Running

So I made myself rest since my last run.  I ran the 4 miles on the 7th in the cold – I’m not sure if it was all the bridge running or if I twisted my ankle or what…  but it’s been almost 2 weeks of pain.  I tried to keep it wrapped as much as I could bear during the time & I succeeded pretty well, I think.

I got out this morning for my first run in nearly 2 weeks.  I kept it easy & short – I went 3 miles.  The first few steps I felt a bit of a twinge in the ankle, but it went away pretty quickly.  The rest of the run went surprisingly well, much to my happiness.  I’m waiting to see how it feels through the rest of the day to decide if I’m going to continue running or go back to resting.

Either way – I’m not going to be able to run my half marathon on Saturday.  I’m not too happy about that, but I know that no matter how well healed my ankle is, that would just be pushing it way too hard too soon.  *sigh*  Well, they have added a new half marathon in March…  YAY!  I’m so going for that.  In March, it will be unpleasantly warm, but not unbearably so.

Dead Computer Woes

Last week, the computer rebooted by itself, as it has been wont to do of late.  I probably should have paid closer attention to the fact that it was doing so, as it is a sign that not all is well.  I’m pretty sure that the power supply was going.  When it rebooted, it tried to boot from USB – which at the time had an iPod connected.  So we tried to reboot it again after disconnecting it, but it was locked up.  We finally got it shut down, then tried to start it back up – only to discover that now it shuts back down 2-3 seconds after switching on the power.

So…  I replaced the power supply.  No change.  So next up will be replacing the motherboard, as I’m quite sure it got fried with the power supply problem.  Not a big deal, we wanted to upgrade the processor anyway.  Now, I could go ahead & change out the motherboard & begin the process of changing from Athlon to Pentium…  but I’m going to stick to a simple upgrade for now.  My plan is to keep this computer for web surfing.  I’m working on getting in either a new computer or a refurbished one through my work that will work for surfing & gaming.  We have 3 of us at home, but have had only 2 computers to use – so you can imagine how interesting it gets when everyone wants to check in on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and so on at the same time.  LOL

Knitting

I hit a stop point on the manlet’s Hacky Sack Hoodie – I need to get the yarn dyed for the colorful striping across the chest & arms now.  The downside is that I’m using a wool/acrylic blend, so I’m not too sure how well it is going to take dyeing.  I plan to play around with it & see how it will turn out.  I know that acrylic doesn’t take dyes like animal fibers do, so I’m kind of hoping for a cool tweedy effect when I do the dyeing.  I’ll keep you posted on how it turns out!  The plan right now is to have long runs of blue, gray & green…  or so I hope, anyway!  :)

Since I’m on hold with his sweater, I decided to play around with this gorgeous & very bright yarn that I got from a friend at knit night.  It’s South West Trading Company’s Bamboo yarn – it’s really fantastic yarn to knit.  The colorway is a very bright rainbow – not normally my style, but I totally love it!  I played around with it, doing some test knitting, trying out different stitch patterns.  I finally decided to try an intentional pooling experiment – and loved the results so much that it’s what I’ve ended up doing with it.  :)  I’m nearly done with the scarf now, but here is the beginning of it…

Today’s Ravelry Search

Today’s search is a bit different.  All of these patterns are ones that can be purchased via Ravelry.  I’m highlighting some of the choices from designers that are donating proceeds of their sales to Haiti.  These patterns are all tagged with “help for haiti” on Ravelry – each designer donating anywhere from 25% to 100% of their sales for January to various relief efforts to help with the devastation in Haiti.  I have some serious love for my fellow designers – so please, PLEASE – go buy one of these gems today if you can!  :)

50% goes to MSF (Doctors without Borders)

50% goes to Disasters Emergency Committee

100% of proceeds goes to MSF (Doctors without Borders)

50% of the proceeds go to Canadian Red Cross

50% of the proceeds go to MSF (Doctors without Borders)

100% of the proceeds goes to MSF (Doctors without Borders)

50% of the proceeds goes to an unspecified relief effort.

100% of the proceeds go to MSF (Doctors without Borders)

50% of the proceeds go to MSF (Doctors without Borders)

100% of proceeds go to Concern's Haiti Appeal

50% goes to MSF (Doctors without Borders)

100% goes to MSF (Doctors without Borders)

50% goes to the Red Cross

100% goes to the Red Cross

100% goes to the Norwegian Red Cross

50% goes to unspecified Haiti relief

50% goes to the Red Cross

100% goes to MSF (Doctors without Borders)

50% goes to MSF (Doctors without Borders)

50% goes to MSF (Doctors without Borders)

50% goes to MSF (Doctors without Borders)

50% goes to MSF (Doctors without Borders)

80% goes to MSF (Doctors without Borders)

50% goes to MSF (Doctors without Borders)

I’m also donating 100% of my pattern sales for the month of January to Doctors without Borders.  My patterns can be seen here altogether.

I have been so thrilled by the response on Ravelry – as of right now, I am up to $110.00 already!  Thank you, thank you – everyone has been truly fantastic!

Happy Wednesday, all!