Almost there...

Quick check in from the Ravelry Stadium on the Sweater Sprint. Just the neckline to pick up and knit, then add the buttons. I've already woven in most of the ends. Not quite down to the wire, but getting there, because I'd like to finish before I go to bed tonight. I don't intend to be up until 3 AM like I was last night! Pictures tomorrow when there's light.

Gotta go knit!

When in doubt...

READ THE DIRECTIONS!

Duh, Kathy, when the sleeve instructions start with Knit 4 Rows, then begin the lace pattern, and you read the body instructions and SKIP the part that says "Knit 4 Rows", and go directly from the cast-on into the lace pattern, does that make sense? You even questioned yourself and re-read the instructions, remember?!

Sigh! Frogged 233 stitches x 3 rows... about 2-1/2 hours of Olympics watching... And you can't blame equipment error this time, either.

I think I should go to bed.

Olympic update

Well, after the drama of the equipment failure over the weekend, I made the decision to switch out the faulty equipment and start over.

Much as I loved the Green Line Worsted, it was not the right yarn for the project. The realization hit when I'd gotten a couple inches into the lace on the sleeve, and it was a little too chunky-looking, not drapey like I wanted. Of course it wasn't apparent in the swatch.

Replacement equipment: Dream in Color Classy in the color "Good Luck Jade", which I thought was an appropriate choice for the Olympic knitting (and the fact that I need lots of luck to get this done).


Progress: The pieces are all knit from the bottom-up, so the lace portions are done first. I've done the first sleeve to the armhole, and the 2nd is well on its way. I should be casting on for the body by this evening. When that is done to the armholes (12" of lace, then the sleeves are joined and it's all stockinette from there! The color shows up better in the bottom picture.

Warning - Olympic-sized Rant ahead:
I've talked with a lot of people about the TV coverage of the Olympics. I've written letters every Olympic year to the networks about the fact that this is an International Competition. Every time, I have the same issues and lots of people have agreed with me! Why in more than 20 years isn't someone at the networks listening!?!? (and why am I so addicted to watching every minute I can, even though I know I'll end up getting angry at the broadcasters).

1. Please let us see some athletes other than the ones competing for the gold. Some preliminary rounds would be nice, instead of 15 replays of the gold-medal race.
2. Please let us see other nations other than the top-ranked, larger contingents, and not just the "feel-good, look how much this person has overcome" segments.
3. Please show fewer hours of basketball (because we can see all the same pro athletes during the regular season) and show some of the lesser known sports during prime-time.

Sure, I understand that there's a lot of pressure on Michael Phelps to get lots of gold medals, not to play down his incredible athleticism and the fact that he definitely rules the pool, but do you have to keep going on and on (and on) about it?! We know that he's gotten 9 gold medals so far in his Olympic career; is there anyone who doesn't know that?

Yes, there is more TV coverage than ever, but there are those of us (and I know I can't be the only one) who don't have HD televisions yet. And, those of us who don't have Tivo either. So, if you have something called "a job" and have to be "physically at the job site" during the day when a few of the less popular sports are run (if they're televised at all), you're out of luck unless you can get your VCR to work. I was able to see a badminton match (but only one and only because it was a US athlete) yesterday morning only because I didn't have anywhere to be until 1 PM.

Yes, I know that I can see some of it "on-demand" through Comcast, but not much. Yes, I know that there is a lot of online content. However, I'd need to get a new computer in order to take advantage of the online videos, as NBC's videos are not available for the Macs that are running PowerPC chips, only the Intel versions.

So, I'm wondering if it's all a conspiracy to get the American public to spend more money on the latest technology while leaving those who can't afford or can't justify the increased spending on new equipment.

End of rant!

Gotta go knit!

Ready...Set...GO!

Yes, I have been knitting like a crazy woman. No, I haven't finished everything that I said I'd finish...and I only have 10 days before I need to be back at school. Ack! Where did the summer go?!

But, I need to cast on for the Ravelympics 2008!

Project: Cardigan to Love by Lynda Cyr
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Green Line Worsted
Color: Dusk (purples!)
Gauge: approx. 18 st/4 inches
Needles: size 8 for the lace, size 9 for the stockinette

But a spectacular equipment failure has set me back several hours already!

I swatched last night at Purlescence's Knit Night. The yarn was a little stiff and it felt like a lot of lanolin or spinning oil was still in it. But I thought it was okay to work with. After a brief water bath, it was soft and supple and I was pretty close to gauge.

But this morning, after an early morning rise (no, not 5 AM for the opening ceremonies), I started. But after finishing 2 repeats on the lace, I realized that I was heading for an injury if I continued to use the yarn in this form. The more I knit, the stickier the yarn felt.


And, take a look at this! See the dye on my hands? It only took a couple of rows worth of knitting to get my fingers this color. (It's very hard to take a picture of your hand stretched out in front of you - sorry!)




Into a water bath all 5 skeins went! Now I'm waiting for it to dry so I can wind it and re-swatch.








Meanwhile, there really has been other knitting:

Exhibit A: Adult-sized hat to match the scarf that The Hubby knit
This one is a seed stitch rib (thanks Sandi!) in the round. The scarf doesn't exactly match (Broken Rib stitch), but it coordinates quite nicely.
Yarn: Fiber Fiend's worsted wool
Color: Woodland
Needles: Size 9




Exhibit B: Socks (in progress) - this is my "purse knitting" that comes out whenever I have a few minutes.






Exhibit C: Twist (really!), 98% finished, just waiting for the collar to be knit, a full blocking, and some pewter clasps.

But - runs outside to check how the yarn is drying - I want to work on my new sweater NOW! (This way I'll have 2 new sweaters for the beginning of school.)

Doesn't hurt that The Hubby and The Dork are heading to family camp tomorrow AM early and won't be back until Wednesday night. I can stay up and knit as long as my hands hold out!

Oh, and speaking of The Dork, Mari gave me this awesome T-shirt the other day! Thanks, Sis!

Okay, gotta go check on the yarn again!

Notes to Self:

My Tour de Fleece challenge is finished! All 16 oz. of fiber have been spun and plied and I've learned a lot in the process. Of course, I want to keep spinning other stuff now.

Note 1. You like to spin. Doesn't really matter how the end product turns out, you are a process spinner, as you are knitter and crocheter. However if you spin with intention, you might surprise yourself.

Exhibit A:
Crown Mountain Superwash Merino, 8 oz.
Color: Layla
3-ply, worsted weight, 325 yards
Divided into 3rds, top, middle, bottom
Comment: more muddled color & slubby than I thought it would be. Also overspun.



Exhibit B:
Lisa Souza blue-faced leicester, 2 oz.
Color: Berry Poppins
3-ply, aran weight, 80 yards
Divided into 3rds lengthwise, and pre-drafted
Comment: tried to intentionally match last year's spinning of the same fiber. I think I did pretty well, but it ended up being a little thicker.

Exhibit C:
Grafton Corriedale batts, each 2 oz.
Colors #1, 5 & 9
3-ply, light worsted weight, total of 325 yards









Note 2. Batts must be spun from the fold in order to align the fibers in a spinnable fashion. Until Sandi told me that, I wasn't enjoying this fiber. Now...I think I need to get more batts in the same color so I have enough for a shawl! I love these colors, and think I'll call the combination "Purple sunset".

I also, for the first time, played with the ratios on my wheel and found the one that for me, produced a perfectly balanced yarn. It had less than a half-twist in it before I set/whacked it.

Note 3: Before you wet-finish by whacking the heck out of the wet yarn, make sure you tie the skeins securely, so when you rear back with the yarn over your head and accidentally drop it behind you, you don't get a tangled mess.




Note 4: When you try to salvage the disaster you've created by laying out the yarn so you can rewind the hank, don't sit down on the ground with the dog outside. She will think it's an invitation to play, or to roll in your wet yarn!

If there was a videocamera around, it would have been a candidate for America's Funniest Home Videos. The Dog rolling in the yarn, tangling herself, me trying to stop laughing long enough to untangle her before she tries to run off...




Note 5:
My guys are now both knitters! The Dork decided that he would like to make himself a sweater. Specifically, a hoodie with a zipper. After looking through my books and Ravelry, he chose to make an Adult Tomten, using some stashed Noro Kureyon (discontinued color #55). He has swatched, we've done the basic calculations and cast on. Wish him luck! He'll be working on it while we're at the SF Giants' Stitch & Pitch game on Tuesday.

Halfway

through the Tour de Fleece and I'm a little behind! [So why am I taking the time to write a blog post, huh?!]
Anyway - there has been progress and learning!

Part I --
Crown Mountain superwash merino
Color: Layla
8 oz. = approximately 250 yards of 3-ply worsted weight.











Part II -
Lisa Souza Blue-faced Leicester
Color: Berry Poppins
2 oz = ???





This one, I'm spinning very intentionally, trying to match last year's spin of the same fiber. My prep includes remembering to pre-draft the fibers, as they were pretty tightly braided. I didn't remember to do this with the Crown Mountain, and I'm not entirely happy with how it came out.

Part III - 3 Grafton batts (pictures later).

Back to the wheel!

Spinning!

See, I really was spinning! This is almost one-third of the original 8 oz. of superwash merino. In 2 evenings I filled this bobbin. It feels really good to work on this, because I haven't spun since last February. I'm aiming for a 3-ply worsted-weight yarn that I have no idea what to do with yet. But it's purple!


Do you like my spinning studio? Right now, it is after 11 PM and it's 84 degrees inside the house. It's much nicer to sit outside in the evening with a bit of a breeze. There's not a very good breezeway through my house, and the air quality has been pretty poor. With Dear Hubby's sinus infection and breathing issues over the last week, having that poor air inside is causing havoc in his lungs. Can't open the window in our bedroom, even with the HEPA air filter, because it can't keep up with the crud in the air. He was happy playing with the dog, but had to go inside after only a couple minutes.

This spinning time has also given me a chance to make a bunch of phone calls to girlfriends I haven't talked with in months. Love my Bluetooth headset, and plenty of cell phone minutes that I pay for and never come close to using up!

All the pictures in this post were taken by The Dork who took a photography workshop at the Summer Nationals, specifically dealing with fencing photography (high-speed, poor lighting conditions), and he practiced some of what he learned by taking action pictures of The Dog and some of my spinning wheel in motion! (she's about to take off after her ball...)

Next bobbin...