Runagogo!
Weeks ten, eleven & twelve.
[04/3/07-10/3/07]: 10.75 miles
[11/3/07-17/3/07]: 10.75 miles
[18/3/07-24/3/07]: 0.75 miles.

No matter what the calendar says, Today is always the first day of the rest of your life.

Wow! I just read Kelly Jo’s report of her return to active duty after health problems derailed her original plans – and her renewed commitment to 100 miles in 100 days on her own calendar. Go check out what she says about it. I’ll wait.

See? She’s so right and her attitude is most inspiring: it’s really not about any externally imposed calendar or any arbitrary deadline that someone else has set. There is no official magical date on which to start acting on your commitment to your own health, happiness or well-being.

I was demoralized because after proudly bouncing back from several setbacks, last week (number twelve) I just plain flaked (last week's total, week twelve = 3/4 of a mile!).

After that bout of vertigo I had a month ago (week nine: 3 miles), I got back up and put 10.75 miles under my feet both of the next two (weeks ten and eleven). Even with a sprained ankle (my own 17 year recurrent Achilles’ heel, as it were), I was out there treading the pavement.

But last week, I flaked. I walked less than one mile and I didn’t pick up my bike from the shop after its post-winter tune-up. I wallowed in sloth.

And you know what – I just realized that I needed that! The week before last was INTENSE. I had four days of incredibly concentrated creative output in rehearsals as well as another small performance gig and I got a pattern submission in just under the deadline.

So what if I fell off the wagon for a week! I have nothing to prove to anyone but myself. And I have already shown myself that I have the inner strength, grit, determination and emotional resilience to go the proverbial distance (even on that sprained ankle).

So I'm up to a total of 62.5 miles so far this year (only walking). I've known for a couple of weeks that I wouldn't make 100 miles on the hoof by April, but I figured on at least 80, and maybe get some or all of the rest on my bike. But after last week’s little unplanned holiday, I suppose I’ll have to settle for 70-75. And do you know what? I’ll settle for that. I don’t have to be an A++ student anymore. I can settle for a B or even a C.

Because I lied. There actually is a magical date to begin (or to begin again) and that’s today. Whatever your goal or desire, whatever change you need to make to reclaim ownership of your life, be it for your health, your relationships, your career, your community, or your spirit – do it. Now. Commit to the first (or next) positive act, the first (or next) block or mile, the first (or next) healthy choice, the first (or next) smile, the opening gesture, the overture, whatever will bring you even one step closer to your own purpose.

As a performing artist I have come to truly admire and respect those who can pick up the ball that was dropped: a good save is worth much more to me than a perfect show (and there never really is one of those, so get over it).

So I am gearing up and on my way out the door. Are you coming with me? I can wait until you get your shoes on.

Keeping my short-row toes crossed.

In case you are a new visitor or you haven't been paying attention keeping up, I will come clean: Hi, my nom-de-blog is MezzoDiva and I am totally obsessed with Dayflower Lace. (please insert the appropriate 12-step program greeting response here).

About 20 years ago I became addicted to knitting the first time, and for a couple of years I was hooked on the line of Pinguoin yarns from France and their pattern books. It was there I first laid eyes on what remains to this day my absolutely most favorite lace pattern. They referred to it as Campanula (Bellflower). You may be familiar with it by the name Dayflower Lace as it is called in Barbara Walker's 2nd Treasury.

I'm addicted. I can't escape it. It haunts me. Whenever I knit other floral/leafy lace motifs, invariably they just do not compare. Sigh. As a result, I can probably knit that DFL in my sleep! In a (failed) attempt to exorcise (or at least alleviate) the obsession, I recently created a sock using the DFL and named the pattern "Campanula" for nostalgic reasons.

After much trepidation (do I even dare?...) I submitted the design to Knitty last week, sometime around 1:00 am the night before the summer issue deadline (which is why the early preview pix on my blog have been temporarily removed). It's my first design submitted anywhere for public consumption, so wish me luck!

I have to thank all my sock test-knitters - you all did me proud!

First was the intrepid and swift Lisa, who cut through her first Campanula like it was butter and whose eagle-eye found the first typos. She's no slouch, our Lisa!

After some initial false starts, Carol's Campanula came along beautifully and she was soon able to show some fancy legwork. Carol too found some eratta for me - whew! Carol also claimed she was a lace neophyte. (Snort.) Yeah. Sure, Carol. Whatever you say. She also has an unfortunate propensity to channel Bill Haley and the Comets (“We’re gonna lace-around-the-clock tonight…”), but we can forgive that because she’s so darned nice dammit.

I met up with (blogless) Shelna at Knitomatic's SnB a few weeks ago and we discussed some modifications. Shelna is an extraordinarily even knitter (domo arrigato, knitster roboto), but somehow her double decreases weren't coming out evenly: her SK2Ps were dramatically tighter than her K3TOGs, with the result that on one side the lace looked beautifully even, but on the mirrored panel the bell-flowers were looking rather drunkenly slurred. We replaced the SK2Ps with a K3TOG(TBL) to correct that problem. I was doing that on my newest pair of Campanulas and it's much more elegant, so I put that mod into the final version.

And last but certainly not least, the amazing agile Angela whipped up her own Campanula, caught a couple more of my pattern errata (when I could no longer see the trees for the forest), and tried out the sizing adjustment for me.

These lovely ladies all found my typos, corrected my mistakes, gave me oodles of useful feedback and challenged me to think through and justify each design choice. As I refined my pattern to make it ready for prime time, I incorporated all their input.

I am more grateful than I can say.

Everybody in the pool!

Ugh! The subtitle to this post should be: How to turn perfectly lovely yarn into some fugly crap.

I've been knitting a standard short-row toe-up sock a la Wendy J. with that gorgeous "Cha Cha" yarn I showed you last time. In the plain stockinette I've got 64 sts around (on 2.0 mm needles).

My poor little sock started to go horribly wrong very soon after I left the toe , but I just kept going round and round, hoping the pooling would somehow (magically) sort itself out.

It hasn't. I'm getting vast areas of stripes in white, white and black, and on the other side stripes in grey, grey and light blue (which looks like murky blue slush).



Here's the other side:


I got so turned off it last night that I put it away and dug into the Manos vest for DH (okay, so he'll wear it next winter).

But my mind is churning over the pooling problem: I need to find an enjoyable way to coerce this beautiful yarn into showing some better striping distribution. DH suggested working with two balls at a time, alternating every couple of rounds, but I'm not sure I want to go that route. Maybe I should try a wavy motif or a zig-zag pattern. Hmmm... True, I may be one of the only sock-knitters in the western world who hasn't yet made a pair of Jaywalkers.

Help! If anyone out there reads this and has a suggestion or has made something with this yarn - please let me know. I need ideas!

Instead of moping I decided to visit my fellow knit-bloggers for some cheering up. Sure enough, that did the trick. I found the perfect antidote for my petulant mood when I saw the following link over at Laura's. Check out this video: Gangsta Knitters.

Project Spectrum 2007
February/March: Blue, White, Grey.
Okay, Ma'am. Move along.
Nothing to see here.

The grey SRK Monkey scarf WIP is officially on hold. I'm just not feeling the fun fur right now, especially with it being nearly the official start of spring. Sue me.

But I definitely want both a pair of armwarmers or fingerless-mitts and a cozy earwarmer/headband in the soft blue-grey worsted Misti Alpaca. It's still cold enough here for me to need them for my walks. And so I have a pattern dilemna: I want cables. Nice and intricate cabling to provide density for warmth and also aesthetic interwoven beauty. I've tried out several nice cabled patterns, but the alpaca makes the cables blurry unless the ribs are quite wide.

I really should be working on a nice vest I promised to make for DH with the repurposed beautiful blue/multi Manos (colour #111). But again I am stuck deciding on a simple pattern that will let this gorgeous yarn be the star. I have narrowed the field down to two favourite plans: I'm thinking it will be either in Entrelac or maybe just a simple regular 5 by 2 rib?...

In case you couldn't tell: my Project Spectrum plans for February and March were rather severely side-swiped by my new obsession with fair isle and learning to do stranded knitting well. I've tried a few swatches (sorry, no pix) and I think I'm going to love this stuff.

But I need to get my technique in the groove. My knitting has to have an element of flow in the mechanics for it to be truly satisfying. It's a meditative experience for me: the action needs to be on cruise control, whether my brain is on vacation with a simple stockinette or analytically challenged with pattern complexities.

After exploring various possible fair-isling strategies and gadgets, I realized the simplest skill-based approach is best for me. You may have one that suits you better - no judgement is implied. I'm a big believer in whatever works for you and if it ain't broke... But I love the basic two-handed Fair Isle technique video tutorial from the Philosophers Wool website. In a little under ten minutes, Ann Bourgeois demonstrates with very clear instructions how to do two-handed two-colour knitting. After watching her carefully a couple of times the penny suddenly dropped and I get it. Really, I do. This does not, however, mean that I can actually do it. Yet.

Sigh. She makes it look so easy to do stranded two-colour work this way. But you really need to build up that double-handed dexterity since essentially the right hand is working English style (aka - throwing) and the left hand is doing the Continental aka - (picking). It's an equal opportunity pain in the learning-curve: whichever style of knitting you habitually use, you'll need to become comfortable with the other.

I'm a picker. My German-speaking Romanian grandmother taught me how to knit the Continental style, which is very ergonomic with an inherent economy of motion that allows for some very fast and even knitting. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that in recent years I have secretly become rather smug about being practically the bionic knitter (better, stronger, faster). Well pride goeth before a fall. Despite being otherwise right handed, I find throwing or wrapping with the right hand incredibly counter-intuitive: it just crosses the wires in my knitting brain and something shorts out unless I concentrate very very hard. My brow furrows, my jaw clenches, my palms sweat.

I am not finding it fun. It's a little like practicing piano scales (don't even ask!) with your non-dominant hand for the first time - while wearing stiff padded gloves. But I figure I need to become comfortable (dare I say perhaps even proficient) in English style if I want to embrace this wonderful method of stranded knitting and thereby avoid the tangled mess I get when both yarns come from the same side.

So I'm going back to some of my Project Spectrum plans for project ideas to work out the kinks with my right handed English.

February/March Project Spectrum colours are Blue, White and Grey. The SP9 sock yarn "ChaCha" from Perchance to Knit is perfect Project Spectrum material: fine fingering-weight Kona superwash merino in a handpainted silver-grey, black, white and icy blue. Mmmm... Yummy project spectrum socks.

However, I think I would rather start to practise English style on something bigger than size 0 (2mm) needles. There's enough potential for cramping without asking for it. I need a project with a lot of straight stockinette, either flat or in the round,and probably in a worsted weight to begin with. After that I will do a simple sock to really get the hang of keeping the working yarn tension without cramping up my right hand. But first...?

I'm open to suggestions. Any ideas?

SP10 Questionnaire Here we go again!

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I’m not a yarn snob, but I do prefer soft natural fibers or good blends. I adore cushy merino for socks, wool-silk blends for pullovers/cardis/wraps, soft cottons for summery stuff. Last fall I fell passionately for worsted Misti Alpaca, winter shifted into cushier merinos for cabling and marvelous Manos. I’m enjoying some of the new merino-tencel and bamboo blends for socks. My SP9 recently sent me some sinfully soft Karabella Chameleon (merino with silk and cashmere!) and I am seriously considering reversing my previous opinion on knitted underwear!

While I love a good FO, the tactile and meditative qualities of the knitting process are 99% of the experience for me, so I don’t enjoy knitting with scratchy yarns even if I know they’ll soften up after a wash. Acrylic leftovers from the 80’s live on in my stash, but I won’t buy them anymore. (Well, to be perfectly honest, there is some purpley/magenta worsted mystery-fibre stuff from a more recent sale bin – it’s got a pretty sheen and it’s nice and soft but a little squeaky on some needles so I suspect there’s a rayon or silky component combined with some acrylic). But it really all depends on the project.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
Good question. Let’s see: I have a large plastic tube needle case with about half of my straight needles, the narrower ones. The larger ones are in their packages in an old Pingouin heavy duty plastic shopping bag I keep for nostalgia. My circulars and sock needles are in a separate smaller plastic Ziploc bag, along with my point protectors, stitch holders and stitch markers. I’m contemplating moving it all into a new and better storage system, perhaps by repurposing a picnic basket or a retro valise, but I haven’t found the right one yet. Oh, yeah - my cable needles, a crochet hook and Chibis are all in my purse just in case I get a mad urge to cable, fix a dropped stitch or do my seaming while in transit.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I consider myself a clever intermediate knitter with advanced aspirations. I am congenitally incapable of following a pattern without altering or tweaking it. I can be rather capricious so almost all of my projects go off on a different tangent than originally intended. But I love the process as they evolve.

I learned to kit in childhood from my grandmother - continental style with a long tail cast on which is still my favourite. But I REALLY got hooked on knitting twenty years ago (and was fatally attracted to the long departed Pingouin yarn shop in the great big downtown mall, hence the nostalgic shopping bag). However, after a very bad experience resulting in the furious wanton disposal of lots of perfectly lovely navy blue cotton that took the fall for betraying my naïve gaugeless efforts, I dropped knitting for a while. About five years ago I got an itch to knit again and it’s been a consuming passion for about four years now.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yes - see the link on my sidebar to chapters.indigo.ca

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.)
I don’t like very flowery or heavy spicy scents, and though I adore vanilla as a flavour, it makes me gag in scented ambience or body products. I adore Sandalwood, Bergamot, Citrus, and Tropical cents. My current bath soaps are Coconut from the Body Shop and a Sandalwood soap found in little Chinese stores; my shower gel is Life Brand Coconut-Lime body wash.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
If it’s made of/with or wrapped in chocolate, I will probably eat anything. I love dark chocolate truffles and alpine milk chocolate. Caramel/toffee, nuts and coconut go over well. Other candies just don’t do it for me. I usually share with the DH, but when I discovered Toblerone in a dark chocolate, I seriously considered hiding the bar.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
Though I haven’t done it yet, I have lately been more and more attracted to felting and hope to do some this year – maybe a gorgeous carpet bag and some slippers for the DH. I am also very keen to dye some yarn, and I recently got some dyes and bare sock weight merino from Knitpicks. And I plan to over-dye some yarns in my stash whose colours are making me less than happy at the moment (what was I thinking?).

I do not spin, although I admire those who do and I occasionally purchase some beautiful handspun. I don’t really need to acquire one more fiber addiction at the present, however spinning and weaving are both on my learning-to-do list... Of course, with wicked enabling intentions, my SP9 pal recently sent me a lovely hand spindle and some soft undyed blue-faced Leicester roving. So at least I have someone to blame.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s?
I like ALL genres of music, but I’m not much into contemporary rap unless it is non-violent, non-misogynistic and it has a strong poetic message. I can play CDs and MP3s.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
That’s a trick question. My favourite colours vary with my mood and the season. Mostly, I love the way different shades, tones and colours play off each other more than I do any particular individual colour. Right now I am passionate about the variegated effects of some Fleece Artist Kidsilk in a colourway called Cosmic Dawn, which flows through shades of charcoal, smoky purple, magenta, turquoise, teal, smoky green, and gold.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I am married, and we have no kids or pets – just one overly-anthropomorphized teddy bear (custody issues regarding the bear have prevented marital dissolution more than once). Actually, I am very much in love with this wonderful man who has shown the courage in recent years to manifest and become my soul mate, the inner being I recognized in him 23.5 years ago despite all of our mutual baggage.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I wear scarves, hats, mittens. I also wear capes, but not ponchos. I’m rather zaftig (size 22-24) and only 5’3, so ponchos are not a flattering shape. But capes work well.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I’m a SOCKAHOLIC. I used to suffer from single sock syndrome, but Socktoberfest and recent experiments in design motivated me to make up the pairs and cured that disorder. I enjoy knitting tunics, tank-tops, cardigans, wraps, scarves, armwarmers. I’m considering a skirt or two this year. I haven’t been into purses, but lately I’m craving a nice large felted gag with some intarsia (which I also avoid). I’m also hoping to do a lace shawl, which I haven’t done yet.

13. What are you knitting right now?
I am knitting a few different socks, some armwarmers, a couple of scarves/wraps. Body-fitting garment projects are on temporary hiatus pending further progress with current fitness-and-weightloss endeavours.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Well, Duh! YEAH. Yep. Yes. Uh huh... Seriously, does anyone really NOT like to receive handmade gifts? Okay, perhaps an unfortunate handmade gift experience in childhood has scarred some people, but that should be easy to remedy.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I usually gravitate to circular needles, though I use all of the above except for plastic which irritates me. It depends on the project, the fiber and my mood. Whatever works best for the present needs.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
A ball winder followed me home last fall. No swift yet – just the human (me or DH) kind.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
What decade is this?

18. What is your favorite holiday?
My birthday, but any holiday that results in gifts and cake makes me happy.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
These days it's all about yarn, needles and patterns. I am trying to avoid going overboard, but not very successfully. Knitting has become my drug of choice. I suppose there are worse addictions.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? See my chapter.indigo.ca wishlist (it's linked on the sidebar).

I used to subscribe to Interweave Knits and Vogue Knitting, but now I just buy them at Knitomatic – the owner is terrific and so I want to support her business as much as I can.

I am pining for Anna Zilboorg’s sock patterns. Unfortunately, my library has none of her sock books. Socks for Sandals and Clogs is not hard to find, but what I really want is a copy of either Fancy Feet: Traditional Knitting Patterns of Turkey or the reprint of that which is called Simply Socks: 45 traditional Turkish patterns to knit.

I'm intrigued by the new Addi lace circulars with the red cord and clear-coated bronze tips. I have some of the size 2.5mm in 32" length, and will try using them for magic loop socks. Then, if I like them, I will probably get some of the other sizes in longer lengths for fair-isle and lace projects.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I am a stranded-knitting neophyte just starting my first stranded project – a headband ear-warmer. I previously avoided multi-colour knitting unless it was conveniently printed or painted onto a single continuous string for me. Determined to lose my fair-isle virginity, I joined the Fair Isle February KAL and though I did no actual stranded knitting in February, I embarked on full immersion fair-isle studies. There are more than a dozen books I am pouring over, with several still in transit from the library.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
See answer to #12. And did you notice my blog url? it’s “sockit-tome”. My feet are size 8.5 and I have rather wide ankles due to several bad sprains in previous years. I don’t have more specific measurements: I knit my socks toe-up so I just try then on as I go and adjust accordingly.

23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
I am a true Leo, born on the first day of August in the Chinese year of the Dragon, among the last of the post-WW2 baby-boomers.
I was born on the day the final Looney Tune, "Senorella and the Glass Huarache", was released (before Warner Brothers cartoon division was shut down by Jack Warner). Coincidence? I think not.

Promises, promises.

Despite my best intentions to show off all the lovely SP9 loot I received from Laura, the swag didn’t have a close encounter with my digital camera for weeks! In my defense, there have been few days of coincidental good light and image capturing opportunity. But that’s a poor and shoddy excuse for not sharing her exquisite taste and generosity with all the bloggerly inclined.

We eventually had our photo-shoot last week and then I was knocked down with the whole room spinning thing... excuses, excuses... I will now (finally) post a detailed pictorial spread to tantalize you with the exquisite stuff she sent me. Feel free to drool and turn green with envy.



I opened my first package to find a gorgeous box-board valise decorated with images of exotic clay pottery. Inside were exquisite goodies, starting with this skein of luscious handpainted merino-mohair, a.k.a. Schaefer Yarn's Anne.



Along with that, there was a very heavy overstuffed box of Evelyn's hand-dipped chocolate truffles - sorry, no pix, they are long long gone (terrific boozy ones - all the important food groups were covered). And last but not least the Classic Elite book 9075 Luxe, which contains the pattern for my coveted curvy cabled cardigan!



My next package arrived near the end of January (and yes I did send a thank you note at the time). This box was practically overflowing with fibre goodness and various indulgences. Let's see with the whole shebang, then I'll break it down for you.



First the yarns. She sent me some gorgeous handpainted merino from Chewy Spaghetti AND two skeins of what might have become my new favourite thing in the whole world (if I could find more of it, which I doubt - I think it's discontinued): Karabella Chameleon, a dk/light-worseted merino with 20% silk and 10% cashnmere. Seriously - this stuff really might make me change my mind about knitted underwear. Sooooo soooooooft.



There was yummy pampering body scrub and body butter from the Body Shop in a tropical fruity scent. Also shown here is the card I received with a photo of her lovely baby girl. Since it's a partial nude, it goes here in the bath and body segment. I call this masterpiece "Becky-in-a-Bag."



A box of fancy sea-creature organic Belgian chocolates and a fabulous assortment of teas, as well as an appropriately titled book of decadent recipes (I gained 10 pounds just leafing through it!)



And last but not least some nifty polar bear stitch markers, travel size Soak samples, as well this lovely soft undyed wool roving (blue-faced leicester) and a truly beautiful hand spindle.



She's evil! Seriously - if I'd been paying more attention I would definitely have nominated her for a best pal award. Since I'm a SP newbie, I suppose she'll just have to settle for my deepest thanks and delight for spoiling me irredeemably rotten.

Runagogo! Week number nine.
A setback. I am unbalanced.

[25/2/07-03/3/07]: 3 miles.
40.5 miles down. 59.5 more to go.

This week’s obstacles included major menstrual cramps and headaches (though no migraine), snow storms and freezing rain, and then a three-day bout of vertigo.

Vertigo. It’s as though the room around me is spinning while my body is stationary. With my eyes shut, it feels like I’m spinning or moving; when they’re open, my environment seems to whirl counterclockwise past my field of vision. The symptoms are triggered by movement, worst when rolling over in bed, looking up, or bending over. When I’m not feeling worried or scared, it’s actually quite a fascinating phenomenon.

Given that, I’m satisfied with the 3 miles I did manage this week. It means I am just under sixty miles from the goal. With just four weeks left to April 1, I would need to get in 15 miles a week, so I might not get there after all. But I am farther along than I would be if I hadn’t started this walking project. And it doesn’t really end in April. This is just the start of a lifetime commitment to get up and move!

Meanwhile, I suppose it all depends on whether (or how soon) the vertigo goes away. It has diminished today, allowing me to finally get out for a short walk, but symptoms returned after we’d gone 1.5 miles so that became the finish line. And yes, if it persists I will go to see a doctor early next week. Actually, I’ll go even if the symptoms pass. Just to check things out.

Fair Isle Virgin now Smitten with Stranded

I'm still a bit behind - just starting my first project - but I am really loving the learning and planning stage and will be happily stranded on from now on. Fair Isle February Forvever!!!

Currently, I am enjoying full immersion in fair-isle studies. There are more than half a dozen books I am pouring over, with at least as many still in transit from the library. Here's just a taste of what's filling my head with visions of delight these days:

I started and restarted so many cable projects in the last few months, but only a couple of them made it past the potential stage.

Here's my one and only actual FO: a pair of Stulpen inspired by the ones Angelika posted at the Fall Cable 2006 KAL last fall. Hers were a variation on this pattern (scroll down for English instructions), she added the partial fingers. I made mine as armwarmers.
Actually this pair is spoken for - they're promised to my MIL, but I've worn them a couple of thimes to make sure they fit and function. I am now stash diving to choose more yarn for a quick pair of my very own. And I think I need a matching headband too to keep my ears warm when I go walking (it's still cold here for at least a month).

Speaking of cabled goodness, I am STILL undecided about the right yarn for that sexy curvy cabled cardigan . The assymetrical cables are gorgeous in almost everything, but the reverse st st background just doesn't appeal to me in many yarns. Actually, the reverse st st looked pretty good in my blue-grey worsted Misti alpaca, but then the cables lost definition. I might try it in my turquoise SWTC bamboo. I have lots of that. I'm pretty sure I don't have enough of the purple.

I'm also restarting my Stitch Diva dropped-stitch cabled cardi-wrap (the project formerly known as the Fall Cable Fiasco). I have a big bag of Berocco's Boho in the lovely Burgundy colourway that should work beautifully. The ribbon will give it the required drape and the subtle colour and texture variations will provide interest and depth without detracting from the cables.

Runagogo! Week number eight.
[18/2/07-24/2/07]: 9 miles.
37.5 miles down. 62.5 more to go.

I did WHAT?

That’s more like it! Nine miles this week. That might sound small to some, but it's a 50% increase over my previous weekly max. With only five weeks left, I'll need to average 12.5 miles per week to get up to 100 miles in time for April 1st. But if I keep increasing my weekly total at a reasonable rate, it’s still well within reasonable expectations that I will reach my 100 mile goal by walking and not have to use my bike to fill in some mileage.

And here's the punch-line (make sure you're sitting down when you read this): I jogged. Yep. That's what I said. I actually loped along at a steady respectable jog for one long block. In the middle of a long midnight walk with DH on Tuesday, I just felt an overwhelming desire to pick up the pace and run. His initial reaction to this urge of mine was to ask me for two pieces of I.D. (Lady, who are you and what have you done with MezzoDiva?). But when the impulse didn’t fade, I took off just to see what it would feel like. It was a very short, freakish thing, only 1/8 of a mile. And you know what? I liked it! I'm not sure what are the precise rate parameters dividing the forms of human tread motion, and I probably wasn't going fast enough to call it running, but it was definitely not walking.

If you knew me at all (42 years, most of them sedentary, size 24…) you'd know just how bizarre it was that I actually wanted to do anything like that. Impact activities are not my thing. There is no bra in the world sufficient to control the bouncing of my 42F++. I have a repeat history of severely sprained ankles and some back and joint issues (not a surprise given the excess baggage on my 5’3 frame). And then there was the aversion therapy: I had a gym teacher in high school who used to throw us all out for timed 1.5 mile runs around several city blocks – nothing but torture for a teen who went from plump to obese over the course of my secondary schooling. Not to mention that back then what passed for athletic shoes provided only slightly more support and cushioning than those flimsy paper slippers you wear when getting a pedicure.

So if you’d suggested to me, even earlier that same day, that I would choose to run of my own volition and what’s more I would like it, I’d probably have suggested you check the expiry date on your meds. Just goes to show: Never say “never”.

Ready for my nap.

Approximately 4 hours of sleep last night
(sometime after 2:30 to about 6:45 am)
+ Morning SynaGig
(not my usual temple choir gig, subbing as a soprano)
+ Afternoon rehearsal
(work through of a story-musical for children, with dance)
----------------------------------------------------------
= One Very Tired MezzoDiva

Gonna go change into my jammies now,
cuddle up with DH and the teddy-bear.

Zzzzz…

Fair Isle Virgin Still paddling offshore.

I've been mustering up my courage to get the Fair Isle February factor in motion by the last week of the month (hey - it doesn't pay to rush these things). To that end I have spent a vast number of hours scouring the internet and books to find patterns that I like enough to make me want to follow through with this new skill acquisition. In that process I have discovered one thing to be inalienably true: I am extremely finicky about multi-coloured motifs. I have no trouble finding cables and laces and Aran stitches that appeal to me. But the quest for pleasing patterns with a plethora of colour has become rather like rummaging for a loose Chibi in a haystack (although how I came to lose my Chibi in a barn to begin with leads to interesting Harlequin-esque tangents, I will not use this as an excuse to digress further).

I will probably crank out a Fake Isle Hat just to dip my toes into the stranded pool before month's end. A pile of beautiful Noro Kureyon showed up at my door recently, some of which was to be purposed for the aforementioned Imposter Atoll, but then my roving eyes got busy at SnB on Wednesday and I was seduced by another sexy self-striper with a long colourway and a sumptuous caress. I’ve been wanting an excuse to try Lang’s Mille Colori, and I think it will make a beautiful super soft FIH.

Of course, never one to shy away from a goal that's a bit beyond reasonable for a beginner, what I REALLY want to do in my first stranded colourwork is a pair of Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' fabulous Caspian Sea Socks. (If you sign up for the Knitting Daily newsletter, you can download the pattern for free.)

Okay, I'll be sensible (for a change) and start with a Fake Isle Hat. But I don't promise to do exactly the pattern design as given (see "finicky", above).

Runagogo!
Week number seven.
Need to build up momentum.
[11/1/07-17/2/07]: 6 miles.
28.5 miles down. 71.5 more to go.

Another week below my goal. Still, I have to say that those 6 miles (and most - maybe all - of the 28.5 so far) are more than I would have done without the extra incentive I get from participating in Run-a-Gogo. And I am being scrupulously honest in tracking my mileage - which is another victory for me. No corners cut, no rounding up - in fact often I am probably rounding down.

With just under six weeks left (yikes) I seriously might not make one hundred by April 1st. I’ll have to up the ante to 12 miles a week to get there. Hmmm. Well, that’s still doable. Especially given the improving weather. I still really want to make the hundred miles goal just by walking. I may have to change my plan and let my bike gobble up some of the remaining mileage for me.

Runagogo! Week number six.

Off again. On again.
[04/1/07-10/2/07]: 2.5 miles.
22.5 miles down. 77.5 more to go.

That was not a winning week, what with the lingering respiratory bug, monthly hormonal challenge, back problems and all. Ugh. But it wasn't all a washout: a couple of mile-and-a-quarter walks bring my total up a bit.

And though it's not in my weekly total above (because Sunday is part of a new week and I'm being scrupulously honest), there's another 2.25 miles I did today with ease, and we're off for another one tomorrow - aiming for 3 miles or more from now on.

With just under seven weeks left, I began to question whether or not I'll get to the hundred by April 1st. But I realized last night that's not the most important part of this for me. This has been a recommitment to activity for life and even though it's evolved as two steps (weeks) forward and one step (week) back, I probably wouldn't have made even this much progress if I hadn't truly resolved to use Runagogo to make movement a part of my life again after the last five years of sloth.

Of course, in a couple of weeks the weather should permit me to start biking again and then I could chew up the mileage. But I would really like to make the hundred miles goal just by walking (with my back and ankles running is not likely) - and that means just 11 miles a week which is still totally doable. The bike will just be my reward (wheeee!) for walking more.

What's that on my sidebar? Fair Isle February - another KAL?

I am a complete stranded-knitting neophyte. I don't do any multi-colour knitting unless it's been previously printed or painted onto a single continuous string. Multiple strands to carry? Yikes! Nope. Not me. Nuh-uh. I will gleefully tackle the most fearsome feats of complexity: cables and shaping and lace - oh, my! But this stuff scares me.

Still I am often tantalizingly mesmerized by this kind of intricate knitwork. I am drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Oooh - look at all the pretty colours!... (forlorn wistful sigh)... And during my recent duel with delirium housebound boredom I seem to have somehow convinced myself that I have to start doing some of this beautiful colour-work. Determined to lose my fair-isle virginity, I just decided to plunge right in.

Step one: join the KAL. Check.

Step two: YARN, baby. Check. Several balls of sportweight wool in eight or so nifty colours followed me home from SnB recently. I hope they are destined to become something stranded.

Step three: Uh oh. Screeching to a halt.

Now I'm looking for a simple yet interesting fair-isle project that will be suitable for a beginner. If you don't hear from me for several days, don't worry - it's just that I'm off on a pattern hunting webspedition. And if you have any good ideas for me - please let me know.

In other news, I've been informed that my gracious testknitter volunteers are happily knitting away on my lace sock design. They've been sending me their comments and questions, and even promising to post some pictures of their work. So (hopefully) I'll be ready to publish the pattern more openly for the rest of you soon. Keep that feedback coming, sockaristas!

Aaargh.
Moving to the New Blogger has been a bit of a drag (pun intended).

Does anyone out there know an EASY way to get the buttons and links together in the sidebar? Thanks to Angela I fixed my sidebar using the hypertext heavy approach.

Sheesh. You’d think New Blogger would have come up with a layout widget or something for adding link-enabled pix as buttons since practically everyone uses them. But NO (That would be too much like right).

Yay! We have functional buttons.

Runagogo! Week number five.
[28/1/07-03/2/07]: 5 miles.
20 miles down. 80 more to go.

[PSST!...Knitting content below]

This brings my total mileage to a nice round twenty. I will get out and celebrate with a 2.5 to 3 mile walk just as soon as I get over this lovely combo of cough, cold and cramps. I was doing very well until Wednesday, when I must have started incubating this bug, just in time for Thursday.

Thursday afternoon I had a music theatre audition (and to add icing on the cake, my period arrived) but I was still keeping the bug at bay by strength of will. On the way home, however, I started to really feel it. Friday it settled in, though I’m proud to say that before it did I went out for a slow and gentle 1.25 miles to the local plaza and back. Saturday and Sunday were spent mostly in bed or on the sofa, sleeping a lot, knitting a little, and guzzling several pots of herbal tea while contemplating the alien creature that seems to have crawled into my sinuses to die. Tonight I feel as if I might just be up for getting out a little tomorrow. Actually, I’ll be out tomorrow either way - for a walk, if I feel better, or to the doctor if the sinuses haven’t yet haven’t cleared, since I am prone to sinus and ear infections.

Last week was supposed to be my week to break past the five miles a week average, but all things considered I should be grateful that I actually did get five miles done. The spirit is willing and eager, but the body - well, right now not so much. I really want to start lengthening the distance of my walks to between 3.5 and 5 miles in the next couple of weeks. By the end of February I’d like to build that up to at least 5 miles four times a week or more and then longer distances in March, not just in order to get to my 100 Run-a-go-go miles by April 1st, but more importantly to get ready for the real distance training that should start in April in preparation for the Toronto Weekend to End Breast Cancer, which is 60 km (37.5 miles) over two days in early September.

I know, I know. I promised there would be knitting news. I may have been remiss in reporting it, but there truly has been a lot of knitting related activity around here in the last couple of weeks.

First and foremost I want to thank my fabulous (and evil) SP Laura for just spoiling me silly.
I received my second package two weeks ago, gleefully opened it up and drooled all over it, and then I packed it back in the box because I had so much other stuff going on. The box was eyeing me reproachfully from it's corner until a few days ago because I hadn't even sent her a note of thanks or anything. Aaack! Bad Secret Pal!! Rude Secret Pal!!! Fifty lashes with a wet skein of cheap acrylic!!!!

Now that we have our handy-dandy digital camera, I can finally show you pictures of all my SP9 loot! Well, almost all of it... The only remaining physical evidence of the incredible chocolate truffles in my first package last fall is on my buddha-belly and I will spare you the sight of that. YES, I did share them with DH (well, the split was about 80-20). But the rest of my haul will be right here very soon (please try not to drool over the keyboard). Unfortunately, my currently horizontal physical condition precludes much activity, which means you'll have to wait another day or two for details and pix.

I neglected to mention that I was unmasked by my own spoilee Angela, a knitter-extraordinaire of whom I will remain forever in awe. She caught me about 3 weeks ago and commented here, and I am delighted that I will finally be able to tell you all about her, but this too will have to wait until I'm less vertically challenged. Until then I'll leave you with a small taste of her magnificence: this woman has knitted not one, not two, but several Hyrna Herborgar shawls. Yup. She just whips them off like I might do with a plain vanilla garter stitch scarf. Sheesh.

I 'll tantalize you with more hints of future posts: I've started scheming and plotting for my Project-Spectrum/Stash-Knitting projects... I have more sock news (as well as my first ever commission!)...and, hmmm, what (else) have I been knitting?

Big Audition Today. A new Broadway gems revue in development.
It's a pretty good gig for late next summer up near lake Simcoe, gorgeous location and should be lots of fun. Kind of like a paid holiday, really.

I haven't auditioned for music theatre in a very long time. Lately I've been performing (professionally) in classical material, operas and concerts mostly, with a little jazz on the side. Meanwhile, I've been satisfying my musical theatre urges with several pastiche cabaret-style revues developed and produced collaboratively with an ensemble of like-minded classically trained singers. But I haven't had to actually audition for these. In fact, it's probably 15 years since I did a music theatre audition. So this is a bit strange.

Oh, yeah. Audition + PMS = tough days for the DH.

Think good thoughts for me! Maybe for him too.
MezzoDiva will return tomorrow. Or soon, anyway.

Check, please.

Oh, was this supposed to be my KNITTING blog? I think John Lennon said it best: Life is what happens while you’re busy making plans. It's all good, but - sheesh! – I've hardly even been able to knit, let alone blog about it. I'll get the personal stuff out of the way here. Tomorrow it's all knitting - I promise.

If you've been looking me up lately you'll know that I kicked up my get off the couch plan. That's really a whole lifestyle adjustment with it's own baggage and emotional repercussions and it has taken a lot of my focus even while not actively on the hoof. So I’m back digging in the personal stables for my pony and much of the work is rough and raw. I have to take more responsibility for my emotional well-being as well as my physical well-being, as the latter is a consequence and symptom of the former. And probably vice versa. I really can't fix one without the other.

Meanwhile, I declared another intention for 2007, to cast a wider net professionally in my performing career, and I blithely sent that off into the ethereal universe. Yee Har!!! Yeah. Sure. Careful what you wish for. Now, of course, I’m receiving all kinds of (usually last minute) info about audition calls for musical theatre and commercials (and some opera too), and I’m scrambling to get my act together for them. It’s all good, I suppose, but with the aforementioned not-so-little personal reclamation project I haven't been singing all that much and even if I do get the pipes working I am just not in the mood to put on my best Ethel Merman persona. Yeah. I know. Cry me a river. I should never complain about being able to do what I love for a living, so please bear with me, but it can very hard to shake the emotional manure off in the middle of mucking out the personal stables in order to go out and *Be a Star*.

Well enough about me. (typical self-involved diva: "but enough about me - how did YOU like my last show?") Never let it be said the universe does not provide reminders to stop bemoaning our own disappointments and count our blessings. I was trolling some of my favourite knitblogs during a bout of insomnia last night and I came across this reality check while visiting Not-so-Mean girl Jen and Crazy-like-a-fox Aunt Purl:

Allison is a self-employed craft-supplier Mom with a gorgeous three month old baby, Evan. As if there wasn't enough going on, what with her online store and the new baby and all: Evan was diagnosed with a brain tumor and will soon be travelling to Phoenix for baby brain surgery. Those last three words should never have to appear in the same sentence, and hopefully someday they never will. But since they do, I have the urge to do something - anything - to help.

If you've been hankering to upgrade your fibre intake or need a Very Good Reason to cheat on your 2007 yarn diet (we get one day off a month, don't we?) please come visit Allison at SuperCrafty - her online yarn and needle and pattern and notion shop. Her prices are good, she's very fast with response to queries and usually ships orders in 24 hours or even the same day.

You can also go to Allison's blog and make a donation to the brain surgery fund. The LAST thing they need to be worrying about right now is medical expenses! With your help we can defray at least that part of their concern. If we can chip in to help someone buy a spinning wheel or a loom, just imagine the mojo we have to support these brave parents determined to make a healthy and happy future for their son. Thank God the medical intervention exists that will hopefully help them do that.

Evan has the first review of his MRI and medical records next week at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, so they should know more about the treatment options soon and Allison will post updates on her blog. Meanwhile, let's send them some love from the fibre and knit-blogging community. Keep them in your prayers.

All my best wishes for Evan, his mommy Allison and his daddy Jeff. Evan's already blessed to have you for parents and that's a great way to start. Have faith!

Run-A-Go-Go! Week number four:
Return to Active Duty! Hurrah!
[21/01/07 thru 27/01/07] 5 miles
15 miles down, 85 to go.

I shook off my lethargy, honoured my impulse to get up and go at midnight on Tuesday, and we went out and walked a mile. Then we did another mile and a half on Wednesday night. Thursday and Friday were spent in unapologetic hibernation: I don't care what any meteorologist says, but minus double digits with severe (skin destroying) windchill is not a high unless you live on Mars. However on Saturday we were right back out there again and did a good two and a half miles in the snow. So although that's only 5 miles this week, I'm pretty proud to have returned to active duty.

If you don't count week 3 (the week I dropped out), then 5 miles is my weekly average for the first month of this new lifestyle commitment. I know that's low - I need to average 9-10 miles a week to get to 100 miles by April 1st. But I look at it as a good start. I'm not expecting to go from full stop zero to 10 miles or more in one fell swoop. That's how I used to approach my life. I'm a bit slow to learn these lessons, but I give in: All-or-Nothing did NOT work for me. That's how I got into this mess to begin with. Instead of trying to go at the max from the start, this time I'm committed to gradually building longer distances into my walks so my weekly numbers will grow - dramatically - as the weeks go by.

An added bonus is that DH and I are walking together most of the time and these walks are becoming a wonderful opportunity to talk about everything from the banal to the profound, the sublime to the ridiculous. While I can go walking on my own, it is certainly much more pleasant to have good company. And it's not that we can't or don't talk a lot at home. Communication is not a problem at all here at casa MezzoDiva. I am often in awe of my good fortune in finding this exceptionally sensitive man and persevering through our years together, building a life with him in spite of both our histories and the flaws and baggage we carry. But these walks are deepening the intimacy between us in wonderful and surprising ways. And that is becoming further powerful incentive to keep on walking!

Back in the game again.

Whew! Thanks to everyone for the positive reinforcement. By the time we got ready with coats and boots and all it was 11:45pm and we got out and just went as far as felt good at the time. Only one mile but what a mile it was! Felt so good to be out and moving. I’m just on my way out again now - going to see a therapist about the emotional baggage that’s really been in the way - but I’ll also get a mile or so under my feet on the way there! Thanks again to everyone - just for being here.

Run-A-Go-Go! M.I.A. confessions.
Week number three: [14/01/07 thru 20/01/07] 0 miles.
Woops. I need some help.

Still at the 10 miles mark. DH and I were on track with this walking thing for the first 10 days of the year. Then we stopped. Since January 11th I have scarcely left the house. We have been pretty good about maintaining the healthier eating plan. But there has not been any activity that could be reasonably called exercise. I'm thoroughly disgusted with myself about it.

What the h--- happened? To make a long story short, I fell into a lovely little private self-pity party and I am just shaking it off now.

Okay, then. I am going to do something about that right now. It's 11:30 p.m. here, light snow with temperature -2C and windchill (makes it feel like) -8C and I am throwing on my clothes and shoes and going out. If I go around the block - fine. If I do more than that - great. But I am getting out there. So I'll be signing off now. I should have some more to say tomorrow.

This is up to me. Nobody can do it for me. But any positive reinforcement right now will be appreciated.

Sneak Peak: Anybody want to knit these spectacular new socks?

Psst!... over here. Just get a look at these lovelies! They were knitted toe-up with a provisional cast on, short-row toes and short-row heels. But they will easily translate to other methods, though this lace works best from the bottom up. Some familiarity with lace would be helpful, but it's not a hard lace to knit, just a simple variation on dayflower lace done in the round. I made them using the magic loop method, but the pattern should also work on two circulars or dpns.

The magnificent magenta originals (pictured above) are made from 2 skeins of Koigu (KPM #1170), on 2 mm needles. For this lace, solid colours are best. A VERY subtly variegated colour-way might be okay, but too much colour striation will distract from the lace pattern.

I'm just translating my knitting notes into more decipherable instructions for those who aren't lurking in my head with me. I hope to finish editing them tonight. More soon.

Run-A-Go-Go! Week number two:
[07/01/07 thru 13/01/07] 4 miles.
Went out walking only twice this week.
Cumulative Total: 10 miles.
90 more to go by April 1st.

We have pointy sticks and
we are not afraid to use them.

So angry about this I cannot speak or blog.

Hell hath no fury as a sock-knitter scorned.

The fur on the back of my neck is standing up.
Must go knit 10,000 stitches to calm down.

To the kind persons waiting to be testknitters for my new sock pattern: Please stand by. We are experiencing technical delays. Thanks for your patience. XOXO - MD

I can’t wait for the new VK – Have you SEEN IT? - For the love of yarn, GO take a look! They have some major pattern-porn going on in the winter07 issue. I just love the sneak peaks. Seriously – even some of the new intarsia stuff looks good to me (though I would have to go for different colours) and I am just not into that stuff.

Their new modular star-fish cabled cover pattern is positively drool-worthy!!! I want to wear it so badly, but I really couldn’t. Step away from the capecho, Ma'am. Nice and easy. Keep your hands where we can see them. It would look absurd on a very busty gal. It makes me wish for a petite or average chest (sigh. maybe in a future life).

BTW: have you seen these?
I found them on the Fall Cable KAL and they are my next new small project. She made them as a variation on this pattern (scroll down for English instructions), and she added the partial fingers – I might need a little help to get that right. Want ‘em. Need ‘em. Gonna make ‘em. SOON.

Hey – I just realized the mitts will go perfectly with the new cabled hat I bought from Liane last week!

Speaking of cabled goodness, I am still swatching assorted lovely things from stash to find the right yarn for the sexy curvy cabled cardigan . I have some sinfully soft and sensual SRK Truffles (80-20 virgin wool/cashmere) in the deep red Maroon colour, but I don't like the way the reverse stst background looks in it. That's the tricky thing with this pattern. The assymetrical cables are gorgeous in almost everything, but reverse st st doesn't look good (to me) in many yarns. Hmmm... It might work in some of my dk or light-worsted cotton blends, but they're buried deep in the stash. That stuff will be easy to find. I'll do that until I can work up the nerve to go spelunking in the stash.

And of course I need to pick up the Manos vest and finish it - now for the DH. Oh, did I forget to mention that I never did finish the vest for my stepdad? I was getting so many mixed messages and opinions about whether or not he will like it or the colourway are too bold for him or what my mother thinks I really should do:
what he really needs is more slippers (despite having just bought himself a new pair he loves), so I should make him slippers, not a vest (well, I'm halfway through the vest) and those colours are too bright, I don't think he'll wear that (the man proudly wears a kilt in Buchanan plaid!),and how is the vest coming along? is it ready yet? and you know his birthday is this weekend...

SO my head was spinning and I misread the simplest of pattern instructions (you don't do the pattern every round, you just knit the alternate rounds straight) and I had to rip the vest back from the armholes. I just couldn't muster up the heart to redo it right away, so at the last minute I gave him these felted slipper booties instead (courtesy of the multi-talented and speedy Liane, and I'm not ashamed to say I left that last part out).

PLEASE - if I am ever so insane as to knit something - anything - at the suggestion of my mother, will you all immediately march right on over here and smack me hard upside the head? Really. No hard feelings. I promise.

Anyhow, DH loves that yarn and pattern, so now that I have it going the right way it will be his next new handknitted gift from me - no special occasion required - just thanks for coming into my life and sweeping out the madness, preventing me following that crazy lady down the rabbit hole / going totally and completely bonkers / being carted off by the nice men in a white jacket with moebius sleeves following in the family tradition. Really, I am feeling much better now. (Please ignore the twitch.)

But I digress. Okay - back to the swatching and stash saga.

I really have to go through my stash and catalog it all so I know what I have and where it all is.
I am way past the stage where I can remember everything that's in there. But I am just not in the mood for a stash excavation right now... maybe on the weekend.

I have spent the last few weeks sorting and purging and otherwise digging through our own stuff around here. Then, just when I could see the dawn of a new clutter-free era here at casa MezzoDiva, a family friend brought over a car-full (!) of second-hand clothes for me to choose from before they go to Goodwill. Seriously, there were twelve HUGE bags of the stuff, as well as a mound of things on hangers in the trunk. Yippee! Just what I needed – more STUFF to sort through. But she has a great sense of style and a champagne budget, so I persevered gratefully. I found lots of good diva-style things as well as about 50 Tshirts in assorted fabulous jewel tones and brights – many of them new, with the tags on – which I might share with DH. If he's good.

And speaking of glorious colour, Project Spectrum starts February 1, 2007. Come along and sign up for a colourful year!

I think I'll combine my stash reclamation project with Project Spectrum 2007. That will be a really fun way to use up lots of my stash. Every couple of months I'll make a new colourful project (or two or three...) out of stash yarn.

Stash-along is a tricky thing. I don't believe an organized moratorium on yarn acquisition is a very good idea - mostly because it wreaks economic havoc on your local LYS and I believe it's very important to support the smaller independents. Besides, who really wants to stop buying yarn (even if you do get one day off a month)? Still, we can decide to shop more judiciously and meanwhile commit to knitting from your stash at the same time.

Oops - really gotta go now. We’re dashing out for a walk in the nice weather before the sun goes down and it gets too chilly and DH wants to check his email. He recently accused me of excessive verbiage: “Everything you write has to be the Great-Canadian-Email!”(Okay, Tell me how you really feel.)

Yes, dear. That’s why Haley told me to get a blog.

Run-A-Go-Go!

Week number one
[31/12/06 thru 06/01/07]
6 miles down. 94 to go.

MezzoDiva -aka- the operatic knitaholic (proper noun), Def:
1. Classical, theatre, jazz vocalist/actor; obsessive fibre artist and unrepentant sock-knitting addict; chronically verbose blogger.
2. A 40-something size-24 woman who blithely registered for a two-day 60-km weekend walkathon The Toronto Weekend to End Breast Cancer taking place September 7-9, 2007 and had better get her fat ass off the sofa NOW and start moving.
3. WTF was I thinking?????

In recent discussions with the girlfriends I was reminded of a lesson I learned in acting class about the basic underlying drives for all human behaviour. There are two types of urges to which human beings respond: Every action stems from either attraction, the impulse towards something, or aversion, the impulse away from something. There may be millions of differing specific details in every instance, but every single thing we do boils down to one of those two imperatives.

In other words, it's always about the carrot, or the stick. Furthermore, most human beings have a tendency to be more responsive to one or the other of these types of imperatives. And it has taken no great amount of self-examination to realize that my primary mode of motivation is the stick. I have to admit that I am more strongly driven to do things in order to avoid discomfort or punishment than I am driven to do them in order to reap the benefit or rewards. For me, fear is a powerful motivator.

Let's take it a step futher: There are two specific things that I fear.

In the grand scheme of things, I am concerned that if I do not get my health, especially my weight and fitness level, under control starting now, then it's all going to be downhill from here. I am currently out-of-shape and unfit, and except for a brief period of physical fitness a couple of years from 2000-2002, this has been the norm. And in my family tree of geneological medical histories you'll find the top ten tunes on the obesity-related diseases hit parade: there's been type-2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke, coronary artery disease, heart attack, arrhythmia, angina, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and asthma/COPD. Oh, yeah, add to that a few extremely painful cases of varicose veins.

Now, I am very lucky that despite my tendency to rubenesque proportions, I haven't yet developed any of these potentially life-threatening complications. But at 40+ I am at a chronological cross-roads: if I continue to slide down this slippery slope of least resistance, returning to the fork later and choosing the other path will become exponentially more and more difficult. So I have some pretty good reasons to want to develop a healthier lifestyle that I can build into habitual behaviour for the rest of my life.

In the short term, the fear is more immediate: I signed up for a two-day walk of 60 km (that's 37.5 miles) next September. And oddly, I am not so much afraid of the first day as I am of the second. I am REALLY afraid of trying to cajole my body to go back out on day 2. The discussion will go something like this.

Me: Good morning. I know you're a bit sore, but we really should get going. So let's move please. Okay?
Body: No.
Me: We'll get up and stretch... then we can go for another 30 km walk today. C'mon, it'll be fun!
Body: No.
Me: There will be coffee. And breakfast. Mmmmm....
Body: No.
Me: You can get a massage....
Body: No.

....

Me: Come on, just a little stretch, a couple of steps and I promise you'll feel better! How about just around the block?
Body: No.
Me: Okay, how about we start by just getting out of bed?
Body: No.
Me: But we promised!
Body: No. No. No. No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-..... NO-NO-NO-NO-NO!!!!

My body will have become a recalcitrant two-year-old rooted to the bed with a new favourite word and nothing I say will move her.

All kidding aside, I am afraid of setting myself up for some serious pain! If I don't get myself out there NOW and start rustling up some mileage, I will not be ready to do the real focussed long-distance training that begins in the spring. There are coaches and plans available to help us work up to the goal, but I need to get in some advance training to be able do the training.

So when I saw Runagogo! I decided that this was a great way to begin. I won't be running, but I will comit to get in my 100 miles by April 1st. That's just 9-10 miles a week on average. Even I can do that! And if this weather continues to hold, I'm getting back on my beloved bicycle which has been languishing as a purely decorative feature of my front porch for the last couple of years.

When I got fit the last time, the bike was my primary mode of transportation and I was a road warrior! I biked everywhere, often 15 miles a day or more round trip through the GTA, downhill and back. I was still a zaftig babe, weighing in just under 200 lbs, but much of that was solid muscle. Pilates mat classes strengthened my mid-section so bending forward on my bike didn't strain my back. I lost over 60 pounds back then over about 8 months by burning my own body's reserves for fuel, by drinking a lot of water and making sure to eat all the things you should eat.

See by the time you eat all the things you "should," there is not a lot of room left for the things you "shouldn't". Don't get me wrong - this was no deprivation situation: there were some significant quantities of food consumed here at casa MezzoDiva. It was more about proportion control than portion control. Eating less was no part of the agenda. But the quality and ratio of the food was healthier.

We cut out the processed and white foods almost entirely: refined sugar, flour, yeast, and most conventional dairy. We ate lots (LOTS) of lean protein and healthy fats, especially fresh fish, beans and soy, some poultry and also steak; lots of whole grains, especially brown rice; some organic milk, cheeses and yogourt; and at least half the volume on our plates consisted of colourful vegetables and fruit, often raw and in huge magnificent salads we devoured daily. Good quality dark chocolate was also a staple. And listen up people: there was still the occasional ice cream and cheesecake, even french fries. But they were the exception, not the rule, and they weren't missed very much after the first couple of weeks.

We are committed to making these changes in our lives again. We're buying better groceries and phasing back into that healthy mode of eating, cooking more and eating packaged foods less. And of course there's the moving thing.

DH is very good company on any kind of expedition. We have done a couple of walks together already: just 1.5 miles on New Years Eve and another 2.5 miles Friday. I know that's only 4 miles so far, but I had to take a break mid-week due to fun-of-fertility rituals (which in recent months have become rather debilitating for 3-4 days). But Friday we jumped right back on the wagon, and we're going back out again today for at least another 2 miles.

I aim to go out and walk 4-5 days a week (with some time off for lunar hormonal challenges). If I get 12-15 miles a week most of the time, then the periodic times off once a month won't keep me from getting in my 100 miles.

Why not get up off your butt, put your knitting down (briefly) and join us! For more info about it, see Rachael at Yarn-A-Go-Go for the details.

And if you REALLY want to motivate me, you can (please) sponsor me here. Thanks!

Happy New Year!

I have some exciting knitting news about my first FO of 2007, but I'm keeping it for the end of this post (scroll down if you want to see that first).

Welcoming 2007 in the spirit of renewal and self-discovery, I decided to look up what my name means. I entered my full given name as stated on my birth certificate(i.e: MezzoDiva's alter ego in the physical world).

Wow. This really is true to me. Go to the What Your Name Means quiz here if you want to try it.

There are 17 letters in your name. Those 17 letters total to 75. There are 6 vowels and 11 consonants in your name. Your first name means wise defender (Teutonic & Spanish); counsel; mighty protection; guards wisely (German). Well, I tend to be a pitbull about fighting for the rights of the underdog (other people whose rights I perceive as being trampled) in unfair situations, so the defender part's correct, and I will even concede the wisdom (in regard to helping others, that is - w.r.t my own life, well, let's just say I'm learning).

Your Personal number is 3. Characteristics of #3 are expression, verbalization, socialization, the arts, and the joy of living. The expression of 3 produces a quest for destiny with words, a variety of lines that may include writing, speaking, singing, acting or teaching; [People with personal number 3 are] our entertainers, writers, litigators, teachers, salesmen, and composers. You also have the destiny to sell yourself or sell just about any product that comes along. Yeah - all that fits me on so many levels - especially the last part because in my biz 90% of my job is to audition. You are imaginative in your presentation, and you have creative talents in the arts, although these may be latent.

You are an optimistic person who seems ever enthusiastic about life and living. You are friendly, loving and social, and people like you because you are charming and such a good conversationalist. Your ability to communicate may often inspire others. It is your role in life to inspire and motivate; to raise the spirits of those around you.And maybe I tend to play that role too often. I am working very hard to allow the less entertaining but equally authentic parts of myself to come out of isolation too.

The negative side of number 3 expression is superficiality. You may tend to scatter your forces and simply be too easygoing. It is advisable for the negative 3 to avoid dwelling on trivial matters, especially gossip.Ummm... yeah. Like she said.

Your Soul Urge number is 2. Your motivation is centered on relationships: friendships, partnerships, and companionship. You want to work with others as a part of a cooperative team. Leadership is not important to you, but making a contribution to the team effort is. You are willing to work hard to achieve a harmonious environment with sensitive, genial people. My favourite and most fulfilling experiences have been in collaborative situations, creating and developing ensemble projects with others both on and off stage.

In a positive sense, the 2 Soul Urge is sympathetic, extremely concerned and devoted. The nature tends to be very sensitive to others, always tactful and diplomatic. This element in your nature indicates that you are rather emotional. You are persuasive, but in a very quiet way, never forceful. (Will someone please tell my darling husband to stop laughing so hard.) You are the type that makes really close friendships because you are so affectionate and loving. If this number is over-emphasized in your makeup, you may be over-sensitive, with a delicate ego that is too easily hurt. You may be timid or fearful, too easygoing for your own good.

Your Inner Dream number is 1. You dream of being a leader and one who is in charge. You want to be known for your courage, daring, and original ideas. You seek unconquered heights. People may get a first impression that you are very aggressive and sure of yourself. (I tend to compensate for that later.)

Okay. Enough navel-gazing.

I am simply giddy to report that MY OWN FIRST PATTERN - my favourite lace socks - is ready for beta testing!

I showed off sock number one at an informal SnB at Knitomatic last Friday. LYS owner and friend Haley, she of the pretty feet and ankles, tried it on and modeled for us and everyone said it is very beautiful. I have to agree - it even looks good on my plump tootsies and ankles (but I won't inflict them on you).

I spent the holiday weekend making up the second sock by attempting to strictly follow my notes and I've done it! The notes were then translated into what I think are clear instructions, but I might be mistaken about that, since I'm pretty good at reading my own mind.

Now I need to enlist a few intrepid test-knitters to try knitting from my pattern directions and provide feedback to help me debug the pattern.

The socks were knitted toe-up with a provisional cast on. Some familiarity with lace would be helpful, but it's not very hard. I made them using the magic loop method, but the pattern will also work on two circulars or dpns.

If you're interested and willing to be a guinea pig, please let me know ASAP.

Thanks!!

Lots more knitting news soon.