It's Not Too Late...

To vote early!
I did, in fact arrange for a mail in ballot this year, but managed to muck it up much to my horror and dismay. Luckily there are several satellite voting locations with convenient hours, so I took the opportunity to avoid the crazy lines of polling locations to get a fresh ballot cast.

If you missed the vote by mail deadline, you can still go cast your vote early by making an appearance at any of the early voting locations in your community!

It's too bad I can't turn off all the political propaganda now that my vote is already cast :(

What are these?

Any Guesses?
The only clue is that some are pink...so they must be related to the aforementioned Pink Racewear....

Give up? I'm always happy to spill over on the Finished Objects Blog!

All Packed and Ready to Go!

no, that's not all of it ;)
Spritely Goods will be at a craft fair tomorrow, October 26th from 9am to 3pm at the Change of Venue in Downtown Phoenix. (Central Courthouse plaza, 201 W Jefferson) The show will have approximately 30 vendors, and the Change of Venue will have their grill outside during lunchtime with food available for purchase. The weather is set to be fantastic, so if you work nearby, it'll be a great excuse to get outside, grab a bite to eat and peruse the crafty goods! I've got the majority of my inventory scheduled to go with me, and I'd love it if you stop on by and say hello :)

If you're not local, and there's something out of the shop that you'd like, you should pop over and place an order - I'll be closing down portions of the shop tonight and will bring them back up with updated inventory numbers after the craft fair tomorrow evening.

Now about those Tiaras...

As I mentioned in this Pink Post, I have some decisions to make regarding my race headwear. Apparently the traditional cap or visor are right out and Tiaras are all the rage ;) (or I'm just telling myself that so I'll feel less silly).

Anyhow, above are the two "tiaras" I currently have at my disposal. You've already seen the one on the left modeled by her Highness, Princess Marble - she was having nothing to do with the one on the right, which is why I had to resort to taking photos on a ceramic cat. The silver one is more "traditional" - so I'll likely be sticking with it...that and I can't figure out how to get the other one to stick on my head and look like its supposed to be there :P

Anyhow, stay tuned, I've got some race-wear knitting to do - and yes, it's pink.

Got Cow Power?

How cool is that? Power. From Cows.

And here I thought they were only good for eating, and even that was questionable. (I have ethical issues I'm at war with, namely that cows have no place in the desert, as the envrionment cannot sustain them and if you have ever seen pristine desert then seen cow trampled desert, you'd know what I'm talking about.)

Instant Baking

I'm a little bit of a sucker for Matcha flavored goods...

As a result, this cake mix cart jumped while doing my latest round of grocery shopping.

Care to find out more?

Read the rest here!

Leftovers are good

I'm a little bit of a packrat when it comes to saving things that I might find useful in the future...

And yarn is no exception. Behold, the Leftover socks are complete!

If you'd like to see how they turned out, cruise on over to the Finished Objects Blog and see! If you pop over, you'll find info on the pattern and more photos :)

Four Things...

...that I thought I would never see on my shopping list:

-pink technical shirt (check)
-pink running skirt (check)
-pink running socks (check, sorry, forgot to grab em for the photo - they match the tank)
-tiara (double check*)

That's right, a kind friend (or perhaps that should say fiend) donated the remaining difference to hit my $750 fundraising target. I had to go find a Tiara in addition to my pink running outfit. (Just because the target has been hit, please do donate if you'd still like to - the donations are tax deductible and benefit a great cause).

Training is going alright, and I believe I'm hooked - I'm now running 28 minutes continuously though still a fair bit of mileage short of the 5k distance (because my pace is so slow ;) ).

*As for the Tiara I have several options - I did go shopping and was *amazed* at the selection out there. The first one was vetoed by DH as it looked "too much like a hairband" - then I bought the one in the photo and then a friend took pity on me and brought me one she had to wear to a wedding - it is one of the comb variety and looks like little flowers are growing on my head (I need to take a photo). I was also thinking I might make a "knit" one, fully embellished, of course, from this pattern - though now that I have actually purchased a Tiara, I may forgo the knitting ones, unless I decide to make it a part of regular race-wear ;) (people tell me that racing is addictive)


Here's my "little princess" modeling the tiara (so you can see it much better than in the photo with all the pink). She looks about as silly as I do while wearing it.

Once upon a time...

I'm a little slow on the update, as Week One of Socktoberfest was supposed to be for Intros and Experiences, but what the heck. I'm not sure I have much to say for Week 2 as I'm uh...a little biased ;) because I really love my own yarns.

Anyhow, on with the intro!
* When did you start making socks? Well...I honestly don't recall when I cast on for my first pair of socks, but I finished them in December of 2005.

* Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class? I'm self taught. I think I attempted socks on dpns first, got frustrated as my dpns kept falling out - then switched to both socks on 2 circs....and kept picking up the wrong pair of points, and finally switched over to magic loop. I don't even recall what pattern I used for my first pair of socks, other than it was toe-up with a shortrow heel. A consultation with the finished objects blog indicates that the first pair were knit from the Pom Squad pattern on Magknits - the pattern was modified, of course :)

* What was your first pair? My first pair was a plain and straight forward pattern, out of an experimental yarn that never did make it to production

*How have they "held up" over time? They still look and fit fantastically - course it helps that wool sock season is fairly short where I live...so most of my handknit socks are worn for a limited time during the winter months.

* What would you have done differently? Not a thing!

* What yarns have you particularly enjoyed? Well, seeing as I've only really knit 3 pair of socks not including my Fuzzy Feet felted slippers, I can't say that I've actually *knit* with a whole lot of sock yarns - though I have plenty in the stash, not to mention the pile for my shop!

* Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method? Both socks at the same time via Magic Loop!

* Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?) short row, since I think toe-up heel flaps look strange.

* How many pairs have you made? Only three. In addition to the ones above, I knit Mizar (quite the feat...or should I say feet (heh!) for a 2nd pair of socks ;) ) and then a pair of Jaywalkers.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

I always feel fortunate that my birthday falls right around this wonderful festival, as it means I get to celebrate by eating Moon Cake(s). The Mid-Autumn festival is a celebration of the fall harvest and provides a great opportunity to gather with family and friends.

Even better that this year's celebration falls on a Friday :) all the better for celebrating ;)

What is This?

Can you guess what this is? Well, other than a stripy knitted tubey thing.... though, that would be an accurate assessment of the project...

How about a hint?


Surely you've guessed... :)

If not, here's a total give-away:


That's right :D it's an iPod sock - but much better than the ones you can buy - first off, it's hand knit of course, and out of Alpaca, no less :D And it's double thick!

Want more info? Click here!

Oh, and I'm sure you've noticed the nano is Pink. Yeah. About that. It's not my fault. Apparently the giver of the gift was trying to find me a silver one at Costco (yes, they have Nanos) but they were sold out - I had mentioned it would be ironic and funny if I wound up with a pink one, seeing as my virgin race will be run in pink.

Anyhow, here I am with my Pink nano -I've named it Artemis, after the goddess of the hunt. May she bring me swiftness and speed :D

I love me my books :)

While there might not be a whole lot of knittin goin on while I am busy getting sucked into training, I do have some wonderful books that were recently gifted to me - I love the wrapping paper :D (oh, I also got some super delicious fig preserves, I'm so lucky!)

I received Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan - it's a lovely book with all kinds of inspirational ideas inside. I hate to admit it, but I am especially fond of the chapter on fractals. I loved fractals when I was in school, and I still love fractals. I think I need a Fractal yoke sweater. Okay, so maybe need is a bit strong, but still, I find fractals absolutely fascinating.

I also received a book to help motivate me in my fitness endeavors (though there are still no plans for this woman for multi-sport events) - It's a great book called Slow Fat Triathlete, though it appears Amazon is out of stock right now for some reason.

And because my friends know that I also have a fascination for bags, I got a cool Japanese craft book - ISBN 4-8347-2454-9 - it's all about sewing eco friendly totes! I may become good friends with my sewing machine yet! LOL

In other reading, I've been absorbed with running books of late - I just finished No Need for Speed by John Bingham, and have now picked up Galloway's Book on Running 2 Ed for some further training pointers and notes. In order to get some further inspiration, I'm also reading 26 Miles to Boston: The Boston Marathon Experience from Hopkinton to Copley Square (no, I'm not even dreaming of running the Boston Marathon - not right now anyway ;) )

Speaking of running, training is continuing for my race - I did a hill run today, and actually beat my pace for my first 25min continuous run! They tell me there's nothing quite like runner's high, and I have to say I'm starting to believe it :D

SocktoberFest is here!

Socktoberfest is here!

Of course, I somehow have managed to not even knit on my "leftover" socks of late - I've gotten distracted by some lovely lacework and some crazy race-work :P

Thanks to the Luscious Gracious family, I did have the pleasure of welcoming in Socktoberfest with a pair of handknit socks...


And a one of a kind felted bag :) Aren't they fantastic? And the socks fit perfectly! Hooray!

Speaking of crazy race-work, I've officially run my first nonstop 25 minute run - granted, my pace is still a waddling 4.2 mph, but hey, it's faster than I can walk :D