Yackety-Yack

Whoa! Time seriously flies. It’s mid-week already and time for another update. There’s only one project on the needles over here at ESK, so I guess I’ll have to find something else yak about.

Well, the Traveler sock (see progress bar) is going along alright. This is my first experience with short-rows and the one aspect of this pattern that is a little hard was that the toe and heel shaping requires you to knit the sts and it’s wraps together. Now this was just a completely hard concept for me. My brain just said “no, no… no…..umm, no”. So I winged it which left tell-tale holes along the heel line. So… I’ll be doing a little more fixing and finishing on sock #1. Luckily, the pattern writer set me straight saying that I should be picking up the wraps and then transferring them to my left needle, THEN k2togging. Hmm, when I think about it, putting the wrap on the left needle does sound like it would be easier. Don’t even ask what I was doing before. *slightly, blushing* Maybe I’ll sneak a progress pic in later when I get home.

I’m still waiting for my freaking IK winter issue, dang-namit! I’m starting to wonder if they’re going to wait until spring to send me my first issue. Either way I’d like to know. I can always take a 40% off Joann coupon and go buy the winter issue. Those 5 skeins o’Homespun are waiting to be worked into the ballet wrap cardigan, and they’re getting kind of impatient (yes, my yarn talks to me… don’t ask). Anyone with a IK subscription know how they work with their first issues?

In non-knitting related news, I’ve finally decided on how I can improve my rather pathetic running skills (I’m not being a defeatist, I’m a pathetically slow wimpy runner): run with people who are faster than you. There’s a friendly bunch of 30/40-something runners who have been dropping major hints for me to join them on their leisurely (10 min per mile) 4 mile runs. Now lately I’ve only been able to pound out about 2 miles at a pace about a clip above power-walking on a treadmill (most of my problem is mental, I know I can do a lot better). They run outside, rain or shine (they break for snow luckily). Up until today I’ve been politely declining until one of the runners informed me that sometimes one of them breaks off and takes a shorter loop. Hmm… tempting. So I accepted. I’m gonna bite the bullet next Monday even it causes me cardiac arrest. I just hope I don’t collapse on the shoulder of Buckely Rd where my limp body might get run over by a passing mini-van.