Crazy Colorful Fun!

I have now done a Color Run!

I've been wanting to do one of these for a couple years now, really since they first started getting popular.  With one thing and another, I just couldn't make one.  There are actually a bunch in the area, too.  Austin and Dallas both have them, if I don't mind driving.  Temple and Killeen both have them too, which was more surprising.  But between schedules and having people to run with, it just wasn't working out for me.  Normally having buddies on a race isn't a big deal for me, but with this one, it just seemed like a More-The-Merrier sort of thing.

So, we were planning on doing the one in Killeen this fall (November).  We still might, come to think of it!  But then we lucked out.  MWR on post puts on races regularly through the year, and the 4th of July race is one of their standards.  This year, they decided to make it a color run!  Couldn't pass that up!  So here we are, nice and clean white shirts, all ready to go. 

If you're going to do one of these, the pre-race picture is important - lets you see how very dusted you actually became!

The race itself was fun, but crowded.  It was by far one of the biggest turn-outs I've ever seen at an MWR event, let alone a race!  Everyone was taking advantage of it!!  There were so many people there, I wouldn't call it a race at all.  It was still a 5K (they just used the post's usual 5K course) but with all the people, and especially with so many kids and first time runners, it made quite a crowd to maneuver through, in spite of the wave start.  Even with the crowd, I'd say it's worth doing.  Especially if you can talk someone into trying a 5K for the first time.  All the colored powder and no timing definitely makes it a less intimidating introduction to running.  Anything to encourage people to be more active, right?

Despite what you might think looking at Zach's shirt above, the majority of the color doesn't come from the race itself (unless you make a special effort) but from the Color Party afterwards.  Zach got so very blue by being at the front of the first wave.  The volunteer color teams (those who throw the powder at the runners) were still VERY excited as he was running through.  The kids especially were having a blast trying to get the adults with the color.  Living in Texas, we don't actually get snow to speak of, so this is the closest we can come to a snowball fight and being able to legitimately throw stuff at one another.

 

As you can see below, the Color Party  leaves significantly more color on a person!  People got little bags of color as they finished (I think it comes in the race packets in an average Color Run).  And then at the party, the volunteers spray powder over the crowds (in the pictures above) and people toss their powder up (or at each other).  Everyone gets very colored!

Surprisingly (I suppose) for a crafty-type person, I did not try to set the color on my shirt.  Zach and I talked about it, but ultimately, I just washed it back to the basic white.  I took pictures, though!  You can probably see why I chose not to - the funny green stripe from Zach hugging me, and the sports bra-shaped void on the back are just kinda funny.  So, would rather have my basic black and white running shirt back.  Zach's shirt we didn't even try to salvage!  

 

The powder does wash out, eventually. My hat is back to black, and after a few washes, my shirt is white again too.  Maybe at the November race, I'll try and get a better "design" on my shirt and try and set it then.  We'll see!  :)

Fun with Scissors and Spray Paint!

When we first moved out here, Zach had some pretty long days, busy with all sorts of trainings and new duties and whatever.  Which meant I was left home alone to be crafty! That was 3 years ago now, so as kinda an anniversary post, here are some projects that I did soon after we moved here.  Yup, another 'finally writing it up' sort of project :)  I don't really have instructions for these, or step-by-step pictures, though, just a lot of chatter about what I did.  

First up, I finally got around to recovering my pin boards.  I've collected pins for years, as swaps at conferences, or as souvenirs from places I've traveled or events I've participated in.  I've got them from all over, and display them on fabric-covered cork boards.  I started with just one, but have expanded my original single board into a whole wall-full! 

The picture above (with the blue fabric) is from our place in CA.  After 3 and a half years in a VERY sunny area, even with blinds on the window, the fabric had faded a good bit, especially on the largest board.  So they were due for a rework.  Also, the colors in the room the boards hang in now did NOT match the pastel blue that worked so well before.  Definitely reasons to rework these.

So, first up, I undid the old blue fabric.  The fabric tucks under the frame around the cork, so just needed to be pulled away.  Once the frames were bare, I repainted them a nice satin-finish black.

I used white-on-white patterned fabric to cover the boards.  I have 3 sizes of boards, the small and medium size ones shown with my pins, and the large one with my necklaces shown further down the post here.  All the board frames were repainted with the same black paint, but each size has a different fabric on them.  Not really noticeable in a picture like this, but I like it in person.  I was hoping to find a black-on-white fabric, but the only ones I could find were cow splotches and large damask prints (too busy and too much black for what I want to display) or tiny polka dots (the right size, but if I didn't get the rows lined up just so, I'd have driven myself batty looking at it - yes I am that nit-picky).  So, white-on-white it was!

Yes, I realize that several of the boards have only a handful of pins on them, but they are also divided up by category, to a mild extent.  So, international pins are on one board, academic pins are on another, military pins are a third, Hard Rock Cafe guitars are another, and sports pins are a fifth.  The two bigger ones are the general pins from US travel (also knitting and Scouts, since those also included US places).  They're much more full now than when this picture was taken. We've been out and about!  :) So yes, there is a method to the madness!

The necklace organizer below was recovered at the same time and in the same way as the pin boards - new black paint and new white fabric.  I used it while we were in CA, but had never covered it, just left it as a giant cork board.  It was hanging in the closet after all.  Now that it's in the room instead of closet, I definitely wanted it to look nicer, so paint and fabric it was!  Even covered, though, mine's still pretty basic.  You can see all sorts of pretty ones on Pinterest, though.  Tons of variation!  The lace-covered ones for hanging earrings are really pretty, but as I don't have earrings... 

The accent L on my necklace board is just a little extra I added.  The letter is one of the 99 cent ones from the craft store (Hobby Lobby, I think), with 3 thumbtacks attached to the back.  This lets the letter act as one giant push-pin and I can position it wherever I wanted on the board.  Then the whole letter-pin was painted black to match the frame.  I just use clear push pins to hang my necklaces on the board.  So much neater than necklaces forming tangles in my jewelry box!

 

So, yeah, not too much in this post, just me being proud of my painting skills and (tiny) organizing efforts. And hey, 3 years in TX now - less than 3 to go!

Test Knit: Flying Angels Cowl

Getting into the test knits again, trying to keep on a project-a-month schedule.  Due dates are good for me! :)  This time it was another cowl, the Flying Angels Cowl by Karen Buhr.

The Yarn

Adriafil Yuppy Trends.  A sock yarn I picked up a few years ago on super-sale.  I figured if I didn't find a specific project for it easily, it would end up as squares in the mitered sock yarn blanket which I want to make one day.  As it is, this project didn't take quite a full skein, so the yarn will end up in the blanket too :)

 

In deciding which yarn to use for this project, I was torn between this one and a few other sock yarns in my stash.  This one was paler than the others, and though it's a striped yarn, the colors were pretty muted pastels, so it's not a pattern of stripes which would overwhelm the lace pattern itself.  Not colors I usually wear, but since it's for a cowl, it's easy to pull them off as an accent piece.  Overall, though, I like the colorway, very springtime-y.

The yarn was really pleasant to work with, not too splitty or anything, which is definitely appreciated on a lace piece.  And it's very soft for a wool/acrylic sock yarn.  The colors didn't bleed when it was washed and blocked, so that's a definite plus.  Biggest downside?  It's been discontinued.  Probably why I got it on super-sale.  :\

The Pattern

As linked above, this is the Flying Angels Cowl by Karen Buhr.  It's a nice, portable lace piece, good for those small sock yarn skeins too pretty to pass up.  This one used less than 200yds, so good for small skeins, like I said.  I liked the lace pattern, too.  For a lot of the pattern, there is something going on every row, (no "rest" row) but the pattern is one that quickly "makes a picture," so it's easy to follow.  I'd say it's a good choice for a strong beginner/early intermediate knitter.  They'd need to be comfortable knitting in the round (either circulars or DPN) and with following a lace pattern. On the upside, the lace is clear and easy to follow, as I said, but there are a few techniques which are more than just beginner lace.

A big thing I liked about this piece was the variety you can put into it.  It adapts well to different gauges, so if you wanted to do this in worsted or DK, it would still work well.  And it's a very simple adjustment to change the size - to make it wider, add another chart repeat or two (more "stacks" of angels) and to make it a bigger loop, cast on more multiples of 20.  An additional variation is included in the pattern, too.  She provides instructions for an alternate edging, something a little fancier, as well as optional bead placement.  All very easy, very pretty options to the cowl.

 

Raveled here.

Notes, Alterations, Etc.

None in my project!  Like I said, her pattern does have instructions for an alternate cast-on/bind-off (a picot edging) and for bead placement in the lace pattern.  They're very pretty options, if you're interested!  I personally really like the beading idea, but that wasn't the version I was testing.  Maybe next time :)

Last Colorado Trip Post: The Great Scarf Race

So, one last post from the CO trip.  Of course, visiting a knitting buddy, there would be knitting involved!  We had to run to JoAnn's for some other craft supplies, and in looking at the yarn aisle for a project of hers, we found some fun novelty yarn.  Sooo soft and squishy, and just 2 skeins for a scarf, so a little impulse buy :)  

Sarah was working on a big, chunky cowl for a coworker, and I wanted to start this one.  But the projects I'd brought used much smaller needles that what I'd need.  So I had to borrow a pair.  Thus, the challenge!  I hoped I'd finish my scarf before heading home.  And since Sarah's project was another big chunky knit (size 50 needles!) we had a little unofficial challenge going.

The Yarn:

Bernat Tizzy.  A novelty yarn, found in the baby yarn aisle.  Comes in a couple primary colorways.  I was very torn between the green and the purple (surprise, surprise), both being very pretty.  I ended up going with the green (obviously).

 

Overall, am torn on this yarn.  I love the finished fabric, nice and soft and squishy and warm.  The yarn itself is very snaggy though, catches on any little bit of dry skin on your hands.  It was about at my limit, especially since my hands are so dry anyways.  Still, I put up with it because I liked the squishiness and fun fabric.  Bottom line, if you're sensitive to snagging yarns like I am, best to handle it yourself and see what you think.

The Pattern:

A garter stitch scarf.  Not much to comment on about the pattern.  The yarn's busy enough that nothing else would really have worked.  I cast on 15 stitches, but decided that it was a little too wide, so frogged and restarted with 13 stitches instead.

 

Raveled here.

Notes, Alterations, Etc.: 

No alterations - it's a garter stitch scarf, after all. Not much to change!

Oh, and I sorta won the race?  I finished my scarf before Sarah finished hers (by just a little - it was close!) but I didn't finish in time to return the needles while I was still in CO and will have to mail them back, which was my other goal.  Sill, a fun finished project to start the new year!

Colorado Trip: Craft Time!

Of course there was tons of knitting over the week.  Goes without saying with Sarah and I!  But we also played with new projects!

One of Sarah's projects lurking on her to-do list (and mine too!) was to make bath bombs and bath melts.  She had found a Craftsy course ("Blissful Bath Bombs" by Alia Einstein-Diez) which covered melts, bombs, tarts, and other yummy good-for-your-skin bath stuff.  I've found similar things via Pinterest and had also been wanting to experiment.  So while the guys were watching bowl games on New Year's Day, Sarah and I played in the kitchen!

These are super duper easy to make - melt, mix, cool, refrigerate, done!  We actual made 3 batches over the course of the vacation, and used several different scents.  Because we can :)  The blue ones pictured below are peppermint scented.

Part of why we made so many batches, besides giving us a chance to try out a bunch of flavors (scents), was that we learned a little each time we did them.  Our first batch was pretty soft, was hard to remove from the mold (especially the more detailed shapes), and would actually start melting in your hand.  So a few of the things we learned:

• The more solid the melts, the easier they are to pop out from the mold.
• Using a liquid scent and a liquid colorant made them very soft.  There is dry colorant available too, but what we had was liquid.  Cut down a little of the oil to help things solidify a little better.
• Tapping helps the air bubble rise up.  It's like how workers set concrete, you know?  The vibrations help the air bubbles rise in the mixture, so that the brick (or melt, in our case) is more solid.  We had laid our silicone molds on a cookie sheet, so tapping on the sheet for a few moments after pouring helped vibrate our trays enough for the air bubbles to rise up.
• If the melts are still soft, just keep them stored in the fridge until ready to use.
• These also work well in the shower.  Just rub over the skin as you would a bar of soap!

Of course, pets rule the house, so someone had to come supervise.  Since what we were making wasn't really edible, Frank (a German Shepherd) wasn't too curious and was more interested in the football games with the guys.  Buddha (the pibble) took over kitchen management :)

 

Like I said, I'd seen variations on this on Pinterest, too. I like the instructions Sarah had, though, since they had so many variations all in the same workshop. 

If you're interested in what's out there for free though, here's what I've found:

• Porphyrogene has an organic Bath Truffle recipe, similar to the bath melts we made.  I'm curious how the honey helps; I've heard it's good for your skin.
• TLC has a Bath Bomb recipe, though theirs look much neater than ours do!
• Of course, a Martha Stewart version - Bath Fizzies
• Martha actually has another bath fizzy variation too.
• Also along the same lines, but not quite the same, a Detox Bath recipe.

Zach had his crafts going too.  He is branching out with his chain maille work, not just armor, and has made some absolutely beautiful pieces.  So, am taking the chance to brag on my guy again :)

This one was my Christmas gift.  That is a quarter next to the chain in the in-progress picture.  Very very tiny links!  This one was one he designed mostly himself, and I love it.  The flower is a kit (yes, he made the flower too) and then he made the chain and attached it all.  There were several measurement sessions with "Close your eyes!  Can't look til Christmas!" as he was determining where he wanted the chain to reach.  It's a silver clasp, a silver colored flower, and brass chain, if you want materials.

 

This second piece was the one he was working on while we were in CO.  It's the same weave as the other necklace - Byzantine weave - but it's called Graduated Byzantine because every couple repeats, you change the size ring you're working with.  So, the larger, heavier rings are centered in the front and decrease around to the clasp at the back.  This one's all in copper.  Aren't they both gorgeous?

 

Colorado Trip: Pike's Peak

The Big Deal.

The most popular tourist stop in Colorado Springs, bar none.  Pike's Peak.  We did it! 

Well, not hiking, obviously.  It's only 13 miles up, but the elevation change and the cold do require some gear.  We did the drive.  But even that's an accomplishment!  Our friends have lived out there for 3 years, but this was the first time they'd made the drive up.  Granted, they're like us, little homebodies at times, but the last time they tried to see the summit, they had to stop at the tree line.  If weather is too extreme at the peak, cars get stopped at the tree line, or lower, depending on the severity.  So it was new for them too!  Yay!

The day we went, it was clear, beautiful, windy and COLD!  Yeah, yeah, January, Colorado, mountain top... you and your logic!  Doesn't change the face that it was still REALLY REALLY COLD!  I've never been that cold before, ever!  The wind cut right through my hat and gave my ear windburn, actually.  In hindsight, I should have worn the other hat I'd packed for the trip - has an extra lining.  Also is a penguin - appropriate for such temperatures!  But that might be besides the point...  When they announced the conditions at the summit house (which they did regularly), it was announced that it was 19 degrees, with windchill putting it "well below zero."  Like I said - cold!

But the view!  You can see quite a ways at 14000 ft up :)

The drive itself was pretty too.  The snow was so dry, it would blow about in the wind and swirl, just like the sand did in Irwin.  Only so much prettier!

 

Along the drive, you got more of the gorgeous view, of course.  Crazy driving, too - tons of hairpin turns (NOT for those who get carsick!).  Thankfully, there were plenty of pullouts where you could stop and appreciate the view without risking driving off the mountain.

At the start/end of the drive is Crystal Reservoir, a very pretty stop in its own right.  The lake was frozen over (it's January, after all), so when we stopped there on our way out, the light reflecting was absolutely beautiful.  The chunks of ice on the lake just glowed!

 

 

And did you know Bigfoot has had a bunch of sightings in Pike Forest?  They even have a Bigfoot Crossing sign, just so you stay on the alert - you never know!

 

So, yes, if you are ever in the Colorado Springs area, you must try and go up Pike's Peak!  Be prepared for a crazy drive up, and some altitude sickness when you get to the top.  Dress for the weather - it will be much colder and windier at the top, even in the summer.  But the views are incredible - both from the summit and on the trip up/down.  Definitely a must-do!!

Colorado Trip: The Incline

I realize this was just a morning trip, but it's totally worth a post of it's own!

So, there's this little trail in Manitou Springs, just outside Colorado Springs.  The Incline is an old cable car track that's been disused and is just a trail now.  And it's pretty much the craziest trail I've ever set foot on.  This thing is just under a mile long, and goes up approximately 2,000 feet in that one mile.  It averages a 40% slope, and reaches a 68% slope at it's steepest.

As it clearly warns, this IS an extreme trail.  And yes, Zach is excited as all get-out to start climbing this thing :)

 

The steepest part, that 68% incline, is just before reaching the False Summit.  Yes, there is a False Summit.  Meaning, what looks like the top of the hill in almost all these pictures is really about 3/4 of the way through.  It levels out just a little, then goes back to a crazy incline to reach the top.  That little bit of leveling means that you can't actually see the true summit.  I knew it was there, and I still felt like crying when I saw how much further I had to go!

The view below is from atop the leveling at the False Summit.

I am a flat-lander, I will admit.  I was sucking some serious wind with the crazy elevation change on this trail.  That actually was what was getting me the most.  My muscles were holding up pretty well (though I did feel my legs the next day!), but I was having to stop very regularly to gasp for air.  I took just over an hour to scale the thing.  Zach took closer to 45-50 minutes (he was a bit ahead of me).  People who are used to the elevation will take under half an hour.

For me, it was like spending an hour on the most diabolical stair-climber ever invented.  I counted steps and made myself go a little further each time before stopping (am not fond of stair climbers, obviously).  When I'd stop to wheeze and try to catch my breath, I'd snap a few pictures.  So, yes, it is a fiendish stair climber, but it's a stair climber with an absolutely phenomenal view.

We made it!

Hooray!

You come back down via Barr Trail (the same one that goes all the way up to the top of Pike's Peak).  It's about a 3.5 mile round trip with Barr Trail too.  People do laps on it!  An older gentleman was doing laps while we were there.  Went up and down the Incline itself twice (he passed us), then after his third trip, he came back down Barr.  He passed us (again) on this trip down and told us, "Just didn't have a fourth one in me today!"  Crazy mountain folk!!  Course, if I lived out there, I'd probably be out there every or every other weekend, too.  Can't beat a great workout AND a great view!