Back to Me

With the Surprise Jacket done, I am able to return to my own sweater.  I made alot of progress this winter, with the torso finished and the sleeves almost done,  and then put it down in favor of Sabine's quilt and Maggie's sweater.  It was nice, though, to pick the project back up and immediately make such visible progress.  The sleeves are attached and I'm working my way up the bodice.   It's an easy patter, but with just enough thought required to keep it interesting.  I knit enough over the 4th of July weekend to bruise my left pointer finger, the one I use to help push the stitch off the needle because the yarn tends to stick.

Again, I didn't make the best yarn choice.  Its very stiff and hard to knit with, and this sweater will be comfortable but definitely not soft.  That said - I'm loving both the texture and the color.  I think it will get alot of wear.  I do want to make another, though, in softer yarn.  Eventually.

Washing Away a Mood

I woke up this morning to the drum of a gentle rain on the roof.  Its soaking my freshly-weeded garden, cooling the air and making the birds sing with joy.  I am watching the fall of the rain over the brim of my coffee cup, a little dog curled at my hip, and thinking this is a lovely way to start a Friday.

How did she do?

I took the holiday week easy and mostly had fun, but I didn't lose my momentum altogether.

Monday: cardio, stretching and strength building

Weekend: swimming and stretching in the pool

Maggie's Surprise

I don't usually knit for friend's babies.  It just takes too long, and my skills still aren't up to snuff.  But, when a working Mom who wanted to learn to knit a sweater for her baby never got a chance, I couldn't resist making one for her.  It also gave me a chance to try out the legendary Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman.  The sweater is just as cool as they.  

This is what you have when you finish knitting - a strangely shaped mass of garter stitch.

But then you fold in two places - and have a sweater.  The woman was a genius.  A mad genius.

All you need to do to finish is sew up the two seams and sew on five buttons.  

I really enjoyed making this sweater and I love how squishy and comfortable it turned out.  I used a new yarn, Bernat Cot'n Corn, and the finished sweater does feel really good.  But, I won't knit with Cot'n Corn again.  There were way to many knots in the skeins, the yarn had a tendency to split and it would even come out of the ball unraveled enough to require me to cut away large sections.  Then end result just wasn't worth the hassle, and I'm concerned about how it will wear over time.  Fortunately, the baby won't fit it for long anyway.

Perhaps I can blame the difficulties with the yarn for how slowly I knit.  I don't think so, though.  My jaw dropped when I read the Harlot's comment that she can whip out this sweater in 6 to 8 hours over the weekend.  Seriously, that's what she said.  I read that while looking for some help with a step I didn't understand, and I was well past the half way point.  I knew I had already spent much more time than that on the sweater, so I started paying attention to how my bursts of time on it were adding up.  I spent more than 6 hours on the last third.  I. Am. Slow.  No wonder it feels like it takes me forever to finish anything I knit - it does.  The funniest part is my knitting method is the one recommended to increase speed.  Its a good thing!

I Florida

My job requires a good bit of travel during the day, but generally its not to the prettier areas of my home.  Last week, though, it took me out of town and in to the Ocala National Forest and the surrounding rural area.  I took a short break in a national park, enjoying the cool lake water on a 100 degree day.  I checked out the 50s era sign reminding me that Black Bears will come eat my food if I leave it out and said hello to some less reclusive native life.  And I found a grape orchard, which my father in law would love, using peanuts as groundcover, which my mother would love.  A lovely reminder of why I love Florida, made extra special because it was a work day.

See you at Home Depot

"It smells like popcorn in here all of a sudden."
"Or an electrical fire."

Followed by a check of the dishwasher and billowing black smoke. I can now confirm that an electrical fire (or maybe the near miss of one) does indeed smell like popcorn. I'm sure glad Alex knew about that.

How did she do?

Home Run

Tuesday: cardio, stretching and strength training

Thursday: cardio, stretching and strength training

Sunday: cardio, stretching and strength training

We also took a half hour (leisurely) walk after dinner both Saturday and Sunday nights.  The walks were wonderful, and we felt so mellow afterwards.  We're hoping to make this a habit.  The dogs are really hoping we'll make a habit of it.

How did she do?

Tuesday: cardio, stretching and strength training

Thursday: cardio, stretching and strength training

Two trips per week seems to be all I can do on a regular basis, and even that is an effort.  I thought the gym would be a habit by now, that it would be a routine and easier to get there.  Its not.  I still try to make excuses and answering to the blog is definitely part of the motivation to get there enough to at least not be embarrassed by the report.  Sigh.  So, I'll keep at it and hopefully some day it will be routine.