Ravelympics

My yarn for my Ravelympics project came today. First, a little history:

Three years ago this spring my long-time boyfriend and I got married at my parents' house. It was completely beautiful and the best day of my life. At the time we were extremely poor and my folks happily paid for everything and worked for weeks to make it beautiful. I have, from time to time, some pretty difficult social anxiety and Jorah and I did lots of things in a more untraditional way in the hopes of alleviating those issues. My folks were up for anything we wanted to do and it really made a difference.

At the time I wanted to do something amazing for them, to thank them for all of their effort and understanding, but first I couldn't think of anything, and then we didn't have any money. I ended up telling them that I would knit them anything they wanted, and that next time they came to visit we could got through all of my books and pick a project. They seemed excited about this and I emailed pictures of sweaters to them for a few months and we chatted back and forth amiably.

Then they came to visit and my mom discovered Poetry in Stitches. Okay, that's cool, I can do that. And then she picked a child's sweater. This Child's Sweater. I can alter patterns, it's cool - she's small, the pattern runs large, I'll just gauge it out.

Then she decided that it had to be machine-washable.

I screamed a silent scream. Spoiler Alert: I am a yarn snob. The task of finding a machine washable yarn, with that particular yellow . . . it was very difficult and I spent lots of time on Ravelry advanced searching for yarn over and over again. I spent even more time buying a ball or two of yarn, swatching, and then deciding that it wouldn't work.

Then I fell in love with Socks That Rock. Machine washable, available in many, many colors. And then I met Heavyweight, and did the math, and it's going to work. After two years of searching for the perfect yarn I am ready to knock the socks off this sweater. I am in Git'er Done Mode.

Yesterday the yarns arrived. Allow me to present my Ravelympics yarn:

Child's Sweater, Page 116
Socks that Rock Heavyweight
Rosebud, Midsummer Night, Brick, Will 'O The Wisp, Bleck, Sand

(For those of you playing along at home, I already had the Brick, you are correct.)

My dad wants an MG sweater with saddle shoulders. I'm thinking Rowan Felted Tweed. I want to make that later this spring too, because this summer is their 30th Anniversary, and I would like them to have their sweaters for it.

I look at this yarn, and February 12th just can't come fast enough!!

Send Her My Love

My husband "discovered" Pandora after I told him about it six or eight times. He got hooked on classic rock, Journey, The Eagles, etc.

Now I spend my entire life singing power ballads in my head.


"Well, if we hear any inspirational power chords we'll just lie down until they go away." - Rupert Giles, Once More With Feeling

I Was Doing So Well

I was doing so well! I was knitting and blogging and designing and photographing and posting and it was all good and the angels sang! I was even going to the gym again!

And then my boss went on maternity leave. And now I'm the boss. It's about all I can do to get my butt from my bed to work and then back to bed. At least my sleep problems are under control - then I'd be a real mess.

I assure you, some amount of knitting is still happening here. I'm just not home during daylight hours any more, and therefore cannot photo anything. I'm working on a hat out of Mini Mochi doubled I think I will write up as a pattern as well as my requisite four pairs of socks.

I wasted a bunch of time last week working on the Floyd Sweater from Vintage Baby Knits. It was a pleasure and joy to knit it, all four times that I started it. The yarn requirements are way off though, and I kept weighing my remainder, realizing I didn't have enough yarn, and frogging. I finally understood that I just needed to order another skein of Vine Maple Heavyweight and broke down and did it. I'm not saying that the Floyd Sweater itself if going to be a waste of time - I'm so enamored of it I'm actually going to knit it for the fifth time when my yarn comes. I just wish that I had the sense God gave a goose and looked at all of the Ravelry projects, which clearly state that you are not going to have enough yarn unless you are making this sweater for a chihuahua.

And because I don't have any time at all, I decided to do the RavOlympics this year. I haven't entered yet - I'm waiting for the yarn I ordered to get here. Then I'll tell you all about my super secret project!

Sorry no photos - as I mentioned, it is dark.

Last FO of 2009

I never posted about the last finished project of 2009! That's too bad, because I really quite enjoyed it.



A few months ago I was at the Knitting Tree and saw some delightful Malabrigo Twist. I've always been iffy on Malabrigo, even though the colors are so beautiful they make my soul hurt, because it seems so soft in the single ply I've been afraid it will just shred to pieces within minutes of wearing it. Or pill like crazy. I had never before come across Twist, which is an Aran weight 8 ply.



Anyway, I bought three skeins of it to make my future SIL a long moss double moss scarf. When I joined ball three even though they were the same dyelot, there was a marked difference in color, so I picked back and made the third into a hat. The hat is cool because it's a double thickness around the ears - it's essentially a fold up flap that is then knitted in so it won't wiggle around on you.



I'm very happy with this project, and the Malabrigo, in spite of dyelot issues. This is my gorgeous sister modeling, by the way.

Happy Christmas to Me

I got some amazing yarn for Christmas from my amazing family, in addition to a couple of really great books. I'm all high on knitting right now because I just finished the stockings I intended to wear to my family Christmas party, a mere 18 days ago.





They aren't completely perfect, but I completely love them anyway. I left a little slit on each one in the picot at the top because I'm going to insert some elastic in there at some point. I'm especially excited because they are my second pair of toe-up socks, and I used the instructions in Wendy Knit's Socks From the Toe Up book to figure out how to reverse engineer the heels I wanted. I did have to do my own math, because I have really big feet and legs and the instructions didn't cover those stitch counts. Also, I like 72 sts around the foot and 80 around the ankle.

And now let's look at the Christmas haul:




My brother-in-law and his fiance (recipient of the mmmmmMalabrigo scarf and hat) gave me two skeins of lightweight STR in The Incredible Shrinking Violet and Lapis.




My parents-in-law gave me these two heavyweight STRs - Vine Maple and Jinglebell Rock. I think Vine Maple is going to become this baby sweater from the beautiful Vintage Baby Knits (also a Christmas present.) I think the Jingle Bell Rock may become something like these socks by my friend operarocks. We went to high school together and hadn't really been in touch for years, but she's quite an impressive knitter now and I love that I'm back in touch with her. Facebook, you've earned your keep. I also have some heavyweight Brick though . . . maybe I should make them out of that . . .



They also gave me mediumweight ST-1 and Strange Brew - and so did my cousins in Vancouver!!! I have two well matched skeins now, in each color! I don't yet know what's going to happen with ST-1 (it might be my favorite colorway ever) but I'm thinking that Strange Brew wants to be the Bellatrix Socks.

One of the most amazing things of all was a book my mother-in-law found for me - Soft Treasures of Little Ones: Baby Knits from Dale of Norway. I've been dying for this book for 6 years now, but it's out of print and almost impossible to find. When I've seen it in the past it's been upwards of $170. She found one in new condition and the seller must not have known what she had, because she definitely didn't pay that much. Let us all have a moment of silence for the cuteness of these baby pants.

When I got home I had another Christmas present waiting for me - my Old Maiden Aunt sock club yarn! It's the cashmere/merino/nylon blend, which is hands-down my favorite!

This is Seen The Ocean:



And Derelict Daughter:



I also got this totally cute bag, with two mini skiens. Wouldn't you know it, but the mini skiens are my favorite colors from the whole club!



When I was a little kid one Christmas I came out of my room and looked at what Santa had brought and said, "Oh, Mommy - it's a good day for presents!" That's how I felt the whole of break. Was a good day for presents.

This Year in Review

I think this year could correctly be called the Year of the Sock. Looking over my Ravelry page, it is clear that I am obsessed. Here we are - the projects of 2009:

Socks - 16 pairs:




Anastasia Socks
Stock Socks
Mom Socks (not blogged)
Sleep Socks
Rustic Rib Socks
Pirate's Booty Socks
The Socks that Guard the Realms of Men
Protego Socks
MacIntosh Socks
Blackrose Socks
Ireland Boot Socks
Dragon Socks
The Dude
Jennie's Autumn Joy
Gold Shells
Flamingo Pie Socks

Pullovers - 4:



Class Sweater
Bleeding Heart Raglan
Tree of Life Pullover
Henly Hoodie


Baby Blankets - 2:



Cabbage Leaf Baby Blanket
Jungle Baby Baby Blanket


Miscellany:



Class Hat
Korknisse
Child's Corn Scarf
Mug Snug
Class Mittens
SIL Scarf
Ishbel
SIL Hat
Grommet Bag

Overall, I'm pretty happy with that level of productivity. I just hope that in the next year it will be more my-pattern and design focused.

I'm not going to list a bunch of resolutions here - as you know if you've been reading for awhile, I make my New Year's Resolutions in August - although this year they are called the Last Year's Resolutions - and they are listed in the side bar. I'm working on them!