Purling Sprite

24...

It is not my age...nor the miles I biked. It is however the number of hours I have been up. My eyes hurt, my hands hurt, and I am seeing charts everywhere I look. I have been seaming and weaving in ends non-stop. My love for wool has increased greatly as I see how great it blocks compared to ACK-rylic! I think for the first time in my knitting life, I am most definitely Cabled-out.

If you need me...I'll be in the corner seaming and weaving in ends!

Hubby just came in from his run...he is training for the Top of Utah Marathon...anyways, he says he has to read the post before I publish because I may sound a little crazy from lack of sleep...watch ya thunk?

Loom Knitting Podcast on CraftyPod

CraftyPod interviewed Loom Knitters Circle magazine! Host, Diane, interviewed both editors, Denise and I; she gave us a few loomy questions to ponder and respond to. The Loomy-podcast is up and you can listen to it. Go over ;)...pplllleease. Thank you Diane for having us on the show!

Sorry for the long absence on the blog...I have been a bit preoccupied. Here is a little hint to what I have been working on lately....lots of these in my future.

We did it! Triathlon is done!

We did it! Our little neighborhood triathlon was this morning and we all did wonderfully.

Although it wasn't competitive in any means, we kept track of our time and who came first.

Our placings are as follows:

I took first place in the womens (6th place overall)!  Hubby took 2nd place in the mens (2nd place overall too, he is such a speedy Gonzales)! He finished about 10 minutes (probably a bit more) before me and once he was done he turned around to find me and give me some moral support. 

I am quite tired right now and I think I am just going to go to my local movie store and rent a few movies and work on my loom knitting deadline. If you need me, I'll be the couch potato parked on the beige couch :).

BTW: Last night we went to see HairSpray--it is hilarious! We loved it, little Benny came out saying: "that was a great Movie!", it is a very happy show. And Travolta was a hoot during the entire show!

1500!

Today, for the first time in my swimming history, I was given the lead on the swim lane. 3 of us started on the lane and I stayed behind to be the very last one since I am a bit slow. But after the first lap, the other two lap swimmers moved to the back and told me that I was a bit faster than them and thus should lead (I passed them coming back)! This has never happened to me before! It gave me confidence and it made me feel so good about myself that it boosted my swim speed a bit.

Log for today: 1500 meters! My highest ever too. Almost a mile :). Mainly freestyle, 200 meters breastroke, 50 meters butterfly (if you close one eye and squint with the other it looks like the butterfly.

Avg time: 2:40 per 100 meters

Best time: 2:11 my first 100 meters

Turns: I'm saddened to say that I am not able to the do the flip turns, I still do open turns but it is okay, maybe one day in the future.

Now, please excuse me as I am going to go and take a nap :). See ya tomorrow when I'll show you my Hogwarts Socks :).

What I would like to do....

I have a goal. It is a dreamy goal. A goal almost unreachable by the likes of me (couch-potato). In 2010, I would like to do something that only in dreams of my dreams I would do. One word. LOTOJA. 206 miles in one day. Cross 3 states. 1,000 cyclists (some of the best out there travel to attend this event. It is a lofty goal. At my current speed of 13mph it will take me about 20 hours to finish this type of race. I have 3 years to work my speed to about 20mph in order to be in shape to participate in this event. I don't want to win. I just want to participate in it. A lofty goal. Just a goal.

Yesterday I biked 20 miles, it took us about 90minutes, my speed went up a bit, not much but there was a bit of improvement. Today's workout log: 700 meters at the pool. Ran/jogged about 3 miles (30minutes).

Maybe with this cross-training one day, maybe not in 2010 but before I die, I can participate in LOTOJA.

So done, it is Crisp!

An FO at PurlingSprite...could it be? Yep, here it is my finished Crisp Tunic from the book Fitted Knits. I finished this project back in June for KnitPicks. It was one of my sample knits. It is finally on their website and thus I can reveal my project...it is probably in the latest KnitPicks catalogue too.

The top is ingenious in design: short-rows are used to shape both the bossom area and the hip area. Granted, I didn't know which was the hip and which the bossom until I was seaming, hehehe. The sleeves are also one of the beauties of this top--easy to make and so beautiful. The seaming at the neckline makes this top one of my favorites--no seaming at the neckline, just add buttons at each side. Tip: if you are making this top, be sure to label your front and back, and if you can label your first row when it mentions short-row for hip--it will make assembling easier.

The Crisp Tunic has been one of my favorite tops to knit, I wish I could have kept it for myself...it was beautiful and I wish I could wear it. The yarn, Shine, also makes it perfect for Summer-wear. 

My knitting these days is done in little spurs of free time. Granted, I don't have much free time and thus knitting has been very slow and almost non-existent. Once I am knitting, I can knit fast but it is finding the time to do it that is becoming a bit more difficult. I have been loom knitting though, but I can't show you those, not for a little while anyways. I have a deadline looming...and I have been looming non-stop...but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just need to keep my eye in August--August will be deadline free (not counting the next issue of LKC magazine that needs to be done by the end of August).

Project: Crisp Tunic by Stefanie Japel from the book, Fitted Knits.

Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Worsted

Created for: Knit Picks

Love level: 10! Love it!

One week from Triathlon

The grand event is only one week away! The entire week, I have been going to the 50 meter swimming pool and trying it out. I currently do not have the stamina to do 5 laps continuously, however, with a little stop at every other end I am able to complete the 500 meters. Time-wise I am doing terribly, my best time so far has been 2:44 for 1 lap that includes the small break at the opposite end of the pool. I have plenty of room for improvement...if I only learned to kick well my time will be considerably better. In total, I swam 3600 meters this week.

Running has even been added to the routine and my time has gotten a bit better and if I implement some changes that Hubby has suggested I will probably do better. I am not a runner, nor a jogger, but I try my best when I am out there, but since I have never had any training in the area, my form is not the best. Apparently when I run, I move my entire upper body from one side to the other, it feels comfortable to me, but I am wasting energy that I could reserve for the legs. I am going to grab a rope and tie it around my arms so I don't swing them from one side to the other so much. In total, I ran 6  miles this week.

There is a triathlon this weekend (tomorrow) being held and I am so tempted to give it a shot and see how I do. As you can see from the above, I am not very good at anything but I just want to give it a shot. If there was anyone out there that would do it with me, I think I would go ahead and sign up but I haven't had any luck in enlisting anyone for it.

Pictures: Our neighborhood date at Bear Lake. A few families from the neighborhood got together last week and we went to one of the local attractions. Little Benny spent the day in a little puddle playing with the sand. Wonderboy spent the day inside that donut in the second picture and riding on one of the neighbor's waterskiis. Hubby and I spent the day swimming...trying to perfect some techniques or playing with the little kiddos. Overall, it was a wonderful time at the lake. We can't wait to go back.

Wordless Wednesday: The Cannondale Jekyll 3000 is a superb mountain bike. It comes fully stocked with some of the best components out there. I went in the other day with my mind made up to buy a bike but I couldn't find one that I really liked so I spoke to the store manager--she has sold us almost every single bike we have in our garage! Anyways, I told her my "needs" (yeah, laugh) and how they didn't have anything in stock, so she pulled out different catalogues and shows us some neat bikes but with very high price tags. Then she said she had a bike that she was thinking of selling--the Jekyll 3000. To make the story short: I went to see it, I tried it, hubby tried it, we both loved it! She is holding it for me for 2 weeks so I can gather enough pesos for it :).

Wordless Wednesday...almost

Cannondale Jekyll 3000, 2003 year model.

Could it be?

Today is the day!

My KnittyGritty show will air today at 7am...eeek! Exciting time! I don't have access to the channel so I won't be able to get up and watch it, but some of my biking friends are recording the show for me. They are even planning on having a little get-together party to watch the show. They are so great! None of them knit (yet,;) ) and they are all looking forward to watching the show.

The project is a loom knitted hat with a small section of colour-stranded work. The project is already up on the DIY website, with links to all the appropriate places.

Yarn used: Berroco Ultra Alpaca

Knitting Loom: Decor Accents, Fine Gauge women adult hat loom

Pattern: Found at the DIY website

If you see the show, pardon the nervousness and the shaking hands....and if you see my shoes at the end, please close your eyes. I was wearing the most comfortable shoes I have and well...they leave a lot to be desired in the looks department.

Again, I can't express enough how kind the KnittyGritty staff was to me...Sonya rocks and she can make even the most afraid mouse come out and play :). Thank you Sonya for having me on the set!

Flipping Turns!

I can flip a burger, I can even flip a pancake, and if I really have to I could flip an egg. But for the life of me I can't flip my big butt over my head to turn at the end of the pool. I always thought I was top heavy but I have finally understood that I am not top heavy, I am butt heavy!

My flip turn class went as expected...I sucked! Not a hard concept, place your hands behind you and do a somersault...a little more into the technique, place your hands behind you, stick your chin in and go as tight as you can and flip over and kick off the wall.

Ready set...try it. Hands back, chin in, flip....boink! Head hits the bottom of the pool, water rushes in my nose and the explosion of colors inside my head can rival the New York 4th of July Fireworks!

Teacher says...almost there, try it again. Clueless student decides to try it again, hands back, chin in, flip, water rushes in, headache close enough to migraine hits me between the eyes.

But the determined mule-headed student keeps on trying...30 minutes pass and finally she is able to kick off the wall, not straight mind you, cuz that is too much to ask of the mule just yet. An hour passes and she is able to flip at the end of every other lap....lopsided flips, but flips nonetheless.

Then today, student visits the pool where the triathlon will be held...student mouth hangs open when she sees the gigantic 50 meter pool that she has to traverse. Flipping turn of events....I guess I should have checked the size of pool before signing up for the triathlon. If you need me, I will be crossing the Pacific Ocean for my triathlon training.

Happy 4th of July everyone! Have fun and be good...and if you are going to do something bad, be sure to invite me :).