Day 3 - Midday update (Or: Lameness)

Alrighty, let's just call me lame and get it over with.  I soldiered on yesterday and hit 3,555 words at the end of my lunch break.  (Yay me!), but today I just wasn't feeling it.  Here is my list of excuses:

1) I was HUNGRY!  My dang English muffin, with 3 slices of Canadian bacon and a slice of provolone cheese was not enough.  My tummy wanted more and it distracted my head and hands from writing;

2) I'm recovering from a massive sinus related headache that tore through my poor body yesterday afternoon.  It was so bad I felt like hurling all the way home (thank God Tex, my carpool buddy, decided to drive this week, otherwise she would have been driving my car home for me.) and fell asleep the minute I got home.  Anyway, my brain was still shot at lunch from the pain, and frankly I can still feel that darn headache in there pounding away quietly, waiting for a vulnerable moment to reemerge in my life.

3) I am at the period in my job where all I do is type endless numbers of emails to disgruntled students for hours on end.....the thought of pounding away on my laptop keyboard sounded like pure torture (then why am I typing this blog post...??!!)

So, that's it...plain and simple I didn't write at lunch today.  But that's ok, because if my headache doesn't wreak havoc on my evening again I will write when I get home.  Though come to think of it we may be having a "Congrats" party for Pepper....hmmm.....it'll get done, even if I have to pull an all-nighter tomorrow night!

My word is true! 

Peace, Love, and Busy Fingers!  I'm out!

NaNoWriMo Day 1 - Midday Update

As planned I didn't get a chance to start on my novel until lunch-time today.  I managed to crank out 1843 words in about 45 minutes though.  Off to a great start.  Now back to work!

Pre-NaNoWriMo Goodness

Ack!!!  Where the heck did October go?!  Less than 15 hours to go until NaNoWriMo officially begins!!

Before I begin panicking over November being literally tomorrow, here is a picture of my Halloween costume.



I'm SO happy with the way it came out!  I'll wear it tonight to pass out candy.  I thought about wearing it at work, but decided not to.  I just took it to show off :)

So now to the November panic: I frantically cleaned off my desk yesterday in anticipation of the day.  I'll start writing tomorrow during my lunch break.  When NaNo starts on a Friday or Saturday I usually sit up until Midnight to start, but when it's during the week, I just can't manage it.

Writing at work means not knitting at work, but that's ok.  I'm pretty well caught up with the holiday knitting, plus there's always Knitter's Anonymous on Wednesday nights to get stuff done.

Starting tomorrow I'll try to post daily word-count updates and thoughts on writing.  I know I say that every year, and last year I nearly did it.  I'm going to try again this year, though.  I don't give up that easily.

I love attending write-ins, but I'm not sure how many there will be that I can attend this year.  I went to the kick-off party, which was fun (especially when I could finally say that I reached 50K last year, that got some applause).  We'll see what my busy schedule will support.

Amongst all this crazy, I (for some unknown-ungodly-reason) decided to make Thanksgiving dinner this year at our house.  So besides cleaning off my desk, I also started planning my menu, it's looking good....but is also looking like a lot of work.  That's ok!  I'm up for the challenge.

So welcome everyone!  Please enjoy my scatter-brained, nutty posts for November, and have fun watching me drive myself insane!  Catch you tomorrow for Update #1!!!

Things

Alrighty, let's get down to business.  No fluff, no frills, just updates.

Here's what we've got on the table today: Knitting updates, stash updates, NaNoWriMo (!!), and running news.

Knitting updates:

1) Red Scarf Project scarf is complete!



It turned out beautiful, if I do say so!  I'm so in love with this pattern that I'm going to make up one for myself in a different color.  That will have to wait until after the first of the year though.

Once my mom finishes up her scarves we'll pack them up and ship them off.

2) I started on Chicka's scarf.  I'm not 100% convinced I will make her a beanie, nor am I 100% convinced I'll make Girly a scarf....we'll see (I'll explain in the next line item) though Girly will still get her mitts.



I'm making it in the same yarn that I made Chicka's mitts in, that way she has a matching set.  I'm using the Teaching Scarf pattern from Ravelry.  It's a simple pattern and that's what I was looking for.


3) After I finished the Red Scarf Project scarf (and rather than casting on another X-mas present!!) I decided to join a Lion Brand Knit-along.  We're making the Modern Lodge Pullover sweater.  It's my first endeavor into sweater-dom....and I'm nervous and excited.  I chose to use Lion Brand Wool-Ease yarn in the Forest Green Heather colorway.  The suggested yarn was way too expensive for my taste, so I went for "quality cheap" instead.

4) Halloween!  I have my Minion hat complete!  I just need to crochet the accessories then I'm ready to go!


That's it as far as knitting is concerned.  There has been little to no progress on Salt's scarf, but I do have a funny story for that one.  Just this past Sunday, while we were celebrating Wino's birthday, she made it known that she wants to go back to the shop we got her Malabrigo yarn from to get more so I can make her a matching scarf and hat....I told her it would have to wait until after the first of the year because of X-mas knitting....little does she know...teehee!

Stash Updates:

I went on a bit of a shopping spree at JoAnn's a couple of weeks ago. 

1) I wanted to get sweater quantities of a yarn to make my sweater so I got 8 balls of the Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Forest Green Heather.

2) I also got 2 skeins of Red Heart for my Halloween project this year: I'm going to make Minion hats for me and Wino (if you've ever seen Despicable Me, you'll know what I mean, if not...look it up!).  One in Yellow and the other in black to frame their goggles, I'm going to borrow some white from my mom.

3) I got some fluffy pink yarn for Girly's mitts.

4) And finally, I picked up 2 skeins of Wool Ease in a deep grey for my brother-in-law's scarf and hat set.

That should just about cover all of my X-mas knitting for this year!!

NaNoWriMo:

This topic is soon to make it's way to the top of my updates....or just be the update by itself.  You all know that this takes over my blog in November!  The countdown has begun: less than a week left until NaNoWriMo '11 begins!

I already have my plot generalized, and my title picked out: The Not-Your-Average-Vampire-Novel Novel.

Love it!  The plot came to me in a dream.  You see, I used to love one particular vampire series (which shall not be named for fear of being a plague upon my house, but let's just say it isn't the Sookie Stackhouse novels that I speak of).  Yes, I read all 4 of these Books-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, and absorbed every word.  Then I came to my senses and realized they were just drivel and not worth my time.  So I shall write the antithesis to these books this year for NaNoWriMo.  It will be comedy gold!

Running News:

I'm sorely disappointed with myself on this front!  I was short on dough near the end of September, and the deadline to sign up for the half-marathon walk was Sept 30 (the day I got paid), and I had intended to sign up for the walk that day....I wasn't feeling well, and totally forgot.  Now the price rose by $25 and frankly that's just too steep for my budget.  So, no half-marathon for me.

As yet I'm still unsure if I will run this year's 5K Race for the Cure.  I sort of just want to walk with my family this year, since none of them run with me.  We'll see.

So that's all the updates folks.  Catch ya on the flip side!

Some Updates

I have a few updates for the week most are knitterly but one is for running (bear with me non-knitters, that one is near the end!).  Let's get started:

Knitting Updates

I've been a busy little bee since last we spoke.  I raced for the finished line and cranked out my third hat for Operation Gratitude during the knit-in event.  I felt quite accomplished.  The 100 hat goal was met by the time the hats were picked up.  We all felt great!

Once I finished my last hat, I picked up Salt's scarf for a whirl.  I've been busily knitting on that when she's not around, which means on my lunch break at work and in the evenings when I have time.  Here's the progress I've made so far:

It's not terribly true to color.  You know how hard it is to get true life color on a little point and shoot camera (operated by a novice).  Here's a close-up of the real beauty of this yarn:

I get so many compliments on this yarn when I'm working on it at Knitter's Anonymous.  I am pretty sure that Salt is going to love it.  I love it!

Next to update is my scarf for the Red Scarf Project.  I chose the Men's Martian Scarf (this is a Ravelry link, so I'm pretty sure you would have to sign in or sign up to see it, but there's a picture below of my progress). 

To be honest, I didn't like it when I first started knitting it up.  Here's why: I didn't realize that it called for a lighter weight yarn than I was using, so it looked clunky and I couldn't see the pattern forming.  So, I stuck it in my project bag and let it sit for a week or two then I decided to give it a try again.  Once I finished one pattern repeat I fell in love!  It's such a nice looking scarf.  The best part is that even though it says it's a "men's" scarf, I think it would be suitable for either gender.  I wouldn't mind wearing it at all!

Here's what I had as of Saturday.....I've since knitted another repeat and a half.  It looks SO good!

As for the rest of my projects they've been sitting aside.  I will go shopping for yarn for my niecey knitting on the 1st....money's tight until then!  I plan to get their do-dads finished by the end of the month, then only have my brother-in-law's stuff to go.  If I like the hat pattern I may just crank one out for Pepper too...we'll see how much time I have though.

That said, I still feel pretty good about getting things done this year.  All of my projects are relatively small (as compared to the two gigantic afghans I made last year).  I had a long look at my "to-do" list and while busy, it seems reasonable.

Stash Updates

We went on vacation the weekend after Labor Day, and I made sure to stop in at the LYS.  I picked up two delicious balls of some Rowan Creative Focus Worsted in the Cobalt colorway.

I'm not sure what I will do with them....but I may just keep it for myself whatever I do make!

At Clovis Fest this past weekend, I ran by my LYS to drop off some hats my mom had knitted for Operation Gratitude and to pick up my birthday present...remember that wish I had made to have the Knit Picks interchangeable circular set....yeah, I decided they were worth way more than the necklace.  So I had Wino get me those instead. (Oh, how my priorities have changed since I learned about the wonderful world of fiber arts!!)

Whilst there, I also picked up a couple goodies, two skeins of the Geek Chic Minion Sock Yarn in colorways Lady Macbeth and Dryad:

Keep in mind this is ONLY available through my LYS...and it's locally dyed yarn!  Fantastic!  No clue what I'm going to make with those either.  Probably just some vanilla socks for practice, but they'll be yummy!

Running Updates

For my non-knitting, running friends: I've taken on a new challenge.  You all know how much I have been struggling with motivation for the past 6-9 months.  I don't know what has come over my brain, but it's been a dark and stormy cloud of "let's-eat-everything-in-sight-and-sit-on-our-butts-and-do-nothing."  I fell off the healthy wagon, and gosh-darn it, I'm ready to climb back on!

I recently got asked to walk a half-marathon (that's 13 miles folks!) with my aunt in November.  I am nowhere near in shape enough to do that without ending up at the hospital!  So I'm going to remedy that with an accelerated Couch to 5K regimen.  I'm going to be running 5 days a week using C25K as a guide, perhaps modifying it slightly as I progress.  That should have me ready for my race in October and at least in some semblance of physical fitness to walk 13 miles the following weekend (yes, I did say "the following weekend" - perhaps I'm biting off more than I can chew?  I'm motivated, that's what matters to me right now).

I did week 1, day 1 on Monday.  It was easy, actually surprisingly easy since I haven't ran much since October last year.  Yesterday I tossed on week 2, day 1 and that was challenge I needed.  I'm excited and I plan to lose these last 20lbs so I can start my Weight Watchers maintenance phase and make it to Lifetime membership before February (that's an arbitrary goal, it means nothing to me other than just having a goal in mind).

I seem to have found motivation again, and I plan to keep it.  This is my busy season with knitting gifts, running/walking plans and NaNoWriMo right around the corner.  Busy seems to be my motivation.  I seem to remember a vaguely religious quote: Idle hands are the devil's playground....this seems to ring true for me!

Warming up those hands

'Tis the season to start warming up my fingers and start an Olympic-level knitting and crocheting spree.

The holiday season is but a few short months away, anyway in my eyes it's short.  I've got tons of projects I want completed before December 25ish and less than 4 months to get it all done!  Add to that mix a variety of birthdays, holidays and NaNoWriMo and I've probably got less than 2 months of actual crafting time to get gifts done!

Here's what I've got on my plate:
Current Projects
1. Operation Gratitude hats - I'm shooting to have 3 done by this Saturday.  I have one finished, I've still got one on the needles that I'm hoping to complete tonight, and have another one cast on by tomorrow, luckily I've got 'til 5pm on Saturday to finish that last one.  It'll be a knit sprint to the finish on Saturday though.

2. Salt adored the fingerless mitts that I gave to my oldest niece for her birthday, and commissioned me to crochet her a pair for those early morning yard duty stints she has to do during the winter months.  Instead of outright payment to me, she paid for the most beautiful shade of Malabrigo yarn in Purple Mystery.  Gorgeous!

She bought two skeins of it, and one pair of mitts takes maybe 1/3 of a skein.  I had already decided that I would knit her a scarf with what was left, so she had a matching set.  That may be an X-mas present, though I'll give her the mitts as soon as I'm done with them.  That leads us to:

Projects to complete before December 25ish

1. Salt's scarf - I had anguished for weeks about a design for this scarf, I combed Ravelry for a pattern I liked, and a pattern suited to my knitting skill level (which at this point I would deem "beginner plus").  It came to me this morning: why the heck not just make up my own pattern.  I knew exactly what I was looking for in Ravelry...but couldn't find a pre-made pattern that I liked, so as soon as I could, I grabbed my notebook and a pencil and sketched out the design I wanted.  I think it'll be good!

2. Red Scarf Project - It's become my mission this year to do some charity knitting/crocheting.  The hats were my first endeavor and I heard about the Red Scarf Project through one of the blogs I read (Now Norma Knits - read it, she's hilarious!).  It's a worthy group doing good things to help kids transition from the foster care system into successful adults.  The Red Scarf Project is designed to be part of a care package that is sent to college students around Valentine's Day to say "someone loves you."  They accept submissions from September 1 (that's today!!!) to December 15.  I encourage my crafty friends to knit or crochet a red scarf, check out the details in the link above.

Due to time constraints, I'll probably only knit one this year.  I'll get a head start next year though and hopefully donate the maximum (which is 5).

3. Niecy knitting - Last X-mas I busily crocheted two afghans, one for each niece.  I'm not going to be quite so ambitious this year.  For the youngest's birthday (whom we'll call Girly from here on out), I made a cute little beany.  She's a girly-girl so it was hot pink.  I'm not too sure she wears it, but it's the thought that counts right?!  She was envious of her sister's (Chicka's) birthday gift though, of the fingerless mitts.

At that point I decided I should round out their sets: I want to make Girly a scarf and mitts, and Chicka (I'm spelling it that way on purpose) a scarf and a beany.  I already have the patterns picked out on Ravelry.  I just need to find the yarn I want and buy the interchangeable needle set I've been coveting so I have the sizes I need.  Money's tight though....I need to con someone into buying it for my birthday....if I didn't want a new necklace so bad, I'd just request it from Wino.

4. I haven't been in communication much with my brother-in-law down in Texas, so I had the idea that I would send him a care package with some cookies and a hand knit scarf and hat set.  I'm sure he's lonely out there on the plains with just the dogs, cats and chickens to talk to.  He seems like he's doing ok though (from what I hear through the grapevine).  I still can't believe it's been almost 4 years since Dawn passed away.  It's still hard to conceptualize that she's gone, since I hardly saw her even when she was alive.  I still miss her just the same though.

Anywho, (wiping a tear from my eye), back to more pleasant topics: I wanted to surprise him and let him know that I still care and think about him and Dawn frequently.  What says "I care" more than homemade goods?!

On that note, please donate to my Race for the Cure campaign this year by clicking here.  This is a cause that is near and dear to my heart, and always will be since breast cancer stole my big sister away from all of us.

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That's pretty much the extent of my projects, but it's still a huge undertaking since #3 is actually 4 items, and #4 is actually 2 items.  I'll make it though, I somehow always find a way.

Knitting news!

My knitting class went well.  I discovered that knitting is much easier this time around (after proper tutelage) than when I tried to teach myself.

My spinning has taken a back seat.  Partially because of frustration, partially because I got a hair up my tush to knit socks.  Yeah, I know that's nuts to even attempt as a freshly reacquainted knitter, but I just couldn't resist.

I have this utterly luscious merino that I got for quite a discount at Yarns...at the Adobe in SLO while on vacation, and even though it's worsted weight, I figured that would be a good way to learn.  Naturally they'll be lounge-y socks (not for walking on!!! It's merino after all!).  Here's the progress I've made.

Yesterday evening, while Wino was at a friend's birthday dinner:

And today from my lunch break:

It may not look like a lot of progress was made between the two pictures, but believe me, there was!

Here's a look at my spindle recently.  Like I said it's been stalled. I think I need something a bit lighter, my strands are continually breaking at this point:

I still want to get a spinning wheel, but they're so dang expensive that'll probably have to wait until tax season.

I'm really enjoying this knitting business, my next project may be to start a sweater.  On that note, it's funny to observe that now that I'm knitting my compusion has been to make garments rather than accessories like I do with crochet....funny how that works out....