Hagg Lake Mud Run

Seth ran his first ultra race of the season on Saturday, the Hagg Lake 50K. The course is notorious for being ridiculously muddy, and this year was no exception. Actually, rumor has it that the course was muddier than it has been in at least 3 or 4 years.

We left the house at some absurd hour of the morning (just for clarity, anything before 6am is absurdly early) and drove up the back roads to Hagg Lake. It's been unseasonably cold here, and the roads were coated in a thin layer of ice once we got closer to the lake. It made me miss the salt trucks of the northeast!

Once we arrived, we parked in parking lot down the road and walked down the trail to the pavilion (which had portable heaters-yay!) with Sailor dragging us along. Truth be told, he was dragging Seth. I was wearing Uggs with no traction and would have most likely been taken down into the mud.

It was a pretty chilly start to the race and running through the iced over parking lot looked pretty challenging!

Seth waiting for the race to start

Runners at the starting line

The race started with a 3 mile out-and-back up a hill and then back down.

Seth running back past the pavilion after the out-and-back

After the out-and-back, the race ran 2 laps around the lake. Usually, I try and make it to all the aid stations...but there was no parking at the second aid station, so I skipped by it and went directly to the third aid station. Since I was there so early, I worked on a little sock knitting until I thought that Seth might be headed up the road soon. 

Seth coming into the third aid station (about 13 miles in)

After fueling up, the runners headed back down towards the lake

Seth finishing up the first lap

The weather was perfect for running, and the lake was gorgeous in the sunshine:

While I was waiting for Seth to finish, there were a bunch of runners washing off in the lake, I can only imagine how chilly the water was!

Brrrr!

Seth finished in 6 hours! 

All the runners who came across the finish line were COVERED in mud, and Seth was no exception:

There's a reason the website is "haggmud.com"!

Are you sick of pictures of Seth running yet?! 

I don't have any fun knitting or spinning pictures to show off, but should have some tomorrow! I just finished spinning 8 ounces of the softest, most gorgeous merino for a custom job and am working on some beautiful merino/angora that should be done today! 

Love,

liz :)

I'm Baaaaack!

Phew. It's been a while, hasn't it?! I have lots to share, so make sure you are sitting down. :)

The first exciting thing I want to share, is a photo of Seth's Dad in the sweater I made him. When we arrived in Rochester for Jonathon's wedding, we drove to the hotel just so he could have the sweater to wear to the rehearsal. He proudly told EVERYONE at the rehearsal that he was wearing a handknit sweater.

It fits him perfectly, and has been "rock climbing tested" in Vegas.

Seth's brother Jonathon got married while we were home, and had a beautiful wedding in Rochester.

Jacky and Jonathon during one of the readings during the ceremony

Seth, Matt, Jacky, Jonathon, Desi, and Mark Arrow

Their cake cutting was especially entertaining! 

We had quite the eventful trip home which also included a 50th Birthday Party for my Aunt Kathleen. The party was in a loft owned by one of Kathleen and Bob's friends and it was a GREAT celebration. 

I have quite a few photos from the party, but I think this one pretty much sums it up. Kathleen looked like she was having a fantastic time surrounded by friends from all facets of her life (and her huge family, of course!). 

Today is Kathleen's real birthday....so....

HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY KATHLEEN!

And now, onto the knitting. There has been quite a bit of knitting and I have a bunch of small projects to show off!

So....before we left for the great white north, I realized that my lone pair of handknit mittens were looking a little sad (after wearing them every day for several winters in Maine) and a new pair was in order. I had finished 1/2 the pair before we left and vowed to knit the other one on the plane. Planes put me to sleep, so I didn't finish the second mitten until the night of the wedding! But, they were finished in time for the cold snap that happened while we were home. 

Pattern: Clap! Mittens by Kim Haesemeyer

Yarn: Handspun yarn (spun by me!) from JulieSpins Polwarth Roving

Modifications: My gauge was off since I was using sportweight yarn instead of fingering weight, so I knit a size smaller than I typically would have. But other than that, I followed the pattern exactly. 

I need to knit more with handspun...I'm so pleased with how these came out!

I've also been working on several baby gifts for someone I know who will be using cloth diapers. 

Pattern: EviePants All-in-One by Marilyn Porter

Yarn: Bear and Pants Cestari Fine Scrappies (I purchased a set of 5 mini-skeins of scrappies from another raveler)

Modifications: None. This pattern is completely customizable and so I just followed the directions for exactly what I wanted. They still need an i-cord for the waist, but I haven't decided what yarn to use yet.

The soaker was also made from the EviePants pattern and knit with Bear & Pants scrappies. It took exactly 2 ounces of yarn to knit the newborn sized soaker. Cute, eh?!

The last thing I have to share is a hat I made for John, who watched Sailor while we were gone. I made a scarf for his wife last time they dog-sat, and so I thought John needed a handknit this time around. 

Pattern: Man Hat by Haven Leavitt

Yarn: Three Irish Girls Galenas Chunky in colorway Riordan 

Modifications: None.

I LOVE the way this colorway knit up. It's manly, but still interesting. And I'll definitely be using the Man Hat pattern again. The whole hat knit up in just a few hours and would be a great hat for those people living in New England! ;) 

I think that's it for now! I just cast-on for a sweater that I'm pretty excited about and have some custom spinning I'm working on. Oh-and a couple of new bags that will be going up in the shop once they're done. 

Seth is running a 50K race on Saturday, so I'll be sure to snap a bunch of photos to post next time!

Love,

liz :)

Grumpy...

Knitting is a fickle friend liz.... you invest all this money in the most fabulous yarns, you spend HOURS doing and re-doing (because you can't seem to follow a darn pattern) the pattern and you end up with a sweater that looks awesome but fits TERRIBLY.

I can't bring myself frog it... yet... and I dont want to block it because I'm afraid of the outcome...  The top is loose and the bottom is snug... dang it.  My boobs look enormous.  All the buttons pull...  

I think I'm going to bring it to my mom and see how it fits her...  She likes things loose...

But regardless here are some pics: 

Detail on the neckline...

Front

Back...

But as you know, this isn't the only thing happening in Vermont these days....  We had a wee bit of snow arrive yesterday and I got a for-real-snow-day!!!  

Well I had more to share but we are out of our storage for photos??  So I'm off to take a shower.  Have a safe trip!  See you next week!!

Tidelines Socks

I finished my first pair of socks of 2011! Just in time for our trip :)

Pattern: Tidelines by Anne Hanson

Yarn: Three Irish Girls Kells Sport in "Kate"

Modifications: I made the leg shorter and only did 4 less repeats than the pattern called for. I also decreased more stitches on the toe than called for in the pattern (mostly because I probably should have done an extra pattern repeat or two on the foot). 

I love how bright and obnoxious they are :) 

Fun stripes on the bottom of the foot.

Well, that's all for now! I'm off to try and get some sleep before we head up to the airport in the wee hours of the morning!

Love,

liz :)

The Sweater is Complete. Let the Celebrating Commence!

It's done! It's done! It's done!

Pattern: Beau by Kim Hargreaves from "Rowan Vintage Knits"

Yarn: Peace Fleece Worsted in Father's Grey

Modifications: I knit the smallest size and the only modification I made was to knit the body longer than the pattern called for. The sweater was knit in pieces and then seamed, which worked out really well for a large sweater!  

The buttons are from Button Boy on etsy, and they are made from maple tree branches! So cool. 

I'm really pleased with the way it came out, it's a very handsome man sweater! 

Seth striking a pose.

Phew. I'm so glad it was done in plenty of time to give to Seth's Dad next weekend! I'll definitely be taking a break from big man sweaters for a while!

I haven't worked on any other knitting recently, since my priority was to finish that sweater!

I have been spinning a bit, though. 

Superwash BFL dyed by Two if by Hand in the colorway "Whiz Bangs" 

I love the way this spun up! There are so many different colors, yet it's not too loud and obnoxious. 

I'm working on a whole list of custom spinning orders, and I'll share those as they're done. I should have one to share before we head back east next week! 

Hmm, I think that's it for now!

Love,

liz :)

Handspun Milo Vest

I took a small break from working on the sweater for Seth's Dad (I just have part of a sleeve, seaming, and the collar left!) to whip up a quick baby gift for an old co-worker of mine from Maine. Her baby is due in early March and since she received tons of newborn stuff at her shower, I decided to make something for the fall/winter.

There was a skein of handspun in the shop that had been sitting there for quite a while, and I thought it would be perfect as a little girl gift.

It started as this handspun:

And was knit into this:

Pattern: Milo by Georgie Hallam 

Yarn: Handspun Rambouillet Wool dyed by Two if by Hand

Modifications: None. I followed the directions for the 9 month size. It was a really well written, easy to follow pattern with several different options for the cable. It knit up really quick (I finished in a day) and only used about 200 yards for the 9 month size. 

I will definitely be making more of these as baby gifts. So quick and so cute!

Seth and I took a drive up into the mountains today to do a little bit of XC skiing. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time...and of course Sailor had a great time romping through the snow.

Please excuse my terrible XC skiing form....it's really quite atrocious.  

 Sailor spent the first 1/2 mile running around like a madman...until we ran into a 1 year old goldendoodle. They practically knocked me over and then had a good time wrestling and playing. Unfortunately we didn't think to snap any pics of the madness. Sailor slowed down quite a bit after that!

 crazy dog.

We had to stop at the store to pick up some essentials that we were completely out of on our way home. I was fully intending to just have soup and sandwiches for dinner tonight since we ate out last night and had a HUGE meal complete with appetizers and dessert (flourless chocolate torte....soooo good).  But then I was walking through the baked goods aisle and a loaf of cinnamon swirl bread was begging to come home with us and become french toast for dinner. It was a loaf from some local place and it made for some crazy good french toast:

This is Seth's french toast with bananas and walnuts. There was maple syrup added after the photo was taken! 

Well, I should start thinking about bed...

Miss you!

Love,

liz :)

Sailor's BFF

Thought I'd take a few minutes to introduce Sailor's BFF to the blog world. Her name is Diamond, and she is a very energetic 2 year-old Border Collie.

I walk with her owner, Valerie, at least once a week and the dogs just adore each other. She has far more energy than any other dog I've met!

Sailor and Diamond running crazily through the woods

We actually ran into a couple of ladies yesterday who had 2 black standard poodles and a newfoundland with them! Unfortunately the only picture I got was completely blurry and I had to stop snapping pictures for fear that I was going to get knocked over by the 5 dogs. The dogs were hysterical...all three of the poodles were bouncing all over the place and I think Diamond was a little bit scared of the huge newfoundland, who was also running and playing! 

Really, I'm writing about the dogs because I have NO knitting to show off. I did finish a sleeve of the sweater for Seth's Dad. One more sleeve to go and then I have to sew it all together (grumble grumble) and do the collar and button bands. I'm hoping to be done with it this weekend so I can knit a couple of baby gifts and then start a sweater for me (Blair from Winter 2010 Twist Collective). 

I did just spin up some yarn for myself, though. I'm really pleased with the way it came out and I have enough to do a few projects. 

There are actually 2 skeins (plus a mini skein of about 30 yards), a total of 7 ounces. I think I'll have around 500 yards to work with. My plan is to knit up a pair of basic mittens and then maybe a hat or a pair of Toasts for my swap partner (I'm doing another swap!). 

And just 'cause they're pretty...let's have another look at the skeins of Silky Cashmerino I spun up:

I honestly think these are my favorite skeins of handspun EVER.  

The person I spun them for was really, really happy with them...which makes me happy! 

Yum. 

Okay, well our landlord should be here any minute...our heat wasn't working this morning, but miraculously it fixed itself and started working a little while ago. At least it wasn't too cold out, and the house warmed up quickly once the heat came back on!

Love,

Liz :)