Slept in

Yikes! I slept in until 1100am today. I haven't done that in ages. I think it's because it's been go, go, go for so long that I haven't had a minute to relax. I am on vacation from work right now so I guess my recreation of choice is to catch up on sleep. Though I did go xc-skiing 2 days in a row with a lot of breaking trail through some really deep snow. I think I will go again today to see if I can get further up the trail.
Got a surprise visit from my son and the g-kids. It was great to see them and g-kid#2 tried on Todd's new Skull gloves...too funny. She was waving bye-bye to all of us. Cute.I have been working on a Knitted Helmet Liner for Todd which I thought he could wear while dog-sledding. He thinks he will wear it for hunting, which will work too.

I am not exactly happy about the way I picked up the stitches around the face to complete the ribbing but Todd says the deer wont care. Sorry I couldn't link the pattern but it is available on Ravelry.

Merry Ho-Ho-Ho

Merry Christmas everyone. Have a safe and happy holiday.

$120 for a Tow!

Yikes! I hate to see the repair bill after having to pay $120 for a tow to the shop. There is such a back log of vehicles to be seen at the shop that I wont even get an estimate until tomorrow. Ah well, as one of my friends says "It's only money".
I hope they can repair it by tomorrow though because I need to go shopping for Christmas dinner....well Dec 27th dinner when the kids are here. I think they would like real meat instead of any vegetarian fare I happen to already have on hand. LOL!
Plus, they want my Trifle for dessert! I have already baked the Gingerbread Teddies that they have to have. They look like they seriously need to go on a diet but the kids love them.
I have started knitting some 'Silk Sleeves' for my daughter-in-law out of Drops Kid-Silk. I am using colour #05 which is 'Heather'. Very nice but with my dry hands it sort of reminds me of spiderwebs! Honestly though it is very beautiful.

Frozen solid

Well last week I said I LOVE the cold......now not so much. My little Jeep is frozen solid! It refuses to start or even turn over......worked fine on Wed. & Thurs. but by Fri. that was it! No more. I have tried to 'defrost' it by putting a space heater inside but no luck. Even tried using the hair dryer to heat up the ignition but that did not work either. That leads me to think that maybe it's more than the cold. Perhaps it is the ignition that is needing to be replaced. Will have to get it towed ?somewhere? on Monday I guess. Now I am sort of stranded. Not that I have anywhere that I have to be but I have to work on Christmas day and the stupid city bus does not run on holidays and that is so frustrating. Cab ride used to be $30 from here to work a few years ago. Wonder what it is now????
What shall I do? Well when life gives you lemons.......
KNIT!
Keep warm & happy.
p.s. finished the other stripey socks in blue

Call Me Crazy but...

I actually don't mind the cold...the wind could die down and I would be a bit happier but the sky is clear and the sun is out....beautiful! Yesterday we took the crosscut saw and an axe, with 2 sled-dogs (sled in tow) and proceeded down one of our fav xc-ski trails to remove some downed trees. The snowshoes helped a lot! Still sinking through the deep snow but it was an improvement to the other day when we were sinking up past my knees. Not too difficult considering my lack of height but still....
The wind sent fall leaves that have been hiding somewhere skittering across the snowdrifts. They looked like little mice scurrying about. Then there was a blade of curled yellow grass that was almost slithering along like a snake. Quite amusing. These weeds looked so out of place I had to take a pic.

ugh!

I feel crappy today. Took the day off work and slept until 1015! Haven't done that in ages. Lazed around all day. Had to get some fresh air so I went out and shoveled the snow drifts from the driveway......I'm sure they'll be back...it is so windy out there....sorta cold. Did my head good while I was out there but my headache seems to be lingering.
Thought I would knit all day but I finished writing Christmas cards instead. Glad to have finished!
Busy weekend ahead with Staff Xmas dinner/party and maybe roller-skating and more knitting. Happy Weekend everyone:)

Frustrated

Aaargh! I just cannot seem to find ANY pattern that is suitable for a certain 7yr old! Of course they are stipulations:.......no buying any yarn.....must use up what I have......can't be slippers because I made him some last year........would be great if it had something to do with wii or superheroes........
I started an Easy Helmet hat but realized I needed to hold two strands of yarn together. Not that I have issues with that but I just did not have enough yarn. Then I decided on a 2x2 ribbed hat but I'm not in love with it so rrrrrrrrrrip! I bought some more Garnstudio Big Fabel ( a while ago ) so I might make some mittens or some socks. It's a nice pale blue mix. I think he will like it:)
Other random thoughts: driving on Friday was horrendous, Sunday I slogged through knee deep snow to do some trail clearing so we can xc-ski and should have used the snowshoes...LOL, it took 1 1/2 hrs to get to work because of a power line down on the highway and we had to be re-routed. Oops...no cell phone so I couldn't let work know where I was.
Another thought: it was nice to know my co-workers were concerned about me:)

Alpaca from Peru

Woohoo! I am the lucky recipient of 3, count 'em, 3 balls of Alpaca straight from Peru! My friend went on a trip there and brought them back for me. She asked me what colours I liked and I said earthy...like browns, greens, deep red and that is what she got! She had a bit of trouble finding it because even though there were numerous hand knit items made of Alpaca.....the actual yarn seemed non-existent. When she asked for it they looked at her as if she had sprouted another head!
Not sure what I will knit up....any suggestions??? I think it is 4-ply. My Spanish is very limited. I did read on the label though that it is 40% Alpaca and 60% Acrilico.....which I took to be Acrylic:)

Done! Finally!

I am so happy to have finished my Stripey Socks. I chose (finally!) Garnstudio Drops Big Fabel in Green Mix. I made them slightly longer than the required size but I think that a) they will probably shrink a bit and 2) he will grow into them if they don't.
I also decided not to be OCD about whether the stripes matched or not because a) I needed to get them done in a hurry and could not be bothered to find the pattern repeat and 2) they are for a 4 1/2 year old boy who will a) probably (hopefully) not care and 2) probably lose one of them at the earliest convenience (under the bed,in the toy box...)

Decisions, Decisions

I can't quite decide what to do about Christmas this year. I usually do nothing. I'm just not that into it. If the kids are here then I will do a dinner and a few prezzies but otherwise.......
Sometimes I wish I could get 'into it' but I can't, wont, don't?!
Trying to get two knitted gifts done. Was moving right along on the Skull Gloves but now Todd is on the same shift as me and knitting secretly is getting difficult! I am not pleased with how the white shows through the black where I've carried it behind. I might be able to tweak it though. HE wont care but I do. They look cool against the guitar though:)

Time Flies

I can't believe how fast time flies (when you're having fun?). It's just been a busy week and I have had NO time at all to myself it seems. Too many things zinging around in this brain of mine to focus on any one thing for very long. AAARGH! I hate that. My attention span has been that of a two year old!
I started and finished a second pair of slippers...baby size, but for who? I wanted to get started on the socks for g-baby #1 but he has grown so much in the last while I don't dare cast on before I know how big his feet really are!
My nephew will be 3 in February and I will need to get started on a sweater for him soon. I might make it out of Diamond Tempo Yarn. It's a worsted weight wool/acrylic blend. Perfect for kids and mum's. Read: machine washable:) He is the owner of a lovely felted mat since his mum put his wool baby blanket through the washer! Aawww. She has hung onto it as a keepsake for him though.
Still working on the Skull Gloves (well not really...they are sort of hibernating) Trying to decide exactly where to put the skull as I am Improvising. Wonderful concept that involves math and thinking....LOL.
Keeping up on abs and running but push-ups have fallen to the wayside at the mo, however, my resistance bands have come out of hiding. Roller-skating tomorrow. Yay!

Slippers

Finished the slippers for my Nephew. They are so quick. I think this is my fav pattern.
Next project for g-baby #1 is a pair of socks. I bought a sock kit from The Woollen Earth a while back and still have not used it. It came with 4 balls of sock yarn, 2 solid & 2 self-striping in navy blue/gray. The kit will make 2 pairs of adult socks but I think I will do these kids socks and then see what I have left for adults.
No roller skating today:(
.......but I did my push-up, abs and a 5km run.

Roller girl

Wow. I had a fantastic time roller-skating today! I think it has been 8 or 10 years since I laced myself into a pair of roller-skates but it was worth the wait. There were 2 kids birthday parties with the usual amount of ankle biters skating around...not necessarily in the right direction, mind you. Actually, there was only one direction to go. I recall from before that at sometime during the session, an announcement would be made to change direction. Didn't happen! I don't skate all that well going the other way anyway, but I think it would have been a nice change. Near the end when all those kids were on a sugar-high from their cake and pop.....direction was pretty much free for all. They were zinging about recklessly! Just about mopped out a few of them...accidentally of course. I had so much fun, I might even go back tomorrow.....pictures to follow if I do.
Now that I have done my civic duty and voted, ate my yummy veggie curry & rice; I think I will cast on those slippers. Either that or maybe some men's fingerless gloves for Todd so that he wont be cold while playing guitar. I think they will be black with a white (or off-white) skull design. How cool is that?

Spaghetti Arms

Whoa! Spaghetti Arms. I am a bit wobbly after my push-ups today. Week 2, day 1. LOL! Sounds like I have been captured and am keeping track of the days before my release! However, I actually did 63 of those triceps-burning, shoulder straining, arm-quivering push-ups.
I decided to skip my run today because I am going Roller-skating tomorrow...Yay! I haven't done that in years. Todd & I used to go when we were first dating and somehow we just haven't lately. We used to go ice skating too but that was when there was public skating on the weekend at our end of town. We would put our skates and stuff in a backpack and ride our bikes over to the rink, skate for a while and then ride home. Once there was sufficient snow on the ground to make bike riding crazy, we would xc-ski over there. Lots of fun.
I finished my little Legwarmies. The ones on the right are for a 2yr old and the ones on the left are for a baby.

Now I think I will quickly knit up a pair of slippers for my nephew.
It's an old pattern I got from my step-mum called 'Slippers for Everybody'
I just love them because they are knit in the round and therefore no dreaded Seaming!
Of course, these pink ones were for my niece. I think I will choose a something a little different for my nephew.

Tired

Sigh. I am Tired. I have a new rule about going on the computer. I must do some sort of Fitness workout BEFORE sitting in front of the computer. I have not posted anything since Friday and just realized it sounds like I haven't worked out. Did lots over the weekend and Monday but by the time everything else was done, I had no Energy to bother with the computer. Good in a way.
Before dinner I ran 5km, did my ab workout AND day 3 of week one of my hundred push-ups program. No wonder I am tired!
Not so tired though that I didn't get in any knitting. Went to my knitting group on Sunday and attempted to catch up with everyone, untie a frustrating knot in my yarn and actually knit. We have turned into a Large group of Women Who Knit in Public...yay us! So, it was difficult to follow all the conversation.....great multi-taskers that we are aside. As for the knot....after many minutes of struggling and thoughtful suggestions from friends, I finally took my scissors and cut through the yarn, grabbed the offending mass of tangled Bernat Satin and chucked it across the coffee shop. What fun! Thanks Sarah & Barb for that great idea. Managed to finally knit some rows on my 'Leg Warmies'. I am making them purple/aran stripes. They will look so cute when I get them done. I found the pattern through Ravelry but you can also find it here.
Happy Knitting:)

Getting Fitter...?More Fit

Well I guess I should explain why I named my blog Fitter Knitter. It's not because I think I am fit or more fit than others; it's because I want to be fitter...more fit...whatever.
Anyway, that is exactly what I have been attempting. I did check out www.hundredpushups.com
and did my initial test. Sadly I could do only 13 proper form on-the-toes push-ups. Oh well, gotta start somewhere. The program shows you how to proceed from there and I did my first day of week one. Wasn't bad at all! Also did some abs.....I wonder if there is a hundredcrunches.com?
Today is an off day for the push-ups so I ran instead. Since the roads are absolute crap from the snow I decided to dust off the ol' hamster wheel.....read 'treadmill'. Did 4km. Not bad since I have not ran since Sept 13th. OMG....has it really been that long? I did take a bit of a break partly because on the 11th I slipped on the mud and went down. My right leg went waaaaaaaaay left and I twisted my back. Still feel it a bit.
Was checking out some yarn online yesterday www.elann.com They have some really lovely yarn. Lots of colours. I was especially interested in their superwash wool. Hmmm, I'd better not. Maybe once the Jeep tires are off my Visa. LOL.
Have a great weekend:)

Snow, snow, snow

It's snowing! Yay! OK, I'm sure not everyone is as ecstatic as me about this but I love it because the more it snows the better the ski trails. XC-Skiing that is.
The drive home was NOT as fun. Good thing I got my snow tires on yesterday......and no, it is NOT my fault it snowed. Lots of people did the same thing....so blame them if you are not happy.
I am debating whether to shovel the driveway while I cook dinner. Mmmmmmmmm, I can smell it already. Eggplant Scallopini Marsala. I had to do something with that eggplant. It was trying to become compost or would have shortly.
The snow will probably melt tomorrow. Maybe I wont shovel. Procrastination 101 held every Thursday at this time...LOL.
I think I will go and knit instead. Although, I am thinking about checking out http://hundredpushups.com/

Slow start

So much for being fit! I'm off to a slow start today. Walked for about 45 minutes only but at a pace to put power-walkers to shame. This was partly due to the fact that I dropped off my Jeep to get new snow tires installed and had to get to work on time. Then had to pick up said Jeep at lunch hour which is actually only half an hour. Speaking of snow....we got a sprinkling overnight and it has stayed on the ground so it is perfect weather for knitting.
I am (apathetically) knitting a pair of mitts to pair up with a hat that is already completed. One down...one to go. Having a hard time getting going on it.....maybe because it is a Commitment now. Notice how I am Blogging instead of Knitting.......LOL.
OK...no more procrastinating.....I'm off to knit!