Spring begins

Posted on April 11, 2012 by patricia

In all, a very lazy month so far.

At the beginning of the month, I was pleased to present two book awards to students at the Toronto Science Fair.

I am always amazed at the creativity and scope of the projects the students present at the Fair.

Needlepoint: Not as much accomplished this month. The zebra canvas is now a zebra pillow that awaits its new owner.

Canvas work: Merry Mouse is progressing…slowly:

The first and second canvases are complete.

Oops, now a mistake is obvious.

Our regular weekly stitch group resumes on Friday after winter holidays for some of the members.

Half marathon training: The Chilly Half was a no go because of my ankle. After a two week rest, I finished first in my age group at the Achilles 5k, and came home with these from Harry’s Spring Runoff on Saturday.

It is now just four weeks until the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon which I am looking forward to doing with my daughter. In the meantime, the next local race is the Toronto 10k which runs straight down Yonge Street before turning and ending at Exhibition Place. Now it is a matter of fitting in the long training distances – 18k on Sunday and the regular 6k to 8k during the week.

Current reading: Two books that I have just finished reading and have really enjoyed: An Infinity of Little Hours: Five Young Men and their Trail of Faith in the Western World’s Most Austere Monastic Order by Nancy Klein Maguire. Maguire’s book chronicles the lives of five young men who enter a monastery to become Carthusian Mionks. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Stayed describes the three month solo hike along the PCT undertaken by the author.

Oh dear…

Posted on February 28, 2012 by patricia

Needlepoint: Work on the mouse is progressing nicely. Many hours of stitching last week has produced this,

this,

and this.

Half marathon training: This is my favourite week of training – the taper week before the race.This morning’s walk (the last long walk before the race) started out bright and early. Suddenly, I went flying and did this. It happened so quickly that I don’r know if I tripped over something or stepped on something that threw me off balance.

Fortunately, I was only a km from home, but, by the time I got back, my ankle had started to swell and was soon much larger and very tender. I am trying to figure out how I messed up my right ankle and scraped the outside of my left knee. My jacket took most of the jolt to my left elbow, so I must have rolled. I was moving very quickly. I don’t think I did too much damage or I wouldn’t have been able to walk home. Lots of ice and rest should look after things before Sunday. The ankle is taped and I can walk much better already, so I have high hopes.

so, it looks like I will be doing a lot of stitching for the rest of the week while my ankle heals.

It’s winter!

Posted on February 18, 2012 by patricia

Winter is here.

Point made. Now go away – please.

The last week has been very productive. The Clan Ross Canada newsletter is now history. Only one more to go, and my summer will be free of editing (the fun part), stuffing, addressing, stamping, mailing, and the odd unexpected irritation that does its best to annoy my happiness.

Knitting: The Moss Scarf has been cast on. It is knit on 3.5 mm needles in Fantastic Knitting Zephyr lace weight, 50% merino wool and 50% silk, a new fibre for me that is proving very easy to knit.

The colour, basil, is one of my favourite greens. I purchased the kit from Anne Corcoran, the designer of the scarf and the guest speaker at the January meeting of the Downtown Knit Collective.

Needlepoint: The Christmas stocking is coming along nicely.

I have put it aside until the thread I need arrives.

Several hours of work on the Christmas mouse has produced this.

Half Marathon Training: By this time two weeks from now, the Chilly Half Marathon will be over. The second last week of training is always the hardest, beginning with the 20 km walk scheduled for tomorrow morning. The remaining 26 km is spread throughout the week. Last Sunday’s 18 km was somewhat challenging until the sidewalk plows had done their work. Navigating snow and ice adds a whole new challenge to completing the distance. Tomorrow looks like it will be more of the same – see above.

Current Reading: Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James

A mixed bag

Posted on February 7, 2012 by patricia

An interesting week and a half….

The first draft of the Clan Ross Canada newsletter is complete,and ready for the final edit.

A lot of paper work completed after last week’s monthly Sigma Xi executive/ board meeting.

Knitting: The camel spin scarf is done and is ready for a good soak and blocking. The blocked Silk Whisker Ruana is now a long sweater vest..

Needlepoint: I managed a bit of stitching on the Christmas stocking, but had to stop until I picked up another thread.

A visit to Cindy’s Needleart Superbowl Sale resulted in this:

which, with the canvases, stitch guide, and several hundred hours of stitching, will become this.

I have coveted this pattern for a long time and am looking really forward to stitching it.

Half marathon training: Two Sundays ago, a sudden sharp pain on the side of my knee made finishing the long walk extremely painful (There was nowhere to catch a bus or get a ride). The concensus was that I had an IT band problem. On Monday, my knee was fine, so I rested it for a couple of days then started back training on Wednesday. Following the KISS principal, I also bought new shoes to replace the old ones which were well beyond their recommended life span and which could have been responsible for the pain. Sunday’s 19+ km was pain free. I hope the problem is solved and does not re-occur. The time is quickly approaching (less than four weeks) for the Chilly Half and I am really enjoying the longer distances.

It’s Friday

Posted on January 27, 2012 by patricia

Wednesday night was our weekly dinner date at Moxies. The rest of the week has been very quiet.

Today, I started to work on the first draft of the Winter, 2012, Clan Ross Canada newsletter which is sent to our members quarterly. I have edited the newsletter for the last six years, and this is my second-to-last issue. I have been hunting for a good photograph for the front cover.

Knitting: I have knitted the first skein of Camelspin yarn. Seventy-two stitches on 3.75 mm needles produced 40 ” (101.5 cm).

Now the project is at the stage where I knit and knit, and the scarf doesn’t look any longer. I’m determined to finish this before I cast on for another. I will probably make the scarf 60 to 70 inches in length.

Half marathon training: 6.5 km on Wednesday. For the last two days, the sidewalks have been dry, icy, slushy, wet, and slippery – a good time for two rest days.

To the finish line

Posted on January 24, 2012 by patricia

Today I decided that it was time to start finishing projects that are almost complete.

Needlepoint: A gift for my son is almost complete. A black border, a check for missing stitches, then a trip to the fabric store to buy black denim fabric to make the pillow up.

The needlepoint is a Chris and Claude design.

Knitting: I have completed knitting Ruana, a Sweaterkits design (#1212) and kit that I purchased at the Downtown Knit Collective Frolic last spring. It was knit with on 5 mm needles with four skeins of Silk Whisper. Silk Whisper is 30% silk and70% kid mohair.

First it was soaked.

Then it was wrapped in a towel to remove excess moisture, then pinned out on blocking wires.

When it is dry, I will sew up the seams.

Next, the second skein of Handmaiden Camelspin is now a yarn cake.

Half marathon training: Five km this morning which left my afternoon free to accomplish the above.

Tonight, more work on the scarf.

It’s official

Posted on January 22, 2012 by patricia

8th decade:

Yesterday, I celebrated the birthday that places me in my eighth decade. Last night, My husband, son, and I attended a traditional Burns supper and had a great time.

The meal was traditional, starting with Scotch broth soup, followed by haggis, neeps (turnips), and tatties (potatoes),

followed by Scottish steak pie and vegetables,

then desert, a clootie dumpling with custard.

Stitching: The threads have finally arrived, so I can continue working on the Christmas stocking pillow.

Knitting: I managed to complete a few more pattern repeats on the camel spin scarf, but ended up unknitting two rows this afternoon after discovering that I only had 10 stitiches to kinit instead of twelve (an excellent example of why I use stitch markers) and also an example of the perils of knitting when tired – see below.

Half marathon training: It took most of this morning to complete 16 km. Lots of ice and snow on the sidewalks meant slow walking, but fortunately the roads were mostly clear. Enough said.

Mid-week

Posted on January 18, 2012 by patricia

Somehow, I have lost the original format for the blog, but will sort it out later.

I like the look of the latest attempt at the Camel Spin Scarf.

The 3.75 mm straight needles and the tighter gauge make a big difference that is plainly visible here.

The yarn overs were catching on the joins on the circular needles, and the straight needles have less friction and solve the catching.

Todays walk was 5 km. The temperature was back to – 6 degrees, but it was sunny, and most important, the sidewalks were completely clear of ice and snow. I will add another few km to that after dinner when I go downtown for the monthly meeting of the Downtown Knit Collective. These meetings are always inspirational, and the talent of many of the knitters is awe inspiring. More on the meeting later.

The Celebration Begins

Posted on January 18, 2012 by patricia

This morning I received my first birthday card from a friend in Florida. It was funny and appropriate for my upcoming 70th birthday and it put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. This year, with parties and dinners, I will be celebrating until the end of the month. As Martha Stuart says, A good thing.” I am going to enjoy every minute.

This afternoon’s training distance was 5 km. It was very foggy, damp, and relatively warm, 25 degrees warmer than it was on Sunday. For the rest of the afternoon I worked on the Camel Spin scarf (pictures tomorrow).

Current reading: The Longest Climb: The Last Great Overland Quest by Dominic Faulkner.

Week’s end

Posted on January 15, 2012 by patricia

Another week has passed. Yesterday, my husband, son, and I took another two hour class learning Scottish country dances in preparation for the Burn’s Dinner next week. Everybody had a lot of fun and the two hours went by very quickly.

Earlier this week I cast on 111 stitches of Hand Maiden Fine Yarn Camelspin to knit a Camel Spin Scarf. Camelspin is a blend of 70% silk and 30% baby camel. The yarn is amazingly soft and is a delight to knit with. The yarn and pattern were purchased from Linda’s Craftique in Mississauga, the first stop on the Downtown Knit Collective’s Annual Bus trip in early November.

Subsequently, I have ripped out the scarf twice. The pattern is for a shawl, so it was too wide. I decreased the number of pattern repeats to get the width I wanted. The gauge on the second attempt looked to be too loose for the pattern and I have decided to use smaller needles than the 4 mm the pattern called for. I hope to cast on later today.

This morning’s walk was 16+ km in frigid – 16 degree cold. At least there wasn’t much wind and the sun was out. I envied the runners who covered the distance in half the time. I really appreciated the jacket my daughter loaned me for the winter. My legs were very red, but OK at the end of the walk. It is mid afternoon and I am still thawing out. Hopefully it will not be that cold for the Chilly half Marathon, but – I am prepared.

8th-decade

My Life…..

Author Archives: patricia