Monday Meanderings

Good Morning! I hope you all are feeling happy and well this morning. Perhaps - as in my family - you are also a bit sad that the Olympics are over? OR, perhaps you are just confused by the giant, inflatable beavers in the closing ceremonies.....

At any rate, let's get right to it!

• I have found something I want to knit!
• The beautiful skein of yarn you see above is a wee small splurge...the one thing I purchased after that crazy evening of fake shopping at The Loopy Ewe. It's a skein of Hand Maiden's Swiss Mountain Sea Sock, composed of silk, merino and seacell, and I'm crazy in love with it! I'm a bit surprised that I fell for this colorway - called Fleur - but you just never know when inspiration is going to strike.
• I've wanted to try some of Hand Maiden's yarn forever....but most of it is so expensive that I've had trouble justifying it - especially since it would be an online purchase. (Meaning, of course, that there's always a bit of a risk ordering online that the colors won't be exactly what you had thought they would be.) This one skein was reasonable, and I decided to go for it.
• When the yarn arrived, I opened the box to find that it was even more beautiful in person than I had dreamed it would be. AND, as soon as I saw it my knitting plans just sort of magically fell into place. Why? it took all of two seconds to realize that this yarn would go perfectly with some matte chocolate beads I have....
• To make up one of Sivia Harding's Heart to Heart Beaded Scarves!
• All of this has made me realize that part of the problem has been that I'm trying to force my current stash into projects - and have been for a very long time. No, I can't justify buying anything new right now...but perhaps I need to stop pushing so hard, and perhaps an occasional new purchase would help.
• Also on the knitting front...On Friday night I went through all of my Interweave Knits magazines, going back to 2003. What I learned is that there are very few projects in there that I have any intent on doing....and that I should probably start purging magazines.
• At the very least, I think I'm going to go through them again and put anything and everything I *might* knit into my Ravelry queue and then box up the magazines to put them away somewhere.
• There are a few issues which really jump out at me as being laconically good, but by and large they could go away and I wouldn't miss them.
• I did find the pattern for the mitered square heart that I wanted to use at Valentine's Day for the girls...but was too lazy to go looking for. Maybe next year!
• I also found one very red cardigan that made me gasp in pleasure. I remember falling in love with it a couple of years ago when I went through Mom's IK's during a visit home...and it still speaks to me.
• Speaking of red cardigans...before I got married I had a store-bought red cabled cardi that I called my "Beth Sweater" after my boss at FAO Schwarz. Beth was a striking woman who predominately wore neutrals...except for one gorgeous red cardigan that she always wore when she needed a boost. Mine served the same purpose for me, and though it's long gone I still miss it.
• Mom always said you should wear red when it rains.
• Gram's favorite color is red.
• I digress.
• Yesterday I ran 9 miles on the treadmill - still way ahead of schedule. The great news is that I'm picking up a bit of speed, finishing in 103:40. The bad news is that for the first time my body wasn't happy when it was over. My knees were stiff all day, and still ache a bit. Also, I believe we've now hit the point where I'm just going to be exhausted for the rest of the day after the long run. Sean and I both felt like that after our long-runs/walks back in 2007, and trust me when I say that's our least favorite part of the whole process.
• Also on the exercise/healthy lifestyle front...I had a bit of a temper tantrum last week after being chastised by my trainer over the amount of sugar that had crept into my diet since we increased my daily calories. (Not with her...I waited until I got home.) The nutshell - I had an epiphany that afternoon about the roll of chocolate, coffee, and sweets in my life, and I honestly just don't know what to do about it. If I'm really, REALLY honest, my dependence on those very bad-for-you things goes to my very core, and asking me to give them up is like asking me to chop off a limb. It basically amounts to being asked to give up the one thing that has consistently given me pleasure and joy throughout my life.
• Sigh.
• The good news is that it's going to be in the mid-50's this weekend, so I can take my training outdoors! That's VERY important, and I'm looking forward to it.

Speaking of exercise, I need to leave for the gym in about ten minutes, so I had perhaps better wrap this up.

If you have a moment, go visit Kate at Needled and send some love her way. Kate is a young woman - about my age - who recently had a stroke and is in the process of recovery. For those of you familiar with the knitting world, she's also the designer behind the Owls sweater that has been so popular in the last year or so. I know Kate can use all of the support we can send her!

Have a great week everyone!