Running

Well, I was doing great with the running, getting out there, building up the mileage again.  Running is one of my go to activities whenever I’m stressed, upset, sad, angry…  it is a multipurpose healing addiction!  This past week, however, I’ve gone back to not sleeping well, so I’ve been too tired to get my feet on the street first thing in the morning.  I’ve got to turn this around, as my first half marathon for the challenge is coming up on Halloween!  I expect I’ll do as poorly as I did on my first one as a result, but I’m choosing to take it as a challenge to have the remaining 3 go far better.  :)

I’ve also had a bit of an incident with the dogs at home that contributed to the halt in running.  I took on Dad’s constant companion, Rocky, when he died.  Rocky is a 158 lb harlequin Great Dane, quite a bit smaller than our Leonardo.  Anyway, he & our little shih-tzu/corgi mix have had 3 run-ins now, as Rocky is trying to take over the alpha role in the pack.  I had hoped that it would work out, but the last spat we had turned nasty.  Rocky bit him this time before I managed to get them broken apart…  and in the process of my wading into the fray, I got it too.  Then Leonardo was all silly & “oh, we’re playing?  Yay, we’re playing!  I wanna play too!” and he jumped into the middle, getting the worst bite of all of us.  Poor baby!  So now we’re looking for the right home for Rocky where he will be the only dog & with someone who will work hard on training him well.  He is ordinarily a super sweet dog & a fantastic companion.  He just doesn’t do well with other dogs around.  :)

It's hitting the ugly green/yellow stage now!

Lost my mojo for a bit

I’ve just not had the interest to participate in all my favorite other activities since we lost Dad.  I haven’t felt up for crocheting, knitting, blogging, reading…  but I have been making myself work on projects here & there to help keep my mind off things.  So my completed projects?  First, I finally crocheted a Crocus Bud Shawl for myself, yay!  I dyed Knit Picks bare laceweight with Kool-Aid for this one – a combination of grape, berry blue, black cherry & watermelon kiwi.  :)  Have I mentioned how much I love this pattern?  Because I totally do.  LOL

Next up was this awesome new Halloween pattern, Scare Isle, available on Knitty.  I’ve done fair isle before, of course, so it was a super fun pattern to work & not stress over too much.  I changed just a couple little things about it, but not too much.   Dad would have gone NUTS over this hat, so I just had to make it.  :)

I did manage to find a few more film version of my favorite (Hamlet, of course) to watch.  I’m now up to 15 versions that I’ve seen!  I even keep a running list of them in order of preference.  My top 3 favorite Hamlets have not changed one bit – they are still all solidly staying put.  For those of you that don’t know (he he he), here they are…

#3 - Jacobi's Hamlet - he's sly & sarcastic.

#2 - Branagh's Hamlet - cool & collected

#1 - Tennant's Hamlet - his Hamlet is brilliant, physical & so expressive!

In other news, I was one of the very lucky winners in a contest over on the Knit Picks blog!  I was thrilled to win a copy of this book, along with some gorgeous deep red Stroll sock yarn!  Woo HOO!!  Some of the patterns in this book are just adorable!  If you get a chance, head over to Amazon & pick up a copy!  ;)

Today’s Ravelry Search

So with a bite on my leg, Halloween &  a free copy of Vampire Knits, how could I search on anything else?  ;)  Enjoy & remember, these aren’t my patterns – just click them to go right to the Ravelry page!

* Free pattern!

Happy Thursday/Friday, everyone!