Stacy Knits

It's been a long time!

2006-11-29T21:23:00.000-05:00

I'm alive and still knitting. Kind of. A lot has happened over these past few months, and I've been so busy that blogging and even knitting has taken a backseat. It's all good though. After being absolutely miserable in my career path over the last few years, I accepted a new job. I'm not practicing law anymore (YAY!) and accepted a job as a corporate tax consultant. I've been doing it since July. So far, I really enjoy it, although the career change growing pains have been rough at times. The biggest move though was that I moved from Kentucky (where I have lived all my life) to Atlanta. I never really thought I wanted to live in the ATL but as I started investigating it as part of the job offer, I thought I love it. And I do! What little of it I've seen anyway...

I haven't actually moved here yet. My firm has been letting me commute back and forth until my house sells. I'm very lucky. I fly in Sunday nights, leave Thursday nights. The job does involve a decent amount of travel, so I've spent weeks in there in Florida, North Carolina (twice), Texas, and Nebraska. My last job had no travel so I really love the travel aspect. It's all slowing down though because my cute little house finally sold, and I am making the official move at the end of December!

I actually have 3 whole weeks to find a place to live in Atlanta. No pressure! It will be nice to get my dogs here with me. They stay with grandma and grandpa during the week. They love that!

You'd think with all the time I spend in airports and on planes, I would have gotten a ton of knitting done. Not a chance! I finished the Alphabet Baby Blanket for my nephew Dylan. I really think that burned me out on knitting for awhile. But here it is, completed in July, 2006. Started in October, 2005 but there were a lot of things completed in that time. Baby was born April 20, 2006.

The finished blanket...

The blanket as a background to this cutie...

Pattern: Debbie Bliss Baby Knits Alphabet Blanket
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine (I don't remember how many skeins. 11 or 12.)
Needles: Size 4 bamboo circs

Pattern Notes: You can see from the picture below that I left out the triangle border. I was so sick of knitting it, and since it was for a boy, I thought a simple border was more appropriate. I had planned to do a simple crocheted edging but it layed perfectly flat without it so I just let it go.

It wasn't that bad of a pattern to knit. It was actually pretty enjoyable for most of it, although the pressure of getting it done before the kid goes to kindergarten and the sheer size of it did make it get tiresome. The biggest lesson learned: don't stress over mistakes you discover rows later. No one will notice. There's a mistake that glares at me everytime I look at the picture but in the end, I think you can only tell if you are looking for it.

I met the Yarn Harlot!

2006-04-30T11:53:00.000-04:00

And all I got was this crappy camera phone pic! This is even bad for a camera phone pic. I'm not sure what is up here.

She appeared at a book festival in Lex yesterday! Unfortunately (or maybe not so, given the plans), I had to skip the knitting session but did have her sign a copy of her latest book, Knitting Rules. I just knew I'd meet her and be all cool and memorable. I was doing very well until I mentioned something about my blog. She asked who I was, and I told her Stacy but "you've never visited my blog." "You'd be surprised. Haven't you left a comment for me? I get to all of those."

And that's when I turned into a blubbering idiot.

I actually told the Yarn Harlot that the reason I couldn't go to the special knitting session was because I had to go to Louisville to go out with a hot fireman (I'm sure she will confirm that those were my exact words). I was so embarassed that I would miss out on a celebrity knit-a-thon that I had to give her the one and only thing that I felt justified my absence. And quite frankly, when you're 31 and single, choosing knitting over dating will send your Mom into fits of despair that you just don't want to deal with.

I didn't have my knitting with me, and I didn't have on a single handknit. I am an outcast. Since I had plans that night and errands to run that day, I didn't get all knitted up like I would have otherwise. Not to mention how freaking humid it was yesterday!

When I first started knitting, blogging, and reading the Yarn Harlot's blog, I enjoyed it but for some reason, never really cared to read her books (please don't pass out YET everyone). I couldn't figure out how knitting could be humorous and couldn't I just get it on her blog? How wrong I was!!! I finally read her previous books a couple of months ago and was hooked. They are really funny, and I had trouble putting them down.

I haven't had a chance to read the new one and really haven't even skimmed through it a whole lot since I just got it yesterday but so far, I have to say that it could be my favorite yet. The humor is still there but this one is more of a everything you need to know about knitting type book. It's not an instruction manual like SNB but it looks like something I would have loved to have had when I first started in addition to the books teaching me to do the knitting thing. So buy it.

And Yarn Harlot, if you come across this, I hope you enjoyed your trip to beautiful Lexington! The weather ended up being quite decent. I hope the sock got some nice action shots and got to ride a horse or something. I would have suggested a nice picture of the sock resting on the Rupp Arena basketball court since it was mere feet away from said mecca but I think I'm the only person around blogland that would tear up at the sight.

Oh, about that fireman. Yes, that was a true story, not something I made up off the top of my head. It ended up not happening. I was going to Louisville with friends for another friend's birthday. He was hoping he'd be able to get away for the night but unfortunately, he couldn't. Firemen work some funky hours. We'll try again soon.

A Real Kentucky Weekend...

2006-04-10T20:17:00.000-04:00

Not much knitting to report but I had a one of the best weekends I've had since football season (or at least since things ended up with the ex in January). A gathering of a few friends for the opening weekend of Keeneland developed into a 30 person LimoBus renting extravaganza. I packed the dogs off for grandma and grandpa's house for the weekend so I could spend the day out and not have to worry about them. You don't have to love horse racing to love Keeneland but if you do love racing, there's no place better.

The day started out nasty, cold and dreary but by the time the second race rolled around, the sky was bright blue, and the sun had warmed it to a comfortable temperature. I happened to meet a very cute doctor while tailgating pre-races, a college friend of a friend of mine, that became my companion for the rest of the day (from out of state, I doubt I'll ever see him again but it was fun while it lasted!).

One thing that makes Keeneland so neat is that many people still get dressed up. You'll see just about anything worn but I'm in the camp of people that loves to dress up and see what others are wearing. For example, this guy, rocking his plaid blazer and matching plaid tie. Our favorite outfit of the day!

The Paddock. One of the prettiest spots on earth. Seriously. During the October meet, the leaves on the trees are changing into beautiful fall colors. In the spring, things are in bloom. Not a whole lot is blooming this early in April but in a couple of weeks, it will be perfect. Still, it's gorgeous.

Most tracks don't have this area open to the public like Keeneland does, which lets you get close to the horses and watch the owners and trainers get the horses and jockeys ready for the race.

After the track was to a Japanese restaurant for sushi and even more fun. This is only about half of our group. We had another group in that next room. It was huge!

There I am in the bottom right corner.

And finally, mugging for the camera with my friend (right) and the cute doctor (left)

It was a long day, starting early and going late but it was a blast all the way through!

Is Salina Cursed?

2006-04-06T10:01:00.000-04:00

I'm not particularly superstitious except when it comes to watching sports but I'm beginning to wonder about poor Salina. I think she's been cursed. Why else would I have had so many problems with this simple, straight forward pattern?

It started out well enough. I finished the back piece quickly and went ahead and blocked it. It grew! It went from about 13 1/2 inches to over 15 (much too long for this type of sweater for me) and expanded out at the bottom, though the chest was still the width I wanted. I tried reblocking, with the same results. The one time I actually washed the swatch to make sure it wouldn't do this, it happens. How? I even reblocked, taking extra special care to scrunch it into shape, and it didn't help. The gauge has relaxed enough that I'll probably have to reknit the whole thing rather than simply taking out a few rows to shorten it.

Resigned to having to re-knit the back, I do the sleeves. Have I mentioned how much I hate sleeves? Thinking of how the back stretched, I make the sleeves a little shorter. Off to blocking, feeling pretty smug about how I'd outsmarted the yarn. Do they grow? Not one bit. I can probably block some extra length into them so I'm not too worried but thinking about it, I knit them as the pattern specified which is probably going to make them appear "too short" rather than "bracelet length" on my short arms and also too wide around the bottom. So there may be some sleeve reknitting (working from the cast on down, more likely).

The front piece started off well enough. I got through the seed stitch on size 2 needles, and it became my carry along knitting project. On evening, I pulled some papers out of my work bag and noticed a coffee stain on them. I frantically reached for my knitting, and there it was, a big coffee stain on it. I'd tossed my travel mug in without it being shut. I put a little detergent on the spot and soaked to no avail. I decided to risk if some stain remover would get it out or leave a spot and fortunately, it did work.

But knowing that getting the front piece done is likely not the end of my knitting has made it almost impossible for me to pick this up. As a result, I haven't been working on anything. It's kind of been stressing me out! Knitting's for relaxation for me, I don't put a lot of goals or deadlines on my knitting but for some reason, this is bugging me.

I decided that it's probably best to put Salina down for a bit. It wouldn't get a lot of wear until the fall anyway. The baby blanket still has a ton more work, and I need to get it done for baby nephew's pending arrival (or within a couple months of said arrival!). It's about time I get back to working on Apricot since it's spring and the perfect time to wear this sweater. I only have half of a front and a sleeve left to knit on it, and finishing looks relatively simple. It would be nice to actually have a finish item. I've finished a whopping 3 projects this year, one of those I did most of LAST year. Sock #2 is coming along great but it's my on the go knitting (that don't share a bag with my travel mug) so they just get a few rows done from time to time.

So that's the plan for now, to actually finish a couple of projects AND preserve my sanity!!! I'll post a pic of the baby blanket soon. It's going to be tough to get a good one because of its size and the lack of blocking. It is absolutely gorgeous though I'm not quite sure how useful it will be (lots of little holes for kiddo to get his fingers stuck in).

AWOL Knitter

2006-03-26T14:45:00.000-05:00

Sorry to have disappeared for awhile! While you may assume that I've been lulled into a basketball induced stupor, that's only partially correct. I'm getting over a nasty stomach flu and speaking in words greater than two syllables has been beyond my capabilities for a few days now. I've curled up on my couch watching a whole lot of basketball though! The Sweet Sixteen was the most amazing Sweet Sixteen in memory. All of the close games and overtimes made it so exciting. I'm thrilled for LSU making it to the Final Four and hoping Florida does too. I always pull for fellow Southeastern Conference teams.

Unfortunately, my beloved Kentucky didn't pull it out against UConn. But I was so proud of the effort they gave. I figured we'd win our first round against UAB. We're Kentucky. We don't lose first round NCAA games (not since 1987 anyway). UConn was a different story. I thought we could be competitive against any of the other #1 seeds but didn't think we could stay on the court with UConn because of the matchup problems they presented us. The only team that can beat UConn is UConn, so they like to say. When we got down by 13 and since UConn was playing a good game, I thought it was going to get ugly.

Our guys fought back and made it close. We lost by 4 but if a couple of bad calls and rebounds had gone our way, I truly think we would have pulled it out. I was so proud!

I'm talking about basketball because there's not much knitting to report! I haven't felt like knitting and haven't done much. I've done a little on Sock #2. I'm almost to the armholes of Salina. I'll probably post a picture of the Baby Blanket soon. It's going to be so nice but pictures aren't going to capture it well at this point.

So hopefully soon I'll have progress to show off!

She did it...

2006-03-14T09:50:00.000-05:00

And you thought I couldn't...

So it wasn't you guys with doubts, it was me! I knew I had the ability to knit a sock and even the patience but was starting to question if I had a sock mental block! But it's done, and the fit is near perfect. If you think I have issues resizing sweaters to fit my 4'11 self, you should see me pondering the fit of a sock to fit my size 5 foot. And I like socks to fit really snug. Most of the standard sock patterns call for casting on 64 at a gauge of 8 st/in. After measuring my foot, I decided to cast on 56. It worked very well. If I want a pair to come up a little higher on my calf, I'll definitely need to start with a few more stitches and decrease down. I've got little feet and big, bulky calves!

I finished this while watching basketball over the weekend. See...

I even cast on for Sock #2, avoiding second sock syndrome and you guys having to yell at me! Meet Sock @#2, watching my basketball love, Jay Bilas, on ESPN.
I don't think I'm going to have a problem finishing Sock #2! I can't wait to wear these. I always wear socks around the house, preferably soft, warm, wool socks, and these are gonna be great. I had trouble taking off Sock #1!

The Cats lost in the semis of the SEC tournament to South Carolina who was playing out of their minds this week. We ended up with a #8 seed in the brackets. I don't remember the last time we were seeded this low. We're usually a 1 or 2! That's how bad this season has been. Oh well, maybe they'll put together a miracle run. Gotta have hope.

Madness Ensues!

2006-03-11T11:33:00.000-05:00

Ah, it's here! March Madness is here, and we're ready. It's Conference Tournament week with the Brackets coming out tomorrow night. I'm pumped. It's my favorite time of the year. My beloved Cats won their SEC Quarterfinal game yesterday, playing a miserable first half and getting down by 10 points two different times in the last 7-8 minutes. They showed so much heart and determination to win that game. Heart is something that's been woefully lacking in this team this year.

The NCAA tournament is a relatively solitary thing for me. I love getting together with people to watch regular season games but with so much riding on tournament games (one loss, your season is done), I hate to watch with anyone. I get so into it. I get so stressed when the Cats play. And I love to watch as many games as I can.

That leads to a ton of knitting time! The best UK game projects are simple stockinette with not a lot of counting, something that keeps my hands moving (that calms me) but doesn't require attention. And something that I can put down at any time should cheering (or jeering) necessitate it and pick right back up. For other teams' games, I can do something a little bit more complex but there can be no complicated cable or lace knitting during the games! And I really need to get some projects finished too, especially if I want to wear them before next fall/winter. So here's the March Madness knitting plan...

1. Get the Alphabet Baby Blanket halfway done
2. Finish Salina (half the front and half a cuff remain)
3. Pick up and finish Apricot. For real. (one front and one sleeve remain)
4. Finish my socks (Sock #1 is merely rows from completion!)
5. Cabled bag for my friend Steph
6. Finish "mystery project" I wrote about not long ago. It's not much of a mystery since I decided I won't be giving it away unless it's too small which is entirely possible judging from what I've got done (Odessa from Grumperina).

It's not likely I'll get all this done during March, and that's not really the goal. I do have some projects I'm itching to start like the BSA Cotton Cardigan I almost did during the Knitting Olympics. And the Cabled Turtleneck from Rebecca #30. And I ripped out the Jaywalker socks I had started and want to give them another shot. Of course, the temptation is pretty strong to cast on for them.

But I will not even touch the yarn for any of these until I've accomplished 4 of the 6 things on this list. True story! And feel free to call me on it if I do! :)

A Quick Lil FO

2006-03-08T22:53:00.000-05:00

Sunday, my friend e-mailed me and told me to pull my nose out of my new "The New Crewel Book" (so cool!) and get to work on making these bags. I quickly figured out the pattern (it's not that complicated, pretty simple actually for a $150 purse!) and got to work on Monday. I happened to have a skein of Brown Sheep Bulky that I bought over a year ago for a project I changed my mind one. I happened to have some really pretty fabric from my learning to sew phase that never took off. And a snap that I ended up never putting into a felted bag. Add in a handle and ribbon, and this is what I got:

Not bad for a couple of evenings, huh? It took me almost as much time to do the lining as it did to knit the thing.

Pattern: Made it up as I went along (I later learned that there was a thread on Craftster awhile back, I'm not sure if a pattern was ever posted there)
Yarn: Brown Sheep Bulky in Aztec Turquoise, a little less than 1 skein
Needles: Size 10.5 Circular
Notes: Very simple. The original is a super cute bag but incredibly easy for anyone who's been knitting for anytime at all to "knock off." I can't believe a $150 is that easy to replicate. I'm making one for my friend and another for myself in cotton, making a few minor changes. It would be a great summer bag. I think the thing I like about it most is that it looks like something I would buy in a store, not like a handknit. Not that looking handknit is a bad thing, of course!
I did 2 new things with this project, pretty amazing for such a simple knit:
1. Sewed in a lining. I'm not a seamstress but it doesn't look too bad.
2. Cabled without a cable needle. To be honest, I've always wondered why bother, it's not like a cable needle is difficult. I had practiced it on swatches. But in a project with 6 cables like this, it did go faster. I'm a definite convert!

I'm not officially in Project Spectrum but since I am the queen of pink, it's pretty obvious that I'd be touching something that fits this month's theme. One thing about being a single woman is that you can have all the pink in your house that you want. See my bright pink guest bedroom wall in the picture of the bag above! And my bed below...

I don't believe in spoiling my dogs

If I took pictures of all the pink in my house, you'd be stuck here forever!

I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit...

2006-03-06T20:55:00.000-05:00

I will write it on the chalkboard 500 times...

I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks. I will knit a pair of socks.

My blog friends have almost all knit socks. Lolly seems to have a new sock done every time I visit her blog! But for some inexplicable reason, I seem incapable of finishing a pair. We're not talking about second sock syndrome here. I don't even get that far. Let's review my previous attempts. There was the Cabled Sock from IK Spring '05 in Brown Sheep Cotton Fine leftover from Lucky. I made it about 3". There was the next attempt in Knit Picks Sock Garden, a simple ribbed sock. Another 2". I ripped that out in favor of the raved about Jaywalkers. Those haven't been ripped out yet but they have stalled out at about 2".

One sad little failed attempt

Why is this? I have no clue. Small needles don't bother me. DPN's don't bother me. I love warm, soft socks, and everyone claims handknit ones are the best. I've always told myself that if I don't enjoy knitting a project for myself, I have no need to suffer through so I don't feel pressure to finish a pair if I hate knitting them. But I can't say I don't enjoy knitting them! I do like them. Part of it may be bad timing. With the Cotton Fine socks, I wasn't knitting a lot in the summer anyway and may have been tired of the yarn after finishing Lucky. The Knit Picks yarn feels nice but may be suffering from a color selection. You see, I'm not a bold color, stripey socks kind of girl. I tend to wear only dark/neutral/white socks. When picking out the Knit Picks yarn, I chose a color that best fit this but had some color. The shades are nice, don't get me wrong, just not my favorite colors to knit with. I like bright or light colors for knitting! Mostly pink of course.

Never one to give up that easily, I left my LYS the other day with 2 skeins of Lang Jawoll sock yarn in colors that I love (shades of pink, gray and white) and decided to have another go at it. The result:

It's not done yet but I have turned the heel! I'm getting ready to pick up stitches for the gusset. I'm about 1/4 of the way toward a finished pair of socks!

The yarn's forming a really nice, subtle striping pattern. I thought it would be more variegated but this is even better than expected. It's a nice yarn to work with. It comes with reinforcing thread for the heels and toes. I may not need it but more than likely, my handknit socks will be worn around the house a lot so I figure it can't hurt to use it.

It looks like I should finish Sock #1. If I even hesitate to cast on for sock #2, you guys have to yell at me, threaten me, do whatever it takes to make me do it! :)

And a question for you sock knitters. I am using Size 1 bamboo needles which I do like a lot. However, I've already broken one and another looks like it's about ready to go. I have some Size 0 Pony Pearl needles that I like a lot but my LYS is always out of the Size 1. Is there any type of DPN that you guys like best?

The Aftermath

2006-03-04T13:48:00.000-05:00

Thanks so much for the compliments on my Not-So-Ruffly Rebecca Wrap Cardi. I really appreciate it! Karma asked if GGH Soft Kid was soft enough to wear against the skin. It is! It's so soft, and I just want to snuggle into it. Even though I'm not overly sensitive to itchy yarn, mohair is the one that tends to bug me but I'd use this again in a heartbeat. I love it that much!

From what I'm reading, it doesn't sound like I'm the only one suffering from a little post-Olympics fatigue. I've knit a little bit this week but have very little to show for it! I didn't touch Salina. I did a couple of rows on the Baby Blanket. I decided to knit a quick hat but ran out of yarn near the top so ripped back in order to make a couple of alterations. On the agenda for the near future includes, in order, finishing Salina (1/2 of the front and one cuff remains to knit), the Baby Blanket, and the Apricot Jacket (1 sleeve and 1 front remain, I want to wear this in the spring!).

Finishing any project on the list entitles me to a trip to the yarn shop for a new project. Right? I have several bigger things going on so picked up yarn for a pair of socks and for a secret project. It's only secret because it may end up being gifted away to someone that may or may not read this blog. I'm not sure yet if the color is more suited to me or said person.

I'm a relatively fearless knitter. My first project was a ribbed hat. Project #3 was a hat knit in the round. Sweater #2 was at a different gauge than the pattern's. Sweater #3 was cabled. Sweater #4 was lace on size 2 needles. You get the point! I don't really understand why people are afraid to undertake certain projects. I figure that if it doesn't work out, I can rip it out and use the yarn for something that will.

That said, there is one technique out there that, while not exactly intimidated by it, I haven't been able to talk myself into attempting even though I'm crazy about it. Secret project is just that!

Rebecca Ruffled Jacket

2006-02-27T08:55:00.000-05:00

After some anxious moments staring at the tiny, weird shaped pieces, thinking there was no way they were going to work out to be a sweater that fits and pondering if it was possible to rip out a mohair sweater, I present...

Pattern: Rebecca #30, Wrap Jacket with Flounce Edging (Pattern 37)
Yarn: GGH Soft Kid, about 5 1/2 balls (pattern calls for 7 for the small)
Needles: Size 5 Addis
Alterations: Very minor ones. My gauge was 22 rather than the pattern's 21. Since my row gauge with those needles was on, and row gauge mattered in this pattern and after calculating to make sure the fit would still be okay, I went with it. It blocked out to almost the same measurements. I slightly shortened the body, sleeves, and armholes.

Other notes:
*The pattern was very easy to decipher. Yes, it really was a Rebecca pattern!
*I love this yarn. It's wonderful to work with (not so if you want to rip out though) and makes a cuddly, warm, soft sweater. Too warm unless you're one of these that's always cold like me. I'm anxious to use it again.
*My ruffle isn't particularly ruffly. I think that's because I messed up the bind off. You're supposed to slip the 2 purl stitches while binding off, and I, forgetting that step, just bound off normally. I realized it about 2/3rds of the way through the almost 600 st bind-off and there was no way I was making the change. The shape of the sweater and yarn was what drew me in originally, and I was afraid the ruffle would be too much anyway. I even left off the ruffle on the sleeve. I may go back and add that later but even without it, the sleeves hang nicely, no rolling.
*There really aren't many changes I'd make. The pattern was sized almost perfectly for me. I'd add a couple of stitches onto the sleeves. The final measurement at the top is a bit over 11", and that's kind of small, even for a stretchy sleeve like this one.
*I am glad I didn't mess with the measurements of the back piece. The bottom of it starts out at 20" and decreases relatively quickly up to the waist. I wasn't sure that would work and thought it would leave a big hip-emphasizing peplum type thing hanging there but I decided to go with it. Glad I did, it's perfect
*Oh yeah, you may noticed mine crosses over on the opposite side from the original sweater. I seamed the first side, forgetting to add the slit. I just put it on the other side.

All in all, a huge success! It's the best fitting sweater I've done so far because I really took the time to deal with the armhole and shoulder sizing, which is where I run into the most problems with the fit of my handknits. Wrap sweaters seem to be the most difficult to get to fit properly, whether knit or store bought, and this one works better than any I've owned.

I'm really proud of this sweater. I had to figure this one out on my own since I haven't seen another one online. My finishing is getting better with every sweater (and fluffy mohair hides a lot of sins :). When deciding what garments to knit, I've realized that I stay out of "won't wear it" trouble if I knit things only if I would buy the same item in a store. This one would be one I'd definitely buy!

It's done!

2006-02-27T08:53:00.000-05:00

The Ruffled Cardi is done, and I'm wearing her today. Pictures and details to follow later this evening...

A little on the Knitting Olympics. All in all, a fun little thing to do, to work feverishly toward the deadline. I'm not so sure I'd participate in another one however. I tend to have 3-4 projects going at any one time, projects of varying types, some more complex like lace, some bigger but mindless like stockinette sweaters, some smaller like hats or scarves. I pick them up in the evenings depending on what my mood is at the time. Setting this deadline, I had to work on this same project just about any time I knit. It was fun this time but deadlines like Christmas gift giving usually take a project from an enjoyable knit to one that I am struggling on and cannot wait to be through with. This sweater was already starting to take on that for me.

And even though I finished last minute, would I have gotten it done if that one front piece wouldn't have been completed going in? Sure! The front pieces took probably under 4 hours each, they knit up that quickly. I didn't knit a whole lot on the weeknights but given the deadline, I definitely would have. I'm such a procrastinator but usually manage to make my deadlines but the skin of my teeth.

I look forward to seeing everyone else's completed projects!

The last progress report

2006-02-25T10:51:00.000-05:00

Let's hope it's the last and the next post is a fully complete Ruffled Sweater!!!

And down the stretch they come (er, that's horse racing, not Winter Olympics. And it will be nice to make a post without silly sports metaphors. We're all doing it, I've noticed! :) ) The knitting's all done. The blocking is done. Next step: seaming.

I am still incapable of getting a picture that shows the color accurately. I've tried different rooms, different lights, flash or not, and the result is the same. They are mostly too bright and too orangey. Imagine the rosy red color of a raspberry and you've got it.

You may notice the shaggy overgrown Parker Cairn observing my work. You may also noticed plain guest bed mattress that serves as my blocking board. If you remember from a couple of weeks ago, Elly Cairn had a bladder infection and her 4th recurrence of bladder stones. All was pretty well within a couple of days, leading me perhaps to a bit of false security. One evening, she was whining around. Elly does that often if she wants me to pet her. I was busy and didn't. Oops, that wasn't a "pet me" whine, that was a "gotta go" whine. Usually I'm excellent at Elly to English translation but I blew this one. She jumped up onto the bed and peed a river. I watched in horror as my lovely back piece was under Elly as she peed. All was well, the piece was dry, and I didn't even mind having to rip off the sheets AND the bedskirt and clean the carpet.

Today's plans: Lunch with the grandparents. Stop to get some thread to seam this baby with (I have no desire to do that with the mohair!). Knit the ties that I had completely forgotten when saying that I was done with the knitting (14" stockinette, no biggie). Try to finish seaming. If I have time, pick up stitches and get started on the ruffle. Tomorrow, I'll finish the ruffle. And maybe have pics posted by tomorrow night. Don't hold your breath but that is the goal!

I'm thinking I'll even do a little on Salina's front this afternoon. The Cats have a big game with LSU at 3:45, and there is no way I'll be able to seam during that if I haven't finished it by that point. I'll probably finish the ties during the first half. It's a big game and knitting keeps me calm and from throwing things at the TV (yes, I have done that. I remove all hard objects from reach of my lucky game watching spot. Yes, there is one of those)

Good luck on finishing everyone!

P.S. Thanks for birthday greetings!!! Yes, CupcakeQueen, the Cats gave me a great birthday present with a HUGE 40 point win where my favorite player, Rajon Rondo, came out of a big slump he's been in with 12 assists! It happened to be his birthday too. February 22nd was a good day. :) I'll pretend that his nasty dunk during the game was a little birthday shoutout for me!

Happy birthday to me!

2006-02-23T16:08:00.000-05:00

Actually, it was yesterday, not today. I was so stuffed from my birthday dinner (sushi) that I didn't even eat my favorite red velvet cupcakes. 31 seemed so old when I was a kid. But now, I don't feel or (hopefully) look that old!

I've stalled out on the sleeve of my Knitting Olympic cardi. I hate sleeves! I'm about 11 inches in but I cast on for this thing late Sunday night. Hopefully I'll get it finished tonight and tomorrow for seaming on Saturday and ruffling on Sunday!

The back and front pieces are blocked and ready to be seamed. I may do a little of that tonight to break up the sleeve monotony and see how it fits. In spite of how much I hate doing sleeves, I love being at this phase of a sweater...the phase where you know that you're going to have a brand new handknit sweater pretty soon!

Progress Report...

2006-02-20T08:55:00.000-05:00

One week to go! I've made great progress on my Ruffled Cardi. I've completed the back, both front pieces, and one sleeve piece. I thought I would try to complete both sleeves by this weekend and to leave only the quick knitting front piece to go for the week. But since the front piece has some type of shaping on almost every row, requiring me to closely track where I am, I figured it would be best to do it over the weekend. I do like to carry my project with me during the week in case I have a chance to work on it, and tracking sleeve increases is a lot easier than this.

(I'll try to snap some pics later)

So technically, after casting on for the final sleeve last night, I'm just one day behind from my intended schedule. That's pretty good with just one piece left to go. Finishing is going to be the killer on this! But it should be do-able over just a weekend if push comes to shove.

I'm not so sure I want to put every project on a deadline like this but it has been fun, knitting like crazy to get it done.

The Cats beat South Carolina Saturday in a great game, where they played like the Cats of old. It amazes even me how much better of a mood I'm in when they win. Patrick Sparks was on fire in the second half, hitting 6 3's. If this guy played on any other team, I would despise him that his cocky little smirk he gets when he's on fire. But he's ours and as frustrated as I get with his streaky shooting, I love the guy.

Progress, Day 6

2006-02-16T19:43:00.000-05:00

We almost had a tragic Knitting Olympics equipment failure. The other night, a peaceful, quiet evening at home with me on the phone, Elly Cairn resting on the couch, and Parker Cairn ripping pieces from his favorite stuffed animal. Only when I turned around, it wasn't his favorite stuffie. Parker had a ball of expensive GGH Soft Kid, trying to rip the ball band out, all in his way be damned even if it was fluffy soft pricy yarn. The boy loves him some paper products, and ball bands are high on his list of fine dining. I grabbed the yarn, expecting to see scores of 5 inch pieces but amazingly, all that was ripped from the skein was a couple of yards.

Of course I'm already late on my planned Olympics progress schedule. It wouldn't be ME if I wasn't! I'm not too far behind however. I wanted to finish the back on Monday. In reality, I finished it mostly on Tuesday except for binding off which I did on Wednesday. I started the first sleeve on Wednesday as well and have about 3 inches done so far. I want to have both sleeves done by Sunday which is definitely possible given the weekend. Here she is, the back piece...

For the life of me, I can't get a great shot of the color of this yarn, no matter what light I take it in. Look at that cool ruffle at the bottom! This ruffle wasn't bad to knit but I only bound off about 300 stitches with it. I imagine the final ruffle isn't going to go by nearly so quickly.

This is really going quickly compared to Salina which is knit at the exact same gauge and has similar measurements. Maybe it's just my imagination. Or maybe I've flying because I love this yarn so much.

On another note, it got up to 70 degrees today. It's February in Kentucky, that just doesn't happen! But as they say, if you don't like the weather here, stick around. It will change tomorrow. It will be in the 30's tomorrow. Nice. But on a really comfortable day out, I actually broke out Lucky!

Finally, the first posted FO of 2006!

2006-02-13T08:32:00.000-05:00

Olympic progress report: about 4 inches left to go on the back plus the ruffle. Right on target! Today is my goal for finishing the first piece.

It's quite pathetic that I haven't posted a single FO this year! Actually, up until this, I have only finished one thing, the Loopy Cowl I made for my co-worker. I didn't even take a picture of it since it was something I'd made before.

This is Ruffles for my friend Stephanie. It's been mostly finished since mid-January but she just got it from me last week. Yeah, it was SUPPOSED to be a Christmas gift! I was holding off handing it over until she was in town but after her trip in was cancelled, I mailed it. Otherwise, she would have had it much earlier.

But here she is, another finished Ruffles ...

The color's really darker than this

Pattern: Scarf Style by Pam Allen
Yarn: Berroco Softtwist, 3 skeins
Needles: Size 7
Started/Finished: Mid-December/Mid-January
Notes: I didn't make any revisions. The scarf ended up measuring about 66". The pattern calls for about 400 yards but this was a nice length for this scarf. The yarn was somewhat splitty but I'm not too bothered by splitty yarn. If you are, beware. It's not as splitty as Cotton Twist though! I'm not sure I'd use it for a sweater because I kind of hate the feel of rayon but I did wash it, and it has a nice, soft, slinky texture that is nice for this scarf.

That makes for my 2nd Ruffles. Will I do another one? Maybe! This second one was torture near the end but that's probably because it was my second one in a month! But it's a good, mindless project and I love the final result. So while I won't do another now, maybe down the road sometime as a gift.

My other projects from Scarf Style: Ruffles #1 and Backyard Leaves

Today's Knitting Climate

2006-02-12T11:51:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh, it's a blizzard!!! Four whole inches. You east coasters are snickering madly when you're looking at 12+ but hey, this is the most we've had in ages. I was thinking, I moved into my house about 4 years ago and haven't had to shovel my driveway once. My driveway record is still intact because none stuck to the roads or sidewalks.

A snowy day plus a sick dog (more below) made for a perfect time to make some great progress on my Olympic cardi. I'm about 10 inches up on the back piece. I would love to finish it up tonight. So far, the pattern is very straight forward. Even Rebecca finds an acorn from time to time. I've read through the rest of it, and all seems well.

I hope to take about 4 days for the back (including ruffle), 6 days for the 2 sleeves (including ruffles) and 2 days for the front right which will leave 5 days for the finishing, building in some extra time if I get off schedule (and to let me pretend that even if that giant funny shaped swatch wasn't a perfect fit for the left front piece, I would have finished anyway).

My Elly-Girl

If you've read my blog for awhile, you may remember my Elly-Cairn's surgery for bladder stones last April. That was bladder stone surgery #3 in 2 1/2 years. We've taken lots of steps each time to try to prevent them but when I got home Tuesday evening, I found two places where she had peed in the house. This dog never pees in the house. Unless there is a problem. A urine sample delivered to the vet Wednesday morning showed lots of crystals (a precursor to stones), and Thursday, I dropped her off for x-rays. I told him to give me a call with the results but went ahead and signed off on the releases to do surgery. Being down this road before, I knew she'd need it. An anxious hour later, I still hadn't heard from them so I called. They had just finished with her and had great news for me.

NO SURGERY!!! He found a couple of small stones on the x-ray but decided we'd try to dissolve them with diet instead of surgery (you can do both things but in the past, we've opted for the surgery route as the best treatment). She had a couple of rough days (though she's acting just fine, for the most part) but this morning, she seemed to pee normally. She's on antibiotics and a special prescription for a month and after that time, we'll x-ray again and hope the stones are gone.

This dog has been with me through so much. I got her my senior year of college. I love both of my dogs equally and dearly but in different ways. Parker's my baby. I love nothing more than to snuggle and love on him. Elly's my best friend, my lil soulmate. Parker's 7, I've had him since he was 1 (actually, he came home 6 years ago this weekend!). Elly's 9, and I've had her since she was an itty bitty 4 lb ball of fire. Her first night at home...

To not leave my Parkie-guy out, here's a picture from the week I brought him home, in his very favorite position. You can't resist rubbing this belly, I promise!

Kentucky lost again yesterday. This time to Vanderbilt. Again. Swept by Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt. The school that disbanded their athletics department a couple of years ago. This sucks. Big time. I've joined the chorus of people saying that our coach needs to make some BIG changes at the end of the season in recruiting, coaching staff (fire at least 1 or 2 of the assistants), conditioning (they fired the strength and conditioning coach a month ago, the first casualty of this pathetic season, a move about 7 years overdue), and even within his own coaching philosophy. If he can't do that, I want him gone. This is bogus. We're Kentucky. We're the winningest basketball program of all time. We shouldn't have seasons like this. An off year for us means a 5 seed in the NCAA tournament, not not making the tournament which is what we're facing this year.

Craziness

2006-02-10T13:39:00.000-05:00

Y'all, to paraphrase my Mamaw, I might could be crazy. For non-Eastern Kentuckians, my Mamaw is my grandma and might could be crazy means that I quite possibly am out of my mind. I started experiencing a few pre-Olympic jitters. I haven't finished Salina, I haven't finished the baby cardi (but there's not a lot of hours left to finish that one). And if I make my Olympic cardi, there's no way I'll get to the project in my stash I want to wear most, the Ruffly Cardi from Rebecca #30, by the end of winter. Don't get me wrong, I love the Blue Sky cardi but since it's cotton, I can wear it well into May and even on cooler summer days in an air conditioned office. A mohair cardi is probably going to be put up sometime in March. I really, really want to wear it this winter. Like, really bad. And with the weekend snowstorm we have coming in (translation: 2 inches predicted), I would love to settle in knitting a nice fluffy mohair sweater.

A lesser person would declare her Olympic dreams over, with the games commencing mere minutes from now. I, however, will do no such thing. My Olympic project will be the Rebecca Ruffly Cardi. That piece I knit already, nah, that wasn't the left front of the cardi. Nope, that was a big, funny shaped swatch.

Obviously, I am not above cheating.

If I HAVE to, to preserve the integrity of the games and to prevent myself from being ostracized from blogland entirely, I'll reknit the first piece.

At the end.

Once I know that I will get done by the closing ceremonies.

In all seriousness, this project is probably a bigger challenge, even with completed left front, and I'll call that well within the spirit of the games. It's a Rebecca pattern. It's at a smaller gauge and thus is going to take much longer. Finishing is bound to be annoying. Did I mention the final ruffly bindoff of about 600 stitches? It's not like a project I've been working on for a couple of weeks already. I did one piece, put it down, and haven't touched it since (that's a lie, I like to fondle it)

So off we go...well, later today anyway. I'm not one of those that took a day off work for this monumental event. Not that I didn't consider it though. :)

Olympic Training

2006-02-04T17:32:00.000-05:00

The Knitting Olympics are just days away! I've got the yarn...

I've got the swatch...

I've got the needles (you don't need a picture, do you? Addi Turbos, Size 7)

I think I'm ready to get started on my Snap Cardigan!

I've decided not to add any shaping for this project since the ribbing hits almost to my waist and because I'm going to size it down to make it a slimmer fitting sweater than the almost 40" small in the pattern. I don't find shaping quite as necessary for me when I'm dealing with a cardi instead of a pullover. So that much of the planning is done! I'm really happy with the color I chose. It's a pastel-ish shade but to me, it's a hint more grown up than a baby pastel.

My swatch looks a little rumpled in the picture. After measuring it carefully, I decided to give it a test. Typically, I'd wash a sweater like this on the gentle cycle and lay it flat to dry (or perhaps dry on gentle). I wanted to see how it would work with regular washing and drying in case I want to use leftover yarn for project for the new nephew. I don't want to give new parents any more work than necessary so I tested it with washing abuse. I tossed it in with a load of sheets and towels, with hot water and bleach. Then I dried it normally along with the load. It didn't shrink at all (plus!). It looks a little rumpled but that's really because of how the stockinette rolls at the edges. Following their actual instructions to dry until damp and block would work better. The ribbing looks pretty good. It still feels so soft.

Why this project is a challenge...

One thing the Yarn Harlot said about the Knitting Olympics is that every knitter should choose a project that will challenge them in some way. Truly, a worsted weight cardigan in 16 days isn't a huge challenge, provided I set my mind to it. But it does have some challenging aspects. The first is a couple of days visit from a friend. My birthday falls in there too so that will be some more time away from knitting.

Another is the yarn selected and the pattern selected. Blue Sky Cotton is so soft to work with but cotton isn't as forgiving as wool. The pattern has a lot of ribbing, and while swatching, I had to be very careful that the edge of my ribbing wasn't loose. So I can't just rush through the knitting.

I've decided that I want to put a zipper in this rather than the snap tape. It will be my first zipper, and that's the big challenge on this project. I'm a little afraid to do it but there are several great tutorials online. If all else fails on the installation, I'll need to get it done as quickly as possible to have time to drop it off at the tailor. :)

Really, I'm ready to go. I bought a zipper that hopefully will work. It's white which I think will work just fine with the light color. If I end up not liking it, I'll look into ordering a custom one.

Salina probably is not going to be done by Friday. I've got about 6 inches of the front piece done. I did finish one cuff and have the other to do. If I make good progress on my Olympic project, I'll work on Salina throughout that time too.

I ended up going to the basketball game last night. I should have stayed home and worked on Salina. We lost yet again. This basketball season is KILLING me. We're 15-8 which is a really pathetic record for the winningest program in college basketball history. It may be crazy for living and dying with a sports team but I grew up on this stuff. I grew up going to games with my Dad. I grew up sneaking my headphones into bed so I could listen to the postgame radio shows. I cried after every loss. One of the happiest, most exciting moments of my life was being at the 1996 NCAA Final Four when we won the whole thing. And yet now, our season is spiraling out of control, and there is not a thing I can do about it.

From a game in January, one of my favorite Rupp Arena traditions, the big K flag with the bank playing the theme from 2001

It looks like a sweater!

2006-02-04T17:23:00.000-05:00

I really want Salina done before the Knitting Olympics begin which will be a huge challenge in and of itself. It's the Olympic Qualifying Competition, perhaps! I've got the back done and both sleeves. I've started on the front. After that, it's just seaming it up and doing the cuffs and collar. At least I have the dreaded sleeves done.

There's not a lot done on the front yet. It's a cold, wet, and snowy day here in Kentucky and while I've bummed around most of the day, I plan to curl up on the couch tonight to knit. My knitting time this week may be a bit limited, and if I want this thing done (or mostly done) by Olympic torch lighting on Friday, I had better get cracking!

Go Steelers!!!

Randomness

2006-01-31T08:43:00.000-05:00

Found at Karma's Blog. You can get your own here.

Showing off...

My friend's baby modeling the Anouk I made. An irresistable combo, right? This really is an adorable pattern. I made the booties too! It's really neat to wear your own knits. But it's even cooler to see someone else using something you've made for them!

Oh, no, not another project!

Smart, real smart!!! The Olympics are coming fast, I want to get Salina done before then, and what do I do? Cast on for something else, of course!!! It's really not that big of a project. I mentioned recently that it appears my baby nephew will make his grand debut earlier than anticipated. The Alphabet Baby Blanket is gorgeous but there's no way it will be done before he's born, unless I drop all other projects to finish it. The shower is at the end of February, and I'd like to send a handknit something. So I picked up a skein of very inexpensive (but soft!) Bernat baby yarn and cast on. I'm kind of combining patterns and making a couple of my own changes to get what I want. And what I want is very simple, a little hooded cardi, in a teeny tiny newborn size, and I'll do a lil hat to match. My thinking on this is that it will work if the baby is preemie or born closer to its due date. I'll save the fancier stuff for once the kid is born, we know his size, and he'll get some use out of it!

This shouldn't tax me too much even with the Olympics starting next week! Salina before then, however is a pretty lofty goal. Since I didn't get much done this weekend. But of course, the less knitting I do on weekends, the better weekend I've probably had!

Rebecca Ruffly Jacket

2006-01-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

As soon as I got the yarn in my hot little hands, I said I wouldn't be able to resist beginning this project. I know myself too well. I really want to get Salina done before the Knitting Olympics begin so I probably won't do too much more on it for now but I had to start, just to try out the pattern.

Here's the completed left front:

So far, so good but it's hard to believe from the funny looking thing in the picture that it's going to be a well-fitting sweater! My gauge is slightly off (22 st/4 in versus 21 as the pattern calls for) but when I measured it according to the pattern schematics, it's pretty close. One nice thing is that I'm not having to make pattern adjustments at all! The pattern sizing looks to be perfect. I have to do that with almost all my sweaters. Even if they are designed for my chest size, I often have to size down because they allow too much ease. It's not an "I'm so skinny" thing because I'm definitely not. I've got curves! But I'm really short and with a small frame, don't like more than a couple of inches of ease even in sweaters that are supposed to be more oversized.

This yarn is gorgeous! It's so soft and light. Knitting with it is great, not like the mohairs I've used in the past. I haven't had to do any frogging yet, knock on wood. The color is different than I thought it would be. From the picture, I thought it was going to be a brighter, medium pink shade but it's more of a deep red. The color is called Raspberry, and it's the color of a raspberry, go figure! Even though it's not what I expected, it's very pretty. I always get compliments when I wear red so I think it will look good on me as well. I'm having trouble getting a picture that shows the color well (my digital stinks) but imagine the deep pinkish-red of a nice ripe strawberry.

I quickly figured out the numbers on the ruffly edging that, except for the back bottom and sleeves, is done by picking up stitches along the front, around the neck, and down the other front. I should be binding off about 600 stitches when it's complete. Eek! But I thought it was going to be worse. That's why I figured the numbers, to find out what was ahead of me. At least it doesn't have to be seamed on!

You Go Girls!

Props to UK Hoops (the team formally known as the Kentucky Lady Cats) for beating #1 ranked Tennessee!!! In spite of being a huge college basketball fan, I just don't enjoy watching woman's basketball. It tends to be a more fundamentally sound game than the men's but I find it a lil' dull. Anyone who is a college basketball fan would have enjoyed this game. It was well played and came down to the last seconds. When we grabbed the final rebound to seal the deal, I found myself flying off the couch, screaming, just like I would for a men's game! When I logged onto the UK website/message board I frequent, I expected to see some "who cares, it's just women" posts but I saw none of that. Everyone else was as excited as I was! I can't wait to follow the women's team through the rest of the season. Go Cats!!!

And I leave you with a picture of Elly Cairn and the guest bed that serves as my fancy-schmancy blocking board. My dogs are such productive little citizens. She loves to be helpful as I am hard at work. See?

STEELERS!!!

2006-01-22T19:43:00.000-05:00

AFC Champs! Super Bowl bound, baby!

And I got the first sleeve of Salina almost done during the game.

Pretty, Pretty Salina

2006-01-21T18:36:00.000-05:00

Finally, I am gonna talk about my lovely Salina. In all this yarn stashing and Knitting Olympics excitement, she's kind of been put on the back burner (on my blog, not in my heart, of course). I got the back done pretty quickly and decided to move onto a sleeve next. For some reason, sleeves kill me. Maybe it's because I FEEL like they should take no time compared to backs and fronts. Soooo not true but mentally, I get so tired of them. I thought I'd try to get at least one of them done before moving onto the front. The front's always my favorite part of a sweater. All the shaping that goes into it entertains me or something. But the sleeves...I hate them!

I've stalled a little bit on Salina, trying to finish up a couple of smaller projects and because I HAD to start my new ruffled Soft Kid Cardi. I told you I wouldn't be able to resist at least casting on or doing an entire front in that wonderful yarn! And because of some medical issues, it appears that my lil nephew may arrive sooner than his expected May debut so I dragged the baby blanket out and worked on it some too.

But here we go, the back:

I went ahead and blocked it. For some reason, I can't resist getting that out of the way as I get done with each piece. Plus, it lets me mess with measurements and making sure that the yarn doesn't do any funny things (I did actually wash the swatch, just in case it decided to!). I had a momentary terror when it was hugely wide when I first laid it out (I like to soak the pieces, blot the water out as much as possible, and spread them on a bed to dry). But it dried back down to the intended measurements.

After laying it out, I started to fear that I'd made it a little too long. I'm short and used the same length of the pattern. So I pulled out a sweater whose length I think is good for this pattern and measured it. Perfect!

Had tickets to the Cats game versus South Carolina today. We've been slumping but had a solid win Tuesday and the offense looked good today, even though our usually great defense looked suspect at points. 9 seconds left, down by 1, we have the ball. Now, what you want is my imaginary boyfriend, Rajon Rondo, taking the ball and driving into the lane for an easy layup or foul. What you don't want is Rondo fumbling the ball around with no other options as time expires except to shoot the three. He's one of the best point guards in the country but not a good shooter. He'd already airballed a couple of wide open threes early in the game.

Well, we got the latter, the nightmarish off balance three. And it went in! The Arena went CRAZY! It was awesome! I love my Cats! And I really love Rajon Rondo.

I just got a hard slap on the leg from an Elly dog. It's 30 minutes past dinnertime, and she does not like her dinner to be late. She's also not shy about letting you know it. Funny girl!