Headaches & Missing Batteries

Posted on July 16, 2010 by H3Dakota

Running

Back to work = less time for running.  *sob*  I have gotten out on the trail a couple of times this week, but I just haven’t been getting to bed soon enough to get up at my normal time in the morning for a full 1 hour run.  :(  It’s taking me a bit of time to get away from vacation brain, I’m afraid!  I plan to get back to my usual wake up time this weekend, then hopefully will be able to get to bed earlier next week so I can get back to my daily hour long runs.  We shall see, anyway!

I haven’t started up with training plans yet, so I’m still ok.  But August will be here before I know it & then I’ll have to begin training in earnest for my bevy of half marathons!  The first one is on Halloween, so it will be here before I know it.

Headaches & Missing Batteries

This morning I slept in a bit because 1) I stayed up too late and 2) at precisely 2:46am this morning, I apparently had some strange dream…  I found myself in that half asleep/half awake state as I rapidly turned my head aside to avoid…  something?  And promptly clocked my forehead very hard into the edge of the window frame.  See, I love to fall asleep while stargazing, so I keep my pillows actually in the window frame, right up against the window itself.  So it’s not like I had gotten up & walked to a window or anything.  Nope, I just whipped my head to the right really fast.  Right into the edge of the window.  I still haven’t got a clue what I was dreaming, but I’ve got a lovely goose egg in the middle of my forehead to show for it.  Not to mention, a bit of a headache forming as well.  LOL

My project 365 has taken a bit of a vacation as well.  First, the camera got tucked away somewhere & it took me a while to find it.  Then when I found it, someone had taken out the rechargeable batteries & used them in something else.  A something else that I just can’t seem to find!!  So I’m missing the batteries for the digital camera & can’t take snaps every day.  :(  I’ve got to remember to pickup batteries during my next dreaded shopping trip (yes, I really HATE shopping).  :)

Knitting

Still working hard on the manlet’s punky scarf!  It’s going to end up being pretty long, which is a good thing, given that he’s a good height.  I really wanted to take a picture & post it, but…  *sigh*  I’ve also got to rip back my new sock pattern, as it is just not working for me.  :(  The idea I had will work much, much better for a solid color rather than this gorgeous & totally perfect colorway I’m designing the pattern for.  I think I’m going to mess around with stitch ideas & try to come up with a stitch that is more interesting & better suited to it.

Today’s Ravelry Search

How about some new summer related patterns for today?  Why not, it’s the middle of summer, right?  ;)  As always, these are not my patterns – just click the pic to go right to the Ravelry pattern page.

Pretty & simple summer wrap!

* OMG, adorable!! I know a certain knitter that will like this one. ;)

What a beautiful shawl!

* It's a lovely bewb shot, but I really do love this sweater & this picture is terrific!

* Seriously cute coasters and ya'll know how much I love well photographed projects! ;)

What a cute vest! I'm not big into ruffles, but this small one is just right!

Ded. Ded from teh cute (as my online friends like to say)!

* See this sleeve? That alone makes me want to knit this one. I lurve it!

* LOVE! What a fantastic little shawl!

* Pretty beret to go from summer to fall!

* Aw, CUTE!

STUNNING. I love this shawl SO much!

* Free pattern

Happy Friday, everyone!

Posted in Running | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Dear Immune System: You Suck!

Posted on July 13, 2010 by H3Dakota

Running

After getting in several 5 mile runs throughout my vacation, I decided on Sunday to reimplement my long run.  Mind you, I’m using a bit of caution in doing so – the last thing I want to do is end up giving myself an overuse injury again!  LOL  I went with a 7 mile run on Sunday & tried to take it easy with the pace, though I did end up with a bit faster pace than I’d thought.  It’s ok though, my average pace on my runs is still slower than molasses, so not much harm there.  he he he  At least I’ve finally gotten my pace out of the 12mm range & down into the 11mm range!  I hope to get it down to the 10mm range before my first half marathon, but we shall see.  ;)

Forced myself to take a rest day yesterday, given that I got in the first long run I’ve had in over a year on Sunday.  Unfortunately, I stayed up way too late last night, so was just too tired this morning to get up early enough for a run today.  I’m hoping to get in a short run with my running partners this evening after work – we shall see!

Last Thursday, both the manlets ran with me on my morning run.  It totally made my day!  The oldest even ran barefoot, which I was actually ok with him doing.   It’s the way he prefers to run.  They ran 1 mile out with me – then turned back to run the mile home while I continued on – I ran my usual 5 miles.  They were both pretty sore afterward, so we haven’t been out on a run together since.  Hopefully tonight!  ;)

Dear Immune System:  You Suck!

So at the beginning of vacation I had a doc appointment in which they drew tons of blood for testing.  I had to renew my prescription & with having Hashimoto’s, my doc prefers to do blood tests more often than a typical doctor does for hypothyroidism.  Turned out to be a good idea this time round, though.  She had my Antithyroglobulin Ab tested as well as the other things she checks.  Apparently my immune system has really kicked it up a notch or two in its attack on my thyroid.  The antibodies came in over 4000 – she said it was the highest that she has ever seen – and the highest the other doctor has ever seen as well.  Oh joy!  *sigh*  So she gave me this truly foul drink to take every day in an effort to bring down the inflammation – I had the first one this morning.  ::shudder::  It was really tough to slog it down, let me tell ya!  LOL  But hey, if it works & gets my thyroid to a better state, then I’ll be happy.

While my vitamin D is seriously too low still, at least my iron level is where it needs to be.  My iron stores are still too low, but they are WAY better than they were 6 months ago, so the iron pills have been doing their job.  I would love to be able to get down to a normal dose of it eventually, instead of the double/triple dose I’m taking now!

Knitting

The oldest has decided that he wants to change his look.  He’s long dressed in the baggy jeans, huge t-shirt kind of clothing that many teens sport today.  I’m actually very happy about him wanting to change his look, as it means he’ll wear clothes that actually FIT.  LOL!   Anyway, as part of his change, he asked me to knit him a black & white striped scarf – which completely made my day!  They normally only ever want socks, so I’m excited to be knitting something other than socks for one of my manlets!  I’m working on another scrappy lengthwise scarf because I love the pattern so much.  ;)

Today’s Ravelry Search

So in honor of my manlet’s style change to a more emo/goth influenced one, here we go!  None of these are mine – click the pic to go directly to the Ravelry pattern page!  :)

* The twisted goth! Great idea for variegated sock yarns, I love it!

* Well, not for guys, of course, but these are fun!

* How about some nice, long gauntlets?! :)

Crocheted tote bags - nifty! :D

* Gorgeous knee highs!! These are awesome!

* Actually - I think I must make myself one of these in black. Yup.

* I like this sweater, it's unique! :)

A simple scarf, but perfect for guys!

Ooooh, gorgeous crochet skirt!!

I really like this sweater, but the manlets haven't wanted this one! Maybe the oldest will change his mind now.

* Free pattern

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Posted in Running | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Butterbeer, oh my!

Posted on July 8, 2010 by H3Dakota

Running

I’ve done a bit of a disappearing act, I know!!  Sorry about that…  I’ve been on vacation the past couple of weeks & haven’t spent much time online at all.  One would think that would mean I’d have plenty of time to blog, but I’ve kept myself busy in other areas during this vacation, actually.  One of which has been running – YAY!

I’ve been getting out nearly every day of vacation.  Most days, I’ve been logging 5 mile runs.  It’s been really fantastic, actually.  We had nearly a week of rains, but luckily the rains have been just the rain & no thunder/lightening.  So I had at least 3 runs in the rain the past week – which is by far my favorite way to run in Florida in July, to be honest.  LOL  Next week I’ll be returning to the 5am runs, which will also be on the cooler side.  I’ve been sleeping in this week, not getting out until 7 or 8 in the morning.

Today I’m getting out a bit later, as the manlets decided that they want to start running with me for a bit.  I’m so excited about that, but I’m also a bit leery of it actually happening.  Getting them to wake is the biggest challenge – needless to say, they don’t usually want to wake up when I want to get out the door for a run.  LOL

I’ve had really fantastic luck in my timing & have logged several runs & even a walk with Larry (our local running guru, the flip-flop man).  I love running with Larry, as the time always passes by so quickly & we have such fascinating conversations!!  Joe, he even asked about you the other day, wondering if we’d been talking of late!  :)  I explained that I’ve not been online so much of late, but that I was just thinking about you & meant to check in with ya!  Hee!

I signed up for the Dunedin House of Beer 5k that takes place on Halloween in the evening, too.  It’s their 2nd annual race – I did it last year & had so much fun, I decided to do it again this year.  Mind you, I’m running a half marathon that morning, so it should be interesting to see how well I handle it.  LOL!

Butterbeer, oh my!

Our vacation has mostly been a staycation, where we’re just relaxing at home & not doing a whole lot of anything.  We were going to go camping, but due to unforeseen events, we had to cancel that portion of it.  But at least we DID manage to get in a day over at Universal’s Island of Adventure!  We all simply HAD to get over to check out the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, of course!

Universal could definitely stand to learn much from Disney, I’ll say that much.  Pretty much everyone was there just for Harry Potter, so that section was a nightmare of lines for EVERYTHING.  Butterbeer?  Minimum of 30 minutes (though I must admit, it is SO worth it – the butterbeer is FANTASTIC).  Lunch?  An hour in line.  Honeydukes?  15 minutes just to get in the door & totally not worth the wait – the store is tiny & has hardly ANY British goodies.  All of the muggle selections are candies commonly available in the US everywhere – one exception was pear drops, which made the oldest manlet’s day.  Chocolate frogs?  $10 for one.

The ride up at Hogwarts Castle is terrific, no doubt.  We had to first find a locker to store our bags, which took 30-45 minutes.  Then we had to wait in line for 2 hours.  For a 2-3 minute ride, it’s just not worth it!  So if you go, be sure to ride that ride first & don’t carry any sort of bag with you unless you want to run the risk of losing your stuff.  We didn’t even bother getting in line for Ollivander’s – that line was a minimum hour long wait even in the evening.

They renamed the Dueling Dragons roller coaster to Dragon Challenge – tying it in via the Goblet of Fire’s Triwizard Tournament.  We rode both this coaster & the Hulk coaster – deciding that Dragons was much better than Hulk.  Outside of the Harry Potter section & the Hulk coaster, we quickly deduced that IoA really hasn’t got anything else for the 3 of us to enjoy, so we pretty much spent the whole time in HP.  All in all, we’ll definitely go back again, but not until the excitement over it dies down a bit & the lines aren’t quite as horrid.

Knitting

I’ve been knitting tons this vacation, focusing on gifts that I need to get done.  I’m on my 4th shawl now, actually!  My challenge to myself is to knit down my stash and once again make all the various birthday/holiday gifts by hand rather than spending any cash for anything.  I had a wonderful birthday this year & several friends gave me even more yarn, so it’s been challenging to knit away some of it!!  LOL  I’m currently working on a shawl from a gorgeous handpainted yarn my friend Monica gave me for my birthday.  I also have a new sock pattern OTN, but it’s been challenging me again.  I have to rip back on it, as the pattern I had in mind just is not working for me.  :(

Today’s Ravelry Search

So how about some new Harry Potter related patterns?  Are ya up for some?  ;)  These are some of the newer patterns I found on Ravelry – none of these are mine!  As always, the picture links to the Rav pattern page – do go check them out!

I love her socks, I really do! These are probably my favorite out of the house socks, I think.

* Mittens to match Hermione's scarf in HP & the Half-Blood Prince! Awesome!

* This one set me to giggling - the backside has "Naughty Children deserve to be punished"... inspired by none other than Delores Umbridge, of course! Genius.

* From the incredibly awesome Steve Plummer - Harry in illusion! FANTASTIC!

* Cute! The flying keys from Philosopher's Stone! :)

* This pattern is clever - it's a cowl that can convert to a slouchy hat! I love this types of patterns. :)

* Free pattern

Happy Thursday, everyone!  I’m off to hit the trail w/the manlets (hopefully!)!

Posted in Running | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Multitasking Geek

Posted on May 16, 2010 by H3Dakota

Running

Yesterday (Saturday, that is), I went out for a nice casual 5 mile run.  I hit mile 4 just as I spotted Larry coming the opposite way.  He was walking rather than running, but I paused the watch & tunes so I could turn around & walk with him a bit.  It was his birthday, so I wished him a happy one & walked with him for half a mile.  We chatted the whole way until I figured I’d better turn around & head back home.  Walked back the other half mile & then ran the last mile home.  All in all, it was a really good run – even though it was SO dang hot.  I have just got to stick to heading out the door at 5am instead of 9 or 10 am!!

Multitasking Geek

So yes, it’s the weekend & what am I doing?  I’m working.  *sigh*  Ah well, this project will be done before TOO long, right?  ;)  Anyway, since it’s the weekend, I am managing to sneak in a few things that I enjoy while I’m waiting for code to compile & such.  Blogging, knitting, watching Doctor Who & Shakespeare – all totally do-able while waiting for compiling to finish.  Really!  See?  he he he

And yes – that is the very beginning of my own Doctor Who scarf.  Woo Hoo!  :D  I have a valid reason for starting it now, I really do.  It’s going to be a prop in a picture of me with my coworkers having a geekfest.  More on that in a later post.

Knitting

So yeah, I’ve started my Doctor Who scarf, clearly.  LOL  I also knit a couple tawashi yesterday to add to the stockpile of gifts.  I’ve needed to knit some things that don’t require too much thought lately since I’m working insane hours for work – I’m too tired & brainfried from working 80 work weeks to handle anything that is complicated.  A garter stitch scarf is right up my alley these days!

Today’s Ravelry Search

I know I’ve done the geeky thing before, but oh well – I’m doing it again!  LOL!  Remember, these aren’t mine (well, except for one!) – click the picture to go to the Ravelry pattern page.

* Panda hat - cute!

* Well, it's for the jacket, but overall, still adorable!

* Settlers of Catan bag, nice!

* Seifert Surfaces - nice!

* Final Fantasy, anyone?

* DS cozy - I love it!

Amigurumi Pi Guy - awesome! :D

* Pretty! I like them!

KIRBY!! Adorable.

* Sweet - Justice League Scarf!

* Microbes! Awesome.

* RSS pillow! Sweet.

* ZOMG - Star Trek potholders!!

* Yes, these are my Doctor Who socks. :D

* Free pattern

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Posted in Running | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Returning to Spark

Posted on May 15, 2010 by H3Dakota

Running

I’ve been having a good week so far, YAY!   I slept in a couple days & only got 3 miles each of those days.  I took Monday & Tuesday off altogether, but I ran 6 on Mother’s Day.  Today I ran 2 miles, came back home to take the manlets to school with every intention of running another 2 or 3 when I returned home.  Well, work got in the way & I ended up working all day long in my running gear.  I finally got extra frustrated by 6pm & went out the door for another 3 miles.  It really helped clear my head & I was able to get back & solve a problem I’d been dealing with all afternoon.  Woo Hoo!

Returning to Spark

So in addition to getting my running legs back, I decided I’d better tackle my nutrition at the same time.  I’m not a slacker when it comes to eating right, being a vegetarian & all.  But I figured I must be eating too much or the wrong balance of carbs/fats/proteins.   I clicked on over to SparkPeople.com to start tracking my food intake again.  It’s always been an excellent tool for me to keep an eye on my nutrition, but with the wide variety of websites I check into every day, I had given it up a long time ago.

So I started tracking my food again…  only to discover that my main problem is that I don’t eat enough.  My minimum caloric intake should be 1200 calories a day…  and I struggle every day to get that amount.  I’ve got to fall back to that snacking on fruit & peanut butter dip to fix this problem, I guess!  Oh, and I need to get back to my breakfast of oatmeal.  I’m completely that epitome of the absent minded geek, though – and I constantly forget to eat.  I know, I know…  I hear it ALL the time:  How the hell do you forget to EAT?!  I just do.  I get wrapped up in whatever I’m working on at the time & before I know it, it is 4 hours past lunchtime.  Sometimes I remember to put something in the microwave, but then I’ll forget all about it & it sits in there for hours.  LOL!

Knitting

I finished up my fantastic Scrappy Lengthwise Scarf – I totally love it!!  I still had some of the purple/green yarn leftover and a tiny bit of the purple leftover in the end.  And the cream?  I actually ran out of it when I still had about 35 stitches left to bind off!  GAH!  So I decided, what the heck – it IS a scrap scarf, right?  I attached the bit of purple & finished the bind off with it.  After I saw how it turned out, I actually wish I’d realized the cream was getting that low – I would have been very happy with binding off in purple for the entire length!  Ah well.  It turned out to be 4″ wide by 60″ long.  It could have been a wee bit longer, but it works find at this length.  I completely love this pattern & will definitely be knitting more scarves with it!  Here, you can see the finished product, including a bit of the purple bind off…

Isn't it pretty? I'm just SO happy with it! :)

Today’s Ravelry Search

What else to search for, but Spark?!  :D  NO, not spark as in sparkling vampires (do NOT get me started on THAT subject – suffice to say, vampires Do.Not.Sparkle)!  As always, these are not my patterns – click the image to go right to the Ravelry pattern page!

* Cute!! I love it!

I'm not keen on the sparkle bits, but I like the rest! :)

Hee! It's a Hershey's Kiss hat!

Oh, SO pretty!!

* I've always like this hat! :)

* Hee!! I know just the person that would LOVE this one!

* Adorable hat inspired by The Golden Compass!

* I'm not entirely sure how comfy they would be, but they are cute! You'd have to use a really fine yarn for sure. :D

* ADORABLE!!!

* You can never go wrong with Doris Chan! :)

* The bees disappearing? The BEES disappearing!! (of course I had to get in the Doctor Who reference!! Hee)

Adorable socks from Jesh!

* Free pattern

Happy Saturday, everyone!  :)

Posted in Running | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A Marathon of Another Sort

Posted on May 12, 2010 by H3Dakota

Running

So yes, I have been running more of late, YAY!  For Mother’s Day, I took myself out for a leisurely run, intending to run 5 miles.  On my way back from the halfway point, I ran into Larry (our flip-flop man), so I turned around & ran with him to catch up.  I ended up getting in 6 miles altogether at a very slow pace – except while I was running & chatting with Larry.  He was running again, not walking – and running at a nicely challenging pace, too!  :)

This morning I got a later start than I wanted, so I only got in 3 miles.  I’m still waiting on my new vibrams, so my toes & heels were a bit smooshed & complaining.  I love them so much, but the 6 miles did make my feet a wee bit sore.

A Marathon of Another Sort

In honour of the release of Hamlet here in the U.S. on the 4th, I had myself a fantastic celebration…  with a Hamlet marathon!  Before Hamlet (Tennant) was done, I had already seen 5 film versions of Hamlet.  It is, without doubt, one of my favorite Shakespeare plays & has been for a long time.  I was over the moon when I heard that my favorite actor had taken on the role – and even more so to hear that they were doing a filmed version as well.  :)

I managed to find another filmed version via Amazon, so my marathon was made up of watching a total of 7 film versions of the play.  Each version has its own merits & downfalls, of course.  Here are the versions that I watched (of the 7 below, I had already seen 5 of them previously) in order of my favorites:

7.  Ethan Hawke – I’m not against modernizing Shakespeare, but this version was what I call “Speed Hamlet”.  His ‘To Be or Not To Be’ soliloquy consisted of a short clip of a video showing him holding a gun to his head & stating “To be or not to be”.  And that was it.  What I like best about it:  I’m not sure, to be honest – I’d have to watch it again to decide.

6.  Kevin Kline – He overacted the bulk of the play in a way that left me speechless.  Ophelia is quite possibly the one that I like the least (though I naturally do not like the character much).  What I like best about it:  the scene with Polonius & Hamlet – sticking the page from the book to Polonius’ forehead was a stroke of genius.

5. Mel Gibson – There is little in this version that is of value to me.  I physically cringe when Gertrude lunges for Hamlet in the bed scene.  What I like best about it:  the set, the costumes & Helena Bonham Carter as Ophelia – she is my 2nd favorite Ophelia.

4. Laurence Olivier – I know that for many, Olivier is the perfect Hamlet.  Not so for me, I’m afraid.  He is too cold, cunning & emotionless for me to enjoy.  And a huge crime:  Rosencrantz & Guildenstern have been cut from it!  NO!  What I like best about it:  the Gravedigger scene, I think.

3. Derek Jacobi – I love Jacobi, I really do.  He is awesome.  His Hamlet is a happy in between of Branagh’s Hamlet and Tennant’s Hamlet.  He is both quiet, but emotional with moments of fantastic sarcasm.  The downside of this version for me?  Patrick Stewart as Claudius.  There are few differences between Stewart’s Claudius here & in Tennant’s Hamlet, sadly.  What I like best about it:  the Nunnery scene

2.  Kenneth Branagh – for years, my all time favorite Hamlet.  His Hamlet is quietly sincere & intense.  I love that nothing has been cut from it.  I normally can’t stand Ophelia, but Winslet knocks it out of the park in this role.  She is the best Ophelia of all that I’ve seen.  Plus, Jacobi as Claudius?  BEST one evah!  What I like best about it:  Branagh, Winslet & Jacobi!

1.  David Tennant – actually knocked Branagh off the #1 spot.  He is so expressive – if you were to mute the audio while watching, you could still tell just what Hamlet is feeling at any given moment simply by watching his expressions and body language.  Mercurial, physically expressive, with an amazing ability to convey the comedy in the play as well as the pathos – Tennant brings Hamlet to life like no one else has.   Oliver Ford Davies is the best Polonius I’ve seen, as is Penny Downie as Gertrude.  The setting, costumes & filming are all incredible & beautiful – simple, clean & classic with just that touch of modernizing.  Who would have ever thought that Hamlet in a t-shirt & jeans would work so perfectly?!  For those of you in the U.S., you can watch the whole thing on the PBS website here.  How can you not love PBS?!  :)  What I like best about it:  Everything except Claudius and Ophelia’s mad scenes.

Knitting

Making slow progress on the next sock pattern.  I’m not used to cuff down, so I’ve had to knit/rip back a few times to get it right!  I’m also working on a scarf for myself out of yarns leftover from making a Sheldon for a friend’s son that just turned one.  The yarn is Opium, a blend of cotton, silk & acrylic – it is wonderfully soft & I just cannot bear to toss out the leftovers!  I had a skein of it in cream, so the scarf I’m making has cream, purple & green in it.  I’m really loving how it is working out & hope to have it finished before too long so I can post pics of it!  :)

Today’s Ravelry Search

I decided to do a slightly different search today.  This one is for those of you looking for pretty shawls/wraps to make out of sock yarn.  They are all also free patterns available through Ravelry!  None of these are mine – please click the picture to go to the Ravelry page.

* Designed for the 10 in 2010 shawl group!

* This pattern is perfect for one skein of sock yarn - you just knit until you run out! Awesome.

* SO pretty! An excellent shawl to add beads to, if you are so inclined!

* Gorgeous!!

* Crow Prints Shawl - very pretty!

* Pretty crocheted shawl!

* Another lovely crocheted shawl! The up close shots on the pattern page are wonderful!

* Angel Wings - lovely!

* I like the shape of this one, very nice!

* This designer is the one that inspired me to knit my rainbow pooling experiment scarf - gorgeous!.

* Very pretty, I've included this pattern before, I think. Well worth another look, though!

* Free pattern

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Posted in Running | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Woo Hoo, or How I lost my Mind…

Posted on April 27, 2010 by H3Dakota

Running

I took longer than I thought in my blog post this morning, so I ended up only running 3 miles.  And it was the slowest 3 miles I’ve run in a very long time.  As soon as I got my feet onto the Trail, hunger hit me…  so I guess yesterdays dinner didn’t stick with me too well or something.  I was just done in, I’m afraid.  But I felt much better by tonight, so I came home & put in a kick ass, hour long Get Ripped Advanced workout.  I could have gone for another run, but it was just a bit too hot out there with the sun still being high in the sky.

Ooh, speaking of celestial bodies in the sky – my one regret on this morning’s run?  I took the trail rather than going for the 5 miler out to the beach & back.  Because that full moon in the sky?  It was phenomenal!!  Absolutely incredible – it was HUGE!!

Woo Hoo, or How I lost my Mind…

The reason I’m  blogging twice in one day?  I am SO incredibly excited about having just signed up for the 2nd Florida Halfathon Challenge!  Am I insane?  Yep.  But I am also determined & excited!  Hee!  To answer your question, J – I still don’t know if I’m going to be able to swing a full marathon this year yet – but I think this challenge counts for extra credit, right?!  And holy cow – I just checked out the registration fee for Disney World Marathon 2011 – it is nearly the same as what I paid for all 4 races of the Halfathon Challenge!  I don’t think I’ll be going for that one after all.  :(

Knitting

LOL – needless to say, I haven’t had time to pick up my needles yet today.  I plan to hit the next sock pattern in a bit, though.  After a shower, of course.  LOL

Today’s Ravelry Search

So, as a special treat for patterns in this post ~ all of these gems have been rated 7.5 to 10 in terms of difficulty on Ravelry.  None of these are mine – just click the image to go right to the Ravelry pattern page!

Pretty & challenging stole! Awesome!

This shawl pattern ALWAYS catches my eye! ;)

* Wow - just... WOW! It's amazing, don't you think?

I love this pattern. I have since I first saw it!

ZOMG! I love, love, LOVE this one! It's only available in German for now, though.

::blink:: Incredible. Seriously.

Ded. Ded from teh cute!

* Very nice socks!!

* Pansies on a doily? Of course I love it!

* Not the right time of year for coats in the northern hemisphere, of course, but gorgeous!

* I have no idea how I've missed this one before now!! Yes, this pattern is called Black Widow Spider!

* Oh, wow! It's called "Ultimate Stashbuster Vest" - awesome!

* Very cute toddler jacket!

* Now, THIS?! This is what I call a challenge!! It is awesome!

* Free Pattern

Happy Tuesday, again!  ;)

Posted in Running | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments

How I Came to be Mopping at 4am

Posted on April 27, 2010 by H3Dakota

Running

Well, I just blogged 2 days ago, so there hasn’t been too much activity here.  After blogging, I *did* get out for a 5 mile run, anyway.  It was slow, yes.  But I got in the full 5 miles – which I haven’t done for a while.  The run went well, if a bit much in my Vibrams.  They are just a tiny bit small on my toes – I’m anxiously awaiting my new pair that should remedy that problem.  Anyway, when I got back home, I mowed the front & back yards while I was still grungy from the run, switching into my old Aasics to do the job.  All in all, it felt good!  :)

How I Came to be Mopping at 4am

3:34am…  I wake to the sound of my Li’l Missy (my 9lb rat terrier mix) whimpering & crying out in the crate she shares with my manlet’s dog.  I get up to let them out, figuring she must really need to go potty.  I open the door & head for the back door to let them all out.  She ran the opposite direction, heading for the front room.  *sigh*  I follow her and sure enough, she’s in there, pooping on the floor.  I call out her name & tell her she’s a bad girl – she runs over to me, tail between her legs.  And promptly squats & pees right in front of me.  I carry her unhappy butt outside, where she immediately goes to finish the job.

While they are all outside, I go back in the house to clean up the messes.  I get the front room picked up, then get mop water ready with a spot of bleach to disinfect the mess.  I’m all out of floor cleaner, hence using bleach.  I’m grumbling at this point, very unhappy.  I turn to head into the front room and discover that Leonardo had peed on one of the cabinets during the night.  WTF?!  So I first tackle that problem, all the while swearing that I’m going to go back to bed when I’m done.  Get that cleaned up & go to slide the mop water across the floor towards the front room, only to have the bucket catch on a tile edge & tip over.  The entire bucket of water, now dumped all over my kitchen & dining room.

So that was how I came to be mopping 3 rooms of my house at 4am.  To make matters more frustrating, in the midst of all that, Li’l Missy came running back inside so that she could throw up in the family room.  I guess this new food I got for them is not sitting well with her.  *sigh*

Knitting

Finished up the present I was knitting.  They are adorable, so cute!  I just don’t know if they will actually fit or not.  I guess I’ll find out before too long, anyway!  :)  Back to the new sock pattern I go now.

Today’s Ravelry Search

So to take my mind off the fact that it is an hour later and I’m clearly not going back to bed any time soon, here are some new shawl patterns that have been recently added to Ravelry!  None of these are mine ~ just click the picture to go right to the Ravelry pattern page.

Very pretty new shawl!

* A worsted weight shawl, I bet it would be pretty in laceweight as well!

Wow! Gorgeous colors, I love it!

Yo yo crochet! Cute! :) You actually get 9 yo yo ideas for the price.

* Ah, the designer did up a stole version of her shawl - lovely!

* Simple, but pretty pattern to add a bit of warmth around your neck!

* What a wonderful mix of textured stitches & lace! Nice!

Very interesting look to this one! I bet it's quick to knit.

Wow! Very lacy, indeed! :)

Might be tough to find a copy of the pattern, but it's so pretty!

Bold, bright, I love it! This is one of the new $1.99 designs from Knit Picks - NICE!

I think I've included this pattern before, but you can't beat Lily Go!

Another one I think I've included in a previous post, but it's so pretty! :)

* Warm & pretty! I like it!

* Free Pattern

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Posted in Running | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Inspiration From a Slow Runner

Posted on April 24, 2010 by H3Dakota

Running

Slowly I’m making my way back to getting my running legs.  Literally.  LOL  Yes, my pace has taken a hard hit by my break in running, as always.  But I’m getting my feet on the street, which is all that counts.  I’ve decided after posting this blog entry that I’m going for a 5 miler today.  I woke extra early this morning for reasons unknown (3:55am, to be exact), so I have all day stretching out in front of me!  I’ll get my feet out on the Trail here shortly & most of my run will be in the early morning coolness of a day sure to hit the mid-80’s in temp.  I’m really looking forward to it ~ I’ve had a couple days downtime due to a stomach bug that pretty much prevented me from venturing too far away from home, to put it delicately.

I also ventured out online, perusing the Florida East Coast Runners site, listing all the marathons for 2010.  Just to get a feel for which marathon I’m going to run this year.  Because I am determined (again) to get my first one done this year!   I must say, I really love some of the names of marathons around the country.  I would love to be ready by July (highly unlikely, though) so I could run my first one in my home state of Wisconsin, specifically Dances with Dirt – Devil’s Lake.  I doubt I will be ready for that challenge, though, as there are some pretty steep climbs in that one as well.  Let’s face it, Florida is as flat as flat can get – hill runs are difficult to manage here.

Some other fun/fantastic names:

  • Ice Breaker Road Race in Great Falls, MT
  • Whiskey Row Marathon in Prescott, AZ
  • The ever classic Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, OH
  • Twisted Ankle Trail Marathon in Summerville, GA
  • Going Bananas Marathon and Half Marathon in El Monte, CA
  • Hatfield-McCoy Marathon & Half Marathon in Williamson, WV
  • Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, MN
  • Running with the Devil Marathon in Boulder City, NV
  • Grizzly Marathon in Chateau, MT
  • Extraterrestrial Full Moon Midnight Marathon in Rachel, NV ==>  *giggle*
  • Self-Transcendence Marathon in Nyack, NY
  • Monster Marathon & Half Marathon in Virgil, NY
  • Trail Dawgs Stumpy’s Marathon in Newark, DE
  • Dunkin’ Donuts Cape Cod Marathon in Falmouth, MA ==> Wow!  Seriously?!
  • Feeling Stuffed Marathon in Huntington Beach, CA  ==> I’m guessing this one is a Thanksgiving weekend marathon?!
  • National Ding A Ling Day Marathon in Coto De Caza, CA

Inspiration From a Slow Runner

I’ve talked about this incredible feat before, but I have to bring it up again.  Eddie Izzard ran 43 marathons in 51 days last year for charity.  He ran a total of 1105 miles around the U.K. with only 5 weeks of training – a marathon a day for 6 days out of 7 for about 8 weeks.  Why do I mention it again?  Because I finally got to see the series, Eddie Izzard Marathon Man a short time ago.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching this series – I cannot recommend it enough to everyone.  :)  Not just runners, but really, anyone looking for inspiration in anything!  To watch him continue on, forge ahead, in spite of blisters upon blisters and days on end of running in the rain is to fully appreciate the sheer tenacity it took for him to succeed in this huge accomplishment.

Take a glimpse of the first bit of it, see what you think!  Be Inspired!

Knitting

So I’ve made some progress on the new pattern, finished up the first repeat of the pattern.  I think it’s going to turn out well!  So  far, I’m really liking it.  I am, however, taking a short break from it to knit a gift for an adorable little boy who is turning 1 in a few weeks.  ;)  I think I’ll have it done in plenty of time ~ I really hope it turns out as cute as I think it’s going to be.  I’m not saying much more about it, just in case his mom sees my blog post.  He he he

Today’s Ravelry Search

So today’s theme is Be Inspired!  :)  Remember that none of these are mine ~ click the image to view the Ravelry pattern page!

* Pretty crocheted scarf!

* Cute hat, inspired by the pattern Fetching

* It's Ginny's hat from Goblet of Fire! :)

* Inspired by Anthropologie's Cable Knit Ascot

Seriously - you must go check out the other pictures of projects on this dress - they are GORGEOUS!!

* I honestly can't believe there aren't more projects for this one - it's fantastic!

CUTE hat!

ZOMG!! WANT!

Hmmm, I think I might know someone that will love this one. ;)

From the same book as above ~ WOW! I might have to find a copy of it.

* I've posted this one before, but because I love Percy Jackson, I have to include it! ;)

* Awesome! How have I missed this one before now? It's inspired by Scotty's hat from Star Trek (a la Simon Pegg)!

* Jack Skellington Inspired! Love 'em!

* Pretty little shawlette!

* Wonderful cabling on this sweater!

* Another pretty crocheted dress!

* It's in German, but what an adorable top for a little girl!!

* Free Pattern

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Posted in Knitting, Running | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Scattered

Posted on April 19, 2010 by H3Dakota

Running

I ran another 3 miles on Saturday – I got my feet on the street a bit later than I like to, so it was slow going.  It was pretty hot out there – noon is not the best time to go for a run, especially in Florida.  LOL  I came home to make a restroom & water break & wanted to go back out for 2 more, but was waylaid by a very chatty neighbor.  I kept telling her I needed to go, but she does tend to talk and talk and talk.  I ended up going back in for a shower instead.  Yesterday it rained just about all day long, so I never did get back out there again.  *sigh*  Today, I’m planning on another 3 miles.

One thing I did accomplish was ordering another pair of Vibrams.  The ones I’ve got are just a tiny bit too small – my big toe on my right foot gets a bit sore on the end if I wear them for very long.  Plus I was never keen on the color of them – I ended up with the putty color because they were the cheapest pair I could find anywhere.  I’d figured to spend as little as possible since I wasn’t sure if I would like them or not.  Now that I know I love them, I spent just a little bit more & got the next size up in all black.  This way I can wear them during the day as I go about my normal business too.  :)

ZOMG!  I almost forgot!  Today is the Boston Marathon!  w00t!   Can’t wait to watch it, I’m really psyched over it.  Yes, my name is Angela and I am a running geek.  Hee!

Knitting

Saturday I finished knitting the first sock of the new design – YAY!  I wrote up the new pattern and sent it off to my test knitter.  I’m feeling a bit anxious about this one, so I hope to hear back from her sometime soon as to whether it’s good or not.  I cast on the second sock to do my own test knit, but having another pair of eyes knitting from it is always best for catching the little things that I forgot or typed up wrong.

I also cast on for the next pattern.  I’m thinking I might do this one with instructions for toe up AND for cuff down.  I haven’t decided yet, as that will require some serious rethinking…  the stitches I’ve decided on for the pattern are a bit complicated – this isn’t a pattern that is going to be easily memorized for many people.  I do like to have the occasional pattern be a bit more challenging/interesting to knit.  And given the character that this one is inspired by, that is entirely appropriate.  ;)

Scattered

My design process, whether writing code or knitting patterns, can best be described as scattered, I think.  Notebooks, pieces of paper, napkins…  anything with a blank surface within reach of my pencil is fair game.  I jot down brief notes that make perfect sense to me and I rarely do so in any sort of logical order.  It’s really just a free form” jot a thought down while I’m thinking it” sort of process.  It’s not linear on the paper nor is it in any sort of order – it’s just a haphazard collection of notes turning all different directions.  It’s strange, really, that I would be like that with my designing while I’m so “Monkish” in everything else.  I’m the one person in the office that everyone hates – my desk is free of all papers/clutter except for maybe one notebook or printed out spec (which is usually the piece of code I’m currently working).  I cannot bear to have clutter, it drives me up the wall.  Yet look at my design process – it totally looks cluttered!  LOL

Today’s Ravelry Search

So, Mother’s Day is just around the corner!  Time to knit/crochet something for your Mom, someone who is like a Mom or something for YOU to celebrate being a Mom, whether it’s the 2 legged kind, the 4 legged kind, a goldfish or even a philodendron!  ;)  Remember, these are not mine – just click the picture to go to the Ravelry pattern page.

Pretty socks!

* What a cute little cardi! Perfect for spring/summer weather, too.

* How about a pretty little doily?

* Some pretty little mitts to keep hands warm?

* How about a Kindle cozy?!

* Or perhaps an adorable hat?!

* ZOMG! This moose is adorable! :D

* If you are really ambitious - make a sweater with a matching hat! ;)

How about some funky, fun socks?

Wow, these are stunning!!

Mother/Daughter matching hats, cute!

* What an awesome idea - it's a hat stand! Much better than the slightly deflated soccer ball I use! he he he :)

* A pretty little shawl, maybe?

* Free pattern

Happy Monday everyone!  :)

Posted in Running | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments