The hat is finished and my next 15 weeks sorted!

I finished up the Windansea during noon knitting yesterday. It's SO CUTE! I should have Mr. M take a picture of it on me, but here it is on my flat topped hat block. The color is my favorite and it fits my head perfectly. I'm not going to sew in the elastic. I really don't think it needs it.

I attended a meeting at Gilda's Club last night. I am definitely going to join their 1/2 marathon training program. As soon as I'm registered I will put a link up here and be bugging you for sponsorship. I have to raise $750 for them and it's a really really wonderful program, so I'm going to be really trying hard to even beat that. The training starts next week but I'm going to start this week since I already ran Tuesday. And every Sunday we all meet at one of several locations to do a training run together. The schedule is moderate 25 - 45 minute runs on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and on Sundays we will start at 3 miles and eventually get up to 12 miles a few weeks before the race. The sole down side is that the scheduled training is Sunday - football day - and starts at around 11. Thankfully I've got a DVD and can record the games but that does mean that if someone happens to have a spare ticket I can't go unless it's a night game. Or after the 29th. Totally going to be worth it though. (Can you tell I'm excited?)

Mr. M has a big job tonight and won't be home 'til late, so it's just the Tinkie dog and myself. I guess I'll do some work on Flutter and get that out of my hair.

Pleasantly sore

It turned out that I was feeling quite strong yesterday afternoon and made my whole 30 minute run without having to stop and walk. That's great news! My leg feels fine, except of course that I'm a bit sore. But it's good soreness. So I am very excited to go to the meeting tonight and find out about the training. I did a bit of sleuthing on line and it looks like my Saturdays from now until race day, November 29, will have a formal training session. Shorter runs during the week and a longer session on Saturday. That makes sense. I just have to stay injury free, which is going to be the trick.

I didn't get to do any knitting last night because Mr. M's daughter came over for dinner with her new boyfriend. She's going to be gone for the next month and wanted him to meet her new beau. He seems nice. A whole lot better than the previous one.

It's noon knitting today. I brought my hat - I've only got 2 inches left of crocheting the wire in so maybe I can finish it up. It's sitting on a chair in the picture, the crown is flopping over but you can get an idea of how it is going to look. I will put it on my hat blocker and take a really good picture when I'm completely finished. And I brought my WIP Frost Flowers Stole just for show and tell.

Making up for all those dry days!

And how! It's been raining since yesterday evening. I know the garden and lawn will certainly perk up. Of course so will the weeds.

I'm feeling much better today. No sore throat! Since it was pouring rain and my rain gear is nonexistent, I drove in. I am going to try running today for the first time in over a month. More like a little run/walk action. Tomorrow is that meeting about the training for the half marathon. I want to know how my leg feels before I go to the meeting. I mean, it feels fine just walking and riding my bike, but I don't remember how long the last time I waited before I got back running.

I had plenty to do yesterday, work-wise, and kept busy. Tinkie got a bath late in the afternoon and then I settled down to finish up my Windansea hat. I didn't have much knitting left to do on the crown and finished that up and started crocheting the wire into the brim. I'm almost done and it looks really good! I meant to snap a quick shot this morning but as usual I was running out the door when I thought of it. Tomorrow.

Except for the sore throat ......

it was a pretty darned good birthday! I went to rehearsal Friday and when I got home my throat was very sore. I thought it was just from singing but it was still there Saturday. I chose to ignore it and did a little shopping instead of laying low. As usual, Mr. M gave me an awesome gift -- who doesn't love jewelry? And we had a nice dinner out with friends. And there was cake! Yay!! And a gift certificate to my LYS! YAY!! And champagne (well, sparkling wine). It was an early dinner so we had a movie when we got home.

I had big plans for Sunday -- yard work and doggie washing topping the list. But I was just not feeling well at all so I did a quick grocery shop and spent the day knitting. I got quite a bit done on the frost flower stole - I'm now starting row 11. I know that doesn't seem like much, but this is hundreds and hundreds of stitches. I got the hat nearly done - just the crown left to do. And I even managed to work a bit on the Flutter. I would like to finish the hat tonight. I couldn't find millinery wire but found 20 gauge wire that should work.

My goal today is to pound liquids and get rid of this whatever-it-is. Thank goodness I can work from home.

The good thing about it being unseasonably ....

cold today is that I got to wear my Ingrid skirt! It's awesome, if I do say so myself. I had Mr. M take this shot with my iPhone this morning. Yes, I could have been a little less lazy and had him use my camera but I was running late. At least you can see how the ruffle is indeed higher on one side and that is a design choice that isn't apparent in the picture on the web site. But it's really cute and it works. When I walk the ruffle moves in a most fetching manner. ;-)

I didn't do a thing last night. Mr. M was working late and Tink and I just chilled on the couch. I read the paper. I watched some TV, cooked some dinner. A nice, quiet evening. I haven't heard from Doug yet but I'm assuming we're still rehearsing tonight. If not, I'm going to do a big push and try to finish up the hat. I'll need to get some wire tomorrow. It is supposed to be cloudy all weekend but I really want to work in the garden AND I want to put in some solid hours on the Frost Flowers as well. Good intentions. Tune in Monday and we'll see how well I did, eh?

Clearly what I needed was a good sleep

I was so groggy yesterday. It was difficult to be productive and impossible to be in a good mood. When I got home I had a nice shower and got into my lounge-y pants and just relaxed. Mr. M was out running errands and so brought dinner home, which was nice because I sure didn't feel like cooking. And I tell you what -- after a dinner and a movie I went to bed and I must have been fast asleep before 10. I slept like a rock and now this morning I feel pretty decent.

Tomorrow I think we'll be rehearsing again, since I can't do it Saturday. The drummer has a bass player in mind and is lobbying hard to give him a try. I'm game. I don't know what the hold up is. Anybody is better than nobody because we can't make our gig demo without a bass player. Do you realize, if I'd started taking bass lessons when that first guy quit I'd be a whiz by now!

I got a good bit done on my little hat while watching the movie. I must make myself work for a few hours on the Frost Flowers Stole this weekend. It looks like it's going to rain so it shouldn't be too hard to carve out a few down hours since I won't be working in the garden and Mr. M is working most of Sunday.

The birthday week

It is in fact my birthday week and I am just flat out depressed. I hate getting older, and I miss my old friends SO much I can hardly breathe sometimes. I know ... don't think about it. But it's much much easier to say than to do. And OMG, do NOT read old email. I made that mistake. My thinking was ... oh this was a few months ago ... let's see what I was doing in May of 2000. Oh no no no. Bad idea. Well anyway this will pass. It always does. And there are always surprises around every corner, aren't there? And even if my birthday itself is a bust, there is football on Sunday! The first pre-season game.

I was going to attend a meeting about training for the half marathon in November. Gilda's Club is offering 16 weeks of free training if you pledge to raise $750 for them. I have always wanted to get some running training but it's rather pricey. Since I've just started riding again I am so tired I can hardly stand it. So I think I'll skip the meeting tonight and go next Wednesday instead. That way I can drive in and I won't be so wiped out and able to make a 6 pm meeting.

I worked a little on my hat last night but didn't want to bring that in with me because the yarn is so slippery, so I've got the Flutter with me today for noon knitting. I am really not loving that color. Way too pink. The picture on my monitor had it looking much lighter. I can give it away when it's done if I don't like how it looks.

Okay, so it hurt a little

I got back on my bike today - one month off! It was not painless, I'll tell you that. But I was only 2 minutes off pace. The weather was much cooler than it has been and it was very pleasant. Except for the pain, of course. Since I have my doctor's approval to do it I shall assume I'm not causing myself any permanent damage. But oh my goodness .... I am going to have to take some Naproxen or something. Ouchie

I got my hair done yesterday and by the time I got home and got a few chores done I was just ready to watch a little Star Trek and chill. I didn't do any knitting. I hope I can do some tonight. Tomorrow evening I'm going for a meeting about training for the half marathon in November so I probably won't knit tomorrow night. Oh ... but it's noon knitting tomorrow so I should be able to get something done. I guess it'll have to be Flutter.

More tea!!

According to plan

I got going early Saturday in order to get a good morning in the garden before the heat kicked in. Well of course the back garden is on the west side of the house so it was warm even at 9:30. I got out there and started with the hedge around the deck. I have never trimmed a hedge before but it actually turned out quite well. I switched up from trimming the hedge to weeding to dead heading, etc. etc. I ended up spending 2 1/2 hours out there but I got lots and lots done. It looks pretty good. I've learned a lot about gardening this year, watching this one come full circle. It will be better next year.

Mr. M was gone the whole day Saturday to a memorial service for a distant cousin so I had a nice long afternoon to myself. I *should* have picked up the Frost Flowers Stole and done a couple rows but instead I started Windansea with some beautiful green Seduce I bought at Weaving Works on Friday. I wound it up Friday evening and that was quite an ordeal. This yarn is linen, rayon, silk and nylon. VERY slippery! It is not a portable project because the balls threaten to unwind. It is knitting up nicely. I got it cast on and did a few rows before he got home that evening and a few more while I was watching a movie. It's an easy pattern.

Sunday was very hot again and we kept the AC on so we could sleep at night. Saturday night we tried fans and windows open but I ended up melting all night so at least I got a good night in last night. Went over to have a little rehearsal yesterday afternoon. Thankfully Doug has a window AC in the studio because it's on the top floor of the house. So it was okay - not cool by any means but we spent a couple hours up there without too much trouble. We hadn't been able to get together since my vacation and surgery. Still no bass player(!) but the drummer has a line on one so, fingers crossed, by the end of this month we should be able to put together out demo.

I know this could go without saying .....

but oh my goodness, I am SO glad that it's a bit cooler today! Last evening I actually turned off the AC and opened the windows. It is still supposed to be getting hot - predicting nearly 90 again today - but this is a nice respite.

I took the bus again yesterday. Two days is enough for me. I really really hate taking the bus. It's not like taking the Metro in Paris or the Tube in London. It's the bus. Noisy and stinky. And yesterday, the 2nd hottest day of the year, a poor man got on dressed in a shirt, tie and a coat and hat! He was quite obviously impaired somehow and quite a nose full. I have errands after work so I could justify driving in. Monday as well I've got a hair appointment but then on Tuesday I'm getting back on my bike. It will have been a little more than a month. I wonder how long it'll take me to be up to speed.

No knitting last night. I did get the circular needle I need to make that hat but the new Interweave Knits arrived so I indulged myself with an evening of reading. Isn't it funny how priorities change? I used to be such an avid reader. I always had a couple books going AND a few in the queue. But once I started knitting my reading has gone down down down. I do always have a book by my bedside, but the days of spending an entire evening reading seem to be gone. Who knows, I might get back into it someday. And I do keep up with my favorite authors, although they're mostly getting quite old. I'll have to branch out pretty soon.

No big plans for the weekend except to get out into the garden and pull weeds. That's another thing that hasn't been touched for some weeks and it is starting to look like it. I think I can get things spruced back up in a couple hours tomorrow if I start early in the morning before it gets too hot.

It was indeed a record

All I can say is thank goodness for the air conditioning. When I finally dragged myself through the door last night and looked at the indoor/outdoor temperature ..... would you believe me if I said it was 30 degrees cooler inside the house? The temperature outside read 105, and inside 75. It felt like Arizona out there! I took Tink for a little walk around the block and that was about all she wanted too.

This heat just sucks all of the energy out of me. I couldn't even knit. I just played Mario Kart and watched stupid TV and made a little food for Mr. M, who left the house at 6am and got home at 9pm, and ate, went to bed and got up and is doing it all over again today. I swear, I don't know how he does it! He's got two shows running simultaneously - one at Boeing and one at Microsoft. And one of his best employees has the flu. Talk about timing.

I am going to a meeting next week at Gilda's Club. They are offering a 16 week training for free to run the half marathon November 29 if you pledge to raise $750 for them. Since my nephew wants to do a triathlon I asked him if he wanted to do it with me and he does! It's going to be perfect timing for me. I'm really excited about it.

And hotter

It is crazy! The house was nice and cool yesterday when I got home, thankfully. I stopped on the way home and got Tinkerbell a new "swimming pool" -- actually just a plastic storage bin. But she loves it! As soon as I got it filled up she hopped in. She just stands there, maybe takes a little lick or two. Crazy dog.

I had also stopped to get some Seduce for the Windansea hat. I hadn't read the pattern closely and the needle it calls for - a size 6 16" circular - I do not have. I am using my size 6 Denise needles on the lace knitting and I am loathe to take them off. Besides, the Denise set is not very good at making a viable 16". So if I can't borrow one from one of the knitting ladies I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and buy one. It's just a rather odd size. Usually a hat is made with a 7 or 8 ... well, at least the hats I do.

Even though I have the doctor's approval to get on the bike it is truly too hot for me. As I said, getting to work would be lovely, but coming home in the heat of the day and going up that hill would be impossible. So rather than drive in again (they raised the PayPerUse parking fee) I thought I'd take the bus this morning. Of course since I have never taken it from home, and only once taken it from work back home, I went down the wrong road heading to the stop and had to walk back, causing me to JUST miss the bus. Just miss as in I was standing on the corner waiting for the walk sign. It was early as well. So I had to sit there beside that busy road for nearly 20 minutes to wait for the next one. Ick

I worked a little bit on Flutter last night since I couldn't start the hat. Let me just rant here a bit about this pattern and well, a lot of patterns by this particular designer. Here is a simple T-shirt really that she has written out in pieces - front, back and two sleeves. There is no reason this can't be done in the round, which is much more efficient. So I re-wrote it so I could do that. And also she has you increasing evenly across your work but doesn't give the count. Now I know how to figure this out or where to go on the internet to use a calculator but a beginner does not know how to do this. This designer has editors. Why in the world can't they just do the math for the pattern? Ridiculous. End of rant.

WoooWeeeee!

Hot hot hot hot hot hot hot!! It is ridiculous! Tomorrow they're predicting we'll hit triple digits. Crazy hot.

Yesterday Mr. M decided to just leave all the windows open rather than turn on the air conditioning. Yeah ..... not a good decision, it turns out. Our house is situated so that the morning sun beats down on the back of the house, and the afternoon sun through the side windows and the evening sun beats down on the front of the house. We have a lot of windows. There was no breeze yesterday. Needless to say, he decided to close up and turn on the air con this morning. Good decision.

So it was definitely too hot to knit last night. I just sat in front of the fan trying to stay reasonably cool. Maybe tonight I can knit. I might stop by the LYS on the way home for a couple skeins of Seduce for that Windansea hat.

I got all the sticky bits off my leg ... all but one at the ankle. And I can get back on my bike any time I want to. Probably later in the week when it cools down. It would be fine riding in to work in the morning, but hideous trying to get home and up that hill. AND she says I can start running any time after 3 week post-surgery. yay!

I shall try not to whine

Ah yes ... back to work after more than 3 weeks away. It was very difficult to get out of bed this morning. I know these next few days will zoom by, thankfully, because I have tons of stuff to do. Oh but the heat! It is going to be in the 90s all week! And even though our main office was remodeled they neglected to give us air conditioning! I am not in the main corridor, however, so my office is cooler than those with the windows facing west.

It is not easy for me to get comfortable because if I have my leg down it starts hurting and to put it up I have to twist my body around to type and see my screen. I can't put my leg up right in front of me. I'm going to have to get clever because I can't stay twisted.

I started the Frost Flowers stole a week ago Saturday. What a project! This lace knitting is "real" lace knitting, as opposed to the other kind I've done where there is always a plain row after a pattern row. This is just row after row of pattern. Once you cast on the 997 stitches, you do a few rows before joining. I was so afraid I had the darned thing twisted. I finally had Mr. M help me by holding the circular needle for me while I made sure it was on there straight. Here's a picture of where I was after 7 hours (!) on that first Saturday. Granted I was still on pain pills so I might have been a little slower than normal but yikes. And here's a picture 8 rows in, taken this morning on my way out the door. You can start to see the pattern finally. Still it is an hour a row so I don't imagine I'm going to be moving along very quickly. NOT TV knitting, that's for sure.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday Mr. M was doing a job at one of the 3 street fairs in Bellevue. The poor guy was mixing sound for the only music stage they had at this fair, so he was stuck there all day, every day. Luckily for him the food booths were near to him. My little great niece and I went to visit on Saturday. The main draw for me was the new Wii Resort game that they were demonstrating and that's where Sophia and I spent most of our time. It was so bloody hot that neither one of us wanted to stay long. We went home, turned on the air conditioning and played video games until our eyes bled. She was happy.

Now, back to real work!

Boring boring boring

Well now -- I had a nice long vacation. Part with my sister and part with my hubby. Then I had a little leg surgery last week. The bandages came off yesterday and now I have the better part of a week to stay off my leg and let it heal. This, my friends, is the difficult part. Sure sure -- at first it sounded great to have all that time off to just lay around and knit and read and it was nice for oh, about 3 days. The weather is gorgeous and yesterday I tried to give Tink a walk. At the end of 2 blocks I was whimpering in pain and almost called Mr. M to come get me! I guess it's going to take a little longer than I had remembered. In fact, I've been at my desk for a little over 30 minutes and it's about time to get it back up again.

I have been doing knitting, that's for sure. I finished my skirt on July 4. I started a little project on my vacation from a new bok "Knitting in the Sun". I had found a new Noro yarn on Elann on sale - Aurora. It has bits of wire in it for sparkle. I made the Silver Strand Ocean Waves Wrap and blocked it a couple days ago. It's lovely! And Sunday ... or was it Saturday? ... I finally started the Frost Flowers Stole. Oh. My.Goodness. This is a project and a half. Perhaps tomorrow I can get some pictures up!! Until then ...... errrrrghghghg

Ouch

Vacation is over and yesterday I had a little procedure done on my left leg. So I am laid up now for about a week. I can't take the wrapping off until Sunday which means sponge baths and no shampoo. My goal today is to find a way to be comfortable.

In knitting news-- I finished my skirt on July 4 and am just rows away from finishing a little wrap I started at the beginning of our vacation. Finding a project for my convalescence .... I can't decide. Maybe some coffee will help.

Port Townsend

Today, Port Townsend. We passed a yarn store with a "sale" sign and Mr. M pulled right over!! Unfortunately not much of a sale but I bought some Noro sock yarn to make some fingerless mitts.
I wish I could do pictures with my iPhone like I used to with my other phone. I hear that MM messaging will be available soon.

Now .... Lunch

Vacation

We are staying in a quaint place in Port Hadlock. Nice weather!! Lllllove vacation!!

Shelley

What? No FO pictures??

Ah yes .... I got derailed again last night. First it was a little Mario Kart on the new TV. I still haven't gotten used to it. There's not a really big size difference, but enough of one that I'm still not used to it.

Then I called my sister to find out if her boyfriend eats lamb, because I want to make a special lamb dish for Friday dinner. And then we started gabbing away --- yes, I know she'll be here tomorrow but there's always so much to say! By then I had to get dinner ready and then we watched a little TV and there goes the evening. Tonight for sure. I have a few little chores to take care of, but mostly I'm ready for the visit AND let's not forget VACATION!!! Woohoo!! And YAY Summer!!

Here comes another heat wave

Well it is absolutely gorgeous again AND it looks like we're not only going to have a sunny 4th of July, but a hot one as well! This is not normal for Seattle but always appreciated. Super lucky for my sister's visit as well.

There was absolutely no knitting yesterday since I spent the evening at Doug's rehearsing. I like the newer songs he and the drummer have learned - some Fergie and Pink. We're going to be having a big break in July since I'm on vacation and the drummer has a family reunion and then I've got my little surgery which is going to lay me up for a week plus. Doug promised to audition bass players during our hiatus. I am sure I'm going to be getting very bored after a few days of laying around. Maybe I'll just make it a project to keep calling him about it. hee

I brought the skirt in today. I should be able to finish the band and start weaving in ends at lunchtime today and then tonight - in the washer it goes! Hope to post pictures tomorrow.