running for fun

Fun Runs.  It's an oxymoron right?  Well, for me, 2013 is the Year of the Fun Run.  That's right.  At the moment I have 14 scheduled for the year.  I have completed 2 so far.

The first ones for 2013 were part of a series of 3 runs:  the Brooks Sunset Series.   I've got one more in the series next Wednesday, but I wanted to talk about it now!

Race #1:  The Tan, 6 Feb, 8kms

Result: 1:09:47.3
Overall place: 647.  LOL I beat Rhonda
Freebies obtained:  Brooks Sunset Series shirt (ok, probably included in the entry fee), Sweatband pocket thing (you know, for your keys), Emma & Toms juice.

The temperature was 35C.  The race was scheduled for 7.15pm but was delayed in hopes that it would cool down.  It didn't cool down very much.  Still, I felt confident and ready to run.  At this point I had run 8k once before, the previous week. 

This run taught me how the conditions can impact on your performance.  I had a terrible run.  The first lap was ok, hot but ok.  But then I just started to feel gross.  Sick and hot and tired and sore.  I did not want to run anymore.  I'd had enough. 

Thank god for Rhonda.  She kept me going.  In the interests of full disclosure, I will tell you I just could not run the whole of the second lap.  There was a lot of walking going on.  And lots of complaining.  And lots of threats of giving up.  But there was Rhonda, not letting me stop and encouraging me the whole way.  I am really really glad I finished, but disappointed that I'd made such a fuss.  Check me out, how utterly defeated I looked, whereas Rhonda is looking perky and as fresh as a daisy running beside me!!

Race #2:  The Melbourne Zoo, 20 Feb, 7.2kms

Result:  1:01:13.7
Overall place: 1386 (There were a LOT more people running.  It was at the freaking zoo, the coolness factor was elevated.)
Freebies obtained:  Hydralite water bottle, muesli bar, Emma & Toms juice.

I had a slight reprieve with race #2, apparently there were some construction works going on with the meercats, so the course was shortened from 8km to 7.2km.  The weather was also behaving much better, a lovely 26C.   The downside was that Rhonnie was sick, so I had to go it alone.

I felt great this time.  I had my 90s music playing, and didn't feel the need to stop at all.  On the first lap, I was feeling a bit cynical about the zoo location.  On the first half I didn't see one damn animal.  Sorry, I saw a giant tortoise, but that wasn't very exciting.  But then I ran past the zebras, giraffes and moneys doing their crazy thing, and felt much better about it.  I also saw a hippo coming out of the water and a gorilla.  Got my money's worth I'd say.

This time I made sure to smile like a loon and wave at every camera I saw. 

Looking forward to race #3 and smashing that 8km distance once and for all!  Wish me luck!

~Tan

old and new

New:  Ripple blanket

Bought this yarn (Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 8ply) almost a year ago, and finally putting it to it's intended use!  Hoping to add a couple of colours a week, and might just have a blanket to snuggle under by winter.  

Old:  Moose

Well, maybe not that old, started last month.  Just need to make one more leg and the antlers, and put mr moosey together.  Oh god putting amigurumi together is the absolute worst.  Lets hope I don't screw it up.  

Linking to- WIP Wednesday (Tami's Amis) | WIP Wednesday (Ambassador Crochet) | Yarn Along (Small Things) | Keep Calm and Craft On {Crafting on} (Frontier Dreams) | What you doing Wednesday (SusanD1408 Crochet Addict) | Hookin on Hump Day (My Merry Messy Life)

oddly specific

Here at Tanya Today we combine postcards and Caturday.  We know what the people want.

So, another awesome thing about Postcrossing is that you write yourself a profile specifying your interests, passions and the type of postcards you would prefer to receive.  Now, it's a rule that there you cannot specify what postcards you want to receive.  You can state your preferences, but at the end of the day, the sender can send you whatever the hell they want.  However, because people are generally awesome, 9 times out 10, you will receive a card that matches your preferences.  Aren't people the greatest!

Now, here's my advice:  Be careful what you wish for.

I get my postcards sent to work.  I have a giant pinboard behind my computer monitor, and I just go gangbusters with the pinning.  It's Pinterest in real life y'all.  So I pin my lovely postcards to said pin board, making me look like some extremely popular, seasoned traveller who receives a plethora of cards from all of my exotic friends abroad, when in reality they are all cards from strangers which I have bribed into sending me cards, by sending cards to others (Yeah, that's how it works). 

Anyways, I thought it might be a good idea to say, 'I like cats' in my profile.  Well, it's no lie, I really do like cats.  As soon as I did that...

BAM!

BAM BAM!

OH YEAH!

DO YOU LIKE THAT?

HUH?

COME GET SOME

PEW PEW PEW

OH YEAH

At this point I changed my profile and removed reference to felines.  Now, there's nothing wrong with these cards.  I actually really like them!  But these are going up on my wall at work people.  At the place of my employment.  Everyone can see them.  Do I want to be the crazy cat lady at work?  Sorry, but no.  It may not seem excessive to you, but there were just so many cat cards!

Plus, I really wanted more cards that showed me, you know, the world, of which I have seen so very little.  So, I no longer say that I like cats on my profile, and now receive a much more diverse range of cards.

But it still happens sometimes.  Those cat cards. 

But you know what? There are Postcrossers out there who want nothing but cat cards!!!  I'm determined that, should one of these souls pop up when I request an address, I send them a card with what cat on it other than The Kitten.  What do you think?

That mug really needs to travel the world!

Diaper backward spells repaid. Think about it.

Ok, this should be the last baby item for a while... but then I have a family friend due in two months.  Should I?  Shouldn't I?  Watch this space.

This is the final part of the set / bonanza (see here and here) that I gifted my friend's new baby.  I whipped this up super quick the minute I found out it was a girl.  (I had to start this set in geneder-neutral green before she fessed up the sex).  Unfortunately didn't have enough of the pink and cream, hence the slighly frankenstein outcome of using all my bits of scrap cotton 4ply.  I still think it's cute!

Pattern: the cardigan from the creatively named Crochet Baby Set #106
Ravelled here. My fifth incarnation of this pattern.  It just turns out so lovely, not all stiff and gross like a lot of crochet garments can be.
Yarn:  Good ol' Bendigo Woollen Mills Cotton 4ply in parchment, pink rose and daffodil.
Hook: 3mm

{{title today is courtesy of random google searching 'funny quotes about babies' and landing here.  It is apparently a  Marshall McLuhan quote}}

-Linking with-
Tami's Amis FO Fridays | Fiber Arts Fridays at Wisdom Begins in Wonder | Natural Suburbia for Creative Fridays | I've Made Friday at SusanD1408 Crochet Addict | I ♥ Fridays at Petals to Picots

BE-191567

I love Postcrossing.  It's just so much fun.  I'm going to start featuring a few of my favourite received postcards here.  You can check out more of them here.

Today, I received BE-191567, my first postcard from Belgium.

The message on the back reads:

Hi Tanya
This little peeing man is a symbol of our country and voted as being one of the biggest tourist traps in Belgium as it's rather small...
Petra

The more times I read it the funnier it gets. 

This postcard depicts Manneken Pis, literally Little Man Pee, a fountain in Brussels.  The Wiki page is worth a read; apparently the little man is dressed in costume several times a week, according to a schedule.  There are also a few legends as to why the fountain was built.  Cute! 

Google image Mannekin Pis (or just click here) and you're in for a treat!  Here's one of my faves!

I vant to... pee

That's right, I'm learning youse about places and stuffs.

p.s.

Whoa, two posts in one day?  Somebody stop me!

A and I don't celebrate V day.  Hell, we can show each other how much we love one another anytime!  Screw you one allocated day per year!

Anyway, I just wanted to share the cute postcard I got today.  Aww, so appropriate.

Hope you had/have a nice V day, howsoever you choose to celebrate (or not).

p.s. If you don't know what Postcrossing is, I explained everything here :)

A loud noise at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other

More baby things!  Gifted to same baby as last week.

Aren't neutrals so fashionable right now?  Or was that last season?  Gosh darn it, fluros are in now aren't they?

Here we have more cotton.  But you know what, as much as cotton didn't really do it for me when crocheted, it is wonderful to knit with.  I didn't get sore wrists.  And the resulting fabric is luscious.  These items came out very soft and squishy.  Not particularly stretchy, but that could be due to lack of ribbing etc.  Who knows, not me certainly.  I'm very happy with these items, even though they are not without error.  They will probably not fit at the same time, but that look at those buttons.  aww.

Anyway, I think miss baby will be very fashionable in this set.

Ravelled here, here and here
Patterns:  Here we have Gnome Baby, Pebble (Henry's Manly Cobblestone-Inspired Baby Vest) and Mary Jane Booties
Yarn:  Bendigo Woollen Mills (duh) 8ply cotton in latte (I don't know whose latte is that colour, but I'd be sending it back if a beverage of this hue was served to me)
Needle:  3.5mm.  Half a size too big for the booties, so they aren't as structured as they probably should be.  Live and learn, those are the first booties I've ever knit.  AND..  **that vest is the first garment I have ever made** WHEEEEEEE!!!  Very pleased, however there were a billion ends to weave in.  Grosss.

{{Another quite, courtesy of googling.  This time Ronald Knox}}

-Linking with-
Tami's Amis FO Fridays | Fiber Arts Fridays at Wisdom Begins in Wonder | Natural Suburbia for Creative Fridays | I've Made Friday at SusanD1408 Crochet Addict | I ♥ Fridays at Petals to Picots

curly dimpled lunatics

I have no idea if any of these items will be used/will fit/are appropriate for babies.  A particular baby anyway.   I haven't blogged about this green set very much [insert shock and horror here].  Mostly because it was a gift and I'm not sure if the recipient reads my blog.   Recipient has said gift now, and all is well.

I did have a bit of a rant a while back about the fact that I was using cotton, and that it just doesn't like to be crocheted.  I had a super hard time settling on a pattern, and in the end, I didn't even use one of the possible ones I listed here.  I thought cotton would be ideal because the set was for a summer baby, and mum is allergic to wool.  In hindsight the bloody stuff is machine washable only - ya dingus!  Sorry mum!!

Anyway, the pattern I settled on was called Pretty in Pink, a set consisting of a blanket, booties, panties, a bonnet and a SACQUE!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA I had never heard of the term 'sacque' before, so that was great.  Just great.  Oh, I made all the pieces except for the panties.  Mostly followed the pattern, but made the bonnet bigger and changed the sleeves on the sacque.  Also, look at the pattern book, naff or what? 

I've put the deets as to measurements etc on the Ravelry project page if you are interested.

And here are some pictures!  You think I could get photograph the yarn true to colour?  If you guessed nope, you'd be right.  The colour of the yarn is "Honeydew".  I've since learned how to adjust the white balance on my camera, and with a bit of editing, this is kinda close to what the colour should be (but still not really *sigh*:

I chose green because originally mum refused to disclose the gender of the baby.  Even though she knew!  So unfair!  Later she had a change of heard and let it slip she was having a GIRL!  Bahhhh  *random eye twitching due to not being able to use pink in the first place*

Anyway, I've tried to edit some of these photos to get them true to colour, with various degrees of success.

Oh hey, the booties came out teeny tiny. 

It's not actually fluro green. 

Pattern:  The set is called Pretty in Pink, excluding the beanie which is my own improvised pattern.
Ravelled: here and here.
Yarn:  Bendigo Woollen Mills Cotton 4ply in Honeydew
Hook:  3.5mm for the clothing and 4mm for the blanket (I think)

(BTW baby girl was born on 8 January, mum and bub both doing well.  In the meantime I have presented mum my wares, and am happy to report she was most pleased.  After all, it's all about the crochet, right?  Right?) 

{{title today is courtesy of random google searching 'funny quotes about babies' and landing here.  It is apparently a  Ralph Waldo Emerson quote}}

-Linking with-
Tami's Amis FO Fridays | Fiber Arts Fridays at Wisdom Begins in Wonder | Natural Suburbia for Creative Fridays | I've Made Friday at SusanD1408 Crochet Addict | I ♥ Fridays at Petals to Picots

bits

Here are some bits of a moose.

Look what I'm doing!  Putting money in the hooves.  20 cents was the perfect size.  I'm actually using 40 cents per hoof.  This moose is going to be cashed up.  More like moo$e.

Linking to- WIP Wednesday (Tami's Amis) | WIP Wednesday (Ambassador Crochet) | Yarn Along (Small Things) | Keep Calm and Craft On {Crafting on} (Frontier Dreams) | What you doing Wednesday (SusanD1408 Crochet Addict) | Hookin on Hump Day (My Merry Messy Life)

Tanya does movies: January

January is over, so I'm sure you've been hanging out to know what movies I watched last month...

The Hobbit:  An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Well, this was a must see, obviously.  It was good, I enjoyed it, but it didn't blow me away.  It was just, more of the same you know?  Don't get me wrong, I loved it, but, you know, meh been to Middle Earth, done that adventure thing.  Have you seen An Unexpected Briefing?  NO?  Well, here you go:

Dave (1993)
So, in December, we watched the Hunger Games, and we also watched the extra features.  And in said extra features, director Gary Ross kept banging on about Dave and Big (see below), being films he worked on.  Funny he didn't mention Seabiscuit (which I haven't seen) or Pleasantville (which I have and love), but only Dave and Big.  Then I felt like watching Dave and Big.  Do you ever do that?  It's like going down the rabbit hole of films.  So, Dave was was really good!  I'd seen it before, but yonker bonkers ago.  Wow Kevin Kline is awesome.  He really really is.

Have yourself some presidential coffee.

Big (1988)
See comments above re going down the rabbit hole of movies.  Tom Hanks, where the hell have you been lately?  This movie was freaking awesome.  An oldie but a goodie, that I know I've seen a few times before, but happy to watch again.

Soapdish (1991)
And further down the rabbit hole, here is another Kevin Kline movie I hadn't seen.  Also a youthful RDJ doing a fab job.  A quirky movie about a bunch of soap stars back stabbing each other, and other miscellaneous shenanigans.

These are soaps, in case you were wondering about what the connection was.

Django Unchained (2012)
I saw this movie twice last month because once was not enough to take it all in!  I know there are heaps of articles on the internet (just Google that shit) about whether or not this movie is offensive, but I am really not going to go into that.  For me, the performances were amazing, the themes addressed were thought-provoking and outrageous but all together it made for an amazing movie.  I can't pick an outstanding performer, each of Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz and Leonardo DiCaprio were amazeballs.  My new fave Tarantino I think.

You can be the owner of your very own LDiC sculpture!! 

The Craft (1996)
Ahhh it'd been too long since I last saw this movie.  Remember The Craft?  What a phenomenon.  Also, Fairuza Balk is in my favourite all time movie. You've all seen the craft, you know it's cool as hell man.  Cool as.

Where have you been all my life Menstrual Witch Pagan Goddess Art??

Hotel Transylvania (2012)
Man I love "kids" movies.  They are just super rad.  I don't know about you, but I watch movies for fun, and as such, prefer to watch movies that don't require the ol' brain matter to work too hard.  For this purpose, Hotel Transylvania was great!  Much better than I expected!  Lots of nods to the classic monsters.  Adam Sandler('s voice) was terrific!  Really loved his transylvanian accent, and also loved the way he moved/was designed.

Megamind (2010)
Another "kids" movie I wasn't expecting to like as much as I did.  You guys, this movie was so freaking cute.  It was just ridiculously D'awwwwwww! They did such a smashing job of making you sympathetic to the Megamind character.  I also love how he couldn't pronounce certain things?  Ha! classic.

Miami Connection (1987)
OMG.  This movie.  It's just one of those, so bad it's good movies.  BAD BAD acting.  Bad (read: non-existent)  plot.  Actually has a couple of really good, original songs in it.  Apply liberally with popcorn.  I'm not going to beat around the bush with this one, just check out the trailer:

And the pick this month... DJANGO UNCHAINED!  Duh, ya dinguses!

   **In case you didn't know, if you click on any of the images it will take you to their source!  Generally cool etsy items that you can probably buy.  Oh my goooooodddd!