A change in plans

For the last few weeks, I've been making a concerted effort to be more consistent about my training. Part of this has meant starting up yoga again - before Devil was born we went to yoga twice a week. When she was about a year old, I started going at least once a week, running from our house to the gym. And a couple of weeks ago I finally got my act together to start up again.

So Tuesday mornings I now get up at 0:00 dark-thirty and run 4 miles to the gym, where I arrive, dripping sweat and thoroughly awake, just in time for yoga class at 6:00. Then the fambly picks me up, we drop the kids off at daycare, I shower, cram some food down my gullet and hop onto the bus for a nice long nap on the way downtown. It's something that is only possible if I do it every single week - the habit is the only way that training ever happens for me.

However...I suspect that tomorrow it is not to be. You know, given that that little blip in the Texas coastline - the one right smack dab in the path of TS Edouard - is my current location.

Ironman's company has already announced that their campus will be closed tomorrow, which means no daycare for the kidlets. So maybe we'll all hang out at home and play in the rain. Maybe I can finish off the 2 oz of Maldives left and free up that mixing bowl again. Or maybe Devil and I could dye a bunch of yarn. Some many things, so little time!
****************************************************
July FOs:
H^4 spinning - finished 7/31 and not yet blogged because I need to send off the package
Spiraling Coriolis socks
Brambler (finished knitting, but not yet blocked/blogged - does it still count?) (probably not)

June progress report

Just a quick drive-by, so things don't lag too much around here...


Finished in June:
North Roe shawl
Basalt tank
Fluke
Devil's picot anklets
Blueberries (Rav link, because somehow I never managed to blog the finished yarn - oops!)
Maldives

Phew. June was a pretty good month. Although I feel sort of like I cheated since those first two items barely missed being on May's list. So be it. So far as these things go, July is looking somewhat sparse already, so it will all come out even in the end.

New inspiration

Now that I've finished up a couple of long standing projects, I'm free to obsess over what to start next. Of course, in order for true procrastination, I've had to do a bit of stash enhancement to get the creative juices flowing. Just a bit. And since it's all arrived this week, I have to share.

The first installment was a new sock book (link to Amazon, but I think you can order direct from the publisher too). After seeing the Rivendell socks in various places, I went to the website and preorder the book. That was about a month and a half ago, and I'd basically forgotten about it until it arrived on Monday. And for the first time, I think I want to knit every pattern. Every single one. That never happens. The layout is great, the photos are exquisite, and there's enough variety between lace, texture, colorwork, toe-up, toe-down, and sideways constructions that any sock knitter should find something to their taste. Its just wonderful. I took it to knit night last night and had to be extra careful that it came home with me.

All the way from Oregon: two skeins of StR lightweight. The first is for a knitting friend of mine who is going to be test knitting a pattern for me. She got to choose the colorway, and decided on

Pirate's Booty. I have to admit that I looked at the picture on their website, and wasn't too excited by this colorway, but in person it is so beautiful. It looks just like a parrot - rich, vibrant, glowing colors. I'm excited to see how this knits up - the pattern was originally done with a semi-solid, so it will be interesting to see how it works with a more dramatic colorway.

Since I was already placing an order, I figured I might as well get something for me to use. And before I knew it, this had fallen into my cart:

Atomic #6. But it should really be called "Mallard" or "Drake". Gorgeous teals and maroon. This might even be manly enough for some boy socks. We'll see. Suffice to say that it is taking every ounce of willpower not to bust open this skein and cast on immediately. I'll already have socks on the needles - starting another pair will totally derail the socks-in-progress. Must. Resist. StR.

Ok, I think the yarn fumes are starting to clear out a bit in here. But (unfortunately) there's more. In fact, I think the fiber fumes are getting pretty thick...

In preparation for my first spinning lesson last week (giving a spinning lesson that is), I started trolling around looking at spindles. I had the idea that maybe spinning laceweight would work better on a hand spindle, so I ended up with this: a new Bosworth mini from Carolina Homespun, along with some gorgeous superwash merino/alpaca that Morgaine included as packing material. Purpleheart, 0.7 oz, and patiently waiting until I finish the other handspindle project and my socks before I try for some really really fine laceweight stuff.

So I think my project needs are satisfied for the next little while. I hope they are!

*********************************************************
Progress report for May:

Finished:
Turkish Walrus socks
Devil's sock yarn skirt (as yet unblogged as an FO because I have yet to get her to put it on and stand still long enough for me to get some pictures)

That's it. Methinks the grant writing was more of a time suck then I originally thought. I did have a couple of big projects going on though, which will show up on June's report.

For the grandparents, another progress report:

How was your weekend?

Mine was just lovely, thank you. For whatever bizarro reason, spring in Houston this year has been absolutely beyond gorgeous - the hot, humid weather has held off for a surprisingly long time, giving us (fairly) cool, dry mornings and nice evenings to spend out on the porch watching the kiddos romp around in the kiddie pool and the sand box making a mess.

Race report: race went well, for the most part. The swim was pretty good, the bike was excellant, and the run was only ok (mostly because I was pushing the bike pretty hard). I had a good time, and managed to keep upright on the bike, which has been my downfall in the past. Interesting things of note: many more silly looking aero helmets, and many fewer disc wheels then I've seen at past races. It's funny what people choose to spend their money on - almost as funny as the folks who are however many pounds overweight arguing at great length over the relative contribution of 200 grams from Ultegra versus Dura Ace. But that's a rant for another post (or not).

My wrist is feeling much better (Must.Keep.Tape.On.Nine.More.Days.Aaaaaaaaaaargh!), but I'm in the midst of the multi-WIP-wasteland - several things on the needles, all of which have seen progress in the last little while, but none of which are particularly photographically interesting. Devil's little sock yarn skirt (Rav link) is cruising along, but there's only so much progress you can show day-to-day when it takes 10 rows to get an inch. The Summertime tunic is in the same straits - it gets less attention since it's not bus knitting, but 200+ stitches/row in stockinette takes a while to get anywhere. I've got one skein left after the one I'm currently working on, and I'm hoping when I start it, I'll be far enough down the body so I can start some lace for the bottom section. Of course, that requires that I pick out some lace pattern to use, which requires actually attention/thought about what I want, and that motivation seems few and far between these days.

After the massive sock explosion of the last month, I'm loath to cast on any new ones, but I have a pair that have been languishing in the last stages of finishing for going on two years now. Is it cheating if I finish those off and use them for this month's contribution?

Finally, the North Roe shawl continues to be lovely and engaging to knit, I'm really enjoying the striping, and the way the lace looks blocked out. But (and there's always a but). I'm going to run out of yarn. Which means that I'll have to spin some more. Which is not really a problem except that it means pulling out the rest of the top, laying it out, finding the right color repeat, excising that section of top, splitting/predrafting/whatever it was I did last time around, and then spinning some more laceweight. Again with the lacking of motivation.

Who knows when all these things will get done? Although the lack of in progress reporting should theoretically lead to an explosion of FO posts, right?

*****************************************************
Speaking of progress reports:

Finished
Firestarter socks
Spiral Boot socks
Verdant laceweight

In progress:
Summertime tunic
Devil's sock yarn skirt
Basalt tank revisited
North Roe shawl

I promise I'll have pictures next time.

Odds and ends

Yesterday was a red-letter day as far as my kids are concerned:

1) Devil headed happily off to daycare yesterday morning wearing...panties. The whole potty-training thing has been ongoing for a while now, but we've shifted in to high gear since she needs to be fully trained before she moves up to her next class (in May). She did great.

2) Boo, after deciding at 8:15 pm "Hell no Mama, I'm not going to sleep" (normal bedtime ~7:30) stayed up for another hour, entertaining her parents with her new party trick: walking. She would shakily stand up, totter across the rug for eight or ten steps, sit down with a Whump!, giggle and get back up again. But she still wasn't interested in going to sleep...

************************************************************************************
The Fire element of Project Spectrum is over, and I didn't complete either of the pairs of socks I started. Not because I wasn't working on them, but because I started one pair before the other was finished. So they continue along, one sock of each pair done, and one sock of each pair at the heel/gusset. I'm curious as to how long it takes me to knit a pair, so I'm keeping track on one pair (Firestarter), and just muddling along on the Spiral boot socks when I get a moment. Here's some shots of both, just to keep you somewhat entertained:

Four days/6.5 hrs worth of sock knitting

Handspun knee-high goodness

I've got big plans for the Earth segment of PS: resurrecting the Basalt tank and redoing it with waist shaping in time for summer, and finishing off the Verdant laceweight I've been working on. I finished the singles last night, and hope to ply over the weekend once they've had a chance to rest for a bit, so that should be done soon. If I can, I'd also like to knit it up into a lace leafy shawl type of thing - it's been a while since I did any lace.

************************************************************************************
March progress report:

Finished:
Rainbow sock leftovers for Devil

And that's it. Harumph.

In progress:
Summertime tunic
Firestarters
Spiral boot socks
Verdant laceweight

Snoozing:
Duck blanket - I can truthfully say that I hate intarsia. We're going to try to get Devil's big girl bed put together this weekend, so hopefully I can finish this off soon, but I'm not optimistic.

Hopefully I'll have some FO posts in the next week or so - it's been a long dry spell around here!