Dulaan Knit-In



On Saturday, Ryan and TMK hosted a wonderful Dulaan Knit-In where the food was great, the company fun and the knitting fast!



Linda K also brought along yarn for charity knitting and I made sure to snag some for myself.





Though in the interest of full disclosure, two of the large balls of yarn are actually for TMK. I'm knitting the sweater for her and she is attaching the buttons. This still counts towards my goal of 14 items though!



The party was made even better when Ryan knit her obligatory stitch.



I had so much fun on Saturday and was even able to complete my 10th knitted item (a neckwarmer) for Dulaan. Only 4 more left to go (though I wouldn't be disappointed if I knit more than 14 items!)

First Love…



He made her breath catch in her throat and caused her hum along to corny love songs. “Take my breath away,” she sang as she twirled around her bubblegum pink bedroom remembering their time together earlier in the day.

She had first noticed him on the third week of school when she was caught passing a note to a friend by the teacher. His smart-aleck comment about the teacher made her laugh.

After that her obsession with his deep blue eyes started to grow. His unwavering stare back at her often created a tingling sensation in her nether regions and she wasn’t sure how to react to the feeling. She would watch him for hours and often did though Math, History and Biology class.

She couldn’t believe her luck when he was assigned as her lab partner in Biology. Dissecting anything or even paying attention to the teacher had become near impossible with him sitting so very close.

Her giggling could be heard throughout the halls as he asked her about their current Science project. The pitch of her laugh increased even more when he asked her to come to his house after school so they could work on their project together. His wink and nudge along with his question, lifted her young heart with hope.

They walked to his house together once the school bell rang releasing them from class. Once at his house, he acted as if his intention was to study but she remembered the earlier wink. After telling his Mother that they would be working on their project in the basement, they headed downstairs. Books were opened and paper taken out of notebooks. Shortly after that she experienced her first kiss and her first love.

It felt delicious and wondrous and delightful. “Love is wonderful,” she thought. She dreamed of that kiss all night and knew that she would never forget her first love.

Feeling the Fruit



Boogaj is hosting a monthly Pincusion Challenge and even though I haven't made pincushions in the past, I still think they are pretty darn cute! So I decided to make an attempt at my very own Strawberry Pincushion. I like how it turned out. I was quite excited about my Strawberry and ended up taking quite a few pictures. I couldn't help myself!







Thanks to Boogaj for her inspiration!

Woe is me (or how a simple FELTED bag almost broke me)

In January, my friends Meg and Carrie decided that we should do a felted bag knit-along. Seemed like a great idea to me. Little did I know the trauma I was now in.

First of all, the pattern was incorrectly written and I had to take it back to the shop for corrections. Once the pattern was fixed, we set back to knitting. All was happy and great in the land. I mocked Meg. I teased Carrie. Carrie and I tormented Meg. Meg fought back. All was great!

Then came the GROMMETS! The grommets almost put me over the edge. Carrie came over on Friday night and we set to work on grommeting out bags. We talked trash about Meg since she was hosting her Mother visiting from out of town. We spoke about how great our bags would look. We wondered how it took Meg so long to grommet her bag. Ours were going to be GREAT!

Well as they say, pride goeth before the fall. Our grommets looked HORRIBLE! They fell out, we ruined about two boxes worth before running out and realizing that the only way to save the night was to drink more wine. I had also put in some eyelets and those fell out so I did some "ribbon embroidery" to save face.

Carrie and I then visited Purlygirls on Monday and complained about our grommets. Meg pipped up and asked us why were we talking about a piler thing and making gripping motions with our fist. She used a different kind of tool and spoke of a hammer. We were intrigued! Somehow I was able to convince Meg to grommet my bag tonight and Carrie has offered to sew in my bag's lining. The F***ing bag is almost complete!

This really was a group project!

Life and Knitting Issues

The past few weeks have been both stressful at work and at home. And just when you think things are getting back to normal, life throws you another loop. Can't a girl just catch a break here?

Last night I went to my Purlygirls meeting to escape from the rollercoaster of life and to have a beer. I took along my Yarn Girls Guide to Simple Knits Tank and quickly knit along.



Along the way, I taunted Meg, chatted with Jessica (who is almost BFF with Leigh Radford!) and compared Grommet Hell with Carrie. After awhile the party fizzled out and I headed home. I sat back down and started the decreases. This morning I bound off. BUT after looking at this photo, I'm not concerned. The front is shorter than the back and I don't think it is supposed to be that way. Not good at all!



I think I'll be spending some time with this tank tonight, fixing the problem (if there is one) and sewing it up!

Three Wishes…



If I had three wishes, I wouldn’t waste them on wanting riches, nor fame or fancy things. Instead I’d wish for the difficult to find. I’d wish for a loving husband, a trip around the world to help those who need my help and eternal happiness.

I’d use my first wish on a loving husband because wishing is faster than the dating process and finding him on my own. Of course I’d then be without the life experience of dating the all undesirable fish but isn’t that true of the lucky few who find their mate early in life? So I’d use one of my three wishes to find him, the one for me, and the one who would be my equal half, the one who would temper my emotions and teach me about the world.

My second wish would be to travel the world helping those who could use my help. I may not help everyone in the traditional ways of providing medical care for the sick or feeding the starving but I’d let the universe guide me and provide opportunities for my talents to help those who need my assistance. I’d go to Mongolia to help distribute the knitted goods that my friends and I have been making. I’d go to Africa and help provide assistance where there is civil war. I’d go to Peru and help the alpaca farmers shear their flock. I’d go where I was needed.

My third wish would be for eternal happiness. I believe that an unhappy life is one not well lived. My life’s guiding question has always been, “Am I happy?” If I am not happy, then I make changes. If I am happy, then I continue along my path. I’d wish for eternal happiness so that I would be able to enjoy all that the world has to give me, all that it has to offer.

Project Spectrum - Green



I took Roux for a walk around Wallingford today and took the time to snap a few photos of everything green. May is certainly a season of GREEN!

I also grabbed this quick shot of the sky for Sandy.


click on photo for larger view

Today started out cloudy and grey and slowly developed into something beautiful. I love days like today.

Leigh Radford

Last night I went to the Seattle Knitting Guild meeting which I've been notoriously bad about attending. I love the meetings but often find myself doing other things on those nights. Last night though I made sure that I was at the meeting since Leigh Radford, author of Alterknits and One Skein, was scheduled to speak.

She gave a wonderful presentation and even brought along some of the samples from her two books. I was also lucky enough to get my books signed by Leigh. Now I'm even more committed to taking a class from Leigh and even more inspired after hearing about her creative process. I'm ready to visit Goodwill and find some thrift sweaters for recycling!

May's Self Portrait Tuesday's theme is to "Introduce Yourself".



I am complex yet simple. I like to wear jeans but also high fashion sunglasses. I am easy to read yet hard to understand. I know what I like but am unsure what I want. I am an athlete who knits. I am a reader, a writer and a photographer who sometimes reads crappy books, writes sloppy words and takes out of focus pictures. And yet at the end of the day, I am Me and I am the only Me in the world.

The books I would write...



The books I would write would be vast yet few in number.

The books I would write would be star heroines and not heroes.

The books I would write would feature women who appear normal on the surface and yet underneath it all are quite extraordinary.

The books I would write would be about lost, devastation and sadness and yet also about the hope beneath it all.

The books I would write would be about places here on Earth and also about those places we can only dream about.

The books I would write would also feature a bit of my character.

The books I would write would be about all those things that happen everyday and all those things that appear to be coincidental.

The books I would write would show me my character and lead me to the ends of the Earth.

The books I would write would teach me about the people I know and about the people I’ve yet to meet.

The intrepid were told to write the first paragraph of thier book and since I feel intrepid, I have written it here.

The waves flow onto the shore and she stares into the distance watching the ocean's mood.

“It wasn’t supposed to be this way when we decided to move here and yet now so much has happened that can’t be taken back,” she thinks.

She calmly watches the waves begin their encroachment on the shore. Crabs and other such creatures scamper into the waves. The birds caw and dip into the ocean. The waves continue their assault on the beach. Back and forth, the ocean flows and tears begin flowing down her face.

Preaching from the Highway Pulpit


click on photo for larger view

I had a training session off-site for work today and so I drove a different route than usual. Along I-405, I noticed this bright Yellow Cross doing some "highway preaching". Since it caught my attention, I had to snap a photo for the blog. I wonder if this sign draws a lot of people into the church or if it pushes them away.

Thoughts to ponder...

May's Self Portrait Tuesday's theme is to "Introduce Yourself".




I am a runner. I've run 5K's, 10K's, Half Marathons and one Marathon. I run to be free. I run because it feels good to my body and to my soul. I run to release emotion and reflect on emotion. I run so that I can wear my favorite "Jack in the Box" hat. I run because I have two legs that work and a body that allows me to run. I run for those who can't run and because of those who run faster than I'll ever run. I run because I can.

The Weekend



The weekend started out strong with a Cinco de Mayo visit to Golden Gardens with friends followed by a tasty beer at Hale's Brewery.

Saturday was spent swimming, running, grocery shopping, furniture looking and Ipod accessory buying.

Sunday, oh Sunday was the best day of all. I met up with my friend, Andi for an early morning breakfast. I do enjoy spending time with her. Then Meg and I cancelled our bike ride due to "inclement weather" (it was raining off and on). Later that afternoon though, I took part in my first Kickball game of the season! I haven't played in years and boy could you tell! We had so much fun though and while we did lose it was only by 1 point! Go CHUCK NORRIS!

My Shoes



My shoes have carried me many places; through wooded trails, down long asphalt roads, along the lakefront and shoreline. They are no longer shiny and new like the day I bought them from the fancy running store at Greenlake. There are signs of wear and tear and a bit of dirt along their edges. They’ve carried me more miles that I’d ever image possible. The most important place they’ve ever taken me is Washington D.C. and the Marine Corp Marathon.

Bang! The gun goes off and my shoes thrust me forward through the crowd of runners as they surge forward. Up, up, up the hill we go and down the George Washington Parkway, sprinting past Frankenstein’s Bride and a Wedding Runner. The sun is pounding down upon me but my shoes lift my feet as we go past Lincoln’s Memorial and up to the Capital.

My forehead is dripping with sweat and I’m not sure I can go on but my shoes know we still have 13.1 more miles to go. My running partner tells me I can go on. My shoes hear the push of her voice as they cushion my feet and spring up in the air. We pass my friends waiting to cheer us on and my friend’s 5-year-old son runs besides me for a few blocks. His screams of joy encourage me to keep moving forward.

I propel myself into East Potomac Park and I begin to chant, “I must make it to the bridge in less than 5 hours!” I round the corner and I can see the bridge. My shoes let me know that they are tired too but that it is almost over. I swear I can smell the chocolate awaiting me at the finish. I trudge across the bridge shuffling my shoes a bit. I slow my pace. I can only hear the pounding of my shoes against the concrete; the crowd’s cheers have faded into the distance.

After more than 6 hours, I am nearing 26 miles when I spot my friend racing along the sidelines. Her energy helps me spring forward toward the finish. My running partner points out the finish line and asks me if I’m ready for it. We chug up the hill to the finish line. I thought I would cry when I accomplished 26.2 miles but for now, I’m too tired for much emotion. We pose in front of Iwo Jima and hobble to the food tent. Our arms are soon loaded up with food and water but we’re too afraid to sit down and so begin our short journey to the Metro and home. Once home we collapse into a heap and my friend hands both of us a bottle each of Stella. It’s the perfect way to end a perfect day.

Triathlon Training and Sock Knitting

LeAnne recently left a comment on the blog asking me to tell her about my triathlon training so she can live vicariously though me. Since her car accident, LeAnne has not been able to train and her dream of doing an Ironman this year has vanished. Fortunately though she will be OK and for that everyone is quite grateful but I do understand her wanting to train so LeAnne -- for you! Here is a recount of what I've been doing for training.

I'm currently training for the Danskin triathlon which is a sprint. A sprint triathlon is a half-mile swim, a 12-mile bike and a 3.2-mile run -- all very do-able distances and distances I've done many times before.

Each week I make sure to accomplish 6 workouts consisting of a minimum of two swims, two runs and two bike rides. Right now the distances are short but I've been bumping them up each workout. For instance on Wednesday I swam 10 laps and last night I went on a 10-mile bike ride. You can see my training schedule here *I apologize for the poor quality but I can't figure out how to prop an excel worksheet up here so I made a .jpg of it.

There are many reasons why I enjoy training as much as I do. First of all, I really enjoy exercising even when I complain about it. Also my Mother is doing the Danskin along with a few friends of mine. I am so proud of all of all of them! It also gives me the chance to be the boss of them, though lately they are bossing me around! Last night I just wanted to take a nap but somehow my Mom convinced me that I has convinced her that we were going on a bike ride. We headed down to the Burke Gilman (about a 2 mile ride from the house) and cruised along in the path. It was so beautiful and quite enjoyable except for the sneaky hill we have to ride back up to get home from the trail. It's a hill that you don't notice until you start pedaling up it and wondering why you have to pedal harder and the sweat starts dripping down your face. All in all though a great ride!

After exercising my muscles, I proceeded to plop down on the couch and knit on my Cascading Leaves socks. I did the heel flap and when I attempted to try on the socks, I ended up breaking one of my needles (luckily have 5 when I only need 4 but STILL! how dumb of me!).


*So no, I didn't make my bed yesterday or TODAY! HA!

Soon I'll have finished Cascading Leaves socks just like Cari. I'm using Sundara Yarn for these socks and loving it so far! I also did one more repeat on the leg pattern since I prefer longer socks.

For Motty

Mot left for Italy yesterday and I told her that I would miss her. She said that I would only miss her because there would be no one around to hear my tales of woe. The ones where she tells me to put my hand on my forehead and say, "Oh, Woe is me".


yep, just like this

It does help bring levity to any situation when she makes me do that. And today I need the levity.

I made myself go swimming tonight and chanted Megan's mantra, "I am the training". I'm glad I went. I ended up in a lane with two energizer rabbits who didn't stop swimming the entire time I swam my 12 laps. They were so good and were still swimming when I left. I didn't want to overtire myself so I kept the swimming to 12 laps though I probably should and could have done a lot more.

When I arrived home, Destiny was sunning herself on the deck. She does seem happier in the summer months when her friend, the sun is out.



Tonight, knitting and LOST!

Dulaan and Feral Knitting



June is quickly approaching so my Dulaan knitting is ramping up! I just finished my 9th item for Dulaan which leaves me 5 more items to complete my goal of knitting 14 items for the Mongolian children. I'm now 64% complete!



Tonight was also the Ferals meeting and before the knitting meeting, people came early to spin. I watched them in awe and admired some of June's spindles. I'm still not sure if I'll ever want to spin BUT I do admire their work.



I also spent some time working on my Jellybean Cushion. I'm about 7 inches into the front panel, with 7 more to go. I desperately want this cushion to be finished so I can enjoy its goodness! Destiny is so going to love this cushion and I'll probably tell her to stop getting fur on my pillow!

Why I Live Where I Live...

I moved here when I was twelve and I always believed that I'd move away before I turned 25. I've been away (never for long) and back again. I've traveled the world and seen great places, yet few compare to here.

Here holds my heart, my family, my friends, my memories and while I know that my heart can move, new friends can be made along with new memories, here will always be home; the place where I've lived longer than any other place in the world. Here is Seattle and there are so many reasons why I live where I live. I feel safe here.

I know what lies just after the bend in the road and yet I am constantly surprised by what lies just after the bend in the road. While I feel that I know every road and every secret hide-out, I am constantly surprised by what the city has to offer me.

The people who live here are passionate about what they believe in and while at times I feel that they are too liberal to be really open-minded, they constantly show me an insight into a new opportunity. It’s hard to deny the passion people have for this place and all that it has to offer.

That’s why I live where I live…I live where people have passion and I find plenty of it here.