Stitches West 2014

 
This past weekend I attended my second Stitches West event. Last year I was able to spend a few days at this yarn-lover's paradise, but I was only able to get away for one day this year. Lauren and I left Sacramento really early Saturday morning and arrived in Santa Clara with plenty of time to spare.

Interestingly enough, I went to Santa Clara University for four years and never had the desire to attend Stitches West until after I graduated. Luckily though, Santa Clara is only a two hour drive from Sacramento so it was a pretty easy trip for me to make.

As soon as the market doors opened, Lauren and I calmly rushed over to Plucky Knitter to raid their "One Hit Wonders" bins. I snagged four skeins of fingering weight yarn, though I have no idea which bases they're made from nor do I know exactly which colorways they are. Oh well, they were only $15 apiece so I couldn't be too picky. I plan on using three of the skeins to knit a Color Affection shawl. 

After visiting Plucky Knitter, we decided to window shop before purchasing anything else. I'm so glad I did this. I came to Stitches West without any real plan of what I wanted to buy. After walking around all of the booths I realized which colors I loved and which brands I kept coming back to.

I definitely wanted to find yarn to knit up a Honey Cowl, so that was a top priority. I really like the feel and softness of Miss Babs Yowza! Whatta Skein!, and I found the perfect color...Floyd! I originally wanted to knit a red Honey Cowl, but this hot pink is just awesome! I've already started my cowl and I'm so happy with my choice of yarn and color.

After admiring all of the booths, I realized that I really wanted to knit a green cowl. I had a specific shade of green in mind and I was determined to find that perfect color. I found my green yarn at Kitty-Rabbit Kreations, and although I wish it was a thicker weight yarn, I love the color so much that I'll make the fingering weight work.

Last year at Stitches West I tried knitting with Square needles. I loved the feel of holding square shaped needles and I thought that my tension was more even when using them. Although I enjoy knitting, I'm not the best and I don't knit very frequently, so I thought I just needed more practice with the traditional circular needles and didn't purchase any Sqaures last year. Since then I've thought a lot about those needles and how much more enjoyable knitting was. I vowed that I'd buy a set this year since I couldn't get them off my mind. I bought Square circular needles with a firm 40 inch cable in size 8. I'm currently using them to knit my Honey Cowl and I love them; I'm so happy with this purchase.

This year I also participated in the stitch marker swap that was organized via Ravelry. Because I only had one day to shop, I didn't spend as much time hunting down and stalking swappers during market hours, but I did have fun trading with fellow swappers at the scheduled meetup in the evening. But more about the stitch marker swap in another post :)

All in all, I love Stitches West and I really hope I'll be able to go again next year. I discovered that I'm currently loving jewel tone colors and I'll always have a special place in my heart for cowls.

Overnight Oats

I know I'm a little late to the game, but overnight oats have been on my radar for awhile. I've been looking for a healthy breakfast option that will keep me full until lunch time; something that's easy and quick to make yet still offers a lot of nutrition. I was previously eating toast and almond butter for breakfast and later switched to instant oatmeal packets. Toast was okay but I often found myself snacking before lunch time. Instant oatmeal kept me full, but lately I haven't been able to get the consistency correct and it was driving me nuts. So the search for a new breakfast option began.

I've seen a lot of pictures of overnight oats on Instagram and Pinterest, so I decided to try them. Overnight oats are really simple to make, just add all of your ingredients in any type of container, stir, and refrigerate overnight. Mason jars are good to use because you can simply shake everything up, minimizing any potential messes. I made up several recipes after some research to experiment with different flavors and textures. I hate to admit it, but I'm a bit of a picky eater so there are a lot of flavor combinations I don't like. A lot of people like to add chia seeds to their oats as they offer nutritional benefits and create a thicker texture, but I don't like the gummy consistency of chia seeds so I left them out.

Here's a list of the different recipes I tried and a few notes about my likes and dislikes about them.

Trial 1:
1/2 cup quick oats
3/4 cup soy milk
16 chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- No flavor
- Not thick enough
- Chocolate chips tasted good, but were hard to eat because they were cold

Trial 2:
1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 cup soy milk + 2 tablespoons in the morning
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Way too much vanilla, it tasted really alcohol-y
- The cinnamon helped mask the vanilla

Trial 3:
1/2 cup quick oats
3/4 cup soy milk mixed with 1/2 tablespoon almond butter
-Good flavor without being overpowering

I've been eating overnight oats for a week or so now, and have been sticking to the recipe from my third trial. I found a flavor and consistency that I enjoy and I've been looking forward to breakfast, so for now this is working for me. I'll probably experiment with different flavor combinations soon to keep my mornings more interesting :)

Lake Tahoe

This past weekend I went to Lake Tahoe with my family, Heather, and Lauren. It had been several years since I've gone to the snow and even longer since I went skiing.

I drove up Sunday mid-morning; the first time I've ever personally drove in the snow. It was a little scary when I wasn't able to see the road markings anymore, but at least I know I can do it now.

We spent the majority of Monday resting in the hotel. In the evening Lauren and I took Abby on the gondola down to the Northstar Village. By the time we made it down to the Village, many of the shops were already closed. Since it was freezing, we stopped at Starbucks and bought the Lake Tahoe mug from Starbucks' "You are Here" collection. I love the modernity of the mugs and want to collect one from each city or state I travel to. Exciting stuff right there!

On Tuesday we went skiing. I was hesitant at first as I haven't skied in 6 years, but the muscle memory quickly kicked in and I skied all day long without falling. I even got Lauren to enjoy skiing, so we're hoping to make another trip out before the snow season is over.

And of course, as soon I returned home I got sick and am still fighting a cold. As much as I hate being sick, I'm glad I wasn't feeling crummy on vacation.

Until next time, Tahoe!

Happy Late New Year

I realize January is almost already over, but happy belated New Year!

I haven't been too good about blogging regularly, but I'm hoping to fix that immediately. I'm so happy to have more free time on my hands now. This means I'll have more time not only for blogging but also for running, sewing, knitting, cooking, and baking!

My one New Year's resolution is to participate in Project 365. I'll be taking a photo everyday for the entire year and making something great with all of my pictures, but more about that later. I'm excited!

This year I also signed up to run the American River 50 mile race. Earlier this month I started running with SacFit's Ultra group. This is the first time I've run on true trail terrain and I must admit, I love it. I enjoy the scenery and the peacefulness of the trails. I finished the California International Marathon (CIM) in December and even though I swore I didn't want to run that far again, I signed up for an ultra race. Crazy.

I recently returned from a weekend in San Francisco where I visited probably my favorite fabric store. I bought a bunch of knits so I'm looking forward to sewing more clothes this year as well.

Stitches West is also coming up so I need to start knitting up a lot of the yarn I already own so I can buy more at the best yarn convention ever!

2014 is great so far and I'm making it a goal to enjoy the year and all of the smaller day-to-day happenings.

October Wrap Up

Even though October ended several weeks ago, I've just now looked back at my October goals to see what I've actually completed. It's taken me a while to get to it, but better late than never! Again, this list wasn't made to be stressed out over, but rather for ideas of fun things to do.

I went to Apple Hill at the beginning of the month with my family, Lauren's family, and Heather. Even though I lugged my camera around all day, I didn't take any pictures...not even with my phone :( Despite my lack of photos, I did have fun. I ate garlic fries, bought tons of apples, and enjoyed a yummy burrito picnic.

While at Apple Hill I bought half of a bushel of mutsu apples. I knew that I wanted to make apple juice and I wanted to find the perfect tasting apples for it. I sampled several apple varieties, knowing that I wanted a sweet tasting one. Even though I could've easily bought apple juice at Apple Hill, where's the fun in that? I got a juicer for Christmas so I was ready for the challenge. I ended up juicing about 25 apples which yielded 50 ounces of juice.I refrigerated the extra juice in mason jars which worked out pretty well. Sadly I only drank half of the juice...I'm thinking I should now throw the rest out since it's been sitting in the refrigerator for over a month...

Shorty after I finished the Urban Cow Half Marathon, I reached 400 miles on my old Asics running shoes, so it was time for a new pair! I was so excited to go to Fleet Feet and be fitted for my next pair. I tried on a handful of different brands and styles, and it turns out I still love Asics. When you buy shoes at Fleet Feet, an employee analyzes how you run and looks at your normal gait to help find the best shoes for your specific feet. I knew that I had low arches, but interestingly enough, I discovered that I also overpronate. I found the Asics GT 2000 to be the most comfortable and last year's model was on clearance, so I bought those instead. While I don't particularly care for black running shoes, I know that I'll be able to get a new pair in a few months and that comfort is more important than appearance when it comes to running shoes. Since buying my shoes I've run about 100 miles in them...300 more miles until the next pair!

As for my huge pile of magazines that's about to take over the apartment...well I read two. Magazines just keep coming, I can't help it. I didn't order any more magazines or renew my subscriptions this Fall, so within the next few months my pile should truly start to shrink. Baby steps.

I really hoped that I'd find inspiration to do crafty things this month, but sadly it didn't happen. Although November is already halfway over, I'm beginning to come up with my November goals and I know I'll have lots of projects on my list for this month.

Urban Cow Half Marathon

Earlier this month, Lauren, Heather, Leti, and I participated in the Urban Cow Half Marathon. I'd never run this race before, but I heard it was a pretty flat course so I was excited to get a PR.

I've been "training" for five consecutive months now (the longest I've ever consistently run) and I feel like I'm already in better shape. I've lost a few pounds, but for the most part I'm still the same size. In January I made a resolution to run at least one mile a day. On my first run I remember realizing how out of shape I really was. I wasn't dying while I was running, but it wasn't an easy feat either. Even though I broke my resolution at the end of January, I got back into running in June and have been consistent with working out since. Now it's a breeze to run a mile and most Saturdays I run upwards of ten miles without feeling dead afterwards.

Anyways...back to the half marathon...

I did end up getting a PR at this race; I improved my time by seven minutes which I'm really happy about. This is the first race I've completed with intervals, and while I feel guilty walking every five minutes, these breaks made the race SO much easier to finish.

This is also the first time I ran a race with my CamelBak. While it's a nuisance to carry an extra few pounds of water on my back, it was awesome being able to hydrate anytime I wanted. Even though the CamelBak enabled me to carry lots of water and snacks, it also caused shoulder pain. I'll have to reconsider running with my CamelBak for the next race; I may end up just running with a water bottle instead. We shall see! 

The majority of the race took place in the Land Park neighborhood in Sacramento. I loved running past all of the cute houses; the miles flew by. Parts of the race also took part in downtown Sacramento which is always a nice area to run through. Plus, how could you not like participating in an event where the finisher's medal is a cow bell?

October Goals

I've decided that I want to start setting goals at the beginning of each month. I want to enjoy completing at least ten activities within a set amount of time. So for now on, on the first of each month, I'll compile and share a list of the ten things I plan on doing. It's not meant to be a challenge; it's meant to be fun.

In celebration of the start of Autumn many of my activities this month revolve around the new season.

1. Go to Apple Hill
2. Carve/decorate pumpkins
3. Make apple juice
4. Sew something
5. Start a knitting project
6. Take a day trip to another city and explore
7. Run 41 miles so I can get a new pair of running shoes
8. Read through a lot of magazines that I already own
9. Make something in celebration of Halloween
10. Start an art wall

Besides these ten things, I also hope to take a lot more pictures. I want to document my goals and my daily life. To me, a new season means a new schedule. I want to make more time in my day to do the things I enjoy and love to do.