10 hour car ride today. Five overs up and over the Mackinaw Bridge into the wd upper peninsula. Our stop takes less than an hour then a five hour drive back home.
That gives lots of knitting time. Except I decided to bring a "dreaded project". One that I've been knitting for six months and it just never gets done. An Irish Hiking Scarf for my Neice.
Total knitting time...less than one hour.
21 days until Pigs Fly...
...and the Bandit is getting cold feet (not the kind that can be comforted with hand knit socks). I am feeling so apprehensive about this marathon. What the heck is a chubby girl like me doing pretending she can run?
Some minutes I feel like-- I can do this.
Other minutes--I can't do this.
I am so close--months of miles run in the frigid, bitter cold and now I am 78 miles away from my goal. Three weeks. 9 runs...1037 minutes of running. 17.5 hours.
I've already determined what a mental thing this entire process has been. About 75% mental--25% physical. It seems as if the physical is failing me, but then I worry...is it the mental masking itself as the physical? My last run should have been an easy 5 miles mile and I barely hobbled through three. My average pace was 2 minutes slower then it should have been. That's huge. Over the last two weeks, I have been getting slower and slower, my foot and ankle pain, worse and worse. I pop Motrin like it's candy to keep the swelling down. But, damn, so close....
I don't want to have to start all over. Which I will do if necessary. I will run a marathon...even if it takes years. I am determined. But I don't know if I'll love it so much that I'll run two...so why go through all the training again? I am ready to go back to running just to run, not to train.
BUT... Plan B-- fall marathon in Detroit.
WISH ME LUCK!I did it! I did it!
I ran sixteen miles today and lived to tell you!
Now it's time for ice packs on the bottom of my feet.
Plus my sweet niece delivered my Girl Scout cookies while I was pounding the pavement.
I am about to sit, eat, ice, and knit a simple pair of socks. Nice.
You didn't know I was such a young thing, huh?
Actually, add 25 years to that. My baby boy turns sixteen this week!
But for me Sweet 16 is the number of miles I have to run for my "long" run in a few days.
I think I should call it Sweat 16 !
Needless to say, I am a little scared of this. It sounds so far. But, it's actually only two more miles than the 14 I ran successfully, albeit slowly, a few days ago. I have three other runs this week, before I tackle this big one. 2 four milers and 1 seven miler.
The first four mile run on Monday went so well that it turned into five. Not bad, considering I woke up an hour earlier than usual with my legs and feet just aching. I figured I wasn't going to run even 1/2 mile that day, but now that I am actually "in training" I have to run. No ifs, ands, or buts. I didn't let the snowstorm stop me, I opted for running on an inside track, not as bad as I thought it would be. The run felt really good. I was back to my average pace of 13:30 minutes per mile. Don't laugh! Don't snicker! It's slow, but I could be sitting in my chair knitting while my cholesterol climbs and waistline expands.
Slow is better then no.
My second run was 7 miles. Actually, ran 7.5 miles. Run felt great!! Best one in a long time. Why? I quit worrying about my pace. I am going to run what I run. Concentrate on finishing the marathon, not winning it! Ha! Ha!
My third run, my last run before the 16... was an easy four. Well, it should have been an easy four. It was my hardest run of the week. Seriously, I think running is 50% body, 50% mind.
I'll be back to tell you all about the big one six. Maybe....
A local man remains unaware of two new yarn acquisitions just a day after discovering a huge stash reportedly belonging to "a friend" of the Knitting Bandit. How he can possibly be unaware remains under investigation as said man was napping on the couch when the postman honked his horn which signaled the Bandit. She dropped everything and ran outside, barefoot, in knee deep snow (after an awesome five mile run just hours earlier) to sign for her secret German package. In addition to the postman attempting to alert the man, the opened package lay on the dining room table with yarn exposed to not only sunlight but his eyes---had he opened them! The question remains--does this gorgeous yarn really belong to "a friend"?
Below is a photo caught with surveillance camera. We believe this to be Wollmeise Lace-Garn in Petersilie and Blue Curacao. Both weighing in at a staggering 300grams. Somebody, either the Bandit or he "friend" will surely be knitting some gorgeous lace with these beauties!
A local man, known to most simply as the "Knitting Bandit's Husband", was shocked when he discovered a huge stash of yarn while innocently deep cleaning his basement Sunday afternoon.
He stumbled upon worsted weight wool, super fine alpaca, fingering weight wool, ten shades of cotton, merino wool, a few really big balls of acrylic, a lot of superwash sock wool from Germany, even some wool and silk blends, two balls of super soft camel ( in a gorgeous shade of brown), wool for knitting lace, yarn made from bamboo and reportedly, an elusive and quite expensive ball of buffalo (of course it costs a lot--can you imagine trying to crawl under the belly of a buffalo and shave it?). Although the man alarmed at first, the police report quotes the wife quickly reassured the man with the following statement: "Uh, yarn? What yarn? Hmmmm...Oh, yeah. THAT yarn. That belongs to a friend of mine. She must have left it in our basement."
It's been a rough week for the Bandit. Rough. Tears shed even.
My 13 miles last Saturday went well. My next run on Monday was an easy, quick 4 miler. The run was great. Quick for me and I felt pretty good. So I can't figure out what went wrong on Tuesday. I did something I haven't done since I started running in August. I walked. I walked again and again. My body just wouldn't go. I had some of the usual aches and pains, but no real "excuse". It freaked me out. If I can't handle a little 4 mile run, how the heck am I going to run 26.2 miles in ten weeks?
I was pitiful for the next two days. Why am I doing this? I can't do this. I don't want to do this. Is it worth it to run to be healthy when it makes you hurt physically? It's been two months and my body looks the same. I've been working my butt off and it's still there!
Thursday I had a meltdown. Big ole tears and all. Twice I cry. My sweet husband hugs me and tries to make me feel better (after work he brings me flowers and my favorite candy bar--he never brings me flowers!). Thursday afternoon I gathered up my courage for my third run of the week.
6 miles. Not as easy as 4, but not terribly hard. And... it went well. My pace was closer to where it should be and best of all, I never felt the urge to walk. Yeah Bandit!
Friday--no running. But on an unrelated side note, I gotta tell you I was cross country skiing at Sleepy Hollow State Park and saw a real live musher with six dogs on the trails. It was so cool!
I wake up Saturday facing 14 miles. My longest distance ever. But less than a mile more than last week, so I know I can do it. I struggle to get motivated and actually get out the door, but I do. I take Bandit, the dog, with me for the first 8.5 miles. A long ways for a ten pound guy, but he loves it. He's been much better behaved now that he runs with me.
I drop him off at home and after a quick drink, I'm out the door to finish my last 5.5 miles. The first hour or so of my run, the sun was shining and it really felt like spring was in the air. I am so slow the weather changes and now the wind comes up and sun goes away. I ran the last 5.5 miles even though I wasn't sure I could. If you can call it running. I was so slow. I was 20 minutes slower at my 13 mile mark than I was last week. My last mile almost took me another 20 minutes. What the heck? But!! I never stop to walk, except dropping the dog off at home--first time I tried this. May be a bad idea. Could that have slowed me down?I don't think so, I was pretty slow when he was with me.
Of course now, 4 hours later I can barely walk, my feet hurt terribly and my hamstrings are so tight they feel like they could snap.
So again I wonder who am I fooling? Can I really pull this off?
I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.
Only 70 days til Pigs Fly.
Changed my mind and ran outside. It was a gorgeous, fun, but slow 4 miles in the snow. My first mile was an non-plowed dirt road so it was a little crazy, but I got it done. Another 4 or so tomorrow and then 13.1 on Saturday. 80 Days til pigs fly.
Here is my Maus Clothilde knit with Wollmeise 100% Superwash Sock in Maus Alt (old mouse).
I finished in in December, just blocked it last week. I had a hard time blocking the points evenly.I do not enjoy blocking at all. I knit it for myself, then decided to give it to a friend, but after the blocking was done I fell in love with itI decided to keep it for myself after all. I love selfish knitting!
The top picture shows the colors the truest. It has very subtle changes in the shades of grey.
You know I just love this double chin/mole/pimple shot, but wanted to show how it drapes.
I was so excited to cast on these Empoisonnee by Yarnissima!
I did some stash diving and found some really pretty Koigo KPPPM.
Great pattern. It was really a fairly simple knot, keep in mind though I have knit other Yarnissima patterns. That probably helped. But really it is easy. The heel is so much fun to make. The cables became so easy to read I didn't need to use the chart.
I had two big problems while knitting these:
#1
I forgot the little pattern intro I read where Yarnissima is raving about the extra yardage in a skein of Wollmeise and how she took advantage of this and made a great cuff on the sock.
Hmmm...
opps! I didn't use any of my precious Wollmeise.
If I had...my Empoisonnee wouldn't be cuffless.
But in all actuality...if you didn't know they were intended to have a cuff, you wouldn't know. Seriously. They still turned out pretty nice and the KPPPM was a perfect match for this pattern. I have to mention, also, that I was pleasantly surprised by how much they softened up after washing. Very nice. I was thinking I was pretty cool. Great socks. This will be a perfect gift for the Yarnball.
But then suddenly I saw one sock rolled a little on the bind off edge. It puzzled me. I couldn't figure it out. Hmmm...these are a gift to another knitter. They really should be perfect or as close to it as possible. So I looked a little closer. (Go ahead look-I'll wait)
What the heck? How did I not notice this sooner!
Well, after a few days of pouting and feeling bad for myself, I ripped back my cuffless Empoisonnee and ribbed it like I should have in the first palce.
Now they match. Perfectly.
Even though I swore I wouldn't do Holiday knitting, I did. I'm weak.
Maybe stupid, too.
The further I got into these socks the more I wanted to keep them for myself. But then I had to ask, "would I truly be able to enjoy wearing them when I knew they were intended for another? WHat if I actually had them on and the intended recipient admired them?" Oh...could you imagine the guilt?
So I did the stupid. The inevitable.
I gave them away. To my sister. It's okay. Really. She's a non knitter, but does she appreciate hand knits. Even more so after I told her that if I were paid $10 an hour to knit this particular socks they would cost at least $400. (Seriously. This famous pattern threw me for a loop.) I also felt the need to make sure she knew I had to stay up all night just to buy some of this yarn in the crazy world of Wollmeise stalking. I swear she likes them for what they are---not the guilt I gave her to make sure she wore them!
Here's my "Three P's for T"
Pretty:
Purple (actually Wollemeise Veichlen in dark intensity):
Perfectly Pomatomus :
The Knitting Bandit Steals a stitch whenever she can, in between runs!
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