shh...
I'm almost done with my olympic project- it just needs blocking.. Does it still count if it's still wet on sunday for the closing ceremony?
Edit- It's blocking :)
BTW- how HEART WRENCHING is it to put the garment you've been slaving over for 2 weeks in a basin of warm soapy water? Let me tell you- it took a couple of REALLY deep breaths to go through with it!
yeah for crocheted steeks!!
I did it!! What was I so afraid of? Crocheting isn't that hard- I don't know why I was so worried.. I finished the knitting late last night and finished the steeks this morning- and then I went for it- snip snip... It worked really well, nothing came unravelled (well, the bound off edge on the top did a little, but I secured it without too much hassel).
And then the moment of truth- I tried it on! It fits perfectly in the torso part- hopefully I'll be able to make enough ribbing for the neckline so it's not totally x-rated :)
Of course- the camera is at home and I'm at work until after midnight- but, believe me- it's a thing of beauty! (Oh, and I'm SO almost out of black yarn.. but that can be easily enough remedied- how excited am I to have Thursday off??)
Weekend Success
Well, I'm 4 rows from binding off the Argyle vest- and then to start the steeking!! I'm frightened by the crocheting, but the directions in the pattern (3 full pages of them) seem very straight forward, so I'm ready for it!
In other news, we close on our new house in exactly 1 week. My Father in law is taking a week off of work to live at the new house and help my husband and I fix it up. We're very lucky people!!
Trying over again!
Well, all is not lost- I managed to recreate my damaged section and I'm back on track. I'm hoping to finish the knitting part of this by monday so that I have a couple days to crochet the steeks and cut etc.
I think working on this project is all about the right attitude. It seems to fly by when I'm in a good mood and I'm less likely to make mistakes- I think my flubs were created when I was REALLY tired and watching a movie after drinking a bottle of wine with my husband after dinner. So- new rule for olympic knitting- no more drinking before the project!!! (or revised- don't stay up late after drinking just to work on it- sleeping is better for both me and the project!)
Call me Icharus...
So, I might have been feeling all high and mighty- the master of fair isle- no mistakes on my first object.. and then I looked down...
Hmm- why is that diamond all funny? Something is screwy here...
Interesting... That whole section is off by 1 stitch.. I can fix it, right?
Or maybe I'll just pull it all out- because it's not worth doing, if you're not doing it right, right??
I need a drink.
Music...
So, I've taken
Kelly's Challenge: (In the spirit of full disclosure, I only listen to Jazz 91.1 (
Jazz.fm) on the radio which is a nonprofit station out of Toronto- you can listen to their feed online- so I'm not really listening to popular music lately)
List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.
1.
Night in Tunisia- I love instrumental versions with trumpets and crooning singers
2. Madonna-
Isaac- There's a singer in the background chanting what sounds like muslim prayers, I'm not sure what it is, but I love it! There's also a kick ass dance beat to it.
3. Madonna-
Hung Up- (Notice a trend?) I love her latest cd- and rumor has it, she's touring this summer!!!
4. Count Basie-
April in Paris 5. Norah Jones- I don't remember any song titles, but she had a cd before the whole come away with me hit, it's her and a piano- New York something- it's really nice
6. Nelly McKay- she's amazing and she said F U to columbia records, so that's refreshing.
Marry Me and
Walking the Dog come to mind as favorites
7. Nina Simone-
My Baby Just Cares for me- I love this song, it makes me sing along when it's on the radio.
Explorations...
Thanks Stephanie and Kelly for the comments!
My argyle sweater is made with Lion Wool- I got gauge using sz6 needles instead of Eunny's recommended sz4. It's a mauvey-pink and black.
About puckering: I've been fortunate to not have much puckering- except when I forget to add in the bottom of a black diamond that comes in the middle of the black/pink checkering part- and then I have to drop where I made pink and pick up the black, but there isn't enough black slack there, so it puckers a bit. It's not too noticeable, so I hope that blocking will help. (It looks funny inside though because there's extra long pink strands randomly in those parts)
Stephanie- are you knitting with yarn on both hands or one handed? I'm an English knitter normally, but I'm starting really get the hang of using both hands- I might even be continental when I'm done with this project- I like how fast it's progressing- it's nice to be able to read the pattern as I'm knitting and not have to look at the chart for every stitch.
In my blogsurfing today I came across
Cathy of "Eat Sleep Knit" who recently deconstructed a salvation army bought sweater using the
Neauveau tutorial. I'm excited by the possibility of finding enough nice yarn in a previously made sweater to make the Rebecca Cable Turtleneck (Did I mention I FINALLY got the Rebecca 28 I ordered almost 2 weeks ago?) It takes so much yarn, and I'm not really comfortable spending that much money unless I know the pattern is going to be flattering.
Of course, we're closing on our new house in 2 weeks and trying to pack up the apartment, so the chances of me buying a sweater, taking it apart, washing it and letting it dry in my bathroom are pretty slim.. and probably less slim once we move- b/c there's so much work that needs to be done on the house- I can see plaster falling on the new clean yarn already..
The hubby and I are going out to dinner tonight (for valentine's day- yes I know it's tomorrow- but one of us undoubtedly works on valentine's, so typically we have valentine's lunch- but he has a class during lunch tomorrow- hence, valentine's pre-dinner tonight) at
Left Bank which should be good- I'm not thrilled with their wine list, but I love local, upscale restaurants..
Knitting Olympics
Knitting Olympics Special Report:
Here we are on Day 3 of knitting- and I have successfully learned how to:
Read a Chart
Fix mistakes a couple rows below
knit with both hands at the same time
I'm pleased with the results thus far- I'm just past the waist shaping smallest part and moving up towards setting my first neckline steek :)
Row 50 (in addition to original 19 rows of ribbing).
I'm optimistic about going for the gold in my event- so far, so good.
(Did I mention that Eunny wrote a REALLY good pattern? You can buy it off her Blog for $5.95 and it's worth every penny- there's like 6 sizes and 16 pages of directions and charts- totally impressive - which reminds me- I need to find some knitting software to chart out some ideas I have)
For my own reference:
Fair Isle 101- I have a feeling it will come in VERY handy this weekend.
I came across
Jessimuhka's Knitting Olympics
Drinking Game so that everyone can play along at home :)
(Also totally funny at her site:
"There's a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'." - Dave Barry)
Olympic Training Commences
Due to the fact my Rebecca 28 magazine isn't here yet, and I don't even have the yarn- much less swatches done for Friday- I've revised my Knitting Olympics Challenge: The
Deep V Argyle Sweater by
Eunny Jang.
She wrote the pattern after high demand from seeing her finished product- and it's glorious. It's knit using Fair Isle Stranding, and I made a practice swatch today in hot pink and black. I finally got the gauge using sz6 needles instead of the sz4 called for in the pattern- but I'm not using the same yarn either. I had to settle for Lion Wool, which is unfortunate because I almost had the $70.00 worth of wool/alpaca/cashmere blend rationalized earlier today.
Knitting with yarn coming out of both hands is taking some getting used to- but now I'm so pumped for the opening ceremony!! I'm itching to start..
Alexandra- close your eyes!!
I finished the short row rib scarf last night- now if I could only find the italian address to mail it to.
This is the second time I've made this pattern- and I'm pleased with it. My only complaint is how the bind off edge turns out- it's never as tight as the cast on edge, which I find frustrating.
Knitting Olympics- here I come!
So I'm going to join the
Knitting Olympics and represent Team Ireland thanks to
Melinda @
"knits and plants."My official entry is yet to be determined- but perhaps I will make the Rebecca sweater from my previous post- we'll see how fast I can get the pattern and yarn in order to do some swatching!!
Go Team!!
Oh Lovely Cabled turtleneck sweater!!
I am in LOVE with this
sweater!!! I am SO in love, that I actually ordered the Rebecca #28 Magazine in order to have the pattern. We're talking about a $20.00 european knitting magazine.. I swear, I'm in lala land if I think I'll actually have time to work on it!!
My sister's scarf is half finished- but I'm concerned because I need to mail it to Italy- and I'm not sure how long that will take- and considering her bday is in 11 days, I really need to get cracking.
