Running with Zubin



My friends Julie and Eric are off in Chicago at a wedding this weekend so I'm staying at their place with the Zubster. Last night when I arrived home from work, I was tired and a bit grumpy. Zubin didn't care about any of that, he just wanted to RUN! While I got ready to go on a run that I didn't want to par-take in, I made him sit on his green chair. The whining and talking back that I heard was vastly amusing.

Once I was ready to go and Zubin was leashed up, we sprinted outside. I started my heart rate monitor and off we flew. Zubin was pulling as hard as a sled dog and I was his poor victim. We sprinted past walkers and other dogs and began heading up the one hill we needed to climb before the fun part of the run started. Once we hit, the peak the serious running began. Zubin wanted to fly. Zubin wanted to enjoy the run and so I ran like Phoebe in Friends. I just didn't care about style or the proper way, I just ran. We ran through the leaves and over the freeway and down the hill. It was on the downslope of the hill that I raced Zubin and won! Once we were within a few blocks of Zubin's house, I slowed us to a walk and once we arrived home, Zubin rested his weary body on his green chair. This time though there wasn't any whining or back-talk, just some sighs of happiness. In the end, I'm glad that Zubin made me run as it ended up being a good one.

Missing the Ribbons

This last weekend, I went nuts and visited Weaving Works where I purchased some happy yarn. I then quickly headed home and started working on some lovely fingerless gloves from Alter Knits which took less than two hours to complete and only one skein of Manos Del Urguay.



And now all that is missing from these delightful gloves is the side ribbons. Once I have time to go shopping for that, these will become part of my everyday wardrobe. I know they will be great for those cold mornings when the steering wheel is freezing and the car is a cold freezer.

Secret Pals ROCK!



Friday night I arrived home tired and worn out from an extremely busy week. Upon my doorstep, I found a delightful little box filled with wonderful treats! My Better Pal had struck again! Saturdays are my long run day and this package full of treats for my feet was just the right thing to bring a smile to my face.

I've not yet used the bath bombs but I sense I will shortly as there are some aches and pains that need to be taken care of by a nice warm bubbly bath.

And have any of you tried the Knitter's Balm? This stuff is awesome! Completely Awesome!

THANK YOU BETTER PAL!

This past weekend, I started a few projects, gathered supplies for the Union Square Sweater and finished up a few other projects. Unfortunately photos will have to wait for now.

If today was not an endless highway,
If tonight was not a crooked trail,
If tomorrow wasn't such a long time,
Then lonesome would mean nothing to you at all.
Yes, and only if my own true love was waitin',
Yes, and if I could hear his heart a-softly poundin',
Only if he was lyin' by me,
Then I'd lie in my bed once again.

Tomorrow Is A Long Time
By Bob Dylan
Sung by Nickel Creek

Learning for the art of learning

I've been taking Spanish classes for almost a year now and I really enjoy them. I finally feel as if I'm getting it. I can make small conversation and watching television shows in espanol is no longer as difficult as it once was. Lately though what has struck me as interesting is how other people react to my desire to learn another language.

They ask if I'm traveling to Spain or Costa Rica, or if I need to learn it for my job or if I have someone I want to communicate with in Spanish. And they are consistently surprised when I tell them, I am taking the language for the single purpose of learning it. And I've had more than one person say in the last week that it is refreshing to see someone learning for the sake of learning.

And hearing that for me is interesting. Don't others want to learn just to learn? Isn't that why we read books, take up hobbies, explore new places to visit? At the end of the day, isn't all that to learn and expand our minds? But maybe it isn't. Maybe people get too busy (and I would certainly put myself into this group) to learn new things. Jobs take up a lot of the day, then exercise (to fit into some ideal), families, responsiblities and laundry take up the rest. Sometimes fitting learning in can be tough but sometimes sacrificing laundry time for learning can be way more rewarding than clean clothing!

Babies, Bebes and Bambinos

Lately it seems my knitting is for little people -- babies, bebes and bambinos -- all the wee ones. It appears that I am in that period of my life where my married friends are busy making miniature versions of themselves. And this provides me with some of my favorite kind of knitting, minature versions of my favorite knits!




And so tomorrow I will send off one treat for a future baby and start a new treat for another wee one.



And luckily for the wee one, the yarn arrived in the mail today. I can already say that I love how Knit Picks Shine feels! It's almost as good as the price!

Let the wee knitting commence!

Dog Filled Weekend

This weekend I watched a new set of dogs, June and Boz -- a pug and a rottweiler. The dynamic duo!



Their size difference often gave me a giggle but the funniest site of the weekend was June the pug chasing Boz around the backyard. Now that is a site to behold!

I learned many things from the beasts this weekend. For instance, a pug can take up just as much room in the bed as a rottweiler but the rottweiler causes more pain when he tries to lie on you like the pug. *OUCH*



I learned that pugs are full of loud snores at night but make great snuggle bugs.



I learned that my car is just a bit too small for a rottweiler but is ok for a short trip to the dog park.



And finally I learned that both pugs and rottweilers will try to steal your knitting if you leave it in steal-able places. Boz took my sheep measuring tape and I found him roaming around downstairs with it. He looked quite pleased with his find but was quickly saddened when I stole sheepie back!



In addition, this weekend I finished another part of the Trellis sweater. Last night I cast on for the remaining right front. After that it is just the collar and sewing up!


All the beautiful parts


Looking like a sweater now

One of THOSE days

Yesterday was sooooo one of those days. First, I had a mini-tiff with my father where there was snootiness involved on both sides. Then I had work upsetness which lead me to announcing that I needed to have the BEST RUN EVER to Julie when I met up with her later.

And you know what, THAT was the highlight of my day. I did have the BEST RUN EVER! I announced to Julie as we were bounding along that I was now SO VERY HAPPY! It was one of those runs where I didn't care that it was raining, that only added to the joy. I was able to do annoying cheers and leaps to show how happy I was and I just wished that the people around me could experience that joy too.

After running, I headed home for some Survivor, Teriyaki and knitting time. I announced early on in the evening that I forsaw a finished right front for the Trellis sweater. I think Karma heard me because later in the evening, there was some swearing and another announcement that the, "Sweater is F**king with ME!" So I did what any smart knitter does, I kept knitting and then I ripped and then I had the needles taken from me since I wasn't playing fair with the yarn.

Here is the right front as of this morning, not finished but oh it will be soon and it better not mess with me again!

Where Rebecca Discusses Why Updating The Blog This Week Has Been So Difficult

1. Spanish Classes started on Monday night. All the new people are super smart (or just appear to be so), speak Spanish fluently (why don't I?) and intimidated me (which is hard since I don't intimidate easily but believe me! If you had seen me on Monday, I looked like a deer caught in the headlights)

2. All my Knitting has not produced anything that can be shown. I love secret knitting, I really do but it is hard to have lots of secret knitting because then you can not show off what great things you have made! :P

3. Work has been insanely busy. Busy! Busy! Busy! For instance, the phone was already ringing as I walked in this morning. AND you know what, it is STILL ringing! Well best to be busy than bored!

4. Watching Movies. Last night I saw Everything is Illuminated which made me want to read the book and tell everything how much I LOVED it! And somehow this weekend, I also watched Crash and The Motorcycle Diaries this past weekend. Both were just fabulous and thought provoking. I seem to be in a movie watching thought provoking mood.

5. Packages. I received two of the three packages I've been expecting in the mail but not the one I was really hoping for! I did get some new awesome books from Amazon and some Mission Falls 1824 Cotton (for baby sweaters!) but I need the yarn for the baby blanket for Kim's baby. That sucker is going to take a long time to knit up and I only have a few months to do this!

So those are my excuses for this week...hopefully I'll have some knitting to show later this week!

Jamie Oliver

I feel so lucky right now! My boss just returned from a trip to New York and brought me a SIGNED Jamie Oliver book. It is personally inscribed to me and I am so excited!

WHAT A GREAT SURPRISE!

Cafe Knitting

Last night after work I headed home to play ball with Jessie. Andi arrived home shortly after 6 p.m. and Jessie and I headed over to bother Roux. Andi's friend was over and kindly offered me a glass of wine while Jessie tried to engage Roux in some play time. Unfortunately Roux is feeling a bit under the weather and will need surgery to correct a spinal issue. He's a trooper though and I know he will do well! (He'd better!)

After visiting over at Roux's house, I headed over to Cafe Zoka for some quality knitting time with Julie (NOT Zubin's mom, another Julie, I like to populate my life with Julies as they tend to be fun). We knit from 8 p.m. until 11 p.m. when the cafe closed. Along the way, Julie finished her felted bag and I finished the sleeves for Trellis.


Here is Jessie helping me take the photo of my Trellis sleeves!


Here they are, dog free!

I also made great progress on Ronnie.


I suspect the back will be completed very, very shortly.

When I arrived back at Jessie's place, I decided the smart thing to do would be to cast on for the front of Trellis and then to start reading a new book. Thereby guaranteeing that I would not fall asleep until almost 1 a.m. Getting up at 6:30 a.m. this morning was quite painful!

Getting My Knit On

It seems that my starteritis is finally starting to turn on me. Every night this week I've been deligently working on my projects and last night it finally hit me, if I was just working on ONE project, I'd have something to show for myself. Instead, I've been knitting 4 rows here, 2 rows there and as you can see below, I don't have much progress to report on.



Ronnie is edging along and I suspect the back will be finished tonight or tomorrow. I'm meeting a friend for coffee this evening and while I really need to work on Trellis, I need something simple to knit on when catching up with friends.



I also visted Elliot Bay Books last night to listen to Paul Anderson, Author of Hunger's Brides. It was an intimate group that gathered to hear him read and he was WONDERFUL to listen to. I called my Dad after the reading and told him that people were missing out by not attending last night. I started this colossal piece of work on Monday night and if I hadn't been so tired, I would have stayed up half the night reading. This book will be great for knitting and reading! While large, it has been bound in such a way that it lies flat when you open it. Thereby becoming a great book to read while knitting.

Jessie



I'm dogsitting again. This time for a new pup. Well kinda a new pup, I'm dogsitting for Roux's neighbor which is strange in a way. I can see Roux's house but I'm not WITH Roux. And somehow I never heard a peep out of Roux last night, maybe I'm the only one who lets him roam around the front yard barking but his Mom doesn't. Jessie on the other hand did start a bark fest this morning at 5:45 a.m.! She quickly came in though when I yelled from the bedroom to come back in. Whew!

She's a cutie and so little! It is strange to be watching something that only weighs 20 pounds. I'm just so used to the big dogs. Tonight, Miss Jessie and I will attempt running together. She tried to run me last night on our walk so I know she'll be stellar.

Weekend Tri-ing

Saturday morning awoke with an 8-mile run (ended up quite sweaty!), signed up for the Seattle Half Marathon (only way I’m going to actually do a race this year!) and headed down to Black Diamond to see LeAnne of Curious George Knits competing in the Pacific Crest Half Ironman. After getting lost in Black Diamond (I know how is THAT possible), I found parking and hiked into the park.

As I arrived, I consulted with a volunteer about how the bikes were lined up in the transition area. I had arrived in the middle of the bike portion and I wanted to know if I had missed LeAnne. He didn’t have a way of telling whose bike was where so I decided to peek into the area and see if I could find her bike. As I was starting to spy, LeAnne came bursting into the area and I screamed her name quite loudly. She turned and smiled and got down to business. She flew out and onto the run course. I told the volunteer that I had found LeAnne and he spotted her running out. His comment, “Wow! Look at those muscles! That is one strong lady!” I agreed and said she was SUPER!




So I felt good, I had seen LeAnne but now the waiting began. I was smart though and brought my knitting to keep me company. I knew LeAnne had 13.1 miles to run and even though she’s fast, it still meant at least a two hour wait.



I used the time to knit, scout out the vendor tents and explore the swim area. I learned though eavesdropping, that participants had to swim this course TWICE! It looked quite long if you only had to swim it ONCE!


Look way in the back there at that small orange speck, that is where they curved around the course to the start.

And eventually my wait was rewarded. LeAnne came bursting out of the trees (and I apologize for the bad photos here but I was EXCITED!)



LeAnne’s daughter was also excited and ran with her to the sweet, sweet finish.


I cheered at the finish and though LeAnne said she was tired, she looked strong! It was fantastic finally getting the chance to meet in person and LeAnne, you were AWESOME!

After a winding drive home down the country roads and back to the city, I headed over to Octoberfest with Julie and Eric. We met up with some other friends and tasted some heavenly delights. Oh I love the beer. Pure delight.

Sunday was my last concert at the Chateau. Robert Plant was the performer and his manager warned us that his fans are fanatics! I was placed at the center of the stage (my usual position) and for a majority of the concert, people were cool. As the songs got louder, the crowd began pushing. I began to worry about being crushed and had to get up on the stage for the last song. Other security guards were trying to stop the shoving but self-preservation kicked in and I knew sitting on the stage in front of Robert Plant was my best bet. I’m sure he loved sharing the stage with me!

So today, my back is a bit sore and my arms are tired but it was a lively way to end the season and my weekend.

The Man With A Hook For An Arm

Tonight after running 4 miles with Julie and Zubin, I decided to stop by Third Place Books on my way home to see if the newest Harlot book was in stock. I headed over toward the knitting section and as I began to glance around the shelves, my phone rang. It was my brother, the alarm company had called him.

The house alarm was going off and no one was home to turn it off. At first I thought that someone had forgotten to turn off the motion sensor and that Destiny had set off the alarm. I told my brother that I would head straight home and promised not to go in if any looked "creepy". I called my Dad on the way there and got ahold of him. I let him know that the alarm company had called and that I was heading home. I also let him know that the police were on their way due to a call from the alarm company. I arrived home and since nothing looked creepy and I had my Dad on the phone, I headed in. Nothing was different and the door which had set off the alarm was locked. I hung up with my Dad and called my brother.

My brother quickly reminded me that while you may grow up and your relationship with your siblings can mature, it can also quickly revert to childishness. He asked me if I had checked the garage and I said I wasn't going to since the murderer could be in there. He said I needed to check and that he would remain on the phone with me in case I was murdered (so very helpful of him!). Then he said, "What if the Man With A Hook For An Arm is in there?" And right there, I told him I was going outside and wainting for the police. A very nice and cute officer showed up and checked out the garage for me. Luckily the Man With A Hook For An Arm had already departed and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. BUT I won't be forgetting the fear my brother introduced and THERE WILL BE PAYBACK!

And so now to bring relaxation into my life, I shall be knitting and enjoying Lost since I prefer my spooky encounters to remain on the television and not in my garage.

Only In Seattle



Seattle now has a man-made floating island gracing one of it's many bodies of water. Last night drivers heading home across the 520 bridge called 911 when they saw the island, thinking that they were seeing an overturned car floating next to the bridge. I think this is great if a bit boring for the performers!

Only in Seattle...

Finally, El Fin!

After many years, I have finally finished my first sweater, well the first one I started, I seem to have finished a few other sweaters in between the start of this one and its completion. This sweater had me dragging my feet every which way. First I stared the hood about 3 years ago and then put it aside for almost 9 months. Then I knit up the sleeves and let it linger again before racing through the front and back. Once all the parts were knitted up and blocked, I let it sit in the seaming pile for 5 months before I forced myself to knit this beauty up. Now why did I fight it so much?





Manos through the years...


Sleeve Island


Almost knitted!


Got the main parts done!


Blocking in the wind

Ahhhhh....Now if only real Fall weather could blow in so I could wear this creation!

Finishing Surprises

Last night I arrived home after an uneventful run around Queen Anne and quickly located a present from my Secret

Inside was a delight!



There was beautiful yarn, ring markers, an awesome knit gauge ruler (I've tested it out already and love it!) and a wonderful present for Miss Destiny. It is a pole with a fuzzy something attached to the end, like a fishing pole, which you stick on a window. I quickly stuck her present to the sliding glass door and Destiny came running in from outside to investigate.



In fact she spent most of the night hunting her prey and refusing lap time. I'd have to say this was a hit!

I also finished one of my Calmer Socks and it is delicious to wear! Now my other foot needs a sock to keep it warm.

The Sock, She Grows


Please excuse the unpainted toes, I have knitting to get done!

It is amazing to me how using a thicker yarn for a pair of socks means that knitting said socks takes less time! And I have the pictures to prove it! I've been knitting on my Striped Calmer socks on and off for the past few days. I started on Sunday and now on Thursday morning, I am near completion on the first sock. Amazing! Usually a pair of socks will take me months but not this pair, I suspect if I keep the focus (which is really hard) that I'll have a finished pair of socks to wear around the house by Sunday. Andthese will be perfect for keeping the cool Fall weather at bay.

Stripity Socks

On Sunday night after visiting the yarn store (gift card in hand!) and staring at my new Calmer book, I decided to cast on for some Rowan Calmer Socks. The luscious feel of the yarn felt yummy against my hand as I knit.

Last night at Ferals, Ryan taunted me about the size of my new gorgous Calmer socks so I did what any other insane knitter would do -- I flicked off my shoes and promptly placed that sock on my foot and my foot on the table!



It fit and shut Ryan down. Well for a bit, then she found something else to taunt me about. I love that Ryan.

The Ferals also assisted me with finishing my Manos Sweater! Photos to come soon! Just in time for fall and a few days ahead of my self-imposed schedule --- I have a FO!