things keep me going on the longer term projects. Sometimes I just need to have something finished. NOW. And hats are good for that, as are little bags and felting projects. I finished up a plain ribbed cuff beanie for Mr. G in red red red yesterday. I'm going to duplicate stitch a white first aid cross on it and he'll use it for ski patrol. I just love the way Lamb's Pride yarn feels. I forget how nice it is because I generally only use it for hats. I think it would be nice for a bulky sweater. Anyway -- I digress .... instant gratification. I have always thought of that term in a negative way but my prejudice is waning. There is definitely something to be said for it.

I tried on the Noro Raglan sweater last night and decided I have about one 1/2 more cable repeats to go for the first sleeve. My challenge for the second sleeve is going to be finding a skein that starts at the right color repeat. Shouldn't be too difficult - I have a few to pick from and so far of the 5 skeins I've use all but one have started with the same repeat. I'm kind of like Nonnahs in that regard in that I like to have the stripes match, especially with something so visible as a pair of sleeves.

The Ogee Tunic is coming along. One or two more pushes and I should have the sleeves finished and I can start on the front of the sweater. This is, obviously, going to be the most difficult part. Welllll maybe I'm misspeaking. When I think of that back just inches and inches of stockinette stitch. Maybe THAT will be the challenge. I think I'm smart to keep it for last because if I have these gorgeous sleeves and this beautiful cabled front I'm really going to want that back so I can put it together. Well, at least that's what I'm hoping will happen.

I signed up for another 5K race this morning. This one to be run Saturday. I got my friend Kate to agree to come along. Let's just hope it's not raining. I don't think this course will have hills. I sure hope not.

It gets better!

Me and my stupid non-math brain! My race results came in last night and I was faster than I had though! I was adding time to the "guntime" they sent me when in fact I should have been subtracting time! So I actually ran that race in 34:48 and I was 19th out of 48 in my age group. So I am really happy! Especially since half of it was up that darned hill. Next time I am hoping for a flat face and I bet I'll be able to shave even more time off!

I was so tired yesterday when I got home. I left work at 2-ish after starting at 6:30. I took a nice little nap and then I was in the mood for some instant gratification knitting so I started a cap for Mr. G. He wants a cap for ski patrol - red with a white cross on it. I was thinking of intarsia but a) it's a hassle and b) I don't like doing it and c) it's a flippin' hassle! So I decided on duplicate stitch. That way I can make a nice hat and not have to worry about did I start the cross too soon, too high up, etc. This way it'll be done and I can make it perfect.

I took the morning to deal with Dad issues. *sigh* Is it okay to say I wish my sister lived here? It is very difficult dealing with this stuff. Thank goodness Dad is happy and feeling positive. Me? I just want to crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head. Thank goodness I have a nice trip to look forward to. Less than four weeks to go! Woohoo!!!

How to change a simple 5K into a kind of triathlon

Sunday was the Dawg Dash - my very first 5K. The weather was just absolutely perfect! I overslept a bit but still got to Husky Stadium in plenty of time to register, let Mr. G take a few pictures, toss extra clothes into the car and change into the official T-shirt. We stretched on the field - I've never been on the football field before! Coooooool!! Then I got to my place between the 11 and 12 minutes per mile flag (along with the geezers, teenagers that were doing it for a lark, people with strollers and dogs ... you get the idea). The course was described as "challenging" and I'll second that! OMG The whole first 1 1/2 miles, with the exception of the little trot around the track, was uphill!! I had very carefully fueled myself so I wasn't running out of energy as much as just getting worn out, not being used to running that far uphill. Once we turned the corner I got my second wind and was able to finish strong. I could have made a bigger push but honestly I thought I was doing okay. I ran over the finish line when the clock said 36 minutes, but I know that I didn't pass the finish line right at 0 because I was in the middle of the pack. The official results aren't up yet but even if I ran it in 37 minutes I won't feel too bad because, as I said, it was a tough course. Now I can't wait to do another one!

So, the race was over and we headed back to the car so Mr. G could take some more pictures of the event (oh, he finished at like 29 minutes or less). As I got near the car I reached into my little handy pouch that is inside my running pants where I had stashed the car key. Empty. At some point during the race I guess it had flipped up and out came the key. We went back to the stadium to the Lost and Found, but none of the keys they had there were mine. Crap! No choice but to walk home. Off we went - another 5K and all uphill. Once we got home I got on my bike and rode back down to the Stadium to get the car. And once I got home and showered I hardly moved for the rest of the day. Who can blame me?

For a while I watched the Seahawks. Then the quarterback got hurt and the game went to hell. I turned it off when the Vikings fell on a fumble in the end zone and got yet another TD. Still don't know how badly Matt Hasselbeck is hurt. They said it's a knee sprain but he's having an MRI today so I imagine the news will be out this afternoon. crap crap crap! And the Huskies lost a heartbreaker in OT this weekend. All that football means that I had a fair amount of time for knitting. I am still toiling away on the sleeves of the Ogee Tunic. I expect to finish them off this week so I can start on the body.

A sunny day off

Good day all around! I got lots done, Tinkie got groomed, and I got a little pampering done myself! Plus which .... the sun is shining! Good weekend ahead.

Since I'm sitting here with all my chores done and an hour before I have to leave for the airport I thought I'd take a picture of my finished Crusoe. It's a pretty sock, but rather dense and heavy because of the stranding. I love Koigu. I will definitely make more socks out of it. Here's a pretty good picture of the sock. I don't know if the toe-up turned heel shows up but I'll take a close up of the next one in progress. It's a very nifty heel and I like it oh so much better than the short row. My feet aren't really that teensie. The sock stretches.

I most likely won't get a lot of knitting done this weekend since I've got company and the race. Oh well ... no complaints!

Progress

I got motivated yesterday evening and sat down and finished my first Crusoe. I decided the leg was high enough. I just bound off without ribbing because I wanted the top to curl. And I got the second one cast on, the toe done and a few rows of the foot. Of course, like the last couple of pairs of socks I've done, these are not going to be perfect matches. I keep experimenting with styles - top down, toe up, short row heel, turned heel ... but I've got it now. The main difference between these two socks is going to be the pattern on the top of the foot. On the first one I started the stranding pattern right away and found that the edge stitches stretched and looked icky. So this time I've got a two stitch border on each side and that'll make it nicer. Also the turned heel was my first tow up turned heel and it could be a bit tidier. This second sock should be perfect and that'll be the end of my experimenting because I feel like I've found THE perfect sock pattern for me. The only other thing I'd like to do is see if I could do two at a time - but I'll need someone with experience in doing two at a time heel flaps to help me the first time. I recall my first try at it - with this Koigu yarn, as a matter of fact. I got to the part where one is supposed to put gusset stitches on a holder needle and I couldn't go any farther. It was a mess. Since I know it's possible, as I say, it's the only other thing I might do to tweak the pattern. Next socks up will be lacy pink ones.

I had a super great run yesterday. Today is a rest day and Friday I'll have another easy one. It's rainy today but the forecast still is for a sunny Sunday. Fingers crossed.

A little trip to the dark side

Yesterday I was on fire! I got things done and no mistake. Motivated, that what I was. I almost broke my arm, patting myself on the back, but I got that stupid form all filled out and gathered some more odds and ends and got the application down to the office where it needed to be before 5pm. And I was exhausted when I was done, but happy. It was sunny but chilly, especially in the house, since the heating hasn't been on. So I treated myself and turned on the heat. Ahhhhhh, it was gggrrrreat! I stayed upstairs in my comfy chair and read the paper and listened to music and, yes, stepped over to the dark side and did some crochet. The odd skeins of Noro Silk Garden are making me crazy! What to do with them??? I tried making flowers but they looked dorky, and I was thinking of a scarf for the two skeins that match. But the other two don't match and so I thought, why not a hat? Why not try a crocheted hat for a change? So I started one. But I'm so out of practice and it was not the instant gratification I was seeking but rather a trial. Tonight I'm going to see of I can't whip myself up and finish that Crusoe sock - I mean it's pretty much done but I was going to try to finish each skein all up. I don't want them to be too high so I think I'll try that one on and if it's tall enough, bind off and start the second. I want to finish so I can try some of the sock yarn that my sweet SP8 sent me. Lacy pink ones are in my future.

Wednesday night is my favorite night -- 'Lost' is on! And a new 'Southpark' that I can watch tomorrow. And it means that the week is nearly over. I am so excited about my weekend. I had another great run today. I'll rest tomorrow and have an easy 30 minutes on Friday. Now that I've got my fuel figured out, I can end up with energy to spare which makes me feel confident that I won't be the very last one!

And I'm so excited because I'm going to Europe for Thanksgiving week! Wheeee! Only 4 weeks to wait, too! I like it that it's close. Usually a trip is in the works for a couple months at least and I have to wait and wait and wait! But four week? Shoot, that's going to fly by! I'll be in the Netherlands. Who wants Dutch chocolate?

How could I forget garbage day?

I drove to work today. I had to stop to mail a couple packages and I have to run errands so it wasn't until I was almost at the end of my block that I noticed there were garbage cans sitting on the parking strips. How could I forget?? I didn't want to go back, since I was running a little late anyway so I left it. I guess I'll stop by on the way out to Dad's rehab place to hope I beat the garbage men. Not that there's a lot there but still -- I think that's the first time I've totally spaced that. [The first person that even thinks "senior moment" is gonna get it!!!]

I think I'm pretty much done with the first sleeve on the raglan sweater. I've got to try it on and see if I maybe want to go another cable repeat or just bind off and start the second sleeve. It was just too freakin' cold upstairs last night to try it on before bed. I just wanted to get in there and get the covers up to my chin! I'm going to have to turn the heat on sooner or later. It went on by itself last night and that means it got below 60 degrees in there. Perhaps I should close the bedroom window a bit. I'm feeling very virtuous! And hearty! [watch me catch my death of cold, miss smartypants]

A few days ago I received those two bags of Debble Bliss Merino Chunky - a superwash chunky wool in a gorgeous brown. They are small skeins (I hate that about her yarns), only about 50 yards but with two bags that gives me 1000 yards on 10.5 needles. That should be fine for a cabled turtleneck as long as I don't do an all over pattern. I was thinking of just getting a nice cable, or cable combo, out of my Vogue book but then I saw a gorgeous sweater someone had knitted on Craftster - a Rebecca pattern. A little more detailed that I am looking for -- well, I'll look around. Maybe the pattern in the new IK will work. I saw a preview of it and should be getting my copy soon.

A win and a loss

That was the football this weekend. Poor Huskies just went to pieces and lost their quarterback. The Seahawks took it down to the wire and won at the last second with a kick. Whew! Luckily it was on television so I recorded it and then I fast forwarded until the end when it was live. I love my DVR!

I had a quiet and solitary weekend and got lots of knitting done. So much that my left hand and shoulder were hurting last night. I think it's the purling. I am almost finished with the first sleeve on the raglan sweater. I goofed though. I wish I had thought it through a bit more. Because I had made cables between in the increases there is a bit more fabric than I wished for the sleeve because I didn't take into account the pulling in that the two purl stitches on either side and the cable itself did. If I had thought it through I would have decreased more stitches faster. Oh well .. it's going to be interesting. Not ugly. Just different.

I've got a week this week ..... Dad is being a bad boy at the rehab center and I've got to do damage control tomorrow. And Thursday I've got the dentist. Ahh, but Friday I'm taking off! Tink is going to get groomed, I'm having a manicure and pedicure and a massage. And Sunday is the race. I have been experimenting with fuel and find that if I just add one little piece of toast to my breakfast it makes a world of difference on my energy level. I've been having some great runs lately. Last Friday I ran for 35 minutes and I had energy to spare. And today was a "light" day - only 30 minutes. But again, I was feeling great! I was a little concerned that I was going to be too slow. I may be slow, but I sure won't be the slowest! And I will finish for sure.

Cheese! Cheeeeeese!

I had a restless night last night simply because Tinkerbell was, for some reason, restless and not wanting to sleep. So I was awakened several times last night and therefore was able to remember my dreams. And I was dreaming like crazy last night!! One in particular was just about cheese. I was looking at melting Bleu and just SO looking forward to eating it. And then I woke up but I cannot stop thinking about cheese. Does that make me crazy? No!! Emphatically I say NO! Just a bit hungry is all. It's probably on my mind (cheese, that is) because there is a chance I'll be going to Europe in November and when I'm there I am in cheese heaven. Cheese for dessert here, especially in Seattle, is a trendy thing. Over there? Way of life. And oh my gawd do I love it. I hardly want to eat my dinner. Just bring on the cheese!

Right now it's 52 degrees but it's supposed to get up to 70 again today! Isn't that wonderful? I am loving this Indian Summer we're having. Not atypical for Seattle, by any means, but we don't get it like this every year. Yesterday I was totally over dressed and today I imagine I'll get a little too warm as well. It is pretty chilly in the mornings so one tends to dress for that rather than the 20 plus degrees you'll be facing later in the day. Especially on running days, like today, it's so darned hard to cool down afterwards. I dressed down today because now that the anatomy course is over I can start cleaning out my office and environs. Nevertheless, I think even jeans and a light sweater are going to be too hot for moving boxes. Ah well.

I started the sleeves of my Noro raglan sweater last night. It's going to be so cute. I think it'll look best layered over a white shirt. I am looking forward to my sleeves. I really do think they're going to be cool. I'll take pictures Sunday or whenever I get most of a sleeve done.

What is up with the commercials???

I don't know if it's just because I like the show so much and don't want any commercial breaks or what, but it seemed like there were more then a normal amount of commercials on "Lost" last night. Now I suppose since it's such a popular show they can get lots and lots of money for the commercials but still ..... every 10 minutes or less??? It really interrupts the flow of the show. That's my rant for today.

Like Nonnahs, I find it difficult to knit during that show so instead of doing something I would undoubtedly have to frog the next day I instead spent the time trying to unravel that knot of Koigu that Tink made so that I can make a push to finish my first Crusoe and start on the second. I plan on watching a little football this weekend and that would be a good project. I don't have much left to do on the first one but my silly rule - I have to immediately cast on for the second one and I need a little time to get at least the toe done before I put it down.

I got my first package from my new favorite on line yarn store, Little Knits yesterday. Before I found the Noro full bag sale I found some Debbie Bliss Merino Chunky in a beautiful chocolate brown, also full bag sale. So I bought two. I want to make a nice raglan turtle neck with a cable down the front and sleeves. I have the Vogue Stitchionary (is that how it's spelled?) on cables and there are tons and tons to choose from. And this yarn ... oh is it every soft and squishy! And bonus, it's machine washable! I think I'm going to incorporate a part of a design from an IK cabled wrap from last year and then a cable from the book. And I'm only going to do it on the front. I'm not exactly sure how much yarn I'll need, but if I don't do the cables on the back I'm reasonably sure two bags should do it. Fingers crossed, eh? Otherwise I'll end up with a short sleeved cabled turtle neck. Not a bad thing per se, but long sleeved is more useful.

True confessions

Hello. My name is Shelley and I am a Noro addict.

Okay, now that that's out of the way. Yesterday I went up to my LYS at lunchtime to get some supplies for a "Learn to Knit" kit I'm putting together for an auction this weekend. Good intentions - just walk in, get the few items I need and walk out. Oh ... but go ahead and take a peek in the sale bins, why don't you? Not 1, not 2, not 3 but 4 skeins of Noro Silk Garden!!! $5 each!!! Two the same color and dyelot and the other two odd balls. I snatched them up, sure I did! AND the new IK Crochet magazine. I thought maybe I'd make some pretty flower motifs with the Noro and make stuff -- scarves probably. I printed out a few patterns from Lion but even though they are marked "easy", I still had a hard time with them. I've got a few other patterns bookmarked. I think I just need to practice crocheting. I really do think they'd make great scarf gifts - cute flowers with those beautiful colors. I need to find one to make (or 2 or 3) that are "no brainers" so I can do them while watching TV.

Didn't start my sleeves last night on the raglan because ... well, see above. After working on some flowers I just had dinner and did a bit more on the sleeves of the OT. Tonight is 'Lost'!! Woohooo!!! I am hoping I can get the sleeve stitches picked up and the decreases worked out on paper so I can do that while watching "Lost". Otherwise I'll just have to sit and knit ... nothin'!

Does anybody else think the spell check on Blogger sucks??

I'm going for a record

Well ... truth be told I can't remember when last year I turned my heat on but I haven't yet turned it on and I'm going to try to get all the way through October. Twice it has come on by itself -- if it gets below 60 degrees the thermostat kicks on but, only twice so far and just for a few minutes. I've been making nice cozy little fires downstairs in the evenings and so far so good. I just know that I'm going to have to close my bedroom windows sooner than I want to. I just love that fresh air when I sleep. I know that I've kept them at least cracked until November so I've got a few more weeks. Thank goodness I sleep warm -- and the doggie helps out too! She's very warm.

I spent most of yesterday evening getting ready to put stuff on eBay. My digital camera is so slow though! It takes forever to download pictures onto my computer. By the time I got done taking all the pictures, downloading them and futzing with them it was 7 and I was ready for dinner. So I put it off for another day. Procrastination ... it's an art, my friends.

A few more rows done on the sleeves of the Ogee Tunic. I love the way that the Elann Devon drapes. It's lovely yarn. Oddly it recommends needle size 4 and the Ogee Tunic also asks for size 4 needles but I got gauge with size 7! Now that I'm a ways into the sleeves I'm going to check my gauge again just in case I need to make some adjustments. The fabric is fine -- it's not too airy and not too dense. I will probably elect to wear something under the thing in cooler weather but I think it'll be fine.

Tonight I think I'll start on the sleeves of the raglan sweater. I'm going to have to keep good notes because I'm winging it. I've got a good idea of where I want to go with it and how I want to accomplish it but I'm going to have to keep notes on when exactly I make the decreases and when I start the ribbing so the other sleeve will match. That's the only downside to doing a sweater top down - you have to do the sleeves separately and if you make a mistake on one then you have to either rip it out or make the same mistake on the other side. Or, as in this case, if you're winging a pattern you have to be careful to write everything down. Especially with a memory as holey as mine. I believe I can make nice bells on the sleeves if I increase in the purl ditches, kind of like how the bottom of the Something Red cardigan gets it's flair.

Ogee sleeves!

Here's a close up of the motif on the sleeves. Finally finished and got about 20 rows further into the sleeves. I worked on them Friday and Saturday but by Saturday evening my left hand and forearm were hurting. It's the purling ... something I do with my thumb slipping the stitches off the needle after a while makes it hurt. No matter. I'm not in any hurry with this. I want it to be right. The color is a bit off here - camera phone - it's more of an aqua with a grey cast to it. This looks baby blue.

Sunday I worked on the Noro raglan, got the body finished and put a cable band on the bottom. I am going to make the sleeves belled with cables to match the raglan and band. I hope it works.

I found a new yarn place online and ends up it's in Seattle!! I bought some Debbie Bliss Merino Aran at a great bargain price -- especially for superwash wool. And then while searching for Noro Kureyon closeouts they came up again and had one color on sale - $39 for the bag!! I couldn't pass it up. So when I ordered it I noticed that they charged me sales tax, which meant they're in Washington. I checked the address and lo and behold, they're in Ballard! It's called LittleKnits and they have great deals. I can't wait to visit the shop. It might be dangerous though.

Two more weeks .. well less actually .. and Mr. G will be up for a visit and I'll be doing my first race. I ran around the track at Husky Stadium on Friday to time myself and I ended up doing 12 minute miles. Ugh. That is S-L-O-W. In my defense I'd only had 150 calories by the time I did my run and it was 12:30 so I was low on energy. But still .... I've got to work on my speed. I think I should be able to knock a few minutes off my time plus my friend Kate says that one runs faster when the race is on and you're in a pack. Fingers crossed.

I am more than a little disturbed

This morning when I opened my Yahoo email there were over 125 message in there. Odd. One hundred (!) of them were from eBay confirming listings. Yes, 100. I was a bit taken aback -- that is a LOT of spam, yes? So I logged into my eBay account and find out that yes indeed, there are now 98 active listings and two had sold. WTF?!!???? Seems as if some a**hole hijacked my account and listed a bunch of clothing. eBay is pretty good though - there are tons of pages of help, so obviously this things happens frequently, or frequently enough for there to be step by step instructions on what to do. First I had to change my Yahoo email password, then my eBay password. Done. Then it says that you should delete the items by, get this, entering the ID number of each item. Uhhhh .... 100? Well, okay 98, since two are sold. But still ... I don't think so. I have sent them email and I'm waiting for a LiveChat person to help me. I am also concerned that my credit card is going to be charged all of the fees -- the listing fees and the sold fees. It's going to add up. How creepy is this though? I looked at the sold page and see an email address where people should send their Paypal. Oh great ... that's another thing to worry about! How did they change the email address of the Paypal account?? Whew ... just checked. My Paypal account is okay but I changed the password on it anyway. The LiveChat lady just came on ... Okay - all's well. She has restored my account. I have no earthly idea how someone got into my account. My know enough not to click on any links in messages, etc. Very disturbing.

Well, in other news I stayed up WAY too late last night, so excited that I finally had the pattern down for the sleeve motif on my Ogee Tunic. I nearly got it done but it was closing in on 11:30, which is way past my bedtime. I should definitely be able to finish it up and start on the plain part of the sleeves tonight so I'll have pictures Monday. It's going to be just lovely. I hope my gauge hasn't changed now that I'm purling the right way.

Today it's off and on raining but I'm going to go to the track at lunchtime no matter what the weather so I can time myself to see how long it takes me to run 3 miles. I better be close to 10 minutes miles, that's all I've got to say. If not, it's going to be a tough couple weeks to get there.

I cannot believe it

And you won't believe it either. I swear .... I just knew that the Ogee Tunic motif I was trying to knit around the sleeve couldn't be that difficult and that I was doing something wrong, but how wrong? I'll tell you how wrong, my friends. Bone head wrong!!! I took some waste yarn and needles to my knitting lunchtime yesterday and it was just myself and the one who knows the most. Lucky me. So I cast on and did a row of the pattern, then asked her for help going back on the WS, since I had no problem doing the first row. She took one look at the piece and said, "Well, your stitches are on backwards." Huh? Backwards you say? I was doing not one, but two things wrong. First of all ... and this is the part that I am so amazed by ... I was purling incorrectly. I don't know when it started, because when she showed me what I was doing wrong it felt so natural to do it correctly. I was putting the needle into the stitch right but I was bringing the yarn under the needle rather than over! Again, I have no idea when this aberrant behavior began. How could I just start purling wrong out of the blue?? Strange. So that is one thing I was doing wrong. The other was that I was doing my YOs wrong as well -- bring the yarn over the top of the needle rather than the other way. So once she showed me it was soooooo easy! I did a few rows and it looks just like it's supposed to look. Now I just can't wait to rip out the sleeves AGAIN and start over. But this time I know it's going to look right and it's going to be speedy because the pattern is super easy.

Last night after work was Pub Night. I kept trying to get away, starting at 8:30, because 1) it was the season premier of "Lost" and 2) I wanted to knit. Thank goodness I had set my DVR because I couldn't get out of there! Finally around 10 the party broke up, but then a friend walked me home. The place where we had our pub night has a coffee house and bakery above it and I stopped for a piece of their fabulous coconut cake, which I had been craving for oh about a month. So my chaperone and I shared the cake and had a glass of milk but he's SUCH a talker, I couldn't get him out of there until after 11, at which point it was too late to knit or watch TV. Tonight is my friend R's birthday dinner (after a surprise birthday lunch!) but since it's a family affair I should be home by 9. I hope to have a picture of an Ogee Tunic WIP tomorrow.

I have to start "training" for that 5K coming up. Not that I can't run 5K but how fast? That's the question. So yesterday I did that training thing where you increase your pace for a few minutes, then go back to your original pace. It nearly killed me. Tomorrow I'm going to go down to the track at lunchtime and run 3 miles and see how long it takes me. I really really REALLY don't want to be last! If I can just get myself up to a 10 minute mile I will be so happy. We'll see tomorrow. I kind of feel like I'm coming down with a cold though and that would be disaster. Can't run when you've got a cold.

I'm feeling it

Autumn is in the air. Odd how last week it was nearly 80 degrees and this morning I wore my long pants and full gloves. Not that I mind. It just seems to happen so quickly. Anatomy will be finished in another week, then it'll be a little less hectic around here. I'll still be busy, but I'll be able to clean up my office and start planning for the move in December or January. While our office space is being remodeled (a project that should take about 2 years!!) we will be shunted off to a surge space which, for me and my other suite-mates, is a building reminiscent of those trailer-like buildings they put on school grounds when they don't have enough classrooms. I know that there's a name for them but I'm blanking right now. Ahha! Portable!! Anyway ... pret-ty ugly. I do believe they have air conditioners on SOME of the windows which leads me to believe that summertime is going to be stifling. Ah well ... it's only temporary and who knows, maybe I'll just switch to working from home more often. It will certainly be nice to have a new office when we move back.

I am in a knitting knot over the Ogee Tunic. I have brought needles and some spare yarn in hopes that my knitting pals can help me figure out the pattern. I am afraid that I'm going to get fed up with the whole thing, which I really really don't want to happen. I really WANT that sweater! And so I will rip it out one LAST time, after I learn the not-so-secret secret of purling those freakin' YOs!!! This is what comes of teaching yourself to knit - some questions just can't be answered by a book.

Mr. G. did the Cow Days run in Sacramento last weekend and they gave all the runners Udder Cream which I had never heard of until a vendor put some into a package of yarn I bought. So I keep that little jar next to my chair downstairs for whenever I need it - and you all know how in the winter that wool yarn just sucks the moisure out of your hands! I think he thought he was being Mr. Smartypants when he said he'd bring it for me, but I love that stuff!!

A first!

I signed up for my very first 5K race today! Mr. G is coming up for a visit and suggested we do a run and as luck would have it, there's one on October 22 called the Dawg Dash! I am just so excited! I just hope I'm not dead last or get a stitch or something stupid. I don't care if I'm bringing up the rear, but I just don't want to be last. I'm going to train now for the next few weeks and be very vigilant about keeping up with my runs. I've been slacking off with all this hoo-haw with Dad. Now no more excuses!! Public humiliation is a HUGE motivator for me.

Today at lunchtime I walked up to the PO and sent off the Big Blue Sweater ... finally!! There was a little issue getting an address. Problem solved. Sweater on its way. I looked at it closely last night as I was packing it up and I must say (probably for about the millionth time) that it's just about the most perfect garment I've thus far made. Right up there with my Banff. I hope it is received well and worn. A lot.

I was exhausted last night so didn't get much knitting done except for a few rounds on the raglan. I need to bring my Ogee Tunic in to the knitting ladies for some help but class tomorrow is going to seriously cut into my knitting lunchtime. I'll have 30 minutes at least and hopefully someone there can shed some light on my ineptitude (is that a word?). I was in bed by nine, face all scrubbed and reading and I lasted until about 9:40. Seriously tired. I slept like a log. And now that I've taken the fan out of the window, Tink didn't wake up so early. The window is still open but not a foot and a half, so the noise is less.

Oh it was brutal

The Seahawks got crushed by the Bears last night, on Sunday Night Football no less!! The prime time show!! Al and John!!!! It was so painful I quit watching it. It's only one game, but still it was such a beating. The good news is that the Huskies won another one this weekend, which makes them 3 and 1 overall and unbeaten in the Pac Ten.

I took care of PJ this weekend but he was a pretty busy guy so we didn't spend that much time together. I picked him up from practice Friday night and made a kid meal - grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. It was good, actually. I can't remember the last time I'd had that little comfort combo. Saturday was a football game which was quite amusing and would have been a lot more fun if it had been a little warmer. I brought knitting so my lap was warm-ish but I really should have brought my Fetching handwarmers. I could have really used them. He had a sleepover Saturday night so after visiting Dad I had a nice evening to myself. Sunday while he was at a birthday party I did a little Nordstrom Rack shopping and got a couple pairs of shoes, a gorgeous turquoise cashmere sweater and a cute little skirt. Not bad.

I really got lots and lots of work done on the Noro raglan and not so much done on the Ogee Tunic. I took a good look at my progress yesterday and I think I am still doing that stitch wrong. It doesn't look like the picture and it's frustrating the HELL out of me!! I got a little response from posting on the KAL blog that I should turn the YO around on my needle. I think I'll practice tonight with different yarn and larger needles and see if I can't figure it out. Otherwise I'll bring it to my knitting ladies Wednesday and see if anyone there can shed some light on it. I'm only 8 rows into the sleeves (again) so if I can figure out the stitch I'm going to have to frog it again. I think if I do that I'll give the sleeves a rest and start on the front. But only if I can figure out the pattern. I just can't for the life of me understand why I can't get it.