Climbing 1,098 Stairs for Fun?

This past Sunday I Ran the Republic - the Republic Plaza building here in Denver. It is supposedly Denver's tallest building, and we ran from the sub-basement to the 53rd floor - 56 floors total, and 1,098 stairs.

Republic Plaza, Denver (yes, we ran up 56 flights!)

I was roped into this by my friend Irene. I have dragged her through long runs in marathon training, so being co-dependant, I agreed to do this stair climb. For the record, I have run more than 31 miles getting folks across the finish line on a very cold and wet Denver Marathon day, sprinted 5Ks and done just about everything in between, but nothing compared to this event. I have never felt a burn in my lungs as I did Sunday - even when I was exposed to tear gas after the CU/CSU football game at the old Mile High Stadium in the late 90's.

Team Let's Get High

(that's me on the left in the skirt)

If this is how someone with lung cancer or COPD feels, then I am all the more thankful I am healthy. I have asthma, but that has always meant I can't breathe after a run. or whatever. I have never really felt a burn as this.

That said, I will totally do this again next year! The team was great - we waited at the finish line until everyone made it up! I did surprisingly well, too - 50th of all the women, 15th in my age group, and I really didn't train for the event. Look for me to drop a minute off my time next year!

The View From the Top!

The overall goal of the event is to raise $300,000 for the American Lung Association. I have a personal goal of raising at least $300 ($500 is my stretch goal), so here I place my shameless plug for donations: please visit my fundraising site and possibly throw me a bone of a donation! If I can get 20 folks to give $10 each, I would hit that $300 goal, as I already have $100. Thanks in advance!

A new attempt at blogging

This is my second attempt at blogging. As I noted in my summary, my life is pretty boring, but I thought it might be a nice way for some of my friends to keep up with me, as I just haven't had the time to reach out to them.

Another thing that drew me back to my blog was hearing that one of our Bike MS riders raised thousands of dollars for the National MS Society through her knitting blog. I thought that was pretty cool, so I checked out her site, which is pretty nice. I guess I am aspiring to be a bit like Claudia!

I don't know if I'll have any cool gimmick - like photos (maybe of the dogs, as my husband and I don't do a lot of photos), but hopefully I'll get the hang of this blogging thing soon enough.

Dye your own what??

Some how, I got a wild hair the other night that I could kool-aid dye my own yarn. When I will have the time and energy to do this, I really don't know, but I went ahead and ordered 3 hanks of "Dye your own sock yarn" from Knit Picks. It was such a steal, and I got a new set of DPNs, all for under $30. Where else can you get sock yarn for $5.99 a hank?

So, maybe next week, while my husband is traveling, I will go ahead and try the kool-aid dye on one of the hanks. It doesn't look that hard, and compared to some of the sock yarn I have been working with, it will at least be ALL of the colors I like, ideally! Most likely, however, the yarn will sit until some winter day when we are in the midst of a snowstorm and I am bored out of my mind. We'll see - I am a crafter who is a lot of talk and a lot less action.

Meanwhile, I am looking for patterns for a BBQ swap I am involved with. We are supposed to send something homemade that can be used to BBQ. I think I'll make a set of placemats and maybe some napkin rings and dishcloths. We also get to send BBQ paraphernalia, and I found a great new product at Compleat Gourmet - my favorite store. There are these amazing cedar wraps for food. They looked pretty cool to try out. I have a feeling spending an hour at Compleat, I won't have a problem finding a lot of great stuff for my swappee!

Also pending are the Monthly Dishcloth Swappers and a Bookmark Swap (I don't know what I was thinking when I signed up for that - I am hoping I have the patience to do a pair of bookmarks for someone!). A pair of Noro socks are calling - for my Mom, and of course my Supersocke.....

Socks, socks and more socks

Well, I just finished the "noro nightmare" socks for my mom. They were not that bad, but at times I really thought I was knitting with thread, rather than sock yarn. She does love the colors. and when I tried them on, they were pretty comfy, and very warm. This should work well for a woman who wears turtlenecks with sweatshirts in the summer!





Now I am doing a tiny bit of stash busting. I have a new skein of Supersocke hiking that I really want to work up, but I decided to take care of my old, somewhat ugly Lion Brand Magic Stripes and make a pair of socks. They work on size 3 needles, so the first sock is coming right along.

I signed up for a few swaps this month. My usual Monthly Dishcloth Swappers, as well as the Knit and Crochet Dishcloth swap. Those are super easy swaps. I have ventured into a bookmark swap - I figure I can use up some of the crocet cotton and thread I have, as well as some tail ends of sock yarn. I have also signed up for a BBQ swap, which sounds fun. I am looking forward to making placemats for my swapee, who should be assigned by Sunday. I figure these projects should keep me busy throught my travels back and forth to the Indiainapolis State Chapter.

I still look at the stash and know I have to do something. I think a vertical stripe afghan will be the solution. It works up quickly and it's probably going to have a lot of orange and brown in it - maybe I'll send it to my friend Mary, who specifically requested those colors for her adorable daughter Gracie! :-)

Stash Realization

It's pretty easy to say that I like to buy yarn. I nearly always have a project in mind for the yarn that a buy, but my stash clearly gets ahead of my project list.

Last night I was sitting in my "knitting room," which is our guest bedroom. I like to go in there and read, and the dogs often come and sleep as well. Even my husband came up last night - and for the first time ever, the entire family relaxed in the least-used room in the house.

While Bob dozed off, I looked at my stash. When I first put it "on display," it was to help me use more of it. It looked like a mini-LYS with colors, and different yarn weights. Now it looks like I have a bit of an addiction. Yes, that big bag on the right is a whole lot of yarn I bought off Craig's List for $5 that I haven't even really looked at yet.

Wow. What a realization. I have got to do something about all of this. So, with a cute little pair of Noro socks for my mother on my needles, as well as a awesome lime green sweater for myself, I simply have to start some big needle/hook projects!

Over the summer, I plan on making simple projects, intermixed with my fun socks, sweaters and dishcloths. Some for charity, and some for housewarming/holiday gifts. I also plan to actually account for my stash on Ravelry (ugh), so I have a little better idea of what I am facing, much like one does when in debt. Acceptance is the first step to recovery, right?

So, after I pick up a bunch more yarn I got on CL ($30 for 6 CONES of Instant Fair Isle -what a steal!!!), I have to do something!