Well, apparently it isn’t true that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.  I learned a new one a couple of days ago.

OK, technically, I’d heard about it a long time ago from Marlene, who once told me that she often knits while working out.  Yeah, I admit I was skeptical — how the heck is that going to work?

Turns out that what Marlene does for her knitting workouts is ride on a recumbent bike.  Keeps her hands free to do far more important things, like stockinette.

Well, a couple of years ago DH and I inherited a recumbent bike from some friends, who just wanted it the heck out of their garage.  So now it sits in our garage.  Occasionally one of us gets a wild hair and rides it for a bit.  And during our trip to NZ, my house-sitting MIL used it quite a bit for her doctor-recommended exercising.

And then I had the big ol’ birthday, and well, that metabolism just isn’t doing what it used to do.  For a couple of months now, my jeans have been getting tighter and tighter.  Uh-oh.

The "uh-oh" here is because, basically, I loathe exercise in almost any shape or form.  About the only thing I really, really like to do is skate — ice or inline, either one.  Unfortunately, neither is all that convenient when you live in a very hilly area where it rains often, but rarely freezes, and is not near a pond.

Well, in my world, vanity eventually overcomes a lot of things — including the reluctance to exercise.  I finally bowed to necessity, and the other day I spent 20 minutes on the recumbent bike.  And I thought of Marlene, and said "what the hell" and took my knitting with me.  I had the back of a cardigan going, and was past the armhole shaping, so it was conveniently at the "work even until armhole measures" stage.

Shortest 20 minutes I have ever spent exercising.

And 10 more rows on the cardigan.

Holy crap.  Marlene just might be on to something!