It's the finishing that matters here

I finally had the time to finish knitting the green and white houndstooth monster! It looks okay, but that's how the monsters are. It's all in the finishing. The making of the face, and how firmly you stuff. Do you add accessories?

I don't usually do this.

But I'm going to talk politics for a second.

Politics are why I did not post yesterday. I spent 2 hours waiting in line and voting. Was it boring, yep. Do my legs kinda hurt from standing? Yes. Was it worth it? Yes, Yes, a million times Yes.

There was dramaz. A woman wanted to vote without the privacy screen, at the table where the poll workers were handing out the ballots. The argument was loud and annoying, then the person in line (not the person involved in the argument) ahead of me and Mr. TEK was trying to get us involved in a discussion of the rules. I basically told her that if she had something to say about the situation she should take it to the poll worker, and otherwise I did not care.

Today is quite interesting. I learned on Facebook that we are automatically socialists now, and that we will have to eat apples instead of deep fried potatoes in restaurants. If only the country had known about the apples the election may have turned out differently!

I will say this, I am glad that many of the politicans that brought up rape in their campaigns lost their elections. There shouldn't be a place in politics, on either side, for that kind of ignorance or lack of empathy.

Workout time!

Today was a gym day after work. We just did a quick workout, as it was a last minute decision to go. I did 15 minutes on the elliptical, got sweaty as hell, then did a bunch of ab exercises. Now that I home, it's time to do a 30 second plank then call it a night. 

I probably have 10 more rows on the green and white monster. I will finish it tomorrow. I will.

Another short post... pictures tomorrow? We shall see. 

Just a few more rows...

...and I will be done with the main knitting on the monster I am working on. Then I can start my next project, another monster! These two will be Christmas gifts.

The reason I cannot wait to finish these is because I have a cowl planned that will allow me to practice knitting Continentally. Normally, I knit English, but I took at class at Vogue Knitting Live so I can knit two-handed when I use two colors. It should be interesting to see how I put that in to practice. But that is a ways down the line, first I have to get comfortable with both knitting styles. The knit stitch is easy, it's the purl I have trouble with. I end up losing tension. I'm sure that as I practice I will come up with a way to make it work for me.

Cycling Goal- 1,000 Miles. CHECK!

Hell yeah, we did it! Mr. TEK and I bicycled just over 1,000 miles over the course of the season. It is an amazing feeling, to set a goal like that and accomplish it. Our biggest hangup is the time involved. We still managed to have an outing average of 16.7 miles. At the beginning of the season our normal weekday ride was 10 miles. By the end of the season we managed to increase our speed enough that we could do a 15 mile route with the time that we had.

I'm kinda happy that cycling season is over for us, towards the end it was getting to be a chore. One thing that helped were the organized rides we signed up for. We did both the Tour de Troit and the Blue Water Ramble. We've started back at the gym now, and I know for a fact that I am in much better shape than when we signed up for our membership in February to prepare for cycling season.

Here are the bikes on the car for the final trek to the local metropark. I'm looking forward to next year!

Finally, a finished object post: Schieffelin Point Shawl

So here it is, post blocking, taped to a wall:



And this is me wearing it like a scarf:



Forgive my terrible hair day, but the rest of that outfit was fabulous. Grey herringbone dress, black tights, grey boots, and red scarf.

I really really really love this shawl. The yarn is amazing, I'm sad I learned about it after it was discontinued. The color is strong and beautiful, and it just feels so nice against skin. It does shed a little more than I would like.

The pattern for the shawl is well written, and the chart easy to follow. The hardest part I had was doing the increases as directed without losing count, which happened, multiple times.

Pattern: Schieffelin Point Shawl by Kate Gagnon Osborn
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Baby Suri Alpaca and Silk
Needles: US7

Check out the Ravelry Project Page.

I highly recommend the pattern.

October was BUSY!

And here we are in November.  And with November is NaBloPoMo. So I'm going to try to blog something every day. I can do this.

October is a transition month for me. The end of cycling season and the beginning of gym season. Time to clean up the patio and the yard, and settle in to being inside. More knitting, less being too hot to move. Hot cocoa instead of iced tea.

A pasty for lunch.