Expedition

It was a knit-free summer because of some repetitive strain pain in my hands and wrists, but things have settled down a bit and I decided that Expedition (Ravelry link) would be the perfect pattern for the yarn I had spun up from one of my alpaca fleeces and the shetland fleece I got last year at Rhinebeck. It's been a really fast project so far, which is unusual for me.



Tonight I should finish up the left front, do the three needle bind off for the left shoulder, and then move on to collar or sleeves. It would be nice to have this done in time for Rhinebeck, but I have other things on my plate that will likely take precedence, so I'm not exactly counting on it.

A Non-Jackass Photo?

So I was chatting with my sister online the other night, and we got to talking about my travel plans, since I'm going to be staying with her and the girls while I'm in North Carolina. She asked me to send her a photo of myself, since I'll be arriving before she gets off work, so that the babysitter "doesn't think you're some crazy jackass." I promised to work on tracking down a non-jackass photo to send her, then promptly got busy taking the lasagna out of the oven and trekking upstairs with David to watch 9 to 5, followed by some mad knitting on the sweater. I even grafted one of the underarms - the first time I have ever done Kitchener stitch completely from memory, no crib notes at all, and it turned out just fine.

So I just decided to try to kill the proverbial two birds and get a progress photo of the sweater with me wearing it. I'm far enough along with the raglan decreases that I thought it would be good to gauge how much farther I should go, particularly since I plan on leaving the neck a little more open than a traditional crew neck (no ribbing, for my comfort).It has been a serious insomnia week so far - we're talking separate beds so I don't kick David in the nose with all my thrashing around - so I'm not sure I totally avoided that crazed jackass look (though I think I did manage non-assbeagle), but at least I had an easier time removing my sweater-in-progress than a certain someone I know.



Yoga, Inc.

Speaking of contortions, Norma has gotten me thinking about trying out Bikram yoga. There's a studio in Portsmouth, and they have classes seven days a week plus multiple payment options to fit most any budget. I did Ashtanga yoga for several years while I lived in North Carolina, and it did wonders for my fibromyalgia pain, general flexibility, and muscle tone. After I moved to Pittsburgh to be with S, though, I didn't have very many good options for practice, and then I developed wrist problems. Now I can't do vinyasa at all - my wrists just won't support my weight.

I've known about Bikram yoga, of course, for several years, but Bikram himself always struck me as rather egotistical, which I find very off-putting. I also don't particularly care for his whole franchising scheme and his legal wrangling to lock down the market on "true hatha" yoga. In fact, while looking into his yoga a bit more, I found some clips from this documentary, which will be released this spring. The clips are definitely worth a look-see, and I very much want to see the complete film.

Still, I got to thinking maybe I was taking too much of a baby-with-the-bath approach to it and started looking into the poses. As it turns out, none of the basic poses should require me to bear full weight on my wrists. In fact, most of them don't require any weight-bearing with the hands, so I should be in good shape. Once I start doing it, that is. I asked David for his opinion on it. His response was, "Will it make your ass firmer? If it makes your ass firmer, I'm all for it."*

So I'll be getting my ass over there after I get back from my trip.



*I asked for clarification. He was not implying in any way that my ass is not already firm. Just in case you were wondering.