Going for the Gold!

Thanks for all the mohair input. Once I finish another project or two I'll go ahead and start it.

Sorry for taking so long to update on my Ravelympics results. Look over there in the sidebar. Do you see them? Yep, those are my medals. It took awhile to get around to posting since my team started celebrating after the medals ceremony (Team Motherhood Later on Ravelry). We must have gotten a little carried away, and some of us may have, ahem, passed out behind stadium. Anyway, now that I've recuperated from the celebration I can finally post about my two projects. The project that took up most of the 17 days was my Linh's Ivy scarf. It turned out great and I got a gold in the Scarf Super G! Here I am modeling the day after I finished. Yes, I am aware that there is palm tree behind. Trust me, it was chilly don't let the palm tree fool you.

I was also able to quickly finish another Ballband dishcloth for holiday gifts for RJ's daycare providers. Four down and two to go! I finished just in time and got another gold in Holiday Jump-Start Skiing.

Woohoo for double medaling! Most importantly I feel like I can actually finish a bigger knitting project (well, bigger than a dishcloth) in less than six months. I am feeling inspired to keep giving myself Ravelympics-like goals. For my next project I plan to finish RJ's new Anouk in time for Easter. The Anouk was my fallen project for the Ravelympics, and I've now fixed it and caught up to where I was before. I only have about 3 weeks, but I think I can do it!

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.

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......

Resting On One's Laurels

I had never really thought about what the phrase "resting on your laurels" meant. It harkens back to a time when Roman senators were given crowns of laurels in recognition of their achievements. If someone relies on these previous achievements, rather than working to earn new ones, they would be considered to be resting on their laurels. Despite my current bedrest, I am trying to continue getting work done (yay for laptops!) and spend some quality time knitting and crocheting. So far things are generally going well, and we made it past the "magic" 34-week mark. My restrictions look to be slowly easing up, and I am feeling less worried. In crafting news, some projects are finally finished, and several new things have been started. Here is a photo of my world at the moment: me, the couch, my belly, and my knitting.


Here is another FO for 2008:



Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Country Blue, Lion Brand Color Waves in Windsor
Pattern: Seija blanket pattern in The Happy Hooker, with the very clever hole for a carseat or stroller seatbelt
Changes: I added a shell edge and left out the braided trim.
Yardage: 1 skein of each, approximately
Hook: size H

Honestly, I normally wouldn't choose to work with either of these yarns. The Red Heart was predictably scratchy and squeaky and the Color Waves was so fuzzy it was nearly impossible to see the stitches. However, the Red Heart had been in my stash for about 15 years, and the Color Waves was free. Despite the yarn troubles, it has gotten soft with washing and looks pretty cute, I think. The hubby liked it so much, he insisted we keep it for our little one. I am making good progress on some gift knits, inspired by the Loose Knit Group on Ravelry. We are trying to get ahead on holiday gift-giving. I will post on those projects soon.

Summer Knitting

Even though some disagree, summer can be a fun time to knit, as long as you put away that heavy wool sweater and pull out some warm weather yarns. As for patterns, anything lacy and full of holes is a good choice. To that end, I have started the spiderweb capelet from SnB Nation. The capelet is actually for me, to keep the chill off my shoulders on cool summer evenings.

Working on the capelet should be good practice, since I recently joined Mystery Stole 3. Not wanting to break my trend of joining a lace knitalong every summer (last summer it was The Amazing Lace), I convinced myself it would be a good idea. This was assisted by the extremely generous offer from Theresa of Knitting Underway, who graciously offered to send me the lace weight yarn leftover from one the most impressive lace projects ever, the 8-ft by 8-ft chuppah she made for a friend's wedding. Thanks Theresa!

Next is the ball-band dishcloth which is a gift for a friend. As many before me have said, these dishcloths are fun!
In addition to the capelet and the mystery shawl, I have several other cotton and/or short sleeve sweaters in the queue. It would seem that my summer will be full of knitting!