Stuff I would tell you

If I was up to writing an actual blog post:

1.  We have taken three trips since June 30th
2.  I finished another pair of socks, a bizillion dischclothes, a prayer square swap square, the Flower Child sweater...
3.  I have cast on for another pair of socks, a baby sweater, a toy ball and a cropped sweater
4.  I'm going to be teaching at a brand new yarn shop
5.  We had a tremendous family reunion (trip three, I think)
6.  I got to spend an entire week with my daughters and grandkids (spoiled they were)
7.  I took my daughter and grandson to a fiber festival
8.  We put our house up for sale, got an offer in just about three weeks and are under contract (Aack!)9.  I'm not actually sure what day it is (or month for that matter either)
10.  I promise a real post with pictures and everything VERY soon.

  Things have been a little nuts lately

Happy Knitting!

Nana

close up of stitch pattern

close up of stitch pattern
Originally uploaded by nanaknits21

Here's a better look at the stitch patterns

Laughlin Twist

Laughlin Twist
Originally uploaded by nanaknits21

this is just a drive-by post to let you know I'm still knitting along. I worked these up on a trip to Laughlin Nevada. They started out as the Lombard Street Socks from the current issue of Love of Knitting, but I had some issues with the pattern/yarn combo and ended up reworking my own version using a scaled down version of the cable-lace pattern and kept the other lace inset from the original pattern. I think they turned out pretty spiffy. The only part I didn't like was that the skein of Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn I used had one of the infamous Noro knots and as you can see in the sock on the right the colors change mid-heel, otherwise they were actually starting to match nicely. We're off on a series of adventures this month, so entries may be spotty, but I do have more knitted things to show off, so check back once in a while.

Have a splended Independence Day and happy knitting!

Nana

On and Off the Needles

When I was younger and had my whole summer to look forward to during the last week of school, the idea of no schedule and endless possibilities was very delicious.

As an adult it is a little scary. I made it through my first week of “unemployment” feeling just a little bit un-tethered.

The whole concept of just getting up and doing whatever with nowhere to go and nothing special to accomplish is just a little daunting. Fortunately I had a couple of private lessons and have plenty of knitting goals to keep me going.

I finished a couple of things and started a couple of new projects just to keep myself occupied.

Here’s what I’ve finished:

2 pair of socks, a shawl, and a couple of dishcloths for gifts:

Sock pair #1














Pattern: basic sock
Yarn: Panda Cotton baby blues; deep blue and Ivory
Size 2.5 dpn

Just a quick pair of crew socks that I cast on for traveling over Memorial Day weekend, I had a lot of yarn leftover from two pair I did before so I thought I’d see if I could get another pair out of it. I managed to have just enough of the light blue and the white. I have enough of the dark blue left to use as striping or heels and toes in another pair. I did pick up a few skeins of this yarn during the going-out-of-business sales at the shop. One interesting note about this pair; since I made the entire cuff in ribbing I tried the technique for making neater stripes by doing the first round of each new color in stockinette before switching back to the ribbing. I think it does make a nice looking stripe.

Sock pair #2

Pattern: Annetrelac (IK Holiday Knits 2007)
Yarn: Knitivity in Chocolate covered cherries
Size 2.25 magic loop

I am extremely happy with how these turned out. I had tried a couple of different patterns for this yarn and didn’t love the pooling effect with this limited palette. When I got to the feet and the yarn started a nice thin spiral of reds and browns, I knew I made a good choice. When the second sock turned out to be nearly identical I was just ecstatic.

Simple shawl

Pattern: improvised
Yarn: Brooks Farm Harmony
Size 10.5 needles

I have had this yarn for quite a while and never really came up with a good project for it. I knew I had less than 500 yards which wasn’t enough to really do much. It is silk, wool, and mohair blend, so I didn’t think it would be very good for a hat / mitten set. It was way too pretty to give away (not to mention probably expensive too). I bought it in 2005 at my very first Stitches Midwest and so I had a sort of sentimental attachment to it as well. I finally decided I could probably get a nice wrap or shawl out of it. I tried one wrap pattern, but didn’t like the way the lace looked. So I decided to work up a triangle shawl and experiment a little with patterns. I tried a couple different lace designs, but couldn’t get my mind around how to work in the increases without messing up the pattern. (I’ll get there one of these days). So I just alternated garter bands with two different eyelet sequences. The result is simple and completely plays up how pretty this yarn really is. The finished shawl is about 68 inches wide by 33 inches deep.

I also worked up a couple of washcloths:

I discovered during my last workshop at the store that a dishcloth is a great way to work up a pattern stitch for demonstrating so I've been using these for swatching and my samples for teaching. Plus I have a surprising amount of heavy cotton in my stash. Win, win.

It’s hard to believe this, but I really only have two WIPs right now:

Flower Child by Nora Gaughn

This is a long in the queue project that was delayed due to trouble acquiring the right yarn. I won’t go into the hairy details, but suffice it to say that I am happy to finally get going on this! This is going to be for my DD2 who will be visiting in July so I have a deadline.

I’m using Berroco Pure Pima in the Nectar colorway and size 6 needles. Hopefully this will be a quick knit.

I know you’d be really disappointed if I didn’t have more socks going, so I won’t disappoint. I started my June challenge pair and my am trying to pick a pattern for my June personal sock club pair. The June challenge pair is the Chevron Lace pattern from Getting started Knitting Socks. I’m using Claudia Handpaint in the Ocean Depths colorway. I’ve already had to frog these once because the pattern makes a very tight fabric. I cast on and started over with more stitches, but may need to use bigger needles as well. I think it’s a nice pattern though. I have a picture, but it's more needles than sock at this point.  I'll try to have more done for the next update.

I picked a nice skein of Noro Silk Garden Sock from my personal sock club, but I didn’t like the pattern I had previously paired with it. I’m considering a couple of others I have in my queue right now. I think I just need to start one and see how the yarn knits up. I did a little searching in Ravelry to see what patterns others had used and there are so many!  I guess you’ll have to wait for an update to see what I choose.

And of course, I’ve got about 4 other projects on my “on deck” circle.  I want to try to focus on Flower Child for the moment.  The socks are for when I need a change from the cotton and for carrying around with me. That's what I've got going.  Don't forget Saturday is WWKIP day (or the kick-off for WWKIP Week!) So be sure to do some knitting out and about. 

Happy Knitting!

Nana

part II

Crab attack
Originally uploaded by nanaknits21

Wordless Wednesday

lazy Saucey
Originally uploaded by nanaknits21

Dun, Dun

Like so much else lately, the announcement that the long running series Law and Order was being cancelled was quite abrupt.  Considering last night’s series finale; the familiar sound of Law & Order makes a good theme for this post.

This is my last week of working at the shop.  Right now it sort of feels like I’m a kid getting ready to start summer vacation, but I have to keep reminding myself that my job is done (Done!).  I will really miss everyone that I met and helped with their knitting along the way.  I had such fun working in the shop, learning about yarns, fibers and such, and especially teaching.  I will continue doing private lessons on a limited basis.  That’s a little scary and I’m not quite organized about it yet, but I’ll get there. 

I also have some FO’s. 

Remember the Skew socks, they are done…

Pattern: Skew, Knitty Winter 2009, (Lana Holden)

Yarn: Down Home sock by Knitivity; Aint Gail colorway

Size 1 needles / /Magic Loop

A very strange concept in sock knitting and they actually don’t fit badly, but they are really some weird looking socks.

Also, the Blue on Blue socks are done…

Pattern: My basic sock recipe

Yarn: Claudia Handpainted in Deep Blue and Antique Jeans colorways

Size 1 dpn

I started knitting these for the sock class I taught in April (not realizing it would be my last) I’ve been using them for my back-up on the go knitting and finished these Monday morning. 

Also, I have been sort of between projects and was in a real funk last week so I needed a quick and fun project… this little guy filled the bill.  I give you Claude the Crab.

So if you are ever in a giant funk and need a little knitting pick-me-up; I give the pattern two claws up. 

Pattern: Most Dangerous Crab, Knitty Summer 2009 (Amber Allison)

Yarn: Patons Classic in Bright red and Aran

Size 7 dpn

I’ve got a couple of other things on the needles and one project I’m getting ready to swatch that will make someone very happy.

That’s it for me today, I guess you could say that I’m done… done.

Happy Knitting!

 

Nana 

Life is Unpredictable

Well, I have some knitting to tell you about, but first, I have a story or two to tell. On Saturday, my DH and I went out to breakfast. This is not all that unusual, but it’s the first Saturday in a month we’ve been able to do so because I was teaching a Saturday class last month. We like to go to the local IHOP because they usually do the eggs right and of course; the pancakes are always good there. So, we had a nice leisurely breakfast and then as we were leaving, the strangest thing happened. I fainted. It wasn’t pretty. So we spent the next 4 hours or so in the ER so they could check all the things that might have caused me to faint (no idea) and see whether I broke my nose (inconclusive). I have a lovely souvenir of that episode:

I’m recovering well, the bruises are mostly faded and the cut doesn’t look quite so deadly now. Sunday I took it easy and believed things would get back to normal with a fresh new week. I started writing this post on Monday, trying to put a positive on the start of the week, but; when I opened my email on Monday I got some really bad news. The yarn shop I have been working at for the past couple of years has been struggling for the past six months or so (I knew this because I have had pay checks bounce a time or two) and the owner notified us that she will be closing the shop at the end of May! Whoosh - a whole new round of bad landed on our doorstep.

I can’t say it was a huge surprise because at our last staff meeting she indicated we might have to close at the end of the summer, but the suddenness really caught me off guard.

One hidden blessing is that if DH decides to take a job in another location (which he may do) it will make deciding much easier because I won’t have to worry about leaving mine. Yesterday at work many of my current and past students affirmed that they really enjoyed taking my classes and would wish to continue with private lessons if I am willing, so it gives me something positive to take away from the experience. I won’t surrender to the bad just yet!

One thing about being under a lot of stress is that I cope by knitting. So knitting has been going on at full speed. If I had posted this on Monday when I started I’d be showing you several WIPS. But since several days have passed, I can now show you a couple more FO’s.

First, I finished knitting my Vines and Leaves Cardigan last week. I’m really happy with how it turned out. I finished on Thursday, but couldn’t take a picture over the weekend because the sun was just not very cooperative. I don’t have the clasps yet, so you’ll have to imagine them.

Pattern: Vines and Leaves Cardi, Creative Knitting

Yarn: SWTC Terra (alabaster and gold)

Size 4 & 6 needles

The socks I showed you in progress on the last post are finished. I call them Spring in my Step, because the colors remind me of a lawn covered with dandelions (which seem to be everywhere this month).

Pattern: Prism Socks

Yarn: Rio de la Plata Multicolor ply SP30 and Lang Jawoll (83.0043)

Size 2.5mm dpn

I also worked up the infamous Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman (Opinionated Knitter / Knitting Workshop) all of the adjectives other knitters have used to describe this project are apt. It was fun and relatively quick to knit. I added an I-cord edging to the border to give it a little polish. I might do this one again if I have need for a quick little baby gift. Yay EZ! 

 (still needs buttons)

Yarn: Collinette Cadenza Color Gauguin

Size 5 needles

I also started a little shawl, but I’m kind of winging it, so I’m not sure what this will end up looking like, I’ve ripped and reknit the pattern part a couple of times because I can’t get the edge stitches to integrate into the design the way I like, but I’ll come up with something that works.

I also have a two more pairs of socks started and am finishing up the pair I started for my last sock class.  The first pair I started was the Skew pattern from Knitty. This pattern seems to be the most appropriate thing I’m knitting at the moment considering all the events of the past week or so.   I originally started it in this yarn: 

(Knitivity Surprise Me Feb 09/chocolate covered cherries), but it started pooling like this

 and I had to abandon that and find a different yarn. I switched to Knitivity Aint Gail color way and am still getting some pooling but I don’t find it quite so ugly that I’m unwilling to knit further.  

 

The chocolate covered cherries yarn is being given another chance to redeem itself with the Annetrelac pattern but I haven’t’ started the actual entrelac portion yet, so we’ll see how it goes. 

So that’s what I’ve been up to.  The cats are unaware of all the drama in our life which is just fine. 

Saucey says, I got a good report at my vet appointment, can I please have a treat?

Happy Knitting!

Nana

In the Meantime

I’ve been busy trying to get a handle on my stash; I keep finding undocumented skeins whenever I go to put projects on Ravelry.  How can this be?  So in an effort to get things under control and make sure that I can match queued projects to yarn I have I started an inventory to compare the stuff in my actual stash to what’s entered in Ravelry. I’ve done 5 out of 8 drawers and am flabbergasted by what I’ve uncovered so far.  I suspect that it might be mating season or something, what else would explain where all this extra yarn came from?  Needless to say, I will have to make a day of updating after I get done with the whole inventory.  I’ve been photographing the missing yarn as I go.  I actually had more stash pictures than project pictures on my camera when I uploaded this time.

Yarn shock notwithstanding, it’s been good getting reacquainted with some of the things I have squirreled away and helping me focus on specific projects I should be planning.

Speaking of projects, I’m still working away on the Vines and Leaves Cardi.  I have one sleeve about ¾ the way done and one more to do. I’m hoping I can finish it by the middle of next week.  And in the meantime, I’ve managed to finish a couple of other things.

I took a short break between finishing the body of the cardi and starting the sleeves to work this up for our granddaughter in MI (who we’d like to visit sometime soon). It’s a belated birthday gift for her 2^nd b-day. Her mom and aunt call her "bug" so I thought this pattern would be perfect for her.

Pattern: Mrs. Beetle from Babies and Toddlers: A Knitter’s Dozen (XRX Books)

Yarn:  Jil Eaton Minnow Knits

I also finished these socks:

Pattern:  Diagonal Lace by Wendy Johnson

Yarn: Down Home Sock by Knitivity color Purl Grey

Size 0 needles / Toe Up

And started these:

 Pattern: Prism Socks

Yarn: Lang Jawoll (yellow) and Rio De La Plata 

I may have to adjust the stitch count on these, but I am really liking the effect of mixing these two yarns on the look of the pattern.

Happy Knitting!

Nana

Do you know what today is?

Somebody special has a "birthday" today....

 

               showing her curious side

Our Miss Saucey is 10 years old!  

With Lukey (gone to the rainbow bridge five years ago)

Thought I'd share a few of her kitten pictures to celebrate.  We adopted her from the Animal Rescue Foundation in Walnut Creek, CA when she was 6 months old, so I guestimated her birthday to be in April and I picked a day I couldn't forget.  (My Dad's birthday is today too!) And now you know why she's a St. Louis Cardinals Fan.

Happy Birthday Saucey!

Was there anything else about today that we needed to remember?

Another Look

0408100844a.jpg
Originally uploaded by nanaknits21

Here's a better picture of the Rivendel Socks.... I took this one with my cell phone, go figure!

Ahh, Technology

My computer and I have been at odds lately.  Last week it contracted a virus and although it's healthy again it has had some aftereffects.  Namely I lost some of my software programs.  One of those was the one that interfaces with the camera and basically lets me upload pictures.  After several futile attempts to reload the program, I contacted the company for help, but haven’t gotten a fix yet.  Now ordinarily I would just pop the memory card out of the camera and upload the pictures from there.  That didn’t seem to work either.  It took me until today to figure out that somewhere along the way a setting got changed on the camera and the pictures were being stored in the internal memory and not on the card.  So, human error this time, not computer error; and easy enough to fix; I copied the pictures to the card and popped it into the drive and hurray – Pictures!

So now I can bring you up to date on my knitting projects.  

I mentioned in my last post that I finished the Blue Pukas sweater: 

Pattern: Pukas from Knitters Magazine K98, Spring 2010 Yarn: Dream in Color, Some Summer Sky 

I also finished my Rivendel socks:

Pattern: Rivendel from the Eclectic Sole by Janel Laidman Yarn: Noro Kuryeon Sock, color S149 Modifications:  worked chart B rows 60-44 in place of chart A rows 1-16 

And this morning I closed the toes on these:

Pattern: Knotty or Knice Socks by Chrissy Gardiner, Interweave Knits, Fall 2008 Yarn: Koigu Premium Painters Pallet Merino; color Lilac (P703117)  

And, I’m still working on the Vines and Lace sweater and it is still happier.  

So there you have it, I’ve been busy working away, it’s my computer that’s the slacker.  

Happy Knitting!  

Nana

Moving Right Along

Well, I just need to say that March was a not-so-great month and April is already shaky. Our family has been experiencing some ups and downs. We made one trip to Des Moines together and hubby is back there again this week assisting his Mom after she had surgery. Adding to the stress, his sister recently delivered twin boys at 29 weeks gestation meaning they are still both in the hospital. Both boys are doing well and making progress as expected, but will probably be there a bit longer. His sister was on bed rest in very bad condition prior to the delivery. She is doing very well now but is very busy going back and forth with the babies and returning to work until the babies are released. So that’s all been very distracting for both hubby and I.

I did manage to get a little knitting done here and there; I think I’ve fallen behind my imaginary schedule though.

I finished the Blue Pukas sweater and am very happy with the outcome. You’ll have to take my word for it though because my computer is refusing to have anything to do with my camera. (so any pictures in this post are old).

I have two pair of socks on the needles, the Forget Me Knots and the Rivendel socks. I’ve turned the heel on the 1st Forget Me Knot, and am almost done with the second Rivendel sock.

 The pattern/yarn combination for the Rivendels is not quite what I expected but it is quite interesting. I started these the week we took the first trip to IA. The colors of the yarn matched the colors of the landscape along I-80 perfectly the day we traveled there. . (I obviously ignored the rules according to this
But fortunately we had a little rain and a little sun before we returned from the trip and it is amazing the difference two days can make, what had been very dry, brown, grey and dead looking started to green up around the edges and was beginning to look like spring might be on the verge.



Oh and remember the vest? I frogged it after I consulted a few knitting friends and the consensus was that it was bad and therefore needed to be ripped and re-knit. Well, I frogged it on Thursday and a new issue of Creative Knitting hit my mail box on Friday… guess what! There was a pattern for a really nice sweater that is really more my style anyway; a sweater pattern that calls for Terra yarn (Vines and Leaves Cardigan).

Yup! I cast on and started that as soon as I could. The project is much happier as a lace sweater!


Happy Knitting!

Nana

Not what I planned

Well I finished something, but not the something I planned to finish over the weekend.  (The evil uncooperative vest).

But I did finish these:

Pattern: Loksins by Cassandra Thoreson

Yarn: Cascade Heritage Hand Paint color 9962

Size 1 dpn

To make this feat seem more impressive, I might also add that I posted to the SAM 9 blog and Ravelry already too. Yay! I really enjoyed this pattern and would like to do it again in a plain yarn so I can see the details a little bit better.

Happy Knitting!

Nana

Still Boring

But it’s starting to feel like I have some progress. Here’s a picture of the big V in progress. I have finished the fronts and back and have started the ruffle. Maybe I can finish it after all.

See:

Happy Knitting!

Nana

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s a …. Post!

The top 10 reasons I haven’t posted in a while:

1. Knitting (or more like serial casting- on)
2. Some family things
3. Cats
4. Work
5. Work stuff that needed doing at home
6. Home stuff that needed doing
7. Lack of inspiration
8. The camera needs a new battery
9. Non-knitting (aka petting the stash)
10. The weather

Seriously, I know it’s sort of cliché to whine and make a bunch of apologies for not posting often enough, which actually, in reading others blogs it does seems to be in season.  There really have been a bunch of things going on lately that have kept me from taking the time to put my thoughts together and remember to take pictures and actually sit down at the computer and pull a post together.  I’ve had about five versions kicking around in my head all week and just couldn’t get the other parts together to actually write one. 

I finished a pair of socks.  These were my purse / work project during knitting Olympics so I had to put them on the back burner for that last week or so of the games.  It didn’t take long to finish these once I could devote a little bit more time to them. 

Pattern:  Rib & Cable Socks by Nancy Bush (Interweave Knits Fall 2005)

Yarn: Dream in Color Knitosophy in Strength

I really liked this yarn and am anxiously awaiting the reorder to arrive at the shop so I can stash some more in another colorway.  It’s the same base as Smooshy with a little bit different dyeing approach.   The pattern was good until I got to the heel and toe parts.  I modified the toe and would definitely modify the heel as well if I knitted it again. 

I got caught up on the knitting of my Big “V” vest, but made a mistake on the neck shaping of the fronts and need to rip back about 2 inches.  It’s currently in time-out; therefore no picture. (besides it is really boring)

I knit a cute intarsia hat for baby Sylvia, but had some serious issues with the pattern construction (knit flat-seamed).  Seaming hats is not a talent I possess apparently. This turned out so horrible that I refuse to even share a photo. But, I do have sufficient yarn for a redo. I put the whole project on hold for now while I rethink the process for knitting the pattern in the round. 

I made some progress on the Loksins socks which I cast on sometime in the middle of the pair of rib and cable socks.  Sock #1 is nearly finished and will probably be done tonight.(Yarn is Cascade Heritage Hand Paint)

 As of last Tuesday the Big V and Loksin socks were the only projects on the needles, so I got a little itchy and have since cast on for:

The Knotty but Knice socks from Interweave Knits Fall 08 (project name Forget me Knots) this is a pretty fun pattern once you get going.  I actually started it twice.  I cast on, knit the cuff and started the first pattern repeat thinking there was something not-quite-right going on.  Then I looked over the pattern info again.  D’oh.  I’m knitting a top-down version and sort of just winged it on the cast on. I knit the cuff in k1, p1 ribbing which looks pretty nice, but if you look at the flow of the pattern, it would have been better to cast on and knit the ribbing according to pattern rows 1-3 which then flows directly into the pattern.  The picture below illustrates that pretty well.  Top (on dpns) is the first go; bottom (on ML) is the second with the corrected ribbing.  I also changed needle size to get a little bit better stitch definition (and fit, too).  Little things can make a big difference. 

The Pukas sweater from the current issue of Knitters (more Dream in Color, loving it).

 (left sleeve)

And I’ve been working up the samples for my April color work class.   

Whew!  I think that’s it.  I know I have at least two more projects ready and waiting to be started. But… maybe I’ll try to finish something first.

Happy Knitting!

 

Nana

A Strong Finish

Well, I made it! I finished all three of my Olympic projects before the flame was extinguished. I had some concern about finishing in time after my second attempt to sew in the sleeves, but after some minor adjustments everything worked out just fine and I sewed the buttons on well before the flag was turned over to the Sochi contingent.

So, here are the results.

Pattern: Bi-Color Cables by Annie Modesitt (Inteweave Knits Winter 2005)
Yarn: Louet Gems sport in French Blue (dark blue) and Neptune (light blue)
Size 5 and six needles
Modifications:  The only modification I made was to substitute a knitted button for the crochet one.

(Versatile!)

Pattern: Silk Smoke by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer
Yarn: Windy Valley Muskox Qiviuk (Pure Quiviut) Color 4001
Size 4 needles
Modifications: shorter length

I knew this would be shorter from the beginning and planned to knit until I ran out of yarn.  I think I could have squeezed out one more chart repeat with the yarn that broke in frogging, but didn't want to have to deal with weaving in ends to this lovely lace pattern. Although it ended up being about 11” instead of the 17” specified by the pattern, I am thrilled by the result and love how soft and squishy it turned out.

I already showed you the white anklets, so I won't do that again.  I have to say that I'm glad I took the challenge.  It was fun and as many other said, it did make me feel a little more connected to the games (and what games they were!) and it made the Olympics just a bit more exciting.

Welcome March and happy knitting!

Nana

On Track

It really seems to help when you have a “deadline” for finishing up a knit project.  Since I made a goal to finish up my Bi-Color Cables sweater as part of the Knitting Olympics, the project has seemingly become a quick knit.  I’m sure there’s some fancy psychological term for all of that, but whatever the effect is, it’s certainly a good thing at the moment.

This weekend I finished up the body of the sweater and started the sleeves.  I’m knitting the sleeves two at once since I am working against a deadline.  I’ve got the body pinned out and blocking.  After I finish the sleeves, there’s still a collar to knit.  I’m not 100% sure that I will get this completely finished by Sunday, but I feel pretty good that I might be able to get most of the knitting accomplished. 

In my main event, I finished the Silk Smoke Ring last night.  The pattern called for it to be 17” in length, but my yardage was shorter than what the pattern called for.  Regardless, I knew I wouldn’t knit it that long even if there was enough yarn.  My finished cowl is more like 10”.  I probably could have squeezed out one more pattern repeat which would have made the finished length closer to 12” with the fragments from the frogging, but I felt pretty good about the length. Besides, that would have meant fussing with extra ends to weave in right in the middle of the pattern.  Not my cup of tea.

I took a picture of it blocking, but it doesn’t look like much, I’ll try to get an action shot once it’s dry and post a good picture.

I have a semi-busy week ahead, but I’m going to keep moving towards the goal. 

Speedy Knitting!

 

Nana

Is it Just Me?

Or does it seem like there have been as many unexpected results in the Olympics this year as expected ones.  We’ve seen a lot of ups and downs (and some really scary crashes too!)  Being a competitor in the Knitting Olympics is starting to make me feel like I’m right there in Vancouver with them all.

I got a quick start on my “Olympic run” when I quickly finished off the white anklets (see)

A little motivation goes a long way towards combating boredom!

But my early showing was just a flash in the pan …. I finished two chart repeats of the lace pattern on the smoke ring and realized that there was something very awry with what I was looking at.  Namely at some point in my wrestling match with the one long circular I was using (since I didn’t have a smaller circular in the needed size – imagine that! And actually we were traveling last weekend) I had managed to flip the knitting inside out and start the next repeat going in the wrong direction.  A rookie mistake to be sure!  After much agonizing and then some frogging and a little yarn breakage, I have gotten it restarted and it is back on track. I’m a little further behind than I had hoped at this point.  Here’s a picture I took before the mishap.

My sweater project is about where I want it to be, but I'm a little worried that I might have overestimated my ability to finish it by the end of the Olympics … we’ll see.   I didn't take a picture, but imagine that the fronts and back are divided and the back is done.  I had hoped to work the fronts simultaneously, but that might be a little too complicated, so, I'll keep working at it and hope for the best. Who knows, I could make a heroic comeback effort. As we've seen in the 2010 games, anything can happen!

In other non-Olympic knitting, I also finished the 3, 2, 1 Stripe socks before we left for our trip so I’d have one less thing to distract me during my Olympic quest. 

I really am happy with the way they turned out, and impressed with how well I gauged the amount of yarn I needed to do these.  I ended up with about a 12" piece of leftover yarn in one color and less than 5" in the other (cutting it very close), I'll be taking a break from the Noro for a little while, but some recent stash enhancement might have replenished a couple skeins, I'll be dreaming up new things to do in the meantime. 

Speedy Knitting!

 Nana