Sean is away on a motorcycle trip with his dad, so this weekend I’m on my own with not a whole lot of stories to tell. I have been running a mile a day and knitting or reading in my free time. I finished the first sock of the Plymouth Yarn Co. Happy Feet Color #25 yarn and got started on the second sock today.
Usually I refer to my projects according to the name of the color on the label, like my Red Hots Sock, the Bubblegum Afghan, or the Cherry Cola Afghan. But this one was assigned an unimaginative color, according to the label: 25. So the #25 sock it is.
The heel is turned, so now I just have to knit a few rounds in stockinette and then start the ribbing for the cuff.
Plymouth Yarn Co Happy Feet yarn, 90% superwash merino wool, 10% nylon. It’s a very pretty combination of red and pink and green, but there’s no name for it. On the label under “Color,” it just reads “25.” Boooo.
At 9:20 AM, I went outside to talk to the podium officer. “My 9:00 appointment isn’t here yet,” I said. “Would you be able to track him down?”
“We’re looking for him,” the podium officer assured me. “I’ve been paging the yard. I called over at his job in the dining hall, and I just called Education.”
9:30 came, then 9:45, 10:00, 10:15. Still no inmate-patient.
At 10:20 AM, my patient arrived. He was brought into my office by a correctional officer, and he looked sullen.
“Mr. Z!” I exclaimed. “You made it! Where were you? Didn’t you hear them paging the yard and calling your name?”
“I was on the yard,” he said. “I heard them paging. I heard them calling for Frances, and I didn’t pay them no mind. That’s not my name. My name is not Frances. That’s a girl’s name.”
Later, after our appointment was over and he was gone, I went back to the podium officer.
“I found out why he was late,” I said. “He told me he heard them calling for Frances, and that’s not his name.”
The officer showed me his list of the day’s appointments. There was Mr. Z’s name, except the last two letters of his first name had been cut off. There wasn’t enough room on the page, so instead of “Francisco,” the printed name read “Francis.”
Whoops.
“I just call ’em how I see ’em,” the officer said.
Today at work, I was telling my buddy the lieutenant about the Summer 2015 Run Streak. “Yesterday was the first day,” I said. “I ran one mile in 11 minutes and 11 seconds. That was the first time I did any running since last November.”
“Eleven minutes to do a mile?” he said with apparent surprise. “That’s all it takes?” He seemed to be under the impression that finishing a mile in eleven minutes was a pretty quick feat– like practically no time at all.
“Thanks,” I told him. “I’m glad you think so. Because in a few months, I’m going to have to do 13 of those in a row.”
Last year, I committed to participating in the Runner’s World Summer 2014 Run Streak, in which I ran a mile a day for 41 days. The Run Streak began on Memorial Day and ended on the Fourth of July. By that time, I was inspired to sign up for a half marathon. I chose the Big Sur Half Marathon at Monterey Bay scheduled in November. A few weeks later, I learned that Ventura would also be hosting a half marathon in September, so I signed up for that, too. Naturally, I had Sean commit to running both events with me.
I ran cross country in high school over twenty-five years ago, so I needed to brush up on my knowledge of race training. I did my research and read a ton of articles and books on running a half marathon. I put together a training plan and (mostly) stuck to it. I don’t know exactly how many miles I covered during the training period, but I can tell you that it was plenty.
The last time I ran serious distance was on November 16, when Sean and I completed 13.1 miles in a little over two and a half hours at the Big Sur Half Marathon at Monterey Bay. After that, I pretty much stopped running. I put away my running shoes and took a very long break, up until today, Memorial Day 2015, which marks the first day of another summer run streak and the beginning of a new half marathon training plan. We’re already signed up for this year’s events in both Ventura and Monterey Bay, so it’s time to get serious.
Anyone care to join me?
Yesterday:
Today:
Taking this side-view photo of my own foot took some reaching and stretching. I’m a little surprised that it turned out as well as it did.
I may knit a few more rounds, but it’s usually around this point where I prefer to end my socks and bind off. A secret to knitting up a pair of socks really quickly: make them short.
I got a little further with the Red Hots sock today. The pattern I’m using is from Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy Johnson (of Wendy Knits). It’s so simple and easy that even though I think about trying a different heel (like Cat Bordhi’s sweet tomato heel or the Sox Therapist’s fish lips kiss heel), I always come back to this basic pattern.
I finished knitting the gusset:
And turned the heel:
Now I just have to knit in the round for a few rows, throw in some ribbing for the cuff, and bind off.
Last night I was tidying up around the living room and came across the Red Hots sock that I started back in February. I’d been knitting it for my friend Kim, but it caused me so much frustration (I wrote about it in Day 92’s blog entry) that I set it aside and knit a new pair for Kim instead.
At the time that I had stopped knitting the sock, it was too long and I needed to rip it back a few rows. I guess I needed a few months to put some emotional distance between me and that sock. Today I decided that it was time to get back to it and finish what I started.
To refresh your memory, here is what it looked like:
To make the process easier, I threaded my circular needle through the stitches where I wanted to shorten the sock.
Then I started unraveling until I reached the cable. Simple!
Of course, I had to rearrange some of the stitches so that they were all facing the right way, but it wasn’t a major hassle. I knit a row on each side, and now it looks like I’m ready to start knitting the gusset.
I’ve decided to knit these socks for me. This particular sock has caused me enough grief that I am determined to tackle it and finish it, and I am going to wear it proudly as a trophy, damn it.
Even though summer is right around the corner, and then it’s pretty much open-toe sandal season.
Sigh.
I’m taking a break from crochet and going back to the knitting needles for a little bit. Anyway, I thought you might enjoy seeing a new project.
365 Days Handmade 