Another 5k – Rock n Roll Running Series San Diego

I first ran this in 2019 and was so psyched by it that I immediately signed up for the 2020 run. Not surprisingly it was “cancelled” but earlier this year they announced it would be taking place as usual and then a day later the date was changed to October.

All these changes made it hard to train and get enthused for the race as there was no way to know if the date would be changed again and the race was not exactly the wonderful experience I had in 2019 but I ran and it was faster than 2019.

The 5k course was changed this year. Previously the start and finish lines were close to each other and the way the course looped, it was easy for spectators to see most of the race. This year they changed the start line so that it was a good walk to the finish line. This meant that there were no spectators along the course to cheer us along and as the one road we ran up was only half-closed, we were not cheered on by the residents.

Having said that; I am glad I ran it and that it was faster than previously, and my husband was there to stop the negative self-talk. But I am not sure if I will take part again. The downside is that I have to drive to San Diego twice, once to pick up my bib and then again for the race. One way to San Diego is longer than the actual race and with the change of course, the excitement is missing.

I have a 10k race in February that was supposed to take place in October last year. I am going to wait until I have completed that to decide what I want to do regarding what distance I want to participate in and where I want to do it.

 

Finished Hats

This year as well as making hats for Operation Gratitude I made hats for Hats for Sailors. This is a group that makes hats for US Navy members serving on board ship. They provide hats for a different ship each year and this year they were asked to provide hats for the USS Carl Vinson, an aircraft carrier with at least 6000 personnel. As it was such a big undertaking and the ship is based out of San Diego I thought it would be a good cause to support. There is no limit on pattern or colour but you have to use superwash wool. As I did not have any I approached my friend Heather, owner of Ewe Ewe Yarns and purchased various colours and weights of her yarn. I liked that I was keeping it local. Although I didn’t think about keeping the patterns local.

I ended up making five hats. I do have enough yarn to make one more hat but I wanted to make sure that these hats were labeled and mailed in time.

 

 

I have numbered the hats in the order I made them.

1.      Pattern Tamarugo Yarn Ewe Ewe Wooly Worsted

2.      Pattern  Freshwater Yarn Ewe Ewe Fluffy Fingering held double

3.      Pattern  Sailors Rib Cap Yarn Ewe Ewe Yarns Heather’s Heathers

4.      Pattern Barley Yarn left over from hats 1 and 3.

5.      Pattern Ankers Hat  Yarn Ewe Ewe So Sporty.

I also finished another hat for Operation Gratitude. I needed an easy project and I had these partial balls of yarn that I had been given and Angel Hat is an easy pattern that I have knit before. The yarn is Extra by Blue Sky Fibers and is deliciously soft. 

 

It will keep a serving or retired military member warm. I had not remembered that I had posted photos of my other Operation Gratitude hats as I finished them otherwise I would have posted this one sooner. I thought I would be posting photos of them altogether.

This year I have made 10 hats for charity which is equal to one per month. I am now going to take a break and concentrate on WIPs.

One Down

I was a little disappointed not to have finished my projected two projects in September. But I have now finished the socks I started on 1 September. I did finish the hat, but when I tried it on it was small for an adult. I could have left it and given it to one of my nieces or donated to a different charity but I really wanted this to be my last hat for Hats for Sailors. I pulled out the knitting as far as the first decrease row and then knit another pattern repeat before starting decreases.

We are at the start of a new month and time for a new sock knitting challenge but I am being very sensible and not starting any so that I can finish my WIPs; one of which is a pair of socks left over from July’s challenge. I am only on the foot of the first one but they will be my knitting for this month and maybe I can get them finished.

One of the challenges for September was the theme literature. I chose Bertie Wooster’s Faux Pas by Becky Greene.

I now have quite a few skeins of sock yarn following the “little” shopping spree earlier this year when the yarn store closed. I looked at projects on Ravelry and saw that it worked in dark colours and chose Theodora’s Pearl Fingering by Dizzylettuce. The colourway is Purple Haze which seemed very appropriate as the pattern is inspired by Bertie Wooster wanting to wear purple socks.

The pattern had been originally published as a mystery and then the clues combined. In the combined clue the designer has four rows of cuff pattern but does not say to repeat those therefore my project does not have a cabled cuff. As these socks included cable stitches I started with a size larger than usual to make sure they fit on my muscley calves When I got to the foot I could not easily change the pattern to a smaller size so I changed to a size smaller needle.