Knit Run, Purl Run

Vacation! w00t!

Posted on July 1, 2009 by H3Dakota

Running

So yeah. The weather hasn’t gotten much better ~ the temps have been atrocious! Heat advisories every day, thunderstorms when there isn’t a heat advisory… a typical Florida summer, in other words! The happy news was that I was able to sneak in a quick run earlier today – actually at 1pm! I snuck it in between thunderstorms, so it was cloudy and still rather breezy for the run. It was actually cooler running then than it was at 6am!

I decided to listen to an audiobook while running today. I haven’t tried that before, but I have recently become addicted to Doctor Who (more on that later). I was totally thrilled to discover that there are 4 Doctor Who audiobooks read by none other than David Tennant. And the one that I picked to listen to started off really very funny (especially since I’m a complete geek and have seen every Star Trek episode) with references to Star Trek. I must have looked rather loony, running down the side of the road laughing out loud. he he he

Knitting

Wow, ok… I’ve been REALLY busy on the knitting front! I finished up the special project that I’ve been planning & working on with KnittyKnitterton! Woo Hoo! It turned out even better than I had envisioned & I am SO happy with the new pattern! The hard part, though… I took over 50 pictures trying to get a really good shot at the pattern, but it was really, really hard to capture! Anyway, the pattern has now officially been posted for sale on Ravelry here. Even better – KnittyKnitterton came up with a killer colorway for this pattern – and she now has the yarn & the pattern available as a sock kit in her Etsy shop!! You simply MUST go check it out – words cannot express how much I love this yarn!

Also OTN – still the Blue Jeans Lace Leaf Shawl. It’s a really easy knit & I have the pattern memorized already. I’ve made good progress on it, but it’s hitting a point where it’s really kind of boring to keep going with it. I’m struggling to get through the first skein still. Yikes! LOL

The last month of HPKCHC is this month. I started one project for one homework assignment, a crocheted scarf. I’m not sure yet how many classes I’ll be tackling this time.

Vacation! w00t!

My vacation officially started last Saturday. I’m on vacation for 2 whole weeks & so far, have done a huge amount of resting & relaxing. LOL Lots of sleep, even more watching of shows. An online friend of mine (hello, oh mighty pancake-less one) convinced me to watch Doctor Who again. I watched years ago, as a kid, but hadn’t seen any of the new series. So I started up with Netflix again & started watching it with Series 1. I made it about 3 episodes into Series 2 before the manlets got hooked on it with me. We’ve spent all our vacation so far doing little but watching Doctor Who. :D Now that we’ve seen them all, I’m getting started with the books too.

At some point, we are going camping to our usual fantastic place, Juniper Springs. We love that place!! :) I tried to talk the manlets into a road trip, take almost the whole 2 weeks to travel somewhere new to camp… but they weren’t having it. Ah well, it’s all good. Juniper is gorgeous, so I’m totally fine with that, too.

Today’s Ravelry Search

ROFL – I can’t believe I haven’t done this search before now! I love it, I’ve got 3 pages of patterns to filter though for you all… as always, click a picture to go to the pattern page on Ravelry!

This is a really cute top!

* Ok, I love puns so I really did giggle on this one...! ;)

Wow, this is fantastic! :) Clearly not for camping in Florida, of course!

LOL! I'm not sure why Funky Sock Monkey shows up in a search for camp, but it's too cute not to include.

Hmm... what rock have I been under? There are over 1000 projects for this pattern!

* Ok, I totally had to include this picture because I lurve it SO much!

* Nice hat! Great to knit for the guys. Except we don't need 'em here, naturally. LOL

Hermit crab!! My sister loved them when we were kids. :)

* Pirates! Golf club cover! Awesome!

I absolutely LOVE the photo. The pattern is fantastic, too, of course! But I love, love, LOVE mountains! ;)

* Nice set! I really like the simplicity of it. :)

I like this sweater - it's really very pretty!

Ok, there are a ton of really gorgeous sweaters from a book called "Sweaters from Camp". It was really hard to pick only one! ;)

Squeee! I love amigurumi. This one is just TOO cute!!

* Oooh, very cool! Rugged Camper Cookset! I'm liking it!

* Fishie dishcloth! Very cute for those that do include fishing with their camping. ;)

* Water bottle carrier! This would be very handy when hiking, help keep your hands free!

* Free pattern

Happy Wednesday, all!

Posted in Running | Tagged Free Patterns, Half Blood Prince, Harry Potter, Knitting, Running, Today's Ravelry Search | 3 Comments

Ooooh, she’s a fierce one!

Posted on June 20, 2009 by H3Dakota

Running

Recently I’ve actually been making a concentrated effort to get a decent amount of sleep at night. One of my biggest battles in my running plan has been the distinct lack of sleep every night, running on 4-5 hours each night. That just kills the ability to get up at 5am to run, I’m afraid. So, I’ve taken steps to ensure I get 7-8 hours of sleep every night for the past several nights. I feel better for certain, but it’s kind of killed my running first thing in the morning for now. By the time I get up, it’s either too late to run or just too dang hot. This morning I slept in until 8 (but since I didn’t go to bed until midnight, it’s not really sleeping in!)… and it’s just SO miserably hot outside already!! I stepped out at 8 when I let the dogs out – it was like walking into an oven, I swear!

Knitting

Where to begin?! I’ve been working on my super secret sock project the past week, making excellent progress. I absolutely LOVE the yarn, it’s gorgeous!! KnittyKnitterton is the dyer ~ she & I are working on this project along with Barknknit as a special project for July. Because, you know, there is a really big event coming up in July that just begs for celebration by some of us. I am thrilled with how this pattern is turning out, actually – it’s knitting up even better than I’d imagined. w00t!

I’m also working on my first real lace shawl, the Blue Jeans Lace Leaf Shawl. It’s a very simple pattern, easy to memorize and quick to knit. My plan is to finish it before the end of July, as it is my added on project for my O.W.L. project for the HPKCHC. The House Cup has been fun, but I’m not sure I’m going to continue with it in future terms. I’m just not feeling the love – perhaps if I’d joined in the beginning when I was first invited, I’d feel differently. I have enjoyed learning some new things & trying to come up with creative projects for it ~ it’s just the whole trying to fit projects into my schedule along with the other projects I’m working on, I think.

So one of the things I did that was new for the House Cup was my first foray into dyeing yarn. My first one was dyeing yarn with coffee, tea, Wilton’s and (believe it or not) Dr. Pepper! I was SO pleased with how it turned out, actually – very pretty!

I also tried knitting with something that is not considered “yarn”. That was a very cool idea, I loved that one!! I decided to knit a little bag for all my rubber bands & flossing aids with dental floss… turned out cool!

I got my yarn from the Mean Girls Club – STUNNING, by the way! It is SO pretty!! KnittyKnitterton had posted a link to a shawl pattern that looked like a wonderful one to knit up this gorgeous yarn with, Ulmus. For this one, you really need 2 yarns that match. So I thought to knit it up with a lovely deep chocolate brown, which would match the MGC perfectly. Except… finding just the right shade proved rather difficult! I finally found a skein at a LYS that I knew to be too orange-red – but I decided now that I have some dyeing experience under my belt, I’d give overdyeing a shot. Here are the two yarns before… (see, the MGC is gorgeous, isn’t it?!)

After several dyeing attempts – first with brown & a bit of black, then with green – and finally a long simmering in a pot of heavy green, I got the color I was shooting for!!

Ooooh, she’s a fierce one!

So my sister had this dog bed that her dog & cats had no interest in ~ they’d gotten it at IKEA and she asked if my Li’l Missy would sleep in it. I told her that I didn’t think that she would, but that Scorpio totally would. I was right ~ he absolutely loves sleeping in baskets & has been a happy camper with this new bed. However, the really funny part of the story is my Li’l Missy. She has no interest in sleeping in the bed whatsoever. The bed came with this furry rug sort of thing that serves as the padding for the basket. That rug thing? Yeah, she totally loves it. She is obsessed over it. All I have to do is put it down in the basket and she’s grabbing it. I keep finding it stuffed under my bed, along with my dirty clothes – Li’l Missy’s den. She drags toys under there, my dirty socks & such, and now this rug thing. She’s hysterical to watch with it!

Today’s Ravelry Search

So today’s search is a bit different. Just a little! I decided to keep my search today to shawls & wraps. I am curious to see if I find a different pattern to knit up with this fantastic sock yarn! ;) As always, click a picture to go to the pattern page!

It looks very easy indeed - and so cute! :)

* This shawl looks so cute & easy to do, too! :)

* At first glance, I keep thinking this is crochet! It's lovely either way!

* I seriously LOVE the name this knitter used for her project: Marmalade Skies! How awesome is that?!

* I seriously LOVE the project name this knitter chose: Marmalade Skies! How awesome is that?!

This is Ulmus ~ the pattern I'm thinking to knit with my MGC yarn - so pretty, isn't it?! I LOVE this color combination. :)

I own this pattern - it is very well written! I just have to find the right yarn for it & I am totally knitting it. :)

Wow! This shawl is gorgeous!

* A lovely crochet shawl - it's amazing how different it looks depending on the yarn used! Do check out the project gallery, you'll see what I mean!

* Wow ~ this color combination really caught my eye!! So pretty!

* I love this pattern. I plan to knit this one some day, really!

* Another shawl that I totally & completely love!!

* Whoa... how did this one escape my favorites before now?!

* There arent very many projects for this shawl, I dont understand why that is, its eye-catching!

* There aren't very many projects for this shawl, I don't understand why that is, it's SO eye-catching!

I love Faroese shawls! This pattern comes with both crochet AND knit instructions! How cool is that?!

I love Faroese style shawls! This pattern comes with both crochet AND knit instructions! How cool is that?!

* GORGEOUS!! It's a crochet mitered square shawl, just wonderful.

* I love the name of this pattern, Mermaid Wings. :)

Stunning crochet wrap, just stunning!

* Free pattern!

Happy Saturday, all – and Happy Father’s Day to the U.S. dads out there! :)

Posted in Running | Tagged Free Patterns, Knitting, Running, Today's Ravelry Search | 5 Comments

Healthy Vibes ~ new sock pattern!

Posted on May 25, 2009 by H3Dakota

Running

I meant to run today. I really did. But I got caught up in trying to get the new pattern done, so there ya have it. I’ll run tomorrow, as long as I get to bed at a decent hour tonight. LOL

Knitting

Woo Hoo! I finished up the new sock pattern! I have the second sock nearly done, but I wanted to get the new pattern up right away, so I took a little break to do that. I’ve got it all written up, photos taken & the document created! I am very pleased to present Healthy Vibes to you all!

Healthy Vibes – the boyfriend of a member of one of my favorite groups on Ravelry was recently diagnosed with cancer. This sock pattern is what I knit up for him for his long stay in the hospital. The stitch pattern is one of my long time favorites – it is simple, yet fun to knit. I knit these up & am sending them off with many “healthy vibes” along the way.

Today’s Ravelry Search

So… here in the US, we’ve got Father’s Day coming up in June! How about some ideas for dear old Dad? ;) Remember, the pictures are linked to their pattern page to make it easy for you to favorite, queue or cast on!

* Nom, nom! I love blueberry pie! ;)

* My Dad won't wear socks, so I won't be giving him these - but they are great!

* Another take on Dad socks! :)

* How about a vest for Dad?

* Oooh, I really like this one! Of course, Dad doesn't need a scarf in Florida. :)

* Oooh, now THIS certainly applies to my Dad! :)

* Nice hat! Very nice. :)

* These are a great idea for those cycling Dads out there!

* Hmmm, Dad would wear these! Too bad I just made him slippers for Yule, though. he he he

A crocheted Dalek! Perfection!! :)

Another great vest pattern, this one from Crochet! magazine.

*Free pattern

Happy Monday, everyone!

Posted in Running | Tagged Free Patterns, Knitting, Patterns for Men, Running, Today's Ravelry Search | 8 Comments

This one’s for the hookers!

Posted on May 23, 2009 by H3Dakota

Running

So I woke up to a beautifully clear sky, stars still out. After it rained so much yesterday & last night, it was nice & cool – perfect temp for a run. So, got my coffee down, geared up & out the door I headed. (SOLO, I must add!) A bit of clouds in the sky, but not a lot overhead. Blue sky, sun shining, cool temps – perfect! Hit the first mile marker & saw dark clouds rolling in off the Gulf. Sure enough, by the 1.5 point, it was raining. It rained the rest of the run, but it was a gentle cooling rain with no lightning/thunder. Got back home, it was just a bit of a drizzle. I decided to round out the time & walk/jog another 2 miles. About .5 mile from returning home, the sun came back out & it was blue sky & sunny the rest of the way. Yep, running in Florida – you never know what you’re gonna get! ;)

Oh yeah – and I must have looked a bit pathetic on the run. I found that I had to hold the right arm still because of the pulled muscle. I didn’t get too many odd looks that I noticed, so I must not have looked as weird as I felt! LOL The swelling in my forehead suddenly went away yesterday – I had a lump for almost the entire week. But I had lunch with a friend yesterday, who said “wow, you didn’t tell me you had a black eye from it!” Sure enough, the outside of my right eye is that lovely shade of yellowy green that a healing bruise gets. The weird thing is that there was no blue/black/purple bruising around my eye at all for the whole week! Funny.

Knitting

Have made excellent progress on the ‘Healthy Vibes’ socks. I am to the heel turn on both. I’ll be hitting the shower, then tackling that this morning. I plan to keep the socks a bit lower, as I know all the younger guys around here prefer no show socks, so I am guessing it will be safer to keep the socks lower on the ankle than further up the leg. So I definitely anticipate having the socks complete & the pattern put up here sometime during this long weekend! ;) Here is a progress update shot for you all:

Today’s Ravelry Search

So at knitting group the other night, a couple of us had briefly discussed tunisian crochet, which I absolutely LOVE. I haven’t done very much of it, but I really love how it looks! I decided right then to do a blog post featuring it. :) Enjoy! As always, click the picture to go straight to the pattern page.

Beautiful!

* This jacket is so cute!!

::blink:: OMG. Stunning, seriously stunning!

From the same designer - she is utterly AMAZING!!

* This is one of my all time favorite dishcloth patterns - I make these all the time!! :)

* Very cool looking hat! :)

* What a cute little project you can do just to give tunisian a try! :)

Oh, wow - I so totally love this sample afghan!! :)

* Such pretty potholders!! :)

* Cell phone cozies! Or really, little bags you could use for anything. Cute!

Gorgeous!!! Pattern comes in an e-Book of 7 total bag patterns - the price is worth it just for this one, I think! :)

* You could really have some fun with colors with this pattern!

* For a free pattern, I cannot believe that no one has made this throw!!

* Sweet stash busting project!! :)

Seriously? You've got to follow this link & check out the closeup pictures of this one - it's wonderful!!

* There really isn't much that you can't do with tunisian! :)

* Seriously? How can you not LOVE this bag?!

* I love this scarf. LOVE it!

* Beautiful baby blanket - just fantastic! :)

* SO cute!!! I love this idea. And yes, this IS tunisian crochet - it's the tunisian knit stitch.

* OMG - it's a house scarf!! Of course I had to include it. LOL I also like her clever way of tagging the photo - very nice! :)

Stunning. I really can't think of more to say than that!!

One more wowza afghan for ya!

*Free pattern

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Posted in Running | Tagged Free Patterns, Knitting, Running, Today's Ravelry Search | 8 Comments

Injured runner, down for now

Posted on May 20, 2009 by H3Dakota

Running

So, my sad, sad story. Saturday I headed out the door for a 3 miler. Took the iPod and Leonardo with me – poor guy hasn’t been out for a run in far too long! And he totally showed it – he was SO rambunctious! In hindsight, I should have run him around the block a couple times to burn off that exuberance. But, that morning, I was too caught up in fighting with my headphones to really stop and THINK about it. We hit the trail and literally 30 seconds later, disaster hit.

He spotted another dog on the other side of the trail. I realized just in time to try & catch him before he did anything… but it was too late. He took off like a shot, cutting across in front of me. Pulled me down to the ground in the process: knee, then elbow and lastly, my head was bouncing off the asphalt, droplets of blood flying. 200 lb Great Dane running to play with another dog vs short pixie of a woman = no contest whatsoever. It was like being leashed to a car & trying to stop it when the driver floors it. LOL

I”ve got road rash on one knee, the inside of an elbow (don’t ask me how, I have no clue how that happened!). My neighbor (the nurse) strongly suggested I go to the ER to make sure I didn’t have a concussion, plus she felt I needed a stitch or two in my head. So off I went… no concussion, but ended up with 5 stitches.

The worst was yet to come, though. My back, shoulder & chest tightened up by the evening and were on fire by the next day. It is now Tuesday and while the back/shoulder feels ok, the chest is still killing me. Had a doc visit today, who definitely felt it’s a pulled muscle. He got me setup to go back for x-rays & physical therapy to help get it back to normal. Since I can’t get in until next week, I’m thinking I’ll end up canceling that appt – I suspect I’ll feel much better by then. LOL

Needless to say, no running until I can breath without it feeling like someone is stabbing me with a dagger every time I take a deeper breath. *sigh*

Knitting

Taking a break from my newest HP sock pattern to knit up some socks for a fellow Rubbernecker’s boyfriend. He’s in need of some healing vibes, so I’m knitting up socks for him. It’s a stitch pattern that I totally love to death, actually – it’s one of my go to stitch patterns, actually. I will definitely be sharing it with you all here on my blog once I finish the socks – or at least once the first sock is done. I decided to do this one sock at a time, though I have both OTN. I knit up the toes on the first on DPNs, then the toes of the second sock on a circ. I’m working the foot of the first sock now – once I hit the point where I need to work the heel, I’ll go back to the second sock & catch up. That way, I’m doing both socks, but on separate sets of needles. This approach makes the project easier to handle for portability. I wanted socks I could tuck into my purse & pull out whenever I had a few minutes of waiting anywhere. This pattern is going to be “Healing Vibes”.

Here’s a sneak peak at the start of the sock, though you don’t see the pattern just yet in it…

Today’s Ravelry Search

So… in keeping with my current project, I give you some awesome patterns! The difficult part? Of 8 pages of patterns resulting from searching for “cancer”, probably 80% of the results are specifically for breast cancer. That is good news, of course, but I would really love to see a bunch more generic patterns – breast cancer isn’t the only one out there. I think it’s just the one that gets the most press.

As always, click the picture to go straight to the Ravelry pattern page…

* Holy cow - words cannot begin to express my love for these!!!

* SO very pretty!!

* I like the floppy brim on this chemo cap! :)

* Love. I just LOVE these socks. They ROCK!

* I really like these! They dont even really look like crochet, either.

* I really like these! They almost look like they could be knit, not crochet.

* Another great cap from Headhuggers.org!

* I seriously love the sideways cable on this hat!

* These are really nice - I love them!

* I love the comments on this pattern. Go! Read them! ;)

* I love the comments the designer has on this pattern. Go read them! :)

* Free pattern

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Posted in Running | Tagged Free Patterns, Knitting, Running, Today's Ravelry Search | 7 Comments

The Haircut of 2009

Posted on May 15, 2009 by H3Dakota

Running

Well, I blogged just yesterday, so not much news here yet! My shins are a wee bit stiff today from yesterday’s 3 miler. I’m aiming for another 3 tomorrow morning, though. If I get it done, I have no doubt, I’ll be a-blogging again tomorrow! LOL

Knitting

I really meant to crochet more on the afghan last night. I really did! But… the temptation to take the manlets off to see Star Trek was simply too much to fight off. The oldest especially didn’t really care to see it, but he came with us anyway. And in the end, they both loved it almost as much as me! I think that says something, seeing how they’ve never seen any of the original series. ;) They are teasing me about my Spock/Sylar love now in addition to my long standing Alan Rickman love.

The Haircut of 2009

So tonight’s main event was the haircut. The youngest manlet started growing his hair long in 2006. He’s gotten a few trims here & there, but it’s been growing all this time. He had a plan, though. He decided to keep growing it until it was long enough for Locks of Love… getting it cut at the end of middle school. So, fast forward…

The Before shot walking up to the salon.

My stylist is absolutely fantastic. I am SO happy I found her – she changes her approach for each person. The oldest, she cuts with a shaver – he wears his hair near military short & has very course hair from his father. Me, I’ve got fine hair that is a mix of straight & wavy – but it is SO thick! I’ve got a ton of hair. Me, she razor cuts the entire thing to thin it out – it totally needs it. For the youngest, she cut partially with the shaver & partially with scissors. :) We pulled the hair back into a ponytail to get ready…

Tiyanna really didn't want to cut this ponytail off!

Ponytail gone!

I tried to talk him into having it cut evenly while leaving as much length as possible from there. But when he shot me a Look, I said “Oh, what, no emo looking cut, is that what you’re saying then?” And this was the look I got then. Yeah, that’s my manlet calling me a smart ass with a Look.

So, without further ado… the end result:

Oh no. Oh no, no. I think I should have his phone service shut off, 'cuz that phone is gonna be ringing soon, I think.

Today’s Ravelry Search

Ok, so I tried a few variations to keep in theme with the grand event… but my rav-search-fu failed me tonight. I made do with “wonderful” because I think my manlet is exactly that! LOL ;) As always, click the picture to go right to the pattern page!

SO cute!!

* It's a sweater for Wee Wonderfuls! ;)

* OMG!! Wonder Woman! Man, my sister & I would have killed for this when we were little.

* MORE Wonder Woman!! w00t!

* Ooooh... tapestry crochet! I haven't tried that yet. Adorable!

I really, really love this baby blanket!!

How seriously cute are these sock trims?! Another project that my sister would LOVE! She lurves ladybugs!

SO cute! Bunny in a Dress!

* Awesome! I know of a RR hoar that would love these. ;)

Oh wow. This is one seriously gorgeous hat. WOW!

Oooh, a Noro neck wrap! :D

Words cannot express how much I love this shot. I love finding really great photos of projects - this has to be in my top favorite shots evah!

Awesome. Just takes my breath away!

* Free pattern

Happy Friday, all!

Posted in Running | Tagged Charity, Knitting, Locks of Love, Running, Star Trek | 8 Comments

Gah! Afghan be done already, please?!

Posted on May 14, 2009 by H3Dakota

Running

Miles run: 3
Bugs spit out: 2
Bugs swallowed: 0
Blog post finished in head: 1

It was a good run! LOL The coffee kicked in before I left, so no speed records today. I watched the sunrise, the sky filled with red. Other than the bugs, it’s a terrific start to the day. Now, off to get ready for work!

Knitting

So I finished up the Noro shawl and knit the remaining ball into a long neck wrap/headband piece. It’s just like a long tie that I can tie around my head or neck. There wasn’t a whole lot leftover, so this is what it became. LOL

And I have not worked on the afghan from hell at all this week. Just haven’t had the energy or interest – I’ve made it the furthest in working on it than I ever have before, at least! The 4 or 5 different attempts I made on it before always ended by the time I hit the second skein of yarn. This go round, I am at the halfway point at least. LOL

Miscellaneous

So exciting events coming up in the H3Dakota household, w00t! The new Green Day CD drops tomorrow. The youngest manlet is a HUGE fan – has been for 5 years now. He owns every single one of their CDs. He has been waiting, waiting, WAITING for their new CD. LOL You all know what I’m doing tomorrow at lunch time.

Then tomorrow night or Saturday, we go to cut off his hair. He’s been growing it out probably about as long as he’s been a Green Day fan… hmmm – yeah, that’s about right. We’re going to pull it back into a ponytail, lop it off and cut the rest pretty short. The ponytail is going off to Locks of Love. He has been planning this for a few years now & it’s so exciting to be at this point now! Though it’s going to be really hard seeing him with short hair again – I really do like his hair long! Everyone seems to think that short hair will make him look older, but I’m thinking it’s going to have the opposite effect. Right now he looks about 17. And he definitely looks like he belongs in a band. he he he

We’re also going to Star Trek. They haven’t seen it yet, but I am dying to see it again. LOL Oh yeah, and I’m going to see Angels & Demons with the IRL BFF, too. Busy weekend ahead!!

Today’s Ravelry Search

Not any patterns that I’m following, but here are some examples of what you get when you search for “quick afghan” on Ravelry! LOL

* I like the center panel with the side bits.

* Oooh, this is nice!

* Oh, I really like this one, though it wouldn't work so much for Dad! :P

* ROFL - I just LOVE the name of this afghan! "Brain Dead Afghan"

* The Mile-a-Minute afghans are really pretty cool, though I wanted to avoid all seaming this go round.

* I'm not too sure a cabled afghan falls into the "quick" category, but it is gorgeous anyway! :)

* This definite looks quick & easy - hence, the name of the pattern! :)

* This would be a great one to crochet, though it's a little too "lacy" for Dad. :)

* I'm not usually a big fan of ripple or feather & fan afghans, but this one could change my mind!

* Free pattern

Happy Thursday, all!

Posted in Running | Tagged Charity, Green Day, Knitting, Locks of Love, Running, Today's Ravelry Search | 3 Comments

Move along, not much to see

Posted on May 13, 2009 by H3Dakota

Running

I snuck in a quick 2 mile run yesterday morning. I managed a good pace, it was the fastest run I’ve had for some time. Still no where near where I’d like to be, but it was still an improvement! Clearly I’m not keeping up well enough with my running, however, as my shins are tight & twinging a bit today. Got up early to run, but when the shins complained about walking, I decided not to push it after all. So I went back to bed. LOL

Knitting

Finished up the little Noro shawl the night before last. I still haven’t blocked it yet, though. Once I get it blocked, I’ll get some pictures done & post it. I’m really very pleased with how it turned out – though I am hoping that it will be a bit bigger once it’s blocked. I had just a little ball leftover, which I’m knitting into a garter stitch headband/neck warmer type of deal. It’s just going to be a long thin scarf that should be long enough to tie for a headband or at my neck to keep the back of it warm from the a/c at the office. We shall see. LOL

Nothing much to see

Nothing much exciting or new has happened since I last blogged, really. Had a lovely quiet Mother’s Day as the manlets were with their father (the schedule just falls that way – they will be with me on Father’s Day!).

I re-watched Heroes, Season 3 over the past few days. I wanted to see if the storylines meshed better than it seemed. Nope. The storyline really was all over the place & didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Just when a storyline seemed to be flowing pretty well, it suddenly changed completely & went somewhere else. Sylar is still my favorite character. Peter used to my favorite, but he’s not as much now since they took his power away & gave him that lame “only one power at a time” one. He was the only character that had a hope of winning against Sylar – now that will be impossible. I still love Ando, of course. And I totally have mixed feelings about Mohinder. I’m glad they got him back to his quest for answers with his father & away from that whole weird quasi-Fly thing. LOL

Today’s Ravelry Search

Memorial Day is coming up for those of us in the U.S. – a time to remember those that fought & died for our country. Today’s patterns are some selections that came up from searching on ‘memorial’. I thought it might be nice to make some of these to give to someone who has lost a loved one in service…

Sweet memories shawl - very pretty!

* Very cute hat! In memory of the designer's grandmother - how sweet!

* A bed jacket - very nice!

Wowza! Very nice afghan. :)

* These socks look very comfy, don't they?

A pretty shawl - I think this pattern would be easy to memorize & work on while watching TV or what have you.

* Very pretty - a Victorian style bookmark.

* What a lovely blanket this stitch makes!

* Free pattern

Happy Wednesday, all!

Posted in Running | Tagged Knitting, Running, Today's Ravelry Search | Comments Off

Star Trek, Noro & a missing blogger

Posted on May 9, 2009 by H3Dakota

Running

Well, I haven’t been doing spectacular on this front this past week. For various reasons, I have been sleeping *terribly* every night. The most common reason for my repeated waking through the night? Mosquitoes. In my bedroom. Leading me to stalking around my room like a madwoman, fly swatter in hand & swinging at the damn things mid-air, cussing all the while. I think I must look like some John McEnroe wannabe hollering “You can not be serious” when that happens.

Anyway, when the alarm has gone off, I have simply been too tired to run, so have reset the alarm & gone back to bed all week. Today however, being Saturday, I was able to get in a solid, but slow, 3 miler. It felt good to be out there and my end time was not too much slower than what I’ve been doing.

Knitting

So last weekend I worked my tail off on the knitting/crochet front. I joined the Harry Potter Knitting/Crochet House Cup this term. I do not know what I was thinking. LOL I signed up for all 6 “classes” and finished my homework for every single one over last weekend. Yeah. Anyone care to guess what House I’m in? *snerk* Anyway, I now have a set of tawashi, Golden Snitch earrings, Ravenclaw handspun mitts, a bath matt, a dishcloth and a hopping pot all done & in my projects on Ravelry. Whew! Since I got all the homework done so quickly, I then signed up for the Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. My plan? To finally finish a version of an afghan for Dad. I’ve had the same yarn lying in my closet for 2 years now with this intent. I have crocheted, ripped back. I have knit and ripped back. I knit again, and gave up with it still OTN. This time, I am determined to get it done for Father’s Day, doggone it!!

I also cast on for my newest sock design. I haven’t knit too much on it, as my time has been taken up by HPKCHC, of course. I will be returning to the socks shortly. In the meantime, I have cast on for a shawl, but more on that in a sec…

Star Trek, Noro & a missing blogger

Yes, I know! I have been missing!! My apologies to you few regular readers. I promise to do better! I’ve honestly been feeling rather guilty about not running and therefore didn’t want to blog much either. he he he

Today I took a trip across the Bay with 2 of my friends from knitting group. We visited a well known LYS over on the Tampa side – I had never been there & neither had one of my friends. What an absolutely fantastic shop, I must say!! They just moved to this location, so everything was brand new. They have tons of tables/chairs for you to sit down & knit, chat or sip on a latte. They even have a table next to the patterns so that you can sit & peruse the magazines, books or patterns in comfort. Gorgeous yarn selection & very friendly people working there, I sure wish it was a bit closer to home!

I had an uber-happy few moments at this LYS. I wore my Severus socks, which were in plain site since I wore capris. When we walked in, one of the ladies working there took one look and said “OH, I know those socks! Those are… Snape?” I said “Severus, actually.” She complimented them & I thanked her. I’m quite sure that she did not realize that I am the designer of them, as later on in the visit another lady complimented my socks… and the first lady spoke up again & said “Oh, there are matching mitts for those socks, too!” Despite my eyes & nose burning & twitching from the new paint & flooring, I walked out of there on clouds. :D

I picked up some knitting magazines, a crochet magazine, some gorgeous Claudia handpainted sock yarn and 3 skeins of Noro Silk Garden. I have been wanting to try this yarn for such a long time – and could not resist the chance at getting some! I splurged. I have now cast on for a shawl with the Noro – breaking my usually stringent rule of one knit & one crochet project at a time. *sigh*

After the visit to the LYS, I then met the IRL BFF at the movie theatre to see Star Trek. I knew I was going to like it from the previews. Ok… I knew I’d like it because I really like Zachary Quinto. LOL He plays my favorite character in the one TV show I watch, Heroes. He’s so good at being Sylar. It was fantastic to see him in a rather different role – and I think he knocked it out of the park playing Spock. I loved the movie in spite of a storyline that I had not expected. I hated what they did to Vulcan, truth be told. And the guys that played Bones & Scotty? Perfection. I loved their lines as well as their portrayals of these 2 characters. I have every intention of going back to see this one again in the theatre. :)

Today’s Ravelry Search

So, on to the fun stuff! Here are some results from today’s search – don’t forget, just click the picture to see the pattern page on Ravelry. :) So many results from this search, I am definitely going to do another one at some point in the future!

* Wow! I love this scarf, it's a lovely crochet pattern that sets off Noro so well.

* Oooh, this is such a cool idea, too!! :D

* CUTE!! Now I'm thinking I need to get some Noro sock yarns, too... he he he

* On to the knit items - the colors are so pretty, even a more simple pattern looks stunning!

* Of course, the ever famous Noro Striped Scarf! :)

* Noro is definitely one sock yarn that looks fantastic in entrelac!

* I love this hat. No. I LOVE this hat! :D

* Another truly stunning hat!

* Not the pattern I'm following, but very cute!!

* The stunning & well known Lizard Ridge!

* So pretty! It's almost tempting to knit my first sweater... LOL

* One for my friend A! Knitting with crochet. ;)

* Speaking of... I love the way the colors fell in this scarf! ;)

* Free pattern

Happy Saturday, all!

Posted in Running | Tagged Free Patterns, Harry Potter, Knitting, Running, Star Trek, Today's Ravelry Search | 8 Comments

Oh, the smell of jasmine!

Posted on April 28, 2009 by H3Dakota

Running

Well I never did make it out on the road yesterday. *sigh* But I made sure to get out there this morning! I was determined. Logged another 3 miles at least. It felt really good today, too. When I hit the halfway mark, I noticed that I felt really good – and I hadn’t taken any walk breaks either! Yay! My pace was pretty much right on track for where it has been (only slightly faster than dog-ass slow), but the really happy news? Average HR dropped 10 beats. Woo Hoo!!

I’m finally starting to feel like I’m making a bit of progress towards a return to fitness. I seriously cannot believe how quickly it went away when I injured my shin. Yeesh.

Knitting

Well, not a whole lot going on there since yesterday, really. I worked a few rows on my swatch for the new pattern, but was very distracted by the Heroes finale as well as reading another chapter for the HBP read-along. :) Will likely finish up this swatch tonight, though. Next up will be the CO for the real deal! Woo Hoo!

The smell of jasmine

So here in Florida, it is the time of blossoming jacaranda trees as well as the confederate jasmine. I absolutely LOVE the slightly spicy scent of jacaranda trees, not to mention the stunning display of color they have in the spring! They do make a bit of a mess, but I love them SO much. :D

Confederate jasmine, on the other hand… I cannot stand. The scent is jasmine on speed. It is such an overwhelming scent – I suffer from olfactory overload whenever I’m around the stuff, but it is even worse when I’m trying to run. It is a very sickly sweet smell. I normally love the smell of jasmine, but this stuff? *turns green* No.

In case you are wondering, confederate jasmine looks like this. It is all over the place here where I am. I cannot escape from it!

Today’s Ravelry Search

So a short list of patterns for today’s search. :) Click the picture of any pattern you are interested in, it will take you right to the pattern page on Ravelry.