Josh and I went to his, possibly, last tae kwon do class with Hawkeye Tae Kwon Do. There weren't many people there, about 10 I think, and we didn't do anything terrible exciting though I was sweating like crazy due to the ~85F temp and Christy's leadership. I am pleasantly sore due to our somewhat forced hiatus from tae kwon do these past months and my run on Tuesday morning. I hope we can find a club or school in MN that we like. I have found one that intrigues me. They don't have tae kwon do, but a bunch of other things and you can take them all for about $100, which is a bit steep for me right now.

Josh starts his new job on Monday so we are moving most of our stuff this weekend. We are loading almost everything Friday afternoon and evening, which won't be fun with the predicted 100F heat index, though Saturday should be cooler. We are going to have quite the caravan head to our new place with Josh's parents and their truck and trailer as well as my mom joining us at Eldora, Josh's truck and my car. Josh's new employer has offered three times to send a guy or two over to help us unload. I think I like these people all ready.

I will be sticking around until the end of the month in my mostly empty apartment. At least I will be left with a TV, DVD player, laptop, yarn and an air mattress as well as my kitchen and a few essentials. The first thing I thought of besides missing Josh, was the food I would be able to make with out considering what Josh would eat. What does that say about me?

Eating, shopping, baking, Wii-ing, jogging, crocheting, picture taking, and grilling; not a bad Saturday.

First up are bird parts.

I have started three more birds for my army to bring the total to 9. I purchased the red yarn and two F hooks at our new Micheals. Not the greatest yarn selection but now I can get Cotton-Ease locally.

Next is the first of my ribbed socks made from TOFUtsies yarn.


Last night after tae kwon do, I helped Josh with his one steps. In one of them he does a leg sweep as I do a round house kick therefor landing on my back. I landed wrong the first time because I forgot what exactly was going to happen. I landed rather hard; I am pretty sure I am going to have a very lovely bruise in a few days. Luckily it didn't hurt while I was doing my workout today. It didn't hurt too much while I tried out a bunch of things on Wii Sports that I hadn't tried before.

Ok, now for some cake!

Crap! I think I have a cold. It started last night during the youth tae kwon do tournament our club hosts on a yearly basis. I was judging forms and really wished I had my water bottle with me because my throat was scratchy and dry. I was fine during the subsequent tournament shortened class we had, probably due to all my concentration being used to make my limbs do the combinations of kicks. After class my throat got progressively scratchier, and I started coughing. It's no better today, and I doubt teaching three tae kwon do classes tonight is going to help. Actually I don't usually do much for the third class since Josh likes to take that one.

I wish I could sit at home tonight with a mug of tea in front of the TV and knit. I have joined a couple knitting related groups the Sock Knitter's Pentathalon 2008 and Sock Wars III. Luckily they don't happen at the same time.

I woke up this morning with an awful headache. I blame the nadobans(a jump spin roundhouse kick) we did at tae kwon do last night. My cervical vertebrae are prone to getting out of alignment and giving me some lovely headaches.

I took two naproxen sodium right away this morning, but the headache is still hanging on. I hope my coffee helps a bit. I guess it could make it worse if the caffeine just makes me more tense. Oh well!

ETA: Speaking of tae kwon do, last night it took me about 25 minutes to get from my apartment to the Field House. Normally this is a 15 minute drive, which made me glad I got bored at home and left early. I am not sure why traffic was moving so slowly, but by the time I reached the Field House my feet were numb. I took off my shoes in the dojang and noticed several of my toes were rather white and others verging on purple. It took at least 10 minutes before I could feel any of my toes. My feet are usually cold, especially my toes, but I don't remember them being that numb in quite a long time. I guess sitting in a cold car with one foot on the clutch and the other hovering near the break and accelerator is not good for circulation.

Getting back to tae kwon do last night was nice. I didn't realize how much I missed it, which I think was part of the reason I had trouble making myself go last semester. I get a little burned out teaching tae kwon do six hours a week so it was hard for me to think about enjoying it when I wasn't teaching. I love to kick things, and I am somewhat good at it occasionally. I am not horribly sore, but the soreness will probably hit me tomorrow when we have class again. We did a lot of kicking last night so I know my hammies will be feeling it soon.

I am a little worried that I may have lost my most favoritest hat ever..est. It's the one in my profile picture. I either left it in Josh's truck or the room we do tae kwon do in, but I am still paranoid that it is gone forever. I am heading to the building we workout in to buy a new fitness pass and may head upstairs to check for my hat. Josh hasn't called me back yet about the possibility of my hat being in his truck. I love that hat! I want to make another one just like it because I can, but that is a little hard when it is not in my presence. At least I still have the matching mittens. I am unnaturally attached to this hat.

I changed the background color because,...well I don't know why. I just did.

ETA: Found the hat. It was in the truck! Yay! I am totally paranoid about losing that hat. I am amazed I am willing to wear it. Thanks for looking Emily!

I meant to only take out the bind-off, but I ended up frogging the whole collar on the Ribby. I bought another zipper, the one I meant to get, and I had ordered it a little longer because I decided I wanted a longer collar after trying my sweater on a few times. I wove in my ends really well apparently because I couldn't find it, so I decided to snip a little bit at the edge I knew it would be on. I am not sure what happened but I ended up frogging the whole mess because I had two strands of yarn, and I couldn't figure out where the other came from. I am still not sure. That is what I did Friday night before I went to tae kwon do. I am still sore from all the push-ups we had to do and the fact that I hadn't done push-ups in awhile. At least kicking stuff made me feel better. The collar is almost long enough now, maybe two or three more rows are needed, so I may actually be able to put the zipper in sometime this week. It may not be done until this weekend though because Tuesday night, my only guaranteed free night, is probably going to be taken up with laundry.

On Saturday, we intended to drop the motorcycle off at Josh's parents' house for the winter. Josh rode it there while I went to work to for about 30 min and then followed in my car. I got a call from Josh about half-way between here and his parents' house. The throttle cable had broken, but luckily he was near a gas station and in a town where he had some family. I met him at his great-aunt's house and his dad arrived later with the trailer. Josh had to ride in the trailer with the bike! He said it was interesting, especially the turns. We took it to the guy that fixed it up initially.

We then went to lunch with his parents and returnedto their house so he and his dad could build stuff in the garage. They made me a swift! I brought the directions with me and we dug through the scrap wood pile and found everything we needed in the garage except a bolt. It's not the prettiest swift in the world, but it spins!

I need a new scarf, and while the prospect of knitting a scarf is totally unappealing, I really don't want to buy one either. I am trying to decide between this one and this one. Cables are another option.

I am really looking forward to this long weekend. I didn't really get a break last weekend because of the class and I was so tired afterwards that I needed a few days to recover. I think I will spend most of the time cleaning out my closets and knitting. last time I seriously cleaned the shower, I completely missed the spot under the built in soap dish and it is really nasty now. Of course I am going to make an attempt to get my license on Saturday. I also plan to do a little more research on the towns that have culinary schools I am interested in.

I want to finish the the Charade and Leyburn socks done so I can free up my needles to do some more Christmas gift knitting and crocheting.

Our first of three classes at the GymNest on Thursday nights is full of four year olds. They were fairly well behaved, but last night didn't involve much actual tae kwon do. The class description specifically says it is for 5-7 year olds, but the Nest doesn't seem to go by their own descriptions. Four may be old enough for their gymnastics classes, but it is not, generally speaking, for tae kwon do classes. One parent even expressed some concern about the size of the class and the age of many of the students. Most are signed up on a weekly basis and we will lose a few as the weeks go by, but I am sure there will still be a few kids I wish had waited a year before starting.

Supposedly we are getting some cooler weather starting today. I really hope so. At least we are getting a good thunderstorm today. I think my subcloning may have worked! I am not getting my hopes too high because I can never get any of my cloning projects to work the first time.

I have an excess of knitting time because there is no more tae kwon do this week! I only had to teach two classes on Monday night and I am free for almost two weeks. This means I may be able to finish a pair of socks in a week. I am going to make some brownies tonight to celebrate.

The start of the first one is the pic on the right. The pattern and yarn are working really well together. It's almost twice as long now. I have one more pattern repeat and then will start the heel. The stitch pattern is really easy to memorize. I had it down after the first time. You have to borrow some stitches from the next row and the previous row during each repeat which creates a little jog in the pattern but it is barely noticeable.

Aurelie Socks

I started these at the cabin and have been working on them on the bus and the last few days I got in some knitting at work while the bosses are gone. I even got them to match!

Pattern : none, it's a basic 64 stitch socks with eye of partridge heel
Yarn: MacKintosh Yarns Aurelie
Needles: 2.5mm dpns

They are a little short for me, so I believe they will go to Josh's mom for Christmas. I pulled them out last time I was at their house and she really liked them.

ETA:

I didn't have to do anything special to make them match, but I like that you think I am amazing, though I may have just ruined that.

Aurelie #1

Aurelie #1
Originally uploaded by chelsealynnw.

Here is the first Aurelie sock. I finished it on Tuesday night and then started the second one. It's just a little short for me so I may frog the toe and add a few more rows, but otherwise I love how it turned out.

I realized one of The Burrow socks is longer than the other. Luckily it's the one I haven't bound off yet so I will rip it back to the correct length and redo the ribbing. I guess that's what I get for knitting while reading.

I also started the River Rapids socks as my first socks for SAMKAL4 and the Sock Knitters Anonymous KAL. I love the pattern so far. It knits up quickly and easily. I packed up my Sockapalooza pal's stuff last night and I just hope I have time to drop it off before I go the GymNest tonight.

Oh yeah, as for how I can knit and read at the same time, I think it only applies to books I can get to lay flat and stockinette stitch. I haven't tried reading while knitting anything with a pattern stitch except when listening to an audiobook, and I am still not sure if I count that as reading.

I am a sock knitter

I am admitting it. I have knit toe-up, baby size, cuff-down and am working on some sideways socks. It's not a lot of socks by any means (7 total socks), but other things don't scream at me to be knitted right away. Sock yarns suck me in and I can't help but stare at them. when I get bored or have extra time at work I stare at sock yarn on Etsy or at all the sock patterns on Ravelry and the Sockapalooza socks. I have never knit a sweater or gloves or mittens or... Ok, so there are a lot of things I have never knit.

I am currently working on two pairs of socks, both of which have been frogged at one point. I joined a sock club at my LYS and just joined another sock club from a favorite Etsy seller because her yarns are gorgeous and so soft. I plan to make socks for Christmas gifts this year, therefor I am not buying sock yarn and knitting for myself all the time.

I am leaving for a week long vacation to my family's cabin (I will get outside pics when I am there)in northern MN in one week. I am planning which sock yarn and patterns I will bring a long and lining up audiobooks to put on my iPod so I can spend my days on the dock knitting socks and listening to books. I am also bringing regular books, a couple swim suits and some running shoes so I have something to do when my wrists and hands get sore. I also must have my camera so I can take some pictures of the sunset on the lake and any sock progress.

My mom and Lex are leaving tomorrow for the cabin and I really wish I was going with them. It is best for me to wait until next weekend to leave due to current work obligations, but I want to get out of here. Sadly, Josh isn't coming with me since he needs to stay to teach tkd since I am leaving. He is being too nice to me.

I will miss the arrival of my new HP book and the opening of The Simpson's Movie but I can always catch up when I get back. I don't think Josh will wait to go to the movie with me though. He called me today and sang a song from the trailer and I think that was pretty much the only reason he called me.

My Sockapalooza pal's socks are done. After finishing the second sock I ripped back the toe of the first one and made it a little longer so it fits a little better. I haven't taken pics yet because I have been too lazy to weave in the ends. I also haven't finished grafting my first Sidewinder. I tried to on Friday night, but Josh kept talking to me and I kept losing my place so I gave up. I need an hour w/o him around to get it done, I think.

I don't have the energy to teach tkd tonight. I don't like teaching when I am tired. At least we don't have large classes. I think all Josh wants to do anymore is teach tkd and kickboxing. He talks about it all the time. I wish I had half his enthusiasm for it because I would enjoy teaching a lot more if I did.

A lot happened this weekend. It was good, but also sad.

Josh and I got into a coaster fight Friday night before tae kwon do class and this is what happened.



I couldn't hit him, but apparently I can get coasters stuck in picture frames. It's still there because it's too funny to take it down.

After tae kwon do we went to The Vine for the second time in three days to see a friend who moved away about a year ago and was back for a night. It was good to see him and hear how he and his wife, also a good friend, are doing in Texas.

I am now co-owner of a motorcycle that doesn't run. It's an '83, good year by the way, Honda Shadow. It doesn't look that nice, nor does it run, but getting it to run, I believe, is a fairly simple fix and eventually we will get it all fixed up and shiny. We traded a new PS2 and a couple games and other accessories for it and I think it was a good deal even though the previous owner offered to just give it to us.

The sad part of getting the motorcycle was we got it from a good friend that is leaving today for Virginia. His wife a kids left for Virginia last month and he stayed behind to sell their house. Well, it sold and he is off to see his family and hopefully get a tae kwon do club/school going and find a new job that he likes better than the one he had here. I wish them luck even though I will miss them a lot.

Amanda and I went to the Iowa City Jazz Festival on Saturday afternoon and had a great time. The weather was ideal for sitting outside and doing a little crocheting and knitting. I made some progress on the Sidewinders and am almost back to where I was (I was actually a little farther than when the pic was taken) before I frogged back to the beginning of Act II. I also ate a lot of tasty food while I was there. Oasis had a stand set up and I got half a falafel pita then Pizza on Dubuque had their Pizza on Wheels set up, which I ate at all the time on RAGBRAI, and I got an excellent slice of their veggie pizza.

I finished one Sockapalooza sock before I went to the jazz festival, and I casted on for the second one yesterday afternoon. I might redo the toe graft because I messed it up a bit.





I have been to The Vine 3 time since Wednesday and to Old Capitol Brew Works once. That's a lot of beer.

I am not a fan of summer weather in Iowa, except for the thunderstorms. I pretty much hate when it gets over 80 degrees and the humidity drives me crazy. I grew up in a house without air conditioning and I remember spending summers sitting on the couch in front of the fan trying to figure out the best position so the fewest parts of my body were touching anything. I have air conditioning now and I don't think I could stand a summer without it anymore. I feel like such a wimp.

Cooking during the summer can be frustrating unless a grill is handy. I hate turning on the oven, so I am not doing as much baking as I would like. I want to make some brownies as a thank you gift for my uncle, but I don't want to turn the oven on! Luckily it should be cooler tomorrow and I essentially have the night off, so I may make them then. I also would love to make a birthday cake for a friend, but I am not sure that is going to happen. Our kitchen is usually warmer than the rest of the place so spending a lot of time in there is not pleasant.

Hopefully it won't be too warm at tkd tonight. It's supposed to get less humid and slightly cooler this afternoon and hopefully the room we workout in will catch up to the outside by the time class starts.

I made progress on my Sockapalooza sock last night; I turned the heel. I discovered I a mistake in the Sidewinders and ripped back a few rows, so no progress on them. I am ready to start Act II though.

Oh, I never posted this pic of my practice sock.



or this one...



or this one...which was kinda hard to take



I must have been doing laundry at the time.

I was really tired all day yesterday, but when the time came for me to go to bed I was wide awake. That kinda ruined my plans to get up early and go for a run. Since I got to bed about an hour and a half later than I wanted and getting up about 45 minutes earlier would have 2.5 hours less sleep than I am used to, I decided to put off the run for later today or tomorrow morning. I have been so lazy this summer. i didn't get a gym pass because I knew I would be busy, which wouldn't make it worth spending the money and the only workouts I am getting are two hours of tkd a week. I would love to go to the kickboxing class at 4:30 on Wednesdays, but I don't usually leave work until after then.

As for sock progress, I finished Act II of the Sidewinders.



I made pretty much no progress on my pal's socks, so that is probably what I will work on tonight. My goal is to finish the leg and turn the heel.

This weekend wore me out. Friday night we played paddle hockey at tkd. Basically you use the paddles we normally kick and use them to hit a racquet ball between a couple of bags used as the goal posts. I am not sure why but my lower back muscles were incredible sore and tight after a little less than an hour of paddle hockey. On Saturday I could hardly move without it hurting. Driving for almost 5 hours on Saturday didn't help.

Saturday I planned to take my dad and grandpa to lunch for a belated Fathers' Day. Coincidentally, my aunt and uncle were purchasing a new car that happened to be in Ames where my dad and grandpa live. I received a call from my mom at 7:30am on Saturday asking if I was on the road yet because my aunt and uncle were just over an hour drive away from Ames! I had assumed they were going to be there around lunch time since they were driving from Wisconsin. I showered and was on the road 20 minutes later and arrived in Ames shortly after they did. I listened to a HP and the Half Blood Prince on the way so the 2+hour drive both ways wasn't too bad. I met my mom and cousins at Borders in Ames and we wandered around there and Target for about an hour. I took my dad and grandpa to lunch then we went back to my dad's to look at pictures from his trip to China. I re-started the Cable Twist socks while looking at the pictures, but of course, I made a mistake that required frogging most of what I had done.

Saturday night Amanda, Josh, Randal and I watched the UFC fight night and ate beer cheese dip and fruit pizza. I could have fallen asleep before it even started at 8:00. I brought the sock to knit to help me stay awake.

After frogging the Sidewinders a couple times, I finally finished Act I last night and started Act II this morning. At least it looks like it might fit on a foot now.


I am almost done with the cuff on the second attempt at my Sockapalooza socks, but I noticed a mistake a few rows back when I was on the bus this morning.

Socks!

Summer of Socks starts on Thursday, the summer solstice. I have two pairs of socks going right now, but they won't count towards my total for the summer, which means I should probably get ready to start more socks.

The first sock for my Sockapalooza pal is about 2/3 done. I have finished the gusset and am onto the foot. I think they will fit her well; at least I hope they do. I think after I finish this pair of socks, or maybe even on Thursday, I am going to start Sidewinders. I have made a pair of socks toe-up, a pair of baby socks, and am in the middle of some cuff-down socks. Obviously sideways socks are the next logical step.

Sunday was the Crazy Girl Yarn Shop sock club meeting I attended. I finally got to meet Liz, whose blog I found on Sockapalooza's pligg. We spent most of it talking about our many common interests and she gave me sock yarn. I will have to take pics so I can add them to my stash on Ravelry.

I am a little worried that it may be hard for me to go to the cabin this year. Josh was planning to join me at my family's cabin for a few days this summer, but I am not sure that is going to happen. With one of the tkd instructors leaving sometime this summer Josh and I are going to have to take over for him. This means we will both be teaching at the Nest on Monday and Thursday nights, but that also means if we both leave town at the same time there will only be one instructor left for each night at the Nest instead of the usual three per night. I would love if Josh could come to the cabin with me, but I also know that if there are no other instructors for the Nest he will stay to teach so I can go to our cabin. I guess if he stays here I will be able to stay longer than I would if he came with me, but I was really looking forward to some cabin time with him.

Our club's youth tournament was last night. I ended up checking everyone in and handing out t-shirts and judging sparring. I was very impressed with the kids from the GymNest. They really held their own. They generally don't get as much sparring experience as the kids from the Field House, so it's good to see them doing well. I was also happy with their forms. Two of the yellow belts I work with a lot place first and second in their division! Two of the green blue tips I also often work with did the same! It was so nice to hear they did well. I like to think I am a good instructor. I can't say I love teaching, but I do enjoy knowing my students do well. It's still weird to think I have students.

I started teaching tae kwon do when I was about the age of many of my students. I was teaching before I had my black belt, so I was probably 9 or 10. My dad ran a tae kwon do club out of several locations and I was often one of the higher ranking students in the class. Not only that, but I was the instructor's daughter. I was often put in charge of a small group and usually taught forms. I also was the floor judge at testings which meant I had to run the testing. It's funny that I often was put in a leadership type role because I hate being in charge.

I think I slightly pulled my hamstring at tae kwon do Friday night. I know my hip was really tight, but I don't remember my hamstring hurting. I don't get it.

So I have started and re-started Lexsea's headband several times now. I finished it once, but it was huge! I thought I checked my gauge, but maybe I was wrong, or I could have a smaller head than I thought. Whatever the problem was I started again several times yesterday. I switched to a smaller needle from my new Denise needle set and started again. I keep messing up the pattern. It's not hard: K2P2. It's a simple 2x2 rib, that I keep messing up. At least it is quick to knit so I should be able to finish it this week to send to her.

Yesterday I organized all my old bills from the last 6 months or so. They had been sitting in a pile then stuffed in a file for awhile, but now they are in separate manila folders in a hanging file. It's nice. I also figure out how to check up on my investments online. Josh has a mutual fund through the same company and he got me online and showed me around. I didn't have the info until earlier this week, since for some reason they keep sending it to my dad. He and I have asked several times for all relevant info to be sent to me, but they still haven't done it. I am doing pretty well. My Roth looks good and my brokerage account is doing quite well.