I barely made it!

It was a busy weekend but quite productive. Friday I had a late hair appointment so I didn't do much Friday night, but Saturday I hit the ground running. I went to the mall and bought a couple of skirts and a couple of dresses - less dithering in front of the closet, I predict. I got the cake in the oven and started getting ready for the party. The weather cooperated - not too hot and nice and sunny so that everyone could be outside. Mr. M cooked salmon and it was just perfect. I managed to keep up with the mess and so by the time everyone was gone I had no more cleanup to do, so I sat in my comfy chair and went to work on the cashmere bandit. I wanted to finish it so that on Sunday I wouldn't have any competition for my time and attention and I could get the cardigan sewn up. As luck would have it, I wasn't tired and so I knit and knit and knit until I was done, which was nearly midnight! Then I went to bed and could not sleep. Period. I wasn't tired. Almost as if I had had some caffeine - which I hadn't. I don't think I dropped off until after 1 am and therefore slept in on Sunday until 11 am!! And then, of course, I wasn't tired last night until after 11 and now I am dead on my feet. I will sleep well tonight, for sure!

I did get the bandit finished Saturday night with just inches of yarn left! I made it with two skeins - 176 yards. And that's great because I have two skeins of the burgundy left and now 3 skeins of the blue. So I know I can make another bandit with the burgundy and who knows what I'll do with the blue. I blocked it first thing on Sunday and it's still drying, so here's a picture of it unblocked and you can see just how much yarn I had left.

True to my promise to myself, I did sit down and sew up the cardigan on Sunday. Actually it wasn't that bad, once I got going. I just pinned the sleeves, one side at a time, and got to work. It did take a couple of hours but the seams look really good! I then picked up the stitches for the collar and I'm two rows from being done there. Then all that is left is to make the button band and the loops for the buttons. This is crochet work and not hard. I might be able to finish it up tonight even. And you know what I noticed? I don't have enough WIPs! I have lots and lots of stitch counters in my little heart shaped box, which means they are not being used. I've got to step it up!!

I have decided to run a race a month, starting in September. I am not sure what race there is in September, but I am pretty sure there is one. Then in October is the Husky race, which is the first 5K I did, then in November is the Turkey Trot (or whatever it is called) and then in December the Jingle Bell race. I would like to get my time down so that by the end of the year I'm doing 30 minute 5Ks. To that end I started doing fartleks on Friday and oh heavens, were my legs ever sore on Saturday! I could barely go up and down the stairs! I think I'm going to try doing those sessions only on Fridays and just do regular runs on Tuesday and Thursday. I will know by the first race if it's making any difference. There really is no reason why I can't run a 30 minute 5K. I am consistently in the middle of my age group time-wise. I'd like to be closer to the top.