I was lucky enough to get to go to Imagiknit's 8th anniversary sale in San Francisco back on September 11, 2010 - and that's where I picked up 3 skeins of yummy Punta Yarns Mericash Thousand Colors in an amazing pumpkin orange.  I mixed it with a natural undyed yarn in my stash and started knitting away on Jared Flood's Alberta vest.  It didn't take that long to work my way up to the very top of the vest.  I ended up binding off the shoulders and seaming them together.  Then, it was time to steek.

I started by sewing a white yarn up the center of the steek, then I used a different colored yarn to crochet the anchors at the armholes and the v-neck. 

Then, after a long day at work, I gatherd my knitting, picked up my reproduction vintage looking super pretty sissors from Laci's Needlework, took a deep breath, then did what most knitters fear... I cut my knitting!

slowly, stitch  by stitch, the arm holes opened up, the v neck opened up and the blob in the round funny looking piece I had made blossomed into a vest!  I PROMISE that steeking is not hard.  It will not kill you.  With patience and planning, it can turn your knitting projects in a whole new direction.  I am excited about my next steeking project now!

Here's the vest with its arm and neck edging - freshly finished - the steeked bits are carefully tacked down on the inside - and I'm pretty happy with this finished object!

On October 17, 2010, my friend John and I set off to run the Humboldt Redwoods Half Marathon!  We had been running and training for months to get to this day - and John was a trooper; his knee was hurting a bit the week before, and seemed to be better as the day approached.  We talked about the realities of a half marathon and decided that we'd work together to get him through the race.  John's husband Chuck joined us for the trip and was so kind with his cooking and hosting.  We stayed at a friend's house the night before, and got to spend the night in front of the fire.  The morning of the run, we got dressed, headed out and felt pretty good.  The first 6.5 miles were pretty easy, running through the most amazing scenery!  As the miles increased, so did the pain, and it went from running to walking, to limping... and while the finish may not have been the most spectacular in history, John and I finished the run - 13.1 miles - VERY proud of the hard work we both put in... the best part?  We are already making plans for our next runs!!

That night, John couldn't really walk on his own - I remember feeling this way after the L.A. Marathon - the next day we got him some crutches, and on the way home, Chuck brought John, me and their adorable Boston Terrier Dewey to the Chandelier Tree in Leggett, CA!  It's thousands of years old and in the 1930's the "drive thru" was carved... What a fun adventure the weekend was - I am very lucky to have such incredible friends in my life!

And of course, I spent a few minutes under the Chandelier Tree knitting... yes - knitting under a @2,400 year old tree... why not!

We did other fun outings as well, including the spaghetti dinner in Weott and just up the road the amazing rock shop - which was also a museum - and INCREDIBLE!  It's probably the main reason I want to go back to this run - next year I want to do the full marathon - and go back to the rock shop and YES take photos of the rock shop so I can share it's wonders with all my friends!

It's not the most beautiful photograph ever, but the scarves and hats that my friends sent in for Operation Gratitude are GORGEOUS!  I think I counted over 30 pieces - and you all took time to write notes to the soldiers - these aren't your every day hats and scarves - some of them are intarsia, cables... beautiful fibers - it's really a treat to get to bring these to Operation Gratitude for them to be sent out to the soldiers.

THANK YOU for your contributions!

OTHER NEWS:

Lots of things are going on - most importantly I'm working on getting rid of things, and doing my best to knock my yarn stash into a reasonable size... here are some of the bins of yarn that are random and sorted by color:

piles and piles of yarn - reds, oranges, greens, blues, whites, blacks, browns, all kinds of colors - fancy crazy yarns, eyelash yarns, ribbon yarns, cashmere yarns, lace weights, DK yarns, bulky yarns, hand spun yarns, hand dyed yarns, silks, all kinds of yarns!  Therefore, I will be offering yarn grab bags by color - stay tuned!