Truely interesting yarn shop

Yarnia, in Portland, is a place I would love to visit. You pick out a combo of threads (wool, nylon, sparkly, red, green, gold, whatever) and they will ply it into a unique yarn just for you. You get 1 lb cones, so there are not as many ends to weave in.

Beginning Running

Runners World has some great articles on how to begin running. One plan that I am using along with my running plan is helping me to go faster.

With this plan, I am running faster than I normally would on the running times and resting until my heart rate gets down to at least 69%. That is about the same time as they have for the walking recovery. I neglect the walking days because it just is not enough and I run instead.

You can buy a Runners World subscription through Amazon.com for about $1.25 an issue. I am thinking about doing that. Their articles are always interesting. It is one of the few magaizines that I will actually read instead of look at the pretty pictures. I get full use out of this magazine since I read it almost cover to cover whenever I get it.

More bands

Osip, Button and Kodiak's little one, has also shown a fleecy sensativity to feed changes. You can see there is a grey-brown section at the tip. That was fleece from when he was eating hay in the barn after he was born, about 4 months. Then there is a creamy section that is when he was on pasture, about 6 months, then there is a new grey section from now, in the barn, eating hay again. Strange sheep I have!

Reworking Wisteria

I am almost done with the yoke. This is looking even better than the first time I did this.

Dyeing

For Christmas my mother got me 2 dye kits:

I am excited to get going on this new project soon.

Think on these things

I was reading another blog today (linked from a favorite of mine). This blog reveled in anger and sarcasm, nothing nice to say at all. I kept thinking about Philipians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." (NASV) That got me to thinking about how addictive anger and sarcasm is. I ended up leaving that site to go find some good words to dwell on.
"So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For the Scriptures say,
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess and give praise to God.”
Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.
I know and am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don’t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. Then you will not be criticized for doing something you believe is good. For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too." Romans 14:10-18 (New Living Translation)

There, I feel much better now.

Prayers

One of the blogs I visit daily (her work is gorgeous) has need of prayer. Her son has a benign tumor, but it is still dangerous and he will need to have surgery to remove it. Well, if you are a praying person, visit her site, read more about it, and pray.
The Fairy Godknitter
Thank you.

Frogging, Running, and Venting

KNITTING

I decided to quit vacillating and make a decision. I frogged my Wisteria sweater. It was a perfect fir for my hips and waist, but the bust was too small. I am in the process of redoing it using 1 size larger for the top, adding a bunch more decreases for the waist and doing the same size for the bottom.

I am also spinning the yarn for Oblique and altering that pattern as well.

(photo by Veronik Avery with Genevieve as the model)

This is a free pattern offered by Knitty and made by Veronik Avery. I will do the same as the Wisteria, a larger size on the top and a smaller size on the bottom. I will also knit it in the round because all of that matching up seams looks like a pain to me. I may have to stitch a seam in it after it is knit to add some structure, but that will be easy enough. I have also read that many people thought the arms were way too long, so I will pay close attention to that as I knit it.

WORKING OUT
Now for the watch update. I have run a few times with this watch already and uploaded the data to Pro trainer 5 and I really like it. I can tell I am getting better. One of the biggest challenges in exercise is to know how hard you can push yourself. By watching The Biggest Loser, I know I can push myself pretty hard, but I still wonder about how to push myself effectively. My goal is to be able to run faster and farther. Weight loss is always secondary. If I accomplish the first, then the second will happen.
Since I am not very good at stretching out, I decided I had to sign up for a Pilates class. I actually love Pilates,but getting myself to take the time and do it is another thing entirely. I am very excited to start this class and triply excited because #2 daughter and my closest friend will be taking it together. I tried to get a few others to join because I think it would be fun if we all got together and did it, but everyone has such varied schedules.

BARN
The animals are wet in the barn. All of the moisture from them and the lack of air circulation is making a very damp environment. We open a few top doors, but this does not seem to take care of the problem, it helps a lot, though. All of our windows that are not covered are cracked as well. I think next year we will have to take all of the siding off so the rest of the windows can be opened. We may also have to shear in December because less fleece will help cut down on the moisture and make it a much healthier environment for them all. We may break down and put a fan in there to help ventilate it durring the day.

Collections

I collect trivets and for a couple of years they have all been packed up in the barn. I took them out and put them back up today. It is nice to see them all and remember who gave me them. I only purchased a handful of them. Most of them have been gifts.

Little Owls

After I completed my Owls sweater I had a little more than one skein left of the Cascade Eco Wool (color shown is 9451) and my middle child wanted a sweater just like mine. So, here it is.
I finished this at about 11:30 PM, folded it, and put it by her bed. She found it in the morning and promptly put it on. I made it long so she could wear it for a couple of years. The sleaves are extra long as well, we just folded the cuffs over for this year.

For approximately $45 I purchased 3 skeins. I was able to make the XL (42" bust) version of this sweater and the XS version. I still have enough left over for either a felted clutch or as my favorite second cousin says, an ear brassier.

It is cold and windy

Check out the blowing snow! This was a rough day to be out working.

I also had my first run with my watch and the foot pod. I really must calibrate the foot pod. It was a long run. According to the tread mill I ran 6.31 miles but the watch said I ran 5 miles. I know tread mills can be a little off, but not that much off. It was a good run. I was able to watch Persuasion (a Jane Austen flick) without anyone talking and I had the subtitles on because half the time I could not understand the British accents. I think today I will watch the BBC production of Sense and Sensability (it is the superior version). I have yet to see Emma and I noticed there is a newer version of Persusion I think I would like to see. The Sense and Sensability video that I have has the added bonus of Miss Austen Regrets, a movie about Jane, and a recording of some more background of Miss Austen.

Christmas was good to me

I have been saving for a Polar 800CX and I found one for a great price from an authorized Polar seller on Amazon. I wore it for barn chores yesterday and it gave me a graph of what my heart did during the chores. It also listed how long my heart rate was in various training zones and how many calories I burned. 53% of the time was spend at 70-79% of my max heart rate and I burned 204 calories. I could see on the graph how long it took my heart to react when I did something strenuous, like haul 80lbs of corn on a sled.

So many neat gadgets out there. I will have my first run with the watch today.

It is so cold here that many vehicles are having difficulties, ours included. This morning it was 20 below. I do not think it has gotten over 0 in 4 days.