Zuzu Petals

Guess what? I finished a knitted thing! I'm kinda brain dead tonight so I will put lots of pictures instead of words!

Here is my Zuzu petals pre bath. I ran out
of the brown yarn so I edged in purple.

Alex likes the smell of my new Wool wash!
 

Here is my shawl blocking. I tried to get pointy
points but I don't have a blocking matt so the pins
just kinda move however they want.

All dry and done! I basically knitted a dickey!!

 I do have one funny Daryl story. I have to set it up a little bit. About a month ago Daryl took his first school pictures at his preschool. He picked out a shirt all by himself and was really proud on picture day.
So after I saw that the picture place cashed my check two weeks ago I've been asking Daryl every day if he got his pictures. He always had an emphatic "No mom, be patient!" That is pretty funny coming from a five year old to his mom.
Daryl to Kel-I got my pictures today.
Kel- Oh good, you can tell mom!
D- I'm not telling her!
Kel-Why not buddy, you know she wants to see them.
D- I know but she just keeps bugging me about them so I don't want to tell her!

Kelly called me and told me this story and I couldn't stop laughing. I begged Kelly to bring the pictures by my office, but he wouldn't. Boo Kelly! When I picked up Daryl I asked him specifically if he got anything at school that day, so he did tell me about the pictures. Then he said, "So now you can stop asking about it MOM!"

Happy Easter! (and picture overload!)

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter yesterday and were surrounded with loved ones. It was great weather here to play outside, have an Easter egg hunt and be generally happy.
Daryl got a Minecraft sword from the Easter bunny and Alex got a big bouncy ball. They also both got new socks and some candy. Daryl actually really liked his socks, this mom was thrilled with that reaction. It could be a good plan for new underwear in the Christmas Stocking and new socks in the Easter basket. I think Jesus would want it that way! :-)
Today I took a day off of work to recover from all of the company. It was great! The boys and I slept in and played outside. While Daryl was at preschool I took Alex to his sitter's for a couple of hours and even got in a 5 mile run. What a winner of a day!
Because I'm feeling like an over achiever when Alex got home and took I nap I washed my newly plied yarn. I think that is enough for one day so goodnight everyone! I may just go to bed at 8!

Spring Flowers!

The weather in Kansas has been up and down. But the flowers are still blooming! Last Saturday I was spoiled and got to do my long run outside. It was awesome! Then it got cold and the rest of my runs have been on the treadmill. :(

 I did have a running success this  morning, I was scheduled to do six miles, I hit snooze with the intention of no miles, I got up on the second alarm and ran four. Success 4>0!!!

It has been hard to get up for my morning runs because I have a great spin going on! I have been staying up late to try and get all of my singles done. Last night I did! Then on my lunch break today I started to ply because I just couldn't wait. I think this yarn is already screaming vest!

Have a Happy Easter everyone! The manor is hosting this year so I will be busy the next two days cleaning!! Does anyone want to borrow children for a couple of days?

Take that sweater #2!

I needed my knitting mojo refilled to drag myself to the button store, find buttons and sew them to my completely done sweater. After two fantastic weekends with fun and friends I finally tackled buttons last night. I love my new cardigan, I love it a lot! I love it so much I made Kelly take a bunch of pictures of me wearing it while Alex was trapped in the high chair this morning.
Kelly doesn't like being my photographer but hey, he is the husband, this all kinda comes with the territory! I tell him without me he would just be sitting in a recliner every night watching sports, then I tell him to wipe the smile off of his FACE!

My fiber weekend has also renewed my excitement for spinning. As of last night I am two thirds of the way done with my singles for a fantastic 3 ply combo spin. The fiber is all BFL and two are from Southern Cross Fibre and one from Hello Yarn. I need to get my third bobbin started right away so I don't lose my momentum!

On Sunday I participated in my first Brew to Brew relay with our Stampede Society team. This team formed for the Bison run in October and had so much fun that this time we added tutus! Next run we decided to be more true to our team name, so we will also have tails. Brew to Brew was a blast and there was only one snaffu and it was my fault :(
Lessons learned:
1.) Look at the legs you are running before the race, just following the crowd isn't the best plan
2.) If you don't run with your phone sharpie a team mates number on your hand
3.) If you cause the team stress it is your obligation to buy the team beer ( I was ALL over this one :-)

Go Abby Go!

At the end of the day, it was still a great race, and I hope I'm not kicked out of the society for accidentally running two legs when I was only supposed to run one! I am ready for the October race!

My first Solo race is in May, so I don't know yet if I am getting any faster. But I have been pleased with my mileage thus far.
January 26.10 miles (coming out of hibernation)
February 50.15 miles (these were all treadmill miles ugh)
March 69.95 miles (finally getting some outside runs in!)

80 miles a month would be optimal for me. About 20 a week will get me to all of my personal goals. :-)

Then and Now

Sometimes, when you feel like you don't have a lot to write about you can go back just one year and be amazed by change. I think it is worse when you have two kids but I haven't noticed Alex changing a lot. He is a pretty easy kid, (starting to throw tantrums a bit), but mostly he is entertained by Daryl, the dogs and squirrels.
But as he nears 2 he has changed so much! For one he has hair, and I do believe he will surpass his brother soon in weight and probably not long after height!

One week ago today I was having a knitting weekend in Dallas, TX. That is over now and I'm glad to be home but I wish I could spend every Friday with knitters!

While I was in Dallas I cast on a little half cowl/ half shawl called Zuzu petals. It is joined in the round so you don't have the fussiness of how do you keep the shawl on but it will be longer than your normal cowl.

I hope to make real progress on it this weekend so I can make sense of what I just typed. :-)

Have a Happy Weekend everyone!