Socks and Shrugs and needleholders...oh my!

 I've been trying to be crafty this week despite the fact that I worked four 12 hour night shifts back to back...that just sets you up for being EXTREMELY fatigued. BUT...I finished the Sabine shrug from Perl Grey!!! I fell in love with the pattern, and knew that it would be mine.  So about 3 weeks and 3 skeins of 100% wool yarn later...I am done!  It is so toasty, and perfect for cool spring mornings where a full sweater would just be too much.

I have also delved into the world of sock knitting.  I don't know if this is my new passion...actually I find myself thinking when in the #&^$ are these things going to be done!!!???!!! But I'm using sock weight yarn and size 2 DP knitting needles. Maybe next time I'll try a little bit chunkier of a sock...because I'm just loosing focus, and there are too many cute patterns I've found on ravelry.com.  But these socks are for my daughter Emily...so they must be finished!!

I've also revived my love of sewing to benefit my love of knitting.  I made myself a needle holder.  I looked online for ideas of how to make one, and this is what I've come up with...

I even made a second one to give away to a friend of mine.  Hope she likes it!  They were super easy to make (they were both done in about 2 hours)...and actually didn't cost me a dime.  I made them from fabric I got years ago to make a quilt that I never got around to making.   So now my needles have a cozy little home of their own.

26.2 time again!

The Sore calves, the plantar fasciitis, the energy gels, the LOST TOENAILS...aaahhhh!! It's marathon season again!!! I have just started training for my 3rd marathon...the Steamtown Marathon. It should be a very different venue from my first two, in that my first marathon was up in the Adirondiack mountains...the first 11 miles were uphill (eewww...). The second marathon I ran was in San Francisco, the hill capital of the world.

Steamtown has a nice, gradual downhill grade (except for an EVIL hill @ mile 25). So I can't wait to see the difference.

I'm trying my darndest to get my good friend who has just discovered the love of running to run this beast with me. She seems pretty excited...but we'll see if that excitement remains after she's lost a few toenails.

There is nothing like a marathon. It puts you in that place of complete discomfort where at mile 20 you start to go crazy, and you have conversations in your head that go something like this... "ok, I know you've just run 20 miles, but there's only 6 LITTLE miles left to that glorious finish line...to the bragging rights of running 26.2 miles, to the finishers t-shirt...to the MEDAL!!!! So get your butt in gear and DO IT!!" (insert rocky music here).

I'm oddly compelled to go for a run right now...later!