Joann’s did not have ANY lilac colored Microspun! And Michael’s just across the street didn’t have enough! I can’t buy some and wait to get the rest later because the dye lots might be different!

And what does the resourceful shopper do in a situation like that?

You buy something different! Instead I got some Lion Brand Imagine in grey tones to complete an open work jacket and some Lion Brand Wool Ease in Black to complete a horseshoe lace cardigan. Both are free patterns from elann.com. And yes, I am using yarn which is different from that specified in the patterns. Ain’t SEX great (that is Stash Enhancement Xperience for the virginal.)

I also got some Caron Simply Soft in Violet for a project that will need many more skeins before it is done…but in a no dye lot yarn, I can buy skeins anytime. I will post about this project later.

So, for my birthday a few weeks ago, I asked for a gift card to Joanne’s for knitting supplies. Now, to spend that money!

Tomorrow’s trip will be to obtain 11 skeins of Lion Brand’s Microspun yarn to complete a Lace Panel Jacket pattern, by Joan McGowan, in a 1998 edition of Interweave Knits. I will be changing it from the Kolibri Cotton which is called for, and I will need to see what colors are available tomorrow. I am hoping for lilac.

I will be posting soon about some of the projects, past, present, and UFO, to which I have become committed–yes in the looney-bin sense.

Ok, I recently convinced DH to “invest” in a good weight machine. A number of years ago we purchased a two hundred dollar elastic band machine from Walmart. We each worked out on it a few times and then it sat, unused, for quite a while. It was small, it seemed flimsy, it just didn’t work for us.

A year ago, we purchased an elliptical trainer. This time we did not skimp on price and while we did abandon it for a few months, this year we both decided that it was time to hop back onto that thing a few times a week. The best thing about this elliptical is that it has many training routines that vary the resitance and difficulty, making it hard to get totally bored. My gripe with the elliptical is that it feels like all I am doing is walking. I have tried reading, and it simply means that I don’t get the upper body workout. Watching TV really only works if there is something on that I want to watch. Otherwise I am checking my minutes too often.

Anyways, back to the weight machine. We purchased a Body Solid G4I. DH did the research and felt he agreed with the reviews that said that the weight stack was a much better option than a bow type system.

After it arrived, it took us two nights to set up. There were few written instructions, plenty of illustrations, and many little parts that we guessed on (some screws weren’t hex head). Luckily, the screws, nuts, and washers were all bagged seperately for each step, making it much easier to sort them all out. We did have to back up several times when we discovered that we should have laid a cable in before the pulleys.

He completed his first workout on it last night while I worked on the elliptical.

Tonight, I used it. All I can say is…ouch. I definately was able to work most of the exercises to the point where the muscle I was working was exhausted. I will also say that there were a few exercises that I could barely even do since when we set the weight stack, the directions seem to indicate that we add a non-removable pin so that the first two weights are always engaged. The cable system allowed the weights to move extremely smoothly, really allowing for the full use of the weights throught the entire range of motion. The only problem was that the first oomph to get the weights going was quite hard. I’m guessing that the cables need to be broken in.

I’ll keep “all of you loyal readers” updated (hey, I’m not kidding myself…the list doesn’t even include my mother!)

Ok, ok, so I want to know how you would title your first posting to a blog. I considered “Hey, ::tap, tap:: is this thing on?” I thought about “Let’s get rolling.” I mused over finding something witty to use that would reveal the inner workings of my mind and hint at the theme of this blog.

None of it appealed. None of it seemed to work.

I finally settled on a piece of age old advice which I rely on every time I consider a journey. Pee before you go.

This journey that you and I will embark upon will probably ramble. It will include notes about mundane bits of by life, some of which might be really interesting only to me. It will include musings about my hobbies, you’ll just have to wait to find out how much of a scatter brain I can be when choosing hobbies. It will include posts about history as I see it, genealogical facts, and cemetery visits.

Enjoy the journey!