Cycling Endeavors

I've made quite a few decisions today. It's exciting! I have goals!

I've always wanted to learn how to ride a bicycle. For one reason or another (okay, the reason being I ran into a mailbox on a tricycle) I never learned how to ride a bike. Since going to college and reading altogether too many of San Smith's posts about her bicycle, I've realized that I would love to ride a bike. Okay, I would love to decorate a bike. After whining to Monkey, I've finally gotten him to agree to teach me how to ride.

Monday, we went to Walmart and bought me a pretty pink helmet. When we came back to my house, we walked the bike I got for Easter quite a few years ago down to the sidewalk and spent about an hour adjusting the seat. Monkey then had be walk with my butt on the seat for another hour or so. I then got angry because more and more people were coming out to gawk and my sister was being a creature from hell. I threw the helmet down and went in the house to pout.

I'm not very good at trying new things, obviously.

After pouting for a while, and a wonderful date night, I finally decided that I hadn't given up for good. We're going to try again later. I think I need him to just shove me so I get used to falling down.



I'm looking all dolled up for my lesson! Except you can't see my hair which was the point of the shot.

My second cycling adventure is that I've decided to enter in the Tour De Fleece as a hand cyclist! After listening to the Knitmore Girls talk about it for altogether too long, I've finally given into temptation. My goal is not to spin. While I would LOVE to learn how to spin, I've decided that I have to wait on learning until I'm out of college- or at least until I'm permanently moved out. There really just isn't space in my bedroom at home.

My goal for Tour De Fleece is to finish the first five items in my queue. These items include The Irish Hiking Scarf which I've already started. I'm hoping to get through the majority of the scarf before Saturday so I don't have much to finish. I'm also going to be starting and finishing the Swiss Cheese Scarf, a Citron Shawl (which I will be making scarf sized), a Little Arrowhead Shawl, and One Row Lace Scarf. I've got the yarn for all of these scarfs... I don't necessarily have enough or the needles. Whoops! Well, I still have a few days...


These are some of the yarn I picked up for the scarfs...

What's going to make all of this more challening is that I'm going to be out of town for a week, starting with a plane trip at 7:30 in the morning on June 3rd. I'm going to Maryland with Monkey to visit his sister and brother-in-law. I'm moderately terrified. I haven't flown on a plane since I was about two. I'm trying to avoid thinking about it all, but there's still a burning pit in my stomach. My mom's BFF Ro offered to help me pack and give me moral support which I will be drawing on.

I also tried cables for the first time! I wanted to make this gorgeous bag forever, but I finally figured out the cable pattern was a bit too complicated for my first project- especially since it involved a chart. I picked the aformentioned Irish Hiking Scarf out of my queue instead and cast that on yesterday. Unfortunately, with three cables, it turned out to be WAY too wide for me, so I had Monkey frog it. Sometime after that, either he or I (there is a debate) managed to get the yarn in a horribly tangled mess that took Monkey about four hours to untangle. Heh. Other than that, I am in love with this project!



Oh! I've almost forgotten something important! I'm dying my hair pink when I get back to Maryland!

An introduction of sorts

I've finally decided I've done enough stalling.

For about a month now, I've been thinking about making a blog... I've used online journals before, but never as a blog. Instead, I used them as journals. After seeing way too many gorgeous blogs, I've come to the conclusion that I could do that. I could write about my creative endeavors! I could take photos of my artsy projects! I can write witty things! Okay, I can't do that last item, but I try.

I want documentation of how I progress with my creative ideas. I want to be able to look back in a year and be able to be inspired by what I've done. I want to see gorgeous photos of all of the messes and mistakes I've made and think "Man that was fun". The best way to document this, in my mind, is a blog.

I suppose I need some sort of introduction. I'm Lizz, otherwise known as Lizzybear. I have a wonderful boyfriend, Monkey, and he supports my silly creative exercises. I have always been interested in crafty things. From the time I was a little kid, I made jewelry, I was always drawing, I wrote stories, and obsessively read. I made paper mache, I cross-stitched and tried (pathetically) to sew. I loved anything remotely artistic. That love has never faded away. Today, I journal fairly regularly. I love drawing and using crayons and colored pencils as much as I did way back then. I also love cooking and baking and generally trying to make Monkey very fat. Mostly though, lately, I knit.

I taught myself to knit about a year ago. After six months of garter stitch scarfs, I finally got up the courage to make a hat for the Monkey. A very hideous hat that turned out looking frighteningly like a condom. I decided to try double pointed needles and for the most part, it's been love. I love making hats and toys, and my queue on ravelry has over 350 items on it at the moment.

Just a quick snapshot of what I've been working on lately... It's a baby blanket, the ravelry page can be found here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rainbow-throw. I'm making it in ocean-y colors for a nonexistent baby that Monkey and I like to pretend we'll have one day.