LOST!

Charlotte,

I love the banner! I tried to do it when we first set up the blog, but the picture I was trying to use was HUGE and made the blog look silly.

I just got back from the premiere of LOST on Waikiki Beach!! They showed the first hour, and I was able to see the cast walk the red carpet. The actor who plays Richard hopped the fence and came over to where I was standing! I'll be sure to post pictures when I get back home. Trying to download pictures to the blog is painfully slow with the internet I have here, so I'll just wait until Tuesday to post a bunch of pictures!

The LOST tour yesterday was awesome. It was a fun way to see the rest of the island and see stuff right out of the show. I have about a million pictures from that too!

Well, I must get some sleep....my mom and I are going to rent paddle boards tomorrow (should be entertaining!).

Love,

Liz

how bout them apples?

we have a banner. you like? don't ask how i did it. i don't know :) hope hawaii is still amazing. i'm preparing for 6-8 inches of snow. what the what?!

started a new project last night. pictures to follow.....

Aloha!

Aloha Charlotte!

The weather here has been beautiful....until about an hour ago when it started pouring!! We've been hanging out by the pool, walking on the beach and shopping. Tomorrow we're headed to the Polynesian Culture Center for the day, and then Friday is the LOST tour!!

I haven't been doing much knitting, but I plan on doing a little bit tonight before bed. I have, however, been doing lots of reading. I've finished 2 books already and will most likely finish a 3rd before I leave. One actually took place in Northern Vermont (Midwives by Chris Bohjalian)! I also managed to shave 7lbs off my suitcase before I left, which I thought was pretty impressive. :)

Here is a view from our balcony:

It was very windy this afternoon and there were a bunch of people kite surfing:

It sounds like your trip to Cleveland was fun! That's great you found an antique sewing machine at your grandparents! I can't believe it's snowing in Kentucky again....nuts.

Miss you! I'll post more pictures on Thursday of the Polynesian Culture Center!

Liz

p.s.

I almost forgot!!! I found an antique sewing machine (like in a table...) at my Grandparents. Hoping to sneak it into my car this summer :) New adventures....

snowing again

It's snowing again in Kentucky. Yup, Kentucky! This past week has been a little crazy- I went to Cleveland with two friends on Friday morning, which meant I skipped work and sat in a car for 8 hours! Thankfully one of the friends was from Louisville, so I picked her up on the way. We both are training for the half marathon in April, so we both also had some running to do! I got up early (dog decided to party again at about 5:30...) and ran my six miles up and down the driveway... it was muddy, but not terrible, and at 6 am it seemed like a much better idea than driving to camp and running down the main roads... it was also pretty foggy till about 6:45, so again, good choice me!

The run felt good and the dog was tired after, which was a bonus. I dropped him off at the barn for the weekend (Kate said he slept in till NINE on Saturday- she was supposed to get to work at 8 ish and thought the pups would wake her up, but she had to wake THEM up!!) and hopped on the road.

We picked up our other friend at the airport in Cleveland and went over to a shopping plaza to grab some snacks for dinner- we ended up at Trader Joe's and purchased ample snacks (brie, apples, baguette, three buck chuck, seltzer, etc) and spent the evening at the grand parent's house just catching up. It was great. I miss those ladies!! We all have child life backgrounds -the Canadian was a social work intern at St. Jude when I was there, but worked at Boggy before that and now is at Camp Ooch, in Toronto. Her boss is one of the guys I went to Africa with- smalllll creeeeeepppy camp world.

Saturday we got up and went outlet shopping- I got a sweet top at the Nike Outlet that has built in hand warmers in the sleeves. GENIUS. We also went out to a late lunch at this crazy spa resort... like literally, it was a spa that was open to everyone for meals. It was like a super cheesy Swiss Chalet- complete with fake snow hanging all over the rafters... I wish I had taken a picture!

We got back to house and nearly fell asleep.... which meant that our plans of going to Blazin' Bills, a highly entertaining local establishment, went out the window. We cracked open the wine and chatted late into the evening again.

Sunday meant another long drive... and now I'm back to the grind. Still haven't touched those Christmas thank you notes. oops!

Almost time to head home and knit- I have on sleeve left on mom's sweater... still!

Hope the land of the LOST is amazing. I miss you and am envious of the sunshine I hope you are getting and the knitting you are accomplishing- which you are required to complete as you did PACK EVERYTHING YOU OWN!! I love your inability to pack light. Amazing.

Much love.

All packed up!

Charlotte,

I'm all packed and will be heading out in about an hour! Yippee! Once Sailor saw the suitcases (yes, more than one) he started following me around the house and then sitting by the door. Unfortunately, he must stay here and keep Seth company! My overpacking has become a serious problem. I could fit everything into one suitcase, but then it would be over the 50lb limit. Not to mention my carryon bag with beach reading, knitting projects (socks, sweater, and scarf...a little much, probably), and the computer. Yikes.

I will definitely post a few times from Hawaii, and I'll make sure to take lots of pictures to share!

Off to do a few things around the house before heading up to the airport...

Love,

Liz

Some Slackline Fun

Charlotte,

What a beautiful day we had here today! It was just shy of 60 degrees and SUNNY (I can't tell you the last time we saw sun all day). We spent some time this afternoon in the muddy backyard using the slackline (or attempting to, in my case). Seth, of course, is a natural at it. Me, not so much. Note the intense look of concentration on my face:

And note Seth's relaxed demeanor:

Meanwhile Sailor was throwing his rawhide bone around the yard:


Well, I'm off to make Ginger Soy Chicken....again....per Seth's request. I'll post again before I head out tomorrow!

Love,
Liz

Sew Charlotte Sew!

Charlotte,

Sewing can be fun, but it will never replace (or even come close!) to my love of knitting and spinning. I think I will probably just dabble in sewing and stick to small projects. My initial idea of quilting might have to wait until my basic sewing skills reach a higher level! My mom (Hi Mom!) bought me a book filled with quilted projects, and I'm working on a bag from it. I also have "Weekend Sewing" by Heather Ross. My mom also bought me the "Quilting Answer Book" which is pretty handy. A good online resource is SewMamaSew. They have a few tutorials on their website and they also have many links to other tutorials. If you want to do quilting, there is a great "Quilt-A-Long" tutorial here. Do you have a quilt store any where near you? I think it's definitely a good idea to buy quality fabrics. I did try a new sewing project today that was fairly quick. It's a little lined zip pouch to put knitting supplies in (stitch markers, needles, etc):





I also finished a felted basket/bowl/thing to hold fiber or yarn. I used left overs of Malabrigo.
Tonight the plan is to swatch for a sweater I'm going to start and wind yarn that I'm taking with me to Hawaii. My plane project is going to be a pair of socks that are going to be a gift, and I'm taking the blue scarf and the newest sweater with me.

Well, off to check on the BBQ Ribs in the crockpot....the house smells like a BBQ joint (in a good way!)
Love,
Liz

oh this is going to be a problem

I was afraid to say it, but I'm getting really into the idea of sewing. I don't want to, but it's totally been on my mind lately- especially with my excessive reading of Soulemama. Can you recommend books? I'll post more later today, but I'm off to play in the Arts & Crafts room- I ordered tons of supplies before Christmas and need to get them in their places!

cb

Productive Day

Dear Charlotte,

I love your bookshelf full of yarn! It looks great! I spent the day starting to pull out summer clothes to pack, doing laundry, working on various crafts, giving the dog a much needed bath and running errands. Oh yeah, and letting the Roomba do it's thing.

First up....the newest craft:

I made a few bags for knitting projects, laundry when traveling and other fun things.

Here's the medium sized one (it's holding about 4 hanks of yarn):

I got the pattern from the book "Weekend Sewing" by Heather Ross.

Up next.....Dinner (Salmon with green beans, lemon zest, capers, and EVOO....in a fun parchement paper package-try saying that 3 times fast!)



I leave for Hawaii on Friday around 5:30pm and I have a direct (YAY!) flight to Honolulu! I just found out yesterday that ABC will be showing the season premier of LOST on Waikiki Beach (about a mile and a half from our hotel) at Sunset on January 30th! The cast will be there to "walk the red carpet" and they are going to show it on a big screen on the beach. ABC has decided to only show the first hour though. I guess to prevent things from leaking onto the internet a few days before the actual premier. I can't wait! My timing couldn't have been better!

I'll hopefully have some more yarn to show off tomorrow....I'm off to spin and watch the Biggest Loser!

Give Philo a belly rub from me!

Love,
Liz

Deep Clean

There it is! Newly organized "stash." I can now say I have a "stash" which is such a double edged sword! I totally understand how people get sucked into buying oodles more yarn even though they WANT to use up what they have.



This totally turned into a deep clean project, well beyond just organizing yarn... Which was much needed. Bags of stuff hauled off. Now if only I could get around to donating my excess clothes that I have bagged and ready to go... Oh well. Soon enough.



Came home at lunch to find my pup cuddled UNDER the covers at the house- even though I thought I had closed my door... oh well. He's too cute.

When do you leave??

Fire Marshals at the Gym...

Yup, that's right, Fire Marshals at the gym. The gym was ridiculously crowded today, and I had to use one of the fancy bikes instead of the elliptical with the fun DVD player. The bike, sadly, did not have a DVD player, nor was it hooked up to the TV. Instead I "raced" virtual bikers on a course. I was happily (okay, maybe not happily) pedaling along when the Fire Marshal and his gang started hanging out right in front of my bike. Pointing to electrical connections, power cords, and power strips. All right by my bike. It is very distracting when there are 5 people standing in front of your exercise equipment while you are sweating your butt off. Not to mention that there was obviously some sort of issue with how everything was hooked up. Eventually they left, though.

S said he's very proud of your 5 miles yesterday! I think maybe he was wishing he had only run 5 miles, instead of 20! Sailor was all sorts of crazy when he got home from running! He was running through the house rubbing himself on the walls and couch to dry off. He took a quick nap on the couch and all of a sudden jumped off the couch and started acting crazy. He was digging on his bed, jumping on our bed, and running in circles! Instead of sleeping all night, he decided he needed to go out at 3 am, and then that he needed more water sometime after that! He was growling and pushing his bowl all around the dining room! What a nut.

That's awesome that F is coming for Valentine's Day! I have a desert idea for you :) I'll e-mail it to you in case he's one of our avid readers.

Well, I must go eat lunch....but I'll leave you with a couple more pictures of the house!

Kitchen and Dining Room:

lovely, lovely

Good morning Liz!

After a beautiful night's sleep on Saturday (dog let me sleep till 10 after the obligatory wake up call at 6:30), I didn't sleep at all last night! Instead I tossed and turned and woke up craving a breakfast sandwich (which I had none of the supplies for!!). So I went out and took some pictures of this foggy morning and dragged the dog to work with me to pick up some knitting patterns I left on the printer (I'm preparing for mom's sweater to be finished so that I can get cracking on Maren's mitts!)

(The photo is the view out the front door.) In other news, not great pics, but I thought i could give you a nice shot of the dog "helping" me knitting.....

He's so classy... putting his chin on the sweater to test out it's comfiness level...

Okay, off to start the day... and figure out what to eat for breakfast!
Did I tell you that F is making another trek to Kentucky for Valentine's Day? Secretly want to start planning a rediculous menu right now... because I am that girl..

When do you leave for Hawaii? How envious am I of you!?
Love, Charlotte

Crafty Corner

Charlotte,

I had my second spinning lesson today and finished up my Jazzercise yarn! I'm super pleased with it!! I ended up getting a little over 200 yards. Here are a few pictures from start to finish:

Started as this lovely roving:

Spun singles:

Plied finished yarn:

As per your request, here are a couple of pictures of the craft room (more pictures of the house to come in a later post...):

The craft room clean and organized:

The craft room in full swing: (see my spinning wheel?!)

In knitting news, I finished my tea leaves cardigan but now am on the hunt for buttons. I ordered some on etsy which were supposed to be shipped last week. However, I contacted the seller because I hadn't seen them, and she has been busy and won't be able to send them out until Tuesday. Ah, well. I'll be sure to post pictures after it is blocked and has functional buttons. I started a new, hopefully quick, project yesterday: A felted knitting basket! I need a place to store fiber for spinning, so I thought I'd give this a try. I was able to knit the entire bottom yesterday and a few inches up the sides. It should be done before I head to Hawaii, hopefully.

Awesome on the running 5 miles! I skipped the gym this weekend, but will be headed back tomorrow. S is out for his long run today: 20 miles (insane). We drove out to one of the trailheads yesterday and hiked in a bit and hid a ziplock bag of power bars, gatorade, and dog bones (for Sailor, obviously) that he could have supplies part way through his run.

On the food front, I made the tastiest dinner last night! I replaced our rice cooker yesterday (I was tempted to buy the fancy Japanese one at the fancy home store, but I resisted) and made Ginger Soy Chicken over rice. It's a Rachael Ray "Make Your Own Takeout" recipe. It was super easy, and really tasty!

Well on that note, I should go look through the fridge and figure out what I'm whipping up for dinner!

Love,
Liz :)

Busy Week

Hey Liz,

First, the heart is a pattern I found on ravelry and it really was super easy.

Current project continues to be mom's sweater, which is just in need of sleeves...Hoping it comes out alright. I'm really to be finished with it already! I will post pics tomorrow or Tuesday.

Just got back from my "long" run, which at this point consists of a whopping 5 miles. (Please go brag to your husband.. haha.) I did it on camp so that pup could run with me without his leash.

Yesterday was a total lazy day. I really don't think I did a thing except two loads of laundry and sit on the couch. And make really good spaghetti, which I'm excited to eat again tonight (yay left overs!). I put a touch of balsamic in my usual marinara and it was really shockingly good.

Other thing on my list of things to do today is start and finish (in one day!) my Christmas thank you notes. I'm feeling pretty bad about this and I'm currently considering turning them into valentines just to save on postage. Pathetic or efficient?!

Envious of your magic robot vacuum. I have to go home and use my real one :) Any photos of the house yet??? I want to see your craft room and wheel!! I'm going to change my bookshelf into a yarn shelf today. I had that epiphany when yet another ball of yarn fell behind my tv stand last night...

Okay, off to shower and get cracking on all these projects! More tomorrow ;)

A Thing of Beauty...

Charlotte,

Meet the iRobot Roomba....

After searching high and low for a new vacuum that would be good for hardwood floors and lots of Oregon dirt, I ordered the Roomba. I am PSYCHED to try it out. Unfortunately, it needs to charge before I can put it to work! The FedEx guy made my otherwise normal day very exciting!


On the fiber front, I spun up a second bobbin of the rainbow colored yarn. I will be having my second spinning lesson on Sunday and will make sure to share pictures of the finished yarn. My Tea Leaves cardigan is almost finished...I just need to find buttons for it. I ordered some online, but they have yet to show up in my mailbox.

I tried out the gym yesterday, which went pretty well. The only flaw with the gym is that everything is on the second level. Have you ever tried to walk down the stairs after being on an elliptical machine for 45 minutes? Not pretty. I thought for sure I was going to take a tumble.

Any exciting plans for the long weekend? I plan on using my Roomba :)

Love,
Liz

Jazzercise!

I think this yarn is destined to be a pair of 80s inspired legwarmers, or something of the sort. I can wear said legwarmers to a class at the gym called "MOSTLY JAZZ". "A jazz dance class that will have you feeling like you’re dancing on Broadway! This is a high energy class with complex, choreographed dance routines." I'm pretty sure they'll be a hit. Maybe with a matching sweatband. Although I'm not sure Merino Wool would make a very good sweatband.

I have not taken the leap into the world of dying my own fiber....yet. I'm sure I'll give it a try once I have the spinning thing down. Not to mention, that this is a task that should probably be done outside....not in the rain.

I love your knitted heart! Did you have a pattern for that, or did you make it up? I also enjoy the Ben & Jerry's mug hanging out next to the heart.

The lovely blue yarn is MadelineTosh Merino Light. MadelineTosh is an indie dyer who sells some yarn wholesale and some on her etsy site. It's really fabulous stuff....and very addicting!

On the food front, our rice cooker died!!! Very sad.

I'm off to knit and watch NCIS (how did I not know that you watch this too?!)!

Love,
Liz

Well Aren't You Crafty!

Dear Liz,
I'm terribly impressed by your spinning and the potential for spinning on your bike as well! Does it take a long time to make a skein? Did you dye that yourself?

I got distracted last night from the mom sweater.. so I took a wee break to make a little heart for a friend going through a tough time. It took less than an hour (complete with distracted knitting happening while watching NCIS and biggest loser at the same time... and the most complicated part was figuring out which way to sew it closed! haha.

I've been delaying sending holiday thank you notes because
A. I'm a little lazy.
B. I secretly want to send thank you's disguised as Valentines
C. I now want to make a million of these and send them along too!

So now I have many reasons to delay.

On the fitness front, I ran again yesterday, farther than Monday and it felt easier too, which is always a good motivator. The dog is having a blast running twice as much as I am, scampering across the fields and the little stream to chase birds and good smells. This lead to a great night's sleep for both of us.. so much so that I slept through my alarm! I'm also making a conscious effort to drink more water during the day... this is going alongside my non-resolution to minimize the amount of processed food I eat (which translated quickly into SODA!!) which has been a lot easier than I anticipated.

Oh and what is the yarn for that shawl!? It's amaaaazing!!!


Love you,
Charlotte

ps! I told F about our ravelympics team and he thought it was awesome! He wanted to know if you had to register for a certain event or just make it up and most importantly how the medals were given out. One more reason he's a keeper!

This is FUN!

Dear Charlotte,

I, too, am very excited to see where this adventure takes us! Watch out blog world, here we come!

No exciting dinner plans here, just homemade pizza. But I do have some photos to share of my handspun yarn and a couple of knitting projects!

I think this is my favorite handspun yarn so far (Merino and Silk!):


This is a sweater I'm doing with a Knit-A-Long at Purl Diva:


And this is a lace scarf made from the most lovely yarn EVER:


I finally joined the gym today and am excited/nervous to try some classes. I'm thinking of trying a cycling class, I'll let you know how it goes. Apparently they crank up the music, turn down the lights, and away you all go! Should be interesting! They also have DVD players on all the cardio machines. Glee while working out, anyone?

I'm so glad you joined Team Tank for Ravelympics! Off to try and finish up the sleeves on my sweater!

Love,
Liz

Here Goes Nothing

Dearest Liz,

A new year, a new challenge! Here's to us and our attempt to make something wonderful- from knitting and spinning, trying new recipes, to trying to conquer our latest outdoor adventures!

I'm sneakilly writing this from my "work space" where I am pretending to do "work"... really I'm looking up fun patterns on ravelry and trying to figure out what to make for dinner. I'm thinking tonight will be something simple.... with chicken... as I have some thawing in the fridge...

I should really get back to it so that I can get home to finish mom's sweater. I'm going to get better at taking pictures throughout the process, as I seem to conveniently forget to take pictures of the completed works!

Hope your day is clipping along at a decent pace. I'm excited to see where this takes us and the fun things we will create along the way!

Love,
Charlotte