Desert Knits Episode 15: Lots of WIPs, no FOs

It was a longer episode than I expected today! I had a lot more WIPs than I thought I did...

WIPS:

Inglenook Fibers Princess Bride Sicklebatt set is almost done! I only have part of a batt of one color left.

Roork's black Shetland fiber (I think that's who it came off of...) spun in laceweight.

Romney combing is coming along! The bag is far less stuffed than it started out being.

That sock project from last time? Yeah, still working on it. I've made it through the heel & then a couple rounds. Really not very far at all.

Breed Study:

I carded some of the Coopworth waste into a rolag & spun a little sample on my Enid Ashcroft Midge. I have 25 grams of waste rolags to send to a friend to see what she thinks of it too. More info to come in another blog post...

I carded some of the Cormo fleece and spun a little sample of that on my Enid Ashcroft Midge as well - I love it! It worked out very nicely with a very even yarn and very few neps.

Natural Dyeing:

I collected and dried Black Eyed Susan flowers for dyeing with next weekend. More info on that to come in another blog post...

Running Review:

I've been sick all week so I haven't been running at all! I'm feeling a whole heck of a lot better now, though not 100%. I'll be back to running by next weekend, though it'll be interesting to see how training goes from here. I may not run the marathon that I was planning to run. Might do one later in the year, or even wait until next year. We'll see.

MIA

im sorry, but I'll be MIA for a little while... I've been brought low by a super crazy sore throat that I'm afraid might be strep throat. There have been strep cases going around like wildfire in my area, I guess. I've not been doing much beyond trying not to swallow and sleeping!

Running Review 7/22/16

I modified my running schedule a little bit, based on long work days and the time I apparently need to sleep. I had been getting so run down and tired, trying to do everything.

Monday: Off

Tuesday: Off

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: 3 miles with Molly before work

Friday: 5am 6 mile bike ride to a coworker's house, 3.6 miles with my coworker, 6 mile bike ride home. Then a mid morning nap. Then Ty & I went out for ice cream :) And a little later we went rollerblading! 4 miles of that. Plus, there may have been a little bit of Pokemon Go-ing with the rollerblading. It was the fist time I'd been out on the little set of rollerblades that I got from the thrift store for $5.50. It was a very good find! They're fun little wheels.

Now I'm off to bed with a run planned tomorrow, after a hard night of sleeping.

New Goals, Already a Day Late AKA Wordless Thursday

Desert Knits Episode 14: Feeling Disheartened

There are only a couple weeks left for Warrior Camp! The community built in the group is a wonderful one & one that I'm proud to be part of. If you're interested in joining us (any earning some points to win some cool prizes) come find us on Ravelry! We have Advocare samples, yarn dyed by The Happy Little Dye Pot, handspun by me, a project bag or two, and more!

Blog news: I'm putting this out there into a public forum - I will be posting to the blog more frequently! I'm still figuring out a schedule, but it's going to happen. I'm not saying I'm going to try, I'm saying I will and it is going to happen. I'm thinking Romney fleece updates on Mondays, Wordless Wednesdays, Running Review Fridays, every other Sunday will have a podcast with show notes. I want to do yarn reviews, project updates, breed/fiber study posts, and a garden tour or two. I just don't think those will happen every week, so I don't know where to stick them!

WIPs:

Tour de Fleece Jenkins spin - just over 25 grams done!

The Happy Little Dye Pot basic slipped stitch ribbed sock

Romney fleece processing

FOs:

Coopworth and Romney sample cards

320 yards, 109 grams of Sport weight Coopworth

   Knit it into a pair of mittens and a headband lined with something else?

Running:

Feeling disheartened, I feel like I'm running "slower than a herd of turtles running through molasses." I feel like training is going backwards. I need to rejuvenate my love of running - I'll update you on how that goes! I'm going to revamp my running schedule too. Give myself an easier time on my long work days (10.5 hour days at work don't make for easy days to run and get all my chores done too) and I'll run harder on my shorter day and off days. 

Wordless Wednesday

And it's on a real Wednesday! Okay, just pics from here...

Running Review 7/8/16

One week closer to the marathon!

Saturday 7/2/16: Why do people not keep their dogs on leash or at heel when they're in the park where they're supposed to? Molly & I ran through about 5 miles of the trail along the river and we encountered 3 dogs who ran up on us. Luckily Molly isn't reactive or defensive of me when other dogs run up like that, but what if she were? What if she decided that the poodle who didn't listen to his owner yelling at him to come back was a threat to us? It is actually written into the local bylaws that dogs are to be on leash or at heel at all times in the parks or along the trails.

Anyways, we ran just over 7 miles in 1 hour 22 minutes. Molly was tired. I think she's getting tired of the long runs, though she still gets super happy when we go out and she follows me around all morning if she thinks it might get her a run.

Sunday 7/3/16: I did hot yoga at the gym! It was absolutely fantastic! It was super relaxing and very centering. It wasn't easy, by any means, but it was a good hard. I definitely want to do that again, maybe even more than once a week!

Monday 7/4/16: We had reduced hours at work (only 8 1/2 hours!) so I got to sleep in just a little bit. Molly and I ran 3.8 in 42 minutes.

Tuesday 7/5/16: Off day!

Wednesday 7/6/16: I felt unbeatable! Molly & I ran (and I totally exhausted her) and we did 5 miles in 51 minutes. I had a PR for 5k and fastest mile - 28:50 and 8:34, respectively.

Thursday 7/7/16: I took the day off, because Ty said he wanted to go skate by the river Friday morning! I shouldn't have taken the day off...

Friday 7/8/16: Ty & I slept in this morning and didn't go down to the river. I'm actually going to go for a quick 3 mile run with Molly as soon as I post this!

Wordless Thursday

Desert Knits Episode 13: What A Haul!

Black Sheep Gathering 2016. It was amazing! I came home with more stuff than I left with, as well as some stuff that got sent off to a friend on the other side of the country. In my episode today you get to hear about a lot of what I did, what classes I went to, what I got, and what I plan to do next year.

WIPs:

Combing grocery bag full of Coopworth
 (maybe turn the waste from combing into little felted nests for the rats?)
Inglenook Fibers Princess Bride Sicklebatts for the Arwen SAL and Princess Bride SAL
 (both SALs are technically over now, but I'm only done with half of the singles. I'll definitely be  continuing the spin on my supports!)
Jenkins Turkish TDF Shetland spin with my ebony Lark/Jay
Jenkins Turkish long term work singles on horn spindle

The Haul:

3 Romney fleeces, 1 oz of angora, grocery bag full of Cormo, grocery bag full of Coopworth, half a pillowcase full of Shetland
Chameleon Dyeworks 75/25 BFL/Tussah Silk in Lichen
FeltStudioUK 60/20/20 faux cashmere, soy silk, tencel
Enid Ashcroft "midge" in Bocote wood with a Burmese teak shaft
Jenkins horn spindle
Woodland Woodworking acorn support spindle
KCL Woods support spindle, maple burl with maple shaft

The Classes:

Color Tricks in Spinning with Janel Laidman
 (I'm not sure what to do with these samples)
Novely Yarns with Judie Overbeek
 (wall hanging sampler with the novelty yarns to come... eventually...)

Running Review 7/1/16

Yeah, okay, I skipped posting last week. But for a very good reason! I was in Eugene, Oregon for Black Sheep Gathering! I left Thursday afternoon, spent until Sunday afternoon there, and drove home. It was one of the most exhausting things I've done in a very long time, but it was definitely one of the most fun things I've done in a very long time too. But, that's not why you're here. You're here for my running review. I have to admit there isn't going to be very much to read today... even though I skipped last week's post... I also took time off running because I was so busy at BSG doing all kinds of wool and spinning and fiber things!

Anyways, on to the review.

6/18: I ran 3.25 miles in 40 minutes. It was a "stride, stretch, and sip" event where I did a run, followed by yoga, and then wine tasting! I ran with the yoga instructor and a fellow yoga student (do they call them students? aspiring yogis? yoga groupie?). It was the most relaxing run I've done in a very long time. We chatted and laughed and encouraged the other yoga student (she's used to treadmills and not running for very long). Even though I wouldn't call it a "training run" it was a heck of a lot of fun and I think that it helped to see how far I've come from a person who did not run into a person who plans errands and weekend chores around long runs. The yoga was amazing too, and definitely makes me want to include a yoga practice in my training. I am going to try the hot yoga gym one of these days...

6/19: Free yoga in the park! Sooooo... 5.25 mile run with Molly before yoga, followed by a 2.5 mile run by myself to finish it off. 7.75 miles total. Not my recommended training amount, but it got too hot. And I got too hungry.

6/20: 3.11 miles in 35 minutes with Molly. Basic run, not really much more to say about it.

6/22: 5.5 mile run in 1 hour with Molly. We almost got run over in a crosswalk on our way home. It wasn't dark, we weren't dashing across traffic, we were legal. It's astonishing how many people just don't pay attention!

6/23-26: I was in Eugene, walking everywhere, realizing I wasn't drinking enough water or eating enough food, but having the best fun with sheep and alpaca and fiber and spinning and friends! Barb (a friend I ran into down there) and I did a few yoga poses every morning.

6/27-28: Lots and lots and lots of sleeping while I wasn't at work.

6/29: Finally feeling a little bit more like a human, so I started running again! 3 miles in 33 minutes with Molly.

6/30: 5.28 miles with Molly in 58 minutes. We almost got run over in a crosswalk again! This time by a big truck pulling a boat.

7/1: Off day!