On Pause

Cloud City is temporarily on pause while I await confirmation regarding a stitch count for the sleeves. I can see it peeking at me from atop my piano, just waiting to be picked up and knit on. I am really looking forward to getting it done. I know it will still take some time, but the yarn (Wandering Cat Yarns House Cat) is so soft I can't wait to wear it.

I decided to cast on for another baby hat to add to my collection. I headed to my yarn totes and when I opened them I realised two things: #1 - I really need to organize them and #2 - There is a lot of old yarn in there I will never use (so, part and parcel to #1 I'm going to donate it). Anyway ... I found a lovely sport weight teal to knit the hat. I think I will make a baby sweater with it as well. Maybe white and teal striped.

I have been looking at sweater patterns to knit for myself once Cloud City is done. I have found a couple I really like. Nice and long and cosy looking. Perfect for a summer night, once the sun has dropped, when I'm sitting on the deck or camping.

My favourite two (so far) are Big Sister and BlueSand Cardigan. They're both knit in DK weight, which will be nice. Another one I adore is Holden Jacket but it is an aran weight knit, so it would be better suited to wear in the autumn and winter. At least that's the theory I'm going with.

Today was a run day. Sensei and I headed to the local indoor track and ran 5.4km. It's nice having an extra person to run with. It keeps me motivated. The other day he sent me a text saying he had done a run and I had almost convinced myself I didn't need to run that day. Who would know, right? Then his text came and I thought "well if he ran I have to." You know, since I'm the one who kicked his ass into getting running again. Don't worry he repays me by kicking my ass (figuratively) at karate class. Tuesday's workout in the dojo was a tough one. It felt good though. Can't wait for tomorrow's class.

Yes, I'm a Knitter

Today at karate class it came up (while I was sparring) that I'm a Knitter. My sparring partner suddenly got very excited and said "can you make slippers?" Um, yeah, of course I can make slippers. His reaction "Oh I want some! Make me some! I will pay!" ... one million dollars. Sorry kid (he's 24) you can't afford me. Of course I didn't tell him that at the time. He may be 24 but he's a much more experienced karateka than I and I didn't want to get my butt whipped. So I just smiled and kept going. He'll forget about it because, like I said, he's 24.

Another baby hat.

My 2015 run streak officially finishes up today. It has been a fantastic month. My grand total is 130.4km, which is about 50km more than I ran in the February Run Streak in 2014.

Today I opted to run my final day outside. I ran to the dojo and had planned to run back, but the 90 minute sparring class really tuckered me out. Plan B was to take a cab home but when I said I was going to call a cab my Sensei (and new-found run buddy) offered to drive me home.

Here are a couple of pictures from my run today. It was cold, but so beautiful outside.

As I headed out the door.

Looking across the Grand River

Yes. I'm running tomorrow.

For now I'm going to sit back, relax, watch a movie or something on Netflix and knit (but not slippers for a 24 year old, lol).

Cheers!

Power Outtage

Last night, somewhere around the 11pm mark, my power went out with a BANG, flickered and went out again. I peeked out the window and the entire neighbourhood was black. Fast forward two minutes and the sirens could be heard, then they zip by my house, then more and more. It turned out to be a car, carrying 5 people, that flipped over and knocked out a power line. A 19 year old man was speeding and is being charged with impaired driving. As far as I have heard everyone survived with minor injuries. Which is good. After all that excitement I couldn't get to sleep until nearly 4am; not due to lack of trying mind you. The power came back on around 3:30am.

It was dark out. The light you see was from a neighbouring area.

Police, fire and ambulance ... about 2 blocks from my house.

This morning I had a great karate lesson. It lasted two hours and after a night of no sleep it left me surprisingly energetic. Afterwards my sister and I went shopping and I bought this dress. Now I need some shoes and/or boots to go with it and a place to go. :) Lucky for me my husband likes to take me out for dates so I'm sure it won't be too long until I get to wear it somewhere.

Now I have to hit the treadmill for my run. It's much later in the day than I normally care to run, but I've got to get it done. I guess that's why it's called a challenge. Tomorrow I'm running at the track with my Sensei. He mentioned he wants to start running again so I said "how about tomorrow?" and he said okay. Fun! I love that I have my entire running week planned out. It really helps to keep me motivated.

Weave Me a Story

I've been a busy girl this last week between karate and running and all the other life stuff I've done, I have not had much time for knitting (though I did finish a baby hat on Friday evening while babysitting my sister's two rug rats). Today after my run (9.4km today) I got to weaving in more of the ends of Owen's blanket. This is going to be a long and tedious job.

Ends

This week I had karate class three times. Usually it's twice (occasionally once/week), but this week our class hours were tweaked a little bit. Same with the upcoming week. I'm really working my ninja skills. :)

My run streak challenge is going well. In the first 7 days I ran 30.4km. That's pretty good, I think, then you get crazy guys like my husband who will run that (and much more) in one day. He was teasing me in a proud hubby kind of way. LOL

Saturday was Selfie-Saturday for the challenge group on Facebook ... mine wasn't too exciting. Just me on the treadmill before my run.