Projects!

Boy, have I been busy since I last updated! I have been working full-time at my job as a night shift women's health RN, and I finally got my taxes done (TWO days early, so SCORE!!), and I have a number of knit and crochet projects that I've been working on. PLUS this last week I ran my longest run ever--13.5 miles!

Here is an illustration of how I felt after that run was complete:

 

Here is a link to the activity that I wanted to do as soon as possible:  Guess What??


I'm really excited because I got a Nike+ Sport Band to help me work on my pacing. (I got the pink one!)  I don't have an iPod (ohmygosh--the blasphemy of it! I have a Zune), so I haven't been able to use the microchip technology that would give me a more accurate fix on my pace as I'm going along. The Sport Band is the perfect solution, especially since my poor watch (a really awesome Citizen Eco-Drive that I got as a "Getting Out of Iowa!" gift to myself) was getting wrecked from constant sweat exposure. Yes, I sweat when I run. Perspiring is for sissies.

The Nike+ Sport Band functions as a watch, and tracks my calorie expenditure and the time it takes for me to complete my run. You just press the button for 3 seconds to start recording, do your run, then press it again to turn it off. You pop the built-in flash drive right off the band and stick it in the USB port to download the run info. The only thing I worry about is accuracy--for the calibration run, which MapMyRun.com says was 3.2 miles, the Sport Band recorded as being 3.64 miles. Hmm. That's quite a difference, and might give me a false sense of speed when I'm really not going as fast as all that. We'll see if the accuracy improves over time.

Here's the link to the product description, although it's been my experience that the Nike website runs kind of slow:  Groovy Nike+ Sport Band

On the Autism Speaks fund-raising front, I've been doing a bit of research and I came up with the idea to give a free leather training bracelet to charitable givers who donate $50 or more to Autism Speaks. I am currently working with an artist that I discovered on  Etsy.com (a very cool site where artists and crafters can sell their wares) to design and test out the prototype.

It's going to be a unisex dark brown leather band, to fit a wrist between 7 and 8 inches, with a riveted, shiny nickel plate on top that says,"AUTISM SPEAKS. Will you listen?" She is going to send me the test model soon--I can't wait! I will post pictures of it as soon as I can. I think it will be a real incentive and a way to spread the message that autism is a growing problem that we need to focus all our efforts to untangle.

(Still haven't figured out how to set up the whole Paypal thing, but I'm working on it!)

Now on to...KNITTING PROJECTS!!

Okay--if you knew me in real life, you'd know that I have a ball of yarn where my heart should be. And not just any yarn. It's Noro Silk Garden worsted weight in the #252 colorway. Here's a pic: Yummy Yarn!

Anyway, I've been so busy that I haven't had much time lately to devote to sitting in front of the TV knitting. But HAPPILY, I did get some time last week and here are some pictures of me knitting an eco-friendly, reusable grocery bag:

PURLING

MORE PURLING

THIS PURLING IS KILLING ME.

AHH--A shot of the AWESOME (and thankfully cheap) LILY brand Sugar'n Cream worsted weight 100% cotton yarn in ORIENTAL OCHRE with which I knitted the following FABULOUS bag:

Hurray!!

So that's about it for now, blog-followers and friends. The plan for today is a 6 mile run this morning, then a search for the perfect built-in bra to put into a halter-top I am crocheting. Didn't you just die of excitement upon reading that?? I know I did! Till next time.