more of a runner

One of the ways I've noticed I've become more of a runner is that long runs don't freak me out the way they did two years ago or even a year ago. I remember fastidiously planning out my meals for the two days prior to a long run, fearful that eating the wrong thing would send my stomach into a tizzy during my run. Now, I watch what I eat, of course, but I don't stress the same way. (Ironically, I think worrying might have caused some of those stomach woes.)

Nowadays I'm only really fastidiously planning for a 10-mile-or-longer run (like tomorrow). I used to toss and turn the night before six, seven, even eight-mile runs, worried about how it would go. Now, I'm in bed worrying about other things (job security, the state of journalism, blah blah blah). Running is such a relief these days - I can just get out there for a couple hours and focus on my body and training and forget about the state of my career. Some people use those long runs to work kinds of things out in their mind - and I used to - but now it's a welcome relief from the cloud I feel I'm constantly in these days.

I'm trying to look on the bright side despite my fretting - I've got good things looming on my calendar. My brother arrives for a visit in three weeks, and he's running the Shamrock 8K the day before my half marathon. I can't wait to see him. The week after that, my boyfriend and I are going to New York City to visit a friend of mine from college. We just decided to take an extra day for the trip and spend a night at a hotel. I got a great deal on a Hilton hotel near the World Trade Center site. So we'll have an extra day to ourselves to wander around the city. I can't wait.

like buttah

Yarn: Malabrigo worsted in Pollen (2 skeins)
Needles: US 8
Knit between: December 2008 to Feb. 15, 2009

This is unbelievably soft! I've knit several cowls out of it for friends but this is the first knitted object for myself (one of my resolutions this year, if you remember). Since I took the above photo, I soaked it in the tub with some Vo5 (no wool wash for me yet ... eventually I will pick some up!) and now it's drying on top of the washer. I let the ends dangle off the side in the hope that it gets a little bit longer.

Last night, Josh and I went to P.F. Chang's for a birthday/Valentine's dinner. Then we saw Jonny Lang in concert (my birthday present). I am going to say we were in the 4th row - there were three orchestra rows, and then our section on the left started with row B (yet the center section started with A, for some reason). We were about 15 feet from the stage. So awesome. It was my sixth time seeing him in concert.

In other news, I think my running mojo is back. I skipped a few days for my trip to Georgia and then was sick for a week. I took last week as a recovery week and ran twice, no longer than four miles each time. I'm back on schedule now, though. Saturday I ran 3.6 and today I ran 5. Tomorrow's a shorty, then I have to head to Running Etc. for some Gu because I'm aiming for 10 miles on Thursday!

happy birthday to me!

I am 26 today. Whee! I'm going to get a haircut (and have it blow-dried straight, a nice treat), maybe go to lunch with my honey, and go to work. And squeeze in knitting wherever possible.



P.S. Gotta shout-out to my fellow Feb. 11 birthday gal and Socks that Rock fan, Irishgirlieknits!

finally: socks for me!

I have been knitting socks since April 2007 and hadn't finished a pair for myself until yesterday. I'm so glad that these were my first matched socks!

Yarn: Socks that Rock lightweight in Fire on the Mountain
Needles: US 1
Cast on first sock: June 18, 2008
Cast off first sock: Aug 1, 2008
Cast on second sock: Aug. 1, 2008
Cast off second sock: Feb. 5, 2009

These took a while to complete and have their flaws (sorry, I can't help but be critical - they're the first socks for myself!) but I love them so much. I have been wearing them all day and will be supremely sad to take them off tonight.



What I learned in finally knitting socks for myself:
1) I think I am kitchenering the toe too tightly because it doesn't look like nice, even stockinette when I'm done. Thoughts, knitting experts? Is it better to start loose and tighten a few stitches in?
2) I need to make heel flaps longer, because these just barely fit over my ankle.
3) Weighing yarn is key ... had I had my scale before I started this pair, I'd have made them taller (I had 16g leftover).
4) Corny but true: I have so much to learn!



I also learned that using such a tiny needle might not be the best idea possible. Knitting these kind of hurt my hands - and knitting should be a pleasurable experience!

Instead of finishing up my other sock-with-half-a-mate, I cast on for a new sock with some Prism Merino Mia with US 2.5 needles and it's flying by splendidly:



It's already double this size and I only took the photo a couple hours ago!

I used the last of my Christmas yarn gift certificates at BMFA on Monday. It shipped Tuesday night from Oregon and was in my mailbox Thursday afternoon. Bliss.

Mediumweight in KMBFLA:


Mediumweight in Jasper:


Perhaps my favorite, lightweight in Bella Coola:


I have to say that I have not enjoyed being sick, but it's done wonders for my knitting as of late!

I'm home from Georgia and I seem to have brought back a horrid sore throat with me. I was off yesterday for the Super Bowl (thanks to a generous co-worker who traded shifts with me) and called in sick today, something I hatehatehate to do. So I'm a little cranky, but I figured I'd make the most of my germ-y day at home and update the blog and find the energy to do a little knitting.



It was a really great visit. I am so proud of my brother and it was fun to get to spend so much time with him and see the place he's been living since October.

Of course there was lots of knitting time on the trip. I exhausted my first skein of Malabrigo (colorway: Pollen) in a garter-stitch scarf.



I didn't think to bring the second skein, so I also cast on for a Clapotis with some STR mediumweight and knit some more on my rainbow STR socks. I have a $50 gift certificate to Blue Moon burning a hole in my pocket and I might succumb to it soon, as it's my birthday in nine days and the lure of a yarny birthday gift to myself is hard to ignore.

And of course, last night was the Super Bowl and my Steelers won. I watched it - and freaked out especially in the last four minutes or so. I could be more excited about their awesome victory but I'm kind of stumbling around the house with a painful throat and that's taken over much of my attention. meh.

two FOs

Pattern: Old Shale Scarf (rav link to my project)
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill supersock in Burgundy (less than one skein, because I got frazzled by a huge knot with about 20% of the skein left and just cast off instead of untangling it!)
Knit between Dec. 18 and Jan. 21



This is my *final* Christmas gift. I know, it's kind of embarrassing. To be fair, I had many other things to make. I just heard from the recipient and she loves it. Yay!

Aaaand I finally finished something for myself! I stopped by my favorite LYS because, sadly, they are likely going out of business very soon. I picked up a beautiful skein of yarn and improvised some fingerless mitts:



I am calling them "Handspunnish Mitts" because the yarn looks just like handspun.

Yarn: Mountain Colors River Twist (colorway: Firehole River)
Knit between Jan. 22 and 24



This starts me off with one of my resolutions - knitting more for myself.

I'm wearing them at work when my fingers are cold. I thought I'd need them on my trip this week, but it's going to be 60+ degrees at Fort Benning, Georgia. (My brother graduates from basic training this week.) Yay for warm weather!

I'm a running fool ...

... and it feels great! Today was my long run - 8 miles - and it went swimmingly. The first mile or two, my quads felt really heavy, and they haven't felt like that before. But they loosened up, thank goodness.

Normally I do my runs in a big loop in order to avoid repeating turf. However, as my mileage has increased, I've had to do some ridiculous up-and-down running of street blocks to avoid doubling back. I decided today to switch it up and do an out-and-back routine, especially because 8 miles is a nice, easy number to cut in half. I was aiming to finish the first four miles in under an hour, and I did, with a time of 58:30 (a 14:38 minute/mile pace). And my goal was to finish it all in under two hours, and I did, with 57 seconds to spare (a 14:53 pace). The first six and a half miles were so easy, and I absolutely stuck to my routine of running 3 minutes and walking a minute. It got a little harder for the last mile and a half, so I interspersed the 3:1 run/walk with a 2:1 run/walk.

I felt so good I got a shower and immediately went to Target for a few things. Now I'm crashing and I think I'm home for the night, which is unfortunate, because I had wanted to go to SnB for the first time since November.

resolutions: 2009

To recap, here's a link to my post for 2008's resolutions. I think I did OK overall - I didn't blow them away or anything, but I did a good job of sticking to them.

Resolution no. 1 was about running year-round and not stopping after the Shamrock Half Marathon. I did a slightly better job this year - running through May, joining the Norfolk Fitness Center around Memorial Day, and resuming whole-heartedly in October. I went to the fitness center between May and October, but not as often as I should have. *And* I ran my second half marathon in March (about 26 minutes slower than the year before, but I can deal with that).

My second goal was to pay more attention to my body when it comes to eating better, sleeping enough, etc. This isn't really a measurable goal, but I think I've started to do a better job of it. We've instituted "project 1:30" at our house, which means we're in bed by 1:30 a.m. on the nights we're working. I think that's a pretty good goal considering we work till midnight most nights. (On the nights I work til 1 a.m., it's more like "project 2 a.m." ...) I also think I have done better about eating healthfully in general - lots of improvements to make still, but I know how much better I feel when I'm eating more healthfully, and I'm sloooowly eating less of everything.

My third goal was to watch my spending habits. I'm still putting 10% of my paycheck into my savings account, and I'm still paying well more than the minimum on my credit card statements. Unfortunately, I'm still occasionally putting big-ticket purchases (a plane ticket or hotel room) on a credit card, and occasionally I dip into my savings to pay for those things right away. It's a bad cycle to get into, but I don't know how else I can afford these things. I've signed up for an account at Mint, which tracks your spending habits, and that's already made a difference in my habits. (Do I really want to see three purchases at Yorgo's in a two-week span? Noooo.)

I'm going to keep these goals for 2009. I'm already building momentum from last year. I'm planning on two half marathons this year, I'm eating more healthfully (especially with bringing my packed dinners to work more often and drinking less diet pop late at night), and I'm being ever vigilant with my spending.

As for my yarn habits ... well, I had set some guidelines for that last year, too, but I only kind of stuck to the goal. I really made my purchases more meaningful - such as setting a budget (and not even meeting that amount) at Maryland Sheep and Wool, and I didn't really spend much at LYSes (except for a 40% off sale dangled in front of me, so I bought a sweater's worth of Cascade 220). But yeah - my goal for finishing a pair of socks before I can buy sock yarn? I totally come close to sticking to that.

This brings me to my goal for 2009: slow stashing. I read this post from Clara Parkes at Knitter's Review and it was a wake-up call to me. She says, "At its core, slow stashing involves being mindful of every skein we own, and only bringing in new skeins that are truly deserving of our time, our attention, and our resources." I think I've done this in the past, but I could do a much, much better job of it. So, I'll be very mindful of this in the coming year.

I immediately followed her recommendation of slowly going through your yarn stash and seeing what speaks to you and what doesn't. The what doesn't pile should leave your home somehow. I culled about 10% of my stash on Ravelry *just by going through sock yarn.* I have several bins of other yarn, too, that I probably should go through but haven't yet. (To be fair, I went through those several months ago and culled a garbage bag full of random yarn for Goodwill.) I've listed the yarns on my sale/trade page so, uh, check it out, knitterly friends. =)

hello again.

I'm back from my second trip to Ohio in two weeks. It was a lovely visit, full of yummy homemade meals and well-received presents and football and knitting. Now I can reveal some knitted gifts!

First up, my mom's Old Shale scarf:







Rav link here.

I used a skein of Noro Silk Garden sock yarn. It took me about a month, off and on, to finish this beauty. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and the colors are to die for. Noro, I can't wait to knit with you again.

I also knit my mom a cowl out of Koigu. There was a scary moment where I ran short on yarn, but thanks to Ravelry, I bought some more from someone else. Rav link.



I made my dad and brother mittens in their respective alma mater's colors (blue and gold and red and gray). I think they liked them:



Here are the Rav links for each project.

I know mittens aren't as useful as gloves but I hope they get some use out of 'em. I also made the boys basic watchmen caps - no real pattern. My dad wore his the rest of the week, woohoo!



My family exchanges ornaments each year, and I couldn't find a good one for my brother, so I knitted him a wee sock out of Koigu scraps.



I got some yarn money to WEBS (already spent it!) and BMFA, a couple DVDs ("Wall-E" and "Sense and Sensibility"), money for new running shoes, and an awesome book from my brother. And, of course, my new camera from my honey.

Next post - a recap of my yarn purchases while in Ohio and a look back at my 2008 resolutions ...

merry Christmas!

I'm back from my trip to Ohio to surprise my brother when he got home from basic training for leave. He definitely didn't expect me. It was a very fun, very sleepless weekend. I got to see my parents' new house, which is nearly done and totally gorgeous. I can't wait for them to move in.

I also got to meet their new-ish dog Husky. They took him in after their neighbors in South Carolina couldn't keep him anymore. He is huge (about 90 pounds) and very mellow. I can't wait to see how Gracie turns his world upside-down in a few days when we head up there for a week. Here is Husker Du:



It was a fabulous weekend and I'm extra psyched for our trip there this weekend. I am hoping for lots of knitting time (to finish my coworker's Old Shale scarf - pics to come soon - and to work on something for me, finally!).