AIDS Walk Wrap Up

This past Sunday I participated in the 2012 Michiana (Stop) AIDS Walk. You can see that I had my knitting all set to go. I have found this one strap knapsack perfect for holding my project while I walk.

I got there early enough to enjoy some great grilled hot dogs for lunch. And then to knit some while waiting for things to start.

We had lovely warm weather. (You can tell I mean it because I'm actually wearing a tshirt.) But as we got started, we were facing a pretty dark and mean looking western sky.

Hmmm...maybe you can't see it so well in this picture, but it was mean looking. I decided to walk a little faster so I could get done before the storm arrived!

But it never did...we continued to enjoy favourable weather as we walked along the river and over the bridge.

Appreciating some lovely sites along the way...

By the time we were done, I had pretty much finished my cloth. I just had to finish off a couple rows and cast off when I got home. That made a lovely set of three:

Small (40 sts), medium (50 sts), and large (60 sts)...hopefully at least one will be "just right." Oh yes, because who is going to be enjoying these cloths? The random number generator determined that Marsha is the lucky winner!! You couldn't ask for a nicer person to win and I will enjoy giving her the prize on Sunday.

You can see that I am throwing in some of Troy's much-loved home made soap too.

Project Stats
Started: 20 Mar '12; Finished: 6 May '12
Time: 13-14 hours
Pattern: my own
Materials: 70 grams of cotton recycled from a Goodwill turtleneck (~$5)
The cloths are a very simple pattern. All stocking stitch with a garter border. These turned out a little thinner than I thought they would, but I hope they will be useful. I am someone that prefers a certain cloth for every little task so I hope Marsha will find a task that she enjoys using these for, be it scrubbing dishes or washing her face.

Thank you to all who donated this year. My total added up to more than $1,600...great job, everyone!!

Wednesday Walk Wrap up

I don't plan to write every week, but I happened to finish another dish/wash cloth today.

I walked 4.5 times last week, and 2 more this week so far. That means 3.25 hours for this cloth.

And now that I see it in the picture, I think I maybe should have knit it a little longer to make it square. Ah well...I'll let that one pass.

When I started these cloths, I just took a guess at 40 stitches and that turned out to be the smallest size I would want to do. Next I jumped up to what I assumed would be the largest size at 60 stitches.

Here are the two together for some scale:

Next up will be the in between size. I guess that would make it the Goldilocks "just right" size!

Since I'm only out for a half hour, I try to keep the speed up so I'm actually burning some calories. It actually crossed my mind to wonder if I could knit while jogging. This is absolutely crazy since I hate jogging. Could knitting while jogging actually be any better?

I haven't tried it yet. If I do, I'll let you know...

Wednesday Walk Wrap up

I'm one of those many people who needs to exercise more. And with this early spring (really, summer) weather, it's lovely to be outside. I thought to myself, if I can't get out and walk in this, then I may as well admit that I will never walk. I couldn't do that.

So I tricked myself into walking. I told myself that I would do simple knitting and would only be allowed to work on it while walking. I'm going to just time myself and turn around when I've been out 15 minutes. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that that will get me out for a 30 minute walk. Not the most extreme exercise, but better than sitting on the couch, right?

First day:

Second day:

Third day...dishcloth is done!

I don't meet too many people while walking (apparently not many people have thought of bribing themselves with knitting!) but it's interesting noting their reactions. I mean, I'm not a very outgoing overly-friendly person, but I know enough to greet people you meet on the street. (At least in a small town.) But the people younger than me avert their eyes and concentrate on walking by quickly...you can tell they were raised on a strong dose of "stranger danger." The ones my age or older at least smile, wave, or make some comment about the knitting.

For accountability's sake, first week = 4 walks.

I did allow myself to work in the ends while I wasn't walking and my first dish cloth is done:

This is also an interesting way to know how long something takes. This dish cloth was three days = 1.5 hours.

I'll be making a few more of these, but I've thought in the future I could make squares for blankets as well. If you have other ideas for what I can make with simple squares, leave a comment. I appreciate it!