i might be wrong

I just read about this rape and torture of Megan Williams in West Virginia . She was held captive, raped, abused and tortured by 6 people. Megan Williams is black. Her captors are white. This story has not be widely reported and the account from ABC news does not use the word "rape" in describing what happened to Megan Williams. I find a couple of things interesting here. 1) This story has not been widely reported. Seems that a vicious attack on a black woman does not warrant much media attention. 2) The use of the term "sexual assault" instead of "rape." Black men are labeled rapists while these men who did comment rape are labeled with a slightly vaguer term.

There were women involved in this torture. One woman told Megan, "This is what we do to niggers around here." Sounds like a hate crime to me. I really hope these people are thrown in prison for the rest of their natural lives. I hope they rot.

The blackandmissing blog has really thorough coverage of this case.

I needed to get away from my desk for awhile so I went over to Barnes & Nobel to check out the knitting books and look what I found... Bag Style! I don't knit very many bags, but the bags in this book are very cute and I'd totally wear any of the following bags:

Karate Sweater, originally uploaded by digitaltammi.

I decided to cave into my inner yarn snob and buy some nicer yarn for the Karate Sweater featured in Twinkle's Big City Knits. I love it! The yarn is soft, it has great drape and it's so cozy. This is my first time using Cascade Magnum. I'm sure it won't be my last.

Twinkle Feather Scarf in progress, originally uploaded by digitaltammi.

Someone should teach me how to crochet so I can finish this scarf and give it away to a friend. Shall I ask one of the nice women in Knit New York or The Point? Hmmm.....

Karate Sweater in progress, originally uploaded by digitaltammi.

It's happening and I love it. Oh Magnum, you're so soft and so pretty. I love you. I am so happy I restarted this sweater using such magnificent yarn. So far, I've got the major part of the sweater body done and part of a sleeve. Not much more left after that. This is turning out quite nicely. I'll have to be sure not to ruin it with the finishing. Tonight, I will teach myself the mattress stitch. Usually I finish my sweaters from the wrong side, but I don't know how that will look with such bulky yarn. It's time to hit the books and learn proper finishing techniques.

Chevron Scarf for Pat, originally uploaded by digitaltammi.

Clay's aunt Pat has breast cancer and I have a strong desire to make her something. I know it won't cure her, but I hope it'll make her feel loved. I found out that she doesn't like to wear wool because she finds it too warm, so I went out and found a really pretty yarn in her favorite color, burnt orange, in the luxurious blend of cashmere and silk. I think Jade Sapphire is my new favorite yarn. The drape and hand of this yarn is amazing and the colorway is really beautiful. I bought it at Purl in Soho and I think they may have one more skein in this color. I'll be back on Friday to check. I'd like to get this for the stash and another color for the Muir. It'll be pricey but so worth it when it's done.

I've just been reading the Knitting Daily blog and today was about Unfinished Objects. How many do you have and why are they left unfinished. If I include my two unfinished quilts, I've got 11 unfinished objects. Well, today... I, Tammi... will commit myself... to finishing at least 3 of these projects before starting a new one.

I don't know which of these objects I'll finish, but I will finish. Here is a list of the objects that will regain my attention:

1. Pat's Chevron Scarf - This is the one I've been working on most recently and has a very good chance of being finished in the near future. I do love knitting this one. Love the pattern and the yarn.

2. Twinkle's Karate Sweater - I love this one, too, but I can't get myself to finish the sleeves for some reason. I am completely done with one sleeve and a quarter done with the other. Then I get to sew them on. I am not very good at this which, I have a feeling, has contributed to my procrastination.

3. Twinkle's Best Friend Cardigan - I know why this one is unfinished. There are two reasons. 1) I'm sick of the color I chose. 2) All I have left is sewing on the sleeves and buttons. Did I mention I'm not good at this.

4. Curve of Pursuit Afghan - This one has been on hold for a year. I love how it's turning out. It's also the perfect thing to knit when I want to zone out since it's all garter stitch. I think I set it aside because it's a huge piece and I wanted to knit something more than garter stitch.

5. Kiera's Baby Blanket - Ok, Kiera is now a year old. This blanket is too small for her. It doesn't make much sense to keep making this blanket for Kiera, my friend Dorla's niece. I think this one will be finished by the time Dorla has a kid. Mind you, she's not married yet or pregnant (marriage is happening next September, yay!) I'm using the diamond pattern from Vogue's Stitchonary 1. I like how it's turning out, but I have to really pay attention when I'm working on it. Also, I found a mistake and I see it whenever I look at this blanket. I purled 6 stitches when I should have knit. Unfortunately, I'm about 40 rows past this mistake. Honestly, it isn't noticeable, but I know it's there and it bothers me. I just don't have the heart to rip it out right now.

6. Chevron Scarf for me - This one is for me, so I'm not rushing it. Besides, I have enough scarves. If I finish this one before Christmas, perhaps I will give it as a gift.

7. Fingerless Mittens - I'm done with one, just need to knit the other. These mittens will be a Christmas gift for someone. Not sure who yet. I also have a neck warmer that I made that is not made of the same yarn, but they work together. Landscapes Alpaca with a Twist for the mittens and Blue Sky Alpacas Hand Dyes for the neck warmer. Both are purple. These actually have a good chance of being finished soon.

8. Black Oversized Lace Top - This pattern is from the Spring/Summer 2007 Vogue Knitting magazine. I couldn't find the pattern for awhile, but stumbled upon it while cleaning last week. I'm halfway done with it. Got the back finished, just need to finish the front. Luckily, I don't have to sew on sleeves. I'm fine with sewing side seams, but sleeves make me nervous for some reason. It's the whole fitting them into the armhole issue, I guess.

9. Twinkle Feather Scarf - This one is unfinished because I can't crochet. I need to ask for a private lesson at Knit NY. Maybe I'll find time for this after the marathon, though I can't say I've been sticking with my training schedule. I'm in trouble come, November 18th. Sigh...

10. Dorla's Green Quilt - I started this one a year ago. It was supposed to be a housewarming gift for Dorla and Kevin. They'd just moved in together and when I went to visit they'd painted their bedroom a pretty, soft green. I was passing by Purl Patchwork and saw some pretty green fabric. They actually had fat quarters in a green and brown color scheme. I don't trust my instincts with color so the fat quarters were perfect. I'm nearly done with the top of this quilt. I still have a lot of work ahead of me, though. Bed size quilts are not fast projects and this one is queen sized.

11. Bonjour Paris Quilt - Yeah, this one was probably started about 3 years ago. Wait. No 4 years ago. I've moved twice since starting this quilt. The top is completely done. It's got a border and everything. The back piece is done, too. But even those those 2 pieces are done, there is still a lot of work to do.

Kind of Messed Up Best Friend Cardigan, originally uploaded by digitaltammi.

I finally got up the courage to sew on a sleeve last night and it didn't go well. The sleeve seam is bulky and somehow I screwed up the armhole shaping. The sleeve is a little puffy at the underarm hole. It's also a bit small.

I don't like the way this is turning out so I'm thinking about just ripping it all out and using the yarn for a felted hand bag. Would I really wear this sweater when it's all done? Probably not. I'm not so into the color anymore. On the other hand, I'd like to see it all finished. I should sew on the other sleeve and the buttons, just to see the fit. Once I understand where I went wrong, I should adjust the pattern accordingly. I have no idea how to do that, but I'm guessing I should add more stitches across the back and maybe I should not bind off as many stitches as the pattern calls for in the armhole shaping.

Sounds like a plan. Next time I'll make the sweater in black.

November 18, 2007. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Marathon Day. Yikes.

Ok. I've slacked off on training the last 6 weeks or so, but I'm back in it and according to people who have done this before, I'm still in good shape. Since this is my first marathon, my only goal is to finish. In the beginning I had a crazy idea that I'd run fast enough to qualify for Boston, but that was a dream. My first 15 mile run burst that bubble. I gained a healthy respect for the distance and realize that finishing a marathon will be satisfaction enough.

I dread going out on long runs by myself. It's lonely. Strangers feel the need to call out to me. I get angry about the distance and the pain and there's no one to complain to or who can relate. Plus it's boring. I haven't been able to find a running partner this year, but I have found ways to make the hours out there on the road a bit more interesting. Instead of running loop after loop around Central or Prospect Park or back and forth along the West Side Highway, I've figured out a bunch of point to point routes. This weekend the NYRR Club is holding their Poland Spring Marathon Kick-off Run. It's 5 miles in Central Park (thankfully, it skips the Harlem Hills). I'm planning to run that race and then an additional 15 or so miles. The map above is a course I've figured out using mapmyrun.com. It'll take me from Central Park at 62nd Street, over to the West Side Highway to Chambers, over to the Brooklyn Bridge, along Adams, then State, then Vanderbilt, over to Prospect Park. I'll do a loop around Prospect Park and then take the short way home from there. That's a total of 21.75 miles.

My training schedule has me at 23 miles this weekend, but every coach I've talked to about this says there is absolutely no reason for me to do more than 20 before the marathon. I'm going to listen to them and ignore the training schedule (which shouldn't be hard since I've been pretty much ignoring for the last 6 weeks). The timing is perfect. This long run comes exactly 3 weeks before the marathon. The experts say a 2 or 3 week taper is necessary for recovery before running a marathon.

After being terrified for a couple of weeks, I'm beginning to get my confidence back. That 6 week slump did not help my speed or confidence, but I still have time to get some of it back.

I did my 20 mile run on Saturday, but not the one I blogged about last week. A friend told me about an organized run by Nike that took place on Saturday. They were running the last 10 miles of the NYC Marathon. The run turned out to be the last 8.35 miles of the marathon because NYC Marathoners are tapering and shouldn't run more than 8 or 10 miles the week before the race. I was happy to do my first 8+ miles with them. They split us into pace groups and off we went. We took the subway up to 103rd and Lex and ran the route from there. Over to the Willis Avenue bridge, into the Bronx for a mile and over to the Madison Avenue Bridge back into Manhattan. I ran with the slowest group and had to keep reminding myself that this was a training run, not the race. No need to take off at break-neck speed. I maintained this slow pace all the way until we ended at the marathon finish line — Central Park across from Tavern on the Green. I said my good-byes and thanked the pacers and off I went to back home to Brooklyn. I hit the 20 mile mark 2 blocks away from my house. Did I bother to run the remaining 2 blocks. Nah. I was hurting pretty badly. My time was 3:42:25. That was 11:05 pace. I am looking at a 4:42 finish for the marathon based on this training run. I'm trying not to get hung up on the slow time. This will be my first marathon, but the competitor in me wants to knock about 42 minutes off that time. Reality says that's not likely to happen.

Saturday was rainy and cold, but it actually didn't bother me. I was pumped to run all the way back home and do my 20 miles. Cardio-wise, I was fine. My lungs felt good. I could breathe. I wasn't very out of breath. I wanted to run faster. My legs, however, had something else in mind. You see, they didn't want to pick up the pace. They wouldn't let me run faster than 11 minute pace for very long. I was mad at my legs for awhile, but in hindsight, my legs were smart. You see, my brain kept saying "Run Faster" but my brain is a fool. That would have been dumb. It's a training run, remember. I have to be smart about the race.

Come marathon day, I hope to take the advice in this New York Times article and run the race in negative splits. That means I'll run the first half of the race slightly slower than the second half. I hope my legs will be strong enough to pick it up by mile 13 or 14 and pick it up even more at mile 20. I keep remembering a phrase I saw on a T-shirt. "I ran my fastest 10k 20 miles into a marathon". I'd like to be able to say that.