Happy Mother's Day from head to toe!

Happy Mother's Day to all knitfolk and bloglanders! It was a good knitting-week (we will not speak of hockey, hockey is now dead to us until the fall), and I have actual Finished Objects - woohoo!

First finished object, though, there is no picture. The shawl for Peter's Mom, which she loved, and which was the perfect colours on her. yeah, no picture. My bad. Trust me, it's pretty on her. Take the colours from the WIP picture and blow it up to the size of Mom's shawl and you got it. So. Onward!

I finished the first chemo cap for the Yarn Forward contest / fundraiser last night, and dropped it off today - but AHA! I remembered to take a picture first! So, here is a (I think) pretty funky and just plain pretty cap, in Eden which is a bamboo yarn, feels like silk and is both warm and really girly. :)

Funny thing about this picture though - that's not a head model the hat is on. It's an upside-down teddy bear, affectionately known as "Football". Football has been with me since I was 13 years old (Christmas gift, IIRC), and has seen me through many difficult times. I thought it appropriate to instill some of his positive karma in the hat before sending it on its way.

Now here, we have two pictures of my right foot. You will notice my foot is wearing a new sock, which was actually not accounted for in the massive WIP listing from last week. But it was in the car and got worked on at the doctor's office and at Tulipfest where I was volunteering today, and then well... I had to finish it. The yarn is Marble, 100% acrylic and mighty nice stuff to work with. As you can see it's self-striping, with very subtle changes, and there's a grey marl running through it too which further softens the colours. These are to be bedsocks for me because my feet get cold at night. Pay no attention to the lumpy bit at the heel, I mucked up the turning a bit but the sock is still super-comfy. The pattern is "Socks in Three Sizes" by Joan Fernbach, which I found on knitting.about.com - though of course I tweaked it a wee bit to custom-fit me.

You know what I notice though? No matter how much weight I have lost, I still have "cankles". *sigh* So be it.

Also well underway is Dad's cardigan-front part 2, about 30 rows to go and it's done. And Mom's poor wee orange sock is coming, but it appears to be at the black hole stage. This too shall pass.

And tomorrow is Monday - and May is now half over! EEEK! Seriously, someone has to slow this calendar down; in three months we'll be coming BACK from our Manitoulin vacation. For which, incidentally, I have grand knitting plans. But more on that later. To quote the great Sherriff Bart, "I always keep my audience riveted!" Or something like that. Happy Mother's Day, everybody!

Sometimes you just have to stay home

Yes, I had to take another sick day today. Dagnabit. I was having a WONDERFUL day yesterday - good weather, work-productivity-good, visit-with-Peter-coffee-break, all's right with the world kind of day. Stopped into Yarn Forward to get something (nothing specific in mind until I walked through the door, but 25% off made me pretty sure something was coming home with me!) Picked up a couple balls of camel-hair/wool blend (I'm thinking bedsocks or wristers), a skein of Briggs & Little in manly-type brown-mix colours (scarf for dad, maybe), and then realized - hey, I should get that Patons Classic Wool for that vest I want... ha! So now I have six balls of Classic Wool in "Evergreen Mix" which is TOTALLY beautiful and will make a gorgeous vest for me to wear in the fall. Yay!

So to round out my day, I figure I'll stop at Starbucks for a beverage and knit a bit on Mom's sock. Ordered an iced hazelnut soy mocha. Yummy right? Right. Except the serving staff were arsing around behind the counter and must have mixed up the order because I got regular milk. Which I can't have. Which triggered a MASSIVE IBS attack within about 15 minutes. Which ruined my evening, led to no dinner and little sleep, and me staying home from work today. Which annoyed me, but there it is. Sometimes you just have to stay home. And then, I realize just 10 minutes ago that I also missed my writers' group tonight. Dammit.

On the plus side, a whole afternoon of quality couch-time means that the shawl for Peter's Mom is done for Mother's Day (have to weave in four ends, but that won't take long). And I got to see the HBO/BBC two-part movie "Elizabeth I", starring Helen Mirren. She was awesome in the role, and I don't care what anyone says, Jeremy Irons is a damn sexy man. Of course he dies at the end of the first half (oops, sorry!), but he's terrific. Apparently he's done some books-on-tape - I will have to seek them out because he's right up there with Sean Connery and Morgan Freeman with the "all-time great male voices".

So that was my day. And now it's over and time for sleep. Goodnight bloglanders.

And in Other News...

Ok, two happy things to add.

One: Went shopping for summer pants (capri-style) yesterday and found some that fit beautifully, in - get this - size EIGHT! EIGHT EIGHT EIGHT! And also in 29" waist at a different store. Too exciting, because two years ago at this time I was up around a 14/34" waist. 40 lbs can make a big difference. Happy! (And Yumi, thanks again for shopping with me - it takes a really GOOD friend to tell you honestly how your butt looks in capri pants).

Two: I got an email today from The Harlot. JOY! I had sent her an email on Wednesday about how much I really enjoyed her latest book (and, well, everything she writes, basically), and she wrote me back, with compliments no less! Again I say, JOY! A little reminder there, that it's always nice to tell people you appreciate them - but it's double-nice when they appreciate you right back! Have you told anyone how great they are recently? Go do it now. It doesn't even have to be me.

A good weekend of knitting...

Nothing like a weekend of lots o'knitting to motivate a blog update. Well, that and Tara saying, "hey, there's not much on your blog lately!" Hi Tara - good to see you this afternoon. And Justine and Ginger too, if you're reading this. And hi also to the Cyberccino ladies from Friday night! What the heck - hi everyone in blogland!

So, time for some visual content, right? Hang on, I'll go take some pictures... ok. Here it is in all its glory - or shame, depending on your viewpoint. All my current WIPs, in no particular order:

1. Chemo cap, in "Eden" bamboo yarn, for the Yarn Forward chemo cap drive/contest. I love the cheerfulness of the variegated yarn and the hot pink band sets it off well. This is close to done but I need to get DPNs in the right size to do the crown decreases, which I totally forgot to do when I was at the store today, so... maybe later in the week.






2. Moose scarf. This is from a dishcloth pattern that I thought would be fun knitted into a scarf as a repeating motif. I haven't finished the first repeat yet but I like the look of it so far. The yarn is suffolk wool from Freshisle Fibers, nice stuff.









3. Socks for Mom - also the "Justsocks" KAL. This is sock 1 of 2, done on 2 circs (first time with this technique and I like it so far. Just turned the heel on this one. These are supposed to be for Mother's Day but I can only knit so fast -- hopefully will get at least this one finished with an IOU for the mate. These are in Jawoll cotton.






4. Socks for me! This picture goes a little neon-y, but the colours are purple, blue and green. 2nd sock at the heel, need to finish soon so I can (hopefully!) wear them for the 1/2 marathon which is in three weeks... oh crap. I am SO not ready for a half! Ah well, I'll do my best. At least the socks will be cute. :) Jawoll superwash.








5. Triangle shawl, also for me. Finally dug out the Fleece Artist "curlylocks" that I bought last year and started this up, and it's so pretty! I'm loving this and expect to wear it a LOT this summer. Nice cool water colours. Yum.









6. Triangle shawl, for Peter's Mom. Mother's Day is next week. This is a quick knit, in LB Homespun, so should be able to make that deadline. Spring-y type colours.










7. Father's sweater! Yes, it's still in progress but finally progress is being made. Here is the back, the right-front panel (with buttons), and the start of the left-front panel (with buttonHOLES, which are a royal pain in the patoot but an integral part of the cardigan process.) This WILL be done for Father's day.



































8. Last but not least, an actual Finished Object - yes, another triangle shawl, this one for Mom, also in LB Homespun, which keeps her warm at the computer. See, it's on the computer chair waiting for her.

FO's without pictures: N8an's slippers and Teresa's shawl. Gifted without being shot first (if you know what I mean!)

So as you can see, I have been busy with lots of knitting, but seem to have "start-itis" and not doing so well at finishing. But now you can all bug me and say, 'Hey, are those things done yet? Where are the FO pictures, huh?'. It might work.

Ok, I NEED batteries!

For the camera, that is. I have stuff to take pictures of, but no cash for batteries. Ah well, the tax refund will be coming soon... I hope!

Recent FO's:

1) the "mystery present", which was a shawl for Teresa, now on the road to B.C. and I miss her already. Fortunately, there is a fair bit of the yarn left, so I may make myself a scarf or shawl of it as a way to stay connected to my friend. Warm things are good for that.

2) a big-yarn, big-needle shawl for Mom - I used up the leftover LB Homespun from her Christmas shawl and made her a mini-triangle shawl to keep on her computer chair. It gets quite chilly here in the computer room so she really appreciated it. And I appreciated the break, because lately I've been doing a lot of socknitting on weeny needles!

3) socks! I finished my chunky socks and they are SO warm and comfy - they've pretty much replaced my slippers for 'round the house wear. I need to make more of those, soon.

Current OTN:
1) N8an's slippers. The second one is *thisclose* to being done, and I hope to present the pair to him soon. I'm thinking probably a drive-by 'a la Alison', drop them off to him at work. That's always fun.

2) Dad's sweater. *sigh* This poor neglected object. Back and half the front is done, and I could start the other side of the front but I'm stymied by the buttonhole process. I really don't want to screw that up and I'm afraid of it. Dang buttonholes. I may bite the bullet and start it anyway...

3) socks! Socks for me (the 2nd purple-globe, at the heel stage), and socks for mom (most of the first leg done).

4) chemo cap for the Yarn Forward contest. In "Eden" which is a bamboo yarn. This, in particular, I want to get pictures of when it's done because the colours are GORGEOUS.

5) headscarf for me, also in Eden, in Red Wings red and white. Go Wings!

6) the Manitoulin Moose scarf. Almost done the first repeat of the pattern. I think it will look well with my blue fall/spring coat.

7) a fuzzy thing. It may be a small shawl or it may be a front-of-pillow cover, depending on how much yarn it eats. It's Mamma Mia which is FUZZY but knits up dangerously fast. 15mm needles.

Next projects:

1) another sweater for me in Bernat Denimstyle, which is a cotton/acrylic blend. Blue-jeans blue, very soft and pretty.
2) more socks! I've got two more balls of sock yarn waiting in the wings, one multi-turquoise and one multi-muted-greens. Love socks!

Then, I guess, time to start on Christmas presents and charity knitting. These things come up fast!!!

As does game time. 20 minutes to puck drop - I need to get myself organized. Go Wings!

Just a wee change...

A discussion on one of the knitting lists recently was about knitting as a means of stress relief. Since it is HUGELY for me, I decided to change my header here to reflect my response there.

So, this blog, like my knitting, is now

"an island of stillness in a river of crazy".

I'm still here!

Yes, I'm still here. The past few weeks have been - interesting. I've been stressed, I've been sick, I've pared back drastically on all non-essential activities. Things are getting better but sometimes it seems like one forward, two back (and no, that's not a stitch pattern). So. Not much blogging, but like I said, starting to get a handle on life again.

In the meantime, I have been knitting - one of those things that keeps me sane (or as close to it as I ever get, right?). Dad's cardigan has a back, two pockets, and one front panel. And buttons - I bought buttons and he likes them. Woohoo! My purple-globe sock #2 is about 2" away from turning the heel. My chunky sock #2 is about 2" down the foot (so, about 3" to go to the toe, give or take). N8an's slippers are 1 down, 1 being cast on tonight. And the surprise was finished today. (Thank heavens, because I was starting to worry I wouldn't finish it in time - but I did. Yay!) My Manitoulin Moose Scarf is waiting still, but I'll probably start that soon. I do need some mindless-knitting for the start of the playoffs on the weekend too... time to check the list for a suitable project. Maybe a spring shawl for me.

No pictures of ANYTHING though, because the blasted camera has dead batteries - again. Stupid dead batteries. I'll buy some on payday and will post pictures, I promise!

So yes, I'm still here, still going along but not quite optimal performance. All I can say is thank heavens for the knitting - honestly, it really does relieve stress and make me feel useful and productive when everything else is buggered up.

To paraphrase John Bingham, "knit on, friends..."

Still no pictures, but progress...

Eeny-weeny sock #1 is DONE. I have dubbed these the "globe socks" because the purple/blue/green looks like islands and continents floating in an ocean. Very cool. BUT - no pictures until sock #2 is done. That's the rule. So.

Front-right panel of dad's cardigan is also done. Yay! Weirdness around figuring the neck/armhole decreases, but with reassurance from Kelly at Yarn Forward, got it sorted. She was very amused that I had calculated out and written down which rows would be decrease rows. I'm thinking, "doesn't everyone do it this way?" I guess not. Meh, it works for me. So, back and half the front done. This thing is starting to look like a sweater. Cool.

N8an's slippers are coming more slowly, but I am almost at the colour-change on the first one and they go very quick from that point downward (or is it onward? anyway, toward the toe). Good computer knitting, should have them done in a week or two.

And the surprise-can't-talk-about-it-here is well underway too. hee hee hee - secrets are fun!

Oh, and I started Mom's mother's day socks (well, sock, since I do one at a time). I'm using a neat pattern from Sockbug which you can find here, and it's my first experience with a sock on two circulars. A little weird but it's good to learn new things. Plus it's my first Knitalong so that's fun too.

Oddly, though, today I did no knitting at all. Not a stitch. But I had a great day of hockey-related fun with Bundy & Kid (and Peter, of course), which was very very nice. And tomorrow I'm on a vacation day. Sweet. More sock!

Ooh, two in two days!

Posts, that is. One FO, being Karen's Dragonfly scarf. It's pretty and sparkly and blue and now DONE. Woohoo, only ... well, let's just say more than two months since her birthday. It's slow love, what are you gonna do? And the only reason it's done now is because I was so engrossed catching up on knitting newsgroups I just kept reading and knitting. Now it's 8:30 and I didn't do my homework (Gloria, if you're reading this, you should know that Mommy was ALWAYS very bad about doing her homework. Don't be like me in that, ok hon?). So tomorrow night, no newsgroups, double homework, and no hockey game until the homework is done.

Ye gods, I'm punishing myself. Oh well, better me than someone else. But now, see (swerve back to knitting topic), I have no computer-knitting project. I'll have to check the list and find something that doesn't take too much attention. Maybe some of the slippers that have been promised. Yeah, slippers for N8an - I'm only three weeks past HIS birthday now. If it's inside a month it doesn't count as late, right?

Pictures of scarf-on-Karen tomorrow if she'll let me. If not, no pictures. She may be smaller than me but she can still beat the crap out of me if she wants to - it's a sister thing.

Oh, and update on the Knit.1 / Freshisle Fibers shawl pillow: that pattern and I just don't get along. I need a different pattern for this project. Something relatively pretty but with no purl-side yarnovers. Those are just weird and wrong.

Long time no blog... but look!

Look - it's a SWEATER! Yes, my first-ever-sweater, for me, by me, but not on me. At least not for the picture (I hate having my picture taken). Trust me, it does fit beautifully, but since it is now SPRING (JOY!!!), it's too warm to wear. D'oh! It will be packed away for Fall once I'm done showing it off.

What I learned from knitting a sweater:

1. Buy an extra ball of yarn, more than the pattern calls for. I rushed out on a Sunday afternoon to get enough to finish the last 2" of the turtleneck. Thank HEAVENS it's a variegated yarn - if I'd had to match a dye lot, I'd have been toast.
2. If the seam doesn't quite line up right, but the pieces matched before sewing, don't "jiggle" the seam to make it match. The reason it's not lining up is because you're trying to seam the arm to the body. Since sweaters are not meant to be worn with the arm attached to the body, this is a Bad Idea. (2b: it takes just as long to rip out a careful seam as it does to put one in). (2c: check your body parts before sewing seams).
   
3. Uh... 3. Yeah. 3 would be, "hey, look, I actually CAN knit a sweater! yay!" Or in other words, don't be afraid of a HUGE pile o'yarn and a pattern with new stuff in it. You can do it.
   
4. Have other projects to work on to take breaks from the sweater. This reduces stress. Preferably though, don't make one of them another sweater. D'oh!

I'm pleased with it and got loads of compliments - this is a Good Thing, because I do admit to being a bit of a needy knitter - admire me, tell me how wonderful the thing I made is, ooh and ahh. Really. That was a lot of work and I need to feel loved. :)

So now that the First-Ever-Sweater is out of the way, current WIPs are:

• Dad's cardigan. Back done, pockets done, first front piece underway. So far so good. Won't be ready for the birthday, but definitely for Father's Day (which is air-conditioning season so it's practical too!)
• Eeny-weeny sock #1. These are the funky blue/green/purple socks for me, which are knitting up in the COOLEST way, but I'm not taking a picture until I finish at least one. Then I'll have to make the other one. Y'all are keeping me honest here.
• Karen's scarf. Yes, I'm not working on it much. I'm also not blogging or newsgroup-posting much. There's a connection. It'll get done.
• A new thing, just started this week, but I can't say what it is because it's a surprise for someone who reads this. I won't even say who. Neener!

And, calling to me from the wings, a pattern for a travel pillow/shawl in the latest Knit.1 - it calls for baby-pink LB "cashmere" but I'm thinking it'll work up nice in that Freshisle Fibers suffolk wool I have. Then I could have a pillow for the trip up to Manitoulin this summer, where I will undoubtedly buy more Freshisle Fibers suffolk wool. I want to meet this lady in person. :)

In fact, I've been such a good Do-bee this weekend (no, really, I even packed away my winter clothes and got out the summer stuff and tidied my bookshelves and cleaned off my desk and found my floor!), I may just start that shawl this afternoon. It's a gorgeous sunny day and I feel like starting something new. Again.

Oh, and I worked on my novel for two hours this week. Progress!

I'm still here...

And still working away at the "multiple WIP reality" (someone else's blog, but I like the phrase) that is my life. Here's my life, in no particular order:

1) work. Spring is coming and in the construction industry that means we're busy. On the road, on the AutoCAD, on my knees cleaning out files to make room for more files. Busy busy busy. It's all good. Did I mention I got a raise last week and that they love me? All good.

2) Peter. Well, actually, he's #1 but I see more of work than I do of him. For now. Things are rolling along on the "get a house, get married" plan and while we're not quite on the planned midsummer schedule, it does look do-able for before Christmas. Stay tuned. Things are getting good.

3) writing. The novel has taken a rather dramatic shift in focus (I may have mentioned this before) so I'm reworking characters and figuring out what my "story arc" is. (Don't know what a story arc is? Me neither. But it sounds good, don't it?). Not much actual writing-writing, but a lot of prep work. This is also good.

4) fitness! Yes, I am sticking to my workout schedule fairly well. Except last week I overdid it on the cross-training and actually blew both my quads - 3 days of "it hurts to walk, sit, stand, drive, anything" owie owie ow. All better now and treadmill time and pace is increasing steadily. I am very psyched for the 1/2 at the end of May but a bit worried about how fast it's coming up! On the plus side, I am now OFFICIALLY less than 150 lbs, for more than a week. I broke through. Yay me!

5) Finally, knitting. I've got all but about 5 1/2" of dad's cardigan back finished and it looks great. Small mishap with measuring not looking right and a day of "oh crap, I'm gonna have to rip this back, aren't I?" But no! Measure twice, cut once! Re-measured dad and the sweater back, and it looks like coming out right. So I won't need to frig around with the sleeves after all. Bonus. And... drumroll please... I've put together my Shetland Chunky sweater and am knitting up the turtleneck. I expect to finish it Thursday night and wear it Friday. Deadlines are cool. Karen's scarf is still IP as is my first-ever eeny weeny sock (which I'm loving the colours of!). Pictures of all this good stuff on the weekend.

And finally finally, I woke up this morning with a sinus infection and have been on the good drugs all day. Now I'm sipping the last of the Neo-Citran and tucking myself into bed. Right... now. Well, after I post this. Then. yeah.

Goodnight Bloglanders and Knitfolk, and other special people.

Time for crappy pictures...

Because I haven't much clever or interesting to say, but as Billy Crystal said, "a writer writes - always." (Screw you, Billy, a writer wrote that for you!)

Ahem. Right, knitting stuff. First up is the Dragonfly Scarf (formerly the Dragonfly Shawl, but it got downsized due to running out of a discontinued and very expensive yarn). It's for my sister's birthday present - her birthday was in January, and she picked this yarn. This is "computer knitting", very handy for things like waiting for Blogger to load the dang photos. So. WIP #1. It's about 2/3 done, I think - hard to tell because the yarn ball doesn't seem to be shrinking much and the ribbon yarn is flat. But it's shiny and pretty, no?

WIP #2 is Dad's Cardigan. This is the "Service Cardigan" from Patons book Forever Favorites. See the picture in the picture? What the man is wearing. I don't knit for little kids. I'm showing a flash and a non-flash picture because the darker one shows the picture better but the lighter one shows the stitch pattern better (it's a broken rib variation). Neither shows the correct colour of the yarn, which is a blue-grey (aka "Air Force Blue"). This is a bit of a joke actually because Dad's the only one of the men in his family who did not serve in the forces, but those that did were Army or Navy. Air Force is my Mom's side (granddad, actually). But whatever - he likes the colour! Woohoo! For those of you with conservative-style type men in the family, you know what an achievement it is to have them wear a colour. Yay!

The last picture is actually two WIPs2B - a pair of socks for Mom and a pair for me. Again, colour didn't work at all, dang it. Hers (on the left) are a very bright (like traffic cone) orange with green and pink bits. Mine (on the right) are royal blue / green / purple. Hers Jawoll Cotton, mine Jawoll Colour. I'm thinking about starting mine tonight to see how socks on eeny-weeny 2.5mm needles go (I know, I had a plan for working down through sizes in the socks. The plan is now "I want to knit the purple ones first, hush you other socks-2-B!") My gods, I'm talking to my yarn - the Harlot influence again, I suppose...

I do have a pair of wristers to finish (only an inch and a bit to go) and one sock of a pair finished, and MY sweater, and that purple poodle shawl is in the bottom of the bin somewhere too. Later. Tonight, a la Harlot, I'm going to follow my muse and start a weeny little sock. Wish me luck!

And now, for something completely different...

Yeah, so it's Python. They're witty. But what I mean by that headline is this: Very Little Knitting Content Today. You've been warned.

Other bits of life are getting interesting and I want to remember this day of renewed enthusiasm, so I'm writing it down (posting it up? whatever).

Last night at writing group, I got some much-needed feedback on my book-in-progress (yes, I'm writing a book; see? told you I was multitalented. Ha.). Basically, two of the three people I respect the most in the group said, "Hey dummy, you've got a great story starting here, but it's not what you think it is. Dump your preconceived notions and just do what you're doing - it works." Except they said it much more nicely and with loads of encouragement - so much so that I've been able to think about little else since I left last night (sleep? What's that?). So I am absolutely cranked up about my book again (I'd been stuck for months), and want to find out where these characters are going to go. It's a really terrific feeling and I am very optimistic again. Let me say this: when a real live professional editor says "this could be saleable", I pay attention. So, the writing is finally happening again (no, blogging here is not "writing" for me, it's more "journaling" or just "rambling on about knitting and stuff.") Yay my book!

Now, today my guiding principle (a wee deck of Medicine Cards called "Just for Today", which are surprisingly helpful) was Antelope. Antelope is the Nike of medicine cards, because Antelope's message is essentially "just do it". Get off your butt and get stuff done. Oddly, that and Beaver have been coming up a lot lately (Beaver of course being the "work hard and good things will happen" card). So. Today I got back on track (so to speak) for my half-marathon training, and did 40 minutes on the treadmill. Man, it felt GOOD! I could have kept going, but one of the cardinal rules of training is knowing when to stop, so you can continue injury-free through the coming weeks/months. Sound rule, methinks. Anyway, it felt GOOD to be moving again and just spending that time with motion and music really gets the creative juices flowing so then I started thinking about the book some more and - well, let's just say that writing follows walking QUITE well. Progress is being made.

So, you're probably saying, "but, what about the knitting?" Well, the knitting has been my primary evening/weekend activity for several months now. It needs to make a little room for other things. But it's not being put away - oh no! There is lunchtime knitting, hockey knitting, doctor's appointment knitting. Things will be done, just not quite so much so fast. But, in case you're interested, I finished a hat today (except the pompom, which I'm not quite sure how to make). I'll post a picture when I figure out the pompom. And I have a half-pair of wristwarmers done (that's one warmer), and my sweater is coming along (I'm spending an hour on the sleeve as soon as I finish here), and I did finish sock #1 of my chunky socks for me (no pictures until there are two, that's my new sock rule). And tomorrow night I'm starting dad's birthday sweater, which has to be done in six weeks. Lots of knitting going on!

Ok, if you've read this far, you've earned a picture break. Here is my sister, my niece, and my brother-in-law, all wrapped up in their knit-by-me Christmas presents. What's funny is this is one of the best pictures of their family I've ever seen. My sister thinks it's awful. Meh. I win - it's being posted. Karen's Blankie, Michelle's Scarf and Wristwarmers, and David's Toronto Toque. Cute, ain't they?

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.

Swatching is good for you...

Here we see 4 hours of knitting the classic "feather and fan" pattern, in Alpaca Peru on 8mm needles. This is my swatch for the Knitting Olympics and it doesn't work. Dang. After consulting with the nice LYS-lady, I will re-swatch on 5mm needles and add an extra pattern repeat. If that doesn't work, I will re-swatch on 4mm needles and cuss a lot. But I will be ready for the Olympics. The pleasant surprise of this is that FnF is really simple and relaxing to do, once you get into the rhythm of it. Yay for that!


In other news, Jen's Baby Blanket is officially a Finished Object! Here's an up-close of it, showing the yarn label ("Melody" by Patons) and the seed stitch which is pretty cushy in this yarn.










Here's a shot of the whole blanket, draped over the loveseat in the sunroom - note that it is in fact sunny! Saturday was a lovely day. The yellow doesn't show very well in the pictures but it's a true lemon-yellow yellow, which looks like a very small box of crayons with the red and blue. I love it, I hope Jen does too.







Also in FOG-land, here's the hat I made for Peter's mom (aka MIL2B). She declared it "gorgeous" and her "favourite colour" (which one, says me, it's variegated for heaven's sake!). Happy MIL2B makes for happy DH2B makes for happy me. And I'm off the hook knitting for her now until the fall. YAY!

Current WIPs are:

1. Peter's sock #2 (half done)
2. baby-blue wristers for Julie's niece (half done)
3. Karen's "dragonfly" shawl (uh... 1/3 done? hard to tell with a triangle shawl)
4. my sweater... my poor neglected sweater which keeps getting pushed aside for other things. I will finish it, I will I will. And in time to wear during this winter, too. I hope.

For tonight, though - no knitting. Maybe none tomorrow either as I seem to have developed tendonitis in my right wrist from a combo of knitting/shoveling/lifting heavy things on the weekend. Dang again. And typing is NOT helping matters, so that's enough blogging for today.

Someone send me a comment, I'm lonely! :)

So many WIPs, so little cake...

I made a Bundt Cake, lemon-poppyseed. It's very yummy and almost all gone. Whilst waiting for the cake to bake on Friday night, I finished these wristwarmers, which are a variegated brown, for my Starbucks friend. (Here they are modelled by Dad, who has larger hands than I!) When I delivered them, the response was "Are You Crazy? You made these for ME?" Very cool.. . and now the rest of the Starbucks people want them. (sigh) So I need to make a pair of Medium and of Small, so everyone is covered (they will share, they say). Still , very satisfying.

Saturday / Sunday WIPs are shown here. The purply-blue thing is half a hat done in Shetland Chunky in shaker rib stitch. Yes, that shaker-knit sweater fetish I had in the 80s has come back to haunt me. Tricky to learn but not too difficult once you get into the rhythm of it. Speaking of rhythm, Wilson Pickett died last week... that sucks on so many levels. I am very pleased that I got to see him perform once live (at Bluesfest here in Ottawa) - on the same bill with Ike Turner, no less! Wilson F'n Pickett. RIP, big guy.

Sorry, digressed there for a minute. Also shown here are yet another pair of wristwarmers (needing to be seamed, but done knitting), in basic black for Julie's son Joseph (currently at Disneyworld/land, one or the other, where you don't need wristwarmers). These were dinner-and-hockey knitting while spending the evening with our favourite couple, Bundy & Kid (aka Jason and Yumi). Yumi/Kid has graciously agreed to be my matron of honour at the wedding this summer, and Bundy has agreed to be Master of the BBQ. This wedding will be awesome!

Finally, here we see Sleeve #1 of my (MY) sweater, finished increasing and needing about 4" before I start the decreases. Or maybe I've started them already - I need to check the pattern. Anyway, I'm loving how the variegated yarn works up differently in different parts of the sweater; check the cool diagonal-stripy thing on the cuff and the big diamond in the middle (which, if I recall correctly, hits right around the elbow-ish). The whole thing put together may look rather odd but I love it and it'll be warm, so F8ck 'em if they can't take a joke.

Speaking of jokes and funnies, I have to scan a couple of New Yorker page-a-day cartoons and get them up here, very funny knitting-related 'toons. And this afternoon I saw the weirdest/funny/cool movie, "Elvis has left the building". Random acts of death and comedy. Elvis impersonators. John Corbett (DROOL!). Lots of fun.

Right. Enough for today. Tomorrow here in Canada it is Federal Election Day. So remember, if you don't vote on Monday, you lose your right to complain on Tuesday. That's all I'm gonna say on that.

I am a (knitting) Olympian!

Ok, this post is a mishmash of other-place posts, so apologies if you've seen it before - I'm lazy in some things but since this is a record for me, I want to record the important stuff!

First - the Knitting Olympics. All hail the Harlot, and her twisted, enabling genius. :)
She has created, for our pleasure (or torture), the Knitting Olympics. Complete with logo!




Here was my initial reaction:
I am *so* in for this! What a terrific idea - thank you, Stephanie, for once again inspiring me! I will, for the Knitting Olympics, make my first-ever Feather and Fan shawl, out of "Alpaca Peru". I like the idea of a shawl for this, kind of like the towel around the neck or blanket over the shoulders at the end of an athletic event. Symbolic and warm and so so soft... wow, I'm looking forward to the Olympics even more now! Although I'm not sure how I'll do during the hockey games - I may need to switch off to something simpler whilst we Canadians capture double-gold hockey sticks again! :)

Here was my super-enthused public reaction:
The Harlot has struck again - she's posted a challenge to all to participate in the "Knitting Olympics"! One project, 16 days!

I'm "competing" in the Shawl event, with my first-ever Feather and Fan. There seems to be a big field in the Sock event, several Sweater athletes, and some crazy full-size Blanket/Afghan ultra-knitters. This could be VERY interesting, and fun too!

I may have to break the yarn diet to grab a couple more balls of Alpaca Peru - it's only 109 yards/ball and I have 4 balls... probably need a couple more? I'll have to go see Louise and Kelly (aka the LYS Wise Women).

And here is today's development:
Ooh man am I excited! I had decided for the Knitting Olympics to make a feather and fan shawl of Alpaca Peru. I had four balls in stash. A shawl will take 10 balls and no way to match the dye lot. This stuff is expensive... ouch!

So I pondered, and I argued with myself, and I finally made up my mind to just treat myself and buy 10 balls on the next paycheque. And then... and then... and then I checked eBay. And found 10 balls of Alpaca Peru at less than half retail price. *oh my!* I bid. I got the high bid. The auction closed less than an hour and a half later. YAY! I won I won I won! And then... and then... and then the nice lady who is selling the yarn says (via email), "oh by the way my hubby works right around the corner from you, how's about I get him to drop it off to you and save having to pay shipping and Pay Pal charges?"

SWEEET! My Olympic shawl-to-be is being delivered to my door on Friday. I am PSYCHED - this must be a good sign, right? Ooh, it's gonna be Pretty, and Warm, and Fuzzy, and WARM, and YAY!

SUCH a terrific end to the day. I can't wait to swatch (but I must, because I have 3 pair of wristwarmers and 1/3 of a baby blanket to finish first). But OOOOH BABY! Score!

Finally, here is a picture of that same eBay yarn. Isn't it pretty? Mmm... alpaca-y. So soft, so warm, so decadent, so - CHEAP! Woohoo! Honestly, I paid more for the Moda Dea "Aerie" for the Blue Fuzzy Thing than I will be paying for this. And this will probably last longer, wear better, and be far superior in every way. Assuming, of course, that I can figure out the darn pattern. *ahem*

I will remember to swatch... the swatch is my friend.

Non-knitting content - need to vent

I just got home from work. Take off coat and boots, dump bag, pick up mail. Phone rings. Answer. Voice on the other end says, "Is that the damn housekeeper?"

I'm flabbergasted. This is my grandfather on the phone. Yes, he's old. Yes, he's crotchety. BUT:

a) we don't have, and never have had, a housekeeper;
b) since when is swearing at someone an appropriate way to start a telephone conversation? and;
c) I'm nearly 35 years old. He should be able to tell my voice by now.

I was so furious, and hurt, I just handed the phone off and made a cup of tea, then came down to the computer. I feel like crying. I feel like calling him back and telling him off. I feel angry.

That's it. I'm going to drink my tea and as soon as the red mist of rage clears from my eyes, I'm going to knit something. That's all.

Sock and scarf

Here it is, in all its chunky glory, the First Sock!
In photo #1, you see it at final-fitting stage on Peter's foot, with the toe all kitchenered up but not yet darned in and trimmed. Perfect fit.











Photo #2 here is the sock alone - note the extra length in the foot (8 1/2 inches instead of the usual 5 3/4), and how beautifully rounded the kitchenered toe came out. :) I really am impressed with that technique.










Photo #3 is Peter's leg again - here we were making sure that the ribbing was snug enough but not too snug. This custom-fitting business is finicky, but totally worth it. Next to the foot is a 'store-bought' sock of the type Peter prefers - but the new one wins, it's actually warmer! Woohoo!








Finally, the OFA Red Scarf. OFA is Orphan Foundation of America, who do good things for kids without families. Their website is at http://www.orphan.org . This red scarf will be winging its way to a student in post-secondary education as a Valentine's gift. It's long enough and wide enough to keep the neck warm or even to wrap around the head - musn't let the brain freeze! It was made in garter stitch on 10mm needles of a doubled pseudomohair acrylic that's actually quite snuggly. I'm glad I made it.



I'm feeling really good about my knitting this week; the wristwarmers for my coffee-pouring friend are underway (in appropriate coffee-tones, TLC "Essentials" in "brownberry" variegated), and are perfect lunchtime knitting. The baby blanket may be finished this evening (if I'm not at the computer too long), or tomorrow latest, so I can give it to Jen at writer's group on Wednesday. Then I will start on sock #2.

New topic: should I be writing about non-knitting stuff on here? Is anyone interested in the minutiae of Kit-land? Or is it like the comedian said:

"You know who cares less about your problems and your life than you do?"
"Everybody!"

I'll have to mull on that.

Two blue hats and a long post...

Yesterday was a productive hat-day; today, we see the results - two blue hats! The one on the left is in "Aerie" by Moda Dea, about 1 1/2 balls, which was leftover from the Moebius wrap. The fuzziness shows well in the picture - it feels like a Muppet! This is for my friend Shirley at work, and it's a dang-near perfect match to her blue winter coat. I hope she likes it.

The one on the right is yet another Tim Horton's toque, and to be honest folks, I'm sick of this hat now. I've lost count of how many I have knit and even though it's quick and easy, it's grown kind of boring. So this will be the last "roll up the rim" hat for some time. However, this one was promised to my friend Sharon (also a work-friend, though she and I work in different places) before Christmas and it's long overdue. She will be pleased to see it complete at last!

Speaking of completions, I have to figure out how to set up my sidebar-thingys on here so I can list my WIPs and FOs more efficiently. So far, since Christmas I have done:

1. Hat & scarf set for me in "Tosca" by Lang (soooo yummy! I love this yarn!) - Done Dec. 29/05
2. Toque for my dear dear friend Yumi, in Patons Decor - this has all kinds of happy-tipsy New Year's Eve vibes knit into it, as I worked on it at her New Year's party and finished New Year's Day. - Done Jan. 1 /06
3. Wrist warmers for a work-friend's daughter, in "PINK" Patons Canadiana (wow, were they ever pink!) - Done Jan. 12/06
4. Sharon's hat, Patons Shetland Chunky - Done Jan. 14/06
5. Shirley's hat, Moda Dea Aerie - Done Jan. 14/06

I've also been working on a red scarf for the Red Scarf project, which will be sent to an orphan/foster care person who is now attending post-secondary education. That concept just seems right to me. The scarf is a little over 1/2 done so I must work on that and get it done quick quick. And a baby blanket for my friend Jen, in "Melody" by Patons which is FAT quick yarn! Loving the Melody!

And... SOCKS! Well, sock. Today I will finish my first-ever sock (and IMMEDIATELY get started on its mate, so as not to have fatal second-sock-syndrome). I had to rip out the heel flap / foot part the first time, and have still got two holes where I picked up the stitches the second time, but I'm just going to put in a stitch or two of darning to reinforce them and call it done. The second one will be better. These are also in Shetland Chunky and will be very VERY warm. Peter's excited about getting his socks finally.

The other WIP is my own sweater, begun on Christmas night and I keep picking away at it between other small projects. The back and front are done (and the same size - YAY!), and the first sleeve's cuff is done, ready to start the LOOOONG stretch of stockinette to get to the shoulder. I want this done by the end of the month so I can wear it in February when it's all yucky and grey out. The sweater is also (surprise, surprise!) in Shetland Chunky. I have to admit I'm getting a wee bit tired of this yarn too but I do love it. Just need to not have multiple WIPs in it at the same time, I think.

The "to be knit" list, despite 5 FOs and 4 WIPs, seems to be growing rather than shrinking. The latest project added is a shawl for my sister Karen, which we have dubbed the "dragonfly shawl" since it's in a pretty blue ribbon yarn that looks like dragonflies! Simple triangle, should be fun. So, with that added in, the current "to be knit" number is... *drumroll please*...30. Some little, some big, and yarn in hand for all but about half a dozen.

So, to quote Terence Stamp in "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert": Time is against us, and we have much to do!

Happy Sunday, Bloglanders!

A Friday Night Miracle (posted on Sunday)

Originally posted to Yahoo "KnitTalk" on Friday night:

I got home from our biweekly stitchnbitch about an hour ago and
settled in to catch up on the post-holiday posts. Grabbed my friend's
hat-in-progress from the bag to work on between page loads, etc.
Read, knit, read, knit, read AND knit, read AND knit...

WHOA! I can knit without looking! Woohooooo! Too cool, because I
was just saying to Daisy tonight that I was jealous of how she could
knit without looking (socks, even, on teeny weeny DPNs). And now here
am I knitting without looking!

Now, it's a plain knit hat on an Addi Turbo circ, but still - no
peeking! Woohoo!

This is a very cool thing and I had to share. Rock on, Knitfolk!

Now, for our Sunday content...

Yesterday I finished the front of my Shetland Chunky sweater, and - JOY! - it's the same size as the back, the armholes line up and everything. Very exciting. Wanted to start the sleeves right away but I've got some "commissions" to work on and also a baby blanket for a baby due next month. Got 1/2 of one commission done - it's a pair of wristwarmers for a little girl in Canadiana "Pink" (which is REALLY pink!) - except I don't have a little-girl sized pattern so I made the usual ones and will just get her mom to measure for me for placement of the thumb hole. I figure they will probably come close to her elbows - good to keep her warm!

The other commission is a poncho in Cottontots that I may start on later this week - it looks simple but challenging too. Will have to see. And I have a hat to finish and another one to start this week, as well as Peter's socks. Busy busy!

I'm really loving how I plan out each week's knitting projects and then (mostly) stick to that plan; I feel like I'm accomplishing a lot more. Of course I'm planning / scheduling my other "to-dos" also so the year is starting well. I even exercised four times this week. YAY!

Time for breakfast - have a groovy day, Bloglanders!

Kathy

Happy New Yarn!

er... New Year. Yeah, that's it. :)

Happy New Year, Bloglanders; I think that 2006 is going to be very good, knitwise (and purlwise, too!). All the Christmas-knit presents were well received and my neice is even making interested noises about learning to knit. Spread the skill, spread the love, thinks I! There are pictures but they're all on Peter's camera and I forgot to get the download/disc burning-thing done today but I will post photos soon. So yeah, Christmas rocked.

Christmas night I started my first sweater (first for me, and first for me, if you know what I mean)... it's a sweatshirt-style in Patons Shetland Chunky variegated and so far I love it - the back is done and the front about 1/3 done. Although I must admit that the sleeve shaping has me a little nervous because it seems a HUGE curve. Which begs the question: What the heck is a raglan sleeve anyway? 'cuz that's what these will be, apparently. Anyway, I'm not going to worry until it comes time to put it all together. Cool thing with the sweater - I learned a new decrease method involving slipping to and then knitting off a cable needle, so I'm thinking cables are not too far off in my future. Maybe. There's this vest I want to do that's got rows and rows of wee cables in it...

Also OTN during this holiday break, a hat for my good buddy Yumi (she of the Gryffindor scarf and great cleavage), which I finished today after knitting New Year's Eve happy/tipsy vibes into it at her party last night. Where, weirdly, I saw a fellow-knitter who I hadn't seen in years. World spins oddly but well, I say!

AND (drumroll please), I have started Peter's Socks. Yes, I am forgoing the "prototype pair" for me and doing his first. They're going much quicker than I thought and he loves the look of them so far. Still on the calf-ribbing, but who knows, maybe I'll turn my first heel this week. Cross your fingers. The fun part of the socks is that he is very impressed with watching me knit on DPN's, which I told him is called "wrestling the porcupine" and he agreed that was what it looks like. I like impressing him. :)

Finally, in a fit of pre-New Year's organization, I sorted the stash and made up a project list of everything that's promised, planned, and just plain looks like fun, knitwise (and purlwise) for 2006. I have 28 projects listed and yarn in hand for all but about three of them. So yarn diet starts NOW (which goes hand-in-hand with the "save money for buying the house this year) plan).

I did, however, HAVE to (no, really, I HAD to) buy 4 skeins of Tosca by Lang for a new hat/scarf combo for me, which I knit up on the day after Boxing Day. See, Peter bought me this stunning (and very very warm) new red/black winter coat, and I had no hat/scarf combo that worked with it. So I knit one. Had to be done, you understand. But seriously, that's it for buying yarn for a while... in addition to the 2 bins full of project-specific yarn, I have 2 bins full of non-project-specific yarn. Stash-shopping is the plan, methinks.

Oh, and I got a ballwinder for Christmas - YAY! (to quote Louise from Yarn Forward, who greets every statement with YAY! Louise rocks.) So all the eBay yarn and other odds 'n' sods are slowly getting unwound, untangled, undone and neatly wound up into lovely little flat cakes - which store very very nicely, BTW. Ballwinders rock.