Knitting the Blues

And Now, The End Is Near, And So I Blog the Final NaBloPoMo Post.I Did It Myyyyyyyy Waaaaayyyyy

And I'm not foolin'! The proof is in the archives, I did it. Tell the truth, some of you had your doubts. Not only did I do that, but I did this:

Oh, you need proof of that as well? Here you go.

Ski Jacket

• Pattern:  Ski Jacket from Knitting Classic Style by Veronik Avery
• Yarn:  Reynolds Lopi and Lopi Lite
• Needles:  size 10 Addi Turbos
• Cast On:  November, 2007 (actually-very late October, but I didn't knit on it the whole second week of November.
• Bound Off:  November 26, 2007
• Last button sewn on:  November 30, 2007.  Sweatin' it.

When I had gotten this book I queued this sweater right away and a day or so later my lys decided not to carry Lopi and put it on sale at 50% off.  Whoo hoo!  I got the blue and the green on sale, the other colors I had to shop for and I really wanted the orange, but the only oranges in Lopi were really rusty or heathery so I got Lopi Lite and doubled it.  I know, I could have used Lamb's Pride Bulky, but that orange was sort of traffic cone-ish in color.  Ick.

I made a modification to the pattern by knitting the body in the round and not back and forth so I wouldn't have to purl my color work.  That resulted in my first steek and I am pretty happy with the result.  After putting in the button bands I trimmed the extra fabric out of the steek and covered the raw edges with ribbon.  Picking up stitches for the bands was a little tricky, not only figuring out how to pick up stitches that were not edge stitches (that never occurred to me, I had columns of stitches not just the edge stitch so picking up stitches meant inserting my needle behind the stitch along the column of stitches I wanted the band to go and pick up and knit from there, which turned the selvedges into the sweater nicely) but the directions for picking up the bands threw me.  I think it might have been me, but because the bands are worked from the top of the collar in one piece with the collar you have to pick up stitches from the wrong side.  You also do this along one side of the collar as the collar folds down and you want the selvedge to be hidden by it.  The directions say to pick up and knit from the wrong side.  Well, that is more than awkward.  I ended up inserting my needle (with the wrong side facing me) from back to front and essentially purling.  I also think there is a mistake in the pattern regarding the buttonhole placement.  While you are instructed to work the buttonholes on a wrong side row, it makes more sense to work them on a right side row based on the buttonhole row directions.  Being as I entered that whole section a little differently because I was knitting in the round until I started the collar, it could be me, but I don't think so.  I was careful to knit my row of orange at the edge by knitting tbl up to the collar and the purling around the collar so that it would be pretty on the outside.  I then used a hacked tubular bind off that I am happy enough with but might have looked better had I ribbed a row first.  Other than that, the pattern was well written and easy to follow.    Watch for the yarn amounts though, I used significantly less yarn.  One skein less on the main color and one less on one of the contrasts.  I may have used less on the orange as well, but being that I used a different yarn it is hard to tell.  I bought two of them and using them doubled didn't get near the end of the skeins.

One thing that bothers me is my gauge change in the yoke.  Both my row and stitch gauge grew a little and although the sweater seems to fit well, I might have liked a snugger fit around the shoulder and under the arm.  And I keep comparing it to the model in the book and think mine looks grossly large (although, my orange shows up a lot more there, where in the book the brown contrast does not-well, that is me trying to make myself feel better).  The upside?  I can fit my long johns and turtlenecks under it and be really warm when I'm, you know, skiing.  Heh.

Ack!  I'm boring myself to death with my last post of the month.  Is your head spinning yet?  Well, here are some closer-ups:

The buttons have an impossible to photograph blue tinge to them. I love them.

Oh! I know why you are still here. You want to know how many containers of tea I actually counted when they fell out of I emptied the cabinet last week. The grand total (drum roll please!)

142!!!!!

I am shocked! But Pumpkinmama should not be, her guess was 143. She is the winner! And as a thank you for all of the encouragement and tolerance you have given me over the last month I also chose a random winner from all of the guesses and that winner is Lynn of The Linnet Knits! Ladies, I need addresses (or Pumpkinmama can catch up with me at spinning night sometime) so I can get a brew in the mail to you. And some other little surprises.......

November 30, 2007. Thanks to you all, I'm sad to see it end. And not so sad.  Your comments kept me going and I apologize for not getting back to each one of you.  I'm trying to be better. Time for one of my infamous blogging breaks? Or not. We'll see.

Yes, I Have Counted. It Is a Lot of Tea.One Guess Was Only One Away from the Actual NumberTomorrow I Will Reveal the Big Winner!Well, I Have to Get You Back For The Last Day!

NoScaTeaCo

That's the Noro Scarf Tea Cozy. Okay, not really, but it is the Noro Scarf in progress keeping a teapot warm for the photo. Isn't it manly and handsome? That is what I was going for. I chose two colors of Silk Garden that are both mostly browns, greys and blacks. The odd thing is how they both went from the lighter sections to the darker at the same times. At least with the first two skeins. I'm sure it will all be different in the next two, especially since one is a different dye lot. That is a bummer, because it doesn't have that really pretty color, a rusty brown, that is in the first dye lot. Hopefully it will have something special to it in the other ball.

Two balls down, two to go.

So, the tea containers have been counted. When the guesses first started coming in, I thought some of you were a bit, well, daft. Nobody could have that much tea! Ummm, yeah. Then I counted. I have a brewin' ton of tea. It has been a great week, though. I have been rediscovering teas and brewing them up. My favorites have taken a little bit of a back seat to the old new teas I found in the back of the cupboard. A few have asked what my favorites are and I at first thought I would list all of the teas I found and point out my favorites. UGH. All of that typing! All of that linking! That is way too overwhelming. So you only get the highlights, and even those are many.  And they change with the season or my mood or when I find a new favorite, it is all very fluid. Okay, so here are some of my faves, roughly by category:

Black Teas

These teas are blends of different black teas such as Assam, Oolong, Ceylon or Darjeeling, just to name a couple.

• Harney Teas Malachi McCormick's Decent Tea
• Harney Teas Assam Tea
• Whittard Royal Blend Tea

I don't really have a lot of plain black teas, although I love them so this was surprising to me.  Time to shop.

Flavored Teas

I have many flavored teas. I love flavored teas and it is hard for me to narrow it down to a favorite.

• Harney Teas Hot Cinnamon Spice-a sweet tea, with a spicy kick.
• Harney Teas Lapsang Souchong-a strong smoky flavor, great for a snowy afternoon.
• Harney Teas Mao Cha Souchong-has a slightly milder smoky flavor than the last.
• HIghland Tea Company Masala Spice Tea-spicy like Chai, but better.
• Mighty Leaf Orange Dulce
• Mightly Leaf Vanilla Bean
• Harney Holiday Tea
• Adagio Valentine's Tea
• Davidson's Orange Spice
• Adagio Christmas Tea
• Adagio Strawberry-Adagio does fruit flavored teas so well, and this one is great iced, too.

There are just so many, I have tons of flavored teas and love most of them, Adagio Chocolate is good too. 

Decaffeinated Tea

• Harney Teas Vanilla Comoro-my absolute favorite Decaf of the moment.
• Harney Teas Assam Decaf
• Harney Teas Black Decaf
• Stash Tea Vanilla Chai Decaf
• Strand Tea Decaf Darjeeling
• Adagio Orange Decaf-this one is lovely, when you open the cannister the orange aroma is wonderful
• Adagio Strawberry Decaf-again

Green Teas

I could write a post about Green Teas and probably will sometime soon.  The health benefits are many.  People sometimes think they don't like green tea because it is bitter.  The problem is that it has to be brewed differently than black teas.  The water should be just less than boiling, about 180 degrees.  I usually boil the water and then let it cool for a few minutes before pouring over the tea.  If you think you don't like it, try it again brewing it right, I'll bet you'll change your mind.

• Tazo Zen-great hot or iced, Starbucks brews this as their Iced Green Tea.
• Harney Teas Organic Green-my favorite green tea, the aroma, the taste are wonderful and remind me of spring.
• Harney Lemony Gunpowder
• Republic of Tea Sip for the Cure Pink Grapefruit
• From Margene-from a shop in SLC Walnut Green, I love this tea
• Tazo Organic Green-nothing like the Harney tea of the same name, this has an earthier flavor
• Harney Teas Dragon Pearl Jasmine
• Stash Chai Green Tea-I love my spicy teas this time of year, can you tell?
• Republic of Tea People's Green Tea
• Republic of Tea Wild Berry Plum Decaf

Herbal Teas

Surprising, isn't it?  I have a few herbal concoctions that I like, although it is rare that I drink herbals.  I include Rooibus teas here, and I do drink them pretty often, especially in the evenings.  Usually for my throat or sometimes at night, but hear are a few:

• Adagio Rooibus Caramel
• Adagio Rooibus Vanilla
• Adagio Rooibus Coco and Mint
• Republic of Tea Cardamon Cinnamon-again with the spicy.
• Traditional Medicinals Gypsy Cold Care
• Traditional Medicinals Throat Coat-this is a tea brewed often for the singers in this family
• Ombili Rooibus
• Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime-I know it!  Right?  Who would have thought?  I do really drink this tea on nights when I need some calming down, and it may be in my head, but it works.  So does Rooibus.  Calming.

So, those are a few of my current faves.  My tea post started with stories of hoarders (or collectors if you need to feel better about it).  You might think that exposing my tea collection to the harsh light of day would have had me relieving myself of some of it, vowing not to get more until I drink a certain amount or some other noble thoughts along those lines, but sadly, no.  I let a couple of really old teas that I really didn't like go, but kept most of it and, well, there is a sad truth.  I have actually ordered tea since then.  I mean, I was down to my last few bags of decaf black and the Adagio Orange Decaf?  One cup left.  Please, come help me drink some.  We can have a tea party.

A quick list of tea spots to visit online: Harney Teas, Adagio Teas, Strand Tea, Mighty Leaf Tea, and Republic of Tea. Those are just a few, and now I don't have to make my list a link-fest.

Speaking of de-hoarding, my mom, (who, as I have mentioned before, is a constant source of stuff that clutters my brain) gifted me with this garage sale find this fall:

The thing is, this is the very same teapot that I sold at a yard sale in her driveway last year when I decluttered my life. Same.Exact.Teapot. I think she spent more on it than I sold it for. Heh. I guess I am doomed to have some things, aren't I?

November 29, 2007. Brewed up at that last second.

Determined Knitters Persevere

Determined. Or maybe it is one who perseveres. You know, until recently I wouldn't have used either of these words to describe myself. I happen to know my weaknesses all to well, but in the last couple of years I have had a chance to look back at my life and the difficult times only to see that damn it! Yeah! I just might be both of those things. I bring it up because it is after nine o'clock on Tuesday, I just got home and I just want to get out my Silk Garden scarf, knit and drink tea. But post to this blog I will because it would really stink to get three days from my goal and wimp out, and while I may be a wimp I am not a quitter.

I say that I wouldn't have used these terms to describe myself, but then I look back on my life and see that the trials prove those personality traits. While some of the most difficult things I have gone through are not things I think are appropriate for the blog (plus a couple would be books, not blog posts and I'd be happy to share over a cup of tea or better yet, a bottle of wine sometime) others have been on the blog. Remember when I climbed Mt. Washington? Somewhere on that mountain Pete knew I should turn back. He also saw that look in my eyes and knows me. I had decided that I was summiting and no out of shape body or sudden snow storms were stopping me. It is strange how looking back on my years and examining the evidence changes my perception on myself. That change in perception changes my approach to my life. On those days when things seem to be keeping me from being who I want to be Christina Aguilera's Fighter is my theme song. It reminds me of some of the things I have come through and what they have made me. A fighter.

It may be a simplistic leap here, but how a person approaches their life can often be seen in their approach to their knitting. I've thought about this recently as I have a couple of friends that knit and knit and knit, but they don't often finish anything. One little mistake and they are discouraged. If they have to rip out their knitting more than one time they turn into quitters. Man, oh Man! Can you imagine the finished garments that you would not have if frogging meant the end of the work? To be a knitter is to be a perseverer (I know, that is not a real word, but it works here). I mean, to err is human. And baby do I ever err. Let's take the Ski Jacket for instance. How many times did I re-do? Well, I cast on twice, the second time stuck. Then I knit half way through the yoke before I realized I had made an error and had to rip it back. After knitting part of the collar I realized that twisted rib meant k1tbl, p1tbl, not the k1tbl, p1 that I had done on the bottom ribs, and yes, it does make a difference. Rip. Then the button bands were not going just the way I wanted. They got one rip and then, I have to be honest, the agony of twisted rib on big needles in Lopi won out over perseverance. I had a vision for this sweater and I think what I ended up with is almost what I wanted.

I wish that the story of this sweater were uncommon for me, but alas, no. I almost never have a project go from cast on to bind off without mistakes, changes, frogging, tinking or some other thing that would discourage my couple of knitter friends off the thing. So take heart new knitters or knitters that make mistakes. I'd have nothing knitted in my wardrobe if I let mistakes and problems get in the way of my determination to have the thing finished. What kind of knitter are you? Determined? A persererer? And does that carry over into life? Probably. Oh, and if you are a perfect shmerfect and never make mistakes then I don't really want to hear from you. :)

So I can have a photo in this post:

Remember this? It may be perseverance delayed.

If you remember I was concerned with the pooling early on, but kept knitting and was happy to see it sort of spread out in a pleasing manner. The problem came later when I realized I was nearing the end of the yarn and this was not going to be a long enough scarf for anyone but an elf. Needing a gift that week, I changed directions and gave my friend a kit to make The Enchanting And Wonderful Witch Hat. My friend loves Halloween and loved my hat so much that everytime she saw me (out on her walk, me running by) she would exclaim her love for it. She was thrilled with the gift for her fiftieth birthday and it was even better than the scarf would have been. So the scarf sits waiting for me to rip it out and cast on fewer stitches. I'm determined to work on it later. Heh.

November 28, 2007. Determined and persevering.

I Got Plenty of Nuttin' and Nuttin's Plenty For Me!and Pay It Forward

I spent the day working on the Ski Jacket in the hopes that I might finish it by Friday. There would be photos, but there was enough stress to keep me from remembering that I have a camera and it was probably the gloomiest day in years around here. Dark, rainy. Dark. It was just plain miserable and apparently I went with it. I really hope that it all turns out okay  (the sweater and the weather, heh). Ski Jacket is soaking right now so that it can be blocked and finished up. Now, if it doesn't bloom too much and I find the perfect ribbon for the inside life will be better.

It seems that this final week of posting has turned me all introspective. I have learned things about myself and others and was not surprised to find that when I put my mind to something, well, I think some of you know me well enough.

It turns out that today is the first real day that I just don't want to blog. I'm actually writing this last night, so it is Tuesday's post that I don't feel like writing. I'm surprised that I have not been totally stumped most of the month. I actually have more posts in my head than days left in this month (don't be thinking I'll be posting every day just go get these off my chest!). But, I should focus. Since I just don't feel like writing, I think I'll make a little list of things I have come up with over this past month of posting.

• I can post for a whole month without having to resort to embarrassing my family (too much) or to personal hygiene stories.  You did almost get an ode to my Neti Pot, and you might yet in the future.  If you don't have one, you really should.
• Sometimes my favorite posts to read consist of a picture and a few words.  I was never good at that before.   I'm improving.
• Not all posts need pictures.  Well, I do really like pictures.
• Sometimes you start a post with one idea and by the end something totally unexpected and kind of fun comes out.  Last Wednesday is an example of that. 
• Often I sit down to write without a single thought in my head and once I get going I find I have to edit out a lot of words and ideas.  A journey of a hundred miles begins with a single word step.
• When blogging every day everything is a potential blog post.  That has me looking at my day in a totally different way, and there are so many posts that are still brewing in my head.  Driving to work and the girl in the car next to you is smoking with one hand and sucking her thumb with the other?  Blog post.  How the heck she is steering is beyond me.  My daily breakfast of Fiber One and soy milk?  Blog post.  Hey-not as boring as it seems, I use that Fiber One to add fiber and crunchiness to a lot of foods.  Stuff rocks.
• I am forgetful and so many posts that are in my head will probably be buried behind the rocks in there forever.  Bummer.  Some of them were good.
• Some of them sucked.  Be glad.
• I envy people that easily share their lives on the blog.  It isn't as easy for me, probably because I think so many of you have much more interesting lives than mine.
• Blogging brings more comments and people into my life.  That is a good thing.
• Blogging brings more comments and people into my life.  Oh the stress and anxiety that comes with all of that email.  I try to answer most or visit blogs and leave comments, but there is the daily blogging and the knitting and the family and work and excercise and......  I am really trying, if you haven't heard from me, forgive me.  For instance, if you asked me what my favorite teas were, I promise.  That is coming.
• I made it through the month without posting about Princess.  Surprise!  I have a cat, rather, there is a cat that lives here.  We hate each other.  I may still post about her someday.  At the moment she is glaring at me from across the room.  This usually results in a stare down that I always win.  My girls swear she winks in response to a wink.  Right.
• I have depended on my MoFo grrls to keep me in the zone.  Without them I might not have made it.  At the very least it wouldn't have been as fun.
• I'm surprised and amazed that so many of you come back every day to read my drivel.  Aren't you bored out of your minds yet?  The encouragement that you have given me has been a major key to my persevering. 
• I am looking forward to and dreading my first day without posting.
• I'm sort of sad that the month is ending.  Relieved and sad.  I hope I have made a little more a habit of blogging. 

I am sure there will be more reflecting back on this month, but for now I have to take my sweater out of water and block it. Toes crossed.

I was the first to comment on Sandy's blog today. Joining again, that I am. Here is the scoop:

The idea of the exchange is I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on this blog post requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet, and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog - this means you must have a blog, sorry blogless readers.

If you are one of the first three, please follow through. I promise I will. It may not be much, and it may take all year, but you'll get something. Paper cut snowflakes. Those woven potholders. Crochet toilet paper cover. A Christmas tree made from Reader's Digest magazine. Heh. Remember those? You could make an angel that way too. Well, those are just a few of my ideas. We'll just have to wait and see what I come up with.

****Edited to add:  Let me be clear, PIF is for the first three commenters that mention that they want to participate.  If you don't, just don't bring it up or say right out that you would rather not. 

November 27, 2006. Blogging about blogging.  And not a single picture in sight.  This is difficult for me.

Nine O'clockNine o'clock and 45 seconds.

Surprisingly, I had no problem cutting my knitting. Will it all actually work the way I'm hoping it will? That worries me much more than the cutting. I sewed a zig-zag line up each side of the cut and I ran that contrast yarn in the ditch of the stitch I wanted to cut, and idea gleened from the internets on a search for articles on steeking. Initially I was going to leave that step out, as this is bulky yarn and I was sure I would have no trouble seeing the cutting place. I am really glad I decided to do it. With that dark color and even with small scissors (no, I didn't use the big sheers, my little ones got the job), the eyes go a little wonky and things start to swim. I was in a hurry to leave the house when I made the cut, so there was no thinking about it or second guessing, just cut and run. The big question is: Will she finish it in time for the end of NaKniSweMo? What was I thinking? Two challenges in one month. New posts will be here, but may be bare.

November 26, 2007. The cutting edge of knit blogging.

Reflections

It isn't easy to take a picture of yourself in the mirror.

I see all over the knitblogs people taking pictures of themselves in mirrors. It is hard! But there you have it. I love the way it fits so far which as you know, can only mean one thing. Once I block it and it blooms it will probably not fit as well, but since it is going to be a cardigan I am still hoping that I will love it. I spent last night weaving in all of the ends, grafting the underarm stitches and sewing on either side of where I will be cutting the steek. Putting it off. You might be surprised that this will be my first steek. I am not afraid, and when talking to Meagan about it I mentioned that many knitters steel themselves with a glass of wine or something first. She laughed and commented that I should probably avoid that as it will have me cutting all across the sweater. She knows my tolerance level apparently.

I also spent some time last night deleting hundreds of pictures of knitting from my computer. I may not hoard in my home, but man, this computer has a lot of stuff on it. I was wondering why on earth I was keeping them and decided to let a lot of it go. Ahhhhh, it is freeing.

November 25, 2007. The last Sunday.

Saturday Sky

View of Lawrence and North Andover Mass. from Weir Hill

I have stuff to show. My Ski Jacket is coming along. I need to cut it open and finish the neck and button bands. I think I made a small error in thinking that the steek was a good idea. I'm hoping that it will lay well at the bottom anyway, but the rest seems to be going well. Aside from a mistake I made at the start that I had to leave. I caught it after I had been working the collar and did have to rip back the collar. K1tbl, p1 or k1tbl, p1tbl. There is a difference there.

I have also been working on a Noro striped scarf that is pretty cool, but the sun had just ducked behind the trees when we got home from a little walk in the woods, so it was too late to snap a pic. Later potater. Or, if you are a true New Engladah, latah potatah!

Don't they look happy and loving?
If you could have seen the scene before we left. :)

November 24, 2007. On the downhill of this hike.

The Thrill of Victory

Our Thanksgiving is over and it was good. Good food, good desserts, good company and a really good morning run. As I mentioned yesterday, it is a family tradition (with Pete's family) to get up early, join eight or so thousand people and run the Feaster Five. There are two race routes, one is a 5k and the other a 5 mile and our family is split, some running or walking the shorter and the rest running the longer. I have always run the five mile race, but this year a sprained ankle had me thinking I might not be able to participate at all so I registered for the 5k intending to walk if my ankle twinged. It didn't! I was happy to run the 5k in what I think was a decent time for a 44 year old lady that doesn't really train and did not push during the race at all. I could have run it a bit more quickly, but didn't want to push my ankle and when you are sharing the road with 8,000 people, some of them truly strolling with every member of their family across the whole route, realistic goal setting is key. Okay, that's a lie. I never realisticly set goals, even in this. But this time finishing was my goal and finish I did.

It is a challenge to run a race that huge. It is also exhilirating. At about the first 1/2 mile the route heads up a pretty good hill and as you approach it you see thousands of people in front of you and taking a look back, the same behind. The challenge comes if you are running to set a personal record or competively in any way, as you really are dodging and weaving the slower runners, walkers, people with dogs and strollers, little kids and afore-mentioned families out for the morning stroll. We all meet up before the start, but after that some of us hang back to start the race, others push near the front of the throng to get a good start and have fewer people to dodge.

Pete's brother, John, pushes to the front. There are probably not many people around that are more competitive than John. He will turn anything into a contest and spends much time making sure that you know he is faster, stronger, smarter, whatever. He lives in Boston which has been great for Meagan when she is at school. She has a family member really close by and they run together pretty regularly. He drives her crazy with the competiveness and she sometimes calls me after a run ranting about it. A constant litany of "I'll race you up that hill" and "I got here five seconds before you did" or "I'm going to beat you in the race on Thanksgiving" has to be tolerated, and I think it just sometimes gets to her. They run races together and no matter how well she does, she has to always put up with his gloating that he beat her. (Yes, we are talking about a 47 year old man and a 19 year old kid. When hearing that I would be running the 5k this year he turned even that into a bet, "Bet I can run the 5-mile faster than you can run the 5k." He went down!) She wouldn't be at all competitive with him if he didn't rub it in her face all of the time.

At some point this fall Meagan decided that she was going to beat him on Thanksgiving. It would take beating her own best five mile time by about three minutes, but she felt she could do it. The whole family was rooting for her, every one of us, including John's girlfriend wanted Meg to have this victory over him. The size of the race was going to work in her favor. She would not start the race with John, but hide in the crowd, find him and pass him, hopefully without being seen and beat him. She knew if he saw her it would be all over. Meg got a friend of hers, Alex, to run with her. He is an athlete and was willing to put aside his own race to run with her and push her along.

Arriving at the race we all went our separate ways to run and meet up after. I was second of our group to finish, Pete's other brother (also competitive) was the first and we waited wondering who we would see next. It was John, gloating, "Meg is one depressed little girl right now." Apparently in the final 1/2 mile, Meg was passing him and he almost didn't see her, but her friend didn't think straight and tried to distract John instead of just quietly going by. At that point, John was fairly confident that he had Meg beat and wasn't pushing too much until he saw her run by and it was a race to the finish. He crossed the finish line twenty seconds before she did. Her fastest time ever, she was actually pretty happy, even if he kept rubbing her face in what he thought was his victory.

But WAIT! This is not the end of the story. Because of the crowds, the standings of all but the top runners are placed by the time a runner actually crosses the start line (computerized chips are worn on the shoe to track a runner's actual time versus what woud be the "gun" time), which in some cases can be up to eight or ten minutes after the actual start of the race. Remembering this, I asked Meg how long it took her to cross the start and asked if she thought she might have beaten him in the final standings based on chip time. She didn't want to get her hopes up, and was just happy with her time, but the wait for the results to be posted online was on.  Early yesterday afternoon I hopped online and checked for times.  I had no idea how I had done, but I went straight to search for John's time and rank.  Found.  His chip or "net time" was 35:57.  Then I searched for Meg's time and was surprised when the little blue bar to highlight her name in the search went up, not down on the standings list.  I whooped and hollered!  "Meg!  You did it!  You beat Uncle John!"  "What!?  No Way!"  she yells back, running in to get the visual proof.  She had run the race in 35:45, beating him by twelve seconds, her own five mile record by almost three minutes and placing second in her division.  She was on the phone so fast!  While Meg is not a usually a gloater, this one was months in coming and after having John rub previous races in her face, we all knew turn about was fair play.  And John would not have had it any other way.

John arrives wearing a bag of shame

I have to give props to John. He took his loss like a man, better even. He was thrilled and proud to tell everyone that he was beaten by Meg. Tales of the race to the finish line and all other aspects of the race were recounted all day as fresh victims arrived to listen. The two of them have a bond in this, and it is a fun thing. Although, I doubt John will take this lying down. Meg, you'd better keep running fast.

November 23, 2007.  Pushing my way to a finish line.

It's a Tradition

The traditional morning run

Did you think I'd be posting today? I had my doubts, and I am squeezing it in between final clean up and hearing my family arriving as I type. But, this counts. For that I am grateful.

So one tradition down, my favorite part of the day. I even got a medal. Whoo-hoo! I'm trying to avoid the tradition of being ticked at my family for going out for coffee after the race while I come home and work. Let the endorphins win out! I think it is working.

I was going to come up with some things that I am grateful for, but that takes thought and time (actually, the thing I'm most afraid of is starting and getting on a roll and not being able to stop, I have a lot to be thankful for) so this is what you get.

1. I know this sounds a little lame, but I am really thankful for the people that come and read my drivel.  Especially this month.  Every day!  The support I have gotten to keep this going has been great.  Thanks.
2. My NaBloPoMo grrrls.  Each and every one of you rock!  I feel we have gotten to know each other a little better and it has been grand.
3. I have the best husband in the world.  'Nuff said.
4. While they drive me crazy, I have a wonderful family to drive me crazy on Thanksgiving.
5. My kids are so much fun.  And hysterically funny.
6. For words and stitches and bringing them together. 
7. My sore ankle held out for 3.2 miles.  Next year, back to the five mile race, but for today it was good.
8. Tea, brewing right now.
9. In a minute, Motrin.
10. That I will forego the family thing this Christmas time and spend it with just Pete and the girls in a warm vacation spot.  White Sand and Mele Kalikimaka. 

If you get a chance, leave me a comment letting me know what you are thankful for. I love to hear it all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's All Wednesday. It's all Random.

8. The random number generated for me, between 1 and 341, the number of comments I have received during NaBloPoMo as of this typing. If the maths and the computers interest you, the RANDOM.ORG website is interesting and while I couldn't really understand it all, this article makes you think.  The things that you can do here!  Flip a coin.  Almost any coin from any currency.  Roll virtual dice.  Want to knit a striped sweater and need help with strip sequence?  Here is your hero.  Playing Swedish Lotto?  And for you jazz musicians, stock up on some random jazz scales.  Totally random, dude! 

Random Things To Do When You Are Really Bored (or in my case, need blog fodder). That is what I got when I googled 'random things' using the 'I'm Feeling Lucky' button. Here is a list of some of the random things to do when you are really bored. I mean if you are really bored, just refreshing this site is kinda fun. Kinda. In a "I should be cleaning my house for Thanksgiving or at least finishing my sweater" kinda  way.

1. Put peep in microwave and watch it explode.
2. Blame random things on global warming.
3. Give someone an evil look.  Watch them say "What?"
4. Count the hairs on your head.
5. Study for something.
6. Buy some gummy worms and gummy bears and make them fight each other in a great war.
7. Get a hobby.
8. Write a song about ice cream.

 

Well, I got bored doing that, but interestingly enough this came up on one of the refreshers: YOU HAVE FOUND PART 1 FOR THE URL OF THE HIDDEN PAGE! IT IS 'http://www.randomthingstodo.com/' OBVIOUSLY! I wonder how many keep refreshing hoping they find PART 2 of the hidden page url? I mean, if you want to spend the day looking for it, you can let me know that it exists. I'm thinking, no.

Doing a regular google search for random things gets you a lot of "8 random things about me lists".  Stupid meme.  :)  Like this one.  And this one, this one, this one, and this one.  I found another NaBloPoMo person.  This is a good time filler, but really.  We are all about as interesting and boring as the next person.   

How about a blog dedicated to random weird things?  (And it isn't Now Norma Knits 2!)

Oh the things you can do randomly! Display a random fact on your blog!

RandomFAQ.com - Random Facts weight loss

You can even customize the color, OR! choose a random one!

You can visit Random Fun Facts and find out that the average chocolate bar has eight insect legs in it. Yummy! There are a lot of people out there collecting and publishing random quotes. There is a random giraffe facts page. Who knew?

I could keep going, but I have a few hundred random things needing to be picked up and put away so that I can entertain tomorrow.  Here is a fun google bit:  A search for "you make the rockin' world go 'round" has brought searchers to my blog.  Heh.

November 21, 2007.  Randomly submitted.  What is random in your world?

Right Back Where I Started. Crap.

We got a new camera yesterday. Here is the first photo I shot with my new camera: And this is the second photo I shot with my new camera:

Taking the morning away from work ended up being a total waste of time. My advice to you: When you are working the knitting directions from memory, recheck when you get back to them that they really said "inc 2 on last row" and not "dec 2 on last row." Yeah, nine colorwork rows later.....

November 20, 2007. And here I go again.

I'm a Hoarder(and if you make it through this post there is a little contest at the end)

Did anybody see Oprah last Thursday or Friday? I only saw it on Friday, but both days were devoted to people who hoard. Now, before I go too far, please know that I am not a hoarder like these people are. My mom is. My mom believes that if you have one you should have all. Too much is never enough. If you like it, buy it. If it is on sale, buy it. Good yard sale deal? Buy it. Somebody might need this for their home, apartment, car, camp, dorm room, you name it-buy it and save it.  You like it in green?  You'll love it in red, blue, yellow and tan. Never mind that you will forget you have it or never find it if you do remember, you can never have too much. The hoarders on Oprah had gotten to the point that they couldn't even navigate the rooms in their homes. Oh, there were paths to travel, but there was no place to live. The basements were crammed full of stuff, as were the extra rooms, garages, kitchens and all living spaces. My mom has spots in her home that are like this, the rest is stored at her workshop and in storage units. Well, in my opinion, nobody is enjoying it there. One of the Oprah hoarders had an intervention done. It took weeks for professionals to clean out her junk, clean the house (because she hadn't been able to for years there was mold and mice nests and all kinds of wonderful things that needed professional cleaners to sanitize the place) and turn it into livable space. If I remember correctly they threw away something like 75 tons of trash. That left a 10,000 square foot storage area of stuff to tag sale. I loved it when her son asked, "If this is 10,000 square feet, their house is like about 3200 I think...."  She had something like 3,000 pairs of shoes and 3,000 handbags. The professional quipped, if each of those cost only $10, there is a 60,000 dollar pile of shoes and bags. Yep. Even my mind is silent in amazement over that one. (We can just take a minute here.)

There was a time when I collected a bunch of different things and had them displayed all over the place. Then I got to the point when I had so much that I needed to rotate the collections.  The only problem with that is I am not the most organized person.  Too much stuff leaves me overwhelmed and stuck.  So the basement started filling up, the cupboards, the corners, closets, garage.....  It felt clogged.  No energy could move in the house and no energy was moving in our family.  One day I decided to get rid of it.  It took me a week of eighteen hour days (no, I won't deny being a bit manic at times) and I threw away bags and bags and bags of stuff.  I sold a bunch of stuff on ebay or in a yard sale.  I kept most of the yarn, most of the teapots, most of the holiday decorations (but some of them are on the way out) and decided that sentimentality should not apply to most physical things.  A basement you could not walk in became a tv room for the kids.  Tons of space, a futon, bookshelves, the tv.  It's great.  The storage area went from an over-packed and disorganized mess to a place with empty shelves, even with everything in its spot.  I felt free and energized and truthfully, after that a lot of wonderful things happened for my family.  We were new.

Now, I'm not saying I'm perfect.  I don't buy little knick-knacky things anymore.  Every time I'm in a shop and picking something up that would look so cute with or on or next to something I stop dead and try to envision the future of that item in my life.  I mean, really honestly, knowing who I am and what I do, I take a good hard look and almost always the item ends up back on the shelf.  I don't want to have to organize it, dust it, pack it........  And, it leaves more money for the things I really do want.  Yarn, fiber, drop spindles, and tea come to mind.  Now, the tea.  Here is where I may have a problem.  I cannot resist trying a new tea.  All of them.  Here is the evidence:

My name is Terry and I may just be a hoarder after all

I'd like to tell you that's all of it. Not so. The teas spill over onto other shelves. The cabinet is so perturbed with me it sometimes throws tea tins at me when I open the door. I kid you not! Containers of tea come flying and if I'm lucky none of them open as they hit the floor, sending tea leaves (sometimes expensive ones) all over. At those times I just leave teas out on the counters, afraid of fighting the tea shelf.

This is where the contest comes in!

You are wondering where on earth I am going with this aren't you?  I thought it would be fun to reward somebody for putting up with my drivel every day for a month.  I'd love to give you all a prize for coming back here every day.  So as I was attacked by the tea shelf the other day I decided it has come time to organize and I should give myself incentive to do it. It is sucking energy out of my life. I'm sure there are lovely teas in there that I have forgotten about. You'll see that I have purchased teas that I already have. Your challenge is to make a stab at how many individual containers of tea I have.  This means that I have to take them out, examine them and come clean with myself and the internets how bad my problem is. They are all in there and most of them are on that shelf. I guess I'm going to have to organize the whole cabinet to get an accurate number, but I don't think I'll find a ton on the other shelves. Here is part of what I know I will find:

Teas I got because they were in fancy packagingMultiples of the same tea
My defense on this: I like loose at home, but bring bags around with me. That's a good excuse!!Big bags and little onesBig tins and little onesTeas I bought because the tin was pretty. And blue.
Hey, the tea inside is pretty good, but I'd have gotten this one anyway.

A little info to help you out. The measurements of that shelf are: Width, 26". Height, 11 1/4". Depth, a staggering 26". There is some coffee in there somewhere and some coffee filters, but the majority of that shelf along with stragglers on other shelves contains tea.

Think it over, throw dice, use a random number generator, whatever and then leave your guess in a comment to this post by midnight here in the east on Monday, November 26.  On the final day of November, the beginning of my next blog break (just kidding!) I will announce the person closest to the correct number and award a prize that will probably have tea and something else to be determined.  Don't worry, the winner will get new, fresh tea.  Promise.  Now I have to get counting!  And you guys, thanks so much for reading, kidding me, encouraging me, and being glad to hear from me.

November 19, 2007.  No, I won't be counting balls of yarn I've hoarded.

Trauma and Triumph in a Work In Progress orAnything for Kim

Poor Kim. The woman is afeared that blog posts about WIPs are obsolete. The new trend is to knit in secret and TADA! post a finished object, surprising friend and foe alike with a creation that seemingly materialized from thin air, or invisible needles. So, just for Kim, I present my current work in progress:

Time to start the colorwork!

That Kim though, just showing a work in progress is not enough for her, oh no. She wants drama, she wants mistakes, she wants sweat, tears and probably some blood. She wants to live virtually through traumas and triumphs (she calls them failures and successes, I'm using a creative license here, deal). Well, I am not sure that this is what she has in mind, but here we go.

When I first started this sweater I cast on the required number of stitches (well, not exactly. I had to add a few for a steek as I am working it in the round and not back and forth as the pattern instructs), knit the first row in the contrast color in twisted rib (k1tbl, p1), switched to the main color and continued in the rib as established. This is an example of what I got.

See the unsightly purl bumps?
The cellulite of ribbing!

Ewwww. Unsightly purl bumps! Icky and not pretty. (And I will have you know right now that I took no pics of that original knitting. I knit the swatch just for Kim. All so I could show her my trauma and my triumph. Who loves you, girl?) This is a mistake I should not have made. The minute I finished the second row in the main color I could see how ugly it was and how I could not live with it. I remembered that the icky bumps could be eliminated by knitting (not ribbing) across the first row in the new color. So in twisted rib in the round I k1tbl, k1 across the row and in the next row resumed k1tbl, p1. When working in twisted rib on the flat the second row would be worked on the wrong side p1tbl the purls and purl the knits. Of course this would work just the same if the rib were not twisted.

Ooooh, pretty fix.
The liposuction of ribbing.

Here they are side by side:

And if you are really interested, look at the inside.

Okay Kim. Progress, Check. Trauma (sort of), check. Triumph, check! No blood this time, but I'll work on it.

November 18, 2007.  Progress, not completed.

Saturday Sky

White Mountains, New Hampshire. Fall 2006

We often go out for a hearty breakfast on the mornings that we are heading out for a hike. These are the rare occasions that I will have hash with my egg whites. Need the carbs and all. The following is a conversation with the waitress:

Waitress: What can I get you?
Me: May I have the corned beef hash?
Waitress: How would you like your eggs?
Me: Can I have scrambled egg whites:
Waitress: Sure. Home fries, hash browns, beans, fresh fruit, frijoles?
May I have beans, please?
Waitress: Alright. Toast? White, wheat, english muffin, raisin?
Me: Can I have raisin please?
Waitress: 'Course. It's all about you.
Me: (backhanding Pete's arm) Finally! Someone that gets it!

November 17, 2007.  Accomplished.

Eye Candy Friday: Candy

A tripod would really have helped

I almost titled this post: Sweet? Or Salty? Yes, Please. It might be surprising, considering the facade of health I put forth in this blog, to find out that I am a health imposter. Sure I excercise, hike, eat healthy foods, and for the most part live an active and health conscious life. It might be assumed that sugars, fats and major carbs never pass my lips. Oh, I have deceived you. So in the interest of full disclosure I thought I would share some of my newest favorites with you.

I love chocolate. By itself chocolate, especially dark, makes me really happy. I think it has something to do with releasing endorphins and then there are the anti-oxidants. A health food really. So this past summer my biggest treat at the end of the work week was a dark chocolate coverd banana with almonds. YUM! And look at all the health benefits in that food. There is not a bad thing. Potassium, fiber, Omega-3 fatty acids, anti-oxidants....... It's all in there.

The chocolates pictured above were purchased at a chocolate shop nearby. Expensive little yummies with cinnamon, a citrus caramel, a lavendar caramel (you cannot believe how mmmmm that one is) and two were tea infused. How can anything this good be bad for you?  Just one, maybe two.  Luckily, the afternoon that I had these Alison came by for tea and we split them.  Couldn't get Erin to like them though.

Fran's Chocolates

I have an in the knees weakness for chocolate caramels and these are my favorites.  Dark chocolate with sea salt on the top.  I mean!  Sweet and salty all at once?  Just like me!  Heh.

I know I have posted about Vosges Haute Chocolate Bars before, but that was when I had only heard about Mo's Bacon Bar. I have since gotten my greedy little, bacon loving hands on one and it is so good. Well, I think so. It has gotten mixed reviews, but when a small piece is popped onto my tongue and left there to smoothly dissolve leaving salty, smoky bacon to munch away.... Almost as good as the Barcelona Bar. Smoked almonds, salt. Need I say more? Next up I want to try their caramels. Or these and definitely these.

While I could go on and on about expensive chocolates, maybe chocolate isn't your thing. Ginger Chews are rockin'! Be warned, the ginger in these is real and strong. If you tend toward hot-flashes, these might not be for you. The Ginger People have a variety of products including Gin-Gins and Gin-Gins Boost, a little candy that they claim is excellent for upset stomachs and the motion sickness you may get when travelling. Look around their website, if you like ginger they have put it in baked good and drinks and spreads and sauces. If you try any, let me know. I'll do the same for you!

In the cookie department my most recent find cannot be beat. Salty Oats, by the Kayak Cookies, are so yummy. A great replacement for trail mix on a hike, they are made in New England and as they say on the website, are the perfect balance of sweet and salty. They are a bit pricey, but one cookie can last for a few days if you aren't a big eater, mine did.

Just in case you think I only eat expensive candies, let's get real. I love Snickers, Junior Caramels, Cinnamon Discs (the best hard candy), Almond M&Ms, Twix, and Reece's Peanut Butter Cups (sorry about the lack of linkage, but I'm assuming you all know what these look like). I guess I don't really discriminate.

I do eat healthy, really I do. Ask Carole or Kim or Margene. My egg-white omelets and no potatoes regimen was really getting on their nerves.  I do allow myself treats, but am pretty moderate and eat really good foods the rest of the time.  That is a post for another day.  Gotta string 'em out.  Place an order.  Treat yourself.  You only live once, how can you do it without sugar and salt?

November 16, 2007.  Suh-wheet!

Today, Today is the Halfway Point

This is definitely a day that I would not blog if I hadn't set myself up for the challenge of posting daily. For a whole freaking month. What was I thinking? Today I have only my day to tell you about. Today I was going to do one of those posts that others do so well and tell you about my day. That I talked to people and went to the gym and started processing the orders for the fundraiser that I chair.  Today I was going to say that I haven't responded to emails and comment, but will.  Soon, I promise. Today I was going to let you know that the kids in the music program take biennial trips, every other being a "bigger" trip, so in four years of high school a student will take one smaller trip (NYC, Montreal, Washingon, D.C.) and one bigger (usually DisneyWorld). Today I was going to share how we (our music parent association) assist the kids in raising money for the trips. Today I thought I'd let you know that even though we have probably the best music program in the state the marching band doesn't compete or apply to march in big holiday parades so we have no corporate sponsorship to cover some of the trip expenses. Today I contemplated letting you in our fundraising programs. Today I was going to let you in on the Wreath Fundraiser, the one that I chair. Today (Wednesday) was the day that the orders for Christmas wreaths take over my dining room table so that I can tally them, count the money, prepare the final order to be placed and, as you might imagine, work out the messy and incorrect order forms to make some sense of it all. This will continue for a few days, the order will be placed and then we wait until the "pick up" day, when we camp out at the local nursery for the day so the kids can pick up their orders to deliver. If all goes well, all wreaths are picked up and my work is finished for the year. Today I you would have found out that our parent association makes a teensy tiny amount of money on this fundraiser as almost all of the funds are credited to the students' trip accounts to help with the cost of their trip. Today I also considered telling you of our other fundraiser that raises a lot of money for the kids, again most of the monies go directly to the kids after our expenses. Today though, I decided to save that for another day. So, today I changed my mind and am instead going to share a knit that I have kept from you because of poor photography. Today I decided that I needed something for the blog and so you are getting it anyway.

• Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl, Evelyn Clark in Interweave Knits, Fall 2006
• Yarn: Woolen Rabbit hand-dyed Zephyr laceweight in Bahama Breeze
• Needles: size 5
• Cast On: Spring 2007
• Bound Off: Spring 2007

Today you get my usual complaint about the color in the photos, but here you go:

I love the way the nuppy sections line up
The beads are the perfect color, a transluscent blue with a green center. I couldn't believe my luck!

Today, I can't really remember much about the knitting. I had no problems with it, the nupps went along easily. I may have worked the beaded cast off too loosely, I wanted the beads to be more part of the shawl and not hanging off of it so much. It has really grown on me so now I think of it as a happy mistake.

November 15, 2007. Today is the halfway point. I hope I come up with something for tomorrow.

Fear of Buyer's Remorse, or OCD, You Pick.

This post was composed, for the most part, in March.  I have been holding out on you.  Because I hadn't shared this, it was difficult to share anything else I have been up to, because it would have been out of order, bringing you in at the middle of the story.  So here you go:

Buying running shoes is a complicated and time consuming chore for me. When I start to feel that I need a new pair of shoes, I actually put off the shopping like I would put off shopping for a bathing suit. It usually goes something like this: I scour the internet and running magazines for reviews and prices. At my age and history with flat feet, knee pain, groin pulls, hip issues and the shin splints! don't even get me started about the shin splints!, I am usually very careful about the shoes I wear and will pay whatever I need to for just the right shoe. I will spend hours at the local running shop trying on every shoe that meets my criteria (wide toe box, good arch support, roll bar to prevent medial rotation, nice and cushioned, and hopefully blue-here is the one place where color isn't a deal breaker, but sometimes I get lucky), and I will run around the store, jump in them, power walk, skip, hop on one foot, hop on the other, do toe raises, dance the Hustle........you name it. There is nothing I won't do to make sure that the shoe is the one I want before I leave the store. Upon the arrival home, the shoes go on my feet for an in-home breaking in. This is not the point that they go outside. Once I am sure I am not going to blister (and honestly, a good fitting running shoe will not cause blisters even on the first five mile run. Longer, maybe, but not usually) and that my heel stays implanted in the shoe during regular wear, the first few runs will be on the treadmill to decrease any wear to them in case I need to return them for some reason. Because here is the deal: No matter what you do in the store, no amount of jumping, dancing, jigging and jiggling, those shoes will feel wonderful until you have had them the week grace period, worn them outside for the first five miles and then, only then will they start to dig into your ankle bone to the point of bleeding. At that point, with mud and pebbles embedded in the soles and blood on the mouth of the shoe-they are unreturnable. Trust me, I have been there.

I bought a new car recently. Another purchase that you have to be very careful with. My criteria: cupholders, blue, seats that aren't so long that the backs of my knees hurt, blue, good stereo system, blue. Oh, yeah. There's that stuff about reliability and mileage and the safety tests. Those are all important to me as well, but the cupholders! They are a deal breaker as I have spent six years in a car with sucky cupholders that snapped apart and I had to hold my tea between my knees or snug it in between the seat and center console. And if you know me, there isn't anywhere I am going without my tea. So I read Consumer Reports. I test drove two models of the car I already owned. I really wanted another Volvo, but I kept reading about those Toyotas......... I decided to drive one just to see what the fuss was all about. Wow. That Camry is not a bad car. So nice that they don't even put them on sale usually. And the stereo! My ipod plugs into it (podcasts and audiobooks at my fingertips), they come in blue, they are really comfortable, and the cupholders! I love the cupholders! Then there was the price comparison. The thing is, I am going to have a car for a long time, and I drive a lot. When I drive it off the lot I want to think I will still love it in two weeks, two months, two years.

At this point you are wondering if I have a point. In fact, I do. It is a point about looking for my first spinning wheel, so those of you who get bored out of your skulls at spinning content (and I totally get that, I was you for a long time), you should click and be on your merry way. Buying a spinning wheel is sort of like buying running shoes, or a car. Everyone says to try out as many wheels as you can before deciding. And everyone has an opinion about their wheel, which they all want you to agree with. And there are so many options to think about: cost, portability-if that is important to you, aesthetics, the price of any add-ons, lik bobbins and extra flyers or whorls, ease of use, single/double treadle, scotch tension, double drive, and just when you think you have almost made up your mind, availability can be an issue.

When I first decided that I might want to purchase a spinning wheel I signed up for a spinning class and started saving. By the time I took the class I had saved enough to buy any of the wheels available in the commercial market. At this point, I figured I should spend as much as I needed to. I got wrapped up in wanting the perfect wheel at whatever price, as this might be the wheel for a while.  I spent hours trying out every wheel I could and in the browsing phase, my mind changed daily.  There was so much to think about, I had stars in my eyes and along the way confusion in my head.  Fortunately, I am the type to take a big step back at this point and really analyze the deal, which I did.  I decided first that I was not an experienced enough spinner to know the "right" wheel when I spun on it.  Better to spend less just in case I was looking in a few months.  Next I made a list of what was really important to me in a wheel.  Portability, price (I set a dollar amount and decided to get the best I could with that money, new or used), and a wheel that would grow with my practice and experience.  The portability factor ruled out a lot of wheels.  The money I was willing to spend crossed a few more off my list.  After weighing all of the possibilities I narrowed my choices down to two wheels and made it a point to spend a fair amount of time trying them out.  I also sent out a few emails to people who I knew owned the wheels I was thinking about, grilling them about likes and dislikes of their wheels.  I was lucky to be able to try them out side by side for a couple of hours and while I really wanted to love one of them, I ended up preferring the other, the Lendrum folding wheel.  I had seen a used one for sale a little bit out of my price range, so I decided to be patient and wait for another used one to come up.  The next day I was mulling things over (because quite frankly, I was a tad obsessed with the wheel search.  I knew I had to buy one to get over it and on with life) while folding laundry and decided that I would go to the computer and if anything came up when I turned it on, I would just buy it.  I wish I could adequately explain what happened.  I brought up the site that I had seen the used Lendrum on and another wheel that the woman had listed was back on at a reduced price.  Weird.  Not two minutes later I refreshed the page and the Lendrum's price had been dropped to within my range.  It was mine in a matter of minutes.

No, the wheel does not have a name

So there it is.  Much has happened since March and the arrival of my wheel.  There was a "getting to know each other" period, but I am settling in and I love my wheel.  It does everything I want it to.  I just cannot always do the right thing to get what I want.  I'm getting better though......

November 14, 2007.  Realized.

8 Things for 8 People or Struggling for Blog Fodder

A long, long time ago I was tagged by Julie for a meme and I told her I would do it. I kept putting it off and right now I have mixed feelings about that. I'm sort of glad, because I need something to talk about (well, I have the scarf I introduced last week, but I don't feel like it right now, and no, I didn't finish and gift it). I'm sort of not glad because I can't think of anything interesting to say about myself. So I should rename the meme: 8 Boring Things About Boring Me. (And don't stuff the comment box with claims that I am not boring, blah, blah. You are all too nice and I'll know you are all liars. Nice, but liars.)

But first, the rules: Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they've been tagged.

Eight (Boring) Things About (Boring) Me.*

1. I have worn glasses or contact lenses since I was in the 6th grade.
2. In the thirteen years of grade school I attended 8 different schools. Three were parochial.
3. I still love plaid skirts, pleated or not, but mostly pleated.
4. I used to think green was my favorite color. Thing is I was always drawn to blue. Blue everything. Weird.
5. Although I may not always speak or write correctly I'm a bit of a grammar freak. For instance I know that the following two sentences may be understood to mean the same thing, but they don't. "I used to think my favorite color was green." "I used to think green was my favorite color." It's a subject thing. Knowing me you may think I am referring to the color blue as being green in the first sentence because blue is my favorite color.
6. I am always restructuring poorly spoken or written sentences in my head.
7. I have over 125 Christmas CDs and the first one I listen to on Thanksgiving is Manhattan Transfer The Christmas Album.  Their version of Happy Holidays is my ringtone for December.
8. I have 13,947 messages in my Inbox, 9,520 unread and 10,006 in my Deleted folder, 5,474 unread.

Now I tag eight more victims. In order to help them with their goals of posting every day this month I will tag my SuMeMoFo pals, Anne, Margene, Norma, Sandy and Vicki.  I know you are all thanking me! I'm going to leave it at that. (I heard that collective sigh of relief!)

While I am realizing that this next bit could be a post all on its lonesome, I have a difficult time publishing a post without a photo of something. My mom is a reseller of things. She trawls yard sales, estate sales, the Goodwill........ It sounds like fun, but she often finds a lot of "treasures" that she passes on to me. Some of those things are not so much a "treasure" to me, but she occasionally comes up with something I really love. This is a set of embroidered napkins with a table cloth that she picked up in a lot at an auction. It cleaned up really nicely.

*Funny how I sit around thinking and thinking. Struggling to find eight things and once I get started I can think of so many. Maybe I'll share more as the month goes along.

November 13, 2007. Complete.

Choose Your Own Adventure Post Title:Another Sunday, Another Walk in the Woods orOnce Again Pete Attempts to Trick Turn Terry Into a Winter Hiker orThey Do It Because They Are Soft as Sh*t Can

It was such a stunningly marvelous day for a hike! A cold day for sure, but wonderful, perhaps the best hike I've ever walked. The Mt. Osceola Trail isn't the most difficult hike, that is for sure, and not the longest. On a summer day it would be a pretty easy way to bag one of the New Hampshire's 4000+ footers, but today it was a cold and slippery adventure.

Ice Covered Trails

Another title to this post could be "A Hike To Winter." The day started at the cold base of the trail, it was still fall here. A really cold fall, but fall. The mostly dry and leaf covered beginning of the trail gradually and almost magically transformed into a winter wonderland about half way up the mountain. Sections covered in ice had us slipping and hugging trees for stability and as we climbed the ice became thicker and more of the trail was covered in ice and snow. At about an hour and half it was all snow and ice, making this not just a workout for the legs, but a whole body excercise. Skirting the icy bits by scooching along the edges, clinging to trees was work (heart-pumping blood to every muscle tensed up in anticipation of a really big, slippery fall was more than work-draining). Personally, I wasn't all that sure I was up for it, but making room for descending hikers that were raving about the summit kept me going. Everyone along the way warned us of ice and dangerous conditions ahead, but all seemed thrilled to have done it and not one suggested we turn back. The trail opened up onto a ledge at the summit and absolutely breathtaking views of New Hampshire's White Mountains. We were only afforded enough time to snack and take some pictures as it was BRRRR cold (20s I'm guessing) and we needed to get down that icy trail before we were out of daylight.

Views of blowing snow in the distanceWinter WonderlandCan you see us?Look Ma! No crampons!

Another 4000+ footer for me. Only forty-six to go. Maybe my first shouldn't have been the highest.  Pete loves the winter hiking thing, and I have to admit that I enjoyed this day more than I would have guessed I could.  Soaking in the views I couldn't help but think of how few people get to witness the beauty of our mountains from the peaks themselves, especially in the crisp, bright air of winter.  I'm not saying that weekend winter hiking will become my habit, but man!  IToday was so worth it. 

We were lucky to share this beautiful day with our friends Leslie and Todd, not just for the companionship but for their camera! Without them there would have been no post!

Leslie and Todd, Thanks!

November 12, 2007. Another day another hike dollar post.

The Wayback Machine

Okay, you'd better sit down and not die from the shock.  This would be an extra post for today.  I'm probably late for this contest, but if there is a time zone thing working in my favor, then yippee-skippee.  This is what I was knitting one year ago today.  Well, technically I was finished knitting it, and it was yesterday in my time zone, but still.  Post dated 11/11/2006.  Here you go:

Here There Be Dragons, or Dragon Feet

• Pattern: Here There Be Dragons Socks by Theresa Walunas (aka Keyboard Biologist), available here
• Yarn: Koigu KPPPM
• Needles: size 1
• Started: October 31, 2006
• Finished: November 7, 2006

Lovely heels and toes!

The old maid in this story has persevered, showing another thing that comes with age: Dragon Scale Feet! Ha! Seriously though-this sock pattern is so clever and fun to knit. See how the pattern continues into the heel and toe? I love it. Here is another view of the heel, it is really difficult to take a picture of your own heel, especially when your lens is stuck on the macro setting. I knit the sock almost exactly as written swapping out the suggested toe for my usual short row toe. And I may have knitted the heel the same or differently, it calls for a short row heel and I ignored the instructions there, as I just know how to do that for me. I wish I had made the leg a pattern repeat longer, although I surely would have run out of yarn, so it is good I didn't think of it sooner, and to adapt to the short row toe I knitted and my gauge, I knitted the foot a half repeat longer than the pattern. I learned that I really prefer size 0s for socks, as my short rowing does not seem as tight as it usually is. I can live with it, but in the future...... These are my new favorite socks. (Poor Rib and Cable, they only had the distinction for a week!)

Is there anything as lovely on the feet as Koigu?

November 11 12, 2007. Wait for it, another post with the same date is on the way.

York

York by Jane Ellison

• Pattern: York by Jane Ellison in Noro Knits
• Yarn: Gedifra Fashion Trend Stripe color 4662
• Needles: I think 7 or 8, I can't remember anymore
• Cast On: January 2007
• Bound Off: February 2007
• Actually Sewn Up: October 2007

The skinny on this cardi: The yarn is a bit heavier than the pattern called for so I knit it at a pretty tight gauge, which I like. Matching the stripes was no small feat, the striping repeat in this yarn is looooooooooong, as in one repeat and a few more yards per ball. There was one night in NYC, at midnight, lights low in the hotel room (the family was sleeping), and I had yards and yards of yarn pulled out to match the stripe repeat. I get a little posessed. I had to work my usual rewrite of the armscye and the sleeve cap to get a good fit, and I'm pleased with the result. My original plan was to put a zipper in the cardi as shown in the pattern, but when I tried it on to figure the length of the zipper I kind of liked it just clasped at the front. I wanted a small clasp so I went on an internet search and through this blogger found the Button Drawer. I purchased the smallest clasp they had and it worked out just as I hoped. I love it. (