Knitting/ skating time

So a few weeks ago I decided to make some legwarmers to wear for skaitng. I don't wear them for my Saturday group class, but I've also been taking private lessons on Sundays to prepare for my competition in two weeks. Since it's a more intense class I wear my skating dress and tights (and a sweatshirt). But since it's cold at the rink I decided I wanted some legwarmers. They took about a week and a half to finish.



The dress is what I'll be wearing for my competition. As you can see, I've added some trim to the top and bottom. The trim at the top makes it a little difficult to get in and out since it isn't stretchy, but it's not too bad. And I sewed it on with fairly big stitches, so it will be easy to change if I want different decoration at a later point in time.

Congrats

Congrats to my brother Andrew and his girlfriend fiance, Gentry, who just got engaged!

To quote Andrew when he called me,

It's early, so you can't say "no you're not". I asked Gentry to marry me and she said yes.

So for some back story.... When Chris and I got engaged, I called Andrew to tell him. But it was 11:00 or so, he was in bed, and I woke him up. So when I told him, he replied, "No you're not." Yeah, thanks for the support.

I was a bit more supportive to his news.

Fun new game

Shortly after Christmas Chris and I got this game. A few people saw it and agreed that it looked like fun, but we didn't get a chance to play until Saturday. O. M. G. I don't think I've laughed this much in years!

Basically each player gets a card with a word on it that they draw. Then they pass their sketchbook to the next person. That person looks at the drawing and write down on the next page what they think it is. They then pass the books to the next person. That person looks at the new word and draw it. Etc. Until it gets back to the original person. You then reveal all of the drawings and guesses.

So in the example here, the word is kickball and by the end it's swiss cheese.

When we played, it was interesting how some stayed pretty consistent throughout. Others started off one way and then switched to something else halfway through, and others.... Yeah, there was a lot of laughing!

If you play games with 4 or more people, I highly recommend this.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Every time I make a recipe that calls for cream cheese frosting, I fall in love. This time was no exception.

I decided that in honor of Valentine's Day I should make red velvet cupcakes. Chris saw the recipe which included a note from someone who commented that it made a LOT of frosting and that next time she would half the recipe. Chris scoffed, so I made the recipe as written. We now have a container full of leftover frosting.

We also decided that for future holidays I should just change the color of the food coloring. So there very well could be green velvet cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day. I also think I need to get a large star tip for decorating purposes.

Work in progress

So here's a work in progress of my legwarmers. The color is all wrong, but I love the texture of it. Unfortunately I don't know if I'm going to have enough yarn. The pattern said two skeins, which is what I bought, so I thought I would be good. But as I'm knitting, I realized I'm nowhere near the finished length, but my yarn is quickly running out. So I check the pattern. 2 skeins, but 100g each. The yarn I bought was 50g per skein. Doh! Hopefully the store will have more of the same color. It could be challenging because this yarn has been discontinued. If they don't have it, I'll have to do something creative with mixing in different colors or trying to find the yarn elsewhere.

Skating and music and knitting, oh my!

Yesterday out on the ice, I sucked! I got better, but the first time through practicing my program I was downright awful! I think it was the lack of warming up, plus I wanted to do well so of course I was bad. My coach commented that she knew I could do these things and that I just needed to relax.

Saturday I went and got my dress. I had looked at dresses online and noticed how crazy expensive they were. I figured I would look locally and see what I could get and then order online if I couldn't find anything. So my coach and classmates suggested that I go to a local store in Framingham. I did, and here's my dress. Except I got it in black. I had thought about getting one in a simmery black velvet, but they didn't have a style that I liked in that color.

But holy expensive, Batman! This was more than the ones I saw online. Well, more than the cheap ones I was considering. However, I know this fits and it was comfortable, so I guess it was worth the price. Now I just need to pick up some tights. And I think next week I'll start practicing in it.

Saturday while driving around I was flipping through radio stations and found a fun one. And Chris and I have now discovered a new favorite song. :) Ladybug, Ladybug, Ladybu-u-ug. Yes, it's a kids song. No, we don't care.

And in knitting news, I'm still working on a secret project, but it is almost done. However, I've taken a break and started on some legwarmers. I figure they could be good for skating. I just started them last night, so we'll see if I can finish them by the weekend or not. If I do, chances of me getting burned out are high. Last weekend I finished up my eggplant, pictured here. The pattern book used the alternate word, aubergine, which I love. I also love the word courgette.

Fun times

So last night as Chris was driving home, a cop pulled out behind him. And the cop was behind him for about a half mile or so, following him through lights and turns, etc. Then, two houses away from being home, the cop turns his lights on and pulls Chris over.

Cop: Do you know why I pulled you over?
Chris: Actually, I have no idea.
Cop: Your inspection sticker has expired.
Chris: I just got it inspected last week!
Cop: Oh, well my computer says it's expired. Maybe the records just didn't get updated yet.

The cop even got out his flashlight and looked at the sticker. Luckily not too closely as he did, indeed, have an expired sticker. However, Chris did bring it in for service a week ago and he paid for an inspection. He just never received that inspection. Fun times.

Competition Time

For probably about a year now, my skating teacher and other classmates have been saying that I should learn a program. Learning a program is no fun by itself, so this means having a place to perform said program. And on Saturday my teacher told me about a competition the second weekend in March. So I said ok, I'll do it. When do you want me for a private lesson? How about tomorrow at 11? Ok. So yesterday I had my first private lesson. And today I hurt. It wasn't really anything new, but it was the intensity. By the end I couldn't do it anymore. My legs weren't supporting me. Only six weeks to get ready. Hope I can do this!

And I'm very quickly realizing why I put this off so long. It's expensive! $40 registration fee for the competition. Not too bad. But then there's the costume. No clue how much that will end up being, but they're not cheap. $15 for ice time for practice, plus another $30 for each private lesson. And I don't know if I'll need those weekly or if I can spread them out a bit. I also should probably try to find some mid-week time to practice, as it doesn't really make much sense to just skate on Saturdays and Sundays.

What's amazing to me about all of this is how much I've learned and improved in the two years that I've been skating. I remember in my second class I started crying because I was so stressed and frustrated and feeling as if I couldn't do anything. I just hope I don't suck too horribly come competition day.

(The photo is from January 2008, about a month or two after I started lessons.)