Running, Knitting, and Spinning.

Running stuff

I've been waiting for today for what seems like forever, but actually it's only a couple of weeks.  Today I got to find out how the rest of my year is going to go.  Well, sort of.

You see, I have health issues.  I can't ignore them, they interfere with every moment of my life, but I can do my damnedest to work around them, and live my life despite them.  In January they became particularly troublesome, and today I got to find out if this was due to some new impediment (bad), or simply the natural progression of my condition (acceptable).

I am pleased to report that the latter seems to be the case, and I have been given permission to return to my more active pursuits.  This is a Very Good Thing, especially since earlier this week I discovered that I've won a place in the Great North Run.  I've mentioned my running before, and at least one of the reasons why I run.  This isn't a blog about running, so I'm not going to go on about it at great length.  Suffice to say that I am very pleased, and returned to my training within an hour of receiving the news that I am allowed to run again.

I'll no doubt mention this again before the big day arrives, but should my activity move you into feeling at all charitable, then I'd very much appreciate it if you could sponsor my run in aid of Cancer Research UK, via my Just Giving page.  Thanks.

Knitting stuff

So for the last 5 weeks I've been unable to run, unable to walk more than a few hundred yards at a time, at times unable to climb the stairs to my own bedroom.  It's been frustrating, but it has had a beneficial side effect; I've got loads of knitting done!

Time for pretty pictures!  

I finished the January Deep Stash KAL:

I finished Stephens socks:

I made myself some fingerless mitts:

And tried to make a matching hat, but didn't really have enough yarn:

I'm thinking that I'll probably see if I can find some plain black yarn of a similar type (merino, cashmere, worsted weight), and pick up stitches around the brim to make a contrasting band.

Finally, I've cast on another new project, and it's another KAL.  It's with the Stitchnerds group on Ravelry, where fans of designer Susan Ashcroft gather.  

In the US, February is Heart Month  An entire month devoted to raising awareness of heart disease, how it can be prevented, and how we can help.  In the UK, February 6th was Wear it, Beat it day, when all over the country people organised events centered around wearing the colour red to raise awareness of heart disease.

So the Stitchnerds decided to join in by running a Knit Red for your Heart KAL throughout February.  I'm knitting a shawl of similar construction to the Rocky Mountaineer pattern I made in memory of my mam.  This one is much simpler though, without the lacework or beading.  I've deliberately chosen a fairly plain pattern to make sure that what shines through in this project is the beauty of the yarn, which is another of the wondrous creations by Countess Ablaze:

Yes, I did deliberately try to make the cable on my needles look like a heart too :p

Spinning stuff

I've even made some progress with my languishing spinning projects.

This beauty has been sitting part spun for months.  I've now plied another 2 skeins of it, and started spinning my final braid of fibre.  When it's finished, I should have 6 of these:

Which should work out as around 850 yards of roughly worsted weight, 2-ply, merino, gotland, and grey finn.  I call it 'Evil WIllow'.

I've got a pattern for a really simple, top-down, short-sleeved cardigan, that I intend on knitting for myself out of this when it's all ready.

I've also spun and plied my first mini-skein using a turkish spindle:

This is just 14 yards of roughly sport weight, chain-plied, Countess Ablaze custom blend fibre from a small sample packet that I was given at her open studio event last year, spun on the turk I showed you in my last update, made for me by my dad.

The Obligatory Penguins

Sadly I have no new penguins to show you this time :(  However, I'm pleased to report that one of these should be winging its way to me from Fabrily very soon:

Please don't be offended by the sentiment, I assure you that if you're reading this, you're making me happy.  Just maybe not quite as happy as penguins do :p

Take care my darlings, until next time!