Runner Down!

This weekend was the Fourth Annual Charlottesville Marathon and Half-Marathon. Tom and I signed up months ago. Unfortunately, I developed a problem with the IT band in my right knee and can't run much more than two or three miles without pain, so I knew a while ago that I wasn't going to be able to run. Tom, on the other hand, has been running regularly and was ready to set another PR. So yesterday, we packed up the car and headed to Charlottesville.

We met our friends, Jim and Lynda, had a cocktail and some shrimp and oysters, then headed over to Fellini's #9 for dinner. Dinner was quite good (I had fresh ravioli with roasted red peppers and carmelized onions). Then it was back to our hotel room for a good night's sleep before the race today.

But the sleep turned out to be not so good. Tom got that stomach virus that has been going around and spent the better part of the night in the bathroom. By the time race time rolled around, he was not quite feeling up to running 13.1 miles. That was a major disappointment for him.

I spent the morning knitting, or rather unknitting, the Blue Danube sock. At some point, I got confused and ended up decreasing in the middle of the bottom of the foot, not at the side. Later in the day, Lynda and I had lunch and shopped on the pedestrian mall near the hotel. I've been looking for the right yarn for another baby blanket and finally found it, at 40% off. It's Adrienne Vittadini's Martina, which is a nice sportweight merino and I got a lot of it. If you are looking for a decent sale on yarn, head to The Needle Lady in Charlottesville, Virginia.

As a result of not really being able to wander too far afield today, I was able to finish the Blue Danube sock, despite the decrease accident. And here it is:



The colors in the photo are washed out; in real life the second color ranges in color from light taupe to black, with rich plums and browns in between. This yarn is great to knit with. Despite it being merino and silk, it tinks well, not showing signs of abuse overuse. I hope that means it will wear well, too.

And as promised, a picture of the sleeve for the Lace-edged Cardigan:



I finally figured out the macro function on the camera (you'd think that someone who works in high-tech should have been able to figure it out sooner). This is the cable detail for the sleeve:



The picture is a little blurry, but shows the pattern nicely. The yarn is Rowan's Cotton Glace. It's a cotton, but it's easy on the hands. It knits well, even though the yarn kinks up quite a bit.

Tom is off to see the movie Thank You for Smoking with Jim and Lynda. He's finally feeling better and needed to get out. I'm taking this opportunity to update my blog and knit in the quiet of the hotel room. I'm undecided, though. Should I cast on the second Blue Danube sock, thus helping to avoid second sock syndrome? Perhaps I should try to make more progress on the cardigan sleeve. Or should I swatch the Martina? So many options, so little time!

Knit on, friends!