Speechless

Knit-Lympics FOG - Gold Medal!

According to the ticker, the time elapsed is 95.05%. And I'm DONE!!! WOOHOO!

Here is a picture of the completed shawl - obviously my math was way off because the finished length is 66" not the 75-80 that I had estimated. But still plenty long and I LOVE it - it's so warm and pretty and girly!

I've also taken a close-up of one corner to show that it is, in fact, Feather and Fan (sorry, the picture is a little fuzzy). Ends are darned in and I will be blocking this tomorrow because I need to use the bed to block it and I need to sleep in the bed, first. You understand.

I have to say, as I finished casting it off, I felt a little sad - completion anxiety, I guess. It occupied so much time and energy and thought over the last two weeks and now - a bit of emptiness, I suppose I'd call it. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad it's done and I'll be showing it off like crazy in days / weeks to come, I'm sure. But it felt weird to be finished.

I see that our Fearless Leader is approaching major finishing-crisis (along with Ken - who knew how cute Ken was? Yum!), so I will now commit the rest of my Olympic-knitting energy to "stay awake" thoughts for Steph, who inspired me to this divine madness and to whom I am grateful for same.

Oh, there is a teeny mistake in the shawl (what's the adage? Only God is perfect?) where I continued to purl on a purl row and purled the border stitches on one side. I know where it is, but I'm not telling, and I'm not looking for any more mistakes, in case there are any. I LOVE this shawl!

Now, I've earned me some pie. And a gold medal. How cool is that?

Knit-Lympics Day 13 - honesty time

Ok, no measurement or photo today but I did get some progress done this evening. Unfortunately I'm still getting that pain across the back of my right hand after about an hour of knitting - not good. So, time to honestly evaluate the project. I've got about 5 1/2 feet of shawl complete, and 84 pattern repeats of 4 rows (plus the initial 5 rows for the border). That's a total of 341 rows and let's say for round numbers, 66 inches. About 5 rows to the inch. If I do another 16 pattern repeats for a total of 100, plus 5 more rows for the opposite end border, that should be 82" total length. Which I think is plenty. 410 rows x 82 stitches to the row = 33,620 stitches. Which, I say again, I think is plenty.

Now, how many balls it will take me to get there - less than I thought. I'm about halfway through ball #7. I figure I can finish out within a ball and a half - maybe less. Which will leave me 2 balls (and maybe a bit) for a nice scarf or something else later; or maybe just to keep as memory stash.

Maybe I'm rationalizing, but I think another 8 hours on this (I can do about two repeats an hour) will be as much as I can do over the next three days. Otherwise I'll get panicky and frustrated and possibly make a mistake which would be disastrous (perfectionist, anyone?) This way I get to start counting down towards completion instead of worrying I won't get there. Much more satisfying. Besides, I want my medal, dammit! And I did say "a feather and fan shawl" - that's pretty flexible. ;p

But, OOH it's pretty! I can't wait to weave in the ends and block it (Louise told me how, Louise rocks) and wear it. I bet I'll wear it every day next week. That is, once it's done.

Now I must soak - honestly, my hands are REALLY sore - too much computer and (I fear) a bit too much knitting of late. Dagnabit.

Knit-Lympics - racing the clock

Or, more accurately, the ticker. According to the countdown ticker, the Olympics are just past 70% over. My shawl (at 50" now, woohoo for round numbers!) is just past 60% done, assuming I use all 10 balls of the yarn I have on hand. 6 balls (plus a couple of rows) is 50 inches, so... (damn, I hate math!)...about 8.33 inches per ball of yarn. I have three balls left for about another 25 inches (rounded off). Total length should then be (drumroll please) about 75 inches. A good length for draping around the shoulders nonchalantly, right?

And yes, stupid me, didn't take a picture while I had it laid out to measure and now it's back in its bowl for safekeeping. Meh. Picture on Thursday, I promise. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is no-shawl-knitting-day because it's youth group night which means wristwarmers. Funny, I was tired of wristwarmers but a little 9" thing will seem like nothing after this shawl! Don't get me wrong, I'm loving the shawl. But I'm very very tired lately and I hate to think of not finishing - and yet, after a day on the computer, my hand-bones are aching and sore after only an hour and a half of knitting. I'm worried I might not make it. Saturday will no doubt be crunch time and a major knitting day because I want to finish by Saturday night. We shall see.

Goodnight Bloglanders and Knit-Lympians - time for anti-inflammatories, Tiger balm, and bed.

Knit-Lympics - the 2nd Sunday

Sunday, February 19th - Knitting Olympics day 9. The shawl is now 45" in length and I am officially past the halfway point; into ball #6 by about 2/3 now. Pace is good for completion on schedule - only one non-knitting evening anticipated this week (well, I'll be knitting, but not on the shawl - I'll be teaching the girls at the youth group to knit).

Next Sunday is Bundy's Gold Medal Breakfast - although the way Team Canada (Men) is playing we may not make the medal round at all! C'mon guys, you're embarrassing us here! Anyway, I hope to wear the shawl to the breakfast - if not, I'll be working on it there to get it done. What time are the closing ceremonies, again? Ah yes, 6 days, 17 hours, 54 minutes and counting. (Thank you Stephanie for adding that nerve-wracking counter!) Right. No worries. At least not today.

It's been a good weekend. Mom and Dad are back from their cruise, sunburned and well-fed and generally happy. We had a terrific dinner/movie evening with Bundy & Kid last night, including me having a total knitting geek moment whilst watching the Wallace & Gromit movie (if you've seen it, you probably had the same moment. If not, go rent it and watch for the scene in the rooftop greenhouse). And Peter actually took the whole weekend away from work. Miracle!

Knit-Lympics - the 2nd Saturday

This time last week, I was in frogging frustration over my inadvertent pattern reversal. This time this week, I am (well, the shawl is) at 40 1/2" in length and growing! No pictures today - dead battery on the digital camera. BUT - I'm halfway into ball #5 of 10, so approaching the halfway mark of the shawl. YeeeHAW!

However, knit-time today is limited because we are having a dinner party with Bundy & Kid and I've been slaving away in the kitchen and still have a few things to do - plus, I don't want to work on the shawl while they're here because it does take a fair bit of concentration and we have silly movies to watch after dinner. However, tomorrow is totally free knit-time and I expect to get lots done.

Oh, and my stomach is finally behaving, so maybe I'll even get to EAT this luscious dinner I'm preparing! Here's the menu:

1. Mixed green salad
2. BBQ pulled-pork sandwiches on homemade bread with havarti cheese
3. "Italian Medallion" sweet potatoes
4. Lemon-poppyseed cake and/or brownies for dessert

Are you hungry? Are you jealous? Are you knitting?

Have a good Saturday night, all.

Knit-Lympics Thursday - 29 and counting

29 inches and growing steadily - not much tonight, only 6 repeats but my hands were cramping after a long day on the mouse in AutoCAD (yes, I went back to work today and good thing too, they needed me.)

Still, progress is progress and there are 10 days to go. I think I'll finish in time - maybe even have time to block it on the Saturday and wear it for Bundy & Kid's Gold Medal Hockey Brunch on the last Sunday. Hmm, too ambitious? I don't want to be unrealistic. Anyway, it's coming along.

AND - Canada now has 8 medals! Woohoo!

Time for a bath and some Tiger Balm on the knuckles. Happy Thursday, Bloglanders & Knit-Lympians!

Knit-Lympics Wednesday

Yes, I was smart and stayed home sick today. Sleep is good, quality couch-time is good. Only spent about 3 hours knitting but am making good progress on the shawl:

It's over 2 feet long now, actually covers a whole arm-length, and I'm well into ball #4 of 10. It's hard to tell from these pictures, but it's really very pretty. Still nervous about the whole blocking process, but I've got a week or so before I need to worry about that, I think. That's really about it for today.

The hardest part of this (other than remembering to mark off rows as I finish them) is not hopping from project to project - what the Harlot calls "knitting monogamy". I guess I'm a knitting bigamist then, because I have been working on socks for me, but only at lunchtime at work. Home knitting is all shawl, all the time, even though my poor neglected sweater is sitting there waiting patiently to be finished. Soon, it will be soon.

Happy Wednesday, Knit-Lympians and Bloglanders. Time for bed.

Day... 4? I guess 4, 4 1/2...

I'm a little confused as to which day we're on, because our Day 1 was actually Day 0 of the "official"Olympics. Meh.

Yesterday was not very productive knitting-wise, only 4 pattern repeats (16 rows) done and I was too dead tired to post.

Today's not looking much better - another massive IBS attack when I got home from work and I have no energy, let alone concentration. I've got a couple of repeats done and have actually gotten into the 3rd ball of yarn so I guess that's progress, but golly damn I'm tired. I fully expect to be in bed by about 8:00 tonight. And tomorrow is looking like a sick day - exhaustion is not conducive to productivity in the workplace and I think the various viruses that are circulating are not helping me in the general healthiness area. Yes, I have things that need doing, but they can all wait a day. I'm tired and if I don't look after me I'll be out for a week - not good.

Maybe I've got what Amy Nixon had on the weekend? Go team Canada!

Knit-Lympics Day 3 - rest and recovery

So, here we are at Sunday night. Yesterday was a bit of a headache after the "oops" of reversing the pattern and having to frog back to zero. Here you can see what was re-knit after the frogging; the border and about three repeats of the pattern. Not bad considering there was a grocery run and some other stuff to be done - also my hands cramped up in the early evening so I had to watch hockey without knitting. (grr). This I accomplished by nuking and wearing my microwaveable mittens, which are little mini-heat-pads that fit into the backs of terrycloth mitts for sore knuckles and wrists. Works like a charm, but it did put me behind a bit.

So, today is Sunday. VERY early (we're talking 5:30 a.m. here) I was out the door to drive the folks to the airport to catch the flight for their cruise. Now, I'm not a morning person. Neither is my stomach. The collective stresses of the past few weeks combined with lack of sleep and lack of breakfast sent me into a full-blown IBS attack - fortunately I was able to hold it together until I got home but that pretty much did me in for the morning. Under Peter's orders I went back to bed until noon, and did no chores whatsoever the rest of the day - no laundry, no dishes, no cooking, no nothing. Except sittin' and knittin'. What can I say, sometimes the man makes a lot of sense. :)

So here then is the product of today's knitting, about 8 hours' worth. We're now well into the 2nd ball of yarn and at about 12 1/2 inches in length. Pattern is working beautifully and I am counting and double-counting as I go - count the stitches, mark the row, check and double-check. I've found rather than having the pattern steps go K row, P row, Pattern row, K row, it's easier (for me) to track it as P row, Pattern row, K row, K row. I know, it looks like the same thing. But it's not - this way, I'm always ending on the 2 K rows and starting on the P row. Seems to be working.

I have decided to keep the shawl for "home" knitting only as I don't want to take chances with it in the lunchroom at work or in the Doctor's office. I'll take my socks along for travel knitting instead so I can keep moving on them.

So, opening weekend I would call fairly successful - not quite as far along as I had planned but still plenty of progress and plenty of time to go.

See you on Day 4.

Pride Goeth Before a Fall

Dang and double-dang. Started back up on the Olympic shawl, did three pattern repeats, put it down for a tea break and saw that I had somehow added/dropped a row and the whole blasted pattern had reversed on me. Frog frog frog back to zero because it's impossible to tell which row is which (at least for me). Taking a short lunch break and will re-cast-on and start again. It's only about 7 hours work lost. I have time. I'm not worried. But I am annoyed, because this probably happened last night when I decided, "Oh, I'll just finish this ball of yarn out before I go to bed" and was knitting tired. Dang.

So I will post a new picture later, but it will probably look a lot like the previous one. Dang.

Knit-Lympics Day 1

The Knitting Olympics has begun! Day One (today), I treated myself to a day off from work so I could be ready to go when they lit the flame. Which, I thought, was at the very beginning, when buddy smote the anvil and flames came out, at just after 2 p.m. Eastern time. WRONG! The actual flame-lighting was not until about 5:30 Eastern. D'oh! But, flame is flame and I started at 2, as per the venerable Harlot's very fair standardized starting time. Go Harlot. :)

So, here we see the product of Day One knitting. Slightly less than one whole ball of the divine Alpaca Peru, which equals a 5-knit-row border edge and 12 pattern repeats of the oh-so-pretty Feather and Fan. You can't see the detail very well here, but trust me - the pattern is working and the holes are not big gaping maws like the 8mm swatch was. 5mm is just right - keeping the pattern dainty and the overall fabric drape-y. Measured, this 1-ball section is about 16" wide x 7" long. 16" width is a tad narrow but I can live with it, and 7" x 10 balls = 70" overall length, which will be quite nice, I think.

The pattern is not as difficult as I thought, but I really have to be careful about keeping track of which row I'm on - I lost my place a couple of times (dang telephone!) and had to really analyze the fabric to see where I was. It seems to have worked. Oh, and I had one moment about halfway in where my 18-stitch pattern section mysteriously shrunk to 16 stitches, but I fudged it and now can't see the fudge so it's all good. I think what may have happened was that I had done an extra K2TOG on the previous pattern row and not noticed it on the knit and purl rows. But, like I say, I can't find the error or the fix now, so no worries. It may show up later after blocking... which reminds me, how does one go about blocking an Alpaca feather & fan shawl? Advice, points to links, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Tomorrow I hope to get another full ball done, but have many household-type chores and things to take care of also. Imagine wanting food and clean clothes! (me, not the family - they're old enough and ugly enough to fend for themselves). Yeah, I think I'll bake some bread first thing in the morning and then I'll have it for snacking later in the day. Good plan.

How's your Olympic knitting (if any) coming along?

Goodnight Bloglanders!

It's Knitting Olympics time - almost!

So here we are, less than 24 hours from the start of the Olympics (Knitting and the usual winter-y type). I'm psyched, I'm ready, I can't wait to start!


Here is a picture of my Olympic project yarn, all balled up and ready to go. At the risk of repeating myself, it's Alpaca Peru, it's a gorgeous heathered red, and so SO soft. I'll be knitting a Feather and Fan shawl. For additional inspiration, in the top right-hand corner of the picture you can see the feet and stick part of my photo of George Armstrong. George is a veteran of the NHL, who was Captain of the much-despised Toronto Maple Leafs. BUT - I don't hold that against him, because he's become a kind of model for the protagonist of my novel-in-progress. I will say no more because this is not a writing blog, it's a knitting blog. And besides, we were talking Olympics here! But George watches over me, is the point.

So, on we go. In my enthusiasm for the Knitting Olympics, I'm on three separate but compatible teams. Buttons as we go are:

Team Canada, of course. I was born, raised, born again, laid down, and have lived my whole life here. Honestly, I've only left the country once, for a weekend. In Michigan. Don't ask. So, Team Canada.

Next we have the irresistably charming Team Wales. Their indomitable spirit and very loose requirements for membership made me want to join immediately. Plus, my grandmother's maiden name was Welsh. So there.

And finally, in a salute to my compatriots of Team Bombshelter of the Labatt 24-Hour Relay (aka "The Pirates"), I have gleefully signed up to be a member of Team Drunken Pirate. Need I say more? Oh, I suppose so. ARRRR!

Bad team-knitter that I am, I've lost the links to the various teams and am too lazy to look them up. Go to the "official" Knitting Olympics site (click the button at the top) and that should lead you to them. Or Google or something. Whatever. This is about knitting, not bloody HTML prowess!

Now, a bit of non-Olympic content. I finally tracked down an actual print pattern for some slippers to be made of the now-discontinued White Buffalo yarn. The only problem is, they're itty-bitty "sockette" style. So I'm going to have to use my newfound sock-knitting prowess (ooh, two "prowess"-es in one post!) and give the poor buggers some ankles. Because really, the whole point of slippers (for me) is to keep the ankles warm. But that will be after the Olympics. *sigh*

Also post-Olympics, I will be making a hat for my daughter, Gloria (say hi, Gloria!) who may actually be reading this blog now, so I shouldn't cuss. Gloria is a very pretty about-to-be 13 year old redhead and loves pink, so I was thrilled to find this:

It's Tosca by Lang, gorgeous stuff, self-striping, very soft and very very warm. This is a shade-card picture from the Yarn Forwardwebsite (where I got the yarn, they are IMO the best LYS in Ottawa), the pinks are a little different in person. There's some very pale and some almost-purple in there. It will be a very pretty hat. I made one for me (and a scarf) at Christmastime of this yarn in a black-red-green-gold stripe and it's terrific. I must post pictures of those.

So, Olympic knitting is ready to roll and post-Olympic knitting is all queued up too. Dang, I'm organized! And tired too - I've been fighting the Tyrolean Death Flu that seems to be oozing and hacking its way around my office. But I've started training for the NCM 1/2 marathon in May and I'm nothing if not stubborn. More on that another time. Goodnight fellow-knitters, goodnight Bloglanders, goodnight Gloria and goodnight John-Boy. Yes, I'm old enough to remember the Waltons BEFORE they had a friggin' cellphone commercial. That is just SO wrong!!!!

Enough. Goodnight.

I am a sock knitter!

Yes, they're done, they're done, and they're warm and wonderful - see Peter's happy feet in my first-ever pair of knitted socks! (See also he had his Habs scarf draped over his lap - he wears it to watch the games, and it works - they won!)

Five minutes after this photo was taken, I was starting on a pair for myself. :) And I have more planned - the current pair will be Shetland Chunky (like Peter's), then I have some gorgeous Mission Falls in a pumpkin-y colour (worsted weight), then some "Marble" DK and finally some unpronounceable Italian stuff that jumped in my hand at Yarn Forward before Christmas that takes 2.25mm needles - itty bitty bitty!

I figure if I keep working down in gauge as I go, the itty-bitty ones will not seem as scary as they do now. And, I'll have four pairs of socks. Bonus. I'm actually really looking forward to the "Marble" ones as it's a very pretty pink-white-grey mix and a supersoft acrylic.

In other WIP-news, progress is being furthered on my First-Ever-Sweater (which, you may recall, has been in progress since Christmas night). I'm now 1/3 done the 2nd sleeve and will be spending a couple hours on it tonight - might even git'er done if I work fast. Then will come the putting-together, which has me a bit intimidated, I admit. But I have a Harmony guide with a good section on raglan sleeve assembly, so maybe it won't be so bad.

The Harmony guide was actually a birthday present for my neice, who wants to learn to knit. YAY! But she has no time until the school year ends (really, like NONE, which is sick... when I was in high school I had all kinds of free time. Kids have to work too hard at school now, it's not right. End rant). So sometime in the early summer we will have a learn-to-knit aunt/neice day. Should be fun.

I also had to frog the Dragonfly shawl for my sister, because I ran out of the ribbon yarn, and - you guessed it - discontinued. Not to mention danged expensive. So. It's a dragonfly scarf now, 20 sts wide on a 10mm needle but tapered to a point on each end (well, it will be, when I get to the other end). Picture a disco-style priest's stole and you've come close to the concept. This will require photos, I'm sure.

And for travel knitting, I've got a pair of bootie slippers going for Mom, who's going on a cruise and might possibly need warm slippers in her air-conditioned cruise-ship stateroom. *ahem* I'm not bitter. I hope she and Dad have a wonderful time. I'll just be glad when they go so I don't have to listen to the countdown every stinkin' day! (No really, I'm not bitter...)

Next up will be more coffee-people-wristers, and a stripy-poncho for a co-worker's little girl, and Dad's cardigan needs to get underway soon too. BUT - not 'til after the Knitting Olympics! It is my plan to post a WIP-progress photo each day of the Olympics.

Until then, I have a sweater to finish. And a couple miles to kill on the treadmill. Did I mention I'm training for a 1/2 marathon this Spring? Yeah, starting today. Get my butt off the couch and exercise more than the knitting muscles. Wish me luck.