Ravelympics Recap

Get it? "Recap"...because I made a bunch of caps for the Ravelympics...

Ok, now that you've split your sides with laughter, let's take a look back on the last 17 days. I'm really sad that the games are over. I've always fancied myself more of a summer games girl but after immersing myself in just about every obscure winter sport there is, I think it's safe to say that I'm an Olympics Fanatic. Summer or winter. I seriously saw things I didn't even know you could compete in. And I was fascinated. My favorite event was the men's snowboard half-pipe (kind of ironic I competed in the Hat Half-Pipe for the Ravelympics). The US guys are totally talented and beyond hott (yes, with 2 t's).

Eh hm, anyways...

The wrap up.

Hat #1 was an Unoriginal Hat for my mom:
Hat #2 was a "test knit" of a generic hat pattern that I wrote. The hat will go to charity:
Hat #3 was an Unoriginal Hat for my future SIL Brandi (or me if she doesn't want it):
Hat #4 was another "test knit" of my generic ribbed brim hat pattern. This was in an infant size. Again, this one's for charity:
Hat #5, the final hat, was Jared Flood's (a.k.a. Brooklyn Tweed's) Turn a Square Hat. Made for a friend on Twitter:
Lurve it. Might have to make one for myself. Additional details about all the hats can be found on my Ravelry page. So, now you can tell all your friends that you know a 5 time Ravelympics gold medalist. I know you're impressed.


While I have loved the Ravelympics, and wished they occurred every month so I'd have an excuse to drop everything and knit, I now find myself rather behind. The laundry is about to grow legs and run off with the dishes. Not to mention that my charity group on Ravelry has gone sadly un-updated. And let's not even get started on the dyeing...oi...I'm forming a plan of action though. Slowly, but surely. Maybe a few set backs tonight though as I picked up the clapotis again and really, really, really wanted it finished. So I did.

Pretty much the nicest thing I've ever made for myself. I think I'll call it the $250 Wrap. Many thanks to Warm Woolies for the awesome yarn!

When I was picking up yarn for the Turn a Square hat I also picked up some metal DPNs. Then I was able to salvage the socks that were hanging on the broken needles. Been knitting a few rows here and there and slowly the socks are growing.
Ok, now that the blog is caught up I better go tackle some laundry.

:::Blinking Eyes:::

The Knifty Knitter emerges from her cave of an apartment blinking and rubbing her eyes.

Oi, it's been awhile.

One of the bloggers that I enjoy reading is Lisa Grossman, a.k.a The Tsock Tsarina. Sometimes The Tsarina will be absent from her blog for a rather lengthy period of time. She calls this time "Pattern Purdah," the time of limbo between when her most recent (and always amazing) sock pattern has been written and when it is released to the public. Lisa takes some self imposed time away form her blog to finish the last minute crunch of double checking the design with the test knitters, printing and packaging the pattern, and conferring with her (very talented) dye artist.

I've been in something of a "Pattern Purdah" myself.

Except that it didn't involve a pattern at all.

It involved 60 pages of handouts.

Yep, 60.

There were lots of pictures, but still...

I was writing 60 pages of handouts for a workshop I taught on Saturday called "Ravelry Rules". It was an introductory+ class on how to use Ravelry. I say introductory+ because I covered a bit more than just the basics.

There were about 15 people who took the class and, overall, it seemed to be a success.
This was my first workshop and, while I'm no master, it went easier than I expected. I had a great audience so that helped a lot I think. Now the biggest problem has been how to access the worksheets via the internets. The file is so big I can't send it via email to anyone unless I break it into parts (which I could but I'd rather not). Currently a solution involving posting it somewhere on my website is in the works.

Anyways, all that planning and writing and driving to pick up a projector took up the majority of my week last week. Throw in the fact that the Ravelympics had started and that pretty much left me with no time for anything except knitting and writing and taking screen shots from Ravelry and knitting and writing. Oh, and running around on Saturday morning reformatting the entire packet so that I could print copies for less than $100. But I digress...

So, the knitting. I haz it. In fact I haz a lot of it. I just have to post to the appropriate Ravelympics pages and I'm good to go.

1st Hat of the Ravelympics 2010
Cast on during opening ceremonies and finished on Sunday (I think). This is a generic ribbed hat pattern that I wrote to use in classes and I needed to "test knit" some different sizes. This is a large adult size.

2nd Ravelympics 2010 Hat
Unoriginal Hat for my mom. Made from the same Cascade Eco + as her Irish Hiking scarf that she got for Christmas.

3rd Ravelympics 2010 Hat
A black Unoriginal Hat. I started making this for my future SIL, Brandi, and had almost gotten through the final repeat of the pattern when I realized that she and I had discussed the possibility of doing her hat in a different color other than black (because she already has several black hats). So, I'll make another in the same color as my aunt's Unoriginal Hat and if Brandi wants them both she can have them and if she wants one or the other she can have that too. If she does end up taking the black on I think I'm going to make one for myself. This is a totally classic hat. And, apparently, they are just like potato chips, you can't have/make just one, seeing as how I just finished my 3rd and I'm thinking about making another one.

Tonight on the needles is another "test knit" of my generic ribbed hat pattern in an infant size. The goal for the Ravelympics was to make 5 hats which I think I can reach but originally I had planned to knit a Turn a Square hat. We'll see if that happens. The TaS may be replaced by another "test knit" since they seem to go pretty quick. Or another Unoriginal Hat.

Snowpocalypse

Hello dear knitters! The Knifty Knitter here reporting live from the Georgia edition of Snowpocalypse 2010 (alternatively titled: Snowmaggedon 2010)! You heard about it in New York, you experienced it in D.C., now it's coming to the Southeastern United States!

We begin our coverage early in the morning when the sky looked threatening. Snow was originally predicted to begin at 9 a.m. Would it deliver?
Sadly, no.

Never fear folks! Snowpocalypse's arrival was pushed back until 1. At 11:00 we checked back in to see how things were looking....
I call that "Snow Sky". We've had about 4 months of Snow Sky with little more than flurries. And that one day of ice and crud.

Alright, I will admit, I'm skeptical of any time that snow is forecast for Georgia. For some reason it's never as bad as they predict. We haven't had a significant snowfall in, like, 10 years. I mean, there's not going to be a Snowpocalyse is there?
Gah!!!! Snowpocalypse!!! It's arrived!!!
:::sobs in the fetal position:::

It started snowing at 1:15 p.m. almost on the dot and I'm still not sure that it's completely stopped (it's almost 10:00 p.m. now). Needless to say, I believe. I believe in Snowpocalypse. And so does Atlanta. The city pretty much hit shut down mode around 5:00. Apparently, I-285, the major highway the circumvents Atlanta, had 1-2 hour delays headed in all directions. I was slated to head to Athens for a gymnastics meet but after speaking with a chief meteorologist (a.k.a. my dad) I was advised that "it might not be such a good idea" which loosely translates into "you'd be a damn fool to try and go out in this weather".

So, my little knitterly peaches, I'm hanging out in my apartment admiring the view,
(please note these were taken from the window, no way am I going out in all that coldness)
fortifying myself with a tasty meal,
finishing up some charity sock knitting,
and getting ready to cast on for the Ravelmpics. I've set the daunting goal of something like 6 or 7 hats plus a kids vest. Guess I need to get on that.

Stopped Dead in My Tracks

My clapotis is on hold for the moment. I really thought that I wouldn't be able to put it down until I had finished it. I'm almost there too. Just one more repeat of the "straight" section to knit and then I start the decreases. I appreciate all the comments about the clapotis, it's been nice knitting something for myself and it really is as lovely as it looks. When I start nearing the end of a project like this I begin thinking ahead to things I want to make. I pulled out some Cascade 220 in brown, white and black that I bought from Stitches South last year.

I have some black Cascade 220 as well and I was thinking of a pair of charity socks with black cuffs, short row heels, and toes and the leg and foot in the multi color. Then I was struck by the thought of making a charity vest. It would be easy to do, maybe even a good project for the Ravelympics, and it would also look good in the Cascade 220 colors. On top of these ideas, the socks on the broken needles have started their siren song again which means I'll probably break down and buy a pair of metal DPNs in the very near future to get them off the needles and another pair started. This isn't even mentioning the list of hats I want to make for people (oh wait, I just mentioned it).

All that is having to wait though. There is a project that had to be moved to the top of the list. Daresay, the only project that could make me put down the clapotis for one hot minute.

Sophia's Christening Blanket
I mentioned that Sophia had come a little earlier than expected. Well, that means the christening is going to be sooner than planned. Luckily I started this blanket in the first part of January and it's a quick knit. The family is leaving this coming weekend (of Valentine's day) for Florida where my friend Jenn's dad will get to christen his granddaughter. I'm thinking they will need the blanket for this event. I've spent all morning knitting away on it and I'm almost finished with the second skein of yarn. I wasn't sure how to long to make a baby blanket so I was just planning on using 2 skeins and calling it a day. I think that should work out nicely. When I spread it out over the back of my office chair it covers the whole thing (about 24"). The original pattern says it should end up 32" x 38". Close enough for jazz in my book. Plus it should grow a little after washing.

With this blanket I decided to go with acrylic. I'm still not 100% committed to a certain fiber for baby knits but I'd like to hear other people's opinions on this. Acrylic is easy to wash and maintain but it has some safety hazards. However, if you look at your own clothing I bet you'd be surprised to see how many items (especially store bought sweaters) are made from acrylic or contain at least some percentage of acrylic. I also live in the Southeastern United States. Read: Very hot for most of the year. We have relatively mild winters so 100% wool garments would be too hot most of the time. This is why I also rule out superwash wool, generally too hot. Cotton seems like it could be a nice alternative but I'm not especially thrilled to knit with it. Given that I have way more acrylic (it was handed down to me) in my stash than cotton it's also easier for me to choose that route. Feel free to let me know what you knit with when making baby items.

On a totally unrelated knitting note, I have 2 new bookshelves in my reading nook that I got for my birthday last year and finally put up around Christmas time. They are considerably heavier and more substantial than the previous bookcase (whose shelves were literally bowing under the weight of the books). The bookcases come particularly close to a chase lounge that my cat, Penelope likes to sit on and I've been wondering how long it would be until she tried to venture onto the shelves.
Last night she seemed to have deemed as good a time as any so, while I was browsing for a relaxing tub read, she jumped up and had a little look see. Future librarian cat in the making.

Done

I has a wing span.
I has a finished shrug.
Check out all the details on my Rav page.
I'm going to go snuggle up and read a dyeing book.

Where's the Shrug?

Let's a play a game of hide and seek shall we?

The shrug is still lying on the floor of my bedroom. When I checked it was almost completely dry. I could have seamed it tonight but there was precious little time and I want to do this right. Which means I will have to take the time. Thankfully after my meeting after work (again) tomorrow night I do not have to teach private lessons (as I have for the last 2 nights) so I am really hoping the shrug and I will spend some good quality time together.

Also, if anyone reading knows how to upload a Ravelry button to your profile let me know. I tried to save it to my Flickr account and then use the magic formula from the Ravelry wiki page but it's not working. Any help for the technologically ignorant is much appreciated.

Blocking

I finished weaving in all the ends of the snezi shrug and it got a thorough soaking in some Soak. Now it's blocking in the bedroom. I decided to wait until it's dry to sew up the seams since I hear things can grow in the blocking process and I think this one did. Just check out the size of it on my bedroom floor.
Now the preferred area of drying is not my floor since,as you will notice in the above picture there is a cat dangerously close to the (nearly) finished product. She is refusing to step away though and trying to look innocent about being next to a slightly damp piece of cashmerino.
I shall sit as close as possible without touching it to annoy the human. Ok, maybe just the tail shall touch.

Just remember who feeds you cat.

A Brave Sock and the Sprint to the Finish Line

Part One: Braves Game

The fam went to the Braves games last night so I took a (brief) break from my Ravelympics project.That doesn't mean there wasn't knitting though.
I brought a Warm Woolies sock to knit on. I started this one right before the Ravelympics and had put it on hold until later. Considering that the snezi shrug has grown to substantial portions I left it at home for the evening. Above, my Aunt Becky tries to decipher how exactly you work on something that has 5 needles. (P.S. She gets to be on the blog because she was the only willing member of my family to allow herself to be photographed with the sock.)
I finished it just before the 7th inning but didn't have any small scissors or nail clippers to cut the thread and bind off. These are back on hold for a few more days.

Part 2:
This is my Olympic watching set up on Friday night. I was watching a pre-taped version of the women's individual gymnastics and Phelps winning his 6th gold on my computer while on the TV I was watching Phelps win his 7th gold and Dara Torres race in her qualifying round. If you think I'm dedicated you should speak to my friend SM who can give you some of the most random facts about the games from the depth of the pool to the cost of the fireworks for the opening ceremonies.
And this is the snezi shrug almost finished. I have to weave in (lots) of ends and sew 6 inches of seams on both sides but then it will be complete (minus blocking of course). I plan to have the whole thing ready to wear by Wednesday. One day to weave in ends and soak and 2 days to dry. Hopefully that will be enough time. I'm so looking forward to wearing this! And guess what else...I used all 11 balls of the cashmerino that I bought :::heaves big sigh of relief::: I really thought as I got towards the end that I might not have enough but it all worked out beautifully. I'm so proud of all I've done already on this project. I thought that I was crazy for picking such a monster of a piece to knit in just 16 days but the knitting itself took just 9 days! Stay tuned for the finished product in a few days. The next thing I have to tackle is the Slouchy Summer of Socks Socks That Shouldn't Slouch...

Day 5...no 6...Right...?

I'm still knitting on the shrug every night. I have a few pictures from earlier this week but they all look the same. Big and blue. Along the same lines of the big pink thing. Except this yarn is a lot nicer. I started tonight with about 18 inches done. That means I have 4 more inches before I begin the decreases and then it's a sprint to the end.

The variety of Olympic events I have been watching has been interesting to say the least. I usually get stuck watching the recaps since all the good stuff comes on after 10. I'm old and have to get up early for work every morning so I don't stay up to watch. In the last couple of days I've watched women's synchronized springboard diving, some men's and women's beach volleyball, men's volleyball, and women's cycling time trials (riveting). I finished watching the women's team gymnastics finals tonight. My friend AG graciously offered to record the competition to a cd for me since he knew the only thing I really wanted to watch was gymnastics and they weren't coming on until really late. I gotta say that silver is pretty good seeing as how we ended the evening...:::sigh:::

Back to work. Tonight's events are men's volleyball and more women's beach volleyball. I wish I could stay up and watch Shawn Johnson compete in the individuals for gymnastics but again with the being old and waking up early thing. Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!

Day 3, Day 4 and Day 1 (again)

Day 3 Update:
Total knitting time: maybe a few hours
Watched: women's rowing and the men's gymnastics team finals
Total knitting: 13 inches total length
Day 4 Update:
Total knitting time: about an hour
Watched: men's synchronized diving
Total knitting: 14.25 inches total length (pitiful progress I know)
The reason for the very little bit of knitting I got done today was because I was utterly exhausted. Today was the first day of school. I love my little sweethearts. They are so full of energy. And, of course, at the end of the day one of my babies missed her bus. I felt so sorry for her. It caused me to end up staying at the school to finish up stuff until almost 5:30. I'm so glad that I wrote up some detailed lesson plans last week though. One less thing I had to worry about.

On a different note...
This is what happens when an 8 pound cat decides to "chase" the blind cords off the back of a chair. Luckily only one slat is permanently damaged.
The perpetrator looks strangely unconcerned...

Day 2

Day 2 update:
Total knitting time: who knows, maybe 8 or 10 hours? almost all day
Watched: some beach volleyball, men's gymnastics qualifiers, and swimming (in about 5 minutes), I also watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Total knitting: 9 inches from cast on edge (I don't know how many rows)

Day 1

Day 1 Update (from yesterday):
Total knitting time: About 6 hours
Watched: The entire opening ceremony
Total knitting: 26 rows

Unveiling the Surprise

As I mentioned yesterday I finished a pair of Warm Woolies socks.Knit on US size 10 1/2 DPNs using Patons Classic Wool Merino in Rosewood. I really like the girly color. And now for the surprise. As I was knitting down to the toe of sock 2 the yarn in one of the skeins started to show some resistance. I tugged a little harder but it was obvious that there was a huge snag somewhere in the middle of the yarn. This seemed a little odd because I work from the inside of the skein and keep the yarn in a plastic bag as I work. Nevertheless, I stuck my had in to pull out the knot and discovered there was something hard in the middle of the skein. At first I thought it was one of my plastic sewing needles that I also keep in the bag to weave in ends. But as I tugged I realized this was longer and metal.
In the middle of my skein (literally, in the middle) was this tiny little crochet hook. The yarn was getting tangled on it.

Two ends, one slightly larger than the other. Totally random! I thought at first that someone was in the store and was thinking of buying the crochet needle and stuck it in the yarn, then changed their mind and left it. But Joanne's doesn't sell this type or size of hook (and yes, I'm in there enough to know). Maybe someone brought it in to the store, was looking at yarn, stuck it in the skein, decided not to buy the yarn but forgot about the hook, and left? Or maybe it fell in at the Paton's yarn skeining assembly line? I don't know. It was all most intriguing. Has anyone ever heard of this happening before? Maybe I should ask on Ravelry...

And, as further proof that I did indeed do as the instructions directed...

I swatched for my Ravelympics project. I can't wait to cast on! Only 2 more days!!! Too bad I have to work that morning or I could get an early start :(

Well, Phoo...

I finished knitting the Warm Woolies socks from the weekend. But there was a little surprise while I was getting to the toe. In fact it was a most unusual surprise. I took pictures (of the socks and the surprise) but Blogger is not being nice and uploading them :( I also swatched (a little swatch but a swatch none the less) for the Ravelympics. I think I can make the yarn and the needles I have work on the project (yeah, I'm substituting both). Again, there was a picture but they are being held captive right now. Maybe tomorrow...

In the Vortex

It has happened. I have been sucked into some sort of weird knitting vortex. Not the good kind either. The kind where you lose your mind. Where you can't find anything to knit. Where the yarn is a bad color and all 100% acrylic. Where you knit according to instruction and end up with something that looks nothing like it did in the pictures. It's like some sort of jacked up Twilight Zone.

Example #1: I finished the first Summer of Socks (Rav link) sock last night around 11:00.
Looks pretty good right? Wrong.
See, in the first photo I'm holding the ribbing up to where it should be on my leg. The second picture is where it falls naturally. Now, I don't have a ton of experience with knitting socks. The others that I have made were out of regular old worsted weight and were an exercise in learning to make socks. This was my first "real" attempt at making socks. Someone please tell me that all socks do this. That when I block them (on my as yet unpurchased sock blocker) that they will come out just right. Or is this part of the vortex?

Example #2: My Ravelymplics shrug. I picked the Snezi shrug (Rav link) from Sensual Knits. Um, hello! Have you seen the size of that thing?!?! Let me remind you.
What was I thinking? Do I think I'm Super Knitter? That thing is huge! It uses like 800 yards of yarn! And I think I'm going to finish this in 16 days?!?! I can't even finish a sock in 16 days. I think I may have been on some sort of yarn fume high when I made this decision. Since I'm postponing knitting the other SoS sock until I can get the first blocked and/or find someone it fits (I'm trying my mom tonight) and since I have nothing else to knit on until the 8th of August (the start of the Olympics and the Ravelympics) I might have time to get everything ready to knit the sweater in the round I had originally given up hope of having ready to knit in time. Oh the irony... Which leads us to...

Example #3: As you know, I have been knitting for Warm Woolies for quite some time now. They have a little contest where if you send in 25 knitted items by the end of November then you get a gift from them: a book, patterns, needles, yarn, etc. I really want to be able to send in lots of stuff to them. Helping orphaned children is something I feel passionately about. And I love to knit. What a great combo! Last night I decided to have a look at how much I had knit for them already. Know what my total was? 8 pieces. 8. I feel into an immediate panic. There was no way (in my very tired mind) that I could get 17 pieces finished in 4 months. This morning I woke with a little clearer mind. If I make 4.25 pieces a month (or round up to 5) then I can meet my goal. This means I have to crank out a piece a week for the next 4 months. Minus 2 weeks for the Ravelympics. Don't get me wrong, somewhere in my twisted little brain I think I can make this work. Still...I'm getting hives.

Example #4: In the knitting vortex you are seized by sudden impulsive thoughts. Mine? I must finish all unfinished projects. And wash them. I'm tired of WIPs flying all around me that just need to be seamed (ugg) or have buttons attached or just be soaked, gosh darn it.
Thankfully I moved all these off the bed so I could get a little sleep last night. There is still more WIPs that are going to be attacked in the next few days. Never fear though. I'm nowhere near out of this vortex yet.