What I'll wear...

This weekend, while I was busy recovering from one run and gearing up for another, I also made this camisole for myself sans pattern.



It's made of some unidentified shiny satiny material that I got at the fabric-by-the-pound store with plans of hemming the edges and making a big big handkercheif. But how much better is a cami?! I'm quite proud of it. It has its problems, like an uneven hem in the back and a warpy edge across the top of the front, but I did make it out of thin air using myself as my own dress form. I must have tried that thing on about 100 times.

I think this top is going to look rockin' on me about 5 pounds from now. ;)

A BIG Loser?

I want to be a big loser. In addition to running 50 miles by my birthday, I have a goal of losing weight. Don't we all. I've been enjoying watching The Biggest Loser, and I decided to give myself a weigh in. Let's end the mystery.

189.4 pounds.

Yikes.

See you next week.

Yes. I Admit it. It's Cute.

Sewing it up and putting buttons on it does solve a lot of the troubles I had with it. This is my Baby Surprise Jacket, knit in Patons Canadiana acrylic. I'll tell you why I decided to do that... Everyone made this project sound so super quick that I thought, "I'll try it out with something cheap, and then if I like it, which I'm certain to, I'll make a slightly bigger investment and knit up something a bit more luxurious."

The trouble was that the yarn was so ill-suited that the project took me FOREVER. I just didn't want to work on it. Because it was just that: work. Now that it's done, I do like it better, but I still may give this some time before I attempt another. Besides, there are so many cute baby sweaters out there that I haven't made yet, like the Classic Cashmere Sweater from Little Knits for Cherished Babies.



Oh wait, I've made that one before too... But this new one will look like a sock monkey. Take that, Last Year Me!

And Knowing is Half the Battle

I lay in bed at night (not every night, but more than some), listening for crackling, sniffing for smoke. I worry about fire. I've never been in one, though I have been near a few (stupid flammable neighbors), so I don't know quite where my fear came from. I only half-jokingly blame it on A Very Special Webster episode in which the precocious little tyke burns down Ma'am and George's apartment with his chemistry set. I have lived with the guilt and fear of that fire as though it were my own.

Being one who lies in bed at night (lay or lie? That Snow Patrol song taught me nothing) devising various escape plans for our second story apartment (throw pillows and bedding out window to cushion fall), you'd think I'd know what to do when an ACTUAL FIRE breaks out.

Not so.

Today at work, the fish tank light was out and one of the dental chairs would not lift up and down. A fuse had blown over the weekend. Where to? The circuit breaker, of course. We flipped it back on and moments later we smelled the smell of fireworks and smoke started to emanate from the cabinet next to the fish tank.



Inside the cupboard a small fire had started. I didn't feel panicked, but I also had no idea what to do. "Should I get a bucket of water?" I asked, wanting to definitely stop the fire before it did make me panic. "NO!" Everyone shouted. Krissy ran for the extinguisher. Christy ran for towels.

I did nothing.

Now I know. And as G.I. Joe says, "Pork Chop Sandwiches!"

*Viewer Discretion Advised-- if you're at work, turn down your speakers... like WAY down.

Like my new ticker?

I don't know why the little title didn't show up underneathe it, but that little running girl on the right of your screen? That's me. I'm going to run 50 miles by my 29th birthday, which is on the 16th. I made this decision on the 21st, and I am only 0.8 miles behind the 2 miles/day necessary to get there. Don't get me wrong, I am NOT going to run 2 miles EVERYDAY, I am going to do some longer runs too so that I can have a day off once in a while. There is also a 10k coming up in a week or two, which I do anticipate will kill me, but it's a good way to get 2 days off. ;) Plus, I want the t-shirt.

Run, Senora, Run!!

PS. I got my Ravelry invitation on Friday as well. I've barely dipped my toe in the pool, but the water is lovely! I think I'll take a swim this week.

When We Were Fancy

This weekend we attended the Palos Verdes Concourse d'Elegance at Trump National Golf Club. For those who know about cars, this event is "An exhibition of Automotive Excellence featuring Shelby Cobras, plus 200 American and European classic, exotic, and specialty automobiles" (according to the official website). For the rest of us it was "millions of dollars worth of fancy cars parked on millions of dollars worth of fancy grass for the taking of millions of photos and watching husbands' eyes water in appreciation" (according to me).

My mom and dad went with us (see here Senor and his father-in-law peering into one of the fancies).


The amazing thing about the really beautiful examples are that even the details are poster-worthy. This is written on the engine of one of the Best of Shows, and it reminds me of vintage french liquer posters.


Reflections can be a problem when photographing immaculately shined automobiles...but sometimes the reflection's the Thing.




The above won Senor's heart. He used the phrase "hands down", which, for Senor, means business. Hands down the best thing here. Or something much more dramatic and interesting than that, but you get the idea.


I loved up some grills.



Overall, I think Senor was most satisfied with the outting. We all got our Fancy on and appreciated the automobile-as-lawn-jewelry, had a delicious lunch, and then napped uncontrollably. It was a good day.



I do wish all of the other people had gotten their Fancy on... These are Cobras and Ferraris and Jaguars, people. We dress up for them, and of course, for Mr. Trump.

Okay Okay, Uncle.

I'll blog. Fine. (Do you like how I'm pretending that people have been begging me to come back? It makes me feel good, what?)

Here is the knitting that was done on my vacation:

It's the Dream In Color Lace Shrug knit in Berroco Touche. (In honor of the new season of America's Next Top Model starting Wednesday, I'm trying to smile with my eyes... it makes me look a bit mad, I think.)




Overall, I think the yarn doesn't have enough stretch to make this pattern work. Can you see how it's a little bit loose under each arm in the back? I made it exactly as the One-Size-Fits-All pattern instructs, but being generally on the One-Size-Usually-Barely-Fits-Me end of the spectrum, I wouldn't expect this to be too big. Another case of KDD? Possibly. Or maybe just an unharmonious yarn:pattern ratio. Anyway, it tends to fall off my shoulders and generally feel sloppy, which is not the way it looks in the photo on their website.

Options? Undoing the around-the-edge ribbing is almost certainly going to be necessary. Once that is done, I can either frog back one end and decrease by one pattern repeat, or I can unseam the sleeves and make them longer, thus hopefully making the body opening smaller, or I can try simply decreasing the needle size and/or the number of stitches picked up for the body ribbing to try to draw the piece in toward the body...

... a few too many "un-this or un-thats" for my knitting comfort level.

The other option is to leave it too big and not wear it. That's not a super good option either.

Darn it. I guess there's some un-future in my future.

________

In other news, I completed a Baby Surprise Jacket... and Surprise! I don't like it. Could it be the cheap acrylic yarn? Yes. Could it be that it just needs buttons? Yes. Could it be that it would look cuter with a baby in it? Yes.

I'll put up some photos as soon as I put the buttons on and weave in the ends. But seriously, you probably won't be any more impressed than I am. Oh well.

________

In the meantime, I've started Ariann in Cascade 220 Pistachio. So far so good, but will this one turn out to be too big too? I hope not.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

Clear Guest Bed
Buy The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath for Knit the Classics
Balance Check Book
File stuff
Drop off dry cleaning
Pick up dry cleaning
Dye Hair
Locate Pink Slip for car
Grocery Shopping
Change Sheets
Shred Stuff
Bank Deposit
Call Ashley in Australia
Cash Paychecks
Rent a Chick Flick ("Fur" B+)
Organize Computer Cords
Order new checks
Activate gift card
Buy lightbulbs
Buy a Fashion Magazine (Harper's Bazaar, W)
Visit sale at LYS
Set up CD player in bedroom
Price compare replacement TV/VCR unit
Send Lease Agreement
Pay Bills
Take Garage Sale stuff to garage
Dump Trash
Buy Buttons
Take Boxing class
Watch football with Senor and Friends

And knit.

Am I a party animal or what?!