Flip Flippin’ Tires

Everyone’s pal Al was in town from Austin this past weekend and invited me to join her for some tire flipping fun. Barry, one of the guys that we know, is a strongman competitor and trains at The Edge 2.0.

I won’t lie; walking into a place where their idea of “light” is a 76 pound stone was a bit intimidating. These people were lean, incredibly strong, and determined to lift things that would probably snap my limbs in half … and those were the girls! Most of the guys there had forearms bigger than my quads and can deadlift a Mini Cooper.

Barry asked if we wanted to flip some tires and our answer was a resounding “YES!” Of course, I didn’t think to ask how much the lightest one weighed until after I agreed. “Oh, 300 some pounds.” Oh boy.

Al had actually flipped tires with her Crossfit group so she went first and made it look like she was inspecting a cookie. She even got up to flipping the 400 pound tire. And for those of you who know her, there was plenty of her signature giggling in between flips.

Abalone 2: This Time It’s Personal

The first Abalone cardi that I knit was a bit too snug for me so it ended up going to my sister who has a smaller frame. I really wanted one for myself so I tried it again using the exact same yarn. This time, I knit it wider (increased to 128 sts compared to 98 sts) to accommodate my husky self.

I also knit the edging as directed on the pattern…

Mr. Greenjeans in Henna

This Mr. Greenjeans cardi had been in my Ravelry queue for years so I finally decided to tackle it back in November. Between all the holiday-related distractions, deadlines, and a week in Duck, I just kept forgetting to post about it. BTW, the week in Duck was just what Santa ordered. We lucked out with the weather and only had one day of rain and another day when it was windy. The temps were in the 50s and low 60s for most of the week. It was almost 70 degrees on the 31st, so we spent the last day of 2011 reading on the beach.

Anyway, back to the cardi…  I like the style of the cardi but decided I wanted a slightly longer length. I extended the torso section prior to the cables so that the button would fall closer to my waist rather than just under the bust. I took this picture before sewing on the button.