Running and Knitting...not at the same time...yet!

One hole, and another on the other side carefully hidden!

Very crooked rows

Still though, not too shabby for my first try!

Life at the Allen house has been quite a bustle of activity and somehow still pretty peaceful. Dear Rachel has been staying with us for a few months and we really enjoy having her here. I think all families should have more than two adults. I'm not talking polygamy, just some communal living. :) The kids also enjoying having Aunt Rachel around, whether she wants them or not, there they are wanting some hugs & kisses, cuddles, and lots of her attention. I can't believe she hasn't run screaming yet!

The past 6ish weeks now, Rachel and I have been on a couch to 5K running plan. This was inspired by Manda G. Money. We are on our sixth week of the program but we started out doing sort of our own thing. Last Saturday we walked 5, ran 20! I thought I would NEVER make it, but I did and even kept going a little longer to get to the end of the street. This week we're back at intervals, to wrap up the week with a walk 5, run 25! We're going to run the Paws on the Pavement 5K on May 15th at Murray Park. It benefits CARE for animals and is one of the cheaper to enter, so I thought it would be a good start. At my current pace, it will probably take 40 minutes to run, but I have three weeks to work on it. I don't expect miracles though, and if you know me, you know that I am overweight and completely not in shape. So, the fact that I got off the couch amazed me. Six weeks ago I could barely run 1 minute, so I feel like a super hero no matter what. I also started some free Yoga videos from Comcast On Demand. There is a beginner one that is pretty awesome, but SO HARD! I have mucho respecto for you yoga folks. It's rough!

In other news, I started a knitting class through the Arkansas Extended Learning Center last night! They have some really awesome looking classes. I have always wanted to know how to knit. I decided knitting was more for me, because I like the way knitted things look more than I do crochet. I feel like I can produce more things I will love by knitting. It's also so romantic and wonderful, the clacking of the knitting needles, the image of a sweet grandmother rocking her way through a baby blanket or a pair of mittens. You remember my post about wanting a grandma, but in her absence, I will be my own. It's my goal to be an old lady by the time I'm 30. I have three years to master knitting, quilting, and canning!

On the knitting front, I was so worried at first and felt like I was in Algebra class. It was okay though once the instructor showed us everything about 500 times. The slip knot was almost the hardest thing, then I learned to cast on, then the knit stitch. My swatch so far looks so awful. It has several holes in it and the rows are super crooked. There has been no clacking yet, more cursing really. I had bought acrylic yarn to start with, but it hurt my fingers so I bought some cotton on the way home. I don't think I'll ever knit with wool or acrylic, because I LOVE the cotton. I will post pictures of my terrible swatch and hopefully my new running shoes if I ever get them.