I can sneak this in just before the contest deadline, Lucia.

Me. Knitting in Public. Lunch Today. Padanaram Village Cafe. Dartmouth, MA

Can you stand another post about my adventures at the Y? It’s not that it’s such a huge part of my life that I feel the need to talk about it again and again, but I do have some more observances to share with you. Plus, I’m really grooving on the encouragement I’m getting from everyone!

Observations from the Y:

~It cracks me up that people circle the parking lot searching for a spot by the door. They are there to exercise and yet they won’t park a few extra steps away. I know it’s cold, but c’mon!

~I love that working hard makes your skin practically glow. I’m not talking about that red-in-the-face-and-neck thing that I get but rather that faintly pink tinge that your skin takes on when you’re exercising.

~I think food commercials should be blacked out on the televisions at the gym. I really don’t want to see the latest crunchy-cheesy-gooey-concoction from Taco Bell while I’m there. Ya know?

~I have to be careful about getting too “into” the music on my iPod. I’ve caught myself tapping my hands to the music and that’s okay. But I’ve been tempted to throw my hands up in the air on a few occasions. And sometimes the lyrics hit me just right and my emotions just well right up and my eyes fill with tears. It would be downright embarrassing to cry while working out, people. And it would be even more embarrassing if people knew that the song that most frequently causes this emotional reaction is the theme from “St. Elmo’s Fire.” Geez, I’m pathetic.

I know there were other things I wanted to tell you but I’ll save those for another post. Right now, I’m too tired to think about exercising. I think I’ll go snuggle with Mason instead.

Christine isn’t the only one knitting Jaywalkers these days. I have been, too. And mine are finished, too.

These aren’t actually mine, though, they are for my stepdaughter Jessica. And Jessica has teeny feet. In fact, they are a whole inch and one half shorter than mine and that makes for a fast knit. And Jaywalkers fit her feet perfectly.

Aren’t they lovely? The yarn is Socks That Rock, of course. And I’ve finally made peace with the pooling. To the point that I actually look forward to seeing what it will do.

I just think it’s wicked cool to watch the yarn colors line up and break up and change. I’m not sure what it says about me that I’m entertained by this simple thing. But I do know I’m in excellent company.

My weekend was good in a bunch of ways – most of them even fun. I started on a new pattern of Kristi’s that I’m test knitting for her. We had a romantic dinner out. We went to see The Queen and did a little shopping. All of that was fun.

The one thing that we did that was not so fun (because it’s more of an obligation, I suppose) was attend the annual meeting of the New England Brigade. And it’s not that it’s a bad time it’s just a long day and some of it is rather boring. Sadly, I was reelected as Clerk. Why is this sad, you ask? Because the clerk has to take minutes. It’s hard to take minutes and knit at the same time. There was one thing about the meeting that was really fun. I bumped into a fellow knit blogger.

I had Dale snap this photo of both of us wearing our Fetching mitts. I’ll send a skein of sock yarn to the first person who identifies the other blogger.

ETA: And that person is Jessalu who correctly guessed that the hands wearing the other set of mitts belong to Betty. Thanks for playing along everyone!

4 ° this morning. Brrrrrrrr.

Kat wants to see your desktop wallpaper. This is mine:

Anyone recognize it? I took it when I received the “Margene Treatment” last June and it’s been my wallpaper ever since. It brings back such fabulous memories of that trip. I got to make new friends and eat new foods and see new things. I look at it every day and it makes me smile.

So. What’s your wallpaper?

I thought it was time I update you on my progress towards 100 Miles by April 1st. And since it’s Walk With Me Wednesday, well, what better time?

As you know, I walk at the local YMCA. I really love it but there’s a teeny problem when it comes to the blog – I’m not exactly comfortable taking pictures at the gym. Judy has suggested that the photo opportunities are many – and she’s right – but still. I know I wouldn’t want someone snapping a picture of me while I’m huffing and puffing on the treadmill so I’m assuming that no one else would want that either. Nevertheless, I’ll do just about anything for this here blog.

yes, it’s a crappy photo. I was being stealth.

That’s what my Y looks like on an average afternoon. There’s about 15 treadmills, 15 elliptical machines, 10 stationary bikes and a whole bunch of strength training machines in the back. Plus televisions. It’s really pretty nice and when it’s crowded, as it often is in the afternoon, the people-watching is great.

There are the beautiful people. You know the ones. They’re skinny and pretty and you wonder what the hell they are doing there. There are the athletic ones. They’re very serious about the whole thing and they sweat a lot. There are the regulars. They are the ones that are there every time I go, no matter what day it is and no matter what time it is. And then there’s the rest of us. Just your basic slobs trying to fit some exercise into the daily routine. Sometimes there’s even someone there fatter than me. I keep a little tally of that, you know.

And the funny thing is that even with all those people there, and there’s almost always someone there I know since this Y is right in my town, no one really talks to each other or looks at each other. Eye contact is a very rare thing at the gym, I’m finding. People walk towards the machines without looking around. They get on the machines and they face forward (sort of reminds me of being in an elevator) and they just do their work-out and mind their business. Oh, there’s the sideways glance to the machine on your left and the machine on your right, just to see if you’re working harder/stronger/better than the person next to you, but for the most part everyone is sort of in their zone.

I suppose the prolific use of headphones accounts for much of this. Everyone there, young, old, athletic, skinny, fat, whatever – they are all wearing headphones. Only the coolest of us have iPods, though. And let’s face it, the iPod is my biggest motivator. I walk faster and push myself harder when certain songs come on. I find that the ones that motivate me vary from day to day but I almost always start with “Alberta Bound” by Gordon Lightfoot and somewhere in the mix will always be “I’m Gonne Be (500 Miles)” by the Proclaimers. Just in honor of the whole Runagogo.

So that’s what my walk look like, feels like, and sounds like. And when I’m there I feel like you’re all there with me, cheering me on!

While certainly not as exciting as finding a lost hiker, the astute among you will understand that the title of this post signifies the return of the lost mittens. Can I get a woo? And while we’re at it, how about a hoo?

The credit for the find is two-fold. Vicki suggested looking under the seats of the car. I had already done that, but I had only looked in the Jeep. Dale, always my hero, looked in the Suburban, and there they were, crammed between the two front seats.

And just in time, too, since we actually had a teeny bit of snow on Monday morning.

The return of the mittens meant really only one thing, though.

Now I shall have some pie. Chocolate cream pie, in fact, to match the mittens.

Mmmmmmm.

This just in: He’s been found! Thanks to Chris for this link to the news article! Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers. Keep them coming for his recovery.

ETA: I just got an email from my good friend, Kim. Her daughter’s fiance went hiking this weekend in Franconia Notch and he is missing. She is asking for our prayers that he be found safe and sound. I know you’ll all do what you can to honor her request. Thanks.

My love for spinning is constant but my actual spinning time comes in spurts. I’ll go for weeks and hardly spin at all and then I’ll spin like a mad woman for days and days. The longer I go without spinning, though, the more I yearn for it. So, Saturday afternoon when I found myself with some free time, I sat down to spin. However, I quickly ran out of pre-drafted fiber. Damn. I find drafting to be rather boring and I don’t like having to stop and draft while I’m spinning because I feel like it interrupts my rhythm. What I like to do is pre-draft my fiber so that it’s all ready to go when I have the desire and time to spin.

So, I parked myself on the couch and proceeded to draft a whole bunch of this alpaca/wool/silk blend from Indigo Moon Farm. I started by pulling off lengths of roving about 12-15 inches long. I piled these up in my lap and boy did they warm me up!

Then I took each piece of roving and pulled it apart so that it would be ready to spin. Once it was drafted evenly I wound it up into a nice little ball of fluff. These were piled in my basket, one by one.

The time passed quickly as I had my feet up and was watching a women’s college basketball game at the same time.

Before I knew it, my fiber was drafted and my basket was full and I still had time to spin for a while. Even better, though, is that next time I want to spin, my fiber is ready.

When the temperature outside is a single digit, I don’t think there’s anything better than a fire in the wood stove.