Clapotis Scarf

Scarves are my favorite thing to knit. They are fast, inexpensive and I can make a ton of them and wear a different one every day. I love this scarf because it is light and can be wrapped around several times or worn like a shawl.

Half Marathon and Scrapbooking

Last weekend was a great weekend for me. I took Friday off from work and went to the Scrapbook Expo here in Sacramento. I spent the morning shopping, took some classes and the scrapped all night.

Saturday I drove home and my mom and I went to San Francisco to pick up our race packets for the Nike Women's Marathon. We both did the 1/2 and Lisa and her friend did the full marathon. On the front of the Nike store they had every participant's name on the window.



Here I am.



I finished in 2:51 (2 minutes faster than the race two weeks before), and no pain. The weather was perfect and it was a lot of fun. At the finish line, SF firemen handed us our Tiffany's necklace.



I will definitely be signing up for this race again next year.

Twilight Gloves

Lately I have become obsessed with the Twilight books. I spent every free moment reading these books and when I read the last book I was a little sad that it had ended. So, being the geek that I am, I have made a pair of fingerless gloves with the ribbon on the cover of Eclipse.

Flashback Friday

Last month we had a terrible leak that ended up destroying several things in Madison's closet. I had a box of old photo albums sitting on the floor of the closet and I came very close to losing all the pictures. These pictures go all the way back to the 8th grade. Luckily, only the album covers were destroyed. So I started thinking about how upset I would be if I had lost all the pictues. I started calling around to find out how much it would cost to have all my pictures scanned and put onto a disk. Well, it would be a couple thousand dollars!! I ended up buying a scanner and have started scanning all the pictures myself. The quality is not great, but since it is only a backup, it will do. Here is a picture from the first set of scanned pictures, a trip to Lake Tahoe for Fourth of July in 1998(?).

I Made a Sweater

I have finally completed my first adult sweater and it is wearable and the right size! I am very proud of the fact that I started and completed the entire sweater in a short amount of time. I also learned the mattress stitch which amazes me. It looks like I've been making sweaters for a long time.

Pictures

When we were in Seattle we had some pictures taken by a photographer and we got the pictures over the weekend. They turned out so great. Here are a few of my favorites:






I think we are finally done traveling for the year, but there is still no time to relax. Last week I started training for a bunch of runs this fall. I will be running 2 half marathons and a full marathon. I'm very excited and so far, totally committed to all the running I will have to do.

Saturday I will be starting my first sewing class at the local junior college. I've had a sewing machine sitting in my closet for almost a year and I just don't know how to work the thing. I have big dreams of new curtains, duvet covers, purses and clothes for Madison. I'm not sure how it will go, but I will keep you posted.

In Seattle Again

We were back in Seattle again last week and we packed in so much! The three of us drove, which really wasn't that bad, and it took us 14 hours. I've listened to more Sesame Street cd's than any person should ever have to listen to! We did a ton of shopping, spent a lot of time with Lisa and hit some of the big touristy spots.

Here is a picture of Madison at Pike's Market.


Madison running around Gas Works Park.


Lisa also set an appointment for us to have our pictures taken with a photographer (Tacoma Baby Photo) one morning. You can see some of the pictures on her blog.

Mandy: Next time we come I'll give you a call. I saw your email about moving so I figured you were pretty busy. Hope everything went well.

Busy Busy Busy

I can't believe it's already April! March was a crazy month and the time just flew right by. We all came down with the flu (lucky me got it twice) and we took a trip to Seattle to visit John, Lisa, Jackson and Brycie. It was a very hectic weekend but we had a great time. We took lots of walks and most of them were in the rain. Our first day in Seattle was the worst. We walked to Lisa's new neighborhood to take a look at the model homes and halfway there (about 3/4 of a mile), it started pouring rain. I was pushing Madison and Jackson in the stroller and Lisa had Bryce in the carrier. People that drove by looked at us like we were terrible mothers. We got several dirty looks, but there wasn't really anything we could do at that point.



We also ran the Shamrockin' 5K and I learned that my mom has never ever had beer! I couldn't believe it. We tried to get some of the green beer that was being served after the race but there were just too many people.



On our trip home Madison screamed during the entire flight (about 1 1/2). As soon as the plane landed she stopped crying, smiled and waved to everyone as they got off the plane. We got more dirty looks that day.

Even though we got many dirty looks during our trip, I must say that Seattle has the nicest people EVER! I have never had so many people willing to help open doors, carry my stroller or pick things up that Madison threw on the floor.

With everything we had going on in March, I got very little knitting done. However, I have done a lot of scrapbooking. Here are a few that I've done.

I have internet again!!

I have survived more than two weeks without internet and I hope I don't have to do that again. We have finally settled into our new place and I can finally start knitting again. It has been a crazy two weeks. Our van broke down after the first trip of moving boxes, so we had to use the little Honda. Then Madison got pneumonia and an ear infection in both ears, our garage sale got rained out, and a bunch of other stuff. But we have finally made it, all of our things are out of the old house and everything has been put away. I hope to finish my Deep V Sweater within the next week or so, so pictures coming soon!

Resolution Update

Here's how I've been doing on my new year's resolutions.

1. Save xxx amount of money. Off to a great start.
2. Read 20 books. On my fourth book.
3. Get rid of the clutter hiding in closets, under the bed, etc. This has been going very well, but only by default. I am moving next Friday, so cleaning/downsizing is more of a necessity rather than just trying to stay organized.
4. Take care of things when they need to be done, not at the last minute. I think I've done this. I can't think of anything I've been putting off.
5. Remember everyone's birthday. First four were remembered on time. A first for me.
6. Learn to sew with the new sewing machine I got for Christmas. Haven't even tried with all the packing going on.
7. Watch less TV. Not doing too well on this one. I love TV.
8. Update my blog more often. Better than last year, but hopefully will still be updated more often.
9. Begin crafting now for end of the year craft shows and Christmas. I will not be stressed out this year! Haven't started this one.
10. This is a big one: Run 1,000 miles in 2008. Terrible with this! I've only run three miles.

Finally, because I hate posts without pictures, here is one of Madison as she's learning how to walk.

Striped Noro Scarf

After seeing Brooklyn Tweed's striped scarf, I knew I had to have one of my own.



It was a very simple scarf to make. Knit in 1x1 rib, alternating the different colors every other row. The nice this about this scarf is that the yarn is hidden behind the slip stitched ends so there isn't a lot of weaving in yarn at the end.

Lady Eleanor Scarf

Way back when I posted this teaser and I am happy to say it is finally finished. I started this scarf last summer as a full Lady Eleanor with Paton's SWS. After I had done about 2/3 of the scarf I decided it would be much too heavy and too thick to wear as a scarf. So I frogged the entire thing and started all over again. It was a pain in the butt, but it was worth it. I wore the scarf for the first time today and I got so many compliments.





I am also very excited because I have gone back to school this semester. While it's not really a "real" class, I still like to say I'm going to school. I am taking a boot camp fitness class and yesterday was our first workout. Most of the class showed up in jeans (didn't they know what they were signing up for?) so the instructor only made us work out for 10 minutes. I'm a little (a lot) embarrassed to say that I thought I was going to die in that short time. I like to think that I'm in pretty good shape since I can run and run and not feel winded. However, I cannot do a push up to save my life. It also didn't help that the instructor asked me why I decided to take this class. I foolishly answered "I thought it would be fun." His response was "You think pain is fun?" Great. Now I've got a target on my back and I'm in for one long semester.

I Made Socks

I finally got around to knitting socks and now I'm hooked. When I ordered this yarn it was advertised as self striping. To me, these are not stripes. I expected thicker blocks of color, so I was very disappointed with the yarn. I used this pattern which was easy to follow, but I don't like the way the toe and heel "seeming" turned out. It looks a little messy. Still, I love the way they turned out since it was my first time making socks.





I've already started my next pair of socks, Snicket Socks. I'm using Socks that Rock yarn in Rose Quartz. Now, I always read blogs where people write entire posts about yarn. I think to myself, "Really? You're going to write an entire post about yarn?" Now I understand. I LOVE THIS YARN! The way it knits up: perfect; the color: perfect; everything about this yarn: perfect. Here is a progress shot of my pink Snicket Socks.

New Year's Resolutions

I think I may be the only person that loves making New Year's Resolutions. It's a chance to decide what type of person you want to be, how you want to live your life, an attempt to be a better person. And then, hoping that unlike the 20ish previous years, this will be the year you stick to it. I also might be the only person that does not put "work out more often" on the list since that is something I am constantly saying to myself. So, here is a start to this year's list:

1. Save xxx amount of money.
2. Read 20 books.
3. Get rid of the clutter hiding in closets, under the bed, etc.
4. Take care of things when they need to be done, not at the last minute.
5. Remember everyone's birthday.
6. Learn to sew with the new sewing machine I got for Christmas.
7. Watch less TV.
8. Update my blog more often.
9. Begin crafting now for end of the year craft shows and Christmas. I will not be stressed out this year!
10. This is a big one: Run 1,000 miles in 2008.