Thank goodness for the rain

and the humidity that comes along with it. It has been SO dry lately. And with the spontaneous nose bleeds that have been plaguing me I was starting to look like a LOST time traveler. It started sprinkling last night and it was lightly raining on my way in this morning. It's good.

I had a decent run yesterday at lunch. I'm pretty confident that if I fuel myself properly I should have a good race Sunday. I'm excited. Can you tell?

My DH is working long and late this week so I didn't see him yesterday evening again. I thought I'd get some good knitting done but Tink was so needy that it was difficult to get anything done. Plus which she's been super itchy again and she's got another yeast infection in her ear! I still have some medicine left from when I went for her right ear and I've been using it. I thought I had the left ear thing kicked but I noticed last night that she was going to town on it and sure enough. So I started it up again and this time I'm going to do the full 7 days of treatment no matter how good her ear starts looking. I remember from when her right ear was bad that when her ear cleared up she stopped scratching so much. Hope that can happen again because the poor little thing ... she's just SO itchy!

Knitting-wise I did manage to get the third panel started and all three put together. Now I need to do the same with another three, join them up and do those little increases and then I should be on track. After I get the lace done this is going to just zip along!

Tonight is a pizza birthday party for my little niece and Saturday tons of errands. But I'll have the whole of Saturday afternoon and evening to rest and knit and then Sunday ....

LOST eats into my knitting time!

I just can't knit when LOST is on. Even the "enhanced" repeat episode is too riveting to knit by. So last night I only got two of the six lace panels started. I need to make three 24 row starts and knit them together, then do the same with 3 more and then put all six together. I thought I was being so clever when I realized that because my gauge was off that I could make the small sized lace panels and then do the rest of it in medium size except ... well, the stitch count is off, isn't it?? And I like the way the skirt is shaped so I will increase before the eyelet row and then start the decreases. Because I am doing the lace panels with a size eight needle they are very stretchy and this should work. Fingers crossed. I don't want to get that far and have to re-do it. I am now all keen on knitting skirts. Go figure.

When I was first starting out knitting I bought some beautiful bulky thick and thin yarn in purples and greens. I made a very bulky first time out V-necked top-down sweater and also a cabled cardigan. I don't wear either one of those sweaters and I fell in love with the Trapeze Jacket from Stephanie Japel's new book, Glam Knits. The yarn is almost exactly the same. I am going to frog those two garments and see If I can get enough yarn to make this. I love it!!

Because I was under the weather this week I didn't get my run on Tuesday. I did run Sunday before the party and then my plan was to run Tuesday and Thursday so I could have a nice rest before the race Sunday. However .... I couldn't run Tuesday so I am going to run today and still rest Friday and Saturday. I rode in today -- cold but totally do-able -- so I won't be rested but I've got to run. At least it won't be so cold at lunchtime. It's actually been pretty nice these past few days, although rain is due to come in soon. But still I can't wait to get to California and Arizona!!!

Felled by a bug

I believe this is/was the second time in 3 months that I've been downed by some mysterious bug. This time it was a stomach thingie. I thought, since I've been eating such a low fat diet lately, that maybe it was a reaction to the fatty foods I was eating this weekend - dinner out Saturday and then the party on Sunday. But when I felt worse as the day went on Monday I realized it must be a bug. I worked from home Monday and Tuesday but I came in today. My stomach is still queasy but I drove in and I'm going to risk it. At least I've been able to eat - just finished a little oatmeal and some berries and so far so good! Fingers crossed.

I never feel much like knitting when I'm sick, plus I was working when I wasn't otherwise occupied but yesterday evening I was feeling better and started looking for a new project. I bit of startitis, I guess, since I'm still working on Rockstar and, of course, a pair of socks. I have purchased some really nice yarn lately - some llama/silk blend and some other Ella Rae silk blend, plus of course I've got those 10 skeins of Ella Rae Shibu. I was looking at little "blouse" patterns, but also I've been wanting to do a round yoke thing but nothing was really calling to me. Either they were pieced or just not right in some way. Some knitted skirts had caught my eye a few days ago and it was bubbling around in my brain and that's what I came up with. A skirt! I have a great pattern in the "Greetings from the Knit Cafe" book, the Lacy Skirt with Bows. I will, of course, modify the pattern to knit it in the round. It is absolutely insane not to do that. Also I am going to use the Ella Rae Shibu even though it's not giving me gauge. I really love the fabric this knits up to on size 7 needles at exactly 5 stitches per inch. The pattern calls for size five needles and 21 stitches per inch. If I switch out to size five needles with this yarn it's going to make the fabric too dense. I'll make the calculations but I think, off the top of my head and from doing a few rows of the lace, that if I use this yarn and make the size small it should come out just right - not quite medium and not quite small. I'm excited to get started and since my DH is going to be working the next few nights I should be able to get a good run at it.

OMG -- this is .. well, is it weird or funny or what??

Too much sock knitting

That must be the problem. I tried to work some more on the heel flap last night but my hands just kept cramping up. I'll bet if I could practice more doing Continental knitting that might help the problem. Even though I was very keen on finishing the heel flap I just couldn't do it and instead picked up the Rockstar and worked a few rows on that. I have thirteen more rows to go before I start the armhole decreases. And that is going to take some concentration because I haven't written those instructions out and since it's only 26 stitches on each end I might just read the charts. That's slow going. I hate charts.

I was all set to ride in today but the weather took a turn and when I got up it was foggy and very very cold with frost on the grass. I won't ride when it's below freezing. It's just not worth the pain. I'll just have to run extra hard at lunchtime today to make up for my sloth.

Big weekend coming up. A million and one errands tomorrow, including getting my dirty little Tink to the groomers. Dinner for S's birthday on Saturday night and Sunday is Super Bowl and we're having a few people over. I might have to come into work a little late Monday.

It is lighter

Yes it is. I really could notice it this morning on the way in. It wasn't raining but it wasn't cloudless either and still I wasn't riding in the dark. Niccccce.

Yesterday I had an awesome run at lunchtime. Four more "training" runs before the race February 8. I don't want to jinx it but if I keep this up I will for sure have a PB. That's pretty exciting ... well, for me anyway.

'Lost' was on last night so there wasn't much knitting done. I finished up the foot portion of my socks and started on the heel flap. I am loving this yarn, dyed by an ex-Secret Pal, Jen. It's soft and the colors are so beautiful! You should check out her Etsy Shop.

Finished!!

Wow! I finished "Sizzle"!! No pictures because I haven't blocked it yet. I wanted to bring it in to show at noon knitting today and I'll block it tonight. If I had knit the smallest size I would have been able to squeak by with the 5 skeins I had. Since I opted to go up a size I ended up having to use a skein from another dye lot for the trim which is only two rows on each arm hole and four around the neck!! It's not bad though - the other dye lot - since it's the trim with a lot of texture. I tried it on and indeed it is a little big around the ribs. As I said, the shaping is just beautiful and on the whole it is a very pretty garment. Maybe when it's blocked I can squish it in a little bit. I think I'd like to make it again in a smaller size. I think I'd do it in the round just to keep the purling at a minimum.

I received the "French Girl Knits" book from Interweave Press yesterday. That was fast! Unfortunately I wasn't bowled over by the designs. Nothing really jumped out at me but there were a few designs in there with potential.

Now that I have the "Sizzle" monkey off my back I'm going to concentrate on the Rockstar Jacket. It's Super Bowl weekend and we're having a party so I won't be knitting on Sunday, and Saturday is my DH's birthday and I've got a million and one errands to run plus dinner Saturday night but maybe I can knit on it then for a little while. And I'll have Thursday and Friday evenings as well. Tonight is "Lost". No knitting that I have to concentrate on, for sure!

If I said "more snow" would you believe me?

It is Seattle, after all. We're not known for our snow but yes, it is indeed snowing again. As luck would have it (this time, at least) Seattle is in the snow shadow so all we're seeing right now is a very fine snow which should turn to rain later today. I drove in, obviously. I wanted to ride my bike but I learned the hard way that the wind chill is too much to handle when it's freezing plus it's too dangerous to bike in the snow with all those hills in the morning.

I did have another great run yesterday afternoon and I'm hoping that the snow will have turned to rain by noon-ish today so I can have another one. It's two weeks to the first race I've signed up for and I am feeling very strong and believe there's a possibility that I may set a personal best at the Love 'em or Leave 'em run February 8. Friday and Sunday I ran around my neighborhood and my Sunday run was right after eating breakfast, when I've got lots and lots of energy -- well, "lots" meaning that my stomach isn't growling which is what it's like for me on week days at work. That made a big difference in my energy, as you may imagine. There are so many hills around my house as well, which makes the run more of a work out than here, which is on the trail and mostly flat. The Feb. 8 race is on a flat track, around the lake, but I believe there will be some elevation at the St. Paddy's Day Dash. I know they have changed the course but I'm pretty sure it's mostly uphill from the Seattle Center to the Aurora Bridge. If it's at the beginning of the race I'm okay but if it's in the middle or near the end, disaster for my time.

While I had plans to pick up and knit the sleeve bands on Sizzle last night, I opted out and instead worked on the socks. I want to do that tonight. I'm really keen to see this top finished. It's really nice. Makes me see all over again why I love love love that yarn (Ella Rae Shibu) so much!

The noise

There is a noise in my office. I believe it's caused by the vibrations made in the duct now that the heating/air conditioning is working again. So I'm no longer sweating like a pig but I am being slowly driven INSANE by this noise!! I asked for some help. I am hopefully that something can be done about it because it is so nerve wracking and distracting!! No wonder I get more work done at home than I do here -- I have natural light and no f*$#@ing noise!! I did have a wonderful day Friday. I made huge strides in my program. I got it to ask for what category of question one wants to make, and if you put in a new category it writes it to the database(!!!) and then you are presented with a form to write a new question. If you choose a category that already has questions in it, those questions are shown so that you don't write another one that is too like a previous one. Sounds simple but I am thrilled that I got that far. Next step - get the program to accept and write out the new question. I could get a good start on that today if I don't start bleeding from the ears from this noise!!!

Got some good knitting done as well this weekend. Friday evening I finished up the pedicure socks and got all the ends woven in. And I measured out and divided the last skein of matching yarn for Sizzle. Saturday and Sunday I worked on Sizzle and finished up the body and yes, I had just enough yarn!! I got it all seamed up and next step is to pick up stitches and knit the sleeve bands and the neck band. Unfortunately I tried it on and I am kicking myself for not knitting the smallest size. I was afraid it would be too tight across the chest and since it has good shaping in the pattern thought that the other size would be better. But I tried it on and it seems to be a little large, which means it's probably going to be too loose for my sister. I will put the trim on it anyway and block it. Who knows, she may want it and if not I'll keep it. I don't wear my tops quite as tight as she does.

Also I cast on for another pair of socks using the lovely yarn I bought ages ago from a old secret pal, Knitting Like Crazy. I love the colors -- purples and browns .. I think it's called "Enchanted Forest". Really nice. I am just doing a plain toe-up but I may incorporate a little cable or something just for fun.

Saturday I needed to shop for S's birthday gift, although I did find something on the internet for him but I'm not entirely sure it'll be here in time so I wanted a back-up gift. I had gone through my clothes and found that I am able to wear all of my jeans! Yay me!! So to celebrate I went out and bought a couple things -- a really cool pair of embellished jeans and a few tops. And Sunday I went through my closet and got rid of some "fat" pants and a few shirts and sweaters that I don't wear. Not as much as I wanted to get out of there but it's a start.

No wonder I go crazy in February

Clouds, fog, more snow predicted for this weekend. No wonder I always want a vacation in February. It's dismal around here!! The good news is that I can tell it's getting a teensie bit lighter day by day.

I am working from home today. I've got a big programming project I am tackling. Learning PHP programming by myself, from a book. NOT easy. I got so frustrated yesterday. I couldn't stop thinking about it last night and it took me ages to get to sleep. I believe I have a solution to one of my problems and so I will tackle that first thing. I have to keep thinking of this project in little bites rather than thinking of the whole entire package or I will go nuts for sure. One little step at a time is the key to success. And I was sure I had step one done only to find a stumbling block yesterday and now I have to start all over. My husband is working in his shop today so that leaves me with a nice quiet house and I should be able to get lots done. Fingers crossed!!

Still haven't finished the pedicure socks. I'm working on the cuff ribbing and the yarn keeps on coming. Those little balls have a surprising amount of yarn on them! I only wish now I had made the foot a bit longer but had I done them top down I wouldn't have known how tall to make the cuff so .... there ya go. Next time I will know. And since I love Koigu so much it's super nice to know I can get a decent pair out of one skein. In fact, if the cuff is long enough I will know that I can get a short pair of whole socks out of one skein ... yeah.

Still hoping to resurrect the Sizzle this weekend. I don't have much else going on except to shop for my husband's birthday gift. And I might be able to get that on line.

So much better

Yeah ... I drove in today. The thermometer was showing about 30 degrees this morning and there was ice on the banister on the front porch. AND foggy still. We have a burn ban again - I don't know how many days in a row it's been. Lucky for us we have a gas fireplace. And lucky for me I don't still live in my little house because I used to use my wood fireplace a lot during this time of the year. So I gave up biking, I'll run at lunch and I'm nice and comfy right now instead of thawing out.

Yesterday evening was the premier of the new season of 'Lost' so there wasn't much knitting done. I did finish up the gusset decreases and work on the cuff of the pedicure socks for the first hour during the re-cap episode, but once the new stuff started I quit knitting so I didn't miss a thing! Surprisingly I'm going to have plenty of yarn to make a decent leg on the pedi socks. I am using just one skein of Koigu and it's going to be plenty. That's nice to know.

I really do want to pick up my 'Sizzle' again since I'm going down to see my sister in a few weeks and it would be nice to be able to give it to her. When I finish these socks I will measure out the rest of the matching yarn and see if I can finish up the fronts without having to change to a different dye lot. If I can't then I won't give it to her because there is too much of a difference. It won't be bad if I just the other dye lot for the trim but I can't just switch it up on the shoulders because it would be ugly.

Just in case you ever wondered ...

Here's a time saving tip. If the thermometer is reading below freezing, say 29 degrees, it is too cold to ride a bicycle. OMG!!! What was I thinking??? Despite the extra tights and scarf over my face and glove liners and fleece headband to cover my ears I still was freezing!! Half way in my hands were numb and hurting so badly. I didn't know whether to pull over and throw up or just start crying. I nixed the crying because I was afraid the tears would freeze on my face. Holy crap! I've been here at work now for almost 45 minutes and still my legs are cold. And I've changed out of my bike clothes!! I should have driven and believe me, next time it's this cold in the morning I will. Maybe if it hadn't been foggy as well .... or even a few degrees warmer. Yesterday it was like oh ... something over freezing and it was cold and uncomfortable but I didn't feel like I was going to throw up from it!

The temperature in my office is now seasonally appropriate so today I get to wear my lovely Shibu shrug. The only complaint I have about this yarn is that I get little silk slubs on my clothes from it. But the drape is wonderful.

I took it kind of easy on my hands last night and only knit for about an hour on the pedicure socks. I've brought them in for noon knitting today where I should be able to finish up the gusset decreases and whatever yarn is left over will be the leg. These are really going to come in handy.

I made reservations for part one of my February trip yesterday. I've got part 2 all reserved but I needed to get the local stuff nailed down. I reserved two nights in McMinnville, Oregon - February 14th and 15 and also managed to get reservations for Valentine's night dinner at a wonderful little French restaurant in McMinnville. Sunday we'll so do wine tasting down there in the Willamette Valley and on Monday we'll drive up to Long Beach, Washington and stay on the coast for a couple days. I got the same place we had last year about that time only this time I don't plan on being sick as a dog! That was the beginning of that horrible 8 weeks of whatever the heck that plague was last year.

A new bad experience

I know I have repeatedly complained that my hands hurt sometimes when I knit too much. However, I have never before been awakened out of a deep sleep because of it. That is until Sunday night. Saturday I did nothing but laze around and knit on the Rockstar. I didn't finish up the back but I got some very good work done on it. I finally got around to getting a little scale calibrated and I divided a skein of Koigu into two equal balls to make my first pair of pedicure socks. I was excited about it and while I watched the football game I had recorded (dang -- Arizona won, which means I have to root for the Steelers in the Super Bowl) I cast on and started the pedicure socks. On Sunday, after my run and washing my dirty little dog I sat down to watch the other football game and I finished up the foot part and started on the heel flap. The heel flap means purling and I guess I just overdid it because I woke up in such pain! It was a sharp shooting pain. I finally got up and took a Naproxen, which thankfully did the trick and I was able to rest. Did I knit on Monday or rest my hand? What do you think -- I finished up the heel flaps, turned both heels, picked up the gussets and got half way through the gusset decreases. My hand is fine. Weird.

Yesterday we had the day off for MLK day and S and I enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather and went down to the Pike Place Market for some shopping and a lovely lunch at Maximilien's Restaurant, a very French place. It was just yummy and the produce we bought down there was fantastic, of course. It was a lovely lovely day. Tinkie then got a nice walk when we got home and I got to knit some more. Nice weekend.

And of course today is a day to remember. S has a couple of friends over watching the inauguration on the big screen. I had to miss that but it's okay. I imagine I will get to see plenty of it. I really bundled up for my ride in today and the trail was practically empty. Nobody passed me coming my way and I only saw a few walkers and runners and maybe 5 bikes going the other way toward me. It was foggy and very cold. I dressed for it this time though - I had my face covered, extra tights on under my regular tights and a warmer shirt plus extra gloves. I was fine except it was hard to see through the fog. It's a loooooong winter. At least it's dry.

Well that just hurt!!

Wow. It is cold outside! I was in serious pain all the way in to work this morning. I had to stop and put on another pair of gloves underneath my regular ones because my fingers were getting numb! I've been in my office now for 45 minutes and my face is still cold to the touch. I can feel the tea as it makes it way down to my stomach. No record breaking speed today, that's for sure.

Last night I wove the ends in on the Noro socks and two pair of other ones that had been languishing in my socks basket. A pair of Crusoe made from Koigu and another pair of socks that was my first try at toe-up but with a short-row heel which I didn't like because it left gaps. Both of these sock yarns are also NOT superwash and if you think I'm washing my socks by hand ... well, hah! So I figured I'd go ahead and weave in those ends and I'll wash them in the washer and just make sure they don't go through the dryer. I didn't get around to measuring the left over Noro sock yarn so didn't cast on for pedicure socks and quite frankly I was just too groggy to knit on the Rockstar so after I finished my little weaving project I just watched TV and fell asleep at 9:30. Slept great, too!

Besides start some pedicure socks this weekend I'm going to try to finish off the back of the Rockstar and maybe, just maybe, cast on for the sleeves. We shall see. I have a long weekend but also have some projects to do around the house. Santa brought me a lovely HUGE external hard drive and so I'm going to move all my iTunes stuff (8 gigs of TV alone!) off my laptop and onto the hard drive. And then I'm going to buy more. wheee! Oooo .... I was telling my DH last night how blazing fast my friend Steve's new 3G iPhone is. We were up at his house on Sunday for a party and I was downloading some apps onto his phone for him and I was astonished at how fast it is. His wife was one of the very first to get an iPhone and hers is now almost 2 years old. She says his is WAY faster than hers. Mine is coming up on 1 year old and I want ... no, I need a bigger one. I was too anxious to wait a few days for the 16 gig version because I was sure 8 would be enough. Hah! and double hah! I want a 3G 32 gig version. I guess I could live with a 16.

An evening of LOST knitting

In preparation for the start of LOST on next Wednesday there were 3 hours of enhanced episodes last night. I thought it was only two and at 10 o'clock was ready for bed. S stayed up to finish watching but I couldn't keep my eyes open.

I finished the Noro socks last night. Still have to weave in the cuff and toe ends. As I suspected, they are just too bulky and too hot to be socks and will instead have to live out their lives as slippers. I think Noro sock yarn is more better suited to gloves or arm warmers or a wrap. Or if you were a sandals and socks person I guess they would work. I am pretty sure there is enough left over for pedicure socks. We'll soon find out.

It's still quite chilly but, thankfully, dry! I really noticed on my ride home last night that it's staying light longer. The trail is not pitch black at 4:30 any longer and that makes for a much nicer ride home. I wasn't as fast coming in today. I had a wicked bad night last night. Poor Tink -- I always let her outside before bed to take care of business and last night was no different except I did have to go out and physically shoo her in to the house. She was sitting up by the fire pit and didn't want to come in but I was ready for bed and didn't want S to have to chase come down and get her if she started to bark. So I went to bed and fell asleep and she woke me up 3 or 4 times from 11:30 to 2:30 yipping at the slider downstairs. I thought she had just heard something in the back yard and wanted to go investigate but by the 3rd or 4th time, at 2:30, I finally decided that she must have to go finish her business. Sure enough, I let her out for a few minutes and then she was ready to sleep. So I didn't get much rest last night and it was difficult to get out of bed and even more difficult to go out into the cold. I feel okay now but I know I'll sleep like a log tonight!

38 and 39

38 -- minutes it took me to bike in this morning. This is a new record. And I wasn't even trying for it! And 39 ... degrees outside. Talk about wind chill! Dang! My face was frozen. Thankfully I found a couple of guys to draft behind for a while near the end and it cut the wind chill significantly. Unfortunately they were super pokey so I had to go around. But it was nice relief while I had it.

The haircut is a huge success if I do say so myself! Test number one -- I took my bike helmet off, fluffed up the hair and it looks good! We'll see how it looks after a run but for now I am very very pleased. It is quick to dry and hoorah, my curls are back! It was just getting too long. I didn't feel like it ever looked good. I suppose I could have had more layers cut around the face but I was feeling it was time for a change. I don't think I've had it this short since 2000.

I am nearly finished with the Noro socks. I am now working on the leg. Because I made them two different sizes it's like I'm knitting the same pair of socks twice -- which I am! Because Noro sock yarn comes as 400 yards per skein, which is enough for a pair, and I was too lazy to wind out 200 yards of it so I could do two at once, this is the price I have to pay. My friend Peggy, when I told her that story, said something on the order of well, that wasn't much of a time saving, was it? And no, no it wasn't. The few minutes it would have taken me to wind out 200 yards ... *sigh* .... let's just say I won't be making that particular mistake again.

One other thing I love about toe-up socks -- you just knit until you either run out of yarn or until the leg is the right height. I am hoping I'll have enough yarn left over to make a pair of pedicure socks. This is my new thing and don't ask me why, except the last few times I've gone for a pedicure I've wished I had some. That's reason enough I suppose. I was doing a quick little inventory of my yarn last night while I was tidying up my office/yarn room and I've got some nice sock yarn but some only one skein where I'd need two to make a decent sized pair of socks. Perfect for some pedicure socks. In particular I have one skein of Koigu that I originally purchased as trim for Knitty's Tahoe, which I decided again because OMG, look at all that stockinette!! Arghghg! I'd go crazy with boredom. That Koigu would be lovely as a pair of pedicure socks.

I got my little February vacation finalized yesterday. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but my sister got a new job within her company - a horizontal move - but that changed her schedule. Previously she was going to be ready for a vacation February 22 through 28 but now she can't take the time off then. However, I had already made plans and was too invested to have to wait until March(!!) so what I'm going to do is spend most of the first week here with S and we'll go to Oregon and the coast here in Washington and then Thursday I'll fly down to California and spend a long weekend with my sis, then Monday fly to Phoenix and get some sun with my old friend Mikie in Phoenix and then Thursday fly back home and have another long weekend with S. At least I'll be away from home and, with any luck at all, get some sun. Not as good as a cruise or Hawaii but I will be away! And nice thing about my sister's new job -- she goes to London every year in October and next October I'm going to meet her over there for a few days. That'll be niccccceeee.

'Twas a dark and stormy night

Wow .... It rained and rained and blew and blew last night. The sounds of the storm kept waking me up. There were some incredible pictures on the news last night. The flooding around here has been just incredible! By "around here" I mean in the greater Seattle area and up into the mountains, NOT in my neighborhood. With the exception of a few storm drains that are plugged up, we're in pretty good shape. Wish I could say that for other parts of the city. What a mess. Thank goodness there was no rain this morning and I actually got to ride in for a change! Since I never did locate my old Garmin ... heaven only knows where that got to ... I bought a new Forerunner 301 which comes with a wireless heart rate monitor. I got the unit charged up last night but that was about it. I used it to time my ride this morning and later I'll fuss with the settings and, since I'm giving myself a day off of running, I won't be trying out the heart rate monitor until tomorrow. I have a lot of training to do -- the first race I'm signed up for is February 8 - four weeks from now. Which, coincidentally was the LAST race I ran last year. After that I got sick and then ... I never did catch up. I believe this model has a few more bells and whistles than the earlier one.

I knit on my socks last night until my hands hurt. That really makes me mad! Why do my hands hurt?? But I know better than to push it. If I stop when the pain starts then I can knit the next day. If not then I have to take time off, which would be very annoying. So I played Wii sports with S. I am such a geek.

The frustration meter continues to climb

Why? Because I couldn't bike today. It was blowing WAY too hard. So that means another run at lunchtime time today - 3rd day in a row. Thank goodness my knees and ankles are holding up so far. And truly it's not as if I'm a fair weather biker, but it's pitch black when I leave my house, I have to bike on the side of a very busy street before I get to the trail, AND I have to go down some really steep hills. When the weather is super bad it just makes it that much more dangerous (as if biking on the side of the road in the dark with big trucks whizzing past isn't dangerous enough). I could just see myself getting blown into the path of a speeding SUV along Sandpoint Way. Not my chosen way to leave this world. My DH volunteered to drive me in to work today and when I got up at 4 am to answer the call of nature and heard the wind howling outside I decided to take him up on it. I guess the bottom line is that I'd rather be alive and bitching than dead and not.

I frogged the Noro socks last night and re-started, toe-up two at a time (TUTAT). Here's the snag -- casting on both socks using the Turkish method [which I prefer to the figure 8, which leaves gaps]. I have come to the conclusion, after starting over 3 times, that one cannot use this cast on without starting one, taking it off (on a couple of spare DPNs) and starting the other, then slipping the first one back on. I tried several things, none of which worked and now I have one sock with two little inside-out rows at the very beginning of the toe. I will leave it as a reminder that perfection is not always possible -- plus which, okay okay, I just didn't want to start over a 4th time!!

I think the snow made me weak

Biking in was tops on my list of things to do today, especially since I was all psyched up about it Sunday night and had that nasty snow take away my bike ride. However the news kept showing another storm coming in, lots of rain and wind predicted. So when I woke up this morning and heard the rain pelting down on the skylight in the bathroom I threw in the towel and decided to drive AGAIN! By the time I was dressed and walking out the door the rain had stopped and it was only just misting all the way in! I was being a wimp! But oh I didn't want my first ride of the year to be a soaker. It is so uncomfortable for so long. I had it too easy all those years - that little 3 mile ride. I could ride in a gale and it wasn't any big deal because it only took about 12 minutes! But now .... 40 minutes. I've just gotten soft with two weeks off. If it's not pouring and blowing tomorrow morning I'm going to ride!

I was very very very tired yesterday. My cold - if that was what it was - seemed to have pretty much disappeared so I thought I might wake up a bit if I went outside and ran at lunchtime. It was a good run, considering that I had to practically threaten myself to get outside. I knew I would feel better if I got it over with and I did. Especially since I had to drive in. But oh ... when I got home it was all I could do to drag Tink around the neighborhood for 20 minutes. I was so sleepy! I managed to stay up until 9, knitting on my second Noro sock and watching an awesome Fiesta Bowl.

Something very strange happened with these socks though .... and I can't quite explain it but it does make me see that knitting socks at the same time is really the way to go. These two socks are just two different sizes - no other way to say it. I was working on that ribbing and I put sock 1 on my foot and sock 2 on my foot and holy cow! the first one was WAY bigger than the second. You're going to say - didn't you try the first one as you went? And the answer is yes yes yes of course I did! My only explanation for the difference in size, after pondering this mystery, is that I must have given myself too much ease on the foot part of the first sock. When you do toe up construction, in case this is new to you, you knit until the sock just reaches your leg on the top and then you knit back and forth on the bottom heel part, then turn the heel and do the gusset. I must not have been paying close attention and I went too many rows past where it meets my leg, then made the heel too deep causing me to have more stitches to pick up and therefore the heel was taller than it should be, causing it to be bigger. I was measuring just parts of the sock against each other as I went along with sock 2 and hadn't really held them up side by side until last night. Such a rookie mistake! There is a silver lining to this little disaster. Now I can do toe up two at once. I will simply start unraveling the first sock and knitting directly from it and the second one I can just wrap around the left over skein and go from there.

After discovering this travesty I tossed them aside and picked up the Rockstar again. See my little lifelines? I am 70 rows in to the back. I have 40 more rows to go and then I start the armhole decreases. This is going to be so pretty!

Happy New Year!

I was looking forward to a fancy-schmancy party for New Years this year, but things got switched up and we ended up babysitting. It wasn't so bad and since they stayed up late they slept in late as well. I was deep into sock knitting this long weekend. Having finally finished the brown socks I was able to take out my gorgeous Noro sock yarn and get to work. It knits up fast! I finished one sock and I could have finished the other one yesterday evening but my hand was getting sore so I put it down. I may even have enough yarn left over to make some pedicure socks. I want to experiment doing toe-up construction, 2 at a time. If I make pedicure socks at least I can experiment with picking up the gusset stitches. I can do it top down so there's no reason why I can't do it bottom up, is there?

Yesterday I woke up all stuffy and sneezing and thought at first that it was some sort of allergic reaction, but by the late afternoon I realized that it was a cold coming on like gangbusters. I took nighttime cold medicine before crawling into bed and I woke up today feeling just okay. It hasn't gotten any better but, on the good side, hasn't gotten any worse either.

We got another nasty surprise yesterday - more snow! Yes ... MORE SNOW! I couldn't believe it. I had gotten my bike all cleaned up, the tires freshly pumped, and I was SO looking forward to riding in today since it has warmed up and the snow was finally gone from the streets. But that was then. It started last night and we got more than two inches. S had to be downtown this morning at 7 so he was up at 5 and got out no problem. It is warm and so all of that snow is now slush. I couldn't bike but at least I could drive in it and after I got out of the neighborhood it was just fine. Maybe I can run at lunchtime if my cold is not too bad.

Finished the socks

Woohoo! I am SO glad to be done with those socks. I still have to graft the toes, but that'll only take a few minutes. I loved working with the yarn, a bamboo cotton blend, but the colors weren't really up my alley. I picked the brown/cream/green combo because I thought it was more manly than the others and S does have a lot of brown socks. But since it is variegated it looks more like camouflage than anything else. Oh well, he can wear them as slippers. I am convinced that once my guy owns and wears a pair of hand knit socks he's going to be bugging me forever more to make him another pair. Just wait.

I haven't knit much on the Rockstar Jacket lately. I am 60 rows in to the back piece - about half way to the first armhole decreases. I was just remarking a couple days ago that I believe this is the first pattern that I have picked up and started working on soley because I want the garment and not because I want to knit it. That might not make sense to a non-knitter but I am sure you all understand what I mean. And I really truly can't wait to wear this garment! It's going to be really cool.

Yesterday at noon I went for a run. The rain had stopped and the trail looked snow and ice free, so off I went. What I didn't notice (because it was sunny for a change) is that it was quite windy. I might even say VERY windy! I sw a woman nearly get blown off her bicycle. She had to put her foot down to keep from going over. I was working quite hard running into the head wind although coming back was pretty nice. Kind of like flying.

The garbage still hasn't been picked up and with the wind now some people have quite the mess brewing. I think S is going to take matters into his own hands today and take a load to the dump. Because of the snow and the lack of pick-up they are accepting it for free. Hopefully he can help a few of the neighbors out as well because according to their web site this morning we're not due to get a pick up until Friday.

The mail was finally delivered yesterday but my Christmas package from my sister, that should have arrived last Tuesday, was too big for the box to S had to go out to the post office to pick it up. I got to stretch my Christmas out like a birthday week.

Time for another cup of tea.

Thank goodness it stopped snowing!

Wow! I didn't think it was ever going to stop snowing but finally it did ... Friday. There is still snow on the side streets - or I should say slush. I couldn't ride my bike today because all of the smaller streets that I take down to the trail are impassible by bike. But I drove in just fine and I'll run at lunchtime to make up for the lost bike ride. Here's a picture of the snow again - this one taken on Christmas Eve day. The Christmas Eve parties we were going to were canceled, which was just fine with me since I hate going out in the snow, especially at night. I am just kicking myself about the garage. There is another door to the left - a 3 car garage. You'd think that after being in the house for nearly 5 months that the garage would be ready to receive vehicles, wouldn't you? And to be perfectly frank it is nearly there but for one run to Goodwill and a bike rack. We could have squeezed the two cars in there without too much fuss except that S had purchased a new sound system and special ordered four cases to carry around the speakers. These cases need to have fittings and foam made and inserted into them and so they are what is taking up the space in the garage rather than our cars! Oh yeah, but next time we're going to be ready. yeah ... next time.

The knit hats were a huge success. Santa brought me a Wii game system but some of my holiday long weekend that I had counted on as quality knitting time went to playing video games instead. I'm not complaining - it was fun. I did pick up those socks that I had been knitting a bit on for my DH and just knit on them exclusively. I want to use that gorgeous Noro sock yarn my Birthday Pal sent me last August but I've got to finish his socks first. I am just starting on the toe decreases so hopefully I can finish those up tonight.

It's pretty quiet here at work but I am glad to be away from the house after the forced time at home last week. My DH's son is staying with us on his vacation from school and it is a vacation for me to get away from him! Two weeks is definitely a week and a half too long for me to have a house guest that never leaves the house.

Somehow my office has gotten very very very hot while I was gone. The heating guys came by right after I moved in at my request because it was like a sauna in here. Supposedly he turned the temperature down in the office next to mine which is where the control is for both of them. But it's awful in here now and I can see that the air is not circulating. No window to open .... I am dying! I'd take my cardigan off except I just have a little cami underneath and it's not really office attire. This is as hot as the Annex!

Snow Day

Well, here it is Monday. I worked at home last Thursday and Friday because it had snowed, the roads were icy and I don't drive in the snow and I had everything I needed her at home. And despite the dire weather forecasts I didn't really believe that it would snow again and so much! We have eight inches here and they closed the UW today. The Seahawks had a game yesterday but I just couldn't face the cold and snow even though it was Holmgren's last home game and Brett Favre was playing. We won, too. But I watched from the warmth and comfort of my home.

My DH chained up my little car yesterday in anticipation of driving me to work today, but since I didn't have to go he went out Christmas shopping. I walked the dog and then walked down to a local store to do some last minute things. After I finish this post I'm going to do what I have been doing every evening and all of Saturday and Sunday -- knit. Only this time I'm knitting for me! I have knit four hats since Wednesday evening. One each evening except Saturday and Sunday when I was working only on one of them and my Rockstar. I made a little ribby hat, the Beanpole Beanie, an Asymetrical Cable Hat from a one skein bok and an earflap hat from some other one skein book. I also crocheted two bath mitts. I was going to do two more but I am just finished working for other people. It's just for me for a while. Here are the pictures of the hats.

Success

After ripping back the Rockstar Cardigan/Jacket one more time, I finally got a good start on it. Two things were happening that messed me up. First of all I (of course) made a little mistake when I translated the chart, putting an "End K1" at the end of the charted rows as well as the purl rows. That's wrong. Second, nowhere does it tell you that the stitch count changes in your 12 stitch pattern repeat. So when I came across on that row and found that I was short a stitch right before the first marker I pondered whether to go on or not. I was 100% sure I had done the previous row correctly and that the stitch count was right so I just moved the markers as I came to them by one stitch and what do think? It ended up right. This is an important piece of information that I think the designers should have mentioned, don't you? I probably didn't need to rip it out the first two times!

This weekend I got through one 20 row repeat, put in a lifeline (my first) and started on my second. I should have taken pictures but I simply couldn't get out of bed this morning! I kept hitting the alarm. So much so that when I did finally drag my lazy behind out of bed I had to rush through my shower, skip washing my hair and was 10 minutes late to work. I drove in because it's 20 degrees outside. NOT biking weather unless you relish losing your nose to frostbite. We got a little bit of snow Saturday and word has it that another storm is coming in tomorrow. I worked from home yesterday because my servers were being moved and I had taken the precaution of bringing home my sites so I could work on them in case of bad weather. I think I should do the same thing tonight.

It is lucky I was home yesterday though because Sunday night Tink started messing with her right ear. I took a look at it and it was red, stinky and when I tried to clean it out some pretty yucky stuff came out. I called the vet first thing Monday and they fit us in. Turns out she has yeast and staph infection in her ear! Poor thing. They gave me some medicine and she's pretty good about me putting it in there. I think it probably feels pretty good.

And the word is ....

weather. Supposedly it's catching up to us. Winter, that is. The forecast is for very cold temperatures and maybe snow. By "very cold" I mean well below freezing. By Sunday the predicted high is 29 and low 18. For us that is VERY cold! Right now it's only in the low 40s and I rode in with little discomfort. I did, however, ask my DH to be ready with the van this afternoon in case it starts pouring and blowing and I want a ride home.

I am very close to finishing My So Called Scarf. I can do that at lunchtime today. I worked on it last night as well. When that's done I think I'll start on a hat. I'm just going to make a bunch of stuff and then decide who gets it. I do want to start on the Rockstar again this weekend. Saturday we're going to get the tree and put it up, and I've got to get the majority of my shopping done, or at least all the presents for California. I am tentatively scheduled to rehearse with my old band - the rock band - but I haven't heard yet from the leader and if it's snowing there's no way I'm going out to his place. He lives way out near Canyon Park and at the top of a very steep hill. I don't drive in the snow. That would leave me all Saturday night to knit on gifts and then maybe Sunday I can find a little time in the day and knit on it in the living room with the natural light and quiet. I just need to get a good start on it - oh, and check the gauge. The reason I'm not doing a "real" gauge swatch is that I already swatched for this. The yarn wasn't exactly the same, but close enough.

I ran at lunch yesterday. That was a big day - bike ride both ways and a run - but I'm doing okay. I was a little sore yesterday but hopefully I can keep it up. If my knees and/or ankles start to bother me then I'll just drive in two days a week and run on those days. Maybe it is too much to do the bike ride AND the run, but if I can do it I sure would like to. It's not that I don't have the energy, it's that my knees and ankles get a little sore. I've injured myself before and I know how long you have to be out of commission so that's why I'm super careful. There are certain kinds of pain that you just don't work through. That I learned the hard way!

Still missing

Still no sign of my Garmin. I have looked everywhere I can even imagine putting the thing, as well as in my car in case it fell out of the bag. I am just at a loss! I am sure I didn't have it in my bag when I went up to the post office to send off my sister's birthday present on Tuesday. I was going to use it but it seemed silly since I wasn't running. So I remember taking it out of the bag and putting it next to my camera. And that's the last time I remember touching it. I do remember picking my camera back up and putting it in the bag to go home and I think I remember picking up the GPS as well. And when I came home I had the new yarn and the camera and the GPS and I took them and the bag upstairs. I put the yarn on the yarn shelf, the camera on the shelf where it belongs and I should have put the Garmin in my bike helmet. But obviously I did not. I'm going to give it a few days and maybe it'll turn up. I hate to buy another one. I just got this one a couple months ago! So today I'll have to use my Sponge Bob digital watch for my run. I already signed up for the St. Patrick's Day race - they were having a deal if you signed up before the end of December. But the next race I'll actually run will be the February Love 'em or Leave 'em which, coincidentally, is the last race I ran last year! I was signed up for the St. Patrick's Day race last year but I got sick right after the February race and I couldn't run in March, I was still sick in April I remember because my sister came up to do wedding stuff and I went to the doctor while she was there. And then ... well, there was too much other stuff to do. So now I'm back in training and I've paid the fee, so I'll be running in March for sure!

Last night I decided to start/swatch for the Rockstar. I have 10 balls of Kid Classic in an olive green that will be perfect. I cast on 99, did the purl set up row and then started on the lace pattern. But I didn't get more than six rows in when I discovered I was off even though I put markers between each repeat. I messed it up further trying to fix the mistake so I just ripped it out and I'll start over. Probably not tonight though. This is a project where I need to sit quietly and get it started without TV or the dog bugging me. I have plenty of easy present projects to do and that's what I should be doing, not starting something else. But knitting isn't really about should, is it? It's about doing what's fun. So yeah ... if I feel up to it I'll probably try starting it again tonight. I am that perverse.

The indecision is killing me!

I cannot decide what to make next! It's making me crazy! The alpaca scarf I'm making is, of course, not for me because I can't wear alpaca. I love to knit with it because it's so soft, but once it's next to anything other than my hands, the itching is just awful. So that'll be a Christmas gift. And I have a couple others in mind so I don't have to make a decision right now. I do have knitting to do. I am going to write out the charts for the Rockstar and maybe, just maybe, I'll start a piece of that this weekend.

This is a frustrating morning. First of all I couldn't find my Garmin. I brought it work for my run on Monday when I drove and I know I had it yesterday in the same bag as Monday because I drove in yesterday as well. And I remember taking it out of the bag but for the life of me I can't remember where I put it!! I was running up and down the stairs looking everywhere for it this morning and in that ensuing chaos managed to grab the wrong set of keys. So when I got to the bike rack and reached into the pocket of my back pack I found ... no office keys. No bike lock keys. I hate starting the day off like that. On the good side, it's still mild outside and it wasn't raining.

She did it!!

I shall now call her The Amazing Monika. She threaded my needle through a row of stitches, I ripped it back at lunchtime on Friday and by Saturday I had finished knitting it and Sunday put on some fringe. I really should learn how she does that because it's a very handy skill to have! Here's the finished product. The drape is just wonderful. I am going to keep my eyes peeled from now on and nab any and all of this gorgeous yarn I can. I wish I had taken the time to do a fancier stitch but on the other hand, the beaded strand could be a little tricky to work with even in this easy stitch. Lace would be a real challenge.

Not one but two FOs this weekend - I also finished up my Liesel, after a whole year. I have discovered that I am not a chart person. After printing out the written pattern for this it just flew off my needles. That means that I'm going to have to translate the charts for the Frost Flowers Stole (yes, Nonnahs, I am in the mood for lace, it seems). I unearthed the pattern for the Rockstar Cardigan (looks like they renamed it "jacket") and the yarn I purchased for it this weekend and I will write out those charts as well. It makes most sense to start that project rather than purchase more yarn. I do want to work from stash.

But before I do that I'm going to cast on for yet another scarf tonight. I know, I'm not usually a scarf knitter but I bought some yarn that would be perfect for My So Called Scarf and it would make a perfect gift. I honestly don't think I could part with these two new ones - silk and cashmere. Who but a knitter would appreciate all the work and the yarn-y goodness?

I gave Tink a bath on Friday after work and Saturday it wasn't raining so we went to Greenlake for a nice, long walk (along with a billion other people). I was so proud of my pretty, white doggie. So cute and clean. We passed two other Westies, both white and clean as well. But what did my nice clean dog do? I am sure you can guess. She found a nice, large pile of duck poo and put her shoulder in it and smeared it from neck to tail! I wasn't quick enough. Usually I can see her ducking her shoulder to take a roll and I can halt it, but I was distracted and away she went! Much to the amusement of the people walking by us, we made our way around the lake. Lucky for me I had a towel in the back of the car and covered the seat. Then, after I got the groceries into the house into the sink she went and I gave her another bath and the rest of the evening I didn't let her off her long line.

On Saturday I also bought a few Christmas-y decorations for the house - a wreath, some garland, a Poinsettia, and yesterday bought some outdoor lights. I have wanted to have lights on my house forever but never had a guy who was willing. But S will do it! AND he said last night that I didn't buy enough. I was just thinking of putting it over the 30 feet of porch, but he says it should go all the way across the 3 garages as well, so he's going to get more today. I can't wait!!!

The effects of growing as a knitter

Ah ... that scarf. That silly, simple fishnet scarf. I worked a few more rows on it last night but kept laying it out on the back of the couch and scrutinizing the wonky bit from the night before. Yes, it's going to be at the back of my neck. BUT, I'll know it's there! I'll know that if I don't don it correctly the mistake will be visible. See, now a couple of years ago I wouldn't have thought twice about it. But now it is eating away at me. My friend Monika has the eye. You know what I mean - she's the type of person who can look at your knitting and say .. "Oh, I see what you did". Me? All I see is a mistake! I can tink back and pick up a YO, but that's about as far as I go. Or I can weave my needle through plain stockinette and rip back, but if it's rib -- forget about it. Bless her generous heart and keen eye - she has volunteered to try to weave the needle through a good row so I can rip back to before the mistake. Let's all wish her luck. I know that I can't do it and if she can't I am afraid I'm going to have to rip that thing out and start all over. Sure, it's a simple scarf but the time! I've spent several entire evenings over this. I refuse to waste this gorgeous (and expensive) yarn though so it must be done. Maybe I'll pick up the Leisel again in the meantime if I do have to start all over.

My DH had another late evening in Tacoma last night at a show and an early meeting there today so he spent the night down there in a hotel and I had the house all to myself last night. Well, me and Tink. For some reason I was very low energy on my ride home last night. That hill up from the trail just killed me! But Tink got her walk and I made a little dinner then knit and watched some TV. But I couldn't warm up! I drank a couple cups of tea but that wasn't doing it for me, so we went upstairs and I cuddled under the comforter and watched some TV and read until I could sleep. He won't be home until very late tonight so I guess it'll be the same routine. Except Tink is getting a bath for sure!

Pay attention!!

I am SO mad at myself. Last night I was working on the fishnet lace scarf I'm making out of the Artyarns Beaded Silk. It's simple -- one row of k2tog yo and one row of knitting. Just to make positive sure I keep a counter on one needle and switch back and forth from 1 to 2 - pattern row and knit row. Fool proof, right? Well, not for THIS fool! I was just coming to the end of my first skein and wasn't sure if I had enough yarn to make it across one last time. Since this yarn is so precious I thought I'd give it a try but somewhere near the middle of the row it was apparent I wasn't going to make it. So I grabbed the end of the second skein and knit a stitch with the old yarn and the new one together, as I normally do, then dropped the old yarn and picked up the new one and knit to the end of the row but when I got to 3 stitches to the end I thought I was off a stitch. Now here's where I went wrong -- what I should have done is look at my stitch counter to see what row I was on and then double check that by looking at the end of the scarf because I can tell by where the starting tail is hanging. I didn't do that. No. I started tinking back, assuming I was on a 1 row when I was on a 2 row. What a mess!! I finally took the needle out and ripped back until I could see a pretty clear row of loops and then fed the needle through them, hoping for the best. To my credit I managed to get all but 3 squares of the pattern right but those six stitches, after going back across, are just not right. I can't bring myself to rip the thing out again. That's an entire skein, one half of the scarf. I rationalize it this way - when I'm wearing the scarf the wonky row will be at my neck, under my hair and nobody will see it. I'm just so mad at myself though!

I have decided to resurrect Liesel. The last time I worked on it was when I was in California last Christmas and I thought I had goofed it up while I was knitting at my sister's and the wind was blowing and I had my contacts in and got something in them. But when I took it out yesterday to look at it and counted the stitches it looked fine to me. Anyway the yarn is 100% cashmere and it would be a great Christmas gift if I don't keep it myself. (How many scarfs can a girl use?) I hate working from charts though so I painstakingly wrote out the 10 rows of the pattern and then found that the designer had already done it. That's what I'm going to do for the Frost Flowers Stole - I'm going to write out the pattern rather than trying to work with the chart because charts drive me crazy.

It's gotten a little bit colder here. Still there is no snow in the mountains, which is a shame for the skiers. But as I was leaving this morning I saw the neighbor across the street scraping ice off their car windows and I could see frost on roofs on the way to work. The wind chill was biting. Thank goodness I start my ride uphill so I can warm up quickly.

Happy Birthday to you & The Action Plan

First up -- a happy birthday shout out to you-know-who-you-are. Just in case you check in ... I didn't forget. Cheers!

And now on to The Action Plan. As you may or may not know, Seattle is a rather dark place from November until March. We're northerly and so it is dark before 5 already and we're not even at the shortest day of the year. Add into the equation the cloudy days and there you go - dark and gloomy. After the holidays things get rather depressing around here and I always like to have a winter vacation to look forward to. Skiing is always a good way to chase the winter blues but my DH does not ski. Add into that the fact that he works a lot and usually on the weekends, so skiing weekends are not going to do it for me. I need a real vacation. So I've made a 10 week plan.

Step 1 - Get back to my real weight so I can wear more than one pair of my jeans. Considering that I bike 16 miles a day, all it's going to take is a little calorie counting and I should be on track and back into the nice jeans in 10 weeks.

Step 2 - Don't waste any more vacation days!! I am going to forgo my usual two week Christmas and New Years holiday and instead just take the one day after Christmas and the one day after the 1st. That way I won't have to spend much time with the house guest, and I'll still get two 4-day weekends in a row and save myself 3 vacation days so that...

Step 3 - by February I'll have more than enough to take two weeks. The DH and I will take a week and do something locally like go to the ocean or up to Canada or down to Oregon, whatever he wants. And the following week I'll go down to California and my sister and I can do something fun like take a cruise or go someplace and have a girly time.

I feel a million times better!

Now on to something more serious - what am I going to knit next?? I finished up the last mitt and I re-started the scarf I was knitting with the gorgeous Artyarns Beaded Silk. I am just doing a garter stitch edge with a fishnet type lace insides because this yarn is so beautiful and the drape is so incredible that I wanted it to be super simple but get the most length I could get out of the two skeins. That's just simple, mindless TV knitting. Yes I KNOW I have WIPs to pick up, but forget that for now. I want to start something. I am considering the Modern Quilt Wrap if my LYS has enough of the right colors to make it in their coned English mohair. Not that I don't love Kidsilk Haze, but I am NOT buying over $100 of yarn for a scarf/wrap. That's insane. Or I could take a deep breath and tackle the Frost Flowers Stole. I can't decide!

It was a trying holiday

I wish I could say that I had an absolutely fabulous staycation and that Thanksgiving was grrrreat but, not really. My husband's son came to stay a day earlier than planned, which did not please me. With him, a little goes a loooong way. I do not enjoy spending my vacation running a hotel, if you catch my drift. I made the best of it, tried to keep a good attitude and drank lots of champagne.

I kept to my plan and made lots of side dishes on Wednesday so that I only had to get up at 8 Thursday morning(!) to get the turkey going. I managed to grab another few minutes in bed after that but was all apron-ed up by 10, working on the rest of the meal. I had two tables set - one for the little kids and one for the adults. At the last minute both the son and the daughter showed up with uninvited guests!! I am all for 'the more the merrier' but uninvited guests? Not so much. I was SO angry. I tried to point out to my DH how rude that was and he did tell them, but I don't believe it made any difference to either of them. If I had known I would have given the children paper plates or small plates but I didn't, so there weren't enough plates, nor places for them to sit so I had a couple at the table in the other dining room, and my DH sat at the table with the little kids. At least the meal was good, but the way people were bossing me around -- maybe in a few weeks ( or months ... or years) I will find the humor, but at one point my step-daughter's MIL said "I'll have coffee with my meal" and I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying "OH, well I'll get right on that". Good heavens. I don't know .... is it me? Am I really too fussy? I just think there's such a thing as manners and you should bring them out at every occasion, whether it's family or not!

Here I just got back from "vacation" and I don't feel like it at all. I haven't been away since May when we went for that week in Hawaii! Sure I've had time off work but not away. I miss my sister. I think part of the bad Thanksgiving experience was not having MY family around. I would rather have been all alone with my friends in Paris than slaving away at home without my sister and nephews. And the thought of having to repeat the whole thing in another few weeks is not making me any happier. Okay .. end of rant.

I finished up my February Lady Sweater and it's on my floor drying. The buttons are going to look great on it and if it's dry tonight I'll put them on and take another picture. I am currently in big fat pig mode, so there will be no pictures of it on me for a while. I have started a walk on the straight and narrow and until I can get back into ALL my jeans there will be no pictures. Anyway ... I like this pattern a lot and I think I will try it again but next time use a steek down the front and do stockinette for the yolk rather than garter. I have some of that beautiful Cash Iroha left over from the Hemlock Ring Blanket and I've got .. I think it's Silver Thaw that would harmonize with it. I could use the Cash Iroha for the yolk and the Silver Thaw for the body. Hmmmm ... I also finished two pair of mitts and I am nearly done with the LAST pair. Just a few more rows on the hand, bind off and then knit the two thumbs and we're done. I think I'll buy some really decadent yarn with the money. I can't decide what to knit next. I think I should knit from stash. I could do the Rock Star Cardigan I've been saving for ... how many years?

Day 1 of my staycation

Stupid word, I know ... "staycation". I read it somewhere but I can't remember where. But since I am having a vacation and not going anywhere (again!) that is what we're going to call it.

Day 1 -- slept in. Looked at my iPhone and saw a message from my chairman needing help. What the heck - I can't deny him a little bit of help, considering his own secretary is that lame .... And the rest of my day I will knit and do laundry and run a few errands. I will of course be cooking a big meal on Thursday and this year I'm going to be smart about it and do some of the things that can be reheated the day before, like the potatoes. That way the only last minute thing I'll have to do is the gravy. I am a few rows from being done with the fourth pair of mitts. I did almost an entire one in two hours while watching a football game. I moved up a needle size from the original pattern, cast on 10 fewer stitches, they look great and just fly off the needles. I think I'll wind the final two balls of yarn this afternoon as well and see if I can knock them out in as many days.

I tried on the February Lady Sweater yesterday, trying to figure out how long to make the sleeves. I am considering bracelet length, like the pattern.

Well, time to hit the shower.

A better genius

As much as I love the Genius feature on iTunes, I found that I was hearing too much of the same songs over and over again. Maybe as it evolves it will be better and be able to dig deeper but for now it was getting monotonous. Then my friend turned me on to Pandora, radio from the Music Genome Project. My iPhone has a Pandora app and I don't think I've listened to any songs on my iPhone since I downloaded that. It is just incredible! It streams so I am not paying for time, since I've got unlimited internet access on my iPhone. You type in a song, or the name of an artist or choose a genre and name the station, for example I have The Fray station. Then it starts off with a Fray song or two, then puts something else in the mix that is like that. It's a good way to expand your musical knowledge. I just love it!! It's free, which is a bonus. I can listen to it at work - it can play in the background while you're working on something else. Or it will make a general mix of everything you have indicated you like.

So now that I'm not listening to as much music on my iPhone I have been downloading audiobooks and TV episodes. I've become a HUGE fan of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I have downloaded and watched the first two seasons, watched a couple of the current (4th) season on TV and this weekend will download the 3rd season to my iPhone so I can be caught up. It is, without a doubt, the funniest show in TV as far as I'm concerned. It's howlingly funny. It's extreme and not for everybody but I find it hilarious.

I finished up the 3rd pair of mitts at lunchtime yesterday and was going to work on my cardigan last night but I found the new Interweave Knits magazine on the table when I got home so there was no knitting, but plenty of reading about it. Tonight I can finish going through it and then knit some. And it's vacation!! So I'll have 2 weekends and a whole entire week in the middle to just knit and play ... oh, and cook a huge meal.

It was a record!

I don't know why I felt so good yesterday evening, but I zipped home! I made the whole trip, door to door, in 48 minutes. That is astonishing -- it's the fastest I've done it since we moved and I didn't feel like I was pushing it or anything unusual. I mean, it still hurt and I was still huffing and puffing mightily. Part of it was that I left while it was still light and it wasn't pouring rain. For whatever reason -- I'm just happy that I had such a good ride.

I finished up the second mitt of the 3rd pair, except for the thumbs which I hope to be able to do at lunchtime today, since it's now storming like crazy and my idea of walking up to the bank and the yarn store have pretty much gone by the wayside. At this rate I will easily have the other three pair finished by the end of the month.

I was admiring Knitting Like Crazy's "Hey Teach" and I am going to put it in my Ravelry queue to replace the other cardigan, Bianca's Jacket, I was going to make with my straw colored Ella Rae Shibu. Bianca's Jacket is very pretty and would look nice with that yarn, but I like Hey Teach better.

WooHoo!!

Yesterday was moving day! I didn't even cast a backwards glance at the Annex, where I have been exiled for the past year and a half. My office leaves much to be desired, on one hand, but on the other hand I'm back in the main building and we have a nice new department. My space wasn't remodeled but I just like being back where there are people and I can walk down the hall to get some hot water for my tea and have a little chat. There is much tweaking left to be done in my space - shelving to come down and reconfigure, for example. I would dearly love to have it painted but I doubt that is in the budget. I am going to ask if I can at least have two of the walls painted. The ceiling is so high that it would be very difficult for me to do it myself. Who knows what this was originally, but I remember when it was a programmer's office, back in the day. It was a microscope facility as well. There are ducts above my head and a fan system that keeps it as warm as a sauna in here. That is one thing it has in common with my Annex space. That was so hot over there that I always had the window open and the fan going. Unfortunately the way it is set up here I have no place to put my oscillating fan, so I'm stuck unless I can find a smaller one. I sure don't want a box fan.

Last night I finished mitt number 1 of the third pair and cast on and did five rows of the second one. I just admired my February Lady Sweater and stroked it a few times. Maybe I'll do a few rows on the sleeves tonight. I was just exhausted yesterday evening. The move took a lot out of me for some reason, even though I didn't move the furniture myself.

I notice on Ravelry that two people have cast on for the Frost Flowers Shawl. Still no pictures and one person said it took her 2 and 1/2 hours to cast on! I can believe it. The key to this project will be markers and more markers.

The weather is still quite nice and warm and we haven't had any rain for a few days. The leaves are falling and I can see many more homes off the trail now than I could when I started riding in from Cedar Park. Beauties that overlook the lake. In some places the leaves cover the trail, making an orange, slick path. One of the few times I have ever fallen off my bike was on leaves, slick with rain and slime. That made me extra careful this time of year. There are plenty of leaves left yet and maybe one or two more storms and they will be gone and the trees bare. It was two years ago about this time that I visited London and Paris for a quick week. The weather in London was freakishly warm and I remember that the trees in St. James Park had most of their leaves still. It was so warm that I was walking around in jeans and a sweater, with just a pashmina throw for extra warmth. And I didn't really even need that. It was really odd. Nice little vacation though. I loved the hotel. And the company.

Two down, four to go

It was a productive weekend, knitting-wise. I finished up the first two pair (of the six I have promised) of fingerless mitts on Saturday. While I love doing two at once on two circulars I have decided to do this next pair one at a time on one circular. I think that the constant shuffling around of the yarns negates any time saving from doing them at the same time. Since I am not likely to have an attack of SSS, or in this case SMS, I am going to cast on this lunchtime for the first one of the third pair and see how long it takes me.

Also this weekend I finished the body of the February Lady Sweater and started on the first sleeve. I was going to do them two at a time as well, but just figured the aggravation would definitely not be worth it. I am so glad I bought all of that Cashmerino. I will have plenty in case I want to make the sleeves long and I have made the body nice and long. Those antique buttons are going to be very nice. I anticipate using this sweater a lot this fall and winter.

The weather was just lovely this weekend - not cold, not raining and it would be foggy in the morning and then sunshine in the afternoons -- the short afternoons but still. On Sunday we walked the perimeter of the back garden fence and plugged up any likely looking hole with pieces of firewood from the stash the people left us for the backyard fire pit (which we haven't used even once yet!). We're still not sure where Tinkerbell escaped from, but any place she could even maybe squeeze out of was plugged up. And oh was she happy! She spent a lot of time walking her property and just laying in the grass on the upper lawn. She was a happy happy puppy!

Tomorrow I finally get to move out of the Annex and back into the Health Sciences Building. My new office was cleaned out and the floors washed Thursday evening. When I went in there Friday .... ooo, the stink!! It was awful! I had the door propped open and came in this weekend to put up a Wallflower and when I cam in Sunday it wasn't too bad. The fan was at least working and the horrible smell was gone. This will be the first time I am in a place with no windows. It was my choice however. The other office I could have had was very nice with lots of windows and everything new. The downside was that it was directly in line with the door to the main office and right next to the mailboxes. I would have gone crazy from the noise. I am so used to working in quiet. I rarely even play music unless I'm doing just the dullest of chores. So this is for the best. And around here you just never know. I could be moved out to another space any time. So -- today after a morning meeting I will be moving my own books and small things up to my office so when the movers come tomorrow morning all they have to do is bring my computers and furniture. At least this new room is large enough for me to have a table and two chairs besides my desk and return. And now when students come by they will have someplace to sit and review their exams or take an exam or whatever. And I will have a place to sit for meetings.

I just plain couldn't see!

It was a nightmare trying to get home last night. Even though it wasn't raining it was so darned dark on the trail. I couldn't see and I would get right up on runners before I even noticed them. It was VERY nerve wracking. I finally figured it out -- my light was losing power! The batteries were running out and my little circle of light kept getting smaller and smaller. I started to pull over 3 times to call home and ask to be rescued but kept thinking ... oh, I'm almost to the end of the trail. But then I got to thinking about the 2 plus miles home and were there adequate street lights? I couldn't remember so finally I called S and had him come get me. I just didn't feel safe. Now I have new batteries in my headlamp and some fresh ones in my pannier, just in case this happens again. I can pull over and refresh my light! Maybe I should look into getting another, brighter one. Oh, those a-holes walking and running and biking WITHOUT lights could get some. What do you think?

I gave myself a break from the mitts and did a few more rows on the February lady sweater. I MUST try it on. I am just spread pretty thin vis a vis Denise cords. [Maybe I should finish the Sizzle!!!!!!] But tonight I shall bite the bullet and finish up the "body" portion of the mitts at least and then tomorrow I can pick up and knit the thumbs and cast on for another pair on Sunday. Or at least that's the plan. S wants to work in the garage Sunday and that is really a good idea since there are still boxes that need to be broken down and a whole pile of stuff to go to Goodwill. Yeah, maybe we can even put cars in there!! Wouldn't it be nice to have the Mercedes inside with the weather is bad? I think that would be a priority but then again .... not my decision.

I'm getting sick of this ....

Oh my lord .... it was pouring rain AGAIN yesterday evening. Not sprinkling. Coming down in buckets! And I forgot to bring my baseball cap, which helps immensely in keeping the rain off my face and therefore helps me to see better. Add to the equation the fact that it is pitch black when I set out for home now and you can probably imagine what torture my ride home was last night. And so many IDIOTS on the trail with no lights!!! NO LIGHTS!!! It is just insane! There was a woman jogging along pushing a jogging stroller -- no lights. Dark clothing. She didn't even have reflective clothing! How stupid is that? I am getting myself all wound up again -- it just makes me crazy! And I know it's not just me because in the Sunday paper someone had the very same rant. I am always amazed at how many stupid people there are out there.

No knitting last night. I worked some on my mitts at noon knitting, but last night we watched the latest Indiana Jones movie in the theatre and the knitting light that S rigged up for me is not very good. Plus I just wanted to watch the movie. I liked it. Of course it's not going to be as good as the first one, but it was fine. But I've got to buckle down and get going on the mitts.

We're all so excited here in the Annex -- next Tuesday is moving day! Yay!! I cannot wait to get out of this shack, even though my new office is a windowless space, anything is better than this place with its bugs and sewer smells and women who don't know how to flush a toilet. Don't get me started ......

Odd little holiday

Tuesday, yesterday, was Veteran's Day. Not everyone gets it off but schools are closed and no mail is delivered. We decided to have a few couples over for dinner on Monday since all of S's friends work in the sound business or as stage managers or stagehands and weekends are almost always out for parties and dinners. I got most everything organized and set up Sunday, came to work Monday and left a little early to get home and finish up preparations. We all had a fun time and before we knew it it was 12:30! I had a little sleep in yesterday and then, except for walking Tink and going out for a little grooming, I just lounged around and watched TV on my iPhone and knit. Around 10 as I was leaving for the spa and saying my goodbyes, S finally asked why I wasn't going to work!! I swear, that man never listens to a thing I say. What is going through his mind when I'm talking and he's acting like his listening? I probably don't want to know.

Getting close to having the right hands done for the first two pairs of mitts. Perhaps I can finish them up this evening. I have noon knitting today. Then I will reward myself with an evening of knitting on my Lady Sweater. These mitts are just killing my hands. I am beginning to think that it might also be the combination of the plastic needles on one side and the wooden ones on the other. The yarn slides so much more easily over the plastic needles.

Now I'm going to check in Ravelry and see if anyone else has cast on for that shawl!!

What I don't get

Why doesn't my left hand get stronger with all the knitting I do? I don't understand why my hand and arm gets so sore! I have had to stop a couple times lately during knitting on my fingerless mitts. I did manage to finish the first two and cast on and got about 10 rows into the second pair. But ouch! I know it's mostly from the purling - this is a 4x1 rib. Also I think needle size has something t do with it as well. It's just a mystery to me why I still get sore. It's annoying.

It's was a pretty quiet weekend. Friday night my DH had to work so I ... knit. And Saturday we went out for dinner, but otherwise during the day .... I knit. Sunday? Did some grocery shopping, watched the Seahawks lose AGAIN!! and ... I knit. My Lady Sweater is getting very close to having the body done. I do need to try it on before I commit to the edging.

I see that someone has cast on for the Frost Flowers Shawl on Ravelry. No pictures yet. I wonder how long it took her to cast on over 900 stitches.

Rain and rain and rain and rain and rain

and rain. That's the forecast. I've been at work now for nearly an hour and my hair is still soaking wet and I was wearing my helmet and a baseball cap under it. [Yes I know -- awesome hot look.] Thank goodness my office is like a sauna so my clothes will dry by the time I leave this afternoon. It doesn't help me start my day off in the best of moods, to arrive in this state. But what can you do? It still beats riding the bus.

I cast on for a couple pair of mitts last night but I only got four rows in. First of all I had a bunch of chores to do so I didn't even sit down until nearly 7:00. I started to cast on but the puppy wanted to play so I played with her for a while and then let her outside and finished my cast on. Unfortunately I wasn't paying attention, which I really need to do when I'm casting on for two at once on two circulars, so I had to take it out and start over. Then I realized that Tinkerbell was being awfully quiet in the backyard ..... I called and called ... no Tink. Dang!! Seems she found yet another place to squeeze out under the fence and away she went on an adventure. I threw on a jacket and grabbed a flashlight and S went north and I went south and as I was calling her a woman opened her door and asked if I had lost a dog. She had her in her house! Little dickens! The woman was also trying to carry on a phone conversation so I didn't get to ask her how ... what ... where .... For the time being, until I can go around the perimeter once again and try to plug up holes with firewood and rocks, she is tethered with a long line off the deck when she needs to go out. A few weeks ago I was looking out the window and saw a strange dog -- one of the little dogs next door had wiggled under the fence and come over to our yard. So obviously the fence has some serious problems. It's not that it's old or falling down, just that it's not tight to the ground.

I'll knit more on the mitts at lunchtime and keep track of my time so I can do the math. I am a bit skeptical about doing 6 pair.

It only took three months

I finally FINALLY got to the Social Security office to file the paperwork to change my name. I have been putting it off -- too busy, didn't want to drive to Bellevue. Last week I looked on line again to find out exactly where the closest Social Security office is because I didn't believe that Bellevue was the closest to me. And, of course, it was not. There is one on Aurora and 135th. I already had the correct paperwork so I filled it out at breakfast and went over there. Of course it took WAY longer than I anticipated. It's like going to the DMV. But it is done. And now I just have to wait for my new card, then I can change my driver's license and my credit cards, etc. I wouldn't have bothered but my DH really wanted me to do it, so there ya go.

We spent the evening watching the election results and I didn't knit a lick! I have agreed to make some fingerless gloves for a friend to give as gifts so I want to cast on for a pair of those and see how long it will take to make a pair so I'll know what I'm getting into. She wants six pair and I think that might be a bit too much to agree to. I wouldn't leave much time for any other knitting. Well ... I'll have to do the math.

And the highlight of the weekend .....

Wiener Dog Races. Seriously. At halftime yesterday during the Seahawks beating (oh they started out ON FIRE!! but then .....) the entertainment was the annual Wiener Dog Race. It is hilarious! They are so cute! Almost as cute as Tinkerbell. Almost.

Halloween was not bad although I did get a little frustrated with traffic early on. I was out making a quick run to the grocery store and the liquor store and it was sheer insanity out there! As I pulled into the grocery parking lot, narrowly avoiding several idiots in the lot I opened my car door and as I was leaving the car I was thinking, "oooo I hate everybody!" And I looked up right into a woman's face. Guess I had actually said it out loud. She was laughing, thank goodness.

The rain mostly stopped and we had a good amount of Trick or Treat-ers and when we decided we were done and wanted to go up to watch a movie we just put the candy out on the porch in a bowl. Of course it was ALL gone next time S came downstairs so my guess is the next group of kids to come up to the porch just tipped it into their bags and finished it off. We were not egged or TP'd and for that I am thankful.

Saturday was chore day and the weather cooperated while I was out running around getting my car washed and Jiffy Lubed, etc. Then I did get lots of work done on the February Lady Sweater. I knitted most of the day and around 6:30 had to throw in the towel because my hands were hurting. I don't like purling. Or I should say, my left hand and arm don't like purling. I am not quite sure how long I want to make the body of this sweater so tonight I will measure. I'm getting close I think.

And I woke up early early this morning to the sound of pouring rain. I simply MUST invest in decent bike rain gear. I couldn't face getting soaked on the way in so I drove and will have to get my exercise with a good run this afternoon. If it ever stops raining or even just slacks off a little! I do have some errands after work so it's not entirely because I was not in the mood to ride in the rain. Mostly.