To get it right

Remember that post I made a while back about being inspired by the article that John Roderick wrote about beards? Well that night was the last time I shaved. I am totally giving this beard thing a go. I'll post a picture of how it is going at some point. It looks fine so far, and not shaving is definitely a plus. I'll see what happens when I have to get around to trimming it though.

I started another new goal last week. I decided that I was going to try to do the hundred push-up challenge over at hundredpushups.com. The goal is to be able to do 100 consecutive push-ups after doing the six week training program. I started last Wednesday, was sore Thursday but still went to softball practice, and then ended up staying sore through most of the weekend. This week has just been crazy busy, and I've mostly just been using the downtime to relax. I think I'll try to get back into it tonight. Also, I never realized how much push-ups work your abs!

Knitting has finally progressed a bit. I finished the Salto socks from Knitty! This means I'm down to 4 projects on needles. I've got a second sock, a second mitten, a scarf, and two small teddy bear pieces still. I've decided that I'm going to refrain from starting any new projects until the beginning of November. I'm going to use my birthday powers to request a gift certificate from Fiberphilia, my local yarn shop, and get started on my first ever sweater. The plan is to do something from Elizabeth Zimmerman's book Knitting Without Tears, maybe something tweedy. I'm sure I'll do some consulting with Michelle, the LYS owner, and we'll figure out something grand.

Music music music. Oh man. New track from Frontier Ruckus. New album from Mason Proper. Bound Stems album from Kevin. And currently on my ears is the latest album from Alias, who I saw open for Why? the other week. Alias is Brendon Whitney, producer and rapper, and a native Mainer. I'd enjoy his music no matter what, but I especially hold local musicians in high regard. That brings my list of Maine musicians that I know and enjoy up to three: Alias, Nat Baldwin, and Ray LaMontagne. I'm going to have to talk to some people at the radio station (I have a show! Did I tell you? 91.9 WMEB FM Orono Mondays from 10 to noon) and see what they can tell me about local music. As for non-local music, I'm going with a friend to see Minnesota singer/songwriter Mason Jennings in Boston this weekend. Should be good times.

Now that was a lot of words, so here's a picture --even though it is recycled from a previous post.

Immediate action

I feel like I've been knitting up a storm lately. I finally broke down and took some pictures this evening. First up is "Francie" from Rebekkah Kerner at Bowerbird Knits. I saw this on the Yarn Harlot blog and just had to do it myself. These knit fairly quickly and was plenty enough to keep my attention. This was my first time using bamboo needles and I think they really helped me with my gauge. I knit terribly tight, so much that when I'm using metal needles small enough I bend them. Bamboo doesn't bend though, it breaks, and I did manage to make it through without breaking a needle. A success then!




I then started another Rebekkah Kerner design, "Salto". I had been working on the Gentlemen's Socks With Lozenge Pattern from "Knitting Vintage Socks" in the Noro Kureyon Sock yarn but the purl pattern was boring me to shreds. I had been working on the one sock for months, on size zero needles, and couldn't imagine finishing the one, let alone getting through a second sock. And then there was the solution, CABLES! And "Salto" is full of them. Noro sock yarn is my favorite yarn to knit with, how it goes thick and thin, and of course the colors. I'm nearly through with the first sock, and after this many cables, I really would like to go back and knit the Koolhaas hat again now that I have a better idea of how cables work.