Having Goals

For some reason I thought that the Winter Olympics ended this Friday, today, so all week I've been panicking about finishing in time. Of course most of you probably know that they don't end until the 28th, which is Sunday. This means that I have a lot more time than I thought, and it's weekend time which is even better. Last night I was able to do some serious knitting and I got past 60 inches (the length in the pattern). I would like to make a bit longer and go until I run out of yarn, but I could bind off at any time now. A gold medal is nearly mine!

I know it's nearly March, but I haven't yet written about my knitting goals for the year yet, so I thought I might do that now. Why have goals? Actually, my husband spent a lot of time in January thinking about and writing down his short-term and long-term goals for both his personal and professional life. I have to admit that at first I thought it was one of those touchy-feely things he had picked up in his business classes. At first I just went along with it to help him out. However, I have discovered that keeping those goals in mind has been pretty helpful. For example, instead of the weekend flying by without really getting anything done or doing anything fun, I now decide in advance what task I want to complete and plan things to do with RJ. For example, this weekend I plan to clean the refrigerator and take RJ to a local park with train rides for kids. The plan for my knitting this year is generally to do more of it. I also want to try several new techniques. I have planned a cable project (Belle Wrap in the Knitting Little Luxuries Book) and a stranded colorwork project (Composed Knits from the Fall 2007 Interweave Knits). I also plan to do some more complex lace patterns like Lacey.

I have a bunch of bright pink mohair to use for Lacey. I am wondering if I should knit it along with another softer yarn to tone down the color and decrease itch. Any opinions?

A Fashionista is Born

I was putting on RJ's off-white socks this morning and this was our conversation:

RJ: No white ones
Me: You don't want the white socks?
RJ: Brown
Me: You want brown socks instead? (I got the brown socks out.)
RJ: Yes
I put on the brown socks.
RJ: Now brown shoes

The worst part is that the brown ones really did look better than the white with her outfit. Already a fashionista and she's not even 2! Perhaps I should have her pick out my clothes for work?

A Ravelympics update: On Day 11, with 3 more days left to knit I have about 12 inches to go. It might be cutting it close, but I have until midnight on Friday. It really is looking like a scarf now at least.

Mondays are Hardest

Thanks for all your support for my Ravelympics projects. I am still making good progress on the scarf and I'm happy with my new start on the Anouk. I will update more on the projects later this week.

I don't know about other moms, but dropping off RJ on Monday morning is always emotional. I guess after spending the weekend together my guilt is in full force. I really shouldn't feel guilty, her daycare is fantastic. However, she is moving from the infant room to the toddler room at the moment and she is not happy. She hates change (gets that from her dad) and misses her old teachers. I know that she needs to move on, but it has been so hard. I definitely agree with her old teachers that she really needs to be in an environment that is more school-like so she can learn more, and that she is too mature for the infant room. But, when your baby starts crying the moment you hand her over, it is so hard to leave her there and not snatch her back and take her home.

The good news is that I am making good progress on gifts for her new teachers, who are patiently dealing with her crying and fussing on a daily basis. Here is another completed knitted washcloth. It uses the ballband dishcloth pattern that is so popular. It is fun and easy to make, but looks complicated. Some more kitchen cotton going to good use. I made a big blunder at first, using small bits of leftovers that weren't quite enough to finish this. Thankfully, I tracked down some matching yarn and the crisis was averted.



Here's to hoping that next Monday will be a lot easier.

Ravelympics - The Fallen Project

To my surprise, I am enjoying the Ravelympics and the Olympics. Being forced to knit more has reminded me how much I enjoy it. I'm excited to start new projects and finish those I've got on the needles. In that spirit and with the success of my scarf project I thought I might enter another Ravelympics event, WIPs Dancing. The rule is that the WIP can't have been worked on since January 12th. That eliminated the couple projects that were nearly done. However, I was near completing the front side of a new cream and blue Anouk. It might be cutting it close, but finishing the back, the pockets, and tabs seemed doable. I dug it out and started knitting. After working another inch or so I realized the measurements were funky. It turns out I had missed part of the pattern instructions about 7 inches back. After finishing the decreases, I was supposed to knit to 9.25 inches and then decrease for the transition from the skirt to bodice. I just went right to the decrease at about 7.5 inches, much too early. So, I had to rip back to that point. It went from this:



To this:


I'm pretty sure I won't finish it in time for the Ravelympics now. On the positive side, I was working on the 12 month size (this project has been sitting around awhile) and RJ is nearly 2. Now I plan to follow the 18 month sizing instead for length (might even add some extra) and it will be more likely to fit her as a dress for a few months before it becomes a top. She’s super skinny, so having the 12 month width may actually work out better.

The Ravelympics 2010

As you may have guessed from the title, I am competing in the Ravelympics. This is the Knitting Olympics on Ravelry, for those who don't know. The goal is to cast on during opening ceremonies and complete your project by closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics to earn a gold medal. It's all quite fun and I participated in 2006 (sort of; it's a long story). I was going to avoid it this year, but then my friend who is a pattern designer (Ann Kuo Lukito of Crafty Diversions) was sponsoring a KAL for the Ravelympics. Just knit one of her patterns and you qualified for a drawing for $40 worth of hand-picked (by Ann) knitting items. I remembered that I had some mohair that she dyed for me and some Frog Tree merino that I had purchased to go along with it:



I had planned to use the yarn to make Ann's pattern, Linh's Ivy (this is a Ravelry link, but you can also find the pattern free on the Crafty Diversion website), so it seemed silly not to participate. I am actually enjoying the knitting and the competition quite a bit. I joined the team for my Ravelry Group Motherhood Later (go team!) Here is my progress on the scarf (for the Scarf Super G event) as of Monday.



By Sunday I was feeling pretty cocky about my progress and decided to enter another "event", the WIPs Dancing. What a great way to finish one of my UFOs! That has not gone as well as my soft, beautiful scarf. The tragic details to follow......

Will It Stretch To Fit?

It is raining today in SoCal, normally a rare event, although this winter has been a lot more rainy and cold than usual. For a knitter that's not a bad thing. Today I am actually wearing a vest I knit for the Knitting Special Olympics, 2006. What is the Knitting Special Olympics, you may ask? My knitting group was full of new knitters and we weren't ready for the actual Knitting Olympics, so we did our own version that was about enjoying the process, rather than competing. No one actually finished their project, but that wasn't the goal. We just wanted to challenge ourselves to do something more complex than we had before. It was lots of fun and we had a closing ceremonies party to celebrate our accomplishments, complete with medals for the winners.

Anyway, it is rainy today and the light in my office is burned out. Wouldn't it just figure that on one of the 10 cloudy days we have here, my light is burned out? So here I sit in the glow of my computer watching the rain and thinking about what new fuzzy woolen knitting project to cast on. Here is a project I cast on early in the winter and I've just gotten back to:



It is a One-Skein-Wonder Baby Sweater from the book One-Skein Wonders. I had leftover green chunky Wool-Ease from my brother's Christmas gift, so I just bought some tan chunky yarn to go with it and voila! A baby sweater for a little boy. It is intended as a gift for friend who had a baby boy in October, but at the rate I'm going he will be graduating from college before I finish it. This may end up in the bin of baby gifts, ready and waiting for the next friend who has a boy.

Ultimate Doughnuts

I am currently working very hard to get to get back to healthy eating habits. It seems like once you get used to eating junk food, it's really hard to stop. I nursed RJ for 13 months, and during that time I ate everything, both healthy and unhealthy. Now there's no excuse and just feel like I am setting a bad example for RJ. Quitting cold turkey has been pretty hard though. I must be craving the stuff pretty bad, because the other day I was on my way to Jo-Ann's for some craft supplies and I read this on the sign "Ultimate Doughnuts." I thought to myself "woohoo, I could really use an ultimate doughnut!" A moment later I read the sign again and realized it said "Ultimate Discounts." So much for the chocolate doughnut I was craving, which was probably a good thing.

I mentioned that I had actual FO's to report, despite a lack of knitting time. I have to confess that two projects are dishcloths, so don't get too excited. So here is one, the Reverse Miter Dishcloth (Ravelry link). I used Vickie Howell Collection Organic Cotton and Milk yarn, which is discontinued I am pretty sure. I got it donated from a friend for my gift project. I am trying to knit dishcloths for RJ's teachers. I started last January, so this is taking awhile, but dishcloths are fun so I'm not too concerned. The yarn was definitely thinner than worsted, so I chose a pattern that could be adjusted in size as you went along. The reverse miter cloth pattern was perfect for it and I was able to use pretty much the entire skein, so no waste.