WIP Roundup

Fair warning, this is a picture heavy post! I have long suspected, and today confirmed, that I am much better at starting projects than I am at finishing them. I think I've rounded up most of my current WIPs (and if i haven't, i'm pretty sure i don't want to know what i'm missing), and I'm going to list them here.

I'd planned a couple of blogs over the last week or so, but after visiting my family for the Halloween candy swap, I came down with a nasty bug and spent the last week pretty much going to work, coming home, and going to bed. Now that I'm able to stay awake past ten pm, I should be able to get some decent content going again.

Here's everything all jumbled into one big, glorious pile of potential. It doesn't look like a lot, but I knit at the approximate pace of molasses heading up a hill in the snow, so it's going to take me a few months to whittle this pile down a little. A surprising number of these things are for me, which means that they will probably take longer to finish than anything else in the pile. Let's take a closer look, shall we?
(please note the excellent backdrop--it's the blanket that Roxie sent me last year and it is wonderful. they're "friends from outer space")

This is the first item for me, it's a scarf made from some pretty merino handspun. This is the one you saw at the beach, and it was doing really well until I realized I left out a row and that the wrong side had become the right side about ten inches back. It's only a four-row feather and fan lace pattern, but as I keep discovering, I can't count to ten on a regular basis.

Detail shot of the handspun. I couldn't get the colors quite right, and this is the closest I was able to get. There are a lot of colors mixed together, and it's a two-ply so there's a lot of barberpole going on here, but it's pretty neat to see the blocks or rows of one color develop as I knit.




This is a random rectangle I was knitting, probably while I was drugged last summer. Near as I can tell, it's a small dish towel. I'll probably finish this one fairly quickly and put it aside as a Christmas present or use it to wrap something in. It's just a big, plain red rectangle.


Here we have a long-standing WIP, it's the beginning of a huge scarf for a huge guy. It's bulky weight yarn knit on small needles, so it'll be bullet proof when it's done. It's sort of a pain to knit with such chunky yarn, and I don't think I bought nearly enough, so this one needs some supplies before I finish it. Guess I need to buy some yarn. What a hardship!

Here's a detail shot of one of the socks I've been working on for forever. It's an easy pattern (lacy mock cables by kat @ the island of misfit patterns) but it met with an unfortunate accident involving some scissors in the work basket. I'll need to frog a few rows back and try to repair it. I'm at the last few inches of the foot, so I should really stop putting that off, now that I think about it.


Here we have a triangle made out of recycled sari yarn. It's going to be a gift, but I ran out of yarn for this (i'm starting to pick up a pattern, are you?) and I'll need to order more. The yarn was a Christmas gift, and it's fun to work with, but it freaks my poor camera out (why is there a "cuisine" setting, but not one for knitting?).


I mentioned that I knitted two pairs of gift socks while training for the 3 day, right? After all that, I decided to treat myself to a pair of socks for me. I'm not normally a pink person, but this shade of baby pink doesn't bother me...much. It's actually kind of pretty. I'm getting ready to work the heel flap on the first one, I'm using an easy two row pattern but the heel instructions are a little weird, so we'll see how that goes.

This is a picture of not one, but two Brangians. The red one will be a gift, and the green one in the background is for me. The green is Knitpicks shadow in Cattail and the red is Jaggerspun in Zephyr. Both are beautiful yarns, but I like the Shadow just a little better, it feels softer to me. I think I'll work on one of these today while watching the good (BBC) version of Pride and Prejudice.

Last but not least, we have a proto-sock for Colleen. It's the same pattern I'm using for my pink socks (i'm picking up another theme here, i just love making multiples of things. no issues with second sock syndrome here) and since they'll be short and Coll has tiny feet, they should be reasonably quick to knit. The yarn is something I picked up at a really deep discount, it's very soft and pretty thick for socks. They'll be bed socks, rather than out and about socks.

That wraps up the WIP list, thankfully. It's time to put a movie on and try to make a dent in the pile. I have enough here to keep me busy for a while, and I'm sure I'll get distracted along the way by something new or different to add to the list. I'm optimistic, though--most of these will be finished by about 2043 or so.

All Summer In one Post...

and the first part of fall, too. Between training and fundraising for the 3 Day, trying to catch up with friends and family, and well, life things have been insane. Good, but insane. So here's a catchup post, to let everybody know where I've been. After this, I should be posting fairly regularly again, since the 3 Day is over and I'll have time again. At least until it's time to think about next year's event.

I spent most of my training on a treadmill. It gets boring really, really fast. This is the first pair of socks I knitted on the treadmill, they took about 6 weeks, I think. I'm immensely proud of them, since they're both the same size, and they fit the friend I made them for pretty well.

This summer, we had a ton of tomatoes. I vastly overestimated the number of plants we needed, or could really fit into the garden bed. They overflowed their supports and we lost a few. But for most of the summer, we had fresh delicious tomatoes that were such a deep, rich red it was hard to believe they were real. Along with tomatoes, I planted sunflowers and marigolds. Sadly, the marigolds never came up, but I'll try again next year. I love the colors of those simple little flowers, and I'd like to see how they do as a dye product. I also planted a little thyme plant, because it's one of my favorite smells ever. And there's a basil plant in a container that's hip-high and smells wonderful whenever I brush by it. We'll be getting frost overnight here soon, so it will be time to bring it inside and see how well it does over the winter. I might have to investigate drying my own herbs in the near future.

I went to my sorority alumna formal this August. That's me in the blue dress in the middle of the picture there. We all look a little demonic because of all the flashes going off at once. I found the dress at a local Ross, after trying on several others that just didn't work. It's floor-length, deep blue, and I felt like a lady in it. My hair was pulled back in an elegant bun, until the dancing started. It was a great night, and I got to re-connect with a lot of wonderful women. Colleen was my date, since Jim doesn't do the dancing, crowds of women, or sorority traditions very well.


Speaking of Jim, he and I took a couple of days and went to the beach before our anniversary this year (we went kayaking to celebrate officially, but i wasn't going to bring my camera out there, since i'm rather fond of it). We snuggled, walked hand in hand down the boardwalk, lost a few dollars at the slot machines, and walked on the beach in the moonlight. It was a great trip, but it led to a long, serious discussion. Jim reads the blog, and I don't know how much he's comfortable with me sharing, so I'll just say that he isn't sure what his plans for the future--our future--are, and that when the lease is up, I'll have some things to figure out, and we'll leave it at that. I'm hoping things work out for the best, but I don't really know where things will go. It's tough.


This is Nom Nom Bronto. He lives at my office on the wall of the cubicle I share with a great guy named Phil. We use a company called Bronto for our marketing emails, and they send these little guys out to all their clients. Those clients then take the brontos all over the world with them when they go on trips. The bronto has never been to a 3 Day, though, and since I hate getting my picture taken, he made a great stand-in. This is a picture of him at the very first stop on the very first day. I carried him all the time I was walking, and he was a great conversation starter. Lots of people wanted to know what he represented, but since we were usually walking, I tended to go with the short answer--he's awesome! I have a ton of pictures of Nom Nom, and one of him at closing ceremonies that I wanted to upload, but blogger isn't cooperating right now, so I'll put them up later in the week.

I'll spend a little more time on the 3 Day and then try not to dwell. I walked mostly with one of my teammates who is awesome, and did some walking with a teammate that I don't like, and can't make myself think well of. The cool teammate and I finished the walk, and we walked about 50 miles over the 3 days. It was hard as hell, I won't lie. We took a bus or a van a few times, since we didn't want to injure ourselves. But we helped raise some of the 5.7 million dollars that Philadelphia brought in, we met some wonderful people, we helped raise awareness about a disease that takes far, far too many women from us, and we pushed ourselves to do something pretty amazing.

I realized that after that, I don't have any excuses. What I mean is, I can't really tell myself something is beyond me any more. I also can't hate my body, or dismiss it. This body, this willpower, carried me through an amazing journey. I did something I didn't think I actually could, something that a lot of people can't. It was hard, and it hurt (ask me how much fun I had hobbling and treating my few blisters--and i'm in relatively good shape) but I trained and pushed my limits and found that it was harder to reach those limits than I thought it was.

I am incredibly fortunate, I haven't lost anybody I love to breast cancer. My family is full of survivors of various cancers, though, and I walked for them, and for some wonderful people who've been lost to other kinds of cancer. I walked for myself, to prove that I was "back", and I walked for the daughters I might have one day. Most of the walk felt a little surreal, and since I wasn't a breast cancer survivor and hadn't lost someone, I felt a little out of place. And then, we walked by houses decorated with signs that said things like "A survivor lives here. Thank you for walking" and "I'm a living statistic. Susan G. Komen saved my life, I wouldn't be here without the treatments they helped research." and suddenly, I felt like I was a part of this, and I was helping and making a difference. That's an incredibly powerful feeling, and I want to be part of this event for a long time. I can help change the world, who can possibly say no to that?

It's getting late, and I have to go back to the real world tomorrow, so it's time to wrap this up.
In review:
--Holy shit, it's been a long time since I wrote a real entry.
--I'll be back to posting semi-regularly again, though. I miss blogging, and I have a lot more free time now.
--I walked about 50 miles in 3 days and helped raise a buttload of money for a great cause. Sometimes, I don't suck.
--This summer I grew some things, went to the beach a few times, got dressed up for a formal, and walked a lot.
--This fall I am going to take more baths, spend more time relaxing and spinning, and knit a pair of socks for me (since i've knitted two pairs as gifts this summer. that's right. two pairs, one summer).
--I really, really want a cookie.

Quickie....

...to let everyone know that there will be a full entry (sadly, the first in months) on Monday after I've completed the SGK 3 Day for the cure. Training to walk 60 miles in 3 days and raising the required amount of money had taken over my life and a lot of things have fallen by the wayside. The only thing that hasn't, now that I think about it, is my knitting. I've finished two pairs of socks in less than six months, it's a little crazy for me. So, pictures and a retrospective summer blog on Monday. I hope everybody has a fantastic weekend.

Simple Gifts

Momolla's post inspired me today, so I'm going to throw a quick blog out. Things have continued to be hectic, in a more subdued way, and I think it would be good to spend a few minutes being thankful. Right now, I'm grateful that:


* I managed twenty-five minutes on an eliptical machine today. A year ago, I wasn't allowed to go near the things.
* I am healthy and strong enough to walk ten miles at a go (like i did this past saturday).
* I finished my first treadmill socks and am sending them to a dear, dear friend. I also have another quick present in the works for someone special.
* It's nice to be in a position where I have enough to pay my bills and a little extra to buy presents with sometimes.
* I picked two handfuls of tomatoes from my garden today. A few cherries, some romas, and a couple of beefsteaks. They should be delicious.
* There's just been a thunderstorm and everything is fresh and cool and smells wonderful.
* The kitchen is (relatively) clean. And the laundry is done. And the bathroom is clean.
* I'm plying the merino I've been spinning since May. It will be gorgeous.
* Today, I woke up next to a wonderful man who I love deeply. I'll probably fall asleep next to him, too.
* There is about two pounds of fudge in the fridge (please feel free to come eat some of it! there's plenty to go around)
* I have a job that I like and I work for a company that regards me as an asset, not a hindrance.
* I can wear high heels to work. They make me feel so feminine and confident.
* I have a group of wonderful online knitting friends who I can share these things with.
* There is a nook in the mail for me, it should be here tomorrow (courtesy jim and a friend from work, mostly!).

That's all I have for the moment. I hope you all have a day (or night) full of sweet things to be thankful for. (i am fighting the urge to add a smiley right here. stupid day job on the internet!)

100* In The Shade...

...and I only wish I was kidding. Seriously, the weather forecast looks like this:
(picture courtesy of noaa.gov)

The coolest it has been in days is about 80*, at night. If we are lucky, we will get massive thunderstorms on Saturday that will cool things down some. In the mean time, we are using the window air conditioners to sleep (i am dreading the electric bill this month), taking lots of cool showers, and not moving around very much. Jim and I work in the air conditioning, but spending the whole day being cool means you are very much unprepared for the massive, blazing wall of heat that greets you as soon as you step out the door.

The tomatoes are turning yellow, the impatiens gave up days ago, and the wildflowers are all looking pretty singed. We haven't had any water restrictions yet, but I have to be careful when I water things, so as not to steam the plants during the day. I'm hoping that this weather doesn't last past the end of the week, or I might not get any tomatoes this year. Thankfully, they seem to be sturdy, determined plants--they have crowded out the peppers I planted along with them. If I'm lucky, we'll get a couple of jalapenos, which I can make some salsa for Jim with (i am not so much for the spicy peppers, but they were a birthday gift from jim's mom).

I'm walking five miles tomorrow night after work. I'm getting a lot better at walking, as goofy as that sounds, and all the training is paying off. However, my feet are getting rough and callused. I'm 'lucky' I haven't lost any toenails yet. This is about the time where I start wondering what I have gotten myself into. We are having a bake sale at work next Friday to try to raise some money for our 30Day team, and I need to put together a few fundraisers of my own. I am always open to fundraiser suggestions, if you happen to know of a good way to make a few dollars for a great cause.

Time for bed now, since we're getting up early to drop Jim's car off at the shop tomorrow morning before work. We might get to take the especially scenic route.

In review:

--It's hot. Very hot. Random-people-walking-up-and-asking-if-it's-hot-enough-for-ya hot.
--This used to be my kind of weather, but I am not doing so well this year.
--The plants are giving up, and I don't blame them.
--Five miles of walking tomorrow. Ten miles Saturday. Six miles Sunday. I must be crazy.
--Jim and I had a date tonight. We went out for pizza, all by ourselves. It was lovely.

Something Gave...

...and it was the blog. True to my promise to myself, I have started saying no. I am not always very good at it, and I still say yes to so many, many things before I say no. But mostly, I am being realistic with myself and letting myself have time to decompress and relax. Unfortunately, that meant that something had to give. That something, as you can tell by my lack of entries, has been the blog. I miss it, and I have been neglecting it shamefully for months now. But when faced with a choice between getting a little more time to relax/sleep/run errands/etc and blogging, everything else won out.

This makes me pretty sad for a variety of reasons. For one, I love writing this blog. It's a way for me to keep in touch with so many of my wonderful friends, and it's a record of where I've been and what I've done, and as narcissistic as it sounds, I like to go back and read entries. For another, I have been maintaining the company blog pretty much by myself, which is a daily reminder that I don't have the willpower and energy to maintain my own. Also, even when I'm not blogging, I get ideas for blogs that start kicking around in my head, asking to get out. These days, they get written in my head, and sort of filed away for later.

Well, I will be neglecting the blog less. Things have settled down into something of a routine. And really, I miss writing here. I miss reading and commenting on blogs (i read a lot of blogs regularly but almost never comment now, which also makes me sad) and I miss feeling connected to my bloggy friends. I've never been good at corresponding or anything that required discipline, but this is fun, and it's one of the few things that I do that is purely for me. Blogging here is purely selfish, and I love it.

And now for something completely different. Knitting! I finished a pair of socks in just a little under two months. Not anything to write home about for most knitters, but I feel like I broke a land-speed record with these. They're plain vanilla socks that I will take some pictures of before I give them to my friend Amy. I discovered I can knit while I walk on the treadmill for my 3-Day training, and that knitting while I walk makes me feel more productive and less like a hamster on a wheel, walking to nowhere. After five miles, I have a good couple of inches of sock to show for the walking, not just some numbers on a screen. I've also finished a scarf I started for Colleen ages ago, plus the second ugly scarf, which is for a friend of ours. I have another plain sock (this one in 1X1 ribbing, for variety) on the needles for working out, and I'm making Jim some handwarmers for the office (when it's ninety degrees outside, it's about sixty-five in our office. we don't like the thought of warmth where we work). I've also cast on for the excellent Brangian shawl, which is lulling me into a false sense of security, thanks to the simple, addictive beginning. I know that in the next day or two, I will be getting to the actual lace part, and punished for my complaisance (not by of the pattern [by the way, uncharts are a great idea], but because i am trying to knit something challenging, and i subconsciously undermine myself a lot when i knit something challenging).

Through all that, I am also spinning. I took a break in spinning the-merino-project-that-won't-end-but-I-don't-mind-spinning-it-because-it's-so-pretty and spun up a little bonbon of fiber. It was angora and something so soft I couldn't stop petting it. After a quick, rough spin, I have a very small quantity of this yarn as a single (it was two ounces, and I spun it rather thickly with lots of soft, fuzzy slubs. that was totally, totally intentional. yeah. intentional) and I'm not sure what to do with it, other than pet it. I am thinking I might use it to edge something, since it's so soft and fuzzy. Like, say, a second set of handwarmers for me.

It is time for me to go find breakfast/lunch/food now. Jim was hit with a wicked stomach virus earlier in the week, which he passed on to me just in time for me to miss the fireworks yesterday (i may sort of hate him a little for that. i love the fireworks) but I am feeling pretty well today and can't wait to eat more than two slices of toast and an egg (yup, all i ate yesterday, and i almost couldn't keep the egg down. thanks, jim). We have tomorrow off for the holiday (Independence Day here in the US) and we are planning on sitting around, drinking cold liquids and not doing much, as we're expecting temps near 100* F ( 37.7 *C) and we don't have air conditioning in most of the house. I hope you are all having a great weekend, and that you are blessed with cooler, milder weather than ours.

In review:
--I suck at blogging at home, for a lot of reasons
--My nemesis at work got fired. I feel sort of sad, sort of happy
--Blogging should happen more regularly here, hopefully
--Knitting is happening at frighteningly quick speeds (by my standards)
--Spinning, not so much. Still plugging along, though
--Stomach viruses make your natural inclination to motion sickness worse, and mean you can't drive to the next state over to see the fireworks with your family and friends.
--I miss you guys

To My Father...

Thank you, for all the lessons you've taught me. I've seen a lot of parents in my time, and as far as dads go, I think I ended up with one of the best.

You taught me the value of hard work, that no job is ever beneath you, so long as you do it as well as you can. You taught me that there's no shame in being broke, and that no matter how much or how little you have, there is always enough to share with someone else.

You taught me patience, and the value of controlling my temper. You taught me how to fish (though i couldn't catch one today, if my life depended on it) and that tools are awesome.

I know you wished for a son, but you have loved your house full of women, anyway, and that daughters weren't a consolation prize for you. Watching you and Jim interact, and the way you've welcomed him into the family, gives me more joy than you can know.

You taught me that it's never too late to achieve your goals, and that there's no time to start working on them like the present. You (and mom) taught me what a good marriage is, and what it's like to love and respect your partner.

You taught me that a sense of humor will get me through pretty much everything, and that there is nothing, no situation, that is too serious to be laughed at. Gallows humor is some of the most cathartic.

You taught me what family is, and that it's not always the people we're related to by blood. You taught me what generosity, of time and of spirit and of self, truly are. You taught me that no matter what, I am loved, and that family supports one another.

Gods help you, you tried to teach me about beer (that one will probably never take, i'm a hard liquor girl).

You taught me about perseverance, and about not quitting. You taught me about strength, and courage, and loyalty. We have not always gotten along, we've actually butted heads pretty often (i was not an easy teenager, or an easy young adult), but it makes me proud and happy that we not only get along, but we enjoy one another's company now. So thanks Dadumms, for everything you've taught me. They're lessons I carry with me everyday.