Half Marathon Pics and Videos

Mile 5, Griggs Reservoir, Upper Arlington















Mile 11 Water Station, just west of Grandview Avenue


Crossing the Finish Line


Finish Line Photos

Reviews and More: Knit Picks Fall Yarn, Twist Collective, and Knitty

It's that time of year when cooler weather knitting looms not too far in the future. All the fall yarns and patterns stir up my excitement and imagination as to what I'd like to knit. Meanwhile, it's the perfect time to get late summer and early fall projects out of the way. More on those later.

Right now I want to list all the new colorways of Knit Picks yarns that struck my fancy. And here we go...
WOTA Bulky: Anchors Away, Vacation, Garden Party
WOTA: Bramble Hth, Black Cherry Hth (not new, but I've never noticed it before!)
Palette: Opal Hth, Bouquet Hth
Swish DK: Pampas Hth, Squirrel Hth
Swish Worsted: Lotus, Twilight, Lost Lake Hth, Marble Hth
Gloss DK: Guava, Gulfstream
Capra: NONE
Andean Treasure: Grove Hth
City Tweed DK: Tanrantella, Toad
Stroll Sport: Rouge, Baltic Hth, Jack Rabbit Hth (not that I'll ever buy sportweight)
Stroll: Agate Hth
Stroll Hand Painted: Watermelon
Imagination: Wild West, Ruby Slippers, Mermaid Lagoon (not actually new, but new to me)

From the new Twist Collective, I like two patterns: Coventry and Hawthorne. Coventry almost looks capelike. It's cute, swingy, sophisticated, and the cables are interesting! Hawthorne looks to be a good combination of garter stitch and lace, and I like the heavier weight. From the new Interweave Knits, I really like Leyfi Pullover! Normally, I despise the look of yoke-style patterns and have always been super picky as to fit and shaping since IMO they don't flatter most body types except those who are lean. But this one is truly awesome. I like the see-through yet modest leafy lace at the neckline, shoulders, and long sleeves; the lines that the lace creates are appealing to the eye and draw the eye away from the waist (a plus for most of us). And lastly, from Knitty: Coquille. I can see using Knit Picks Imagination or Stroll HP. I like the vertical lines, colorway changes, and near ruffles at the base edge. It looks like a fun knit!

Now back to my knitting plans. Currently, I'm working on a pair of Butterfly Garden socks for Marie with leftover Crazyfoot yarn. Lucky girl, huh?! On a sidenote: the yarn, a single ball, got tangled between these two socks a few nights ago, and it took about 6 hours over 2 nights and watching the latest Rambo twice in a row (WTH?!!) to untangle the mess. Anyway, I'm sure I'll cast on yet another pair of socks after that. But, I plan to re-focus my attention on finishing Marie's cotton mosaic tunic and my purple drapeneck top. Then, I want to begin my Laura's Cardigan, and following that, Opulent Raglan. I still have some light green yarn I intended as pajama pants for Ian. Also, I have a little bit of Christmas sock yarn left.

Lately, I've been searching for patterns specific to running: handheld water bottle cozies and hands-free music player holders. There aren't any knitting patterns for what I have planned with the water bottle cozy. Time to be creative! I'd like for it to be a full-bottle cozy (I just got a 17oz/500mL BPA-free plastic bottle) with the following unique additions: 1) a knitted-on "knucks grip" (i.e., holes for each finger) and a snug hand strap for added support; and 2) an optional afterthought pocket for ID, money, cell phone, and energy chews/gel that sits lengthwise on the far side of the bottle. It would be nice to drink water any time I want on long runs without having to tense/grip my hand around the bottle the entire time. Yes, they already sell things like this at stores and online. But, I thought it might be fun to come up with something myself via knitting ;-) For the music player holder, I want it to fit snugly on my upper arm, have cord management, and possibly have an adjacent pocket wallet (to hold the same items as the bottle cozy). Another running accessory that I've read about lately is arm warmers. There are female runners, elite and novice, who wear short-sleeve or sleeveless technical shirts with full-length handknitted armwarmers so that they can adjust to the varying temperatures during a race. It would be nice to roll them down from the top and have a convertible mitt (newborn style) to expose your hands if you get warm. Sometimes jackets are too warm for me once I'm warmed up, and then I have to suffer through wearing them heavily tied around my waist. Adjustable armwarmers might be the answer to this problem!

Metamorphosis

Once I began running back in 9th grade, I knew I wouldn't quite be happy with myself if I weren't running. Being an on-again off-again runner for decades, I can tell you this: not running is like being on the sidelines of life. I feel like I'm missing out and don't feel quite alive when I'm not running.

I love the challenge, the scenery, the strength, the confidence, and the fitness that come from running. The challenge of running really represents me as a person. You have to have considerable tenacity to run: no wishy-washy wimpy resolve allowed. As for enjoying the scenery, that's because I love the aesthetics and the experience of running. The beauty of the outdoors, feeling one with it, and using the senses are important to me. I'm totally an outdoors person. The strength and confidence running gives is priceless. I feel like I can tackle many things in life thanks to running since running and life are such parallels. Last, but not least: fitness. Over the years I've discovered that I'm a vain person who can't feel good about myself unless I look and feel good. When I'm not running, I feel like I've essentially given up on myself. I can't be proud of or confident in myself when I've let myself go. Some people who lose weight still aren't happy when they reach their fitness goals. Me? I've always been happy when fit.

I'm not completely fit and fabulous yet, but I'm getting there. Change feels really good, and there is so much to appreciate already. So far I've lost more weight than I ever have before, which is quite a feat. I can run 2 miles at a 9:30 pace, which for me is pretty fast. I can run as far as 5 miles, and this week I'll be running 6 for my long run which is totally uncharted territory for me. More and more clothes are beginning to fit again (major yay!). I'm starting to get back what resembles a waist again. The appreciation list goes on and on...

Knitting News: I've finished the legs of my Kai-Mei socks and started the heels. Can't wait to get to the lace that begins at the gusset and wraps around the instep. Marie's maze jumper and my purple drape neck top have been long neglected, so I hope to get those out again. However, I'm trying to re-read the Twilight books through Eclipse prior to opening night this week. So, I've only been working on the socks.

I finished the Butterfly Garden socks. See here if you haven't checked them out :-)

Finally Got That Sock Project Bag!

Here are lots of pics of my new dellaQ Rosemary bag in use. The socks in progress are my Butterfly Garden socks using KP Stroll Tonal. I can fit one 100g cake of yarn, my 2aat socks, my folded pattern, and in the front pocket, my cable needle and cell phone. Check it out :-D The color is called seafoam; it's an iridescent green. In some of the pics the bag actually looks more purple than green, but it's not. This bag is going to come in really handy when I want to take my sock knitting to the playground with the kids. The straps are just the right length to sit on my left wrist if I need to stand or move around (i.e., chasing kids). Yay, no more Ziplocs!

I believe it was Della Quimby herself who convinced me to get this bag! Cool, huh?! She was at Yarnmarket Thursday night for the Ravelry party. Jess, Casey, Mary-Heather, and Sarah were on hand to mingle with Ravelers who had the privilege of enjoying catered Panera meals and perusing the entire Yarnmarket warehouse. Before the evening ended, I purchased my dellaQ bag, and most of my fellow knitting group members from GK2 (Gahanna Knit Knite) got to chat with the Ravelry peeps. They are just as sweet and humble as they've always been. To cap off the night, my knitting friends and I went to Max & Erma's where we stayed way past our usual knit knite time. Good times!

In non-knitting news, I bought the Eclipse soundtrack. It's already on the LG phone that I use as an mp3 player while running ;-) My absolute favorite track is My Love by Sia. Haunting, beautiful, and hypnotic. I think I like it as much as Breathe Me! Other favs include Let's Get Lost (Beck and Bat For Lashes) and Ours (The Bravery). The soundtrack really fits the mood of Eclipse. Really, I think each soundtrack has fit each respective movie perfectly.

I've been listening to the Eclipse soundtrack a lot while sitting at the computer or while running, getting excited about the movie. Can't wait to go see all three movies June 29th! Yes, that's right: I'm going to see Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse at Movie Tavern where they serve food and drink to your seat. So, the only thing to worry about is getting up to go to the bathroom, ha!

BTW, the last pic is of the hybrid heel I made for these socks. If you've heard of a mini gusset/flap with short rows, toe-up or cuff-down, that's what I did. For my toe-ups, I did 6 pairs of gusset increases followed by a Sherman short row heel and faux flap on the original 32 stitches. (In addition to the link I just gave, here's a handy chart with numbers.)

Specs: I began my Sherman heel with a pair of wrapped stitches just outside the middle 32. Also, I slipped the first stitch of each row after the pivot row, as suggested by others. While working the 2nd half of the short rows, I did an Eye of Partridge pattern keeping a pair of knit stitches just inside the encroachments as a buffer (So for RS rows, I began each row with "s1, k1," and ended each row with "k1, k enc."). After the short rows, I continued around the instep and began the mini heel flap (picking up the two wraps). I continued the Eye of Partridge pattern while decreasing the gusset stitches to make the flap, reducing my heel stitch count to 33. To get rid of the last gusset stitch on the right, I continued around the instep and did a k2tog on the first 2 sts of the heel, completing the flap.

Happy knitting!

Butterfly Garden Socks CO

These are my Butterfly Garden socks (a free Knit Picks pattern). The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Tonal Sock in Summer Blooms. The only mods I've made so far: change the toe increases from m1 to kfb, and increase to 64 sts rather than 60. The pattern on the instep runs up to the ankle after which there will be a butterfly. Can't wait to see how these turn out!

Since the colorway is called Summer Blooms, I thought I'd include a pic of the roses I cut today from my rosebush :-)

An Afternoon in the Garden

Who needs a fancy-schmancy mud bath when you can have one of your own in your own garden?! I do believe that Ian likes mud. As soon as I finished digging, preparing, and planting a flower garden, Ian went to town like the boy that he is :-)

Little Ampersands

Marie's Ampersand socks are finished! Here are the pics. For info on sizing it down to fit her 5yo feet: Rav link.
Pattern: Ampersand (upside down) by Bobbi Kraft; original Ampersand pattern by Kirstin Kapur.
Yarn: Kni Picks Felici, Marsh colorway, <1 skein
Needles: US1 KP fixed circulars, 2aat magic loop
Notes: Fun knit! See above Rav link for technical details. Basically, I followed the pattern directions for the toe and stitch pattern. Then I did my own thing from then on, never printing out the pattern.

Felici Ampersand Socks FO

Check out the details on Ravelry :-)

Pictures of the Day

Ampersand socks progress, Marie catching a butterfly, and Ian in his "feed me" monster shirt. In case you're wondering, Marie has some grape jelly on her mouth from just eating lunch. She had her kindergarten screening today!

Shrimp and Grits

Dinner Tonight: Spicy Shrimp and Grits

We moved back to Ohio from North Carolina July 2006, and this is the first time I've tried to make shrimp and grits. I put together ideas from several recipes and came up with this. Since Jared doesn't like seafood, I gave the rest to my parents.

Ingredients: grits, milk, half-n-half, butter, cheddar cheese, pepper, tabasco, salt, shrimp, scallions, red bell pepper, garlic, oil, lemon juice, real bacon bits, flour, cayenne pepper, and red pepper flakes.

In other news, I've CO for Ampersand socks using KP Felici in the Marsh colorway. I'm about halfway done with both legs. Marie's Purple Maze jumper is going well. I'm about halfway done with the pattern repeats for the lower section.

Since I'm On A Roll...

Tonight I ripped out the bind off to Ian's Trellis pullover and re-did it using a looser bind off. Now the collar doesn't stand straight up; it's floppy enough to turn outward. Here's a pic.

The bind off I used is called Sarah's Favorite Cast Off (SFCO). Between each knit or purl stitch on the bind off row, you make either a forward (M1F) or backward (M1B) loop. Forward loops precede knits, while backward loops precede purls. If you forget which direction to make the loop, just remember that the working yarn from the M1 loop has to come out the back before a knit and vice versa for a purl. For example, let's say your first two bind off stitches are both knits. You would K1, M1F, K1. There are now 3 stitches on your right needle. You pass the M1 and rightmost stitch over the leftmost stitch. If your next stitch is a purl, you'd make an M1B followed by that purl. Again, you'd pass the M1 and rightmost stitch over the purl stitch you just made. This bind off is similar to JSSBO (my favorite toe-up sock bind off!), but you employ forward and backward loops (M1s) rather than forward and backward yarnovers.

Now for some fun! Here's an edited photo of me using a feature called "Coloring Book" effect (Kodak EasyShare). It looks like a sketch, and my hair looks like something you'd see under a microscope. Weird, huh?! I've been playing around with my new camera and picture software :-)

Stolen Moments Wrap

Pattern: Stolen Moments Wrap
Yarn: KP WOTA Bulky, 2 skeins Wine and 1 skein Cherry Cordial Hand Dyed
Needles: Harmony US 10 straights
Notes: Used a twisted loop CO using my right thumb. To get the extra twist, you mimic what's done in German Twisted CO: Holding needle in left hand, go under right thumb loop and then down into it from the top (Confused? Look up any German Twisted CO video.). For the BO, I used JSSBO. Using the loose CO and BO helped when it came time to block. This wrap grows a bit upon blocking.
Comments: This is a comfy wrap to have around your shoulders. Actually, it's my first wrap ever! I enjoyed the fairly mindless pattern and trying out the Harmony needles. (Sorry in advance for the crappy cell phone pics.)

Finished Cherry Edwardians

Pattern: Edwardian Boating Socks
Yarn: KP Stroll Tonal, Queen Anne 1 skein
Needles: 2.5mm (US 1.5)
Notes: 2aat, substituted slip stitch heel, decreased toe to 11 sts
Comments: Fun at first and loved working with this colorway, but I'm really looking forward to making socks with my Christmas sock yarn! The linen stitch wasn't hard, especially if you switch to Continental. However, a whole pair of socks with it made the process slower. They're pretty, but I'm glad to be done!

Tonight's WIPs: Purple Maze and Stolen Moments

Purple Maze Jumper WIP

Stolen Moments Wrap WIP

You Should Try It! A Stir Fry I Actually Like

After following a friend's suggestion (thanks, Brandy!) to check out a stir fry recipe by Jamie Oliver, I made it tonight for dinner. Very, very tasty -- a total win!!! I forgot the beansprouts, but hey, it was still awesome. I had to make a couple of substitutions and alterations: I used red pepper flakes instead of a red chile, refrigerated ginger paste instead of fresh ginger, refrigerated minced garlic instead of fresh garlic, lime juice instead of fresh lime, and whole cilantro instead of only the stems. The mixture of ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, scallions, cilantro, soy sauce, honey, and lime juice turned out to be a great combination! I never would've expected the cilantro to work well with the other ingredients, but it was surprisingly good. If you've run out of dinner ideas, or this just sounds good to you, try it! Oh, oops! I guess I should mention the other main ingredients: sliced top loin of sirloin, sugar snap peas, chow mein noodles, and beansprouts (which I forgot). Here's a pic :-)

In knitting news, I'm nearing the toes on my Cherry Edwardians, have gotten about one-third of the way through my Stolen Moments wrap on my new Harmony US 10 straights (LOVE!), and am still ploughing my way through the 2-color mosaic maze that is Marie's Maze Jumper. Since I just recently received a Knit Picks coupon that's good till April 23rd, I'm also trying to decide what I'd like to buy with it. Ah... decisions, decisions! ;^D

In running news, I've recently (finally!) experienced improvement since I started running again about 3 weeks ago. Saturday, I pushed Marie in the jogging stroller and felt like I had a breakthrough run! I felt like my breathing was under control, my legs felt okay, and my energy level wasn't that of an out-of-breath beginner. Now, if I can just get to the point where I'm running the entire time after my 5-minute warmup walk, I'll really feel back in the swing of things.

Final Pic: Mi Escuelita (w/buttons)

Pattern: Mi Escuelita (Knitty)
Yarn: Premier Yarns Serenity Sport Weight (Deborah Norville Collection)
Needles: US 4
Notes: Omitted the back cables and added slant inset pockets. Changed the method of the shawl collar by picking up stitches around the neckline and working upward with yarnover short rows.

Normally, I don't like knitting with acrylic yarn, but this blend is nice. The pockets were made by starting them as afterthought pockets with waste yarn. I picked up the top live stitches to knit the liner downward and the bottom live stitches to knit the outside slant upward. At the pocket top, I used a three-needle bind off to join the two layers together. For the short rows, I placed markers in the same spots as the pattern directions and kept working four stitches past the previous turning point, beginning with four stitches past the markers. To keep the shawl collar folded in front, I folded the corners down and sewed the edges.

In other knitting news... I found a copy of Knitting In Color by Margaret Radcliffe at my library today. It's a fairly new book that I've had my eye on. If you want to know anything about color knitting of any type, this is a very thorough book. I can't even list all the color knitting topics here because it would be too tiresome. In short, this book leaves out nothing. By the way, I learned that the colors I chose for Laura's Cardigan (an upcoming IK pattern on my queue) happen to be a tetrad: a fortunate coincidence in my choice of colorways. Yay! :-)

Future Project Ideas

Thanks to Kristie tipping us off last night of the free Knit Picks sock pattern downloads for the new Stroll Tonal sock yarn, I added 3 more sock patterns to my Ravelry queue: Butterfly Garden Socks, Evergreen Socks, and Bare Bark Socks. This action led to about an hour of rearranging and editing my queue. It's nice to be reminded of patterns I've had saved there for a while, as well as see new ones. I came across a pattern called Stolen Moments Wrap by Amy Swenson. The recommended yarn per Ravelry says 3 skeins of WOTA Bulky, Gloss HW, or Cadena. It just so happens that I have 3 skeins of WOTA Bulky from a discontinued Knit Picks kit I recently acquired. The kit pattern is meant for a beginner (i.e., boring to non-beginners like myself), and I knew that I wouldn't use it. The Stolen Moments Wrap will be a perfect pattern to substitute for this yarn. The colors are Wine (2 skeins) and Cherry Cordial (1 skein). I'm thinking that I'll use the multi-colored skein in the middle of the long wrap. I'm happy that I found a pattern that will go perfectly with this yarn! It looks like it'll be a good TV knit.

At the top of my queue is a long list of socks patterns for all the sock yarn I bought after Christmas. When I run out of yarn, I have more sock patterns ready to go. Of the 3 Knit Picks patterns I mentioned above, I LOVE the Butterfly Garden one! In the latest issue of my newest favorite online free pattern magazine, Petite Purls, is a girl's sock pattern called Just-Spring. It's very cute and has beaded, fold-down cuffs! Two other patterns I really like are Sacre du Printemps and Simple Skyp Socks. I have many others queued, but those are the ones at the top.

For the fall, I have a vintage tweed cardigan I want to make for Marie called Chanelette, another adorable pattern from Petite Purls. Since it calls for an aran weight yarn, I'm thinking KP City Tweed in either DK or Bulky depending on which size I choose to make. City Tweed has such nice colorways, and I still haven't knit anything in it yet! For myself, I'd like to make one of two patterns: Tweedy Aran Cardigan or Ariann. Whichever I choose, I'll eventually knit the other, too. Another sweater I'm interested in making for myself is Skara Brae from Twist Collective. The stitch pattern goes very well with my Knotty or Knice socks, and I could match them perfectly in color by using the same yarn colorway as my socks, Tidepool Heather (Knit Picks).

There are so many patterns I didn't mention! That's all right, though, because it feels really nice to have a heavily loaded knitting queue! -- 5 pages on Ravelry, to be exact :-) Without mentioning pattern names, I have plans to knit an illusion blanket for each of my kids, steek, knit lace shawls, double knit, and make cowls. SO, soooooooo much to knit!!!!!

Vestee FO

Oops! I forgot to blog about Vestee (a knitty pattern). I used Naturally Caron Country in Foliage. Very splitty yarn and not the most pleasant to knit with for that reason. But, it makes for a comfy sweater. Actually, I'm not quite done with this because I need to fix the BO on the collar. It's not loose enough. When I get that fixed I might take a picture of Ian wearing it, though it's way too big for him right now.

Since Vestee is too big, I have some mushroom-colored yarn to make Ian a second sweater. Not sure yet what I want to make... I might just wing it because after a while, I get tired of looking through patterns.

New WIP and Cherry Edwardians Update

Finally, I have a picture of my latest project: Maze Toque and Jumper by Celeste Culpepper (Ravelry project link). It was a pattern that used to be available exclusively through Knit Picks. I bought it back when Shine Sport used to be called Shine since there wasn't a worsted weight version of it then. The colorways I chose are Serenade and Green Apple. You can't see the colors at all in this cell phone pic, but they go together very well! The stitch pattern is a Barbara Walker mosaic stitch pattern. So far, I'm about two-thirds of the way done with the first of ten 16-rnd chart repeats on 224 sts. This is fun and interesting -- and totally new to me! It's my first time doing mosaic knitting, and I like how I only have to hold one color at a time.

Project Notes: For the cast on, I used JSSCO (Jeny's Stretchy Slipknot Cast-On) instead of longtail. Why? I couldn't fathom screwing up the length of my tail yarn with 226 sts! So, I did the single version of longtail using only the working yarn. It took longer, but I didn't waste any yarn and it looks nice with my garter stitch edge. Plus, I got practice using a new technique. For the garter stitch edge, I chose to knit this flat to avoid a jog. I know very well how to do jogless garter stitch ITR, but I decided to take the easy, mindless way out. To accommodate the seam, I cast on 2 extra stitches. To join ITR after finishing the garter stitch, I put my 2 live extra sts on locking stitch markers to be seamed up later.

Here are my Cherry Edwardians (aka Edwardian Boating Socks)! The Knit Picks Stroll Tonal Queen Anne colorway is so lovely and makes me smile, especially now with all the trees in bloom. This pattern isn't difficult, but you definitely can't be distracted while knitting it.

Project Notes: I modified the heel turn directions since the original directions left holes at the turns. Instead of turning immediately after each decrease, I worked one more regular knit or purl as I usually do. Problem solved :-)