Someone Might Need a PD in New Orleans . . .

Dear Rosie's West Wingers -

I cannot make it tonight, galpals; frantically packing for New Orleans this weekend, i.e., spending all except 20 minutes sorting through needles, yarn etc., and leaving the clothes until I'm ready to start the car.) Clothing, let alone CLEAN clothing, are never a priority for Decadence in NOLA.

Am planning on visiting the "Oh my no, we only sell Italian and European yarns" yarn shop on Jackson Square. Packing 2 skeins of Red Heart and jamming it in one of their bins. Asked the woman what about short-rowing socks, and her response was "we dont short row here." Something tells me she didnt knit here either.

ANYWAY, enough of the TOYS talk. (Trash other Yarns Stores). Hope you've a good weekend. I still looking for work, so PLEASE if ANYTHING comes up, let me know.

Eddie

P.S. Did any of you catch the article describing the 8 year captivity of the Austrian girl? In those 8 years, one of the few things her captor allowed her was a knitting book, and she taught herself to knit.
Im sorry, but she wins in the category "Where and when did YOU learn to knit.". I would have knit and worn a caftan out of Lolita and Punk . It would have taken him 6 hours and he would have gladly let me go home.

Love you all like my Leaky Levees,

Eddie

Just thought I'd share that with everyone - I certainly got a good tee hee.

And, Jennie, Lisa and Katia - winners of Ben on a Bench - your stitchmarkers are on the way! I dropped them in the mail this morning, and hopefully, they will arrive in one piece.

Ashes, Ashes, All Fall Down

I confess! I cast on! I couldn't take it any more. After the 32nd repeat on Print o the Wave, the Sarcelle pattern sitting in front of my face, my Black Bunny yarn burning a hole in my stash - I was weak, I caved, I FELL DOWN!!!! The race is in serious serious jeopardy.

For those of you who follow the podcast (and I hope you all do because we're kind of funny), Knitty D and I are hosting
showcasing the handspun/handdyed yarns of Black Bunny Fibers. Unlike your usual knit-a-long, this is more of a yarn-a-long - you can knit anything you like, but in Black Bunny. Anyone who finishes a Black Bunny project becomes eligible for the grandprize drawing, a Black Bunny t-shirt, tote, and hmmm . . .maybe some yarn. Anyway, after creating the blog, watching others post their Bunny, it was just all Bunny Bunny Bunny, and I was just too jealous not to give in to the cast on temptation. I mean, who could resist this laceweight skein aptly named tree?

And Sarcelle - everyone must knit this. At first glance, the chart looks a bit challenging, but it's actually very easy,and completely addictive.
If it weren't for that silly thing called work, I wouldn't have been able to put it down. Scroll down to the last post for a link to the pattern. I think this pattern has the potential to be the next must-knit on the web.

And, just to complete the addiction cycle, sigh, I bought yarn. I had too - it fit in to one of my oath exceptions - if I didn't buy this Koigu, which just arrived in a brand new shipment at Rosie's, I truly wouldn't have been able to sleep at night --I mean, just look at it!!!!

This is the new Koigu, the feltable Koigu. It's the same as the KPPPM, 100% merino, same gauge, however, it's not treated to be a superwash, so it felts. And, it comes in 100 g/360 yard skeins ($24). I have no intention of felting this, I think I'm going to make Charlotte's Web, without that crap fringe on the bottom.

And, in other news, my Ben on a Bench is a finalist in the Amazing Lace, I wouldn't want to be tacky and beg everyone to go over there and vote for me . . . but, um, there is a skein of laceweight cashmere in the mix . . .

Betsy Meet Icarus

Welcome to the Betsy Ross house, and my just past the halfway mark! Icarus was definitely a sweat. Between the hole, and the running out of yarn, I suffered through my first major panting, wheezing, running out of gas attack. But, all is well, and Icarus is, if I do say so myself, lovely.

For those of you who haven't been to the Betsy Ross House, I suggest you try to run down there before Labor Day because all summer long professional spinners have been doing demonstrations on their wheels in and outside the house (I think inside, I'm not sure). While I have only "virtually" been to the House this summer, I met this woman at Dmitri's after knitting circle one night, who had first been an apprentice spinner, and now is a full-fledged spinner - she invited me to find her in the park, and she would show off her favorite wheel(I think a Lendrum, but it's a bit of a wine haze around my brain from that night). There's still a bit of time left before Labor Day and I head to the Cape, so I may just get down there yet.

Also in the area, as Martha pointed out in a comment to the Guess a Ben post, Ben Franklin's grave site is around the corner - so bring your pennies, make a wish - and toss it on Ben's grave. Yes, we Philadelphians are a strange bunch, throwing pennies on graves and making a wish. The penny is big in Philly - I can't tell you how many penny wishes I made after rubbing the nose of the boar statute in the now closed Strawbridges. The boar never failed me. And, if you're curious to see how pennies are made, you can go a few blocks south and visit the Franklin Mint. There's a quicky walkthrough, self-guided tour, and you can stay and watch pennies being pressed all day long. And, of course, there's the statue of Ben's head, cast in pennies.

And, to make your homage to Ben complete, you can also visit, steps away from the Betsy Ross House, Ben's former residence - well what's left of it. You can look into a gravelike pit and see the original foundation of the house, and of course, there's a museum of Ben memorabilia. It was at this museum that as I child I discovered my love of the telephone. There's a room filled with telephones, and you dial a number, and the next thing you know, a signer of the Declaration of Independence is chatting your ear off, and giving you a little soundbite of history.

So, after the mad dash that was Icarus, and the fact that I have finished four, count 'em 4 projects in 20 days, I decided to slow things down a bit, toss aside my nearly complete niece's cardigan (uch, it's cotton, I just don't want to knit it, I know, I know, there's only a sleeve to go, and I knit the rest in, as my clients would say, like a minute), and resume Eunny Jang's Print o' the Wave Stole, in the oh so yummy Handmaiden Sea Silk.
You can't really tell from this picture how long it is, but it's definitely getting there. I've abandoned any idea of grafting, and have just decided to knit straight through - I'm 24 repeats into the 34 repeat pattern. Then, there's the edging. I'm knitting at the rate of one repeat (12 rows) per hour long t.v. show, so if it rains this weekend, I'm in good shape.
I have a wedding September 9, and I would love to wrap myself in Sea Silk at the Society Hill Hotel.

And after Print o' the Wave? Well, the Koigu Socks are basically done now - I have perhaps 8 decrease rounds left. I'm not a big fan of how the yarn pooled, what I've been calling the lightening bolt, but they are comfy, and will be a treat in front of the t.v. this winter while I have my heart broken by the Eagles again.

Having made an executive decision to finish the stole as opposed to the 90% done caridgan, there's no way I'm going to finish Jaywalkers by the end of August. Which is, frankly, ok, because I'm inclined to rip it out even though I'm already half way through the first heel flap. I making them for someone with a skinny leg/small foot, but I think they're just too small. I'm knitting them, as you may recall, in Anne on zero's. I love the fabric, but I should have cast on for the larger size. Sigh. I think they're coming out. But, that's ok, its not just finishing the race that matters - but how the race was run.

And what's next . . . what will I cast on once the freeze is over, and the race is run . . . THIS!!!!! . Sarcelle, written by Kristen Geraci , co-blogger with Cookie, authoress of Pomatomos, is knit on the bias, much like the Clap, with a charted repeat involving dropped yarnovers and something that goes like this, picking up the dropped yarnovers from below, and knitting into them. Well, I've never done that before - and I can't wait to try it. The original Sarcelle was knit in cobweb weight Filati Orghati Merino Oro, the seemlingly preferred yarn of choice over at See Eunny Knit. While I do want to try this light as a feather stuff, I'm going to go with, what else, Anne - and there are suggestions in the pattern if you choose to pick a laceweight or a fingering weight yarn.

And, of course, not to be forgotten - I'll be casting on in Black Bunny, Knitty D and the City's Black Bunny Hop ... more on that tomorrow!

Amazing Lace - Ben on a Bench

Ben on a Bench (not in a grave, yucko . . .)






So, I guess I'll be making quite a few stitchmarkers! For those clever knitters who left me a comment, and guessed Ben Franklin (yes, even you, Martha - it really wasn't too farfetched of you to think I might go lying on Ben's grave . . .), email me a mailing address, and I'll try to get those out to you. Thanks to everyone who played along!

And, tomorrow, more on my own Amazing August Race . . .

Amazing Lace - Challenge 5

Ben on a Bench-

Picture to come . . .

[Aren't you intrigued - Ben on a Bench - doesn't that sound sexy? Unfortunately, I left my camera in Knitty D's car!!!! - Can you guess my Celebrity Model Challenge - the proud wearer of the finished, yes, finished, Icarus?- Leave me a comment with your guess, and the person with the correct answer will win a set of handmade stitchmarkers by moi - yes, I had to do something crafty if I wasn't casting on! If there is more than one correct answer, I'll have a random drawing]

Emergency Pit Crew Needed

First, I slashed a hole in Icarus completing an Amazing Lace Challenge (yes, I'm quite sure that I popped the hole in the yarn over column when I shoved it in the toilet paper holder), and now, NOW - I'VE RUN OUT OF YARN. I finished Chart 5, and have knit one row of the 8 row edging - and I have yarn left for maybe one more row. I am so f!#($!!@! I know, it's Zephyr, and it's a fairly standard color, lilac, but I also know that Christina purchased most of what was left of the cone at Rosie's for her North Sea Shawl. I'm off to Rosie's at lunch, and hopefully, I'll be able to gas up, rev up, and finish this damn thing. But, if they're out, I'm going to have to sit back and wait for Christina to finish the North Sea Shawl, and hope that Maggie doesn't eat what's left of her pretty lilac.

Sigh. And, Icarus has been a strangley stressful knit - aside from the hole, and the yarn shortage. For a good deal of Chart 4 and Chart 5, the wrongside row is 12 purl stitches, followed by a lone knit stitch. I found myself counting to 12 over and over again. A friend of mine was up at the prison last week, and her client kept rambling on about how he didn't want no 12 man, I don't want no 12 man. No 12 man, he kept saying. What? And then she realized he was talking about a jury, a 12 man. So, as I did my 12 stitch count, each stitch became a face in a box, and I started reminiscing about past jury trials - but not trials I won, trials I lost, and the things that haunt me still that I could have done differently. Icarus is no longer a pretty butterfly for me, but rather that boy who flew too close to the sun, and melted his wings right off his back, crashing to the sea.

So, there are 13 days left in August - and following Icarus (because I will know Icarus' fate after lunch, one way or another), there are 2.5 projects left to go. I pull out the Koigu socks on public transportation, and they're about a half hour away from completion (of course, I will have to pull up the Knitty photo demo of grafting once again, and slowly, stitch by stitch, follow the directions that simply escape me if I'm not looking at the pictures). My niece's cardigan has a sleeve, and then it has to be sewn together, and the ruffle knit on. And, I'm knitting the heel flap of one of my Jaywalkers. I feel victory within my grasp!

And, in honor of my impending triumph - I'm going to have a contest - I haven't figured out quite what that contest will be, but stay tuned . . . more to come!

Downtown to Chinatown!

After a minor surgical intervention to repair a few dropped stitches, Ella was finished in a snap. I don't even have a cramp in my side, not a charley horse in sight. I feel great as I watch the weight drop off my needles. I may even do a few laps around Chinatown's Friendship Gate, for I am in quite the mood for a little happy dance. Or maybe, it's time to stop by Christina's favorite restaurant, the Lakeside Diner, home of the fifty cent pork bun. Actually, I don't know how much a pork bun costs there, but I don't remember ever forking over more than 10 bucks for dinner.

The courthouse borders Chinatown, and you would think that I would eat there often. But, there's only so much moo shoo I can chew, and I can more likely than not be found chowing down at the Reading Terminal Market. The Amish griddle up a sweet stack of hot cakes, not to mention the apple cobbler, homemade soft pretzels washed in hot butter, and . . . don't even bothering counting up those WW points.


The original Ella was knit in Handmaiden's Lady Godiva, which might be a worsted weight, I'm not sure - knit at 5 stitches to the inch on 10's. As soon as I saw the pattern, Koigu immediately came to mind (when does Koigu not immediately come to mind, eh?). Knit on 7's, I wasn't quite at 5/inch, but I think it worked out just fine. I used my mill ends from Maryland Sheep and Wool, and changed from skein to skein somewhat randomly. Once I had picked a colorway, I just kept it symmetrical on both sides, and knit on!

And, now that I've raced on, I've found myself reflecting on what I've accomplished - specifically, I've mentally revisited Clapotis. When you think of athletics, and a workout, it's usually in terms of "did you have a good run?" "did you have a good swim?" In knitting, I've never really thought, "did you have a good knit?" but, that question is apropos of this project - because I did not have a good knit - I had a rather dull, uninspired knit, fraught with stops and starts - once that first stitch was dropped, it was all over but the binding off, as far as I was concerned. It did get kind of exciting at the end, however, as I found myself quickly running short on yarn - it was a nailbiter to the last decrease - I finished up with maybe a yard to spare. In those last furious fastpaced minutes, I had visions of having to rip it out, take out that extra repeat, and NO IT CAN'T BE - knitting it again. Thankfully, I was spared that horror - because as beautiful as the finished Clappy turned out to be, I just don't think I can knit this again -

And Ella . . . I had a vision in my head about how the Koigu would look in that tile stitch, and how the multiple colorways were going to come together - once my vision was realized - I had knit the back, and one full side, I put it away - the thrill was over, the vision complete. But, I am just so glad I finished this. It's really one of my favorite projects ever, and I know I'm going to be tossing this around my denim jacket this fall.

And now, yes, it's time for Icarus, poor neglected Amazing Lace Icarus. After working on it yesterday and today, and putting charts 2 and 3 to bed, I found - GASP! - a hole! Not a missed yarnover, not a messed up stitch - a HOLE!! I must have snagged it on something. Luckily, it's not in the center of the shawl, but towards the top, where my hair will fall, and it's in a yarnover section, so I was kind of able to mend it. After the initial heartattack, and the fear of throwing the "w"hole thing into the garbage, I'm happy to just have it fixed - I think. In the end, I'll still see it, and this project may end up in the gift pile. We'll see.

The race moves on - I should finish Icarus, at this pace, midweek - unless of course, I slip on a pork bun.

And, the race is on! I've filled up my water bottle, laced up my sneaks, and I've hit the ground running (and it's been less of a sweat since I got my air conditioner fixed!)

The race began at Washington Square, a very good place to start, since since it's home to my first job out of college.
Washington Square, burying ground of Philadelphia's Unknown Soldier, is home to Philadelphia's medical publishing industry - Lippincott, Saunders, Elsevier (which I think was bought out by Saunders) all border the square. At $18,000 a year, a swell title, "editorial assistant," and swanky place to go to work every day, The Curtis Center, I thought I was on my way. Besides being the site of my first paycheck, The Curtis Center is also the showplace of Maxfield Parrish's 15 x 49 ft Dream Garden . If the Dream Garden looks familiar, and you haven't visited Philly, that's probably because in the movie the Sixth Sense, Bruce Willis's character meets his wife at a bar, and the backdrop to the bar was the Dream Garden. Anyway, my dreams of moving to New York and becoming the most fabulous literary agent of our times lost steam as I pieced together text and pictures of gum disease, elephant feces, and intestinal blockage (I worked for the dental/vet/internal medicine editor), and after a mostly drunken, hazy weekend on Georgetown's campus, I decided to go to law school.

With Tulip off the needles, I dashed to my next destination, the Clap at the Liberty Bell. The Liberty Bell is about 2 blocks away from Washington Square, so I didn't even have to work up much of a sweat before Clappy was bound off and blocked. As soon as I pulled the pins out of Tulip (which, I guess because it's cotton, took nearly 2 days to completely dry), I tacked down Clappy.

Clearly, the batteries are dying on my digital, because focusing was definitely an issue this morning, and it had nothing to do with the pitcher of Sangria I split with my mom in Atlantic City last night after a lovely day on the beach.

Unfortunately, on the train ride down, I stumbled on Ella, dropping a stitch in a crucial spot, and requiring some expert diagnosing and doctoring before I sigh, rip back. Even with this small pothole delay, I feel I will hit Chinatown, and completion of Ella this weekend. At this pace, 10 days into August, and 2 projects in the can, I think finishing the race is a real possibility.

Race update to come, and, if upon request, I have no problem submitting to chemical testing along the way.

Happy Bloggaversary to Me!

Yes my friends, my blog is one year old today. I would have a cake, and eat it too, but I'm heading to the beach for the day tomorrow, and one less piece of cake certainly can't hurt.

Once upon a time, I actually put pen to paper, and kept an actual journal - in the beginning, it was definitely a diary - "Dear Diary, I sat next to Cindy at lunch today. We both had peanut butter sandwiches." (circa first grade). Sometimes, it was a whinefest (I can't believe how fat I am - did I really have to eat that Pat's Cheesesteak, the cheese fries, and the icecream sundae??). Other times, it was just a scratchpad of things to do (remember laundry, or no underwear!). Many a resolution was broken (this is the last time, I swear I will never drink again!), along with a broken heart or two (I can't believe he dumped me again!). Each year, the buying of the journal was a ritual - as if the quality of the book would somehow improve the quality of the writing. But, my writing was self-indulgent, and not always helpful. A small depression could last for days as I dwelled on it entry after entry, in long wordy prose, adjective laden, and morose. A crush could last longer than a heartbeat, and die an absurdly long death, as I examined every angle, tortured every minute comment or glance that would be thrown my way. At some point, I began to ponder who my audience was - who am I complaining to? And, it occurred to me that my journal was really a letter to the person I was becoming, and would eventually become.

Now, I have tossed aside the paper journal - too many resolutions broken? too much advice from the past Wendy to future Wendy unheeded? Or perhaps, my incessant obsession with myself, and myself only had finally just become too damn boring.

Then, I started blogging. It never occurred to me that it was anything other than a whim, and that it would completely supplant the journal that I had kept since I was old enough to write. I was reading Rosie's blog one day, and I noticed the little flag in the corner that said, get your own. Huh . . . I could do this . . . and since then, blogging has become almost as big an obsession as knitting. From learning HTML, to discoverying the immense/supportive/equally as crazy online knitting community -- it's become part of my daily routine, as natural as picking up my pointy sticks, and often, more satisfying.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who has been reading the ol' girl for a year. I love your comments -- it makes my knitting more fullfilling when it becomes interactive. The other day, I was walking down the street, and this woman grabbed my hand. My first reaction was to jerk away - but she said, don't be scared, I just wanted to tell you what a great lawyer you are, you're just great, she gushed, I was one of your jurors on the La Salle case. I was tickled, of course. And, I'm equally as tickled when anyone leaves a comment - I've gone from writing to a future Wendy, a complete stranger, to a a new group of cyberfriends who are less strange, less uncertain - since we all share the same passions in the here and now, and, thankfully, a whole universe of yarn!

And, to kick off the new blog year, I'll be posting pics, hopefully tonight, of the first 2 legs of the Happiness Happens Here Half of a Half Marathon. I took Tulip off the blocking board this morning, and replaced it with the finally finished Clappy - and, just perhaps, I'll have a cocktail in celebration of my bloggaversary at the pool tonight - just a thought . . .

More Thoughts on Castonitis

I bet Joe Queenan didn't know he is really a knitter.

In his essay in Sunday's New York Time's Book Review Section, Why I can't Stop Starting Books, he shares with readers his lifelong obsession with starting books, with 27 books currently on his nightstand. Dispelling the notion that his addiction stems from a short attention span, on the contrary, he insists "the opposite is true. I do not stop reading books because I lose interest in them; if anything, I have too long an attention span, one that allows me to read dozens of books simultaneously without losing interest in any of them. Moreover, I have an excellent memory that allows me to suspend reading, pick up a book six months later, and not miss a beat. A chess player once told me that a good memory is a cheap trick that creates a deceptive aura of intelligence around an otherwise ordinary intellect. This is true." And, I think that that's true of my knitting castonitis.

And, like me, Joe tried to beat his habit. In June, he tried to go cold turkey, and whittle down his reading list to 10 BIP (books in progress). However, it didn't take long for him to cave, because, "No matter how good the book I am currently reading may be — the “Aeneid,” “War and Peace,” Bill Bennett on Texas Hold-Em — I am always ready to drop everything and start reading a 39-year-old book about Dien Bien Phu." And, while my August resolve is still strong, I can envision a moment where I would drop all pretentions, and cast on a new project in Koigu, if a new skein were to arrive at Rosie's that not only caught my eye, but stole my imagination.

I don't lose interest in projects unless they are bad, I simply crave starting new ones because, as Joe puts it, "I used to think that I kept stopping and starting books because I could never find the right one. Untrue. All these books are the right one . . Starting books always makes me feel that a long-awaited voyage has already begun; that while it may take five years to finish Boswell’s “Life of Johnson” or “Remembrance of Things Past,” these are no longer dimly envisioned projects like learning to play the accordion or fly a helicopter, but in some way a real part of my life."

Each project I pick, is indeed the right one, at that time in my life. And, putting it down, grabbing needles, and casting on another project, is simply my desire to take that "long awaited vogage" - to see how a yarn with knit up in a particular pattern, to see how an envisioned project begins to take shape - and is that so bad?

“I’m already reading 25 other books, so why am I buying this one?” Joe asked a friend. “Do you think this is a disease?”

“Yes,” interjected the cashier. “But it’s a good disease to have.”

Yep, castonitis is a good disease to have.

Challenge 5 - Where's Icarus???

It is so hot in my house without airconditioning, that when I got home last night after knitting circle, and sat on my plastic toilet that had been baking all day, I totally burned my ass. Just thought I'd share that.

In my Happiness Happens Here Marathon, my first priority should have been to get my central air fixed, but instead, it was to knit Tulip, the first leg of the half of the half. As you can see, I've hit the ground running. I'm making good time, and hopefully, I'll be able to keep up this fast pace that I've established.

And, 2 days into my No Yarn Buying Pledge, I had my first real challenge last night - surrounded by Anne, Handmaiden Sea Silk, Claudia, all of my friends - I lived up to my oath, and not only did I manage to sit in Rosie's for nearly 3 hours without buying anything, I didn't even touch anything. I just knit.

Tulip is knit on 5's (the pattern calls for 7's, 5/inch), in the round from the bottom until the armholes. At the armhole, the front and back are separated, and the armhole/neckline shaping takes place in reverse stockinette. The yarn is cotton, Katia Jamaica, and while I love the colors, I'm not loving knitting with cotton. This is the first of 2 projects I have on my August Happiness list in cotton, and I'm really not looking forward to finishing the next, a cardigan for my niece in Classic Elite Premiere (luckily, I only have a sleeve, and a ruffle to go). Both the Jamaica and the Premiere are soft, but they are so easily splittable, and while you can't see them in the picture above, there are a few bitched up stitches that are really bothering me where the yarn split, and I didn't catch it.

Tulip is designed by Lisa Shobhana Mason, who, coincidentally, taught me how to knit. I started knitting about four years ago. I had just broken up with a bad boyfriend (bad = had family in another state that he neglected to tell me about, got engaged to his babymom when he knocked her up again, and got married in front of my face in the courthouse by a Judge who knew us as a couple), and wanted to make some new women friends. Making friends had always been easy - in college, you have an entire dorm full, and then there's interaction in class, at parties, etc. Then, I graduated, and started a new job, in publishing, a mecca for recent graduates who needed started jobs. Law school, again, a whole sea of people suffering under similar circumstances. But, once I was in a job for five or so years, and had squirreled myself away with a boyfriend for a year, it just wasn't so easy. At that time, Rosie's,which back then was Sophie's, was teaching classes at night through Temple. I went through a string of Temple nondegree, fun night classes. I took sushi making - and the only man in the class of 10 people happened to be another former bad boyfriend (bad=still married, although separated, lying and saying divorced), who at least took me aside after the first class and apologized over and over again about how bad he had been. Then, I took mosaic making with my friend Ellen. I mosaiced a bread basket I picked up at a thrift store, she did a mirror - neither of us could even carry our project to and from class by the end of the six weeks, so it never even got grouted. We did have quite a few margarita's at Copa following class, however, and Ellen nearly picked up a DUI on her bicycle (I convinced her a cab would be a much better idea after she fell off the bike 3 times after just trying to get on). So, knitting was my last ditch effort at a hobby, and making new friends. And, apparently, it worked.

Anyway, Lisa Mason was my teacher, and I got sucked in. If you're interested in knitting Tulip, you can buy the pattern here, and in more exciting news, Lisa has her first book being published in September, and you can preorder your copy here.

Next up is finishing the Clap - this heat better break, because I have no desire to sit with wool on my lap, in my underwear in front of the t.v. with my fan blowing hot air around the room. But, I remain committed to the race, and knit onward I will.

I checked out the Sock Wars site last night - and there are over 200 knitters signed up. Good luck to the warriors - I will enjoy watching from the sidelines.

And, the course is set for the Happiness Happens Half of a Half Marathon!



It's challenging, friends, definitely an uphill battle. Luckily, I think there's a Rita's Waterice on every corner - this is certainly no weather in which to work up a sweat.

Tulip is well underway, and then I pass the baton to the Clap. I'm oh so close to the decrease rows on the Clap, so it should be smooth sailing into Ella, which is also already near completion. The remainder of the course, however, is rocky, with many pitfalls - lace, i-cords, ruffles,tiny needles. I can easily see myself getting dehydrated, falling behind, stumbling. It will be quite the challenge, but I think I'm up for it!

And, I'm well into Day 1 - and I haven't cast-on yet.