Bird's Nest Knits

Sweat and gifts and knitting

... but not necessarily in that order.

I got my first gift from my Secret Pal (part 7 the revenge) and it is awesomeness.  I got a box of Luna bars - which have chocolate mmmm in them, and might even be good for me.  A great little card, some stitch markers - you can never ever have enough of these, and I think they are even hand made!  A bottle of Eucalan wool wash - PERFECT timing cause I need to set the twist on some hand spun I recently did, and last but not least - some DP needle holders.  Thank you very much!

I am very nearly done my Picovoli - probably another couple of inches to cover my round belly, and once Picovoli is done.. what to cast on next.  Since I'm doing the whole Two Steps Forward, One Step Back  dealio that Jeanie thought up - I think that the Traditional Hat and Picovoli have earned me the right to cast on guilt free... something in lace I think.

I've been on a house hunt - looking to move closer to work.  Last weekend was a bit of a downer because I found this house that was great - less than a couple of miles from work - close enough to bike.  Made an offer - and ended up being out bid by someone else.  Back to the drawing board this Saturday.

Ran tonight with the pup - its so much easier with her because she never gets tired and wusses out before I do.  I made a little mini goal of being able to run up this hill by my house without stopping and I made it!  Next goal is to make it around the block without stopping - which is roughly 600 yards ~ 1/3 of a mile by Sunday!  (yes I know I'm majorly out of shape - but I'm working on it)

3 miles in 3 months?

So I've posted about the crazy idea to run in a half marathon by September, and I've even convinced a few similarly insane people to train with me :)  I'm all about reasonable goals - baby steps to 13 miles!   I figure that its important thing to have intermediate goals - if only to keep yourself on track and honest. 

I've been looking for a 5K to run in by June - and I discovered this ...  San Diego Mud Run!   It looks like a total blast and its April 6th 2006 - three whole months for me to work up to 3 miles.  Which I think is reasonable - and this sounds like a lot of crazy muddy fun.

So...  anyone else in?  We arent talkin half marathon here - 3 miles - AND you get dirty - and ya'll know how much I love being dirty!

I'm back on the week one training and ran tonight.  I tried week two on Wednesday and was sucking some major wind so decided to back track a little.  Slow and steady wins the race as they say.

• Week 1 Run one min, walk 90 seconds. Repeat eight times. Do three times a week.
• Week 2  Run two mins, walk one min. Repeat seven times. Do three times a week.
• Week 3 Run three mins walk one mins. Repeat six times. Do three times a week.
• Week 4 Run five mins, walk two mins. Repeat four times. Do three times a week.
• Week 5 Run eight mins, walk two mins. Repeat three times. Do three times a week.
• Week 6 Run 12 mins, walk one min. Repeat three times. Do three times a week.
• Week 7 Run 15 mins, walk one min, Run fifteen mins. Do three times a week
• Week 8 Run 30 mins continuously.

Picovoli, Picovoli, let down your hair!

Or stockinette in this case :)

There has been knitting a la Chez Bird.  And I've been good in not casting on anything new OR buying any new yarn.  Its all Picovoli all the time here, and I'm finished the waist decreases and cruising along to the increases. 

I've found that I like the SSK decrease much better than the way the K2Tog looks - I wonder if there is another right leaning decrease that looks as tidy as SSK does to match.

These photos were taken with my old Canon S400 so - forgive its medicocrity:

I am quite partial to the visible bars on the SSK decrease which you dont get with the K2tog - and for some reason my K2togs come out a bit sloppy.

I also found a section of my yarn that was all futz'd out - and I'm wondering if I might be able to drop a stitch down, cut out the futz and darn it up without much trouble.  Then again - I'm a little worried about dorking the whole thing up.

This is week 2 of Couch potato to Half Marathon training.  The pace of the training has been perfect so far - challenging enough to leave me sucking wind at the end - but still able to at least complete the routine without passing out or any calling of emergency personnel.  I'm really looking forward to running my very first mile in a few weeks :)  woo hoo!

Slow and steady wins the race as they say - and I'm banking on the probability that my ass will be shrinking in proportion to my ability to run farther.  Go ass go!

Goals for this week:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.  (6 repeats)    Done

Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.   (6 repeats)

Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes. (6 repeat)

Saturday at the Library!

On Saturday the Oceanside library is doing a free Learn how to Knit program at 10am. Wendy, Heidi and I (and maybe Mary-Kay) will be there to demo hand spinning as well.  If anyone feels like stopping by to get your knit on - (or spin on)  we will be meeting at the Longboarder Cafe at 9am which is right across the street from the Library.  Wendy's bringing her Louet wheel for anyone who might want to be learning how to spin (cough HILARI cough).   

Heather the owner of Noble Knits is doing the Knitting Lesson.

Oceanside Civic Center Library
330 N. Coast Highway, Oceanside, CA 92054-2824

I'll be bringing my balls of BFL that I got on the trip up to the last fiber fest we went to - which I cant remember the name of.  Yummy thick thin stuff.  And I also have a surprise for Wendy and Heidi that I have to get done before Saturday.  *rubbing hands together*

I spent the weekend up in Oakland - San Ramon to be specific - with my brother in law and his family.  His daughter Ashlinn just celebrated her 5th birthday so we flew up and got our party hats on.  The house was filled with little kids and it was a little overwhelming for someone who's not spawned yet.  But I did meet a little girl that made my ovaries TWITCH I tell you.  Her name is Juliette, and she's about the cutest doll-baby I've ever seen.

*twitchtwitch*

I did my first training run last night - and I didn't die!  Going from devout couch potato to runner is going to be tough though.  I did my little intervals of jogging and walking - and on the 7th and 8th repeat - I was dragging for sure.  I like running at night though - there are fewer people around to see my ass jiggle and running with my dog is always motivating cause she doesnt get tired.    Its also nice and cold out so I don't feel like I'm getting over heated and sucking wind at 50 degrees is much nicer than sucking it at 85.  I'm not nearly as sore today as I thought I would be though which is nice - I might even go running tonight again since I have dinner plans tomorrow.

There also has even been some knitting going on.  I've been diligently working on my Picovili for the Sexy Knitters KAL and I'm just starting on the waist decreases.  I slipped all of the stitches to some waste yarn last night and tried it on - I'm knitting the 40" version for my 43" bustline and it seems to be fitting quite well so far.  The Knitpicks Shine is working up to a very nice soft and dense fabric which I like a lot.  The 5.25" of stockinette from the armholes was pretty boring though. Good thing my boobs aren't any bigger since I have the attention span of a 3 legged dung beetle.   It was the only thing that I worked on over the weekend during the waits for the plane, the flight, and during the party to keep myself from going insane.

And because I've already shown this photo to one person that I'd have been worried about what they might think of me looking like an idiot - here it is for ya'll in blogland.

Viva la NERF Tiara!

Getting Started! Beginner's Running Schedule

Taken from Runners World

A few things to bear in mind:

• Allow at least a day between runs when you begin.
• If in doubt, slow down. You should be able to hold a conversation while you run. Respecting your body is the best route to progression.
• Walk purposefully, and be strict with your run/walk timings.
• Don’t be afraid to repeat a week, or drop back a week. Everyone’s different.
• Take heart! You will get there!

The schedules

• Week 1 Run one min, walk 90 seconds. Repeat eight times. Do three times a week.
• Week 2  Run two mins, walk one min. Repeat seven times. Do three times a week.
• Week 3 Run three mins walk one mins. Repeat six times. Do three times a week.
• Week 4 Run five mins, walk two mins. Repeat four times. Do three times a week.
• Week 5 Run eight mins, walk two mins. Repeat three times. Do three times a week.
• Week 6 Run 12 mins, walk one min. Repeat three times. Do three times a week.
• Week 7 Run 15 mins, walk one min, Run fifteen mins. Do three times a week
• Week 8 Run 30 mins continuously.

GOALS FOR WEEK 1:

Monday: Run one min, walk 90 seconds. Repeat eight times.  Total workout time:  20 minutes  Done
Wednesday: Run one min, walk 90 seconds. Repeat eight times.  Total workout time:  20 minutes
Friday: Run one min, walk 90 seconds. Repeat eight times.  Total workout time:  20 minutes

Fit in 2006!

Alright people - time to get serious about getting into a decent shape.  So I'm going to be training to run in the Disneyland Half Marathon  on September 17th.  I've gotten a few people to also plan to train with me and run also - so whats keeping you SoCal Knitters!  I'll post my training progress and hopefully 9 months will be long enough to get my expanding rear end into some shape.

Anyone want to do it with me?