Rebecca RULZ!!!

I finished my wrap cardi out of the new Rebecca last Thursday and debuted it at work the next day. I must say, I was rather adorable! It's the second most favorite sweater I've done for myself. The first is my Rowan 3/4 length raglan sleeve sweater out of purple that matches my bellybutton ring. Rowan will always be number one on my list, but Rebecca is becoming a very close second. Also, I finished the back of my Apricot Jacket (another Rebecca pattern, although I should call mine the Seafoam Blue Jacket since it's not Apricot) last night in a carb-induced stupor. (My in-laws seem to serve only starchy vegetables and breads when we get together, and I usually get home feeling like crap. I guess I don't have to eat the mashed potatoes, rolls, macaroni and cheese, dressing, and navy beans, but then my plate would be empty.) It's really cute. I'm working on the left front right now. We're going out of town for a duathlon next weekend, so that'll give me a lot of guilt-free knitting time, and I should be able to knock out a lot of it.

Ironman note: less than 23 weeks! 23 weeks from now, I should be limping around, very happy and very tired. I got out my calendar today and started planning my training. In July and August, I will be on my bike A LOT. Every Saturday I'll be riding 5, 6 or 7 hours, then doing a couple of more hours running and biking on Sunday. Yipes! If this is what it takes for me to cross that finish line happy before midnight on September 11th, though, I'll do it.

It's *so* easy being green!

Sorry I've been neglectful of my blog. I a)have been busy this week, and b)kinda forgot about it. It's such a new thing to me that I'm not used to it yet.

I am blocking the pieces of my Rebecca wrap cardi as I type! Yippee! It's taken me just a little over a week to knit, and it's been very fun. Hopefully it'll turn out as cute as I think it will. I bought a cute little dress at Target yesterday that I think will be perfect for it. It's a fun shade of green, kinda like Kermit the frog. I must be on a green kick lately (even though my favorite color is purple). Maybe I was just getting in the mood for St. Patty's Day this past Thursday, I don't know, but while I was sitting in the doctor's office this week, I looked down and noticed that what I was knitting was the same shade of green as the sweater I was wearing, which is one I knitted last year out of Reynolds Allagash. It also matches the yarn I used for the Grace top from last spring's knitty.com issue. Hello, I am Greenwoman! Gimme some candy! (Poor Adam Sandler reference.)

I get to swatch tonight for my other Rebecca cardigan, the Apricot Jacket from a previous issue. Mine is going to be a pretty shade of seafoam blue. Yes, I said seafoam blue. I know seafoam usually is green, but this is really a blue trying to be a seafoam green. Again, the green is coming into play! But it really is more blue than green.

On a non-knitting note, my first Ironman experience is 24 weeks from today! At this time 24 weeks from now, I hopefully will be completing the second half of the marathon run at Ironman Wisconsin. For all you non-triathlon types, an Ironman is a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run. It's been something I've wanted to do for 9 years, but didn't really feel like I was ready/fit enough to do so until last year. I haven't officially started training yet, but I know that once I do, I will be very tired and my knitting will probably suffer. But it's okay. To hear the announcer yell my name as I cross the finish line will be worth it. I'll catch up on my knitting while I'm recovering.

Go meet your new mommy!

Waah! Yesterday I finished seaming the Apricot Jacket from a previous Rebecca magazine (maybe number 27). It was such a relief b/c I had been battling this pattern since the beginning of January. A friend of mine suggested we do a trade b/c I wanted her to crochet this beautiful Rowan skirt for me, and she picked the Apricot Jacket. The Infamous Apricot Jacket, as I've heard it's referred to on other people's blogs. A lot of my problems I think stemmed from the fact that the yarn she picked was a lot smaller than the yarn the pattern called for. Anyway, after many a heartache, I GOT IT DONE. Yippee for me! There were times that I seriously doubted I'd see the day. But now my problem is this: I've kinda grown attached to it and am sad it's not mine. It doesn't fit me, but nonetheless, it's not mine. I feel like I've just had a baby that I have to give up for adoption! Horrible. I'm seriously thinking of doing it again for myself, this time in All Seasons Cotton, which is the same gauge as the ggh Java that the pattern calls for. Yes, my mother, my husband, and my friends who had to hear me bitch about it for the last 2 months think I've lost my mind, but I think it'll be much better the second time around. I've already made it once, so I have it figured out. And in the right yarn, it'll probably go quickly. Sounds like I'm talking myself into it, huh? I was in my LYS today, discussing it, but I didn't go and look at the ASC colors they had b/c I knew if I did that, I'd end up buying it. I can't do that right now - I have 3 other sweaters to do plus the Koigu pants from Vogue Knitting. And I'm doing a marathon this weekend and am about to start training for the upcoming triathlon season, so I don't have an abundance of free time for more knitting projects. Sounds like I'm talking myself out of it, huh? We'll see who wins.

Hello world! This is Nakedie!

Welcome to my blog! I've been reading everyone else's blogs so much lately, that I thought it was only fair I start one of my own. I'm obviously a knitter, and my nickname is Nakedie - nothing risque. My friend was trying to say "Stephanie hurt her neck dancing at the Lenny Kravitz concert" but it came out "Nakedie hurt her Steph dancing at the Lenny Kravitz concert." Hence the name Nakedie.

I'm also a triathlete. In fact, I went for a 3 hour bike ride today followed an hour later by a 2-hour swim. Then I ate my weight in sushi! Yum! I'm going to be training this summer for the Ironman Wisconsin triathlon (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and 26.2 mile run), so my knitting time may be cut down a little. Bummer. Sometimes I wish I wasn't an athlete so I'd have more time to knit!

Things on my needles right now: the Apricot Jacket from a previous Rebecca magazine (I forgot the number and am too lazy right now to get up and look at the magazine), and a little seed stitch baby sweater out of Rowan All Seasons Cotton. I am a Rowan FREAK. Love it, love it, love it! I must've been smoking crack when I decided to do an entire sweater in seed stitch, but it's a baby one, so it's not too bad. I'm doing the Apricot Jacket for a friend who chose Rowan Calmer, which is an entirely different gauge. So I've had to do a lot of math, which I've never done before. It's not been the easiest project I've done, but it's been a learning experience. I think from now on, I'll choose yarn that's the same gauge the pattern calls for. But Calmer is awesome, so it'll turn out nice.

Things waiting in the wings: the Koigu pants shown in the latest Vogue Knitting magazine (love them! very anxious to start!), the Tempting sweater from Knitty.com, a ribbed short sleeved sweater (I think a Fiesta Yarns pattern, but I'm using some Artyarns merino), and the eyelet cardigan out of Rebecca magazine no 29. There's a knitalong for that (I don't know how to link things yet, so I can't give you that, but you can get to it from Digital Yarn's blog), so I've joined and I'm very excited. I've always wanted to do a knitalong, but I always seem to catch them at the end. I'll update you on my progress, hopefully with some pictures along the way!

Must go knit. Bye for now!