Racing

So I have decided to try to at least run one race every month next year. So that means by the end of the year, I will have run in 12 races.

I was already signed up for the Krispy Kreme Challenge (5 miles, 12 donuts, 1 hour!) in February and while I can NOT wait for that to happen...I needed something in Jan. Luckily for me, there were a couple of options.

I thought about a hot chocolate/doggie run in Cary, NC. But unfortunately, that city holds a lot of bad feelings for me. And while someday I hope that it won't...I didn't want to kick off my year of running with a bad feeling about where I was running.

So I went ahead and registered for the Stubborn Warrior: New Year 5k. It's part of the Stubborn Warrior running series. They award points to the top finishers and the more races you run in the series (I think there are 5) the more points you have the opportunity to receive.

I'm not the fastest runner out there so I'm thinking I probably won't get any points. But I'll get the t-shirt and have a fun run and that's what counts! :D

In other news:

I worked out with my trainer this past Sat. It was my first session so he took my weight and measurements. He also calculated my body fat. I have all these worksheets to fill out...about what I eat and my goals and such. Then we worked out and DANG are my legs sore!!! Supposedly, he's going to come up with a workout plan for me to be able to utilize even when I'm not working out with him. So that's pretty awesome.

Plus I ran 2 miles after working out with him. I felt like such a hoss. lol.

In knitting news:

I hung out with my stitchy bitches last night and we had a blast cutting out snowflakes and hanging them from the ceiling. Plus eating pizza and knitting. It was lovely to get out of the house and hang out with people this weekend.

What sucked was that my awesome Friggin princess hat had to be frogged! When I carried the yarn around for the tiara...I carried it too tightly and it wouldn't fit my fat head. So I had to frog it. I guess I'll be doing the tiara in duplicate stitch like the pattern calls for instead of trying to be smart about it. LOL.

Yarrrrrrrn

I haven't been knitting but I have been playing with yarn!

Almost 2 years ago, I won some dye-able yarn from the Carolina Fiber Festival. I've held onto some of it...just waiting for the right opportunity to present itself.

Last weekend...that opportunity showed up!

A couple of us Dirty Knitters went over to our friend M's house. I shall call her Darkside because we always joke that she balances me out in the world. Everything I love, she hates. Everything she loves, I hate. We're complete opposites...but it works because she's the sweetest person ever.

Darkside has the neatest basement ever. She has a great craft area and it has it's own kitchen with a pull out stove that is seriously retro-cool.

She has done a lot of dying so she knew what she was doing and had the right dyes to make everything super easy. We had all pre-soaked the yarn so we just soaked it a little more with some dawn to make the yarn "open up to take the dye" and then we put the yarn on the stove in big pots with the dye until the dye was "exhausted." What's cool is that if you do it right...the yarn will EAT all the dye and then the water will turn out clear! Sweet!

That hot pink is my yarn!

 

I picked a hot pink color to dye my main yarn. I love bright colors and I couldn't believe that Darkside even had that dye! Apparently a friend of hers bought it. LOL! It's currently drying over my kitchen sink...waiting to be turned into a hat with a tiara in it!

 

I also stuck a skein of yarn in with one of the Dirty Knitter's yarn...for a beautiful teal. My yarn wasn't taking the dye so great so it had to stay after school with Darkside for more soaking. She sent me a text though...it's looking pretty good!

 

 

 Oooohhh pretty!

 

Not sure yet what that one will want to be. But I'll keep you updated! :D 

Where's Sprinkles?!

So, I've had two bad running days. I wish I had some great insight for you but really...I'm just looking forward to seeing the Hurricanes tonight and for Halloween tomorrow.

Here's a preview of what I'll be wearing all day long tomorrow...through work...running...and knitting group.

I wore this on Monday night to run club. It was hella fun running through the streets in costume!

So fast, my feet are on fire!

 

Where's Wanda is my go-to costume. I've worn it now for something like 3-4 years straight. A friend of mine, MommaB asked me if I couldn't just DIY myself some sort of crafty costume. I told her that like me....this costume was cheap and easy.

 

Waldo is flabbergasted that I would try to be him!

 

 



Trust me...he's truly flabbergasted.

What day is it?

It's WIP Wednesday!

Well...It would seem that running has stolen my knitting mojo. I'm still knitting...mostly on Thursdays at my stitch-n-bitch. But I don't have any great, new projects burning a hole in my head. I haven't been researching anything fun to knit. I haven't picked out a pattern or any new yarn.

I'm frozen in knitting time right now.

I am making a hat for my ex-husband. I have cast on twice for it. I am tired of it already.

So for today...here are some pics of projects that will probably never be finished...that sit around my house just begging to be frogged or worked on.

This scarf is for me and I still can't bring myself to finish it.

 

I called this my Layoff Hoodie. I started it when I got laid off last year. I never finished it. I messed up the cables and found out I was purling backwards. I need to frog this sweater but just haven't.

These socks make me both happy and sad. They are a great color, great yarn, great pattern. I just can't bring myself to figure out where I left off and finish a whole 'nother one!

 

I used to use knitting as a way to quiet my mind and keep my hands busy. I love to multi-task so it was a great way to get something done while I did something else. And while I still love to knit, I'm not sure I need it as badly as I needed it before. But hopefully my mojo will come back because I still want to make myself a sweater. And if I ever manage to frog that Layoff Hoodie - I've got the yarn for one! 

WIP Wednesday

Guess what day it is ? GUESS WHAT DAY IT IS?

HUMP DAY!!!

 

Ok...now that that bit of fun is out of the way...it's time to see what Sprinkles has been working on...

 

I present...WIP Wednesday!

 

*crickets*

 

Ok...so I finished my cowl and don't have a new project yet.

I do have a couple of WIPs that I should be working on but aren't.

 

I'm making a feather and fan afghan out of Caron Simply soft in Grey and NEON! This blanket might burn everyone eles's eyes but it makes me happy! 

 

I only wish it glowed in the dark!

 

Waldo loves it too.

 

I also need to start a hat for my ex-husband. He's moving to Ohio and I want to make him something (easy) to take with him. It's a long, crazy story that perhaps I'll get into one day. Perhaps not.

 

As for running...today's a well deserved rest day. Gotta give Bliss a chance to catch up with me. If her new shoes ever get here! 



I knit too!

So Sunday I had grand plans to try to run to my local Starbucks in North Hills and then run home.

Unfortunately, when I woke up on Sunday, my body had other plans. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis so I have to listen to my body very carefully. Sunday morning, my body was saying do not go running! Perhaps later I'll write more about having RA and running but right now it's not really a big deal.

So I decided to meet up with my good knitting friend CableQueen at Starbucks! We sat and talked and knit for about 6 hours. It was excellent to get out of the house and spend time with a good friend. She makes me laugh and is so down to earth.

One of my favorite parts of the day was when these two little boys came in....they were maybe 7 or 8 and they stopped dead in their tracks and just stared at me. Then one of them said "Hi." I said hi back and then asked, "What are you knitting?" I was amazed that he knew I was knitting. I told him I was making a cowl which is like a small scarf for my neck. Later on I heard him tell his mom about me. It was so cute!

I actually finished a project! I made this cowl out of Lotus Yarns Cashmere. Its so soft and luscious...I just love it.

 

Isn't she pretty?! And so warm.

 

I actually wore it home it was so lovely.

 

 

Beware the cashmere masked bandit!

 

 

As awesome of a weekend as it was...I don't recommend drinking 3 Grande Vanilla Iced Coffees from Starbucks. You will not sleep. Trust me....I know. 



Obsessions

I often become obsessed about things. It happens often enough that when I get excited about something, my friends joke that I'll soon be over it.

However, two things have stuck with me so far.

The first was knitting. I started knitting as a NYE resolution to learn something new. (And we all know how those turn out!) My first project was a dog sweater that pretty much took me a year to finish.

(Can you spot the glaring error?)

From there I progressed to more knitting, more yarn, and even a Stitch n' Bitch group!

This blog will cover lots of my knitting and knitting stories I have no doubt.

The second thing that has stuck with me is running.

I started running when an ex (Ratbastard) broke up with me. He told me I couldn't/wouldn't/shouldn't ever run a 5k....so of course I had to prove him wrong!

I ran that 5k...and have continued running for myself!

As my latest obsession, you'll probably read most about my running. I just love it.