motivation ...

... to finish my brown hoodie

p.s. and I hope this goes on sale before we fly to DC!

frogging and putting it off

have been taking a little break from knitting recently. partly this is because I have been too busy being on vacation in Colorado and attending two weddings in one weekend to knit too much lately. but mostly it is because all my "obligatory" projects (ones that are already started and really should get finished before I start new stuff) need some frogging and I am way too stubborn to give in to the frogging just yet. But here is the situation:
project 1, Sahara - I started to pull out the lace inset a couple weeks ago and gosh, I tied everything off really tight! what a stupid thing to do, even though I realized as I was binding off that I probably wouldn't like it the way that it was. so, I am afraid I will have to just cut my losses, literally, and cut through the lace inset and not worry about salvaging this bit of yarn. I can do it because I have a whole ball and a half left over with which to re-knit the inset, but it's more the principle of the thing.
project 2, Central Park Hoodie - you may recall that I was making good progress on this last fall until I had to stop and make Christmas presents, then I continued making good progress until it got hot and I put it away in favor of more weather appropriate projects, like Sahara. well, September is upon us, so it's time to get back into fall knitting. However, in the six or eight months or however long it's been since I put the cabled hoodie away, my tension has gotten looser (mostly, I think as a result of mom's shawl, which I intensionally held very loosely, and it carried over into my other projects). I made one sleeve last winter, but left the second one to do now and i am afraid that my second sleeve will be much bigger. I am afraid of this because: I started knitting Wes a pair of socks in March when I took the class from Lois. Even though I bought a huge skein of yarn, Wes has the biggest feet ever and I ran out of yarn halfway down the instep of the second sock. At the time, I had already made one sock for grandma out of the bittersweet yarn and was anxious to get the second one started, so I just put the stitches for Wes' blue sock on scrap yarn and started in on grandma's second sock right away. by the time I remembered to get more blue yarn, the heat made socks pretty far down on my priority list. But last week prior to our anniversary trip to Colorado, I decided I wanted to finish the socks for Wes, so I put the stitches back on needles, found the second ball of yarn and finished up Wes' blue socks. Now it is very obvious which sock was my second sock. not because you can see the join in the yarns (I actually have gotten pretty good at hiding the ends), but because half of the second sock has a noticeably looser gauge than the rest of the sock. since these socks are meant to be more like slippers for Wes, I don't think it will be a problem, but it has gotten me nervous for that second sleeve on the cabled hoodie. Especially because I am already using needles 2.5 sizes larger than the pattern instructs, thanks to my previous super-tight tension. I have half a mind to rip the whole thing out and start over on smaller needles (after doing a new gauge swatch, of course!). If I did start over, I would adapt my pattern to use some of the tips from the KAL, such as knitting the bottom in one piece and short rowing the shoulders.
project 3, knee socks - I cast on for these socks after I finished mom's shawl because I had been drooling over them since May, and had bought yarn and everything already, and needed a new easy-to-carry project. I cast on and had no problems adapting the dpn patterns for my two circulars and was making good progress on the complicated cable patterns. Once night after a long knitting session, I noticed that I had cabled the wrong way. Since the cables are so small, probably no one would notice if I left it, but I am trying to be a more conscientious knitter, so I started to un-knit my rows to re-do the project. Lois had shown me previously how to fix a wrong-turned cable without pulling out all the stitches after it, but I thought the twist was just one row down and it would be less of a hassle to just unknit one row. I realized too late that it was more like three rows down (darn tiny yarn is deceiving!), and I had royally screwed up the hourglass cable pattern in trying to get back to the one little cable that was twisted the wrong way. because the hourglass pattern is so complicated, it was very difficult to accurately pick up the stitches after I frogged back to before I made the mistake, so I ended up throwing a little tantrum and frogging the whole sock. After a week in Colorado, I was feeling better about it and cast on again on Thursday night, this time with no problems except I have misplaced my small cable needle, so have only been able to complete the top ribbing.
So now I am in protest. At least until Wednesday when Wes goes back to work for four nights in a row and I would rather knit cranky projects than vacuum.

Cabled Hoodie, round 2?

I have been very good lately. Despite a few stops to AFY (to sign up for intarsia and toe-up sock classes!), I haven't bought any new project yarn since the eyelet cardigan train project because I don't want anything to distract me from finishing up mom's shawl (could have finished it this weekend, but got distracted by Friday's Dodgers game ... whoops!) and since I hate ripping out work, I know if I have a new fun project to make, I will never rip and fix my Sahara lace inset either. However, it is now mid-August and there are back-to-school sales everywhere and I'm thinking it might be time to finish up the brown cabled hoodie. All that's left is one sleeve before I can start seaming, then I'll need to PU stitches for the hood and then the ribbing around the edges, so it should only take me a week or so if I really get to it. Maybe I could finish all three projects before Wes and I take off for Colorado at the end of the month? Is that too ambitious?
Anyway, I found a KAL for the cabled hoodie today and signed up. There are tons of tips and suggestions from other knitters who have completed the hoodie, and I wish I would have found this a long time ago! There are tips for short row shoulders and all sorts of things that I would love to do ... it's too late now for me, but maybe I'll find some good hood tips or something :)

my own personal "one with the jam"

Saturday Wes and I drove down to the Staples Center with a buy-one-get-one-free coupon in hand for the Kings game vs. the Nashville Predators. The coupon (and a low-attendance due to an afternoon game the same weekend as the LA Marathon and the Kings general suckyness) enabled us to get ice-level tickets behind the Kings home goal. From this vantage point we had a great view of seven of the nine goals scored in the game (6 from Nashville, yeah!) including two awesome goals from Paul Kariya to make my stalker trip complete and happy. I also realized that Peter Forsberg is one scary Swede when he's skating full speed towards his opponents goal. He already scared me, but seeing him from that angle brought new levels of terror.
I brought along Wes' second navy sock to work on during the 65 mile trip and made significant progress, I also knit on the way home and my 130 miles of knitting produced a too-tall top of sock. oops. When I sat down yesterday to do the heel and gusset, I realized I had knit an extra half-inch on the top of the sock. I have some more heel decreases left to do before I knit a jillion rounds for his huge foot, but I was anxious to move on to another project last night. I couldn't take any more of the plain blue on tiny (size 4) needles so I cast on Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted weight (color bittersweet) on two size 8 circulars to knit myself a hat with seed stitch edging and ear flaps ... soo cute. the color is the same I am making my second pair of socks out of too. I am almost to the decreases on the hat, so hopefully with a couple good nights of knitting tonight and tomorrow while Wes is at work (only FOUR more night shifts left!) I can get his socks and my hat done this week and get on to finish that second pair of socks too. I have half decided to shelve my brown sweater until after summer as it is getting warmer here and I have two other spring/summer sweaters I want to make. I checked out Wendy Bernard's blog this morning and I swear she lives here in town. I already thought she lived somewhere in the county due to comments about local places (Ronald Regan Library in Simi, Santa Barbara Zoo, pictures of the Ventura pier, etc) but in yesterday's post there was a picture of an AFY shopping bag full of yarn! I feel like a bit of a stalker realizing this (too much stalking for one weekend!), but mostly I am soo anxious to knit up my Sahara now. She had pictures of more finished Saharas from other knitters and I want mine! I already decided I am going to do the sleeveless style and have bought (more than) enough yarn to complete it. Now I just need to cast on and get started once I finish the socks and hats and more socks I have planned ... better do it soon or I will be shelving Sahara to go back to the brown hoodie in September!

first sleeve syndrome?

last night I finished my first sleeve for the cabled hoodie. it wasn't hard figuring out the increases, but I was a little frustrated when I realized that one sleeve had more stitches than one of the fronts (hello, my arm is skinnier than my boob). I thought I was on the fast track to finishing this thing, but it's going to take a little longer. I cast on for the second sleeve last night (2x2 rib is boring enough to do during Heroes) and hopefully can get that done faster than the first one since I am anxious to get started on the hood and the finishing touches of this sweater.
I am also not sure it will fit which is making me very uneasy as I have spent many many evenings, car trips, lunch breaks, plane rides and phone conversations working on this since I first cast on in August. I am afraid it will be a little too big, which is especially frustrating since when I first started it was too small. I also had to raid AFY of it's last two matching dyelot balls of yarn (and three non-matching because I knew two wouldn't be enough!). what is my problem and WHY do I use so much yarn?? this project called for eight balls of yarn, I have gone through nine and still have a sleeve, a hood and all the front ribbing to go! I went to a larger needle size when I realized my gauge problem after I had finished half of the (too-small) back so that I wouldn't have to keep buying yarn, but now I have cleaned Lois out of the flecked brown tweed so I hope this is it ...

learning socks, part I

Saturday I headed over to Anacapa Fine Yarns for the first of two sock-knitting classes. I had wanted to take this class before I made the Christmas stockings, but found a pattern for those easy enough to figure out myself (no turning heels or gussets!) once I found out the prior-to-Christmas sock class was full. Lois put me on the waiting list for the next class and I signed up, even though I wasn't sure if I wanted to wear knitted socks. The month of cold weather and no heater working in our apartment convinced me that I would love to wear knitted socks, but of course Saturday was 85 degrees and I had no interest in wool. but off I went to learn new things. I already knew how to knit in the round using dpns, but wanted to learn how to knit circularly with two circular needles. I found it was much easier to cast on and of similar difficulty to get the first round started, but then it was smooth sailing. I don't really mind using dpns, so probably I will go back and forth between two circulars and dpns, depending on my mood when I start a project. But Lois did warn us that if we knit one sock in a pair using dpns, we should use dpns for the second as well because gauge can be affected. once we were all comfortable knitting in the round (some in the class had never done it before) Lois had us put that aside and cast on with new yarn and needles to practice the heel, which she wanted us to complete on our own before next class on our real sock. I was nervous about the short rows and slipped stitches, but it came pretty easily and before I knew it, I had a little heel cup sitting in front of me (teal arrow pointing to it in the picture).
Saturday night Wes and I just hung out and watched a movie at home so I was able to finish the ribbing at the top of the sock and get in most the knitted rounds too. Yesterday I had a hard run at Wildwood with Tia and Wes' soccer game, then dinner and Wes left for work. I sat down to work on my sock again. I finished the rounds and started in on the heel. It didn't take long and I even remembered how to do the slipping and short rows. I wanted to keep knitting, but Lois has only shown us this far and I am even more nervous about the gusset (what the heck is a gusset?) than I was about the short rows on the heels, so I guess I'll put this aside until class next Saturday. but of course I couldn't resist trying it on :) p.s. glad I gave myself a pedicure on Saturday before class. love this pink from Sephora ... it is almost ridiculously too '80s pink, but it makes me sooo ready for summer but then I wouldn't get to wear the brown hoodie ... just the sleeve cap left on one arm, then another arm and pick up stitches for the hood and edging. the end is so close I can see it. maybe that is why I keep picking up other projects instead.

improvising

it's a great day outside, cool, but not too cold ... perfect for sitting in the sun without overheating so I took my knitting and headed upstairs for a break this afternoon. of course as soon as I sat down I realized I left my cable needle at home and the next row I was to knit required it. so, I dug through my purse and found a Napoleon Dynamite pen that I got for 50 cents at Target last summer and went to work. It wasn't the best solution, as the pen was slightly larger than the 10.5 needles I was using and I had to physically remove the stitches and twist them before knitting the last three stitches of the cable, but dangit if I was going to stop knitting only eight minutes into my 30 minutes of no phones ringing.
anyway, my plan didn't work that great, I have two funny strands of yarn stretching across my work. one in the back on the c3b and one in the front on the c3f. I might have to use some knitting magic that I picked up at Lois' class last week ... but I already knit the next couple of rows and other than that long strand on the front, it looks okay. maybe I can tie that back somehow instead of redoing that section ...

Knit fixes!

had a miserable day at work yesterday and was so thankful that I signed up to take Lois' "knit fixes" class ... otherwise I would have gone home and drank a whole bottle of two buck chuck.
but the class was great and I learned some really really helpful tips on how to fix problems in my knitting without ripping out whole rows. I even used the crochet hook a few times! Grandma would be so proud :)
Had I taken this class a week ago, I wouldn't have had to rip out six rows on the right front of my brown hoodie on Sunday night once I realized I forgot to make a cable twist. Anyway, I just ripped it out and re-knit those rows. Last night after the class I finished up the right front and started on the first sleeve. I'll have to m1 a whole bunch of times on the sleeves and I've never done that before, but I'm sure I can figure it out!

in the zone

had another busy weekend without too much knitting time ... Shannon and Robert got married on Sunday and on Saturday I had lunch and shopping dates :) but when I got home Wes wasn't feeling good so we kind of vegged out in front of NFL playoffs and I cast on the right front of the brown hoodie. I am through the ribbing and have completed a couple of cable repeats.
Last night Wes was at work and I was beat ... it felt like the end of a long week, but it was only Monday! so I was more than happy to catch up with some TiVo and knit my butt off on the piggle hat. I've finished up to where I need to place the holes for the pig-tails to stick through. After that it's four more rounds in pattern, then each row following is a decrease row, so I should be able to finish this tonight. I am making it for Margaret who is headed back to the mountains this weekend and hope to gift it when I see her on Thursday. Probably wont' have much knitting time tomorrow ... we'll be watching the NHL All-Star game over TV dinner, then meeting with our Realtor to make an offer on a house!! eek!!

left front: finished!

last night, despite every intension to put away all the Christmas decorations, pack for Arizona and do the dishes that have been piling up since Sunday night before picking up my knitting ... I started in on it right after a quick run and dinner and didn't look up until I had finished the left front. I told Wes on Sunday that I wanted to have both fronts done by last night, but once I had to pay attention to all the shaping it took a lot longer than expected. Partly because I kept comparing to the finished front piece to make sure everything is going to fit together correctly, and also because I kept getting up to search for stitch holders (couldn't find them, used a 16-inch circular to hold the live stitches) and switch CDs that I was uploading to iTunes (looove my new iPod with capacity for more music!). I did do the dishes before I went to bed, but will need to pack before date night tonight and Christmas will have to stay up until I return from Arizona. I could bring yarn and supplies to begin the right front with me, but I did find an airplane project and have asked Grandma to teach me how to crochet after dinner tomorrow, so I might have enough to keep me busy. It's only an hour flight and between visiting and running I won't have much down time while I'm there.

a weekend of excess and recovery

have you ever had one of those weekends that on Sunday night you wish you had another weekend right away to recover from the one that just ended? This is how I felt last night!
Friday I left work at noon and met up with all the girls to drive south for Shannon's bachelorette party!! It was fairly tame by bachelorette standards (champagne and presents, dinner and margaritas, comedy club with two drink minimum and bar with a mechanical bull!) but I was so happy when I got home on Saturday afternoon and Wes was watching football playoffs and in a let's-make-boboli-and-rent-a-movie-tonight mood. Once I poured myself a giant glass of water I sat down and cast on the left front of my cabled hoodie! I was soo excited to be working on this project again - I can not wait until it is finished!! I made decent progress on the bottom ribbing before it was time for dinner and a trip to Blockbuster and put the knitting away for the rest of the night.
Sunday morning I woke up to complete my last long run before the half-marathon next weekend. Tia and I certainly weren't prepared to run 11 miles on Saturday! It always takes me a few hours to feel like myself again after a run of that distance. I am a little nauseous, but know I need to eat to replenish my energy; I am exhausted, but don't want to sit for too long and cramp up. Also, Wes had a soccer game at two and then would be leaving for work so I wanted to spend time with him too! So we hung out got some lunch before his game, then I did some housework and made Wes dinner to take with him to work. By the time I finished being responsible Wes was back from his game and leaving for work. Once he left I made myself some dinner and sat down to knit knit knit! I got three of the seven pattern repeats before the arm shaping finished in between more cooking and cleaning. This pattern goes quickly, especially on the front portions because all the cables go the same direction on each side. I dont' have to check the chart to remember to hold in front or back every time. I would love to have both fronts finished by the time I go to bed Tuesday night (Wes works tonight and Tuesday and running is light this week to rest up for the big race!) but I don't know if I want my first attempt at sleeves to happen on the airplane and in Phoenix far away from Anacapa Fine Yarns and the infinite wisdom I can get there. I might need to scrape up a little airplane-appropriate project while at AFY tonight.

switching gears

Wes and I had a great long weekend in Palm Springs with mom and dad at their timeshare. I always love going to Palm Springs; it is so nice to just relax all day and eat good food and drink good booze at night. There isn't much socially to do in the area for people of our age and orientation, but in all the years we have been traveling there, I never miss going out after dinner and the times I've been with people who did want to go out, the experience has often been less than wonderful, which makes me even more happy for the quieter nights.
anyway, despite all the relaxing time, I got no knitting done until we got back in the car on Saturday evening to drive home. We left early enough that even with the impending rain and ominous clouds, there was enough light for me to knit for about two hours. I almost finished the back of my sweater in the car - just had to finish up a couple more rows yesterday morning. The hoodie is now officially on hold until I can get a few smaller projects completed so I am not stressed out as Christmas draws closer. As a knitter, I almost appreciate the way-too-early Christmas decorations in the retail world. Yesterday I went to pick up some things at Pier 1 and was bombarded by Christmas decorations, dishes, barware, etc ... while on the one hand it is annoying since I was there to buy orange spice-scented candles and not silvery angels and red cranberry candles, it was a good reminder to get started on hand-made Christmas presents. Tonight Wes will be at basketball, so I will be able to get a good start on a new little project ...

vacation and a reality check

despite the good progress I have made on the hoodie so far, I think I might have to set it aside and get cracking on a couple of birthday/bridal shower/Christmas presents that need to be finished in the next two months. Just a few small projects, but even the little Cleo Clutch took me almost a month due to the intricate pattern and busy schedule, and my small present projects are all a little more difficult than 100 stitches back and forth with an occasional cabled row. I am going to bring the hoodie along on our trip to Palm Springs (leaving tonight ... this day is going by soooo slow!)

but when I get back, I think I'll need to start seriously on the knits for other people. Hopefully I can get the back finished this weekend (only a few more inches to go!) so I am at a comfortable stopping point that will be easy to figure out where I need to start again.
That being said, it is also the last chance to put in any "gift orders" ... if you want me to knit you a present, let me know ASAP before I get distracted by my hoodie again :)

must be getting old

so, when we first moved into this apartment, I could sit on the couch and read the digital clock on top of the stove in the kitchen. This was very handy when the batteries on our other two clocks in the living area ran out. A few months ago the digital readout was pretty blurry and I started to worry a little bit. Then while driving in an unfamiliar area a while later, I had trouble reading the street signs from far away. So yesterday I went to the eye doctor and got a prescription for my nearsightedness. It is pretty mild and I will only have to wear the glasses while driving and maybe while at the movies (I'm going to test them out at date night next week). So I think my eye strain is from 1) staring at this damn computer all day, and 2) looking at up-close knitting all evening. I am a little sad because I used to pride myself on my 20/15 vision, but I am glad I caught it before it got any worse and I will just have to be smarter about taking work breaks (okay!) during the day.
anyway, last night Wes played basketball again and Tia and I were both real tired, so didn't run for too long. I came home and had the house to myself like last week, so I got caught up on some TiVoed girl shows that Wes doesn't want anything to do with (Desperate Houswives - what is up with this show now, it is almost too weird for me - and Dancing with the Stars - whew! Sara just squeeked by this week!) and knitted up a storm until he got home. It was a very productive night. I am about 90 percent done with the back and looking forward to starting on the front! Don't know when my next big knitting time will be ... have a good-bye lunch today, then after-work plans before we have to come home and pack for Palm Springs. Tomorrow Tia and I will try to get a quick, good tempo run in before Wes and I drive out to Palm Springs for a fun weekend with Mom and Dad ... golf, spa massages, margaritas by the pool, farmer's market, Mexican dinner, casinos and tequila tasting are all on the menu for our 2.5 day trip! Don't think I'll have much time for knitting ... maybe Wes will drive and I can knit on the way out ...

another busy weekend

had a surprisingly good amount of knitting done this weekend. Friday night was a big family dinner at Grandma's for everyone to have the chance to hang out with Luke. He had the playoffs on all night though (then the Ducks/Kings season opener after baseball was over), so even after dinner I had a chance to get in a couple of rows while everyone was sitting around talking and watching the games. I did stop in the middle of a row to say goodbye to Alicia, Kerry and Andrew (the last to leave) and when I went to pick it back up before I went to bed, I started purling, when I had been knitting, so I got to the end of the row and was so confused! Luckily, it was a cable row AND a decrease row, so when I got to the end I noticed immediately that something was wrong because I had one cable that didn't twist and an uneven decrease edge. I was too sleepy to fix it then, but on Saturday after an awesome 10K (48:50, a PR by five minutes and third in my age group), visiting with Grandma and an amazing lunch and afternoon of fun and shopping with Amanda, I went to pick up Mom so we could meet up with the boys after their golf tournament. She wasn't ready yet, so I picked up my knitting and fixed my mistake and even got in a couple more rows. After the golf banquet, we came back to the coach to watch the conclusion of the Dodgers 2006 season. Not the happiest way to end the evening, but at least I got in some more rows during the sad game. Didn't have any time to knit yesterday, was too busy going through and getting rid of the bajillions of magazines in, under, around the coffee table and doing lots of other chores around the house. Tia just called and is not feeling like a long run today, which is fine with me because my calves are still aching from Saturday so after a short jog, hopefully I'll have some time to knit this evening while Wes is at basketball.

knitting away the blues

... Dodger blues that is ... looks like another year out in the first round for Los Angeles. and the Twins are losing their third game as I type this so my dream of a Dodgers/Twins World Series is fading away. and if the Dodgers don't pull it together, we won't get a 1988 rematch. I was hoping the A's would feel nostalgic and grow out hair and mustaches in tribue to Dennis Eckersley if they played the Dodgers.
anyway, at least I got in a ton of knitting last night after a good pre-race workout. Thought I was ready to start armhole shaping, but had Wes help me measure for length and decided to do one more pattern repeat (10 rows) to add some length. The only fit problem with the pink shell was that I got anxious and made it too short, so I don't want to do the same thing again, Mom doesn't have enough closet room in the RV for all my knitting mistakes. Thursday is Grey's too, so kept on knitting after the game too. Four more rows to go until I can start shaping, though I might measure one more time to make sure it's long enough. Probably won't get much done this weekend, big family dinner/open house for Luke being in town tonight and tomorrow is another 10k, lunch and shopping with Amanda, then a banquet for the golf tournament Wes, Luke and Dad are all playing in. Maybe I can get Wes to drive home tomorrow so I can get in my last few rows and be ready to shape on Sunday in between cleaning the bathroom and the kitchen and vacuuming and packing for Palm Springs.

"Invincible" Sweater

so I got out to see Lois on Tuesday and she helped get me back on track for the sweater. I didn't have too much time to knit that night since Tia and I had speed drills planned, then had to cook dinner and do other housewife-y stuff at home but I got in a couple of rows while we were watching baseball. Yesterday I didn't knit at all because it was date night! Wes and I went to see Invincible. I was mostly just going because Wes wanted to see it and there wasn't a whole lot of other choices at the cheap theater, but I really really liked it. I pay a lot more attention now to how women support their men in situations such as what was presented in the movie and I thought both female leads were really strong and fun, too. The head coach's wife seemed to be where a lot of his strength came from and the main female character, played by Elizabeth Banks, was pretty sassy and knew her sports trivia! Anyway, the story and even the football were entertaining too. Definitely better than what we sat through on Friday. So, have to run after work tonight, but then should have time to knit some more since the Dodgers will be on! Maybe they can actually score this time if they send two guys home on a outfield double. dang!

hit a rough patch

last night Tia and I had a fast run (loooooove my new shoes) and Wes was playing basketball so I had a couple hours to myself when I got home. I was prepared to take full advantage of my time and hoped to get to the armhole shaping on the back of my brown hoodie. However, yesterday at lunch I miscounted my rows and knit two extra rows before cabling which threw off the pattern. It probably wouldn't have been noticeable to anyone but me, so I was tempted to leave it, until I realized that my row count would be off for the front of the sweater as well. I started to un-knit the rows and got through the two I had done last night before I decided to go backwards, but had some trouble taking out the row with the cabling. So after fighting with it for a while, I laid it aside with plans to visit AFY this afternoon and hope Lois can make more sense out of what I did. I still had some time before Wes was due home so I pulled out a new project that I had wanted to start, but haven't because I have been a little preoccupied with the hoodie. The new project uses double-pointed needles which I haven't ever used before. I had hoped to take a class a few weeks ago to help me get started, but it got canceled so I am on my own! I started doing 2x2 ribbing on accident instead of the 4x1 the pattern calls for so I will have to pull this out and start over, which is fine because I am still getting used to keeping track of all these needles!! The beginning of the round is a little loose, but the rest looks okay, I think. I will do a few more rows of practice before I start on these cute gloves for real. (also, I feel like these needles look like something from the Blair Witch Project ... lets hurry up and get my hoodie back to normal!)

new running shoes!

did a fair amount of knitting this weekend, got in some rows during baseball games (yay Dodgers, making the playoffs!) and while waiting for food to simmer or cook on Sunday. I am only a couple inches away from the shaping on the back and even got six or seven rows completed on my lunch break this afternoon. However, I am most excited today about an easy three-miler with Tia after work because I got new running shoes!!

two nights in a row

had another good knitting night yesterday. Had to forego Date Night to help Wes get his video together for his reality TV audition (my husband is doing what?). He did really good, I think, but it took longer than expected ... who knew it would take an hour to put together a 5-minute tape? After the taping and leftover ziti for dinner, we had missed the movie, but had a TiVoed episode of Justice (one of our new favorite shows this fall) saved from last week so out came the knitting again. I was on such a roll, I even kept knitting after Wes fell asleep in the middle of Settlers. Poor guy.