A Tracy Flick Moment and Yarn-y Loveliness

For those familiar with Reese Witherspoon's character Tracy Flick from the movie Election, you'll understand what I mean when I say that my husband had a Tracy Flick moment. I'd gotten tired of cleaning all the toys off the living room floor and decided to give up doing it until someone else wanted to lend a hand. That was weeks ago... Thursday night when I came home from my weekly knit night, the living room floor was clean. I guess hubby stepped on a sharp-edged toy and heard tribal voices inside his head, hence the Tracy Flick moment. :-D (Actually, you could also say a Rachel Barry moment, too, but you get my point.) He proceeded to have my daughter help him put away the toys. Ahhh... yes (sigh). BTW, the floor still looks good four days later -- wooHOO!

Note: Skip to end of post for pics of yarn-y loveliness if desired ;-)

Friday was our 10th anniversary. We took the kids to the zoo and enjoyed the afternoon. Then we all came home and had some Donatos pizza. Marie got hot at the zoo and asked if she could wear the Dream Swatch headband I recently knitted while walking to the car. So that's what she's wearing in this pic.

Since last posting, I celebrated my birthday. We went to see David Cook that evening which was fun because it had been a while since I'd gone to a concert. I loved the opening band Green River Ordinance, as many of you already know ;-) When I went to last week's knit night, I received a very nice present from my knitting bud Kristie: a signed copy of More Sensational Knitted Socks!! I've been wanting that book forEVER, and she surprised me with it. Kristie got it signed by Charlene Schurch at Sock Summit which we all got to hear fun stories about, not to mention fondling all the lovely haul of yarn-y goodness she brought back with her. Kristie didn't have a class with Barbara Walker, but she got to speak to her at an impromptu moment during the summit. She also had a class with Jess and Mary-Heather from Ravelry. Lucky woman! Nearly all, if not all, known knitting designers were at that event. How awesome it must've been to be there in the midst of knitting greats and enthusiasts!

Speaking of Barbara Walker and luck, that made me think of the really cool article I recently read in the Fall 2009 issue of Twist Collective. If you have time to read it, it's worth it (as is viewing all the nice fall patterns -- I like so many, I can't narrow them down yet to my favorites!). Elizabeth Zimmermann's goddaughter Joan Smith walks into a knitting shop. She introduces herself and asks to have a sweater EZ knitted her decades ago repaired. Besides the story, what's also interesting is the EZ sweater design because there are none like it in all of EZ's books. Next up to read, time willing, is the accompanying Twist Collective article "The Tale of the Green Sweater" written by Joan Smith.

Pattern: a modified Katja.
Yarn: Bernat Softee Baby (yes, I still have some)
Needles: US 5 KP Options 24"
Notes: This summer halter tank is written for up to 24 mths. I sized it up to a 5T with a 24" chest circumference. I knit the tank seamlessly ITR, added a garter stitch division, and then added some 12-st feather-and-fan lace after a plain stockinette portion. So, I guess you could say this was a Katja-inspired tank for my daughter. She didn't like it at first, but warmed up a little to it when she noticed that Cinderella wears white... Maybe she'll warm up to it more next year -- that's what I'm hoping since I made it big enough for her to grow into.



Last, but not least: YARN-Y LOVELINESS!! This skein of beautiful sock yarn from Knit Picks arrived in today's mail. Squee! (Did I really just use that word?!) It's the Lullaby colorway of the new Stroll Hand-Painted. As with my photos and those on Ravelry, the violet shades don't show up as well. There is a good deal of violet in this yarn, about a 50/50 mix. It could be this dye lot, but I think it's just hard to capture on film. I love it all the same! This afternoon, I browsed FOs of all available MSKS patterns on Ravelry and made a list of contenders. (A little voice inside me is also pleading, "make Hedera or another Pomatomas." But I will not stray!) Next I plan on reading the book between now and Thursday's knit night, hoping to wind my skein into a ball while there (please, please Julane!). I wonder if I could get away with separating the skein into two balls using a scale (crosses fingers hopefully)...

Oh yeah, one more thing: it's really, really muggy outside tonight. How do I know? I went running around 8:00 PM. Though I've missed a couple of times for whatever reasons, I've been running since August 1. Tonight was a challenge, not only due to mugginess which I'm used to after living/running in Raleigh for 8 years, but also because all my running intervals ended uphill! Yeegads, that was tough. But, it felt good: I felt every last bronchiole (and their respective alveoli) of my lungs functioning and blood coursing through every last capillary. At the end of my run, I finished with walking lunges up the driveway and a set of lateral squats. I've worked up to 5 minutes of running at a time with short walking intervals in between. So, I'm running more than half the time. Once I make it 5 or 6 weeks in, I should be fine. I probably won't be running the entire time at 5-6 weeks, but my body will feel more up to the task at least and the habit of running will be developed.