Breathe

The end of my second day without working is coming to a close and I'm so sad. It's amazing how much stuff you can get done without work getting in the way. In short, it was a blissfully productive weekend:

• I started breathing again
• And my jaws started to unclench
• I cleaned the house...all of it
• The dust buffalo herd is now manageable
• I vacuumed up enough cat hair to make a litter of kittens
• I did laundry
• I even folded it and put it away
• Not sure that I'll be able to find my clothes now
• The cats got some good walks this weekend
• It's amazing how much fun a cat can have with a dead vole
• Bosco's quite the hunter
• There was knitting, but not as much as I would have liked

I started the Corinne cardigan from the current issue of Knitty today. I was blithely knitting along, chatting with my mother-in-law, and promptly hit a snag. "Knit to 1st marker; turn. Knit across" Hmmm...do I simply turn and knit back and won't that make a wonky stitch? Do I slip the first stitch? Do I wrap and turn and knit back? I'm now in experiment mode. I slipped the stitch for the first pattern repeat. I'm turning and knitting back on the second pattern repeat. If I don't like how either looks, I might add wrap-and-turn to the mix. But I think just turning and knitting back is the way to go. I tend to overthink the knitting a little lot and that never fails to get me in trouble.

I'm on the verge of starting another project, this one being a stealth project. Suffice it to say that come July, working on that project will be miserable. I did not choose wisely for summer knitting.

That's it for now.

Happy knitting!

Coming Up For Air

Work has been unbelievably...crazy. For the last several months, I feel like all I've done is work. And my investigations yesterday proved that it's true. It's been nine weeks since I've had an entire weekend off; I worked both days three of those weekends. I've averaged about 52.25 hours per week for the last 11 weeks. Now in the grand scheme of things, that's not too bad. I don't have to work that many hours in order to make a living wage. And there are people who work many more hours than I do. However, I'm at that point in my life where the rewards for working like that just aren't there.

But, I got the biggest part of the project I was working on out the door and am hoping it doesn't come boomeranging back to me for additional revisions. The revisions for the remainder of the design document should be relatively minor, if only because each appendix is well under 100 pages. I have about another week of solid work and everything should be done. It's been a long haul on this...many, many months of writing and revising. The original author did a fantastic job; the bones of the design are solid. It's a shame that the client is extremely particular about language and formatting.

There is light at the end of the tunnel and for once, I don't think it's a train.

As a result of work, I feel like my life is pretty much in a shambles: the dust buffalo herd is totally unmanageable, the cats have scimitars for claws, I've been packing on the pounds because I'm too tired/it's too dark/too cold/too wet to run, and the knitting is languishing. It's hard to believe that just over a year ago, I ran the Boston Marathon. Now I'm lucky if I can eke out an 11-minute mile over six miles. Or that two years ago, I was running ultra marathons. I need to knuckle down and get back to that level of fitness. But I'm tired/it's too dark/too cold/too wet to run. And soon it will be too sunny/too hot/too humid to run.

Another result of work is that I haven't taken any time off and all of my PTO is pretty much at the maximum accrual level (meaning that unless I take time off, I don't accrue any more)(which is so not right...working long hours for the good of the company and I get penalized because I can't take time off?!). But the vacations, they are a-coming (note the use of the plural).

First up is a two-day spinning workshop with Maggie Casey at Maryland Sheep and Wool (MDSW). In my younger days (like about almost 30 years ago(ack!)), I started spinning. I had this sweet little top whorl drop spindle made from a dowel, drawer pull and cup hook, and I spun my little heart out. A year or so later, I saved up my pennies (or most likely went further into debt; this was during those very lean post-college years) and bought an Ashford Traditional. I continued to spin my little heart out. But I was pretty much self-taught and only knew how to produce a rather tightly-spun worsted yarn. And as time passed, the spinning (and weaving; I wasn't knitting then) lapsed.

Over the last couple of years, I've been eyeing Judith MacKenzie-McCuin's class at MDSW, but it always seemed to fall at a bad time. So this year, I jumped at the chance to take the workshop (even though it wasn't Judith's class). It was touch and go for a while because they had too many registrants for the class. But I got in and I'm so excited! I'm hoping to take my spinning to new heights...er...lengths.

A couple of days after Maggie's class, I'll be driving down to North Carolina to spend a week at the beach with Tom's sister-in-law. That little trip will be pure bliss...beach, knitting, spinning, eating, talking. Right after I get back, Tom will run the Massanutten Mountain Trail Run, which is 100 miles of rocky, steep, gnarly trail. I had better be well-rested because I'll be pulling an all-nighter plus to support him during the run.

And if that wasn't enough, right after Memorial Day I'm driving up to New Hampshire to attend the Squam Art Workhops. Two classes by Cat Bordhi should pretty much do me in. In July, we've got a week at the beach with Tom's family. In August we're headed to Seattle for Tom to run another 100-mile race. And then in October we're at the beach again for my nephew's wedding. Whew! It will be busy but so much fun! And best of all, I won't be working.

I'll try to post again this weekend. I've got a couple of knitting projects that are getting started. I'm almost finished with the obligatory swatches (and amazingly enough, seem to have gotten gauge) and hopefully will be able to cast on this weekend.

Hey, I get a weekend...what a novel idea!

Happy knitting!

Breaking Radio Silence

Well! I've been much quieter than I planned. My goal was to post a blog entry at least once a week this year. Clearly, I've not succeeded. I blame work and nothing but work (and my inability to do anything other than stare into space after I get home from work).

As they say, all work and no play makes Teri a dull girl. I've just started running again but missed my goal of running a 50K this weekend by a long shot (a 10K distance leaves me huffing and puffing, even at a slow pace). I've got a sock on the needles (a rather dull brown sock, with a streak of orange for excitement) and I can't seem to get past the heel. I'm ripping it out for the second time (the instructions ambiguously said to inc 1 after each decrease until there are 22 sts left; I should know better that if you decrease 1, then inc 1, you don't decrease). The "inc" mean "including". Sigh...

The herd of dust buffalo is impressive. I managed to cull the downstairs herd last weekend, but the upstairs herd is threatening to stampede if their territory is not increased. I simply must cull them next weekend.

There are bright spots. We've acquired some new gadgets recently (and not so recently). The big purchase in July (and one I forgot to blog about) was a new car: a Subaru Outback. The air conditioning in the Volvo was shot and given the heat this past summer, the commute, and the age of the car, we decided it was prudent to replace it. It found a good home with my step-niece. And even though I loved the Volvo, I really love the Outback. When it comes down to it, I'm a station-wagon kind of gal. It was the family car until all us kids were grown, My first two cars were (small) station wagons. The Volvo was my first (and only) sedan.

Other recent purchases include an iPhone (very cool, but it would be nice to combine the best of the Blackberry with the best of the iPhone), the new MacBook Pro, and an iPad. Tom uses the MacBook and iPad the most. What really surprised me about the iPhone was how much I would use the iBook and Kindle apps. I've been skeptical. I mean, how good can reading be on a little screen. The answer? Surprisingly good. What's best is that there are tons of free books out there by authors I love: P.G. Wodehouse, Edith Wharton, Jane Austen, Mark Twain. Plus I can sample other authors like Trollope, without having to buy the book (or make a trip to the library). Who knew?!

The final purchase was a new high efficiency washer. I'm in love. Seriously. This washer washes clothes like nobody's business. Old stains come right out. It uses very little water and very little soap. It's quiet. In short, it's amazing.

Maryland Sheep and Wool is fast approaching and I'm debating whether to take a spinning 101 class offered by Maggie Casey. I think I might. Immediately thereafter, I'll head down to the beach with my sister-in-law. And then a couple of weeks later, I'll be on my way to Vermont for the Squam Art Workshops, even though I'm sure that two classes with Cat Bordhi will make my head explode (in a good way, of course). A month later, another trip to the beach, followed by a trip to Washington state the following month for Tom to run a 100-mile race. And then at the end of October, we'll attend my nephew's wedding. And of course, there's work to contend with, which promises to be even more hectic than it is now. Whew!

I wonder if I'll be able to finish that single brown sock?

Happy knitting!

Be Careful What You Wish For

How many times have we wished, when work or life gets a little overwhelming, for an illness or injury that's just bad enough to keep us home but not bad enough to keep us from knitting? It's okay, you can admit it. I periodically do it myself. Of course, nothing ever happens.

Until now.

Early Tuesday morning, I woke up with a little migraine, which was annoying because I had a business meeting in Richmond. I took my usual Excedrin and headed out. By mid-afternoon, I noticed my hips were feeling decidedly ache-y and the headache was getting a little worse. By the time I went to bed, every bone and muscle in my body ached.

Wednesday was even worse. The muscles in my back yelped with every footfall. I wasn't comfortable laying down, sitting up, or standing. I was running a fever (thus explaining the ache-y hips). Add to that a headache of epic proportions. I quickly caved and saw the doctor, who thought it was the flu, even though the flu test was negative. She prescribed Tamiflu but didn't tell me how to alleviate the pain (I think she thought I was weak and whining). Unfortunately, my pharmacy of choice didn't have Tamiflu in stock so they had to send the order to a different pharmacy. I didn't pick up the prescription because all I wanted to do was be in bed.

600 mg of ibuprofen helped alleviate the body pain, but did nothing for my headache. It was getting to the point where I wanted to rip my brain out of my head to make the pain stop. Seriously, it was that bad.

Fortunately, most of the aches were gone yesterday, although my back still hurts a little when I walk. I still have the headache (72 hours and counting), but it's much diminished. I managed to drag myself out of bed around 1:30 yesterday afternoon and haven't relapsed yet, so I think I'm on the mend.

I managed to make some progress last night on the second Cloning Anemone Rib sock last night and should be able to finish it today. Here's a teaser photo of the first sock:

The worst part is that Tom and I were supposed to go away for our anniversary. We canceled our reservations and that makes me sad because it will probably be a while before we can go again. Tom and I haven't been away by ourselves for years, it seems. We're always vacationing with friends or his family or going to ultra marathons. The good news, however, is that we received a voucher in lieu of the deposit from the inn where we were going to stay. So we'll have to go.

In honor of our anniversary (which was yesterday), here's a wedding picture. It's hard to believe that it's been 15 years.

In Other News...
Verizon opened the pre-order for the iPhone4 yesterday. I wasn't in any shape to get up at 3:00 a.m. yesterday to order and by the time I got online, the web site was bogged down. I gave up (I don't have the patience to sit at the computer, repeatedly clicking a button for hours until I get in). I was up at 4:30 this morning to feed the cats and decided to give it a try. Guess what? The pre-order was sold out. Now I have to wait a week and order with everyone else. I'll be lucky to get the iPhone4 before they release iPhone5. My current phone does what I need it to, but it doesn't display pictures in email and web sites that are built using Drupal don't render at all. That's a major shortcoming. So you can be sure that I'm going to set my alarm for very early the day of public release and order.

That's it for now. I'm going to spend the day doing fiberly things and reading. For all of you in the frozen north, stay warm and safe. I envy you your snow. I wish we'd get a whopper of a snowstorm this year. I miss the amazing amount of snow we had last year.

Wait...should I have said that? Maybe I'll get what I wished for.

Happy knitting!

Inertia

Winter has always been a time of drawing in for me, but never has the drawing in been so intense. Like "I never want to get out of bed" intense. On the plus side, I feel very indulgent by staying in bed until (get this) 7:30(!) but on the negative side, it's hard to get motivated to do anything. I mostly want to be a bump. And knit. And read. Oh, and eat.

My running goal for this year was to run a 50K at the end of March, but with the miles I haven't been logging, I suspect I'm going to fall short of my goal. If I'm lucky, I can get my butt out of bed for a 6-mile run. But mostly I haven't been running. The problem is that I'm still eating like I'm running, which pretty much equals disaster on the weight gain front. Will I ever return to trail running and ultra marathons, which I professed to love? Only time (and Spring) will tell.

Despite the inertia, I managed to be fairly productive today. The herds of dust buffalo were wrangled and culled (both upstairs and downstairs, which is amazing in itself because I can usually manage to get one level cleaned in a weekend), and I did a little bit of stash organization. As I've acquired yarn, I've squirreled it away in various bags shoved into a closet. Today was the day to go through the bags and the Basket of Shame (BoS). The BoS contains UFOs. While I have UFOs aplenty, I didn't find as many as I thought. However, I did discover more sock yarn. Like kind of a lot of sock yarn. Some is destined for socks for Tom and the rest? Well, the rest is all for me! Or maybe my relatives and friends. In addition to the sock yarn, I found a lot of sock needles. And point protectors, stitch markers, row counters... Yikes! How many Brittany size 1 needles does a girl need? Apparently, a lot. Oddly, I found two socks-in-progress, of the same yarn, in different patterns. I think one sock lost its charm and I used the remaining wool for a different sock, which also lost its charm. Fortunately, the yarn has not lost its charm, so I'll eventually frog both socks and start afresh.

Sadly, I did not find the single finished Norwegian mitten from the 2006 Knitting Olympics, only its unfinished mate. I suspect the finished mitten is tucked into a bag in a basket somewhere. I'll find it one of these days.

I'm making progress on the second Cloning Anemone Rib sock. The gusset is in progress and the stitch count is correct. Expect the finished pair by next weekend!

And speaking of which, we're celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary soon and I'm taking several days off work. Woo hoo! I'm sure that I'll find time to knit. The question is, what shall I knit next? There are any number of UFOs that I could finish. Or I could knit another pair of socks for Tom. Maybe I'll do both...pull out a UFO to finish and start a pair of socks.

I joined the Rockin' Sock Club this year after a two-year hiatus (like I need more sock yarn) and the January kit arrived yesterday. As always, the colors are gorgeous. This kit contains two skeins of yarn (why do I keep spelling "yarn" as "yearn"?) and two patterns. One pattern is color work; the other has a sort of honeycomb stitch pattern. I like them both and have no idea which one to make.

I was planning to be a little more philosophical in this post, but well...I was overcome by inertia.

Maybe your week be filled with forward momentum!

Happy knitting!

Flying Solo

Tom has started training for MMT, even though he's way down on the wait list (his lottery number was not a winner). So this weekend he's off running the hills and rocks of the Massanutten Mountains, leaving me at home with the cats. Ordinarily, I would have gone with him and helped at the aid stations but both of our cat sitters are out of town this weekend. So, I'm a single woman this weekend.

Whenever Tom is gone, I've got all sorts of ideas about what I want to accomplish, and the weekend stretches before me, seemingly endless. By the time he returns home, I haven't accomplished half of what I wanted to. Today, however, was rather productive.

I ran this morning, only six miles, and as has been the case lately, I struggled to keep my heart rate down. I ended up running by myself, which I don't enjoy, but instead of grumping about it and berating myself for being an old, fat, slow runner, I looked around and noticed things--the dun color of the fields, the way the wind sculpted the snow on the side of the road and how it glittered in the sunlight, the blue of the mountains in the distance. While I didn't get to my happy running place (my heart rate was still too high and I was still struggling), noticing did get me out of that negative frame of mind.

Later in the day, a friend came over for some joint career counseling. We've been in our careers for decades and for the last year or so have been toying with the idea of doing something different. The problem is we don't know what we want to do. Today we tried to figure it out. After wracking our brains for several hours (and not finding any answers), we went to Market Table Bistro. The food was good, reasonably priced, and at the early hour of 5:30, the service was fast (perhaps a little too fast).

So what's in store for the rest of the weekend (which sadly is not a long weekend)? A wee bit of housecleaning, perhaps. Some grocery shopping and cooking, maybe start planning a sweater, maybe figure out what to do with design for Shauna's mittens (the stitch count isn't working out for the patterns I want to use)...the possibilities are endless.

Knitting Progress
I've made some headway on the second Cloning Anemone Rib sock. But I noticed a mistake near the top that's bugging me more than it should, given that no one is going to see it. I might end up ripping it out once again.

In better news, I'm going to be attending the Squam Art Workshops in June. I've signed up for two all-day classes with Cat Bordhi--Personal Footprints and Moebius Knitting. I have a suspicion that my head will explode by the end of the second day. On the third day, I'll take a drop spindling class with Denny McMillan. I know how to use a drop spindle (or at least I used to know how), but recently all my attempts at spindling fail. I don't know if it's me or the spindle, but I can't get the spindle to spin for any length of time. Could it be the roving I'm using? At any rate, it's very frustrating. Anyway, I'll be taking a road trip to New Hampshire in June and it will be a lot of fun. Two days up (I really don't want to drive for 11 hours) and two days back. Squam will provide a much-needed vacation, even more so since work from now until then will be intense, to say the least.

Well, it's getting late and I still have things I want to do...read, knit, dream a sweater...

Happy Knitting!

Accountability

We're a week into 2011. Let's see where I am with my resolutions, intentions, what-have-you, shall we?

• Balance my life better. I worked just over a 40-hour week. However, I'll max out my vacation and floating holiday hours next pay period and then won't be able to accrue any until both balances come down. Note to Self: Schedule time off soon.
• Get better at managing lists. Lists? What lists?
• Knit a sweater. I'm working on mittens right now. The sweater will come much later. I hope to complete by next winter.
• Meditate. Hmmm...I tend to meditate when I go to bed and mostly fall asleep. And lately I've been forgetting to meditate. Needs improvement.
• Add yoga back to my life. I'm doing micro-yoga--forward bends only. Definitely needs improvement.
• Take time each day to find joy, and carry that joy with me (even if it's recalling how cute the cats look when they're sleeping). This one seems to be working somewhat for me. I've been less unhappy this week. And it helps that the cats are sleeping a lot.
• Take time to figure out what to do with my life. A working session with a friend is scheduled for the end of the month. We'll see what happens.
• Spend more time with family and friends. Everyone is so busy, so it's hard to schedule, although I did meet friend for coffee after my run this morning and spent about three hours talking.
• Don't beat myself up for falling short of my expectations. Needs improvement. The fact that I'm taking stock of my progress after only one week into the New Year indicates that I need some work in this area.

Knitting Progress
I started the mittens for my niece and have run into a bit of design conundrum. I'd like to use three colors but my idea for the hand and palm design will mean that I've got floats that are more than five stitches. So I need to think on it more. I'm quite pleased with the cuff, though (please ignore the rather glaring mistake; this attempt is a prototype):

I cast on the second Cloning Anemone Rib sock for a third time. Hopefully, this time will be the charm. I haven't gotten very far and hope to make more progress tonight and tomorrow. Plus, I'm planning to attend the Loudoun Knitters meeting on Tuesday and should be able to make good progress there.

I also did something a bit silly and joined the Rockin' Sock Club 2011. This will be my third Rockin' Sock Club (previous years were 2007 and 2008). So far, I've completed one pair of socks out of the 12 I've received. The second pair is in progress. Perhaps this year, I'll find time to knit at least one pair of the sock clubs offering. If not, I'm building a great sock yarn and pattern stash!

Running Progress
I actually managed to eke out just over six snowy miles this morning, but it wasn't easy. The route seemed to be uphill both ways. The snow definitely enhanced the beauty of the route. I'm planning to run about 11 miles tomorrow, up Thomas Mill Road (a beast of a hill) and down Canby (beautiful!). However, if the winds materialize, I might skip the run and go straight for coffee (and knitting). My running goal was to run a hilly trail 50K in March, but I'm not feeling very optimistic about that right now. Maybe I'll do a hilly trail 50K in October instead.

That's it for now. Happy knitting!

Looking Forward

2010 (may it rest in peace) was a challenging year for me in many ways. Lots of snow (that's good), trying to train for the Boston Marathon while recovering from plantar fasciitis (and record snow levels), a bout of Lyme disease (or so they said; I'm still skeptical), and of course, the daily challenges of home and work.

By the end of the year, I was darn weary of it all and optimistic about the dawning of the New Year. While I don't go crazy with New Year Eve celebrations, I do see the New Year as a metaphorical "reset" button. It's a good time to put the brakes on the weird, negative thinking that I can do so well and start with a fresh, positive outlook. I was really looking forward to that fresh start.

Which is why I was a bit surprised this morning when the day dawned gray and misty and all I wanted to do (after feeding the cats at 5:00 a.m.) was crawl back into bed and pull the covers over my head and not come out, not even for a trail run. This is not an auspicious way to start the New Year. Clearly, I'm still in great need of an attitude adjustment. And to help with that, let's review my resolutions (or intentions) for 2011:

• Balance my life better. Work is a bit stressful and as a result, I've gotten myself into a rather "stuck" state. I feel guilty for not focusing 100% of my time on work and therefore don't seem to accomplish anything else (yes, I'm well aware that behavior is stupid)
• Get better at managing lists. I have also sorts of to-do lists (mostly in my head) but don't seem to accomplish much (see the first bullet point). I'm going to try to schedule time each day for specific tasks; when the time is up, it's time to move on to another task (I'm not optimistic that this approach will work, but it's worth a shot).
• Knit a sweater. Despite the number of years that I've been knitting, I've never knit a sweater. I've started several and finished none. I intend to rectify that this year, even if it means designing my own.
• Meditate. I read an article recently that said that meditation can help improve memory and concentration (which I probably already knew, but forgot). I've got a serious case of monkey mind going on and my memory is pretty bad (sieve-brain, I like to call it). That bugs me to no end.
• Add yoga back to my life. I'm finding that as my body is becoming less flexible, my mind is as well, and that's not attractive.
• Take time each day to find joy, and carry that joy with me (even if it's recalling how cute the cats look when they're sleeping)
• Take time to figure out what to do with my life. A tall order, but the growing sense of dissatisfaction with my life is an indication that I need to give this resolution some attention.
• Spend more time with family and friends.
• Don't beat myself up for falling short of my expectations. This resolution is a hard one. I don't want to lower my expectations of myself. But I do need to understand what's going on in my head when I "fail" and then learn from that experience.

My list is rather ambitious and already I'm feeling like a failure for not having accomplished anything on my list this year!

A Knitting Retrospective
This year wasn't the most productive knitting year I've had, but I did manage to finish some projects:

• Vancouver mittens. This was my first successful attempt at designing, and designing colorwork. While they aren't my best work technically, I'm happy with them. They mostly fit (barring the wonky right thumb and the too-long left hand) and are very warm. I'll attempt a second pair of mittens for my niece, using a plied yarn instead of a single-ply.
• The Spiral Scarf. This project was a lesson in short row architecture. I'm pleased with the results. However, my dislike of mohair continues to be reinforced. It's scratchy and the fibers get in my mouth and eyes.
• Cloning Anemone Rib socks. Well, technically this isn't an FO because I had to frog the second sock yesterday due to a serious counting error. I was making the size medium sock but cast on 68 stitches instead of the 72 needed. That mistake became apparent as I was knitting the gusset. This will be my third attempt with this pair of socks. They say the third time's a charm. Right?

These are the projects that I want to do this year:

• (Design and) Knit the aforementioned sweater
• Design and knit the aforementioned mittens for my niece
• Design and knit a hat for Tom (by February)
• Finish the second Cloning Anemone Rib sock, without having to frog it
• Finish the Fair Isle tam that is currently on the needles
• Choose one more UFO and finish it or frog it

So there you have it. Looking back and looking forward.

May 2011 be filled with love, health, happiness, wisdom, prosperity, and FOs!

Not Quite a White Christmas

Every year Tom and I alternate spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with our respective families. This year, we spent Thanksgiving with his family (in North Carolina) so that meant that Christmas was spent with my family in the Tidewater region of Virginia. It also meant that we traveled for both major holidays, but them's the breaks.

For the last umpteen years, Mom has dispensed with the big Christmas dinner and opted for lots of snacks--ham biscuits, homemade clam dip, crab pate, punch, cookies, pies--and the rest of us have contributed as well. It's nice and relaxed, but can be a lot of work. This year, Dad decided he wanted to have a sit-down dinner. That's a lot of work for Mom, even if everyone brings side dishes. So Tom and I traveled down there Christmas Eve so we could help out Christmas Day.

The best laid plans...

During dinner on Christmas Eve, I noticed that the light was bothering me and sounds seemed particularly loud. I was feeling a bit headache-y and went to bed early. I woke up early Christmas morning with a migraine of epic proportions, the likes of which I haven't seen in a very long time. Fortunately, Dad made a run to the drug store to get some Excedrin (which is the only thing that works) and within a couple of hours, the pain was gone, although I resembled a wrung-out dishcloth. Tom helped Mom with dinner preparations. The family assembled at 4:00 instead of 2:00 and the Christmas celebration was saved.

After dinner, gifts were distributed to the children and that was a lot of fun. Christine (age 9) has been knitting with a knitting loom and wanted to learn to knit with needles (she also wants to learn to do cross-stitch and embroidery). My gift to her was a nice bag filled with yarn, a learn-to-knit book, knitting notions, a book of knitting loom patterns, a cross-stitch kit, an embroidery kit, and a punch-loop kit. She was thrilled. Christine is a knitter. She mastered the knit and purl stitch easily, then went on to stockinette stitch, seed stitch, and ribbing. But the one thing that makes her a real knitter? She wanted to start a second project but had only one pair of needles. Instead of finishing the project on the needles, she started her second project using chopsticks for needles!

My 15-year old niece, Shauna, also had asked me to teach her to knit. Her gift was a pair of knitting needles, two balls of yarn, and knitting lessons. She, too, picked up the knit stitch quickly and was well on her way making progress on a garter stitch scarf. Then she had a knitting accident after she got home and lost her work. Do you know how hard it is to explain casting on and knitting using text messaging? It will be interesting to see if I explained it well enough for her to correctly form the stitches. If not, we'll have created a new art form.

However, the best Christmas gift (for me at least) was the snowstorm that hit Tidewater Christmas night. It started snowing around 8:00 and snowed all day Sunday. Tidewater doesn't get snow. When I was growing up, most snowfalls were about an inch. I think we got six inches one year and that was very exciting. But Sunday's snow? Thirteen inches!! Tom wanted to leave Sunday night, after it stopped snowing, but it would have taken forever to get home. Fortunately, the roads were clear today and traffic normal. As it turns out, that was the third largest snowstorm on record for the area.

Of course, snowstorms bring enforced knitting time and I was able to finally finish the second Vancouver mitten (the first was finished during the Olympics last year. Here's the pair:

It's not a very good picture and the mittens look a little wonky because...well, they are a little wonky. The thumb for the right mitten is a little tight and the curled tip on the left mitten is a little long. And the fabric is a little puckered (but that should block out, right?). Overall, I'm pleased with them. They're quite warm and comfy (except for the right thumb). And it's the first thing I've designed and completed!

That's it for now. I hope everyone had a lovely holiday.

Happy knitting!

The Eyes Have It

Last Saturday was the inaugural Stone Mill 50. As much as I would have liked to run it, I wasn't prepared. But I could crew for my friends. And I could even run with them in the latter stages of the race.

We met the runners at mile 21. Pat, Diane, and Allison were all doing well. I was so impressed with Allison because she was running with a terrible cold and couldn't breathe. If it were me, I'm not sure that I would have even made it to the start. Fortunately, the day was sunny and mostly warm (although a wool sweater was needed to make sitting around comfortable) and I knitted and knitted on the Spiral Scarf. Eventually, our runners came back through (they passed through this aid station twice) and everyone was still looking chipper.

At mile 35 or so, I changed into my running clothes so I could run with them the last 15 miles. About a mile in, I tripped (although how I could do that on flat, soft trail is beyond me) and bruised my knee. No big deal; it happens all the time. About a half mile further, Diane tripped on a rock and went down hard, and in slow motion. All that I could see was this jagged, slanted rock that was right in the trajectory of her fall. It got her and it got her good. After she rolled over, the damage to her knee was evident: a three-inch half moon gash right on her kneecap. She had a couple of band-aids and another runner gave her a couple more, so we were able to "suture" the gash. Diane is tough. After saying it didn't hurt (even though we had to pick grass out of the wound), she was thinking she could finish the race. We advised her against it. The wound was deep (down to the adipose layer, we would later find out) and she still had 13 miles to go. We declared game over for her (if she finished, it would have been her 30th race of marathon distance). Pat and I continued on, while Tom B. stayed with Diane.

The miles flew by. Pat was worried that she wouldn't get to the last aid station before the cut-off, but I noticed that there were reflective trail markings interspersed amongst the ribbons (meaning that they were expecting some people to run this section of trail towards dark) and I knew that we were way ahead of the cutoff. We saw Diane at this aid station; she was on her way to the hospital to get her knee stitched up (it would require 17 stitches; note to self: never, ever embark on a trail run without your bandannas, no matter how short or "easy").

Pat and I continued on, running the flats and downhills and walking uphills. Her pace and energy were good (much better than me when I ran my first 50-miler). We hit the last aid station: only 7 miles to go! She had it in the bag and crossed the finish line under the 12-hour mark. Way to go, Pat!

The Eyes Have It
Right before I started running (and actually a couple of days before), my left eye was bothering me. Actually, I thought it was the contact in my left eye. But upon further examination, I discovered a fluid-filled bubble on my eye. It got worse over the weekend, and last Sunday I called my optometrist, who thought it was an allergic reaction and prescribed a steroid drop and Benedryl. On the follow-up visit, he diagnosed chemosis. The condition was apparently caused by a tiny sliver of a leaf embedded at the edge of the cornea (which he removed [the leaf, not the cornea]). Fortunately, the chemosis wasn't painful, but it was highly annoying. My eye itched like there was no tomorrow. That made last week a bit challenging: I couldn't wear my contacts and I deemed it better to work from home since my desk at work is right under an air vent. My eye is much better now; I'm wearing contacts again and the itchiness is gone. But there still is a little bit of a bubble.

Knitting News
The Spiral Scarf is finished and blocked! At last, a finished object! I've started the second Cloning Anemone Rib sock. I'm swatching for something that could be construed to be a sweater. And I need to dig out the almost-finished second mitten that I started last winter. I have only a few more rows to finish on the tip of the mitten and then I need to knit the thumb. I'm very excited about these mittens. They're going to be so warm (and pretty)!

My mother left me a rather cryptic text message the other day. She said that Christine (my nine-year-old niece) considers me to be her heroine. So of course that led to a phone call to see what this was all about. It turns out that Christine is very interested in hand work. She's knitting on one of those knitting loom things and is teaching herself embroidery. She said that she wants to "do everything that Aunt Teri does." So, her Christmas present is going to be a sewing basket filled with all sorts of hand work goodies: embroidery hoops, embroidery floss, needles, and of course, knitting needles and yarn. She also said she wants to learn to play the harp (she's taking piano lessons now). I used to play, long ago before I moved to Paris and Baltimore (the commute from Baltimore to Reston precluded any type of lessons or practice). I've offered to loan her my harp and music if she really is interested. But her mother and I agree that it would be best for her to continue piano at least through the summer.

Then, my eldest niece sent me a text message this evening asking me to teach her how to knit the next time I'm down to visit my parents. Shauna will be 16 in March and has gone through a rough spell after her boyfriend committed suicide last year. Her mother isn't a good role model and I'm trying to bond with Shauna, but it's very difficult when I see her only once or twice a year.

So, now I've got two nieces who look up to me. That's a huge responsibility. I hope I'm up to the task.

That's it for now. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Happy knitting!

Time Flies, Whether You Like It or Not

I'm still alive and kicking, although sometimes I'm definitely not kicking. Work is...challenging...shall we say and there are days when it makes my brain hurt. And the weekends are far too short. I'm behind in everything: housework (the herd of dust buffalo is in need of some serious culling), cooking (thank goodness Tom can cook, otherwise we'd be living off of beanie weenies), blogging, and other things that I'm supposed to be responsible for. My memory is like a sieve and I remember things just-in-time, which isn't a good way to make one's way through life. I get organized and make a to-do list, but then it all falls apart and disorganization reigns supreme. It's all very tiring.

And once again, about all I can muster for a blog post is random bullet points.

• I'm annoyed with our ancient crockpot. It's been cooking for nigh onto 12 hours and the carrots and onions still aren't tender
• We're going to eat it anyway. At least it smells good.
• See what I mean? I wrote those first two bullet point last week!
• There's been knitting in the odd moments chez Knitting Libran.
• And as a result, the Monkey socks are a pair!
• I'm swatching for a sweater thing that might have sleeves and buttons and a collar
• I'm not getting gauge
• I'm so not getting gauge
• I went up a needle size and I got 1/2 a stitch more than with the smaller needles
• And yes, I checked the needle size and counted the stitches many, many times
• Stupid gauge
• And I'm not happy with the colors
• Tom thinks they're fine
• I started knitting the Spiral Scarf again
• Apparently, I can't read knitting instructions, even after they're explained to me
• I cannot seem to remember the "k to end, turn" instruction when working the short rows
• The scarf doesn't spiral if you work short rows on each side
• It just gets wonky
• I'm on a roll now, though
• I just can't stop knitting until the scarf is complete
• That won't make my employer happy
• Knitting is not part of my job description
• Tom cooked an awesome dinner last night for me and four of our friends
• It was another of his "restaurant openings"
• Sesame crusted salmon, butternut squash soup, adobo roast turkey with red chili gravy, green beans with crispy prosciutto, sweet cornbread pudding, gingerbread with spiced creme anglaise
• YUM!
• Tom is phenomenal

That about sums up the last month or so. Hopefully I'll remember to post sooner than a month. I'm not optimistic.

Happy knitting!

Turning the Corner

In my last post, I mentioned that I was diagnosed with Lyme disease, which surprisingly is extremely controversial. The controversy rages around all aspects of the disease, from how to diagnose it, to how to treat it, and whether or not chronic Lyme exists. Unfortunately (but fortunately for me), several of my friends have also been diagnosed with Lyme, so I was able to get information from them about the progression of the disease, doctors in the area who are Lyme "literate", and information about treatment.

My holistic physician wanted to treat using only herbs, on the premise that antibiotics aren't that effective and are dangerous. I wasn't comfortable going the herbal route and got a recommendation from another friend for a doctor in the area who has treated a lot of Lyme. That doctor wanted to put me on long-term antibiotics (six months), using a combination of three antibiotics that are pulsed (Monday, Wednesday, Friday for two weeks, with the third antibiotic added the third week, and no antibiotics the fourth week). That seemed to be a bit heavy-handed until I started reading more about the disease, and that treatment protocol makes sense. I'm also using two herbs (arteminisin and teasel) and taking a bunch of supplements, including potassium (yup, got another mineral deficiency).

In addition, I'm supposed to be on a strict gluten- and sugar-free diet (to prevent yeast infections), as well as no alcohol and no caffeine. Needless to say, I cheat a little bit.

So how's it working out? No sign of a yeast infection yet, despite the cheating. The brain fog and crushing fatigue have abated. And my running might be back to normal. My legs don't feel fatigued, my heart rate has settled down, my speed has improved, and I can run longer distances without feeling like I need to take a nap for a couple of days. I even ran two 12-mile runs this weekend! If this keeps up, I might even be able to run an ultra marathon in the spring. I'm beyond thrilled!

Knitting News
One Cloning Anemone Rib sock (aka CAR) is done. I think that mentioned in a previous post that when I first started these socks, I found the knitting to be tedious and slow. I couldn't get the hang of the cable (either with or without a cable needle) and the sock ended up in the (ever-growing) UFO bin. But I needed a second sock for vacation (I couldn't find the yarn for the second Monkey sock) and I grabbed the CAR sock. After a few false starts, it worked! I now love this sock. And in the meantime, I discovered a cure for Second Sock Syndrome. Knit only one sock, then knit one sock from a different pattern. By the time you are finished with the second first sock, you'll have forgotten what bugged you about the first first sock and you can complete the pair! So now the second Monkey is on the needles (not that the Monkey sock ever bugged me). I'll post pictures at some point (I think I've been saying that for about a year now).

I think there might also be a color work sweater in my future, but I'm making no promises. Oddly, I've been experiencing something that resembles hot flashes, which does not bode well for the sweater wearing. I think it might be a Lyme thing. It couldn't possibly be related to my age.

Happy knitting!

RRS (Really Random Saturday)

Today was a rather random kind of day, filled with surprises. Some of the were good and some, well, were interesting.

• I was run sponsor for the club run this morning, meaning that I had to get to the run extra early to put out water.
• I kind of got lost doing it, but to be fair it was very early, and dark
• Then I got lost again because there was a tree across the road and I couldn't figure out how to get to the next place to put the water.
• I eventually figured it out, but not before I was 30 minutes late to the run.
• It took me over an hour to put out water.
• Fortunately, the morning was cool and it was one of the better runs I've done in recent memory.
• The run was followed by a trip to the farmer's market and the health food store.
• I picked up a copy of Healing Lyme while I was there.
• Yup, I've been diagnosed with Lyme disease.
• Blimey! I'm a Lymie!
• Spent a large part of the afternoon reading how the Borrelia spirochete infects its host. Fascinating reading.
• The bluejays raised a major ruckus while I was reading.
• I went to investigate, thinking it was a cat. Instead, I found a hawk in our yard.
• Then a little later, a larger, different type of hawk perched in one of our trees.
• A hummingbird also paid a brief visit.
• The neighbors a couple of doors down had what sounded like a fun party.
• They even had a bagpiper!
• Fortunately, the piper wasn't bad.
• I also managed to clean the refrigerator.
• Met a friend for dinner at the Vietnamese restaurant in town.
• We shared a salad, three entrees, and three desserts.
• The waiter warned us that it was a lot of food.
• There wasn't much left over.

All in all, not a bad day (except for the getting lost part). I didn't get any knitting done, but I did carry the current sock-in-progress with me.

Now, I must to bed go. It will be another early start tomorrow so I can get to the run on time. Hopefully, there won't be any fallen trees blocking my route. I'd hate to be late to a breakfast run.

Happy knitting!

I Felt the Earth Move Under My Feet

Fortunately, the sky did not come tumbling down. But such a bizarre experience.

On Friday at 5:04 a.m. EDT, as I was getting ready to give the cats their breakfast, there was a terrible racket and the house shook violently. The cats got panicked looks on their faces, laid back their ears, and bolted from the kitchen. My first thought was that the furnace exploded (or something else in the neighborhood had). My second thought was that Tom was moving heavy furniture around upstairs. My third thought was that a huge, heavily loaded dump truck was driving past the house. And all I wanted it to do was stop making that sound.

It turned out that we had a bona fide earthquake, a 3.6. It was a bit disconcerting. The cats returned a few minutes after it was over and they were very wary, and quite puffed up. Fortunately, there was no damage (except maybe our plaster walls have some more key failure).

Running News
Tonight is the 4th Annual Mule Run. Last year I went the distance. This year, I'm crewing. I have not been running well at all this summer. Even slow runs feel extraordinarily hard. More so than they should be for my fitness level. There's some speculation that I might have Lyme disease and I'll get that diagnosis confirmed (for the second time) on Monday. So we shall see.

Knitting Progess
I'm at the gusset on the first Monkey sock and I continue to love this pattern. I plan to get a lot of knitting in tonight while I wait at the various crew stops for the runners to come in. I might even take the second ball of yarn, just in case I finish the first sock. Yeah, dream on...

Renovation Progress
The room, she is done. It's much more workable now. I acquired a second Effektiv cabinet and I think that will serve me well. Now all that I have to do is find the time to knit at home. I'll try to post pictures in the next post.

Now it's time to gather together all the stuff I'll need to crew tonight. It's going to be a long day; I don't anticipate much, if any sleep, until tomorrow afternoon.

Happy knitting!

Melting Bullets

I'm rather enamored of bullet-point blogging. I can be as random as I'd like, which is good, because it's too hot to come up with a coherent narrative. Yes, the house has air conditioning. But even the briefest trip outside reduces me to a puddle.

• It's almost 9:00 p.m. It's 90 degrees outside
• That's just wrong
• It's supposed to be worse tomorrow
• The air conditioning in my car doesn't work
• I'm getting a new car; it's being delivered tomorrow
• I love my Volvo and it still has a lot of miles left
• It's not a good car for crewing or volunteering for ultra marathons
• It's a great car otherwise
• I've had it for 11 years and 153,000 miles
• It gets great gas mileage
• Have I said how much I love my Volvo?
• I hope I love my Outback just as much
• I feel like I'm abandoning my Volvo without just cause
• My fiber room is mostly done
• All I need to do now is to finish organizing
• The Effektiv line from Ikea is quite...effective
• I put two bins of yarn in one cabinet (one high unit, one add-on low unit)
• I needed another cabinet for the unspun wool
• Plus I seem to have stashed yarn in baskets, bags, and boxes
• I still think two cabinets will be enough
• Time will tell
• Just checked the weather: there's a heat advisory, excessive heat watch, and an air quality alert
• The temperature tomorrow is supposed to be 101 degrees.
• I'm not wearing business clothes when the car has no a/c
• I'll go a little more casual and wear linen; I don't care if it wrinkles
• I've turned the heel on the Monkey socks; it took two tries.
• Now I've got to rip out one of the gussets
• Apparently I can't count
• The cats think it's time for a bedtime snack and are hunting flies

And speaking of time, it's time to start preparing for the work week. The long weekend was much too short.

Stay cool and happy knitting!

Nothing to See

But there might be tomorrow if I work my plan.

Tom is off in Wyoming running the Big Horn 50-miler again. They started at 6:00 this morning and I expect him to finish in about 12 hours or so, depending on the snow conditions at the higher elevations (they got four inches of fresh snow on Friday)(actually, given there heat and humidity here at home, snow sounds quite refreshing).

Tom is also running slightly injured, having pulled a muscle in his lower back last weekend. He has until 9:00 p.m. Wyoming time (11:00 p.m. ET) to finish.

I took Friday off and managed to get a fair amount accomplished around the house. I played hooky from running this morning and got even more accomplished. Then it was up to College Park to visit Ikea with my friend Val and her daughter, the newly-minted Dr. Molly. The trip was very productive. And I absolutely love how Ikea can take something that looks big put together and package it so it can fit in a regular car. Of course, being able to creatively pack a trunk has its benefits.

Traffic on the way home was horrible; it was slow all the way to the Dulles Toll Road, so my time was not used very efficiently there. But the cats are fed and walked, I've eaten (and blogged), and now it's time to get back to working my plan.

Hopefully, there will be something to see tomorrow.

Happy knitting!

Inspiration and Motivation

I've had this problem with Inspiration lately. And Motivation, now that I think about it. Both seem to have left the building, leaving me feeling decidedly...flat.

Blogging? Not feeling the love. So, tonight you'll get another bullet point post (BPP).

• I love Radio Paradise with all my heart. Go give them a listen and if you like what you hear, become a member. They are listener-supported.
• I bought new shoes last week: Jambu. The Cherry model in the All Terra line. I love them almost more than I love my Birkenstocks.
• I got stung by a bee today as I was retrieving the cats from their evening constitutional.
• I hope it wasn't a honey bee. I don't want to be responsible for the death of more honey bees.
• There's enough eco destruction in the Gulf right now
• I'm feeling guilty about buying a car that isn't either a hybrid or a very high mileage car
• At least I won't be buying a Hummer
• Have you noticed there aren't many new cars saleswomen? Why is that?
• The cats like going for a walk
• They get to catch bugs and eat grass and roll around in the dirt
• There's been some knitting
• Another pair of Monkey socks is on the needles
• Sadly, the needles were too small, so the sock is now off the needles
• I don't care; I love knitting these socks with a passion that is unrivaled
• As soon as the larger needles arrived in the mail, I cast on
• I might stay up late tonight, knitting and listening to Radio Paradise (and wearing my new shoes)
• Or not. The weekend runs start at 7 a.m. now. It's 10:16 p.m. and I'm still eating dinner

That's it. Dinner is finished and I'm feeling rather somnolent. I suppose I should get my beauty rest. Tomorrow will be busy: run, test drive more cars, and prepare a dessert to take to a barbecue. And let's not mention the usual chores. And the room renovation.

Happy knitting!

I'm Not Dead Yet

It's been way too long since I've posted. I've had all these brilliant posts rolling around in my brain and absolutely no time to post. Or knit, for that matter. So here's a quick run down of what's been happening for the last month.

• I ran the Boston Marathon. Amazingly awesome. The cheering did not stop for 26.2 miles.
• Bosco was almost dead when we got home; he had a urinary tract obstruction and was close to renal failure.
• He made a full recovery and there was much rejoicing.
• I'm watching him like a hawk for the tiniest signs of recurrence.
• I've been putting in mega hours at work. 60-hour work weeks are not fun.
• I never know what day it is now.
• This weekend will confuse me even more; it's MMT weekend.
• I'll be up from 3 a.m. Saturday morning and not go to bed (or get any significant amount of sleep) until Sunday night.
• Since Tom's the runner, he's going to be even more tired than me.
• I'm thinking about running the Vermont 100 Mile next year.
• I think all this working has addled my brain.
• That's why I'm taking a brand-new knitting project this weekend, despite an ever-growing UFO pile.
• The renovation, she is not done. The other wall needed major plaster repair.
• My parents are visiting next weekend. All the stuff from my fiber room is crammed into the guest room.
• I'm in big trouble; there's no time to do everything that needs to be done.
• Next week is going to be a heavy work week, too.
• It will all work out.

That's all the news that fit to print. Hopefully I'll be able to carve some time out to write in more detail. But until then, thanks to Sheepish Annie for the bullet point format.

Until next time, happy knitting!

The Week in Review

It was a bit of a rough week. Work continues to be extremely busy, which is good for preventing boredom, but not so good for getting home before 8:00 in the evening (to be fair, I normally get to work between 9:30 and 10:00; flex hours...you gotta love 'em!). By the time I eat dinner, it's 9:30, which is too late to start knitting (because a) either I won't want to stop or b) I'm tired and I'll make stupid mistakes and have to redo it all). So when I go to bed, I've been curling up with Elizabeth Zimmermann or, most recently, Rachael Herron.

The other thing that made this week particularly difficult was that Bosco developed some sort of urinary tract problem and that had us extremely worried. A couple of weeks ago I took him in to get a distemper vaccine, but even then was noticing that he was constantly in and out of the litter box without much, if any, "output." He seemed to be fine otherwise. The vet prescribed a homeopathic remedy (sulfur), which we didn't need. Bosco seemed fine.

Last week, however, the litter box behavior started again, but this time Bosco definitely was not feeling well. Over the course of the week, his energy level and appetite decreased. We took him to the vet a couple of times and he was diagnosed with crystals in his urine, which is not a good thing. The vet prescribed another homeopathic remedy (thuja) and he needed three doses before it seemed to help. In the meantime, we were petrified that he'd become blocked and would need emergency surgery, especially when he seemed to get much worse towards the end of the week.

Fortunately, he seems to have made a full recovery, although he still isn't producing much "output." But at least he doesn't seem to be in pain anymore and isn't in the litter box five or six times per hour.

Knitting and Renovation Progress
Move along, nothing to see here.

Running Progress
Because of work, I haven't had the energy to get up at 5:30 in the morning and run during the week. This is bad because those morning weekday runs help add to the mileage base. I have been able to get out on weekends to run, though, and at least am getting my long runs in. I ran just over six miles yesterday (in the rain) and 14 miles today (in the rain). (Tom, on the other hand, ran a 50K in the mountains (in the rain) yesterday where the creek crossings were waist-high. And cold from snow melt. With a fast current. Comparatively speaking, my runs were a walk in the park.)

I'm going to try to run 18 miles next weekend. I'll feel better if I can get up to 22 miles before Boston. And despite its cachet, Boston is going to end up being a slow training run. I will not finish in a blaze of glory. I'll most likely be crawling over the finish line.

On the Nightstand: How to Knit a Love Song
Long, long ago and in a galaxy far, far away... I used to read "gothic" romances written by the likes of Daphne du Maurier, Dorothy Eden, and Mary Stewart and found them thrilling (in more ways than one). Then I discovered science fiction and other genres and pretty much gave up reading (most) romance novels (I don't believe I've ever read a Harlequin romance).

So when Rachael Herron announced that her first book (a romance) was being published, I decided to buy it. And I'm not sorry that I did.

How to Knit a Love Song is a delightful book. All the elements are there: a smart, beautiful knitting heroine, a handsome hero (although he doesn't come off that way in the beginning), a truly slimy villain, a (somewhat) contested will, fleece-bearing animals, and a dog. Oh, and very well-written "steamy" scenes (it wouldn't be a romance book without those!) The characters are well-developed; the book fast-paced (although somewhat too fast-paced; I found myself wondering how we got to where we were. Perhaps I was reading too fast.). What really drew me in was Abigail's inheritance: a cottage filled with yarn and wool and spinning wheels. I wanted to be there now. Pure bliss! As a bonus, there's a sweater pattern at the end; you can see the finished sweater here. This book will be a great beach read.

Of Birds and Hatchlings
So, apparently this site is flying through the interwebs at...well...internet speed. I would also recommend the eagle cam from Norfolk Botanical Gardens. There's an infrared camera so you can see the eagles at night. This year, the pair had three eaglets. While relatively rare among eagles, it's common for this pair. Last year, another female tried to get in on the action and the first clutch didn't hatch. The second clutch did hatch, but the eaglets had some problems. Hopefully this year, the three eaglets will do better.

Happy knitting (and birding)!

Life Moves On

I'm always sad to see the Olympics end, perhaps because it's the end of a bringing together. It seems that for 17 days, the people of the world are joined together, holding their collective breath as the athletes rocket at incredible speeds down steep hills, narrow tracks, or around tiny skating rinks. They gasp as one (barring time zone differences) as figure skaters jump and twirl and lift, as hockey teams shoot and defend goals. They rejoice as their nation wins medals, but they also rejoice in other nations' victories.

The winter Olympics are my favorite Olympics. They are much smaller than the summer Olympics. And when I started thinking about it, a number of the athletes only have a brief period during the year when they practice, say, skiing or snowboarding. That's pretty incredible. The summer athletes can practice year 'round.

And now this special time is over for another four years. And with it, the Knitting Olympics. This year I medaled, and am thinking that I set the bar too low. But I did what I set out to do and learned a lot in the process. It helped that I was reading a lot of Elizabeth Zimmermann during this time. She provided the guidelines for my mitten design and helped me overcome the fear of knitting without a written pattern. And it was fun! I could do what I wanted and did it with thought, instead of blindly following instructions and not understanding why the designer did "x." If I didn't like the way a part of the mitten was knitting up, I simply unknit it and tried something else. Freedom!

And that got me thinking (and that's not always a good thing)...

I've started contemplating knitting a (dare I say it?) sweater. Like a certain Sheep we know, I too am cursed when it comes to sweater knitting. There must be at least a half-dozen or so laying about the house (well, tucked at the bottom of baskets and boxes actually). There comes a point during the knitting when I just can't go on. I misread the instructions and can't fix the problem. Or I run out of steam. Or worse, the instructions are wrong and I don't figure it out until I've lost all love for the sweater. It's a travesty, really, because I love sweaters and I dream of swathing myself in lovely handknit sweaters during the cold winter months and the chilly spring and fall, and wearing lovely, drapey shells in summer.

So, after I finish the second mitten (just in time for Spring!), I'm going to plan a sweater. I've been reading Knitting in the Old Way as well as EZ. And it's beginning to make sense. The plan is to buy a little wool (or go stash diving) and knit a tiny sweater, maybe doll size, so I can get a handle on the techniques and the (gulp) math. Then scale up for me. And maybe, just maybe, by the time the winter snows are blowing next year, I'll have me a gorgeous sweater!

Running Progress
I am so in trouble for the Boston Marathon. Fortunately, my foot is really almost healed and I've started running again. But now I've got only six weeks to train. My longest run has been about 12 miles, and the long run seems to be the only run I can muster. And those runs are not pretty. I feel like I'm waddling, not running, and by the end, my legs are weak. My goal is to complete a 22-mile run by the end of March. There will be no taper; Boston is going to be a slow training run.

May the running gods have mercy upon me.

Renovation Progress
I managed to get one length of baseboard scraped down to the base paint layer. The sad part is that the baseboard will be hidden by shelves. I'm seriously considering giving up this particular endeavor and move on to painting the ceiling, then the walls. If I don't, my room won't be done until this time next year. And that's too late.

On the Nightstand
I came home yesterday to find a package from Amazon. Inside was Rachael's book, How to Knit a Love Song. It's a very enjoyable read...enchanting, really. I mean, how can you not be enchanted when someone inherits a cottage full of spinning wheels and wool? I'll write a longer review when after I finish it.

So, Rachael, if you are reading this, you're sharing my nightstand with EZ!

Happy knitting!

P.S. We still have snow in our backyard. I think we've had almost a solid month with snow on the ground. Truly an unprecedented event!