Where did February go? (Typing February reminds me of elementary school spelling, and I still say it out loud as I type it. F-E-B-R-U-A-R-Y )
The biggest item I finished in February was the hoodie for Yegor. It took 14 days which is really pretty good for me. The Olympics were exciting to watch and the sweater was exciting to knit. I finished both the Ravelry Olympics and Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics. See my new gold medal on the sidebar?
Besides the hoodie, I also finished a pair of thin socks that will also be set aside for Akkol.
Finally, I finished two hats.
The purple Unoriginal hat (that's the actual name, not just that I think it's unoriginal. Actually, I think it's quite orginal and have made 4 of them so far.) This hat went to a great friend whom I've never met.
The teal claudia hat went home with DD#1. She took a total of four. One day she had a hat party and handed them out (keeping one for her, of course.) It sounds like they are all liking them. I'm hoping that she also passed on the instructions to "not put them in the washer or dryer". You never know with college kids.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
New yarn...
Using up those 8 skeins made me need to buy more yarn. 19 skeins worth, in fact.
The first batch was ordered while I was snowed in. I read about a sale at Little Knits, and that's all it took. They require a $25 minimum order and there were some good sales, so I stocked up.
The green Atacama Alpaca is for mixing with wool for Akkol socks. Two skeins of cotton and blends are for summer socks, two skeins of wool sock yarn are because they're pretty. One skein of Opal is because I just don't have hardly any solid sock yarn (see above picture: the percent of solid sock yarn did improve much, did it?)
Then, there was some clearance yarn at work this week. First I bought 5 skeins of Patons Classic wool in sesame.
(And if it goes any cheaper I might get more.)
Then, I couldn't resist 8 skeins of blue Patons.
It's enough for a sweater. And I don't have a blue sweater.
Yet.
The first batch was ordered while I was snowed in. I read about a sale at Little Knits, and that's all it took. They require a $25 minimum order and there were some good sales, so I stocked up.
The green Atacama Alpaca is for mixing with wool for Akkol socks. Two skeins of cotton and blends are for summer socks, two skeins of wool sock yarn are because they're pretty. One skein of Opal is because I just don't have hardly any solid sock yarn (see above picture: the percent of solid sock yarn did improve much, did it?)
Then, there was some clearance yarn at work this week. First I bought 5 skeins of Patons Classic wool in sesame.
(And if it goes any cheaper I might get more.)
Then, I couldn't resist 8 skeins of blue Patons.
It's enough for a sweater. And I don't have a blue sweater.
Yet.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Olympics: Day 14, Skein 8. Status: finished!
That's right--the sweater is knitted, the ends are sewn in, the button is on, and it's all done!
Not only did I watch lots of Olympics this week, but I had 3 days of basketball knitting, two of which were double headers. (One JV and one Varsity, not two JV games. Is that a double header, or just two games in one night? Anyway, it was a lot of basketball.) The games were all over tonight and the sweater was finished a couple of hours later.
With 3 days to go!
DS is modeling it again. ("I know you need to go to bed, but just give me a couple of minutes to sew on this button and then you can pose for a couple of pics. Pleeeease?")
By Monday I was starting the hood by basketball time, but then I ran out of yarn and forgot the extra skein.
Tuesday's basketball knitting included finishing the hood and knitting half of the i-cord tie.
Wednesday's day off knitting and Thursday's basketball knitting consisted of lengthening the body. It seemed long enough so that it "would do" and I would've left it there if I had run out of yarn, but I hadn't. I had most of 3 skeins left so I ripped out the bottom ribbing and side slit, added 1.5 inches of body, and reknit the ribbings.
Much better.
Stats:
Pattern: Hooded tunic #244 from Knitting Pure and Simple.
Yarn: Univeral Yarn Inc. Deluxe Chunky Tweed in Nottingham Forest. Only 8 skeins so I still have two left over!
Needles: size 9 for the body and size 7 for the garter st ribbing.
This will travel to Kazakhstan in the summer to get to Yegor for next fall. I hope he likes it!
Not only did I watch lots of Olympics this week, but I had 3 days of basketball knitting, two of which were double headers. (One JV and one Varsity, not two JV games. Is that a double header, or just two games in one night? Anyway, it was a lot of basketball.) The games were all over tonight and the sweater was finished a couple of hours later.
With 3 days to go!
DS is modeling it again. ("I know you need to go to bed, but just give me a couple of minutes to sew on this button and then you can pose for a couple of pics. Pleeeease?")
By Monday I was starting the hood by basketball time, but then I ran out of yarn and forgot the extra skein.
Tuesday's basketball knitting included finishing the hood and knitting half of the i-cord tie.
Wednesday's day off knitting and Thursday's basketball knitting consisted of lengthening the body. It seemed long enough so that it "would do" and I would've left it there if I had run out of yarn, but I hadn't. I had most of 3 skeins left so I ripped out the bottom ribbing and side slit, added 1.5 inches of body, and reknit the ribbings.
Much better.
Stats:
Pattern: Hooded tunic #244 from Knitting Pure and Simple.
Yarn: Univeral Yarn Inc. Deluxe Chunky Tweed in Nottingham Forest. Only 8 skeins so I still have two left over!
Needles: size 9 for the body and size 7 for the garter st ribbing.
This will travel to Kazakhstan in the summer to get to Yegor for next fall. I hope he likes it!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Olympics: Day 7, Skein 5
It's Day 7 of the Olympics. Seven days that I've been knitting, but not blogging. Taking pictures, but not blogging.
So, here's my recap of my last week's work.
Before the Opening Ceremonies, I had prepared a bit.
Five balls of yarn were wound.
The pattern was found.
And chocolate was located close to my couch.
Ready!
We were didn't have any more snow over the weekend, but all the weekend activities were canceled so I had plenty of knitting time.
Then, school started back up, and with it all the various activities.
Here is my knitting bag at a basketball game.
With no pattern.
At all. ("Wow, the inside of a knitting bag," you must be saying, "that's an inspired picture!")
I was able to guess what to do at the bottom (that has side slits and a garter stitch border) so that it was almost exactly right. Close enough, anyway, so as to do no frogging.
Here's an inspired picture of the sweater in progress. At the basketball game. On the bench. Not so's you could tell.
But, you can tell that I'm knitting from the top down. The purple yarn is the stitch holder for the sleeves. The sock point protectors add cuteness.
I knitted some in the car while waiting for DS#2. Here you can see the split neckline.
Then here is the most inspired picture of all. It's of Ds#2 modelling the sweater with his head chopped off. (The only way he would agree to do it. He didn't seem to mind the neon green shirt or the pj pants being in the pic so long as his head wasn't.)
I'm making this sweater according to measurements for Yegor in Kazakhstan. He is 2 inches wider in the chest than DS, but otherwise the measurements are about the same. So, I think it will work.
However, I'm running into a familiar feeling. That's the feeling of:
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, I MIGHT ACTUALLY RUN OUT OF YARN AND THEN WHAT WILL I DO???????????????
I thought for sure than 10 skeins would be enough. And that's true if not for the fact that they're only 120 yards per skein. According to yarn requirements on the pattern, I should have enough. If I don't add on much to the length. Or the sleeves.
Arrrgh. Started skein 5 out of 10 last night. It's a bit scary. But anyway, if I'm on skein 5 out of 10, then I must be halfway done. And if we're on Day 7 out of 17, I should be able to finish on time and to win a gold medal.
And thus ends my stream-of-conscienceness post from the last 7 days.
So, here's my recap of my last week's work.
Before the Opening Ceremonies, I had prepared a bit.
Five balls of yarn were wound.
The pattern was found.
And chocolate was located close to my couch.
Ready!
We were didn't have any more snow over the weekend, but all the weekend activities were canceled so I had plenty of knitting time.
Then, school started back up, and with it all the various activities.
Here is my knitting bag at a basketball game.
With no pattern.
At all. ("Wow, the inside of a knitting bag," you must be saying, "that's an inspired picture!")
I was able to guess what to do at the bottom (that has side slits and a garter stitch border) so that it was almost exactly right. Close enough, anyway, so as to do no frogging.
Here's an inspired picture of the sweater in progress. At the basketball game. On the bench. Not so's you could tell.
But, you can tell that I'm knitting from the top down. The purple yarn is the stitch holder for the sleeves. The sock point protectors add cuteness.
I knitted some in the car while waiting for DS#2. Here you can see the split neckline.
Then here is the most inspired picture of all. It's of Ds#2 modelling the sweater with his head chopped off. (The only way he would agree to do it. He didn't seem to mind the neon green shirt or the pj pants being in the pic so long as his head wasn't.)
I'm making this sweater according to measurements for Yegor in Kazakhstan. He is 2 inches wider in the chest than DS, but otherwise the measurements are about the same. So, I think it will work.
However, I'm running into a familiar feeling. That's the feeling of:
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, I MIGHT ACTUALLY RUN OUT OF YARN AND THEN WHAT WILL I DO???????????????
I thought for sure than 10 skeins would be enough. And that's true if not for the fact that they're only 120 yards per skein. According to yarn requirements on the pattern, I should have enough. If I don't add on much to the length. Or the sleeves.
Arrrgh. Started skein 5 out of 10 last night. It's a bit scary. But anyway, if I'm on skein 5 out of 10, then I must be halfway done. And if we're on Day 7 out of 17, I should be able to finish on time and to win a gold medal.
And thus ends my stream-of-conscienceness post from the last 7 days.
Friday, February 12, 2010
The state of things....
...before the Olympics takes over my life.
Oh, wait, I'm not a real athlete. I'm just a knitting athlete.
Anyway, this is where things stand at approximately one hour before cast on for the Olympics.
My Curve of Pursuit afghan. I'm working on square 12.
Big enough to squish up the sides on the needles, but not big enough to cover my body. I've worked on it a lot this week, but have a ways to go.
I've also dug out my Mirepoix vest this week. After tinking 3 rows, I've knitted several in a row--catching up and surpassing my tinking.
It's about halfway to where it needs to be until I do the next thing. (Armholes? Neckline? Why bother to read ahead, it'll just spoil the surprise.)
While both of those UFOs are very different, they're both stockinette, and I became itchy for some cables.
Hence, another Unoriginal hat.
Marr Haven mulespun wool in a pretty lavendar. Size 13 needles and shortened the second repeat. Size 11 dpns when decreasing. (Why, yes, purple is my favorite color, why do you ask?) This is intended for someone who did me a huge favor this week, and with all the snow this week I figure she could use something warm (I was trying not to mention the S word, but it just worked its way in there.)
And, for the random element:
One of the hazards of my job is that I get first notice of when things go on clearance. And frequently come home with them.
Today I bought sock point protectors.
They just make me laugh.
hahahahaha
And, we finished another puzzle.
This one was my mom's and is covered with quotations from various Shakespeare plays.
Fun to read, but rather hard to do. DD#2 did most of the quotations while leaving the solid white for me. (She's just sweet, that way.)
Okay, now there's 30 minutes until cast on. Time to find my pattern, figure out what size I should make, and knit a swatch. (That's right, not prepared as usual.)
May the Olympics begin!
Oh, wait, I'm not a real athlete. I'm just a knitting athlete.
Anyway, this is where things stand at approximately one hour before cast on for the Olympics.
My Curve of Pursuit afghan. I'm working on square 12.
Big enough to squish up the sides on the needles, but not big enough to cover my body. I've worked on it a lot this week, but have a ways to go.
I've also dug out my Mirepoix vest this week. After tinking 3 rows, I've knitted several in a row--catching up and surpassing my tinking.
It's about halfway to where it needs to be until I do the next thing. (Armholes? Neckline? Why bother to read ahead, it'll just spoil the surprise.)
While both of those UFOs are very different, they're both stockinette, and I became itchy for some cables.
Hence, another Unoriginal hat.
Marr Haven mulespun wool in a pretty lavendar. Size 13 needles and shortened the second repeat. Size 11 dpns when decreasing. (Why, yes, purple is my favorite color, why do you ask?) This is intended for someone who did me a huge favor this week, and with all the snow this week I figure she could use something warm (I was trying not to mention the S word, but it just worked its way in there.)
And, for the random element:
One of the hazards of my job is that I get first notice of when things go on clearance. And frequently come home with them.
Today I bought sock point protectors.
They just make me laugh.
hahahahaha
And, we finished another puzzle.
This one was my mom's and is covered with quotations from various Shakespeare plays.
Fun to read, but rather hard to do. DD#2 did most of the quotations while leaving the solid white for me. (She's just sweet, that way.)
Okay, now there's 30 minutes until cast on. Time to find my pattern, figure out what size I should make, and knit a swatch. (That's right, not prepared as usual.)
May the Olympics begin!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Whimper.
A solid layer of ice.
And then 5-6 inches of snow.
It's pretty, but that's a lot of shovelling to do on top of what we already did.
Plus, the ice? It's there to stay.
Sigh.
Is it spring, yet?
And then 5-6 inches of snow.
It's pretty, but that's a lot of shovelling to do on top of what we already did.
Plus, the ice? It's there to stay.
Sigh.
Is it spring, yet?
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Uncle!
Snow.
We're getting tired of it, I tell you.
Really tired.
This time we got 18 inches by our inexpert calculations. I can't even stand to watch the news for more and more and more and more stories about the snow.
Really tired. Really done.
Even if it's pretty.
I'm done.
Even if we can do some of this:
I'm still done.
Even if it's warming up and melting some.
I'm done. Uncle.
It's not even like I'm getting lots of knitting done. In fact, today I knitted half a row and then tinked 3 rows. Not any forward progress there.
Not at all.
However, in the past few days I have managed to finish a couple of things.
This is Claudia. A lovely knit. It started out being natural colored Fisherman's wool, but then it seemed too yellow and so I dyed it.
I got slightly carried away with the dye, but no one can say it's not a nice, vibrant color.
Pattern: Claudia, done as written.
Here are some socks for charity. These were my basketball game take along socks, but since there hasn't been a game for so long due to the snow...and there won't be one in the forseeable future, I decided to finish them.
Marathon sock yarn, 68 sts, size 1 dpns, 85 sts from heel flap to toe.
(Note to self: If you step off the front step into the grass, there is still 18 inches of snow there even though the snow looks equal in heighth to the steps. Next time, put on boots.)
We're getting tired of it, I tell you.
Really tired.
This time we got 18 inches by our inexpert calculations. I can't even stand to watch the news for more and more and more and more stories about the snow.
Really tired. Really done.
Even if it's pretty.
I'm done.
Even if we can do some of this:
I'm still done.
Even if it's warming up and melting some.
I'm done. Uncle.
It's not even like I'm getting lots of knitting done. In fact, today I knitted half a row and then tinked 3 rows. Not any forward progress there.
Not at all.
However, in the past few days I have managed to finish a couple of things.
This is Claudia. A lovely knit. It started out being natural colored Fisherman's wool, but then it seemed too yellow and so I dyed it.
I got slightly carried away with the dye, but no one can say it's not a nice, vibrant color.
Pattern: Claudia, done as written.
Here are some socks for charity. These were my basketball game take along socks, but since there hasn't been a game for so long due to the snow...and there won't be one in the forseeable future, I decided to finish them.
Marathon sock yarn, 68 sts, size 1 dpns, 85 sts from heel flap to toe.
(Note to self: If you step off the front step into the grass, there is still 18 inches of snow there even though the snow looks equal in heighth to the steps. Next time, put on boots.)
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Happy Groundhog Day!
I got this in an email and decided to answer it on my blog. (Everything is blog fodder. Everything. Just be glad I'm not showing you a pic of my finger where the skin cracked. Yep, it's a slow news day....)
Use the first letter of your Last Name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be Real Places, Names, Things, Nothing made up. You can't use your name for the boy/girl name question.
1. Your last name: Garcia
2. A four letter word: goal
3. A Boys Name: Gerry
4. A Girls name: Gabriela
5. An Occupation: Grapper
6. A Color: green
7. Something you wear: Gauchos
8. A Beverage: Gatorade
9. Food: gnocchi
10. Something found in the bathroom: gunk around the tub
11. A place: Grenada
12. Excuse for being late: ran out of Gas
13. Something you shout: Get back!
14. A Movie: Groundhog Day (which is today. Happy Groundhog Day!)
Use the first letter of your Last Name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be Real Places, Names, Things, Nothing made up. You can't use your name for the boy/girl name question.
1. Your last name: Garcia
2. A four letter word: goal
3. A Boys Name: Gerry
4. A Girls name: Gabriela
5. An Occupation: Grapper
6. A Color: green
7. Something you wear: Gauchos
8. A Beverage: Gatorade
9. Food: gnocchi
10. Something found in the bathroom: gunk around the tub
11. A place: Grenada
12. Excuse for being late: ran out of Gas
13. Something you shout: Get back!
14. A Movie: Groundhog Day (which is today. Happy Groundhog Day!)
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