In need of advice

Now that I'm running longer distances I need some way to track how far I've run. I'm considering either the Nike i-pod sport, or the Garmin 405. I like the nike because it costs much less, but I've heard it can be unreliable. I like the GPS function on the Garmin but the cost really puts me off. I'm not super crazed about my times and tracking every last detail about my runs. I just want to know how far I've gone, and how much time it took. I know I can get the less expensive garmin, but I'm not into wearing that huge clunky thing when I run. Any advice - save up for the garmin or go ahead and get the nike? BTW I don't run in nike sneaks so I'd also need to get some sort of device to attach the nike to my Mizuno's.

Ran 6 miles yesterday - I procrastinated all day long and ended up going late in the afternoon. I really prefer early runs, and I was just dogging it. The weather was so strange very autumnal rainy, windy, cold - I was freezing all day long. I wore my running pants and a long sleeved shirt which turned out to be a mistake, I got so hot and tired and then aggravated with myself for my poor choice in clothes that I didn't much enjoy the run. Must choose better next time!

One Mile Challenge

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Found this fun virtual Challenge over at Life Strides. The super-speedy Reid is trying to run a sub 5:00 mile. In a show of solidarity as many runners as possible will run their fastest (or not-so-fast) mile as well. It's embarrassing to say "fast" and sub 9:00 minute mile in the same sentence, but that's my reality. I'm usually about a 9:15 mile when I push it a bit, my PR is 8:43. I've been training for a half marathon and have been focusing on distance not speed, so this will be an interesting exercise for me and a good excuse to get some speed work into my runs. Good Luck to Reid - with all those runner vibes out there supporting him hopefully he'll break through!

non-runner nancy

I love this new site that I've found. Since I've been running more seriously, I've also been finding some new running blogs in addition to all the knitty/crafty blogs that I love. Nancy's site is just friendly, motivating and non-threatening. Some of the running sites are soo intense with these uber-fit psycho runners. Nancy's site is for the rest of us - those who love (mostly, usually) running, but have very human struggles. She has created some fun virtual races which are great for me because they give me that sense of comradery since all of my very real running partners have succumbed to injury. As Nancy puts it running is easier with friends. My first virtual race was August 8th and I didn't even know I was doing it. After I completed my long run of 8 miles, I found Nancy's site a realized I had un-officially run along with the 8-8-08 Olympic Spirit run - who knew? Next time I hope I have a heads up and can participate for real - virtually.

Alissa Baby

This is the Waldorf baby doll I made for Alissa when she was 5. In a fit of originality she named her Alissa baby, and off she trotted to kindergarten to show off her new dolly. It seems like I just made that doll, and that Alissa was just 5 only a moment ago. But somehow Alissa is now almost 13 and almost as tall as me. Happily she still loves her 'Alissa baby' toting her along to overnights at her friend's homes. I know in a blink she'll be off to college taking her 'Alissa baby' with her because she seems to understand how much love was put into making that doll just for her, and that wherever life takes her, Alissa baby is a bit of home.

Jane

Which Jane Austen Character are you?

Must Make This!

I saw this advent calendar at Molly Chicken and fell in love. It was much too close to Christmas when I found it to get it done for '07, but since I've resolved to stop procrastinating I want to try to do this now for next year. I'm trying to decide if it's worth the $22.00 for a magazine that's in Japanese - or if I should just try to wing it. The magazine does look gorgeous, but I think I'm going to give it a go first. If it doesn't work out I'll be plunking down my hard earned cash over at Kitty-Craft!

No time to blog

Yes, Wee little blue boy did arrive safe and sound all the way from Tasmania to New York! Thank you Jenny - he is as sweet and lovingly made as I knew he would be. My girls and I all love him - we took him to Boston with us - I was a bit disappointed because he seemed to prefer the pool to all of the fabulous historic sights (but he is just a baby after all what can you expect?) Sorry the pic is a bit of a blur - you know it's tough to get those little ones to sit still. My husband thinks we are all odd in the way we take him with us and place him in different little scenes around the house.



So far my plan of keeping up with the blog hasn't turned out too well. Back to work at the library full-time, as well as two night classes (required so that I can keep my job) has not proved to be condusive to blogging. I do manage to read a few of my favorites, and it makes me crazy to see all the wonderful things bloggers are doing - sometimes it feels like my life is passing me by! The Boston trip was in August, and tomorrow is October 1st - how did that happen? I'm off for now hopefully more to post soon. It's a beautiful autumn day today - unfortunately I'll be spending most of it inside a theater. I'm taking all three girls to see the stage production of High School Musical of all things. I love having the day with my girls, but I'd rather have it at home in the country on such a lovely day. Oh well the things we sacrifice for our children...

Material Girl

Cruising around the net today, I found some things I really want like this cute fabric from kitty-craft which I have absolutely no use for, and this "don't Socra-tease me" nail polish from OPI, and I already bought this wonderful cast iron frying pan (I found it at figandplum and love it).

And now it seems that all my favorite bloggers (yarnstorm, soulemama, angrychicken) have written books, and of course I want them all. I don't know where these fabulous ladies get all the time to keep up with their blogs, write books, and do all the creative things they do. I don't even try to keep up - I just enjoy what they share and take away a little inspiration. Oh, the Internet is a dangerous place - or at least an expensive one!

Sometimes I have a difficult time just adding new posts because I really get attached to the way my blog looks with a particular picture. For instance today it was difficult to replace the wee little blueboy (another Internet purchase) - hopefully he'll arrive in time to accompany us on our Boston vacation. Time to get off the computer before I can't afford a vacation!

Wee Little Blue Boy

Well now that it's been almost a year since my last post, I've decided to try to get back into the swing of things. I miss blogging mainly because of the way it makes me look at things. When I'm blogging I pay much more attention to the details of my life - what would make a great picture? (and it's often some odd little detail), what have I done today that's interesting? The blog helps me keep focused on a project so that I can actually show some progress, and hopefully at some point a finished project. I do it for myself mainly to have a sort of chronicle of my life - it all goes by so quickly, I really enjoy looking back sometimes. Even though I haven't been writing, I have been reading. I still use my blog to get to all my favorite blog links. I recently saw this sweet little blue boy at Little Jenny Wren's (you can see him snuggling with the cat in her blog title) and just had to have him. So now I'm anxiously awaiting his arrival (all the way from Australia) - and hoping to incorporate him into the blog on our family adventures.

Where have I been?

Here! Beauooootiful Colorado. After a long, long, long drive from New York, through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and finally Colorado - we spent a week in Steamboat Springs. This was our view lakefront from our campsite. We stayed at Pearl Lake state park, it was wonderful. I finally finished my confederate gray sock on the ride out past miles and miles of cornfields. Then appropriately started my next pair of socks with Mountain Colors yarn.

I thought I would have gotten tons more knitting done on the drive, but I was completey distracted views around me - I didn't want to miss anything. We've wanted to drive cross country for years now, and finally decided that the girls were at a good age to try it. I just wanted to see it all - the Iowa corn fields, the wind farms, Nebraska flatlands, the rolling prairies of Eastern Colorado, then suddenly this...

I think only by driving it could we have felt how we did when we finally saw the mountains. My husband and I were both struck immediately by the feeling of what the pioneers must have thought and felt when they saw this ahead of them. Here we were in our GMC Envoy complete with portable DVD player to keep the girls from driving us crazy. I just love this country and am newly amazed by the hearty souls that had the nerve to do this in a covered wagon.

What shall I be?

My dear sister in-law gave me this lovely yarn. I'm just tickled, this is the first gift of yarn I have ever received - finally someone gets it - all I really want is yarn. Now the big question is what to make with it. Alissa has called dibs - asking for some sort of a cute hat, so now I'm on a pattern search. It only seems appropriate that Alissa should be the recipient as these are some of her favorite colors. I was immediately struck by the similarity of colors to those in a Georgia O'Keefe style water color that Alissa painted at school.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I've been thinking of something like this or maybe this, but not this.

The title of this post made me think of a board game I used to play when I was a kid. What Shall I Be? the exciting game of career girls. I LOVED this game - it's so funny to me now to see the career options.

Of course now I'm a very liberated homemaker, who loves to knit, sew and bake - you've come a long way baby!

Gray Wednesday

The last few days have been rainy so I've actually had a bit of time to knit and read. Sorry the pics are so drab, my socks as well as the weather are gray. I'm embarrassed to admit that gray is actually one of my favorite colors. What can you expect from a former accountant turned librarian?! These are my first pair of socks worked on circular needles, and aside from a few glitches I think that I am a circular needle convert.

I used two circulars rather than the magic loop. I'm still intimidated by that whole loopy thing, and think that the whole business looks rather awkward. I was reluctant to abandon my double points - there's something about them that makes me feel connected to the past. Maybe it's all of the lovely artwork out there that depicts women working so industriously on their socks. (Though I must admit this young lassie doesn't look all too excited about the task at hand. Is that a dreamy far off look - or a bitter 'when in the hell will I ever be done with this freaking sock look' ?)

That said, cables are wonderful because you never lose them, as I'm always losing those tiny double points, and you don't lose stitches when you put your work down because you can slide the stitches safely down onto the cable. My only trouble was that against the advice of the yarn shop owner I insisted on purchasing the bamboo needles rather than the Addi Turbo's. Don't get me wrong I love Addi's, and in retrospect I should have bought the Addi's, but I fell in love with those cute little bamboo needles and the elegant gold join, that would later prove to be the bane of my existence. You see the stitches are essentially divided in half between the two cables. Work half the stitches, then slide the stitches down onto the cable, drop the needle and pick up the other cable needle working the remaining stitches. Note that the stitches need to slide onto and off of the cable after working the stitches on each needle - here was my problem, that pretty little golden join was not smooth at all - and even after loosening up my stitches a bit to accomodate the join - the last two stitches were always a bit tighter and very tricky to slide back onto needle.


This became rather annoying as you can imagine with the zillions of tiny stitches that go into the making of a sock. So live and learn I guess, or save yourself some time and go straight for the Addi's.

By the way April 1865 is a very interesting book for any of you Civil War buffs out there. I felt very apropros knitting a gray sock while reading it even if I am a Northern girl. By the way I can't actually read and knit simultaneously - that's just a dream of mine, I have to take turns.

I Am a Terrible Mother

Caroline's birthday was in November, we had her little girl party in June. Enough said. The party is done and it was lots of fun, so better late than never I guess. Caroline wanted a Chinese princess party. We have two nieces adopted from China, so my girls just love anything Chinese. Rather than favors, each girl got one of these cute little dresses to wear home.

The weekend was crazy busy. I worked frantically in my gardens and cleaning my house so that all the moms bringing their little girls to the party wouldn't think poorly of me. Peer pressure is a wonderful motivator. Frankly if it weren't for the fear of company coming I wouldn't get anything done, and since we live in the country people don't just pop in too often. I would rather spend my time with my husband and kids, or reading, knitting or running, but I also hate to get caught with my house in disarray...I am a complete fraud. I often wonder when I read some of these blogs where everything looks so perfect, is it really that way? Beautiful crafting, fabulous children, lovely homes, lofty reading... is there really a huge mess lurking just outside the range of the camera lens? Anyhow I didn't knit at all last weekend - so of course today rather than cleaning, I'm blogging and knitting. Blogger has been really wonky this morning and it's taking me forever to get this post done...so now I'm done!

While My Computer Was Sleeping...

I've been working, watching many, many soccer games, not cleaning my house, not getting into my garden enough, and knitting a little. The Fingerless Mitts were completed just in time for summer (she said sarcastically). But my Alissa loves them and thinks they are very cool to wear while she's playing her drums. These were very easy to knit up - can be done in an evening or two and used just one ball of Noro Kureyon. I tried to throw caution to the wind and knit the mitts including that strange section of rust colored yarn, but in the end I just had to chop out the whole rusty chunk - it just did not seem to belong there.

I've also squeaked in some reading, movies, and further progress on the PBSJ. The yoke and sleeves are done, and I'm started on the back - which I think I need to make a bit longer than the pattern calls for, but I'm daunted by the task of figuring out how to do it properly with that pleated back and diamond pattern.

Anyhoo - loved the Movie as well as the book (Geisha that is) it's beautifully filmed - but sad, sad, sad. The Country Life I'm not lovin' so much. It's about a woman who abandons her life in London, in order to go live in the country and care for a young disabled man. Three-quarters of the way through it's just been a series of silly situations she gets herself into, and is just FINALLY beginning to explain why she bagged everything in her previous city life. I'm hoping that maybe it will somehow redeem itself in the end.

Guess that's all for now - I feel there's so much I want to say after being away so long, but I don't want to bore everyone to death.

Computer Woes

Well this has certainly been an unplanned hiatus. A variety of circumstances have prevented me from blogging in ages. My computer has some sort of major illness that even Paul couldn't repair, so no pictures I'm afraid. But I have been knitting - I completed the fingerless mitts for Alissa, I've finished the yoke and 1 1/2 sleeves on the Pearl Buck swing, and working alternately on my May socks, and a scarf for my car and soccer knitting. Soccer by the way has taken over my life - pretty much four nights a week. I love watching the girls play, it's loads of fun to see the 4 and 5 year olds run back and forth across the field in this tight little bundle of chubby arms and legs, and Alissa's youth league is now really beginning to look like real soccer with lots of action - but it makes the evenings crazy busy - I miss our sit down dinners!

I also have a new job!! In my former life before kids, I was an accountant. While I was at home with the girls I earned my master's degree in library science, but my last daughter was born just as I finished my degree, so I've never used it, aside from some spotty freelance work. Well five years have passed, and Caroline went off to school, but I felt as though no one would hire me after so long with no experience. Suddenly two weeks ago an opportunity pretty much fell in my lap. Now I have this great job in the library at a cute little rural school, with a fabulous new library. The job is just two days a week with school hours and vacations, so it's a great way to get my feet wet. I'm just so pleased to be working in my field, yet still have time for the girls. It's funny how your priorities change so much. I've had the power job and at one point in my life was so driven by my work, I could have never imagined that I would one day see things so differently.

So things are now a little more busy, but it's all good and I'm thankful. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures soon. I think I chose this Cezanne still life because I'm wishing for a bit more stillness in my life right now.

A Fairy Nice Day

So what is a mom with three girls at home for the week to do? Why make wee fairies of course!

Fairies are a big deal in this house. We read books about fairies, watch movies about fairies, play games about fairies, and on and on. About a year ago we bought the book Felt Wee Folk by Salley Mavor and started making little flower fairies. This book is really wonderful with beautiful pictures and clear step by step instructions.

We have kind of developed our own style - a little less fidgety than those in the book. The book was worth every last penny as the little fairies we have made have produced hours and hours of play time, both creating the fairies and in imaginative play. These dolls are about 2 1/2" high, and are inexpensive to make - a few dollars worth of supplies will make many fairies.

PBSJ Yarn

At long last I've bought my yarn for the PBSJ! I like this yarn well enough as long as I don't look at it side by side with the Jo Sharp DK in Glade that I really wanted to buy. At almost half the price I decided that the Dalegarn Hauk was a suitable alternative. After swatching with the needles called for in the pattern I'm realizing that I need to buy some needles the next size down. Did you ever notice that no matter how many needles you have in a multitude of sizes, you never have the right size for a new project?

Priorities

My friend Corey's recent posts have made me think about what it is that's most important. "The only thing that remains is what you have left behind...did you give it your best?" I hope that as I journey through this life what I leave behind are children who grow into kind, responsible and happy adults with fond memories of their childhoods. At least I'm giving it my best. Oh, and I hope that they knit as well!

Happy Easter

It's been a busy time, decorating for Easter. This is the first year that we have made an egg tree. We used a Marble Swirls egg decorating kit which was a big departure for us as we always use the classic PAAS. You can't tell from the picture but the "swirled" eggs look marbelized and just slightly glittery. They're very pretty, and were easy to do with children.




Emily, Alissa and Caroline have been very busy girls drawing these pretty Easter pictures.

What the?

So I had this great idea to make these very cool Fingerless Mitts for Alissa. I had this ball of Noro Kureyon with what appeared to be lovely shades of olive and purple.

When I began to pull from the center of the skein I found miles and miles of this dull-as-dirt brown. Not exactly the color to get a 10 year old girl excited.

Then suddenly this bright rust appears. Now I've knit with Kureon before, and never had this experience where it appears as though the skein is made up of two completely different color lots. I think that if I knit this up the mitts won't even look like a pair. Maybe I should by another ball and knit 2 pair - hmm...how to proceed here.

This whole tangle reminds me of this crazy glass sculpture we saw while visiting the Corning Museum of Glass over Winter Break.