Wood I?

As I've been knitting a fair amount of shawlettes and lace and will only continue to do so (did I mention I signed up for the 2010 Year of Lace club?), I decided I needed to invest in a shawl pin. I wear Cluaranach on a regular basis at the office, and constantly throwing it back behind my shoulder is starting to make me feel a bit Imelda Marcos-ish, heh.

There are, literally, about a zillion shawl pins out there. Really. Wire, ceramic, glass, bejeweled, be-bobbled... you name it, there's a shawl pin out there for it. For my part, I wanted something with more of an organic, natural feel. I had been stalking Wooden Treasures' Etsy shop for a while, and when I saw this pin, it was love at first sight.


The only trouble is, it's HUGE! I mean, it's beautiful, but it's ginormous! I feel like I'm trying to impale my knitting as I'm stabbing away at it to get the pin (or should I call it Mr. Pointy?) through the fabric. *Sigh*

Another item I wanted to share with you is this lovely wooden bowl. I can't even remember when or from whom I got it (I think it was a Christmas gift from my mother-in-law?), but last week I was hunting around for a receptacle of some kind and I came upon this beauty.

Before I get to what I'm going to use it for, some of you may have noticed the new Miles run on the Treadmill ticker on the blog. Yes, tired of feeling inactive and as a reward for the new job (I'm not done using that rationalization/excuse by a LONG shot, heh), I bought a treadmill a few weeks ago.

It's got all the usual features, calorie-calculator and heart-rate monitor, programs and inclines and so on. It also displays the miles run, which got me to thinking... Sometimes my motivation to get on the treadmill is hard to find. Even though I know I love it. Even though I know I'm going to feel great afterward (and I always do). Even though every day, my mirror (and my pants size!) tell me that running has been the single best thing I've done for my silhouette and self-esteem. I know all this, and yet I know it's going to take away from my knitting time, and I have a hard time getting off the couch.

So I've come up with a way to tie in running on the treadmill to knitting, or rather, to yarn. For every mile I run/walk on the treadmill, I'm going to put the same amount in cash in that lovely bowl. We'll call it my Running for Rhinebeck fund :)

Happy Knitting Everyone!