Mortaine’s Blog

We now have four members signed up to walk to Hawaii over on America on the Move! This is awesome! If you’d like to sign up and join us, comment here or drop me an email and I’ll send you a registration code. AOM is free to use– create a full access account so you can sign up right proper. Once you do, sign up for the Pacific Crest challenge, because its goals are similar to the ones we’re aiming for. We’ll delve into more of the tools later. I’m thinking we should set September 30 as the close date for signing up. I’d like us all to get to Hawaii around the same time, after all.

Anyway, Click here to download the Excel spreadsheet I’m using! Feel free to tweak it to your own needs!

In the plans: Some way to talk to each other about our goals/progress. I’m going to send out a short poll to find out: do you want a LiveJournal community, an email/web group (Yahoo! group or Google?), a private listserve, or just swap everyone’s email addresses? Do you want a non-LJ group blog where we can post our progress, or something more private? If you’re in the challenge, think about this and watch your inbox.

This is a popular yarn for socks this month on the Sock-a-Month Knit-a-long, and I wonder if it’s because the colors are bold and vibrant, so we all bought it in the summertime, or if everyone else is like me, and planning to spend the Fall in the desert. When I received this yarn as a birthday gift, I about drooled, because it reminds me of Sedona, Arizona– where I’ll be in 2 weeks!

The pattern is a glom together of “basic sock” patterns, mainly from the The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes & Gauges (Interweave) by Ann Budd. The leg/cuff is done in twisted rib stitch, which I got from Getting Started Knitting Socks (Getting Started series) by Ann Budd (huh– guess the pattern is Ann Budd’s!) When I saw this twisted rib, I fell instantly in love. I particularly love how the Lorna’s Laces pooling goes directly opposite the rib. Far out!

Both the Getting Started book and socks were birthday presents last month (Thanks, Pam and Michelle!), so I suppose it took me just over a month to finish these socks!

When the cat allows me to sleep at night (like last night, but not the night before), I often have vivid and weird dreams.

Last night’s dream was about the new Harmony wood needles I recently ordered from Knit Picks. I dreamed I picked them up at the RV park office and was holding them in my hands. I dreamed that the gal at the desk was very appreciating of the needles. I dreamed… about knitting needles.

I am such a nerd.

I finished the second zombie doll yesterday.

I hadn’t planned on the boy zombie being an old man, but decided he looked “right” bald. Plus, how often do you get to have a bald doll? Really!

I’ll post later today separately about the Going to Maui walk, with instructions for signing up, and a link to my spreadsheet for tracking your progress.

Whew! What a wonderfully busy weekend!

On Saturday, John and I went to the 49er Festival and Chili Cook-Off (no pictures because I am a dork). John ate lots of chili. I spent lots of money. But really, we just had a nice time.

Then yesterday, we went up to Yosemite to do a couple of day hikes. We meandered around with little aim other than to go out to various areas of Yosemite, kind of a “taster sampler” plan.

I did remember to bust out the camera once or twice. This is my favorite picture of Johnny that I took this weekend:

Thanks to this weekend’s excursions, I’m 28 miles into my walk to Hawaii. Thanks to a comment on a friend’s post, I’ve found the America on the Move website, and have created a group there– leave a comment if you want an invitation to the group! Registration is free (create a Full Access account).

Also, I have been inspired by this photo, and want to either dye some yarn in the colorway I see right there at the water’s edge, the blend of blue, tan, and aqua, or buy some and knit a pair of socks or something. I think it’s pretty.

In the knitting front, I’ve nearly finished both Zombies– I’m just putting the hair on the boy zombie. Then pictures, and mailing them out. I’m also still working on the Desert Flower socks, but it’s difficult when one continually stops to admire the yarn. This is the hazard with working with pretty yarn….

Upcoming:

On September 24th, I am giving a talk at the San Gabriel Chapter of the STC, so we need to be in the LA area by then.

From there, we go to Las Vegas (September 27-29), then Sedona, AZ (October 1-9, with a talk at the Phoenix STC on the 9th), then Albuquerque (October 10-15, with a talk at the Kahina chapter on the 11th). After that, it’s up to Colorado, across to Kansas City, then down to New Orleans for LavaCon. Yes, that means we will be in New Orleans for Halloween! Woo!

I LOST FOUR POUNDS!!!!

Now, I’m sure some is water weight, time-of-day, time-of-month (not really), blah blah blah, but since starting the Walk to Hawaii plan, I’VE LOST FOUR POUNDS!!!

Now who wants to walk to Hawaii with me? Think about it– Hawaii, white sand beaches, and the scenery will be nice, because I won’t look like a whale in my swimming suit (and neither will you!)