« May 2007 | Main | July 2007 »
June 30, 2007
Christmas in June
Guess who got a new toy yesterday?
Ridiculous, I say, but he's certainly happy about it!
Posted by zarah at 11:54 AM | Comments (4)
June 29, 2007
Training Time
Last Friday, I started writing about my latest challenge for myself: run a sprint-distance triathlon in late August. A lot of you expressed amazement in the comments, but I'm just trying to finish, not break any world records. I've run in a lot of races, including 5 half-marathons, but I've never EVER swam or biked competitvely. So, this is just a personal challenge and a fitness goal for me.
Just like when I'm training for a half-marathon, the first thing I did after I made up my mind to do this thing was to make a training schedule. Including this week (I started training on Monday), I had 8 weeks to get ready.
The race is a 300 yd. swim, 12 mi. bike ride, and 5K run. Most of the beginner plans I saw recommend training in each discipline two times a week. I don't have a gym membership yet, so I'm putting off swimming until next week. (I signed up for some lessons at the Y. I am truly clueless when it to swimming.)
So... for what's its worth, here's my plan for at least the next 4 weeks.
Monday - Bike (8-9 miles)
Tuesday - Run (3-4 miles)
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Swimming lesson
Friday - Run (3-4 miles)
Saturday - Bike (12-14 miles)
Sunday - Rest
So far, so good this week. But... want to hear something crazy? My husband decided he wants to do the triathlon too. (He's not exactly the athletic type.) He even went running with me one morning this week. Here's hoping he keeps it up, or he's really going to be hurting on that 5K.
Posted by zarah at 6:35 AM | Comments (6)
June 28, 2007
Babies, babies everywhere
<--- Remember this? (This is my husband's sister about 8 weeks ago.)
Well, look who decided to show up, right on time!
Welcome to the world, little guy.
(I think his expression is quite appropriate. "What the hey?")
So now I'm auntie Zarah...
I also have a new cousin:
My aunt and uncle's new daughter from China. Isn't she a cutie? This is one of her quieter moments, she's actually a total maniac. Very talkative and quite a runner!
Let the baby knitting ensue!
Posted by zarah at 6:58 PM | Comments (6)
June 26, 2007
FO: A Quilt for Avery
I'm so excited about this project! It's definitely not perfect, but it's my first ever quilt! I'm planning to give it to a good friend of mine that is expecting a baby girl after a long struggle with infertility problems. An extra-special baby is worth an extra-special homemade gift, right? Plus, I think even with all the time it took to figure out what I was doing, it's still faster than knitting a baby blanket. =)
Let's see... project details:
Materials: I used 6 different fabrics (approx. 1/2 yd. each, plus some extra for the backing) from Heather Bailey's Freshcut line of fabrics from Free Spirit. I got a yd.+ of batting from a local fabric store, plain white thread, and some hot pink quilt binding tape (double fold, extra wide) that I found at Jo-Ann.
Oh - for picking fabric, www.fabric.com has this cool feautre where you can play around with images of each fabric you are thinking about buying in a separate window, so you can see how they look together. (It's called the Design Wall, and I could only figure out how to access it from the Shopping Cart. But it's worth playing around with.)
Pattern: I improvised on this one - I did a basic log-cabin pattern by cutting strip of each fabric about 4 inches wide, then placing them in the pattern so the colors & patterns looked good together and were evenly distributed. (Very scientific, right?)
I learned that when you're quilting, you're not supposed to press open your seams like you do in other kinds of sewing. I think that way there's less fabric going every which way on the wrong side.
After I had the top all sewn together, I got a quick lesson from a friend's mom about putting the quilt together. Here's Rosemary's quilting tips:
1. Baste, baste, baste! It's okay to use big stitches, but basting the quilt starting from the center out to the edges really did make the quilting easier.
2. Backing - I made the mistake of cutting the back of the quilt the exactly same size as the front. That doesn't leave much room for mistakes. Rosemary recommended leaving the backing a few inches larger than the quilt-top all the way around. Ditto on the batting.
I ended up taking apart the first round of basting because I realized that I'd accidentally put two layers of batting inside the quilt. Oopsie! But that also gave me the opportunity to add a couple strips of fabric to the backing, too. Kudos to my mom at this point in the process for re-basting the whole quit for me in about 1/4 of the time it took me to do it in the first place.
Next up, the quilting! I had a pattern in my head, but I wasn't really sure if I could stick all those layers of fabric under my regular sewing machine. Turns out, the answer is yes! It only complained a few times at the very end.
I finished off the quilt by trimming up the edges and sewing on some pre-folded binding tape. It's a little wonky looking in places, but I don't think the baby will mind! =)
Posted by zarah at 6:29 PM | Comments (16)
June 22, 2007
And away we go!
The bicyclus pedalus in its natural habitat.... nesting in my garage. Yeah... I've been a slacker in the exercise department lately! But I have a plan. I really like to challenge myself to try new things, so I think I'm going to try to do a triathlon. Crazy, huh?
I've been checking out beginnertriathlete.com for training plans, and I signed up for swimming lessons at the Y, and I think I've found my race! It's a "sprint distance" triathlon in August.
Next Friday.... the training plan!
Posted by zarah at 6:17 AM | Comments (6)
June 21, 2007
Glee in Tweed
Remember last week, when I was sulking because it had been such a long time since I bought any yarn and I was hoping to get some for my anniversary? Well.....
My little pity-party purchase came in the mail! I guess it ended up being fairly unnecessary, since Matt came through like a champ with the yarn from San Francisco, but I'm still really excited about knitting something for summer. I bought 6 skeins, which should be plenty to knit Glee by Zephyr Style.
But I told myself I would cast on until I finished the sleeve of the Hempathy sweater.... so here it is!
(Yeah, yeah, it's not supposed to be short sleeved. But I think I will run out of yarn otherwise. Seriously, I decided to go short-sleeved way before my new yarn showed up!)
In other news... AfricanKelli has inspired me to to start training for a triathlon. Look for the old "Running Fridays" feature to start again - hopefully it will keep me motivated and accountable for my training!
Posted by zarah at 6:32 AM | Comments (9)
June 20, 2007
Zukii to you!
So... turns out I got some new yarn, after all! My husband was on a trip to California for work, and he was thoughtful enough to stop by a yarn shop for me!
I got two skeins each of "Fluffy" and "Iceland" by Zukii Designs. It's made in California. Iceland is handspun thick and thin, and Fluffy is a really thin yarn with some little fuzzies on it. I think I might use it for Wisp, from the new summer Knitty.
Posted by zarah at 6:30 AM | Comments (5)
June 19, 2007
Missed you guys!
I got my camera back, so this week will be packed with short posts *with pictures!* showing you what I've been up to for the past week. For starters, I knit my first stranded project! Here's the skinny:
Project Details:
Pattern: Fake Isle Hat by Amy King, available at www.magknits.com
Yarn: 1 skein Elsebeth Lavold Chunky AL, 1 skein Diakeito Diamusee
Needle Size: Size 6 Denise circs and size 6 DPNS
Pattern Modifications: I switched the variegated yarn to the contrast color instead of the main color as called for in the pattern. I think it looks more convincingly fair-isle that way. I also did the crown decreases faster than the pattern calls for, since several other bloggers ended up with a cone-head-hat otherwise.
Time to knit: June 2007 - 2 days! I forgot how fun and quick it is to knit a stocking cap. This was my first stranded project, so I was a little obssessed with it, too.
Final impressions: Love it... I'm ready to try more stranded knitting! I think using the extra "furry" alpaca yarn really helped keep my stitches even. Even my husband was impressed, so that's really saying something.
Posted by zarah at 6:24 AM | Comments (10)
June 11, 2007
A Week Without A Camera
Well, my anniversary came and went without any yarn to be seen.*
But I did get an awesome umbrella for my patio set! Matt and I usually get a gift together on our anniversary, something we can both enjoy. (This dates back to the early years of our marriage when we were really broke.) We also found these neat umbrella lights at Bed Bath and Beyond that are solar-powered - the solar panel goes on top of the unbrella, and the lights loop around underneath. Nifty, huh?
I would show you a picture, but.... Matt "borrowed" my camera for the week (he's at a conference). I always have a hard time blogging without any pictures to narrate, so this week might be a little light on the postings.
* Don't dismay - I took pity on myself... Glee in Silky Tweed, you will be mine!
Posted by zarah at 6:35 PM | Comments (10)
June 8, 2007
Twitchy Eye
I need a fix.... I have not bought any yarn since APRIL 4, people!!! The stashies are getting restless - they've heard Old Man Kochoran tell the same stories so many times, it's not even funny.
My anniversary is this weekend, so maybe my dear husband can forgo the traditional gifts of iron or candy (what a random combo, by the way!), and buy me some yarn? (Pretty please?)
Posted by zarah at 5:36 PM | Comments (8)
Eye Candy Friday
These are native Missouri flowers that my husband planted in a more "traditional" landscape planting in front of our house. It's been raining so much - they're taking over! But they're beautiful, so it's okay.
The light purple flowers are Rose Verbena, and the hot pink flowers are Purple Poppy Mallow. They're growing in an area that gets full sun and tends to get really dry in the summer. I will be interested to see how they do as the summer gets hotter and it stops raining!
Posted by zarah at 6:37 AM | Comments (7)
June 6, 2007
Right Round like a Record
The Sunrise Circle Jacket is taking shape! I really love the construction of this sweater, with the two overlapping curved fronts.
I've never knit anything where the row gauge was more important than the stitch gauge, and I'm starting to get concerned. I had to go down two needle sizes to get the right row gauge, and now I'm worried that the sweater is going to be very short. I guess if worst comes to worst I could just find a short person to give it to. =( Maybe it will lengthen when I block it?
Oh well.... round and round she goes!
Posted by zarah at 6:34 AM | Comments (9)
June 5, 2007
The Queue
First off - apologies to all those who aren't on Ravelry yet and want to be.... I know that the wait is frustrating, but trust me, it's worth it!
Many people have written about Ravelry - the wonderful new website that lets you organize your yarn, needles, patterns, books, etc. I haven't really gotten into photographing every yarn in my stash for all the world to see, but do you know what feature I really love??? THE QUEUE. I see patterns all the time that I would love to knit, but I end up forgetting about them unless I cast on right away. With the queue, I can just add it to my list and I know it will always be there.
I think the Ravelry folks are busy working on blog integration features, but until then, I give you.... THE QUEUE (in no particular order):
Pictureless post: bad Zarah. But stay tuned! I'm almost finished with the first front of the Sunrise Circle Jacket and I finally retrieved the sock-in-progress I left at my mother-in-law's house!
Posted by zarah at 6:10 AM | Comments (5)