what to do with a little leftover yarn?

I presented Grandma's bittersweet socks to her on Saturday at brunch. They turned out really cute and I think I need to get more of that color to make myself a pair too ... but it's getting warm again and knitting socks isn't really a priority. HOWEVER, my attention span for knitting has been short lately as there are still boxes all over my new apartment and work has been slightly hellacious too. I was trying to decide what to do with this little bit of yarn that was left over from Grandma's socks and while reading the latest posts on pieknits, got some inspiration! it's always nice to find a pattern that I don't have to buy any supplies for, even if I don't have a reason to make it ... don't worry, this isn't my way of breaking any big news :)

changing the subject quickly! I was in town to have brunch with Grandma on Saturday because Tia and I ran in the Great American Adventure Race on Saturday a.m. It was on the westside of Central Park (with Edwards Hill!) and was sooo fun to run there again! my last race on that course was Cross-Country League Finals senior year of high school, almost 10 years ago! (omg, 10 years?!?!?!) anyway, I think being back on that course brought back some competitive juices and we ran pretty hard, but it yielded in second and third place finishes for our age group. We were in the top 25% overall ... my time for the 4.8 mile course was 39:06 ... pretty good for all the hills too! Next race is the half-marathon in Santa Ynez! Hope we're ready for it ... training for this one hasn't been as deliberate as the Rock 'N Roll in January. I would love to PR again, but with the hilly course and less miles under my belt this time, I am not too optimistic.

first finished socks!

today at lunch I officially finished my first PAIR of socks!! sooo exciting :) I think I did the toes wrong ... I'll have to ask Grandma how they feel, but hopefully, since these weren't made to go inside of shoes, the fit will be okay. I wanted to hurry up and finish these since I'll be having lunch with Grandma tomorrow and have been working on these socks for her for months! I am behind on all my knitting due to the move and lots of running to get ready for the Wine Country Half-Marathon in May. Plus, with Wes on day shift I am not as bored at night!

April Showers

a rainy day today - the hardest rain all year, I think. All week I have been wishing spring on with cute springy outfits and today I am back to jeans and socks and a coat. sooo, to make myself feel better :) I'm going to review the things I am most excited about in the warmer weather months:

Wedge sandals are work and weekend appropriate so I really get my money's worth out of them. also, it is so much more comfortable to wear wedge heels over pumps, especially at the height of race training ...	... speaking of race training, Tia and I are gearing up for another half-marathon next month. This one we'll actually get to run together! After this race, we'll need to find another event to keep us motivated to keep running! Tia's getting married in September and I have a couple of vacations coming up ...
... to Las Vegas in June (temps in the 100s?) and Colorado in September (to celebrate our two-year anniversary!). both trips will be close to week and I can't wait! other than a couple long weekends here and there, Wes and I haven't been on a real vacation since the honeymoon!	I already have a new dress picked out that I'd like to wear in Vegas, but I'm hoping it will go on sale before then!

more stuff I like about this time of year: wearing shorts to work (when it's not raining, of course), baseball season!, NHL PLAYOFFS (gooooooo Ducks), swimming - so good for back and shoulders and a nice way to balance out my runners legs, knitting fun things like Sahara and mom's shawl (if I can ever find the time), currently Wes is on day shift and I like seeing him every night - even if that isn't a usual "spring thing"

almost back to normal again

it has been a crazy couple of weeks with the move and everything, but I think life is getting back to normal. there is still too much to do at the new apartment (or too much sleep to be had) for me to be knitting in the evenings still, but I have gotten to enjoy some lunch-hour knitting. today I worked on Mom's shawl and got a few more inches done on that ... the picture is a little funky! cell phone cameras have come a long way, but still aren't that great, I guess! I'll try and take a real picture with my camera (once I can find it in a box somewhere ...) so you can see the colors ... I think it is turning out really well and I love the moss stitch for a little bit of texture. other than a little bit of lunchtime knitting on this shawl, I haven't worked on anything else since we got back from Arizona three weeks ago. I am to the toe decreases on Grandma's second sock, which means from here on out I just need to have an hour or two of uninterruptedness so I can keep track of where I am at! I haven't had that luxury for a while, so they are still on hold :)