Tag Archives: needlepoint

Spring begins

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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…

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

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.

 

 

A mixed bag

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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.

To the finish line

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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.