Lessons in Crochet

I'm sorry if you stumbled upon this post looking for some actual lessons on crochet. I'm not the person to look to, as I have only just recently completed my first non-hat crochet project. And it turned out. Sort of.

I found a book at Michael's with crochet projects for baby. Baby boy is, of course, the motivation for crochet/any projects I've thought of as of late. My goal was a sweater. A pattern in the book claimed to be easy...but how can it be easy if you've never read a crochet pattern before? So for me, I'd list the pattern is "intermediate."

Either way, I completed the sweater mostly as described in the pattern. I had some issues with the yoke, so I improvised. It looks like a sweater. The sleeves are proportionate to the body, and it looks like it will fit a child.

Except I never checked the gauge of my crochet skills and the hook listed in the pattern. Eager me just started crocheting. I followed the directions to make a sweater for a six month old. It'll probably fit a one year old. Which is fine, I just won't get to use the sweater as soon as I had hoped.

Yesterday, I started a cardigan for the boy as well. I dove right in without checking the gauge and wondered why, again, was this sweater (meant for a 6 month old) turning out to be so huge?! Luckily, I was only four rows in before I realized that maybe the crochet pattern writers were on to something with gauge-checking. So I crocheted my 12 stitches with the hook listed in the pattern. Twelve stitches should have been four inches. In my case? Six.

Well, there ya go. Tried the same with a smaller hook: twelve stitches, four inches. I was set to go. And now, four rows in to this sweater? It looks like it'll fit the average 6 month old.

Someday, I'll learn to just follow directions. Until then, I'll continue to learn from my little mistakes!

Motivate Me!

Does anyone remember the band Good Charlotte? I believe I went to a concert of theirs in college, and probably had a really good time (live music is awesome, by the by). I digress.

Good Charlotte has a song named "The Motivation Proclamation" and I thought it would be a fabulous song to talk about in regards to my new motivation to work out. I had a quick listen, though, and realized that it wasn't necessarily the happiest song. I didn't write the song, so I do not know for sure what the writers were thinking, but it sounds like someone is depressed.

I'm not. At all. I love life, but I was looking for a connection to my new found motivation. Finalmente, I have found motivation to get out there and run. I don't know what it was, I don't know what did it, but I am ready to run.

My 5K is coming up (August 26th) and I am actually excited to continue training. Tuesday is weekly girls' night with a great group of girls I knew in high school, which is why I tried to finagle my training schedule to have my day of rest on Tuesdays. It has worked out thus far, but as I sat at my friend's house I thought about running (er, jogging).

Instead of looking forward to a day of rest (as I normally would have), I was itching to get out and run! Tomorrow's goal: run 1.25 miles, walk 1.75 miles.

Started!

As mentioned a couple days ago, I need to get my butt in shape. My friend's ability to run around a local lake (which happens to be a 5K) without stopping or walking has motivated me just enough to get out of the house and go. For those of you that are wondering, I am over my feelings of jealousy. The jealousy left, and I am now happy for her and her huge accomplishment!

I started my training plan and have successfully complete the first two days. Luckily, the first two days consisted of walking for 40 to 60 minutes. I did 60 minutes each day and felt great.

Surprisingly (and sadly) my legs were quite tired and sore at the end of each hour. This just goes to show that I really do need to get out there and continue my quest to get back into shape. It's necessary.