Knitting Olympic Update: Closing Ceremony

This is how far I was last night when I decided to take a break for the sake of my right hand. The entire body and eight rows of the hood. I'm pretty proud that I made it that far by last night, I have to say, considering I had to completely start over a week ago.

I'm so geeked by how this project is turning out. I've had to do some major mathematical thinking on this one, and it's been quite a challenge, but it all seems to be working out. And it's really getting me excited to start an Arwen for myself.

So, no Knitting Olympic medal, but I'm still happy with my hard work. Next post: finished sweater!

Knitting Olympic update: Major setback

Well, I was afraid of this. I suspected that when I had to join the second of four balls of yarn at the 6 inch mark that I wouldn't have enough yarn to finish the thing. I was right.

I can't just go and get some more, either, this was yarn from a mill up north and it didn't even have a label or dye lot. There's no way I could find the exact same yarn.

The body was finished up to the underarms, one sleeve was completed and the second begun and I had to face reality. If the sweater weren't hooded, I could have made it. If the sweater didn't have yarn-eating cables, I could have made it. If I weren't knitting on too-small needles which were creating a jacket-like fabric as opposed to a sweater-like fabric ... no, I still wouldn't have made it, then.

Anyhow, I ended up ripping out the entire sweater (gripe, sob) Saturday night and starting over again with larger needles and fewer stitches. Andy and I both wanted the sweater to be oversized so she could wear it for a few years, but there just isn't the yarn. So it's going to be a few inches smaller, the fabric will be looser, and I'm just praying the yarn holds out.

I'm about four inches up the body, and I don't expect to finish it before the torch is extinguished, but I'm going to keep working as if I thought I could. I'm going to finish this race, not walk off the track, even though I know there's no way I can win. Actually, when I think about it, at least Rose will have a sweater at the end of this project. If I had just keep going in denial, I really would have been upset when that last ball ran out.

Knitting Olympic Update: 2/15

Well, friends, as of this afternoon I'm 6 inches into the body of the sweater. I've just joined the second ball of yarn. I have only 4 balls. I'm a little worried that I won't have enough yarn to finish the hood. I thought 800 - 900 yards would be plenty, but I'm not sure now.

If I get further in and it starts to look like I really won't have enough, then I'll just have to rip it all back and start over again in a smaller size and/or larger needles. The size I'm knitting now will give Rose 7 inches of positive ease, which is a lot, but she's a kid, and I like to give kids lots of room to grow. I don't like working hard on a sweater only to find she's outgrown it in 3 months.

So. If I have to rip back and start over again, I won't succeed at my Knitting Olympics goal, but at least sooner or later Rose will have a complete sweater.

Vest, dishtowel, new projects

So, I finished Andy's vest (finally).

He says he likes it a lot. I wish I had divided for the v-neck a few rows lower, and I'm not crazy about how the left seam turned out, but otherwise, I'm satisfied with it.

(There's wee Jamie playing with cups in his crib.)

Look what else I did!

My mom is teaching me to use a sewing machine, and how to prep and measure and cut and press cloth and follow a pattern. This was my first project, a cute dishtowel. It only took six hours. :\ But I like it, and surely I'll get better and faster at all the prep work. I hope.

I also started the Audrey Hoodie (Ravelry link)from Vintage Baby Knits. My cousin is due in April. I'm hoping to be done with this by the time she has her shower in March.

But! I have to put it on hold starting tomorrow night, because I've decided to challenge myself in the Knitting Olympics!

My event will be a hooded cardigan for Rose, modeled after A Cardigan for Arwen and A Cardigan for Merry. She's too small for the one and too big for the other, so I'm going to use my Ann Budd book and the cable chart as a jumping-off point and see how it goes!

This is the yarn I'm going to use.

I bought it at Zeilinger's Wool in Frankenmuth. It had no label, but I think it's a wool/alpaca blend. Pretty bulky, 4 stitches per inch, so it should work up quickly enough for me to finish by the time the torch is extinguished.

Whoo hoo! Let's hear that John Williams theme!

Did it!

Cast on yesterday during coffee time, finished i-cord ties last night around 9pm.

Given to expectant mommy, along with the Baby Mine sweater and a box of diapers this morning!

Here's the little heart on the back -- isn't it adorable?

Baby Mine and a hat

So I finished up the Baby Mine sweater. What a quick, cute little knit!

It looks a lot more complicated than it really is.

I decided at the very last minute to knit a bonnet out of the rest of the yarn.

It's Elizabeth Zimmerman's Heart Hat. By last minute, I mean that I decided last night to knit it, I cast on this morning, and I hope to give it to our friend tomorrow. morning.

So I'm going to stop typing and start knitting. Wish me luck!

What have I been doing?

Working and making merry, mostly. But also knitting.

Apparently after my last post (from mid-November, sheesh, what have I been doing?) I was about to bind-off and block my Kiri shawlette. Well, here she is, unblocked:
Drying on the blocking board:

And finished!You may want to note that the decorations changed from fall finery in the first pic to Christmas greenery in the last. I have nothing to say about that.

Work proceeds slowly on the Rugged Vest. I have to say, I'm not really loving working with this wool. And I love wool. But this is some crunchy wool. It ought to be a handsome vest, though, if I ever knit more than an inch per week.

And here are my Nana's anklets. This project really should have taken 2 weeks, 3 at the most. But really. I hit a snag and immediately the project goes on the back burner. The snag, in this case, is that I'm trying to get a pair of anklets out of one skein of Koigu. So in my eagerness to save yarn, I started the toe of the first a little early. Nana and I have about the same size feet, even so, when I tried it on and it was a tad uncomfortable in the toe area, I thought, "It's very possible that her feet are, in fact, smaller than mine by just enough for this to feel okay for her." I clung to that until she tried it on herself and confirmed that yes, it was too small. Then it sat in my knitting bag until I finally, weeks later, picked out the grafting and ripped back the toe to just before the increases started. First toe is now being re-knit on dpns, second sock (on magic loop) is currently just past the heel turn. Please, please, please the yarn will last until both socks are done.

These, however, were a quick and delightful little knit. A little-girl-sized version of the Easy Legwarmers from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, a Christmas gift for my niece.

This is a beret for my mom, kind of a gag gift since I intend to put a pom-pom on top. I'm going to knit one for Rose, too.For some reason, Mom and Rose have a running joke about pom-poms. I can't explain it, because I don't understand it.

And last but not least, Baby Mine by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. A sweet little lace baby cardigan for a new girl, soon to be born to a dear friend. I love this sweater, and the pattern is very well written. I'm not crazy about the yarn. It's a cotton and acrylic blend, so it's quite inelastic, and it also happens to be very splitty. However, it's knitting up nicely, and the fabric feels good, and it's machine washable and dryable, so that is also a good thing.

So that's what I've been doing, knitting-wise! I hope I've learned my lesson: if I post more often, I won't have to upload umpteen pics and write and edit for an hour!