What I made, by Sharon

 My weekending posts often include that Leon and I went for a run, with an identical looking selfie (like this  ). This weekend we did the MVP Backyard Ultra  .This is a fun format where you run 6.7 kms every hour on the hour and get to rest in the remaining 10 or so minutes. I did 26kms (or four 'yards'). leon completed 67 kms (or ten 'yards'). Skip made a movie about it, which you can watch here.  You can have a support crew, so Skip, Bee, Kris and Katie came along and crewed. the event starts at 7pm, so I was running until 11 and Leon finished at 5am.  Which, unsurprisingly means the rest of the weekend was a bit of a write off. it's been a very long time since I stayed up till dawn! Saturday we slept for a few hours and then rested and then today we cleaned the house and i put together some earrings for Kris, Katie and Mel. Mel's a relatively new friend that Kris bought into the group, but she wears colourful earrings, so I presume she'll love it. And th...

 I'm writing this on Monday, because we took the day off so we could have a long weekend in Marysville. That's right, three nights away. We went with my parents, which was lovely. The impetus for going (other than that the border between Metro and region re-opened last weekend) was the Marysville marathon, a run I have participated in ten times. This year I did the ten kilometre and Leon did the the half marathon. It was amazing being out on the trails with so many friendly faces. (Traditional mid-race selfie with waterfall!) I took my embroidery. I've put aside my sampler and am now working on a semi secret project. Which I will probably tell you about quite soon. I also got into a good reading groove, but more about that on Wednesday. Since it was my mother's birthday, I gave her the Yorlin cardigan I knit for her. it fits, it suits and she's very happy with it. My father wore t he felted slippers I made for him all weekend, and seemed to really like them. They a...

For our longer runs, Leon and I have traditionally run to places, and then got ourselves home in more mechanical ways. During lockdown of course we just ran around in circles - and when your circles are St Kilda Beach, Albert Park Lake, the Tan and the Yarra, you don't complain too much. But now we are out and about again. a couple of weeks ago we ran to the Docklands to meet some friends at a brewery (as is traditional) and I really didn't want to do without my knitting for a whole afternoon of fun, so I borrowed Leon's running vest .   I enjoyed being able to carry my knitting so much, that I went and bought my own vest - also a Salomon, but the ladies version, so there is room for "the girls". The guy who served me in the running shop (the legendary Sole Motive ) was really nice - but he was a footballer, working in a running shop. He kept telling me how many litres of water this thing can carry, while I was seeing how big a WIP can go in the back.  Answer: An ...

Just like t his time last year , we went down to the Great Ocean Road for the Surf Coast Trail marathon. This year I wasn't running, I'm a little bit injured and haven't been running at all. I volunteered. Leon, on the other hand did the full marathon. He's been very consistent in his training, and did very well. Skip and Bee drove is, both down there and around during the race, which was very companionable. We rented a house for the weekend, and got to bring their dog, Digby. I can never predict whether a weekend like that will be fantastic for knitting, or if too many other things will happen. This time, I got quite a bit done: It's the Gidday Baby cardigan by Georgie Nicholson. Very quick little knit, started it Thursday and finished on Saturday. Obviously I need to block it and get buttons on. I wanted to blog it now, because things are getting a bit crazy around here - I'm out every night next week except Thursday, and away next weekend as well...

This weekend, Leon and I did the full marathon in the Marysville marathon trail running festival. The run started the year after the entire town burnt down 10 years ago, and I've done it 7 times - mainly the 10 kilometer, once the half marathon, and this is the first time I've done the full 42.2 distance. And it was hard. The first half was great - no wind, beautiful weather, nice people, stunning trails. I stacked at 26 kms, but escaped with bruises and grazes. From 30kms it got really hard. There is a climb to a lookout that just went on forever, and coming down there was quite a stony path, and I kept kicking rocks. We had been looking forward to the final 4km - mainly down hill, and a very familiar trail, but the heat took a toll on Leon, and he was suffering from severe cramps. Still, this marathon has been my goal for a long time, and now I've done it. We might have to train differently and do it again stronger next year, or maybe not. I'll decide once the br...

We went away for the weekend, to run the Surf Coast Marathon Half. First trail half in a while (since 2016, remember 2017's broken foot ?) and it was good to be back. Here's the after photo, I don't have any action photos yet.   While we were there I got Skip to take photos of my finished Carbeth: I'm reasonably happy with it, although I think I would wear it over a dress or a high wasted skirt, rather than these jeans. The only thing is, I had a plan. I cast on the sleeves provisionally, and was planning to knit the sleeves down, and put a whole in the ribbing, so I could pull the cuffs over my hands.  I was also planning to knit the collar longer than the pattern, because I like a big collar, only I basically ran out of yarn. I played yarn chicken, and had enough to cast off, but that was it. The pattern calls for 525 meters of yarn, and I had 525 meters of yarn, but normally there is a bit extra in there for swatching and stuff.  In the intere...

I’ve been away a lot recently, to the nicest places. This weekend we went to Marysville to run the 10km in the marathon festival. It was an utterly delightful weekend- warm and sunny, and a lovely run. In fact it’s the only organised fun run I’m doing next year, but Leon and I have decided to do the full marathon next year. Nothing like 42kms of trails in the mountains. Yesterday’s race was out first “official” training run for the marathon.   My parents' holiday  there has a front deck and we spent most of the weekend sitting there being warm, admiring the birds, and in my case knitting on my jumper and reading. I don’t know if it’s a good thing that I have recently learnt that I can knit plain things and read at the same time, but it certainly made the sleeves of this jumper go very quickly! I started the collar in the car on the war home: I have some concerns about the  neckline, because on many people it sits quite low, and I really don’t want it...

Leon and my parents and I went to Marysville this past weekend, partly to celebrate my mother's birthday and partly so Leon and i could run the half marathon in the always wonderful Marysville Marathon festival . We've run the 10km there a few times, but this was further - obviously. it's super hilly, but the weather was perfect and we had a great run. I knew that I would have lots of lovely time over the long weekend to sit and knit and read and relax. Just before we left I had an inspiration. Remember the op-shop lace weight yarn I bought? well, I looked into it a bit further and it was cobweb weight.  The long cardigan I want to make  ( Thoughts b y Jojo L ocatelli ) calls for a heavy laceweight. So I decided to ply it together, and now it's a much more suitable weight. I took my Little Gem, which I haven't touched for a couple of years, and was very happy to have a folding wheel that could handle this project. I managed to almost finish ...

Leon and I have spent the last six months or so run training, and on Sunday we ran the Melbourne Marathon . It's something I've been wanting to do for a really long time, and it feels so good to have accomplished it. I will say though, that 42.195 kilometers is a really long way to run!  It was a great day, a little windy, but not too cold or warm. My official photographer Skip showed up en route to take photos and did a really good job. While I didn't run the whole distance with a smile like this on my face, I felt strong the whole way. And that feeling, when I ran into the MCG was indescribable. I felt like such an athlete, running that lap of the G.  I'm getting emotional just writing about the day. It was the hardest physical thing I've ever done, but both the event and the training were so rewarding. I am lucky enough to have a husband that ran step for step with me, both in training and in the event, and I feel so fortunate that I am physically and ...

Today Leon and I ran 25.4 kilometres, which is the furthest I have ever run. While I was running I remembered some comparison I made between the length of my stash and the longest I had run. Obviously when I got home I reviewed the post , from 2014, and discovered that I had 26 kilometers of yarn and had never run more than 21 kilometers. This inspired me to find out what my number is now, since i hadn't checked since before Bendigo and the New Zealand holiday . And my number is: 20 863  which is not too bad at all. I probably shouldn't have correlated stash with running, because I just signed up to do this years Melbourne Marathon  and I'm not (really) planning on getting home from that and ordering 22 kilometers of yarn. Probably.