lots of yarn pron

I finished Jamie's socks ... just in time to see her on Friday:



I'm one pattern repeat into a Nutkin:



I got my economic stimulus check on Saturday (really early! I have yet to find someone else who received theirs already) and did a little yarn shopping. First, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Multi to make baby socks for my co-worker's twin boys (due in July, I believe):



As you can see I'm well into sock no. 1. The needles came from a Susan Bates multipack - they're no bigger than 1, likely 0 or 00. The stitches look phenomenal! I think baby knits are the only time I'll use such small needles, though. I'm half afraid of stabbing myself with them all the time.

And, for me, I got some Trekking Pro Natura in a beautiful white:



I'm getting geared up for my trip, especially because it's been a crazy week at work. A hefty tornado touched down nearby yesterday. Everyone I know is safe, but a lot of people say they're about five minutes away from devastation, that sort of thing. I have been working at least 10 hours a day, helping out before my shift in the editorial department. So yeah, long days like these make me *really* excited to get out of town for a little. And my trip to D.C. is not just that anymore. I'm taking off a day early and heading to New Jersey to see my former roommate, Lauren. I'm really excited to see her ... though the impetus for my trip is rather sad. Her boyfriend broke up with her, I can't believe he'd be such a numbskull. I'll be excited to see her snazzy new place, though, and catch up for the first time in about two months.

This will probably be my last post before MS&W ... I am really freaking excited for this weekend. I hope I'm not too shy to say hello to other Ravelers!

I ran today!

Yep I hit the road for the first time in more than a week. I knew it would be rough - but my happiness at being out there outshone my huffing and puffing and coughing/sniffling fits. I took it easy and did only 2.1 miles and I'm going to keep taking it easy till I feel like I'm back at 100 percent.

I've got a busy week ahead. Tomorrow, we're having our annual newsroom award luncheon. This will be my third year attending and the first year in which there's a copy editing contest. I really don't think I'll win but I'm excited to eat a nice lunch and see which of my co-workers will win. It's sure to be bittersweet since the company's for sale and this is, I'd imagine, our final contest. I'm picking up a few OT hours before my shift Monday through Wednesday (and on Thursday, my day off). The OT (and my economic stimulus check that showed up in my bank account early yesterday) are nice ahead of my trips coming up - this weekend, I'm heading to D.C. to visit a close friend from college (and we're going to MS&W!!) and the weekend after that, Josh and I are headed to Shenandoah National Park. I love these little trips, perhaps more than "normal" vacations.

I've got some knitting and stash to photograph for Flickr/Ravelry ... but that will wait for another day!

meh sickness.

I ended up missing Tuesday and Wednesday at work, and I was off tonight (Thursday), so I had three days of sickness fun (note the sarcasm). I was tired but not too tired to sit and knit. So I all but finished Jamie's Monkeys (just have to graft the toe when I'm 100%) and decided to wind some yarn to not only take the edge off (as the Yarn Harlot says), not only to make myself feel a little better (there's something healing or calming about winding yarn), but also to decide what to knit next.



I ended up going with the multicolor on the right - Yarn Pirate in Wildflowers. After less than 24 hours, I'm one pattern repeat into Nutkin and I'm loving it (but sorry, no pictures yet).

Today was a long day ... I got up really early after far too little sleep (for a reason to be explained in a moment) and couldn't fall asleep after a voicemail from my aunt. I had this big plans for my boyfriend and I to take my grandma (who is visiting from Pittsburgh for the week) to lunch today, but one of my grandma's teeth fell out and she needed to make an emergency trip to the dentist. So, I still went to lunch with her, but Josh was left out of the equation as he just stayed downtown to get to work on time. It was lovely to spend the day with my grandma, though - we went to Ruby Tuesday and to Barnes and Noble so she could pick up a new crossword dictionary, and then we just hung out at my aunt's and I knitted while she did word puzzles. And of course we went to the dentist, where I knitted some more.

I couldn't fall asleep because I was flipping channels and saw a show about UFOs on the History Channel - the preview said it was about two people 500 miles apart who had made contact with UFOs. Are you kidding, of course I'm going to watch that! Crazy stuff. Well, the first guy they profiled was practically located in my backyard. I was very excited when they showed my newspaper's masthead and quoted an article about local UFO sightings ... but the show lost all credibility for me when they started discussing one of the guy's sightings being near "Northwest Naval Base in Chesapeake." I've only been here three years, but I know there is no naval installation by that name in Chesapeake - in fact, it's a landlocked city; the only installation that I know of is an auxiliary landing field. My annoyance was pushed over the edge when they showed the "Northwest Naval Base" on a map - it was blatantly Norfolk Naval Station - at the tippy top of Norfolk, directly across from Craney Island, etc. I've edited enough locator maps in my day that I know my local geography, dang it.

I know that finding these kind of errors is my job, and I can't help but do it even when I'm not at work, but I had half a mind to write to the History Channel and the producers of this show ("UFO Hunters") and say "Look, UFO sightings are pretty difficult to believe ... but if you can't get the basic facts correct, like not being able to identify the name and location of the largest naval installation in the world, well, viewers are going to be even less likely to believe all these sightings."

Maybe this is a sign I'm recovered and ready to go back to work??

boo, spring.

Yeah that's right ... I'm sick of pollen and itchy ears and throats and the rain we've had the past few days!

I took Sunday off as a rest day ... and skipped a run yesterday because it just poured all day, and my neighborhood floods horribly. Today is overcast, but I have earaches and a cough and itchy throats. Dang pollen. I feel so lazy when I don't get out moving. I think the only solution is to make today about knitting as much of Jamie's sock as possible before heading to work. I've got three pattern repeats (so, a total of 30 rounds) before I start the toe.

All these excuses not to run is making me think I really need to rejoin the city's fitness/wellness center. At $120 a year, it's a steal. Yeah that's right, $10 per month. Anyone who pays more to go to the YMCA or Gold's Gym is a sucka.

ETA: I'm home sick today. I can't stop coughing and I've got a bit of a fever. I'm going to chill on the couch with knitting and mucho water and tea.

Spring has definitely sprung.

Sorry I haven't been blogging, I've been out enjoying spring! Those azaleas are in my neighborhood - the white ones are around the corner from my place.

Every day this week except for Tuesday, I either ran or took Gracie for a long walk. (My LogYourRun data doesn't show Friday's - I forgot to enter it Friday and Saturday's route supplanted Friday's in my memory!) I focused more on the time I was out there ... I didn't pay a lot of attention to the miles (though I totaled 16 for the week.) That might be why it doesn't feel like I did a lot. I think my runs just *felt* slower when I wasn't paying much attention to the miles. I'm off work tomorrow and I think I might use it as a rest day. (Besides, it's supposed to rain ...)

What else have I been up to? It was a busy week at work; I edited a big project that appears in tomorrow's paper. My sweater yarn came in the mail (though it's not as dark as you'll see here):



I had a friend over and cooked lots of fun dishes - hummus-and-cream cheese stuffed portobella caps, cold veggie pizza, and beer cheese soup. No pictures of that ... but I do have a picture of the apple pies I made. They were ridiculously tasty:



I also finished a hat for my co-worker who's pregnant with twins. Do you think it looks like a Hershey's Kiss, too?



No progress on Jamie's sock, though. I'm going to try to do two pattern repeats on the foot tomorrow (I've got a total of four to go). ah! Nothing like pressure ...

Sunday, Sunday (and new yarn!)

Whew! I think my running mojo is back. I went out for a long run today, determined to run at least an hour and to not count the miles in advance. I ended up doing about 4.25 miles in 61 minutes (12:21 pace). It was a beautiful day, in the mid 60s and breezy. I had taken quite a few days off, mostly because I was busy - I had family in town and was out of the house from early in the morning till it was time to come home and fall asleep! But I'm glad to have these sore legs right now. =)

Today I did a big shop at Kroger ... took the dog to the park (which didn't go so well, as my 20-pound cocker spaniel started snapping at an enormous pit bull named Gotti, ugh) ... and I'm going to bake an apple pie tonight for my honey. I am loving my four-day weekend! Time to go knit. =)

ETA: Oh yeah! I did a little yarn shopping when I started reading a Ravelry thread about Little Knits. I got each of these skeins for $3.50:





And this wasn't $3.50, but it was very much on sale:



I ordered this on Sunday, I believe, and it arrived on Saturday (from Seattle). Pretty great timing! I've also got an order out in the ether from WEBS - I took advantage of their anniversary sale and got myself some Berroco Ultra Alpaca for my (gulp) first sweater.

woohoo!

I'm off work today and I couldn't be more excited. I'm going to a Ben Folds concert with a friend from work. I haven't been to a concert in more than a year (since the Jonny Lang concert a year ago). It'll be fun to have a night out.

I am heading to Kohl's this afternoon - I have a coupon for 15% off, and I've been wanting to get some new shirts for a while. I probably only shop for new clothes two or three times a year (oh, the joys of being a grown-up on a budget). Well, I feel like I rotate the same 5-6 shirts for my work outfits, so I'm definitely in need of some newbies.

P.S. Note to self: don't wear paper-thin shorts when you head out for a run in the rain. You will inevitable curse the riding-up-effect and head home after half a mile, grumbling about cleaning or doing laundry or *anything* being a better use of your time.

yawn.

Another lazy weekend, not much to report.

I watched a lot of movies - "The Hudsucker Proxy" (loved it), "Benny and Joon" (haven't seen it in years, but I forgot how great the music is), the last half of "The Fellowship of the Rings," and about 80% of "The Two Towers." (Both are the extended editions, which I received as a Christmas gift in 2004, I believe, and hadn't opened. Ever.)

So yeah, I got a lot of knitting done. This is where I was on Friday night with the second Monkey:



Sorry, but no progress picture, but I can just say that I'm past the heel flap gusset and onto the round-and-round of the foot. I feel cocky enough that I'll finish on time that I cast on for another sock - the mate to this basic stockinette sock on my left foot in this picture. I like to have a stockinette sock on the needles at all times. If I'm feeling really crazy, I'd love to finish the stockinette sock for myself before my trip to D.C./MS&W in three and a half weeks, but I know that's highly unlikely.

no April Fools' joke here

I bought yarn for my first sweater!! I have been wanting to buy sweater yarn but wouldn't let myself, because I've been on a yarn diet for the past three months (with the exception of my trip to Ohio). Well, I think I just had a moment of weakness. I'm not feeling well, it's kind of hot and sticky out (but I refuse to put on the A/C) and I am missing my family a lot. Then an e-mail popped into my inbox from WEBS about an anniversary sale. I had to take advantage of it. I did some research on the sale yarns, only checking out the ones with good yardage for the price, and further checked reviews/projects on Ravelry. And Berroco Ultra Alpaca seemed like a good choice. I got eight skeins (1720 yards, to be safe) of Oceanic Mix. I love it! And it seemed like a good deal, $5.99 a skein instead of $8.50. Now I have something to look forward to in the mail. I think I'm going to eventually cast on for a seamless raglan sweater from "Knitting Without Tears." Eventually being the key word, as I own about two pairs of circular needles.

In other future projects, I really want to make a wrap for my cousin's wedding in July. I might use my silk garden to make a Clapotis. Something to keep in mind when I go dress shopping...

I'm progressing well on the Monkey socks - I have one more repeat and then I'm at the heel flap. I'm going to try to remember to take a progress picture this afternoon. I just need to keep up the momentum to finish them before early May - she has big feet like me, so the foot might take a while!

ETA: I got an e-mail Tuesday night saying the yarn is on back order and they expect to get it in in mid-April. Dang it!!