Little runners.

I trust that I am not the only parent who taps into the earnest desire of her little ones to "help" when, perhaps, it would be especially helpful.

Say, when the front yard is a soggy bog and there is a surprise nip in the air and you would prefer to stay in the warm house and keep your slippers dry? Right?  Right.  

I'm pretty sure that they love it when they indeed help.  Because fyi, Will's attempt to help me stir some cookie dough that consequently ended up on three walls of the kitchen was not all that helpful.  I'm hoping I did not show it.

Sandra

p.s.  Yes, if you recall, we do this in winter too.  Because if you double recall, I get cold extremely easily.

p.p.s.  Have you noticed that most of my recent pictures of Will show him sporting his beanie from last year?  He truly loves his hat and always has it on if it's even slightly chilly.  He even sleeps in it.  At first we tried to discourage him because he gets all sweaty.  But he insists.  And we decided that this was not a battle to choose.  So we let him fall asleep in it and take it off later, laying it next to his bed.  He usually puts it on first thing in the morning.  I often use the phrase "love it to pieces" or "love it to bits"...and he may do exactly that with his hat.  You can imagine how much that warms my knitterly heart.

Maryland Sheep and Wool, 2012.

We went again this year and had a great time.  The fact that the festival is always held in early May, right before or around Mother's Day, works really well in my book.  Because it means I can pick up a few pretty skeins and save everyone an errand, right?  Okay, in truth it's a complete windfall as the boys and Charlie always pick up something sweet for me.  But we'll just go with it...

I actually still need to shoot my new-to-me skeins, but I got some new sock needles (my first Signatures!), a couple skeins of Miss Babs Yowza Monochrome in Pewter, and somehow, fell in love with--and absolutely had to have--some sparkly Tilli Tomas.  I'm still confused by this impulse buy because, really, when will I wear something sparkly?  I've warned the group to expect a blingy-y cowl at next year's Gingerbread Party. 

Most of the group also picked up a skein of Bijou Basin's Seraphim, a new Angora blend.  It might be the softest stuff I've ever touched.  I also scooped up some Davidson Domy Heather fingering weight yarn as it's very difficult to find (can't even find you a link!  Though here's an old blog post about it) because I have plans to knit a colorwork yoked pullover this winter.  Besides, I think it's a great and economical sub for Brooklyn Tweed Loft.  

I also got a lamb sandwich.  

And yes, it freaked me out again to buy a lamb sandwich next to the building where the lucky lambs were being revered for their beautiful fleece.   

The best part of the outing was that nearly our entire knit group made it.  I adore these gals--they are so fun, but better yet, they are great friends.  And they ooh and ahh over wool and have conflicted feelings over eating lamb sammies under such circumstances, too.  

Until next year!

Sandra 

Second half marathon, check.

So Charlie and I ran another half marathon.  I didn't get to train for this one very much.  Instead of doing four or five long runs to acclimate myself like a good running plan lays out, I got in one measly 9 mile run.  And it was a month before the race!  Not recommended.

Here's a race photo proof until my copy comes in the mail.  My finish time (2:10:56) was slower than my first go at this.  But I'll take it--all I have to do is remember that a couple of years ago I couldn't even run a mile without stopping (truly!).  So finishing any race makes me smile.  I am officially a runner.  Never thought I'd say that.

In fact--as further proof I'm still digging this running experiment--the day after the half, I signed up for another half marathon.  It's the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon.  And I'm so excited because I'm running it with my bestie.  She's a runner but it's her first half!  We met in 8th grade and have done so much together--from Robert Palmer and Bon Jovi concerts, permed hair, and questionable fashion choices to Maid of Honor duties, pregnancies, reunions, and play dates.  But it's our first race!  And it's right around our birthdays.  It's going to be awesome.  

Charlie is not running this one and I have visions of him bringing the boys to cheer me on.  With cute signage.  And custom shirts?  Even pennants, maybe? These are just ideas off the top of my head, mind you...  I'm usually not at all about making a fuss over me.  But every time I see a kid cheering on their mom from the race sidelines, I melt.  That's officially what I would like for my birthday.  

Sandra

Tops, tanks, and tees KAL.

I'm a little late to the blogging party announcing my participation in Luvinthemommyhood's latest Knitalong.  Actually, I'm a lot late.  Because you know what?  It's over.  Yup.  Missed all the fun blogging about it too, sheesh.  Nevertheless, I wanted to mention it because if you haven't checked it out, you should.  Lots of inspiration over there from the KAL knitters.  My queue basically exploded.

As for me, I knit the popular Spring Garden Tee.  I really love the finished tee but I had a devil of a time getting gauge.  The pattern calls for DK weight, but I could not for the life of me get gauge on a reasonably sized needle using DK.  So then I swatched some sport weight--nope!  In the end, I used fingering weight.  Fingering!  AND (sorry to internet yell, but this is notable) I still had to go down one needle size and had to knit a size smaller than my usual size.  Crazy, I say.  Crazy.

Luckily, I love it to pieces so it was worth the effort.  Don't mind the rain hair in this shot...

Sandra

p.s.  Do you like the color?  It's another handyed colorway of my own.  The yarn is a delicious blend of Bluefaced Leicester wool, silk, and cashmere.  Love, love, love the base.  Soft but holds up wonderfully. I likewise adore this color.    

And yes, I know I created another blueish color.  I really can (and will) dye a non blue next.  In fact, I have my first custom "order" of a gray (Caryn, are we talking gunmetal or silver?).