Another finished object!

I'm done with my Turtleneck Shrug! Check it out:



I really liked this pattern. It was a fairly quick project, and it's just what I need at work on those days where the air conditioning is a little too chilly. I posted another picture of it over at the Shrug Knitalong.

Winecozy

Well, I knew that the posting-every-day thing was too good to last. Since it's now been almost two weeks since I posted, I figured I'd show off my most recent finished project, Winecozy. I made it for my former boss's wedding, which was this past Saturday. Inside was a bottle of wine from a local winery, with a label personalized with the couple's names and wedding date.



This was a very economical project, since I used Red Heart Super Saver from my stash (in keeping with my yarn diet). I'm very pleased with the results. I will definitely keep this in mind for future presents.

Candy

Can it be? I've actually posted three days in a row? How unlike me! I thought that maybe I should finally get around to posting some pictures of Candy, which I completed in mid-March, but haven't shown off yet (aside from the one picture in the post about my sister's shower, and that didn't really do it justice). My husband wasn't home to take pictures, so I had to go with the headless self-portrait in the mirror.



And the timer picture of me sitting on the kitchen floor (the kitchen table is the only good surface to set the camera on).



I'm trying to get better about reporting all the details of my completed projects, so here goes. I used Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride, and I had no problem getting the correct gauge with the suggested size 7 needles. I used just under 4 skeins of Onyx and less than 1 skein of Victorian Pink. I really enjoyed making this sweater. It went by fairly quickly, and I liked the unique construction of the waist area.

Random acts of kindness

It occurred to me that my posts have been somewhat lacking in photos lately, so I thought I'd take a moment and show off some of the Random Acts of Kindness that I was lucky enough to receive from some folks over at the Knittyboard this past week. First off, from saxgirl I received...



...three issues of Runner's World magazine. As I recently revealed, in addition to being a knitter, I am also a runner (albeit a very sporadic runner as of late). I haven't read Runner's World regularly since I was in high school (my dad had a subscription), so it's nice to have a few recent issues.

Later in the same week, I received a package from urbanpagan. Inside was this extremely adorable handknit pouch.



And inside the pouch were 10 absolutely beautiful handmade stitch markers!



I also have recently received via email another RAK from soapfibergal. She sent me a gift certificate to Adagio Teas. It has been a couple weeks now, and I still haven't decided what to buy - so many choices!
So I have been feeling extremely spoiled by all the Knitty-folk. I think it's time to get some more RAKs of my own out there.

Yarn diet and other news

Well, I'm a little belated in posting this, but I decided that effective May 1, I'm officially on a yarn diet. A combination of factors led to this decision, among them the fact that finances are tight, and the realization (as I organized my stash in order to flash it in April) that I have a lot of yarn intended for specific projects that I haven't gotten around to making yet, as well as some yarn that I have new ideas about what to do with. I've decided to go six months without buying yarn. The length of time may seem a little extreme, but I'm actually looking forward to this as a challenge. I've decided that my one exception will be if I happen to run out of yarn for any of the baby gifts I'm making now and have to buy more in order to finish a project. So, until November 1, no yarn purchases!
There also is another reason why I don't think I will have too much trouble sticking to my yarn diet. My husband and I recently signed a contract to purchase our very own land, and we are going to be building a house. I'm not talking picking a design and having a house built, I'm talking actually building it ourselves (with the exception of major things, like the foundation). So, my knitting time will be greatly reduced over the summer, as we will be spending most of our free time on the house. We probably won't actually start construction until mid-June, but I'm excited already.

Ouch!

My body is very sore right now. I ran the Lincoln Half Marathon yesterday morning. You may wonder why I have not mentioned that I was going to do this. Basically, I did not train for it nearly as well as I should have (I started training about 4 weeks ago, which is about 8 weeks later than I probably should have started), and even up to the night before, I was not sure that I was going to actually run the race, and I didn't want to look like a fool if I ended up not doing it or starting and not finishing. But not only did I run it and finish it, but I ran it 8 minutes faster than my one previous half marathon. I finished in 1 hour and 44 minutes, and I finished 30th out of the 230 women in my age group. So I am pretty proud of myself. My husband also ran (it was his first half marathon) and he finished in 1 hour and 39 minutes, so I am proud of him, too!