Piling on the miles

I'm knitting this fabulous sweater, Aidez, out of that bulky weight yarn I wasn't sure what to do with.  On my Rav projects page I'm calling it the Aidez of uncertainty because I don't know if I have enough yarn. It knits up fast though, that's for sure. Faster, if I spent more of my time knitting and less of my time ripping out all the stuff in my enormous frog pond. I've got the back and part of the left front done. I'm also a little worried that it won't be the right size. It looks so small and scrunched together....

The back of Aidez, partially done. This photo is not up to date.But it's pretty, no?

Anyway, I want to tell you about the frogging project, and I'd like to tell you about my long neglected Tiong Bahru, but what I'm going to do is talk about running.

See, I signed up for this thing. It's called Pile on the Miles, and it's organized by Monica of Run Eat Repeat. You sign up, set a mileage goal for the month of November, and can get prizes for commenting and updating your progress.

I set my goal kind of high. Like, really high.

100 miles.

Yeah, I said I would run 100 miles in November. I did the math; it's totally possible on my three day a week schedule. I'm working my way up to a 15 mile long run during the same period, so that helps. And I'll probably do a few miles of walking, too, since I'm going to lay off the elliptical for cross training and just do incline walking. (Incline walking is brutal! I was walking at a 12.5% incline today and I was drenched.)

Oh yeah, my knee has been bugging me. It feels crunchy or something - I don't even know. Sometimes it's fine, sometimes not.  But I'm doing everything I can for it short of actually not using it. I'd been doing elliptical instead of running because of it, but it actually seems to get worse after the elliptical. I guess that plan didn't work. Current plan involves supplements, ice when I need it, and hoping. So we'll see how this goes.

Anyway, I'm kicking this thing off on Thursday morning with a five mile run, and following that up with eleven fine miles on Saturday. Assuming my knee doesn't fall out or something.

Even if you're not a runner and just want some incentive to get out and walk more this month, sign up! There are about 700 people signed up right now, with goals ranging from 20 miles to 200 miles. It's not about being the fastest or the best, it's about giving yourself a challenge and some motivation.

I can do this. So can you.

Weekending!

It's after 5pm on Friday, so that means it's the weekend. Yahoo!

Yesterday, after work, I ran down to the Dancing Ewe, because they're having a sale! 25% off everything. And there's this vest that I want to knit. And I didn't have yarn for it. But I do now. 6 hanks of Cascade 220 in Forest Green.


The vest, though, is a couple projects down the line. At the moment, I'm working on my alpaca pullover and my Laminaria shawl. I finished the body of the alpaca pullover last week.


Brown on beige. Very dull photo. But the yarn is Oh. So. Soft. I'm taking a little break from it for now. I'll start the sleeves... later. At the moment, I've picked up some steam on Laminaria. I'm halfway through the first edging chart, and thrilled that I'm done with all the 3-into-9 increases! I'm hoping to finish Laminaria before next Friday. I think I should be able to accomplish that.

On Monday, the cable company is coming by, and we're getting TV. We haven't had tv since we moved at the end of October. I don't mind not having it, but I really wanted to watch the Olypmpics. So we're getting it. And I've decided to play the Knitting Olympics. I'm not really a team player, so it's just a private challenge. My goal?
Knit the Rose of England design from the Second Book of Modern Lace Knitting. I'm thinking size 5 needles and see how far I get until I run out of yarn. That's the plan, anyway. Quite an undertaking for two weeks. Eeee!

For the record...

... I finished all four projects I had lined up. Three are drying right now. The fourth does not need to be reblocked. No photos just now. And I've decided to send my long suffering Laminaria shawl into hibernation. Which leaves me a bit flustered. What to do next?

I think maybe I'll swatch for Francis Revisited. I have some beautiful alpaca tweed in my stash. It might have to be double stranded. And I'm going to do a proper swatch. Washing and everything. It's the mature and cautious approach to knitting. Should be novel.

Maybe a pair of lovely stockinette socks in the rainbow Mini Mochi I've been hoarding.

I also want to do a felted cat bed at some point with my odds and ends of wool. And a cat sweater, because that's the sort of person I am.

So exciting to have these things finished and so many options available to me! Wheee...