The (mis)Adventures of Knitting Friends

On the needles...

2006-08-26T14:50:00.000-07:00

sock for ME!
Originally uploaded by evilsciencechick.

I got my mom's socks off this week - hopefully she got them today, as tomorrow is her birthday. Sorry no final picture - I literall finished them on the way to work and then mailed them from there.

I started taking the shuttle in, as I refuse to pay for a parking pass ($100 increase over last year) as I'm only going to be here for a few more months. Anyway, I've discovered the joys of knitting on a bus - a little bumpy, but it's a nice way to start and end the work day. Plus, I'm probably known as "that weird girl who knits and makes faces."

I started a pair of socks for ME. I bought this yarn at my LYS, and for the life of me, I can't find the label. I think it's called "socktastic" or something like that. A superwash wool/cotton/something else combo. Anyway, I don't remember ANYTHING on the lable saying that it was self striping. I started on my standard easy toe pattern, and noticed...hey...STRIPES! I had to take advantage. I ripped out the 3 inches I had started, and began knitting the chevron pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks, which was designed for self striping. This isn't a toe up pattern, so it'll be my first grownup socks knitted this way (the baby socks weren't toe first, but they were teeny tiny). I can't be nervous about running out of yarn, though, as I have 450 yards of it. w00t! Also, it calls for an "afterthought heel," which makes me nervous. I am DOWN with the short row heel, but I think it only works for the toe up patterns.

It's hard to see the chevron pattern so early in the process. There were two other chevron type patterns I could have chosen: one was too lacey for this yarn, IMHO, and one called "welt fantastic" which I REALLY liked...and almost tried...except it was a 12 row repeating pattern. No way would I be able to knit that on a bus or watching tv without starting at the chart. So the standard chevron it is - a 2 row pattern.

procrastinatorial FO's

2006-08-07T14:50:00.000-07:00

I like making up words.

Dude, it's been so long since I've posted anything on a blogger blog, I almost forgot how. HA!

OK, so TECHNICALLY I have some UFOs. There is the infamous shawl, which I haven't touched in almost a year. There is also Knitty's Branching Out, which I started and stopped after repeated frogging, ripping, and angst. It LOOKS so easy...but it's not.

So Aimee was right - I knit in the evenings instead of write. BAD ME! But there ya go.

A peaches and cream washcloth, pattern from this site, in the "open stars" pattern.

I made some toddler sized socks for when I visit my friend Elizabeth this week. I had made the pinwheel blanket for her newborn Lily, but felt guilty for never having knitted her son, Dylan, anything. These are just out of cotton.

I made a little hedgehog from my Family Circle knit toys book - same one I got the pink pig pattern from. He's done in Caron simply soft and lion brand fun fur yarn.

And finally, my WIP - a gift for my mother: uhh...a knit elf condom.

No really! It's a sock! There will eventually be two.
Pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks, the best sock book ever. The Easy Toe pattern, which I like because:

1. it's knit toe up, so you can make the most of what yarn you have
2. there's no toe seam to get caught between your big toe and your shoe, making a painful blister. OK, maybe only I have this problem with socks.

UFO Meme

2006-08-06T10:55:00.000-07:00

Okay, took this idea from Scout. Here are my current UFOs (Un-Finished Objects):

Coronet, from the Winter '03 Knitty. This was my first project with cables, and all was well until I did the grafting to make the cabled headband bit. I did that inside out, and for reasons still unknown, made the damn thing worse by weaving in the ends. So I have to undo that and do it right. But it pissed me off enough that I threw it across the room first and haven't touched it since...I think April. Yeah.

Twisted Cable Socks pattern from Knitpicks in Dancing - Ballet. I don't know how to count these. I started them in November, I think, and they were meant to be a nice project for me after all the Christmas knitting was done. I got through one of them and then started Regan's Jaywalkers, and these got pushed to the side. This is the second sock, and you can see I'm making progress - generally at Stitch n Bitch, because these are light enough to knit in a dark bar and still see the stitches. However, since I'm currently making Jaywalkers for myself from the "Thanks for the yarn!" yarn that Aimee (and Rick) got me, interest in these has waned. Because how many more damned twisted cables can I do? They're annoying.

The Queen Mother of all UFOs, my mom's Faroese Peaks Shawl. Let's see, I got the yarn last September, told her it would be a Christmas present, but she told me to do everyone else's presents first. So then it was going to be my Knitting Olympics project, but it was so ginormous (increases on every other row) that it just didn't happen. Then it was going to be done for when I saw her in March. And then for Mother's Day. And then for her birthday. Now...maybe in time for my birthday as a thank you gift? I think my main problem with this is that huge, large portions of it are garter. And thus boring, in addition to ever-increasing. And when I finally get to the lace bits, I get all flustered and drop stuff and miss yarn overs, and...end up throwing it across the room. Stoopid shawl.

Okay, Aimee and Regan, it's your turn. Show us your UFOs!

Groovy Toe Socks

2006-04-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

At his special request, I made these socks for my nephew Robin's 11th birthday:

Made from a washable fingering-weight wool on size one needles.

(I've made a number of other, smaller items in the last couple months, but haven't gotten pictures of most of them. Sorry.)

Yay Julie! Devil Hat Goodness

2006-04-02T20:25:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Julie. Em and I both love the hat!

(I think she has it on backward, but it's still cute as heck!)

socks are done!

2006-03-24T16:08:00.000-08:00

socks are done!
Originally uploaded by evilsciencechick.

My socks are finally done! seriously, that last inch took the longest. I had moved on to other things. I decided to pick it up last night and not go to bed until it was DONE!

They are a tad bit big, so I might try to shrink them in some hot water.

wash cloth

2006-03-24T16:07:00.000-08:00

wash cloth
Originally uploaded by evilsciencechick.

Made from some cotton Peaches and Cream, laying on top of my laptop to give some size perpective.

I got the pattern here.

it's the "chinese wave" pattern.

Impromptu Hat

2006-03-15T09:30:00.000-08:00

Ok, here are pictures of the Impromptu Hat. I know 2 of you have already seen it, but we do have a couple of other readers here and I wanted to show it off.

For those of you who don’t know the back story, I started making the same baby blanket as the Evil Science one below, but my yarn wasn’t soft enough for a baby. Em saw me pulling it apart, popped it on her head, and asked if I could turn it into a hat for her—so I did. And there you have it.

(Please excuse the attitude.)

pinwheel baby blanket

2006-03-13T19:58:00.000-08:00

baby blanket
Originally uploaded by evilsciencechick.

Here it is! almost done!

It curls up a bit on the sides. I tried a couple of rows of pearl to combat this, but I might have made it worse. oops. I'm hoping that after I sew the lace edge on, then block it (can you blow acrylic?) it will stop curling.

So what do you think? Too girly? just girly enough?

progress

2006-03-06T22:17:00.000-08:00

The circulars are 29", and I'm already running out of room...and only a little over halfway done. whoops! got to squeeeeeeeze those stitches in. I have to keep a clip on the end of the needles to keep the stitches from shooting off when I'm not working on it!

still loving this yarn. Yarn snobs will turn up their nose at inexpensive acrylic. Yet I say...soft! pretty! yarn! and...cheap!

Lace Edging

2006-03-06T11:28:00.000-08:00

Hey Noodle--

The lace is 7-stitches, and 4 rows = one pattern.

This is the pattern repeated 4 times:

(This is a sport weight yarn, knit with size 7 needles and it's about 2" wide--if you were taking a picture of anything else you'd knitted, it'd be turned sideways, Note where the needle is.)

So what you do is just knit it as long as you need to be, then sew it onto your blanket (or sweater, or whatever).

claws

2006-03-04T23:00:00.000-08:00

my hands are claws. I can barely type this.

but I was on a ROLL!!!

this is one afternoon/evening's progress on the pinwheel baby blanket:

the toughest parts were starting - dividing 5 stitches on to 3 needles, and then keeping them from twisting on you, and then again when it got too big for 4 needles, trying to transfer to the circulars with the stitches falling off the ends of the dpns.

but once it's on the circular...woohoo! take off!

it would get pretty monotonous with just the stockinette stitch, if I didn't add the stripes. the finished project will be 4 shades of pink - getting lighter from the center.

Anyone have a decorative knit edging I can do? I had to just bind it off and leave it at that.

But now...I really need to rest my claws.

KOP - Endgame

2006-02-26T21:48:00.000-08:00

At douse of torch, I was on Row 160. Of course, I kept knitting and now I'm on Row 165. So, 238-165=73 more rows to knit before mom gets here the weekend after next. At least I think that's 73 more rows...my math has always been shaky, and it's 1 AM.

I did not medal in these Olympic games. But, neither did a lot of Olympians in Torino. Doesn't mean we didn't try hard, just means we didn't medal. I picked a large, semi-difficult project (as it goes on it's really more large than difficult) and I did my best. I had a few days where all I ate was Raisin Bran because time spent cooking is time spent not knitting. I was very regular on those days. Guess what? Time spent in the bathroom? Also time spent not knitting. I did get more lax as time went on, because the Knitting Olympics, unlike the actual Olympics, were an exercise in concentration. Most Olympic sports last 10 minutes or less. My event lasted 16 days. There is a limit to my concentration. That limit is apparently 10 days, because that's when I started thinking of all sorts of things I could be doing besides knitting, such as vacuuming, sleeping, reading, sleeping, being with Rick, sleeping...I've been a very sleep deprived little child during the course of these games! But my laxity should not be confused with Bode Miller's "I don't care, it was a perfect run, I just didn't medal" mentality, which I think is a crock of shit. Sorry, just had to get my Bode frustration out there.

Before I go to bed, I leave you with what 16 days of knitting looks like:

From the back.

From the front.

last minute gift

2006-02-24T20:54:00.000-08:00

Sorry to "break in" to Julies run of Knitting Olympics post, but I just wanted to get this in here.

I decided last minute to knit something for Kev's mom...out of guilt because I can't go with him to visit her this weekend, and also because Kev asked me "ummm...you're going to knit her something, right?"

ummm...right!

So four skanks of Berroco's "Optik" from my LYS and much rapid knitting on 15 needles...along with copious swearing, because this stuff is a bitch to knit with, and picking up the easily dropped stitches is frustrating because it sticks together like mohair...PLUS there are occasional loopy sections which like to catch on to the point of the needle...

OK, enough bitching. Here are the pics (clicky to pop and make biggie)

Somehow, Kev managed to blur a picture taken with a "steady shot" camera.

Here is a close-up of the yarn detail:

Lots of very thin and very thick sections. I think it turned out pretty in the end - not the most complicated thing I've ever done, but I hope future MIL will like it!

Rant

2006-02-24T08:41:00.000-08:00

So I received my first order from Crafter's Choice last night, and I was madly excited to get inside, open the box, and see my new books. (Shut up, I get excited over books. Especially when I've saved a lot of money on them and screwed over the Yarn Co. girls by paying $1 for their book.) But when I opened the box...

Let's see...Yarn Girls' Beyond the Basics, The Knitting Answer Book, Sensational Knitted Socks, and...Vintage Paper Crafts? What the fuck? Furniture Makeovers? I didn't order these! Where's my Yarn Harlot book? Where's my Yarns to Dye For? Why did I get books I didn't order, and where the hell are my books? What's this piece of paper? An invoice for these stupid books...that were supposed to go to British Columbia. Goddammit, my books are probably in British Columbia!!!

So two emails to Customer Service in which I was very vocal about my displeasure (as vocal as you can be in a typed medium, that is), I am waiting to hear from Crafter's Choice. They'd better have a damned good excuse, and they had better pay for the postage for me to ship the stupid books back to them. And they had better send my Yarn Harlot book post, post haste.

KOP - What day is this?

2006-02-21T08:25:00.000-08:00

I think it's Day 11. And that is just one more sign that I'm not going to get this shawl done by the time the torch is extinguished on Sunday. Because I have been ganged up on by the Koreans.

In this case, the Koreans are metaphorical. If you've been watching the Men's Speed Skating, or listening to any interview with Apolo Anton Ohno, you know that the Koreans "team skate". They will work together to make sure that no one finishes ahead of them, going so far as to engineer crashes. My Koreans? A messy house and tax time.

You see, the longer I knitted, the longer the cats had to destroy my house. Litter got tracked about, food scattered, fur flew, shit got knocked over. I don't know about you, but I can't ignore that. I tried. I even made it to Saturday. But faced with a weekend of watching my house turn to crap around me, I put down the knitting and cleaned. I cleaned the bathroom, I swept, I did laundry (because I was running out of underwear), I went to the grocery store (because I had been surviving on Raisin Bran for a few days - cooking takes time away from knitting).

Also, tax time is around the corner, and Julie likes to get her refunds early. Because the earlier I file, the earlier the refund gets to me. So I sat down to do taxes. But while I had some of my tax stuff together, most of my deductions were sitting in a pile of filing that hadn't been done since I moved to this apartment. So I had to organize that and shred what didn't need to be filed, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The taxes got done last night.

Now that all of those things are done, I can settle back into my knitting. But since I'm on Row 134 of 238 with only five and a half days left...yeah, I don't think the shawl is going to be finished. I'll keep trying just to see how far I can get, but the real goal I have is to get it done before Mom comes up in three weeks. That's a realistic goal. But the rest of you Knathletes...watch out for the Koreans.

KOP Day 7

2006-02-17T07:21:00.000-08:00

Again, no picture, although I finished earlier last night. At 1:30. I would have finished prior to that, but I tried to do my taxes for a while to ease hand cramping. And then I got incredibly frustrated with taxes, as I always do, and went back to the knitting.

I'm starting to think that the majority of Olympic Knitters out there are sandbagging (ie, have picked really easy projects, or at least projects that have turned out easy). Obviously I did not do this. I am on Row 118 now, of 238. This would lead you to believe that I am nearly halfway through, but because the shawl is comprised of increases every other row, this is not the case. I don't even want to know how many stitches I have left, so I guess it's good that math was never my strong subject. I know of several knitters who are either already done or close to done, and I am ~~jealous~~ ~~envious~~ thinking that they didn't embrace the "challenge" aspect of these games. Of course, they will medal (finish), and I probably won't unless I do a shitload of knitting this weekend, so maybe the joke's on me.

Tonight is a partial night off for me since I have to see a friend's show in the Village. I'm figuring on subway knitting, of course, and I think I can work in a few rows here and there during the show (a bunch of ten minute plays). You know the Knitting Olympics have affected your mental health when you're already planning how best to knit in a bar while watching a show...

KOP Day 6

2006-02-16T07:24:00.000-08:00

There is no picture today, because when I finished with 13 rows last night at 2 AM, I was too freakin' tired to take one. Oh well.

As I was holding it up to the light last night to admire the lace pattern, I noticed two mistakes. Actually, I noticed one mistake as I was making it, when I somehow had 38 stitches on the center section and decided that rather than tinking back 200-some stitches to get to where I probably made the mistake, I was just going to decrease right there. I think Mom would support this decision.

The other mistake, the one I found as I was holding the shawl up to the light, occurred at about Row 10, when I think I put a yarn over in the wrong place. It's still pretty, it just doesn't match the corresponding "peak" on the other side of the center.

When mistakes occur on Row 10 which are not noticed until we reach Row 103, we must adopt the attitude of Persian rug makers. Those wonderful people purposely insert one mistake into each rug they make because "only Allah is perfect" and it's vanity to make a perfect object. We all know that I am not vain. We just didn't know that I should have been making Persian rugs all this time.

KOP Day 5

2006-02-15T08:50:00.000-08:00

I am tired. I am in a bad mood. But here's yesterday's progress (15 rows):

KOP Day 4

2006-02-14T05:47:00.000-08:00

I like to call this one "I started to snore at 74." At least, that's when the wine from our early Valentine's dinner caught up with me.

And are those metal needles in this picture? They are! Susan Bates Silvalumes, size 3, 29" cord. The pattern calls for a 32" cord, but do you think I could find one? No. So here we are. Time will tell if I actually needed those three inches. These needles are doing the trick, although they're much slipperier than the bamboo were - I think I dropped stitches 3 times while transferring them, and had a resultant 3 heart attacks. I think I figured out the pattern to get them back on correctly (it's so much easier to tell on worsted weight stockinette than on lace weight, well, lace), but I probably won't be sure till I block the damn thing. Oh well. The cable joins on this pair of needles are SO much better though, and they're pointier than the bamboos, so now that I've got the hang of it, I'm having a much easier time. Regan, get Silvalumes when you pick this project back up again.

KOP Day 3

2006-02-13T06:55:00.001-08:00

I'm developing calluses on my index fingers from coaxing stitches across bamboo needles, but we made it to row 58 last night (the Kacha counter says 59 to remind me where to start the next time I pick it up).

The pattern is getting much easier since I figured out that the center gusset section always has 37 stitches in it, and all that's happening on the sides are yarn overs that increase the stitch count by four every other row, but I still have high hopes for what I can do with metal needles. Please, let me be able to find metal needles today.

Off to do that now.

KOP Day 2

2006-02-12T16:12:00.000-08:00

Day 2 - up to row 36.

I have decided something. Well, two things. The first is that counting stitches becomes extremely challenging after two beers and two glasses of wine. But as of yet, no mistakes (more tinking was involved, however).

The second is that the Clover size 3's I'm using have to be replaced. They are just not pointy enough to be doing k3togs. And the join between the cable and the needle is a pain in the ass - my stitches tend to get caught there. So tomorrow I am off in search of a pair of Addi Turbos. I've avoided them in the past because I like the way bamboo grips my stitches (I sometimes drop stitches off the edge of the needle before I've realized it), but for shawl making, I think I need the Turbos. Hope I can find them quickly, I want to be able to knit all afternoon.

President Lincoln, thank you for having your birthday during the Knitting Olympics so that my workplace is closed in celebration. I was a fan of yours before, but this has sealed the deal.

Abe's Number One Fan,
Julie

Knitting Olympics Progress (KOP) - Day 1

2006-02-11T09:15:00.000-08:00

Here's the first day's progress:

Rows 1-20 of Knitpicks' Faroese Peaks Shawl.

So far, I have to pay attention and count a lot, which has slowed my knitting down, but the pattern overall isn't that hard (aside from one center gusset section I had to tink back because I was watching TV, IMing with Rick, blogging, drinking Malbec, and watching the Olympics while knitting. I guess there is such a thing as too much multi-tasking, at least while drinking wine). I'm knocking wood as I say that, since I still have 217 rows to knit and have to increase the number of stitches by another 422. I'm going to leave the math there because otherwise it's going to get downright depressing. In my optimism right now I think I can do this in the time frame I've got. I'd like to just keep that state of mind.

Finished: One Present

2006-02-10T07:42:00.000-08:00

Would you like to see Regan's present? Would you?

Really?

You sure?

Because if you don't want to see it, quit scrolling now.

Okay, we're going to do this in two stages. First, the pictures taken when I realized I was running out of yarn and wasn't going to be able to finish with what I had:

Pretty bad, huh? But this is where it gets really delusional, when you put the SOCKS (yes, they are SOCKS! Jaywalkers at that. Damn, that was the best kept secret in blog-dom.) side by side and see just how far I had to go:

Um, yeah, not gonna happen. So, one trip back the the LYS and one new skein purchased (and several more hours of knitting on teeny-tiny size 1 dpns), and here's the finished product:

In case you couldn't tell that these are the most fraternal pair of sock twins evah, take a look at this:

The one with the orange toe was finished with the new skein, but as they were the same dye lot, it was just luck of the draw. What you can't tell is that each of the plys for this yarn is dyed separately and then spun together. Which makes for some pretty fucking cool socks, just not identical twins. And for the record, the last two pictures are the closest to how the socks' colors actually look. Like I've been saying, in sunlight they are works of freakin' art.

So, the stats:

Cast on: I think January 5 or thereabouts. I need to start writing this crap down.

Bind off: Was it Monday or Tuesday? Again, I need to write this down. Let's call it February 7. Please note that this pattern is easy to learn and would go faster if you were making a smaller sized sock. Like for Julie-sized feet instead of Bunsen sized feet.

Pattern: Jaywalker, by Grumperina. I knit the largest size.

Yarn: Trekking XXL by Skacel, colorway 100. Yarn is 75% wool, 25% nylon, and I think qualifies as superwash, although I'm not completely sure.

Would I knit it again? Hell yeah! But for Julie-sized feet. Sorry, Bunsen.

Tricksy Present

2006-02-02T08:48:00.000-08:00

Regan's present has been evil the past few days. We are engaged in a race, the present and I, to see if I win (project completed with current yarn) or it does (project runs out of yarn with a ridiculously small amount left to knit). It will be close, and at the moment it's impossible to tell who will be the victor, but if I use all the yarn I will have burned through 494 yards. Insanity.

Yesterday the present pulled a dirty trick and lost one of the needles necessary to knitting it so that when I pulled it out of my bag on my commute yesterday morning I was unable to knit. Tricksy present 1, Julie 0. I found the needle when I got home, but there was no way I was going to knit a project on Size 1s at my first Stitch n Bitch, so I had to abandon it in favor of Em's hat. Tricksy present 2, Julie 0. I wound up knitting a fair amount during Project Runway when I got home, though, so take that! Tricksy Present 2, Julie 1. See, there is redemption.

The Stitch n Bitch greatly improved my mood. This week we met in a coffee house in Park Slope, only a subway ride and a decent walk away from my house. The girls seem nice, and I learned that I actually knit pretty quickly in comparison to others. I also noticed that many of us are English-style knitters, or throwers, which made me feel better. The Knitting Knazi at my workplace has always insisted that I learn Continental or I would be somehow deficient. Not so, Knazi, not so. I ended up staying at the SnB for almost three hours, and will definitely go back next week, when we're invading the bar across the street. Let's hear it for drunk SnB!

Presents are Good

2006-01-28T23:00:00.001-08:00

I got my bag in the mail today from Regan--it's even greater than it looks in the forbidden picture below!

Speaking of presents, here's the sweater I made for my sister for her birthday:

And, just because I'm all sorts of magnanamous (or because I had leftover yarn--you decide), here's a bonus hat for Julie:

I'm going to start socks now. I mean RIGHT now. Wish me luck!

beginning and endings

2006-01-25T20:37:00.000-08:00

I started a sock last night!

I was going to do a pattern from knitpicks where you did both socks at the same time using 2 size 3 circular needles. But NOBODY SELLS any that aren't bamboo. and I wanted metal.

So I just picked up some size 3 dpns and then flipped through my new book," Sensational knitted socks" (my order from crafter's choice came in!) and found a pattern marked easy that I could use my knitpicks yarn and size 3 dpns.

I picked one that uses the "easy toe" method (you start with the toes) and used a beaded rib pattern.

look!

annnnnnnnnnnnnnd...Aimee's gift is finished!

So Aimee, if you want to be surprised, do NOT scroll down, OK?

are you scrolling??

shame on you!

dammit Aimee!!!

OK, if you don't want it to be a surprise....

hooray!

What do you think?

2006-01-18T20:30:00.000-08:00

I just ordered the pattern for this top.

I didn't order the yarn, though. I thought I might substitute another yarn. Something without mohair to SNAG ON MY NEEDLES!

I was thinking this yarn from knitpicks, in hollyberry. It has close to the same gauge, and I can adjust the needle size if neccessary.

What do you think? Do-able? Or did I just waste $8?

Insanity

2006-01-18T08:38:00.000-08:00

Cross-posted on my blog. You know, just in case I missed a reader.

Two days ago, I started down the path to total insanity. Yesterday, I went a little further. What was this path and who led me down it? Blame the Yarn Harlot. That's right, Steph came up with the crazy scheme of having a Knitting Olympics, and hundreds of us followed her, lemming-like, over the cliff. I guess this answers my mother's old question, "If everyone else jumped off the bridge, would you?". Yes, mom. Apparently I would.

So what are the Knitting Olympics? I'm copying directly from Steph here:

"Eligibility: Any knitter who, embracing the "Citius, Alitius Fortius" ideal, would like to challenge themselves while embracing the Olympic spirit, and is just whacked enough to play along with me.

Concept: You must cast on a project during the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics (Feb 10)- and finish before the Olympic flame goes out (Feb 26). That's 16 days.

Rules:
1. The project must be a challenge for you to complete in 16 days.
2. There are no rules about what a challenge would be. Like the real Olympics, there are many areas to compete in. If you are a new knitter, then a garter stitch baby sweater might do...If you are experienced, well. I've already considered Torino. Use your own conscience.
3. While this is intended to be somewhat difficult (like the Olympics) it is not intended to ruin your life. Don't set yourself up for failure. (Olympic athletes may cry, but they do not whine pitifully, sob and threaten members of their family with pointed sticks because they haven't slept in five days. ) This is intended to (like the Olympics) require some measure of sacrifice, and be difficult, but it should be possible to attain.
4. No casting on before the flame is lit.
5. Finish before the flame goes out.
6. You may swatch before the games. (I consider this "training.")

Medals?
The Knitting Olympics has only a gold medal. (There is only do- or do not.) Finishers get a gold medal button for their blog, their name entered into a draw for a chance at a prize from me, and the joy of knowing that they are an Olympic level knitter, no matter how experienced they are. You are only competing against yourself. (Well. And the Olympic schedule.)

Who's in?
If you're just crazy enough itching to be part of the Knitting Winter Olympics, leave a comment (or send an email) telling me who you are, what you're knitting and a link, if you have one. I'll list you in the sidebar. Consider carefully. Done right, this will suck up 16 days of your life and be an epic work."

I ask you, how could I pass this up? I threw my name in the ring (or Goblet, as the case may be) immediately. I've noticed lately that days go by without me knitting, and that's not good. I have a knitting deadline for a project I'm working on, and I'm still not knitting! Obviously what I need is a challenge. And what could be more challenging than the Faroese Peaks shawl that was supposed to be my mother's Christmas present but is currently stuck at row 17 in my knitting bag?

That's right. For 16 days in February, the Faroese Fuhgeddaboudit is going to be my life. I'm hopeful. When I gave up on it before, it was because other Christmas knitting got in the way. I also had never done lace before, so the whole thing was new and confusing. But since then, I have not only done lace, but I've done lace in mohair. If I can survive Kermit, I can survive this. And if all goes according to plan and I medal, Mom will get her Christmas present when she comes up for the Queen + Paul Rodgers concert in March.

So here goes. I've joined the US Lace Team and will be competing in the Shawl division. USA! USA! USA!

Finally, 2 things done

2006-01-16T17:30:00.000-08:00

First, here is the hat and glove set I made for Lovie (that's my sister Teri as the model):

It's the softest yarn EVER! I can't wait for her up-close-and-personal review.

Secondly, this is what I made for Julie. I'm sending the package tomorrow. Julz--if you don't want to know ahead of time, DO NOT SCROLL DOWN! (Oh, and avoid my flickr site, too.)

Exciting!

2006-01-09T22:50:00.000-08:00

I'm making a hat and mittens for our Canadian friend, Tot. I finished the hat last night and agonized over the mittens off and on today. Imagine my surprise when I actually started them today and discovered they're pretty easy and the directions make more sense than I thought once I actually started doing it.

Yay!

I'll post a hat pic soon and a mitten picture as well, if they continue going as quickly and as pleasantly. Hee hee.

Julz, I'll probably only go to the post office once to mail both your and Lovie's packages, so hang in another week, mkay? ;)

Shorty

2006-01-09T07:18:00.000-08:00

I like knitting socks. I just had to share that. I'm only in the middle of my first sock, but I'm hooked. There are about five million stitches involved in each one, but the rounds go fast and you get to new sections frequently so it's like "Yay! Progress!" Top - done, leg - done, heel flap - done, turning heel - done, foot - mostly done. It's nice. Unlike scarves. Scarves suck. The same fucking thing over and over and over ad nauseum unless you've decided to make a striped scarf. I'm beginning to think knitters do scarves just so anything they do after the scarf will seem fun and exciting.

The upshot of this less-than-coherent post: Socks, good. Scarves, baaaaaad.

Meet the knitgeeks

2006-01-07T23:09:00.000-08:00

Aimee asked me if I'd make some "evilchicks" for us like I have on my blog. Hooray! I likes making the evil chicks. See if you can guess who is who (and no fair clicking on the buttons on the sidebar. that's cheating!)

Don't you hate it when

2006-01-07T09:00:00.000-08:00

you order a different yarn than the pattern calls for, not realizing how close a call it's going to be, then you end up being like an EIGHTH of a skein short?

Shit.

My sister's birthday is tomorrow and I can't finish her present until I get another ball of yarn. From Knitpicks. MAN do I hope they can match the dye lot!

useless scarf

2006-01-03T20:51:00.000-08:00

Useless because it's been 60 degrees in atlanta lately.

I made this scarf with the same angora yarn I used to make my Chullo hat.

I liked the broken rib stitch that I used for my father's scarf so much, that I decided to use it for mine, but I added a garter stitch border to cut down on the curling.

on the ironing board for blocking

I also added some fringe, which you can see a bit on the left there. Hopefully, it will get cold enough for me to use it before the season ends!

2005 Knitting Wrap-Up

2006-01-01T19:37:00.000-08:00

I taught myself to knit from this book last December because I was looking for something new to do, and this was relatively cheap. So I have logged almost exactly one year of knitting, minus most of July and August when it was too damn hot to knit. In that year, I have knit: one change purse, one purse, eight scarves, one iPod cozy, two devil hats, one beanie, and crocheted two afghans (I taught myself to crochet from a book last April). Seven of those projects have been completed since October, and most of them documented over on my blog. Here are the last four to be completed:

Autumn Afternoon Afghan pattern by Lion Brand Yarn in Deco and Colonial Homespun Yarn:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban scarf in Cranberry and Gold colorways, Lion Brand Wool-Ease:

Devil Hat from Stitch N Bitch in Ranch Red colorway Wool-Ease (modeled by an obliging reindeer):

The Bitchy Beanie, pattern from Knitpicks, in Shine, cream colorway (modeled by Floyd the bear):

Not half bad, if I do say so myself. Wanna see some happy recipients? Check this out.

Finished scarf

2005-12-22T18:57:00.000-08:00

The steam blocking sort of worked. It doesn't curl as badly as it did, but it still curls.

"right" side:

"wrong" side:

I think the blocking also made it softer than it already was!

I hope my dad likes it!

fyi: broken rib stitch goes like this

cast on an odd number

row 1: k1, p1 across, ending with k1
row 2: k across

repeat 1 and 2 until you're done! I woud recommend putting a garter stitch border on - maybe 3 on each side. I'm going to try it for the scarf I'm making myself on the trip to pittsburgh.

also, I posted a "knitting tip" on the knitting discussion board on craftster - if you'd like to see, it's here. there's another one of mine further up on the page...or the previous page, maybe.

blocking my father's scarf

2005-12-21T22:54:00.000-08:00

blocking my father's scarf
Originally uploaded by evilsciencechick.

first actual knitting post! HA!

So I have attempted Aimee's steaming method of blocking. It's still pinned down and drying, so I can't tell how well it worked. I hope it's dry by tomorrow, I have to wrap and pack it!

I'll take a better pick when it's done, so you can see the detail better. what you see here (if you can see the detail) is the "wrong" side, which is kind of a cool waffle pattern. I like both sides of this scarf, so there is no "wrong" side!

First

2005-12-19T11:53:00.000-08:00

Hi ladies!

Welcome to our new shared blog, wherein we admit that we are, in fact, KNITTING GEEKS!

:)