Knit Run, Purl Run

Mercury & Motherhood

Posted on April 27, 2009 by H3Dakota

Running

I actually skipped running yesterday. Just got caught up in doing this & that all day and never quite made it out the door. Sat here all day long in my running gear, too! Today is shaping up the same, unfortunately. I hope to get out this evening for 3.

Knitting

So yesterday I wrote up the stitch pattern for the next design. Since I’m using a combination of existing stitches, I had to convert the existing into directions for knitting in the round. I also had to flip a set of stitch instructions while I was at it. Once I got that all typed up, I then converted it back to flat so I could knit up a swatch to make sure the stitch is going to work the way I think it is. Darn good thing I did this, as I found several places where I’d made mistakes. Not surprising, considering the amount of work involved! LOL The swatch is only half right, so I’ll be knitting up another round of the stitch once I’ve fixed all my documentation. Whew. This one is kicking my behind big time! But after knitting what I’ve got so far, I really think that this one is going to look fantastic. ;)

Mercury & Motherhood

So the manlets have been at their father’s house since Friday. Youngest comes home at 7am this morning just to work on his big science project. That was due today. That he had not started. Nor had he worked on it over the weekend. So we had 2 hours to put this thing together. It was… entertaining. We worked so fast & so hard on it that I totally missed one truly idiotic thing we’d done.

More on that in a minute… first, the project is a “Baby Book” for a selected element. Youngest manlet picked Mercury. He has to write up a paragraph basically announcing the birth of Mercury (giving relevant facts like birth height – which is represented by the atomic number, and the like). Next he has to do a pronunciation rebus. You know, those pictograms showing a word? Here’s what we came up with… (not too shabby, I’m thinking!)

Next up – we had to write a poem. You read that correctly. A poem. So, without further ado…. an ode to Mercury:

Mercury, Mercury,
Quicksilver you are
Liquid silver, flowing
Reflecting from afar
Ancient, deadly and shining

Yeah. What do you want for a poem ya gotta write in like 15 minutes?! LOL

Without going into all the details, there was more of this & more of that throughout this project. But the moment of idiocy… we had to “draw a picture” of Mercury. Using the atomic number for the head, number of protons for the body, number of electrons for the arms and the number of neutrons for the legs. We had about 15 minutest to gather up the info & draw it. The things we Moms (and Dads!) do for our kids. LOL

Take a gander at what we ended up with (and neither of us paid much attention to, CLEARLY)…

Nice placement of the ole neutrons, eh? Talk about fail.

Today’s Ravelry Search

So neither mercury nor quicksilver turned up very many patterns on Ravelry today. I fudged it a bit, but came up with a decent amount of selections. And here they are – as always, clicking the picture will take you straight to the pattern page! Enjoy!

* Wow, this is just stunning. LOVE it!!

* Silver's sock class - how I learned to knit socks! :)

* I know, it's not the season for it, but isn't it gorgeous?!

Beautiful! I love lacework.

* And here we have the instructions I followed to do my socks 2 at a time! Outstanding!! ;)

Gorgeous! Knitting with wire.

* This one is called 'Liquid Silver' - how perfect is that?! :)

* Wow!! Another gorgeous coat - I wish I didn't live in such a hot climate when I see patterns like these!

* A crochet doily - you know how I love them!!

This pattern isn't free, but it's only 99¢ - cannot beat that!! :)

Very cute bag!

* A crochet bracelet to go with the knitted necklace, perhaps? :)

More than once I've wished Phildar was easy to get my hands on for outstanding patterns! :)

* Oooooh, earrings to match the rest of the jewelry!! :)

::blink:: Wowza!! Tons of work, but totally eye catching!

* Free pattern

Happy Monday, all!

Posted in Running | Tagged Free Patterns, Knitting, Running, Today's Ravelry Search | 3 Comments

It’s a cherry day

Posted on April 26, 2009 by H3Dakota

Running

Dude, seriously? When a runner as slow as I am these days is keeping pace with you driving that big ole SUV on the road next to me, yer *driving too slow*. Either hang up the f’g cell phone or pull over to the side of the road!! Do NOT drive for an entire block at 5 MPH. It was a sight that I admittedly have not seen before – a driver so incapable of talking on the cell phone and driving at the same time that he had to slow down to a crawl.

I snuck in a short run yesterday before leaving to spend the day with my IRL BFF. The run was good! Still slow as molasses, but I just kept my little mantra going in my head: “A drag-ass slower than molasses run is still better than sitting on the couch”. It does help. LOL

Kept it to only 2 miles since I was going to be late. Going to head out for another run this morning shortly, though I’m not sure how far I’m going today. I need to start getting back in to the habit of long run Sunday, of course. Though I need to get back up to a solid 25 miles a week before I do that, I’m thinking. We shall see. :)

Knitting

I actually haven’t accomplished a whole lot in this area this past week. I try to add one more square to the sock yarn blanket every day. I haven’t even finished the 3rd row, though I am very close! I’m thinking it’s going to take something like 40-50 rows to be the length I want. Yep, this project is going to be a very, very long ongoing one!! :D

Today, however, I am swatching the new pattern ideas & casting on with the gorgeous new yarn. I am SO excited about it!!!

In my full day yesterday with the IRL BFF, our first stop was to a LYS that I haven’t been to before. It’s not a new shop by any means, but new to me. It was a complete treat! The owner carries all sorts of utterly gorgeous yarns, PLUS fiber for spinning (which isn’t as common to see).

My own LYS relies more on the steadfast yarns – yarns that have more of an acrylic blend… and cotton. She has the widest variety of cottons and they are almost all just gorgeous!! Yet another LYS has a nice selection, but the pressure to buy is a bit heavy there. I’m not comfortable when a salesperson follows every move I make, commenting on everything I touch or look at. I prefer to be left alone, meandering through the yarns, needles & hooks. :D

I found one skein of a gorgeous red sock yarn – it’s not enough for 2 socks by itself, so will use it with some solid black for socks for the youngest manlet. I also got some utterly wonderful laceweight – it’s 100% merino wool in a royal blue. Soft with stunning color – I’m looking forward to knitting something up with it! :) Most amazing of all was the price – only $14 for 1460 yards!!

This & That

So I woke up with this song stuck in my head…

… which is quite appropriate, actually. In our travels yesterday, I picked up a new coffee flavor, Black Cherry. It will be a nice segue to my latest addiction, Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper. I prefer the Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper normally, but it’s getting more difficult to find lately. Anyway, I seem to have cherry stuck in my head today! LOL

Also in our travels yesterday, we saw TWO movies. We both love movies, what can I say? LOL First we saw Obsessed. I gotta say – I really, really had fun with this one! We laughed through the movie & were still laughing after we each got home via Facebook. The audience was a perfect blend of race – I think I enjoyed the outbursts from some of the members more than the movie itself. The lady sitting next to me was from the islands, had a wonderful accent. She & I kept a bit of dialog going through the movie about the stupidity of the leading male’s character & how typical some of his actions were. There were quite a few outbursts while Beyoncé was kicking some serious psycho girl butt – including a hearty burst of applause from my IRL BFF that spawned a whole bunch more. It was like watching a movie at home with the family – but with a really big family. ROFL!

We also saw State of Play, which was a completely different atmosphere, of course. But the movie was excellent, even if it was a bit of a shock to see Russell Crowe look that out of shape. :)

Today’s Ravelry Search

Naturally, what else could I search for today?! he he he As always, anything you like, click the picture to take you straight to the pattern page on Ravelry. ;) Enjoy!

This is REALLY cute!

* How can you not love a pattern named after a Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor!? ;)

* Cute!! One could really have fun with these! :)

* Yum!! A cherry pie without all the calories! ;)

Wow, what a stunning shawl! Well worth digging up the back issue of Interweave Knits (Spring 2002)!

* What an adorable hat for a baby girl! :)

Oooh, this is such a pretty shawl!!

Adorable. Just adorable! :)

This top is seriously cute. :)

Crochet socks! Yes, you CAN crochet socks. I've got 2 pair myself! ;)

I adore almost everything designed by Carolyn Christmas. How can you not?! :)

Why yes, I *have* featured this pattern before. And most likely will again - I *LOVE* it! :D

* Free pattern

Happy Sunday, all!

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

It’s Boston!!

Posted on April 20, 2009 by H3Dakota

Running

Got in a 3 miler on Saturday – no running partner still. It felt good, though. No lingering soreness from that, so I’m hoping for another 3 miles this evening. If not tonight, then definitely in the morning. This morning, I was simply too tired & went back to bed for more much needed sleep.

So it’s the Boston Marathon today!! I’m so excited – I love watching it. I’m really glad I work from home on Mondays so I can watch it on TV. LOL I’ve got a sick manlet at home who probably will watch it too.

Knitting

Spent the weekend working on a surprise baby blanket for a friend. A bunch of us in our knitting group knit/crocheted up squares for it. I put them together & added the border this weekend, as I got some squares at the last minute. One of the ladies had some family issues pop up unexpectedly, so didn’t have time to finish hers. I did up another 4 squares over the weekend & finished up the blanket Sunday – I was a bit late to the shower, but I had a finished blanket in hand, at least! LOL It turned out nice, I was really pleased with it. I think she was happy with it. :)

So next up, I’m finally able to knit up a swatch for my next project – I need to knit up one to determine if the plan is going to work or not. I use regular dishcloth cotton and size 6 needles to do this – casting on the same number of stitches needed for one half of the socks. :) It turns out to be a swatch that will be of use – once finished, it will make a new dishcloth for the kitchen!

My 2 free sock patterns were added to Knitting Pattern Central this weekend. Holy guacamole! My blog has had an amazing number of visits in the past 2 days – over 1600 views in only 2 days!! These same patterns have been in Ravelry’s database since I posted them here on my blog. They have not generated that volume of visits in the all the time I’ve had them here. I am utterly amazed at the impact that KPC has had – I truly had no idea that it was so widely used. WOW!!

What a workout

So a friend/coworker had a bunch of furniture that he had to get rid of this weekend. He offered it up for free to anyone interested… and since the oldest manlet was sleeping on a mattress that had springs poking him in the back all night, I totally took him up on offer! We had to rent a U-Haul truck for it all, as it was a queen size bedroom suite – with 2 nightstands, headboard/footboard, dresser with mirror. Plus a brand new couch! He neglected to mention that his apartment was on the third floor… LOL! 2 days later, I am still very sore from hauling this incredibly heavy furniture down 3 stories, into the truck, then back out of the truck & into the house. But it looks gorgeous!! Here’s the living room…

No pic of the bedroom, but a hysterically funny story! So in preparation of the new furniture, the oldest manlet cleared out his room. Took everything out & scrubbed his floors. Friday night, he laid his comforter & pillows on the floor & slept on that. LOL

Saturday, he moved his bedding to his brother’s room to clear the way for the new stuff. He loudly announces “I have the CLEANEST room in the house, you guys have to come see it!” and drags us to his room. He gestures at his room without looking & says “see? The cleanest room in the whole house!” I walk in to a completely empty room… empty except for a magazine lying on the floor. I look at it, with the nekkid girl on the cover, burst out laughing and said “No, I think you have the DIRTIEST room in the house”. He turns around, sees the magazine lying there & started laughing as hard as his brother & I were. Apparently his father had given him a mag or two out of his collection. The manlet had it hidden in his pillow – when he gathered up his bedding, it fell out and he didn’t realize it. I laughed so hard, I was crying.

My other “news”… I’m doing a Half-Blood Prince read-along with a group on Ravelry that I set up. It’s been so fun already & we only officially began today!! :D We are all so excited about the upcoming movie. Come join the fun!! We’ve grown so fast already (65 members already) & I am totally looking forward to it.

The new trailer just came out last week and it is hands down, the BEST one yet!! If you haven’t seen it, GO – watch & download! :D WB has also released screen caps from the trailer – for my fellow SS fans, check out THIS one. ;)

Today’s Ravelry Search

For today’s search, I chose Boston, of course! LOL As always, clicking a picture will take you to the pattern page on Ravelry.

I expect to see more than one Bob patterns, of course! :D

I expect to see more than one Bob pattern, of course! :D

* SO cute (the sweater, too)!!! I love it!

* Cute chemo cap, I love the roll brim.

* I'm not a huge fan of doggie sweaters, but this is a really cute pic.

I like this scarf, it's cute!

Very pretty bit of lace! :)

Bob's Party Socks - show your support for Ravelry! :D

This jacket is really intriguing to me - I love the style.

* Wavy shawl! This is a really pretty crocheted shawl - nice to see something a bit different!

SO cute! I love this hoodie!

* Free pattern

Happy Monday, all!

Posted in Running | Tagged Free Patterns, Half Blood Prince, Harry Potter, Knitting, Running, Severus Snape, Today's Ravelry Search | 11 Comments

Quiet Day today

Posted on April 16, 2009 by H3Dakota

Running

So I’m all set to run tonight. My running partner returns home today, but will be volunteering with the Kiwanis club, so I’ll be partnerless for the run. Just as well, I suspect he wouldn’t be quite in the mood for it anyway. LOL! The shins are holding up rather well since I am not pushing myself too hard. Sometimes it’s really hard to stop myself from getting out there pounding the asphalt every day, but I am determined not to let that happen again. :)

I’ve added a few running podcasts to my iPod to keep me inspired. I’ve also started following a few running Podcasters & Runner’s World magazine on Twitter. :)

This & that

My insurance agent did me a HUGE favor yesterday & recommended that I have my roof inspected. It was for the Hurricane Loss Mitigation discounts. Ended up saving me $500 on my homeowner’s insurance!! w00t! For those of you in Florida, do yourself a favor & check into this if you haven’t already! :)

Started up a Harry Potter RAL group on Ravelry today. We are reading through Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince before the movie comes out in July. I’m really looking forward to it, though, of course, I’ve read the book a couple times as well as listened to it on CD 2 or 3 times. But it is still great fun to discuss a particular chapter with others – you just never know when someone picks up on a clue that you missed!

Knitting

The yarn I’ve been waiting on for my next big secret project arrived yesterday! Woo HOO! Let me tell you, this stuff is *gorgeous*!! I have the basic plan down in my head – next up, winding the yarn and knitting up a swatch.

In the meantime, I’ve knit a bit on the sock yarn blanket. I’m still really enjoying it! The oldest manlet has decided that he wants it for himself… but I’m seriously thinking I might put together a crocheted sock yarn blanket for him instead. I love this one & want to keep it! LOL… I’m thinking that once I get a plan hammered out for a crochet sock yarn blanket, I’ll be posting it here. So I’m thinking, anyway. ;)

Today’s Ravelry Search

In light of the new read-along group, here are some results from today’s search. I actually did two searches today to find a good selection. You’ll see the second search here. Enjoy – and don’t forget, each picture will take you right to the pattern page!

* Reading mitts! I love this picture, too. :)

* This is a really cute shawl & would be a nice for some TV knitting or for a beginning knitter, I think.

Very pretty! Cables are always so nice looking.

* SO cute!! These would make awesome bookmarks.

* LOL - I know, the pic isn't of HBP, but it still works perfectly! ;)

* No pics of finished projects, but wow! A Dark Mark chart!

* This guy is just fantastic! How can you not love him?!

Ok – this designer has a whole bunch of really terrific patterns – do check her out!

* Great idea! I love this!

* House Scarf bookmarks! Awesome!

* Ooooh, Dobby Style SockMark! LOVE it!

* Giggle - yeah, it took me a LONG time to find a project that included a shot of HBP! And I even passed up my own project picture because I've made this pattern, it's AWESOME!

* Free pattern

Happy Thursday, all! :)

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

5 miles down & Amazon Fail!

Posted on April 12, 2009 by H3Dakota

Amazon Fail

Wow. Ok, I’m editing today’s blog post to add this tidbit of info for you all. Amazon.com has taken a disastrous step, IMHO. And apparently my humble opinion is shared throughout the internet – check out the Twitter search for it – new tweets pop in at an amazing rate. I wonder if Amazon is going to put on their big person undies & admit to having made a massive mistake? Or are they going to stick to their guns and go down in flames? Methinks they will be rescinding this new policy pronto.

Here is a list of books that have had their sales rankings removed by Amazon – it’s continuously growing as people find more books/authors to add to the list. UNBELIEVABLE.

Running

I hit a couple days when I just didn’t get the drive to run. I suppose it happens to everyone, but I just have a hard time with it when it happens to ME. I would guess that everyone feels about the same way. LOL So how did I get myself back in the mood to run? I made myself, of course. And I downloaded a couple podcasts to give myself some inspiration. :)

So, out the door we went – since it’s the weekend, I took Leonardo with me. Decided we’d run 3 and walk one. My plan changed about a mile into it, though. We came up on flip flip man, walking. So we stopped running and walked with him. We actually walked & chatted for almost a mile & a half. It was a terrific chat, we covered many topics from running to weight loss to being single. As always, I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation, though I was sad to hear that he’s needed to lighten his daily running lately.

Leonardo & I turned around & jogged back – which was just under 2.5 miles. He wasn’t ready for that. We had to take 3 or 4 rest breaks, where he laid down in the shade. Poor guy – we’ve been home for 15 minutes & he’s still panting heavily. So I need to keep his runs to 2 miles, 3 at the most. Even adding in 2 miles of walking to the run is too much for him for now… see?

Knitting

So I’m working on a new project – the one that I hinted about in a previous post here. I’ve got most of it designed in my head, with one last thing I’m trying to sort out. I also have the yarn en route – this project is a joint project that I am SO excited about! I’m not going to go into too many details, but I will say that it is a project involving a dog loving friend as well as a sharkie friend. ;)

In the meantime, I had a sideline project that I’ve finished up my end on for now… which frees me up to work a bit more on my coin lace stole. Or maybe the sock yarn blanket. I haven’t decided, actually. LOL I’m kind of thinking it might be the sock yarn blanket, though. I’ve run into an issue with the stole that has had me a bit frustrated, not sure if it is me or the pattern, actually. It’s still moving along, but it’s just not feeling quite right. Maybe I’ll tackle it a bit this evening again. We’ll see. LOL

Podcast fun

So I started listening to a few podcasts this past week again. I had stopped listening to them some time ago, mainly because I was just getting overwhelmed with all the online stuff to try to keep on top of. :) I listened to Barknknit’s podcast last week & started getting caught back up on some of the ones I used to listen to. Now… I’m not a HUGE fan of listening to knitting podcasts, to be honest. I’m also not real keen on the various running podcasts either. Actually – now that I’ve caught up on several different podcasts, I’ve realized that there really aren’t too many podcasts that I really do enjoy. LOL Some are just too hokey, with added music, skits or just silly *stuff*. What have I listened to the past couple days? These…

Barknknit (of course! Actually knowing the person makes a podcast much more enjoyable, I think!)
Knitmoregirls – a new one I haven’t listened to yet, actually. :)
Phedippidations – great running podcast, not one I like to listen to while running, though
The Extra Mile – I actually love listening to this one while I’m runnning
AudioFictions – LOVE this one! They read Harry Potter fan fiction from Mugglenet Fan Fiction. I can feed my HP fan fiction addiction & knit more productively than trying to read & knit at the same time. NOT enough Snape stories, though. LOL
SpellCast – yeah, the jury is out on this one. I just haven’t decided if I like it or if it annoys me. Must listen to more to decide.
SnapeCast – well, d’uh! ROFL! I’ve got much catching up to do on this one. But happily, I made my way to some more Snape fan fiction from listening to a couple episodes here. *grin* I had listened to one episode a long time ago, but just didn’t get hooked. But the episodes I just listened to? LOVED it… so yeah, will definitely be listening to this one. :D

Today’s Ravelry Search

Mother’s Day. Right around the corner. Not that I’ll be making anything, of course – my mom has been gone for 6 years now. But for those of you looking for ideas… some things from today’s search!

* Cotton slippers! Very nice!!

This is really cute! You can do so many things to dress it up, too.

This is actually a Mother Earth scarf - but it's very lovely!

I really love this!

This is SO nice!! I haven't seen this one before. :)

Very cute socks!! Very cute!

Adorable for Moms with daughters! :)

* Mother's Day tea cozy!! :)

* Very pretty scarf from Grumperina!

* Rose bath pouf - very pretty!

From my fellow RR, cablefreak - GORGEOUS!

* What a wonderful doily for a cat lover! :)

* Free pattern

Happy Sunday, all!

Posted in Running | Tagged Fan Fiction, Knitting, Podcasts, Running, Severus Snape, Today's Ravelry Search | 1 Comment

Oh man, it’s raining!

Posted on April 3, 2009 by H3Dakota

Living in Florida, rain is usually all too common, especially during the summer. For the past several years, however, we’ve been dealing with drought. So I really should be very happy that it is raining today. I should be. Except that I put off running yesterday so I could run today with my running partners. *sigh* Also slated for today was cleaning up of the backyard, which has been destroyed by dogs. Yeah, not happening today. I’m pouting. But still happy, because we do, after all, desperately need this rain!! LOL

I’ve not been spending much time listening to podcasts recently. I did go through a time where I was listening to some on a regular basis, but life just got so busy, something had to give! But as I’m typing up this blog post, I’m listening to my friend Natalie’s podcast. She is Barknknit on Ravelry, which was actually how I met her – kind of funny, since we live in the same area, one might think we would have met in person first! :) Anyway, give her a listen if you get a chance! Plus in this podcast, she’s featuring another friend’s yarn club, so heads up all you Mean Girls! ;)

Running

As mentioned in the first paragraph, I had planned on a run today. This rain looks to be socked in pretty well, so I don’t think it will be happening. IF it stops, the plan is to drive up to a local park. We park outside the park, run to this lovely little workout spot, which is 2 miles. We work out, doing sit ups, pull ups, push ups – a basic core strength workout like that. Then we run the 2 miles back to the car! So… if we get a break in the rain (rather unlikely from the looks of it), it will be a 4 mile run today! LOL

Knitting

I’ve got a design mulling in the back of my brain for a new sock pattern that I’m excited about. I’m working with a friend who is a dyer – she is going to be sending me some test yarn with the colorway that I have in mind for the new pattern. I’m really looking forward to it!! :D

In the meantime, I’m just focused on working on the sock yarn blanket. I love the little fishies, but the extreme downside there is that all those little fishies have to be put together! LOL I’m going to knit up a bunch of blue fishies & still put them together – either for a wall hanging or maybe just a little lap blanket type of thing. :) I can just tell already that I’m not going to have the patience to put together literally hundreds of these little guys all at once.

So I started the “traditional” sock yarn blanket on Sunday. It’s actually going much faster than I had expected. And I am just SO happy with how it is going!! Here’s what I had done by Tuesday…

And… OMG… today is April 3rd! It’s finally the day for the Mean Girls Club signups! w00t! It’s good that it’s raining, then, right?! That means I’ll be here to haunt the site so I can be sure to get my spot, right?! he he he

Today’s Ravelry Search

I’m not sure if I’ve done this search before or not… I really should go back & organize all my searches so I don’t duplicate them. LOL Anyway, here are some of today’s results! Oh – and don’t forget, the pictures are all linked back to the pattern page on Ravelry so you can quickly & easily favorite, queue, download or purchase anything you like! ;)

* Oooh, very pretty socks!

* Cute idea for a dishcloth or maybe an afghan square! ;)

* Cute! These could be appliqued on to a blanket...

This is from a magazine - not sure if it's easily found, but would totally be worth the search because this? Gorgeous!!

Oooh, this is SO nice! :)

CUTE! Funky, but very, very cute!

* Gotta love anything named 'Purple Rain'!

* I know I've featured this pattern before, but I just LOVE it so much, I must share it again!! :)

VERY cute! :D

Oh wow. I love this crocheted version with the sun!! It is adorable.

* OMG! Serious LOVE.

* Free pattern.

Happy Friday, all!

Posted in Running | Tagged Knitting, Running, Today's Ravelry Search | 1 Comment

It’s Spring Break

Posted on March 31, 2009 by H3Dakota

Running

So I ran 3 miles on Saturday. Without the manlet & without the Dane, it went faster than most of my runs have been lately. Still no where near what I used to run, but finally got them done in under 12mm. OUCH. Took Sunday & Monday off so the shins wouldn’t flare up again.

Brings us to today… another 3 miles done. Even better? Ran the entire 3 miles, no walk breaks! w00t! Yeah, I know. Not a huge event, seeing how 2 years ago I was running long runs of 15 miles & all. But since I’ve had to start all over again from scratch, I’ll take my triumphs where I find them, no matter how small! Oh, and the other major success of this run? Best pace so far this year! So this morning’s run is a double w00t! he he he

Knitting

So I haven’t yet cast on for the next sock project. I’m waiting ever so patiently for some specific yarn. I have a new idea in mind that I’m working through, as briefly mentioned in an earlier post. I have some fun planned around this project, too, so I’m really looking forward to it!

In the meantime… I’ve kind of given up (for now) on the Here fishie, fishie blanket. Main reason being that putting them together is going to be a long wait – I didn’t want to put them together as I went along because I wanted the colors to be together in a specific way. However, that means that I will have literally hundreds of the little fishies to put together by the time they are all done! Yeah, I’m not so good at that. So for now, I’ve shelved that idea & started on the “traditional” sock yarn blanket. So far, it’s been really fast to knit up the little squares & add them to it. It’s been a blast! I made quite a bit of progress on it in the one day I’ve worked on it. I’m very pleased! I’ll snap pictures of it soon & post them.

Spring Break!

It’s spring break for the manlets here. They are with their father, so I’m still working. They come home Thursday night. I prefer it when they are with me for spring break, actually! I like taking the week off with them. 2 years ago, I took them to Vermont to finally see snow for the first time. They were hysterical to watch! All the natives kept staring at them like they were completely nuts. I would explain “this is the first time they’ve ever seen snow”… and they would turn incredulous eyes to me and ask “where on Earth are you all from that they haven’t seen snow?!” The second I would answer “Florida”, the lightbulb would go off and they would then turn back & smile indulgently. It was really quite comical! LOL

In other happy news (for ME, anyway!)… finally found the last 2 Harry Potter books on CD as read by Stephen Fry! You all have NO idea how happy this bit of news makes me! I have reached the point where I simply cannot stomach the other version with all those annoying voices. *sigh* My apologies to any Jim Dale fans out there – I’ve just been seriously spoiled by Mr. Fry’s impeccable reading voice. :)

Today’s Ravelry Search

So I’ve already done a search for spring, but I know that folks are gearing up to celebrate Easter, so thought I’d feature some things for that instead!

Oooh, so cute! Even though I can't stand Peeps, THESE I could easily love! ;)

What an adorable Easter Bunny!

* I love these eggs! What a cool idea. :)

* These are seriously cute! AND there isn't that problem of giving live chicks to someone, perfect!

Really cute idea for a basket that you can reuse! Much better than the plastic kind that just gets tossed!

* A different sort of bunny - cute!

Bilby & Basket, for our folks Down Under! :)

* Easter rattles - adorable!

* Crocheted bunny - I love this one, it's so cute! :)

* OMG, it's a little lamb!! LOVE!

* LOVE these, from my Rav friend, CopperScaleDragon! The Frankie one is priceless!

Look! An Easter egg tea cozy! :)

::grinning:: Chocolate Bunny hat! How can you resist?!

Hmmm, wonder if the pattern include instruction on how to make a set for a 200 pound dog?? ROFL!

* Free pattern

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Posted in Running | Tagged Harry Potter, Knitting, Running, Today's Ravelry Search | 4 Comments

Draco Complete!

Posted on March 25, 2009 by H3Dakota

Running

So yesterday, my running partner wimped out on me when I picked him up from school. I went on out & did 3 miles by myself anyway. Got them done faster than we go out together – less walking & talking, of course. LOL! He didn’t wimp out on me tonight, though! w00t! We ran 3 tonight, got them done faster since we didn’t take Leonardo with us this time. Still no where near what I used to run 3 miles in, but I’m ok with that. I’m still getting out there, right? The shins are bothering me again tonight… but I’m hoping like mad that it’s just the nasty old shin splint issue since I’m technically starting over once again.

Registrations opened up for the Gulf Beaches Half Marathon today, woo hoo! My coworker got the email & told me it was open… so we both signed up on the spot! First 100 get their spots for only $30 – and we were both in that group! YAY! Now I have a solid goal to work towards. Very cool, this race is one that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Mostly ‘cuz I just love the finisher medal. he he he It’s cute, what can I say? :P

Knitting

Draco is DONE! I finished knitting them last night around midnight. Woke up early this morning to finish writing up the pattern for them. Had to wait for the sun to come up so I could get in some good pictures of them for Ravelry & the pattern file. Once I got all of that done & the PDF created… it was too late to post it to Ravelry – I had to leave for work! I was most frustrated by the delay. However, it’s all good – posting a pattern in the evening gets a bit more exposure, I think. Or maybe not. he he he Anyway…

I had the socks on my feet & headed for the door this morning – then remembered that I hadn’t finished them! Each sock still had a dangling tail that needed to be woven in yet. Grabbed a needle, stuck in my shirt – grabbed scissors, stuck those into my purse & off to work I went. We had a “team building” event at a local park. When I arrived, as I headed for the picnic table, someone stops me & asks “did you know that you have a needle in your shirt?” I replied “yes, I need to finish my socks!” and promptly sat down, pulled out the needle & wove in the tails! LOL!

I was SO excited to have them done! I’m very, very pleased with how they turned out. My first real stranded colorwork, too! Hope you all like them…

Today’s Ravelry Search

Since today was the whole “team building” event, I thought I’d do a related search today. :)

OH! I had a comment on Ravelry which lead me to realize that some of you may not be aware… every picture you see here is linked to the pattern page on Ravelry. So if you see something you like, click it – it will open a new window/tab for you & take you right to the page so you can favorite, queue, download or purchase the pattern! :) On to the fun stuff…

Kitteh!!! I love - LOVE - CraftyAlien's stuff! It's all fantastic.

* Go Team Go socks - I love these Wildcat socks! :D

* The Life Aquatic beanie! :)

* I really like this scarf - simple, clean! Very nice.

* Flutter-by socks! Very cute pattern!

* Sexy! Not for everyone, of course, but it's an awesome idea!

* Seriously breathtaking, I love this pattern! I've featured it before & likely will again. LOL

I do believe that my virtual BFF has this pattern - if not, then I know she ADORES it! :D

::blink:: WOW! Phildar has some truly fantastic crochet patterns - too bad they can be somewhat difficult to find in the US!

* Awwww! Love bears! Anyone else have "Bear Necessities" stuck in their head now? :D

Oooooh, gorgeous!

* Free pattern

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Posted in Running | Tagged Draco, Gulf Beaches Holiday Halfathon, Knitting, Running, Today's Ravelry Search | 18 Comments

SO close on finishing the new pattern!

Posted on March 21, 2009 by H3Dakota

Running

No way could I run with the youngest manlet yesterday, I was struck down by a horrible migraine all day. *sigh* However – we are definitely going to run today!! I think we’re going to go for 4 today – I want to push it a little & push him a little, too. :) Might shoot for 2 with no walk breaks instead, though. I think I’d rather do 4 with walk breaks, to be honest. he he he

Knitting

I am SO excited!! I have serious hopes of finishing up Draco this weekend. A week is pretty much normal for me on a pair of socks – less if I spend time working on them every day, but I haven’t been able to do that with these. I didn’t knit on them at all yesterday, the headache was just too bad to do much of anything. Once I get them finished up, I’ll be getting the pictures done up just right and then will be sitting down & writing up the pattern. I am SO excited because I absolutely LOVE how they are turning out. As a bit of a hint – everyone has really liked them so far, but neither of the manlets would actually wear them, so they won’t be a good pick for socks for men. Which I kind of already knew, of course, but I wanted these socks for ME anyway. he he he

Miscellaneous

So the oldest manlet took on a wall Thursday night with his hand… and the wall won. Normally, I get on him about learning to better channel his temper. However, circumstances being what they were? I honestly cannot blame him… by the time the night was over with, I wanted to punch a relatively immovable object myself (though mine was in the form of a woman that is probably 6 inches taller than me and easily 50+ pounds more than me, too). So he & I had a visit to a lovely new ER – where we quickly discovered that the waiting time isn’t any better than the busiest ERs in the area. We didn’t get to bed until 2am – which is what caused the migraine, of course.

Have a picnic at the park scheduled for tomorrow to hang with knitting friends – eat, gab & knit! I am looking forward to that SO much!

Today’s Ravelry Search

Today I have challenged myself. I wanted to highlight some really fantastic patterns that are all available to purchase via Ravelry. Why would I do that? Simple – I think we should support Ravelry however we can… and buying patterns through their site accomplishes that objective rather well! As does clicking ads, making a purchase & letting the seller know that you made your way via their Ravelry ad! So I declare today the “Support Rav” day! :D Check these out…

OMG - brand new pattern - how can you resist?!?!

What an adorable sweater!! Only 2 GBP, too!

Kilt hose - nom, nom, nom! I just LOVE men in kilts.

How cute is that?! A fishie USB cozy!! :D

Wow - just wow!

I love this afghan. The color layout is wonderful!!

I love this afghan - LOVE it! The color layout is wonderful.

OMG! Look! Peeps socks!! I can't stand 'em myself, but man, these would make an awesome addition to some Peeps lovers' baskets!

Oooh, stunning. Just stunning!

*blink* SOLD! You get 7 Fair Isle patterns with this - it is a collection of patterns for one VERY reasonable price! You must check it out!

This a wonderful, wonderful crocheted shawl. Beautiful!!

Whoa - another gorgeous collection! Maybe I should stop looking now... LOL!

Holy ova, batman! TOO adorable! Pattern includes instructions for all of these!

What an amazing sweater - truly, I love this one! Almost makes me wish I had a guy around to make one for. he he he

I love this - it is utterly demure from the front, too!

The first pattern that I ever bought on Ravelry was another one by Lily Go - her designs are stunning - and she designs both knit as well as crochet! DO go check out her stuff, you will not be sorry!!

Just because I cannot say enough how much I love her stuff, here’s a link to her patterns! :D

Jaw dropping amazing. Seriously. Considering the work that went in to this design, the price is VERY reasonable, I think!

One last lovely shawl for you all. :)

I had a blast putting this post together! Spent a little money, but that is exactly my intent here! I hope that I’ve enabled some of you to go & spend a wee bit, too – show your support!! :D

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Posted in Running | Tagged Draco, Knitting, Running, Today's Ravelry Search | 2 Comments

Heading off to work…

Posted on March 19, 2009 by H3Dakota

Running

I have not attempted a run since last Friday’s shin pain. For one reason or another, it just hasn’t been possible. However, my running partner will be home today, so I plan to do a short 2 miles with him today after work. We shall see how THAT goes! I am hoping & praying that the shin stays good – I will be SO upset if that pain comes back again!!

Knitting

I’ve been working on the Draco socks as much as I can, even knitting on them during my lunch hour yesterday. I am nearly to the heel turn, yay! These are toe up, by the way, folks. I do love toe up socks – they are great for when you aren’t sure how much yarn you have left. I would deeply hate to work on a pair of socks for a week or more only to discover that I haven’t got enough yarn to finish them! OUCH.

This & That

Really not a whole lot else going on. Been reading fan fiction quite a bit lately. Though the story I’ve been reading (which is painfully long, btw) is truly awful, I keep reading it. I guess because it started off so bad, but with an intriguing enough storyline that I just really want to see how it is all going to play out. Happily, I have a couple more stories that others have recommended, so I will have more good fan fics to read. :)

So the fiasco with the lost retainer? Yeah, the manlet *broke* one of them over the weekend at his father’s. Snapped the sucker right in two. *sigh* Luckily, the cost to replace wasn’t TOO horrible.

Today’s Ravelry Search

So, since it is right around the corner, here are some results from today’s search: