Libbazet's Archives - February 2006

Jumping on the bandwagon

February 3, 2006

OK, I am jumping on the bandwagon. I just started knitting the Jaywalker socks. I am loving this pattern and the yarn in charming me no end. I am not a big fan of varigated yarns in large programs, but I love them for socks. I don't mind a little flashing or pooling in socks. They are small and quite frankly, they are usually in my shoes and under my jeans. This particular yarn was dyed during a spinning retreat, and I love the way it is working up.

I am also joining the Knitting Olympics. I will be knitting a Wonderful Wallaby sweater for myself.

Let the Games begin...

February 10, 2006

Today is the day. The Knitting Olympics are about to begin. For my part, I will be making Cottage Creations Wonderful Wallaby.

As I have been floating around blogland, I have seen mixed reactions to this event. My reasons for participating are two-fold.

1. I can't resist a challenge. Never have been able to. Since my mom also joined the Knitting Olympics, I think that it is unlikely that I will change anytime soon.
2. I want a sweater. I have been knitting socks. Socks have the great advantage of being portable. However, about the time the Yarnharlot issued the Olympic challenge, I was finding myself really wanting a new sweater. Thus my joining up.

And so, the committment has been made. Tonight as I watch the opening ceremonies, I will be knitting. With luck, I will achieve my goal and on February 26th, I will have a new sweater.

And the Gold Medal goes to ...

February 26, 2006

This was a competition fraught with intrigue. Would she finish or would she crash and burn. The games started out well. At the start of the Olympics the Jaywalker socks were ruthlessly abandoned

and the sweater looked like this.

The opening ceremonies were a rousing success, at least on the knitting front. The actual opening ceremonies had some interesting moments (and if the commentators need to explain it, it is probably too esoteric.) At the conclusion of the opening ceremonies, the sweater looked like this.

Day 2 continued apace.

At this point knitting slowed considerably. Real life invaded. I had to go work (which seriously cuts into the knitting time.) As a result, there was no appreciable progress until the weekend. However, the weekend was Presidents' Day three glorious days without work (I know that it has deeper meaning - but during the Knitting Olympics the three days was paramount.) The sweater was progressing with great speed. In fact, at 4 on Presidents' Day it looked like this.

It was time to join the sleeves to the body. This was going to be a slam dunk (I know that's Summer Olympics.) I tried things on and that is when it happened. I fell on the jump. The top of the pocket hit me in - shall we say - an inopportune location. And so a 5 on Presidents' Day it looked like this.

The astute among you (ok actually you don't really need to be that astute) will notice that the body is now shorter. Six inches shorter. That's right - 6 inches. Now I will admit that my fall really doesn't rival the Harlot's stumble, but for me it was traumatic. In fact the thought of what need to be done so unnerved me, that I finished the sleeves before frogging. This was done in the vain hope that the issues with the body would magically resolve themselves. In case you were wondering - they didn't and this is the yarn which was ripped from my sweater.

But like so many of the athletes, I was able to recover and turn in a spectacular (if I do say so myself) performance. Witness the completed sweater.

Yes that is a Duct Tape dressmaker's dummy wearing my sweater - you wanna make something of it?

For those who are interested, here are the project specs.

• Yarn: 7 Skeins Wool-Ease (from the stash)
• Color: Black Sprinkles
• Size: Wyatt Wallaby (only the two smallest sizes have feminine names)
• Needles: Size 6 & 8
• Start Date: 10 February 2006
• Finish Date: 26 February 2006

And finally, a picture of why I ripped out 6 inches. The RED line is where the top of the pocket is now. The GREEN line approximates where the top of the pocket was before ripping. The YELLOW line is how far I knit before I realized that I needed to rip. Trust me when I say, the location was more inopportune when the sweater is on my body.

Congratulations to all the Olympians (Knitting or Other) who have risen to the challenge. No matter the final outcome, if you compete to the best of your ability, then you have found the "Olympic Spirit."