Miscellany

I seem to be totally incapable of project monogamy, fortunately that's considered completely acceptable among knitters. No one seems to find it too inappropriate that I bounce from project to project, although they might just be too polite to mention it.

The Big Purple Shawl, also known as what I'll be wearing to Northwestern Football Game Tailgates the instant it gets finished, is coming along nicely.  I have just over a skein left to go. If I actually gave it some serious knitting time, it would, of course, get done much faster. I'm doubtful that this will occur before October and the first homegame is Saturday, but there will certainly be other opportunities.



I have made some progress on the Philosopher's Belt. The challenge with that is needing to crochet yarn, then knit, then wonder if I've made any progress, then crochet yarn, then knit... Even though it's only 9 stitches per row, it seems to be taking forever. AudioGirl suggested running a quick single crochet along the edge once I'm done to keep it from stretching--which was a great idea. I just have to get it done and blocked.





And finally, I introduce to you the first of the Bunny Nuggets.  When the Philosopher had said he wanted to learn to knit, it was with the intention of making amigurumi for friends having offspring. As I don't crochet, this meant we were knitting and that meant Rebecca Danger. I liked the idea of a Bunny Nugget to start things off.

Now, Rebecca's a fan of Magic Loop. This is all well and good if you know how to do it. For those of us who taught ourselves via video about 30 seconds before teaching the Philosopher, it was just a touch of spontaneous learning.  I'm still not convinced to give up my beloved DPNs (even after they stabbed me) but I can at least get through the technique as needed.



My nugget is the smaller red one. That's just a smidge of leftover sock yarn from the socks that I knit during the last winter olympics.  We were going through my leftovers hatbox and I kept pulling out skeins and saying "Oh, this is from this event, this I was knitting during that, this is from another trip...."  I think it might have been a little intimidating for someone who was trying to pick out yarn to knit into a small stuffed animal.

The Philosopher made the larger nugget. That's Filatura Lanarota Chaco that I bought at Smiley's in New York. AudioGirl knit me a cowl out of it at one point.  I've still got a few skeins of the purple around here.

I opted for I-cord ears rather than the DPN ears I think she recommended?  The pattern is well written and we made it through in one afternoon/evening.

Olympic Knitting: Getting the Gold

I took on the challenge of Knitting Olympics 2010 and as the clock ticked down, I finished! As the closing ceremonies commenced I was whipping through the final rows of the foot on Sock 2 and getting through the toe. I was sad to see things end, having really enjoyed the furious frenzy of racing home to see a sport I otherwise pay no attention to, to cheer on athletes from various countries, and to see what many considered redemption as they gained their medals.

The figure skating was my favorite but I was cheering for bobsled, downhill skiing, moguls, speed skaters, snowboarders, all kinds...

On to the pictures:

Down the leg of Sock 1

Sock 1 is complete!

Finished the pair during the closing ceremonies--as can be seen on the TV.

Sock 2 with the handoff to Sochi for 2014

Pattern: Rocky Butte by Elli Metz
Yarn: Beyond Basic Knits (Sonoma Colorway)
Needles: Size 2.5 (3mm) --the 4" DPNs from KnitPicks. I'm getting better with them.
Why?:  Because knitting a pair of socks in two weeks is a challenge for me.  A big challenge.  I meander along on projects and this was a hard core deadline.  Also, I'm taking part in the LnV Fitness Challenge during the months of March and April and I wanted these done for the kick off.  To be honest, though, I don't really see myself wearing wool socks to exercise, especially as we've now hit the forties during the day. At night though, warm socks round the apartment are still very much appreciated.

Well Begun is Half Done

Now if only Mary Poppin's magic would work on the rest of the housekeeping so I had more knitting time...

I'm through Sock 1 of my Knitting Olympics Project!! Hooray! Much knitting continued this week as I, Gypsy, and a half-dozen of my friends-in-the-computer cheered Evan Lysacek on to Gold and I watched Season 2 of the Big Bang Theory.  I'm through disc 3--it's waaaaay too easy to say "oh, just one more episode" and suddenly it's the end of the disc. It means much knitting is getting done, though not much else.

I did immediately cast on Sock 2 and I'm through the top ribbing and into the first pattern repeat.  I have another week to get it done and things look pretty good at this point. If life can stay out of my way, we should be alright. Life, job, cat, books, intertubes...these things take up so much good knitting time.

I've been alternating evenings between the socks and the Clapotis.  It changes up the gauge and probably is good for my shoulders and hands, fewer cramps, but mostly it's because I can't face two days in a row of the Clapotis at the moment.  I knit and knit and knit and knit and knit on the straight rows and the third ball of Malabrigo that never seemed to get smaller. I know--it would be just awful to have a never ending ball of Malabrigo, but I'd like to wear this shawl before all of the snow melts.  As the past few days it's been up to the high twenties and sunny, we've had a fair amount of snow melt.  We're supposed to get more tomorrow though to make up for that, Wisconsin Winter hasn't had her last say yet.

I did finally finish skein three last night and joined skein four. Without dropped stitches it's slightly over 4 needle lengths long, so approximately 56".  I'm going to go for 60" before I start the decrease rows.  The goal is that it'll be approximately my height after I drop the stitches.

My height is one of those variable things that confuses people. For general reference: on an average day I'm 5'6" (167cm); on a good day I'm 5'7" (170cm) or 5'8" (173cm); on a bad day or during about 50% of the summer, I'm 5'4" (162cm).

Gypsy helped me measure the current length.

Stretched cat wide plus extended foot tall.

Olympic Knitter Skating...

Gypsy has pretty much had it with me.  Not only did I stay home for two entire days in a row, for three nights now I've plopped down with laptop and knitting needles and the television (which is never on this much at Chez Hedgehog) to engage in Olympic Knitter Skating and Commentary.

Commentary has been kept on Friendfeed, where I and some other library chums have communed with witty comments, judgmental opinions, and much appreciation for the grace and athleticism we saw. Together we gasped at the missed jumps, cheered the Chinese teams to silver and gold, and most recently wondered what the hamsters some of the men were wearing. Ruffles, corsetry, and a tassle all in the same male figure skater's outfit, really? 

I also figured out this evening where a small gray tabby has been hiding the bag of catnip.  She hadn't quite figured out how to open it yet, but I imagine it was only a matter of time.  And it explains why she wouldn't stay out of one of the cupboards. 

But there has been knitting!  I've worked on my Knitting Olympics Project:

I'm down the leg of one of the socks!  This photo was taken at the end of pairs skating last night.  Not bad for Opening Ceremonies through Pairs Gold, in my opinion. Particularly considering I had to completely rip it out and redo on smaller needles. That was a wise choice, btw, the rib is much snugger now and it will be a better fitting pair of socks. 

I'm using Beyond Basic Knits Sonoma Sock in the Brilliant Colorway of "Red-Purple" with size 2.5 (USA) needles.  It's squishy, knitting up very nicely, and it's a darker shade in the red family, which I prefer if red is being introduced into the palette. 

I've also been finishing the very last of the Christmas knitting. Yes, I'm aware it's February.  *sigh*  I have great ambitions each year.  This year I think everyone is getting a box of chocolate.  Well...everyone at work.

Anywho. Christmas knitting was most of today's knitting at Kiwanis and my Kids Group.

Then I made a mad dash home for the last two groups of men's figure skaters short program.  I didn't want to try and turn the heel on the sock while also typing and trying to watch the tv and mind a cat who has just about driven me crazy. So instead, back to February's project: My Clapotis.

I'm still working on the straight rows. I'm not-quite-halfway-through-the-3rd-skein-of-Malabrigo number of repeats into said straight section. 

For size reference, I'm knitting on 14" needles.  It's over three feet long at this point and it will be a little over two feet wide. I've not dropped all the stitches to the bottom because Malabrigo is sticky, which makes that a bit of a chore I save for when I need something truly mindless. I have another 1.5 skeins of straight to go and then a final skein for the decreases.  This sucker is gonna be massive--it's defense against the AC in June at work. 


And finally, a meta/pairs picture of my own: The sock on the Clapotis.  Fourteen days til both projects need to be off the needles. 

Knitting Olympics: Rocky Butte Socks

Just wanted to document that yes, I did cast on during the opening session.  It was a pretty giggle filled evening at Chez Hedgehog.  Gypsy was taking up more than her half of the chair and I was knitting and laughing with friends on Friendfeed--as we watched from our various time zones and empathized that people on the West Coast were a full two hours behind in the broadcast for unknown reasons.

I felt for the Stage Managers at the final stage...trying to get the fourth door to open and was truly impressed by the performance, the music, the poetry and the Punk River Dance....

 

Of course, since then I've decided I wasn't happy with the gauge and ripped everything out and recast on.  But...that too is part of knitting.  The clock is ticking....