didn't finish

this hat in time
But it's on it's way. I'm reworking the top to be in 6 sections rather than 4... I'm kind of bummed that the blue carry shows through the white... I think I prefer the ones that people duplicate stitched the reindeer on. (next hat)

This is my first foray into intarsia...and I'm pretty happy.

and so it goes

Here are some shots of the wrap and it's progress. I'm on the 13th repeat of the cable. The pattern calls for 16 repeats.. but I think I'll need a couple more. It's going ok now that I've just about got the pattern memorized. DD and her girl scout troop went to see the Lehigh women's bball team play Saturday. Lehigh won and she had a blast! I think she wants to go more often.











We still have a pile of Girl Scout cookies to sell :-\....DS1 went to the movies with one of his school pals. So that left the baby home alone with mom and dad, and boy did he LOVE that!







OK.. I leave you with one last reversible cable picture.. I need to get back to knitting. BTW I took these with my iPhone, don't they rock?

skating

I feel like the russian skaters with my olympic knitting project. Today I spent almost as much time ripping as I did knitting. But now I have 4 repeats of the cable pattern finished... so I am hoping to make it!

I was thinking that we'd have another snow day earlier on... but it has stopped snowing and may result in only a delay at best.

better get crackin!

let the games begin

the Olympics that is......

and the knitting olympics as well :-D

This is my challenge. The Every Way Wrap from Interweave Knits Fall 2009 issue. I frogged my endless cable poncho after I discovered there wouldn't be enough yarn.... well honestly, I frogged it last night. My first intention was to knit the wrap with a merino cashmere blend of recycled wool but there wasn't enough of that either. So I'm using the yarn from the endless poncho and pulling out the little country additions (barby things) as I go.

I knit the ribbing tonight during the opening... did the first row of the chart and am now stuck on the cable row.. which way to read the chart... so I want back to the original page and several closer photos and think I have it figured out now.

More sledding today... although I only went down 2 times.. yesterday's tumbles have taken their toll on me. I'm not as young as I once was... Then DH came over with the car so I could run DS2 to gymnastics.. his thought was that he'd bring DD later... until I got there and realized that I had both sets of car keys... so she missed her class... I should have just taken her with me which was my original thought.. but oh well.....

off to knit another row.. i've been spending much of the time during these days spinning..... rambo that is so fluffy I can barely stand it!

ten on tuesday

Top 10 Olympic athletes

• Nadia Comaneci - what an amazing gymnast
  
• Mark Spitz - I was in love with him for the longest time. And to hear him interviewed last week, I was so impressed with how well he spoke
  
• Dorothy Hamill -she made me an ice skating fan
  
• Scott Hamilton - those flips on ice were crazy
  
• Michael Phelps - provided some nailbiting races
  
• Greg Louganis - what form
  
• Mary Lou Retton - america's sweetheart
  
• Shawn Johnson - her sportsmanship and smile, regardless of the outcome, win me over
  
• Carl Lewis - need I explain
  
• Flo-Jo - ditto
  

there are so many great athletes in each discipline... this was a really hard list for me to choose. Interesting to me that most are in swimming and gymnastics. I really do watch other sports ;-)

it's nice to know

that I own 7 out of the 10 top ten knitting tools (according to knitpicks)

• ball winder
  
• umbrella swift
  
• view sizer
  
• WPI tool and knit card
  
• sweater wizard - nope and prolly won't need it for quite some time
  
• Chart keeper - may be something that comes in handy once I learn to read charts
  
• circular knitting needle size ID tags
  
• Kookaburra Woolwash - i have woolwash, but not kookaburra, and will most likely make my own next time with Dr. Bronner's lavendar castille soap and some lanolin and maybe a bit more lavendar EO
  
• Knitting Row Counter Plus - I have one but not the PLUS...
  
• Lace BLocking Wires
  

I knocked this out today

4.5 oz of Targhee that spun (on Louise, my Louët S10) into about 252 yards of worsted weight singles. I've been wanting to spin fatter so this was a good go, although it was made a bit tougher by some less than wonderful roving. Still debating about overdying half of it then plying to a really bulky weight 125 yards... have to sleep on it.

How about that Phelps? He needs to find some words though I'm tired of hearing that he's speechless. Mark Spitz was so eloquent last night during the interview. The man looks good for being in his what early 60s.....

And Bolt from Jamaica really lived up to his nickname of lightning.. man I wonder how fast he would have been if he wasn't coasting the last 10 meters or so?

Dana, well she's one amazing woman. And that's all I'm gonna say about the olympics except that it was a good night watching!

Ok.. back to knitting now

ravelympics

I should have put the baby booties and my monkeys in the sockput and my poncho in the cabled steeplechase.

I worked some on that latter thing. It will be a miracle if I medal in that!

How about the American men's swimming today???? Grinning from ear to ear. When I was a young swimmer I idolized Spitz. Had a poster of him hanging in my room with his 7 gold medals around his neck. He was a tad more handsome than Phelps is though, imho.

I'm working on these cute little booties but in the wrong yarn and hence, the wrong needle so my gauge is abominable.. I spent more time doing math than knitting. The one that's done is cute though!

School tmrw.. and I believe I'll start to paint as well. Takin' everything in at least! and I will take my monkeys with me, so I can knit while learning! can't waste a minute...

yay! the olympics have begun

picture by Clive Rose, Getty Images
found at Kodak's Olympic Picture of the Day site



which means TONS of knitting for me :-)
I cast on in the morning of the 8th. And here's what I have accomplished since then (in reverse order):

pattern: Iceland Printed wool Baby hat
Knit 2008 pattern a day calendar Feb 16/17 by Cathy Campbell
yarn: Patons shetland chunky tweed
color: medium blue
needle: US 10.5 dpn
recipient: DH’s cousin’s baby to be (September)


pattern: Angora baby booties from Last Minute Gifts by Joelle Haverson
yarn: Brunswick Eleganza 80 Acrylic/20 Kid Mohair
color: white
needle: US 5 dpns
recipient: friend's baby to be (September)
these start at the toe and the foot is double knit then separated for the heel and joined in the round for the cuff. Clever pattern. Took me way longer than the hour the book suggests. Of course had I read the pattern through before starting gangbusters in, I could have saved myself some time (and frogging.mohair.not.fun.)



pattern: Bright Tweed booties for Baby
Knit 2008 pattern a day calendar June 2 & 3 by Wooly Fatty Knitters
yarn: Paton's Shetland Chunky Tweed
colors: ice blue and biscuit
needle: US7
recipient: yet another friend's baby to be (September)

are you noticing something.... I have too many people that are due in September.. and this isn't all!

I did the knit in the stitch below incorrectly in the hat that follows, and thought I better do it wrong in these booties that the hat was planned after. I eventually WILL learn to do it correctly though ;-)



pattern: umbilical cord hat from stitch 'n bitch book
yarn: Paton's Shetland Chunky tweed
colors: biscuit and ice blue (yes to complement above booties)
needle: US7
recipient: same friend as the booties above

I changed up the pattern to include the knit in the stitch below as a band so it would have some similarity to the booties

YIKES! I've also worked some on the wips but nothing worth pictures.



So far, I've received this

and I'm sure there will be more to come


We've been enjoying Olympia, the new camera, and DH has signed us up for the beginning DSLR class for the Olympus Evolt 510 at our nearby camera shop Dan's Camera City

I found this interesting fungus growing on the tree in the front of our house. Looks like a scone with jam, doesn't it?


I have class on Monday and Wednesday this week at school. Wednesday's is a book discussion (actually 2 books) and I don't have the books yet! Love my school district! In the afternoon after class, I plan on painting my classroom. My dear friend P gave me 4 gallons of paint (yes all the same color - yellow) so there should be more than enough. I'm so psyched!

My buddies came to visit me this past Wednesday. We went to lunch at Jumbars which is within walking distance of my house. It was so much fun for me. And the food was so yummo! What more can you ask for, good food and good company. :-)

Thursday evening P and D and I went to the Lehigh Valley knitter's guild meeting at the Whitehall public library. What a nice bunch of ladies there. The topic of the evening was sock knitting... so I was prepared.


Other than that, it was a quiet week, the beginning of which totally slipped by me. The summer is rushing by with a speed that is frighteningly fast. I'm so not ready to go back to school!