Not quite there yet

But, I'm not entirely disappointed with my showing at the Knitting Olympics either. Sure, I didn't finish. But, I came pretty close. The body of the vest is done. I've only to knit the neck and the sleeve ribbing. And duplicate stitch in the green stitches on the back. And weave in the ends. Not too bad really for 17 days.

I know in my heart that this was a challenge I could have completed. I'll admit to distraction. Damn you drop spindle. Why is it that when I'm doing the Tour de Fleece, I'm distracted by my knitting and when I'm doing the Knitting Olympics I'm distracted by my spinning. I'm thinking it must be some sort of personality fault of mine.

I'll also admit to being distracted by the real Olympics. I was riveted! From the opening ceremonies and that first gold medal by Alex Biladeau to Sidney Crosby's goal, I was captivated. I am so proud of my country and never knew I was so patriotic. I even went out and bought some 'Go Canada' gear to help cheer on the hockey teams. Here is Max demonstrating!



I plan on finishing up the rest of the vest soon, and then who knows. No real plans. Exciting isn't it? I still have those gift certificates to spend at Distinctive Knitting...about 340$ worth!! I love my family and friends...and boss! Even more exciting is that I was talking to Mrs March (owner of my LYS, Distinctive Knitting) and she is going to start carrying Fleece Artist! OMG...and I am not an OMG type of girl. But...OMG!

In other news my beautiful daughter is home for her reading break. This makes me so happy. She brought back a ukelele. And she is playing it...quite well in fact. Max..not so much, but at least he is trying.


Kev just got back from a hockey tournament in Moncton. He always brings me back a gift whenever or whereever he travels. This time he brought me back a book called Knit Two by Kate Jacobs. Its a sequel to her first book called...Knit Night? or Friday Night Knitting Club? Despite me not remembering the name it did make an impression on me and I did like the book. Brain candy, I guess. A nice light read. Nothing too serious, and that is the way I like my books and movies sometimes.

Don't think I'll make it.

Here is where I am so far. I've only 2 more days to knit the back and the ribbing. Bloody hell, I don't think I can do it. Just blogging quickly and have to get back to it.

And since I was the first project to log this pattern on Ravelry, I had no one elses to look at for comparison. I now today see that another person has test knit this for knitpicks. And she duplicate stitched the green parts on. Bloody f$#*&&ing hell. I could have saved my sanity and a little time there. No where in the pattern does it say that. I intarsia -ed the larger blocks and fair isle -ed the green bits and let me tell you about the mess on the back. Wait...I'll show you.


The late Doris Saunders once told me of the time when she exhibited some single thread embroidery peices and they were displayed backwards because it was so difficult to tell the back from the front. Her work was that neat!! That won't be a problem with my vest. I'll likely choke myself or at least rip an ear off the first time I wear this thing.

Oh well, off to plug away at the stockingnette. You all know how well I'll do with that. At least the hockey game is on.

Knitting Olympics Update

I'm behind on my Olympic knitting. I had hoped to be at the halfway mark by now since we are into the second half of the real Olympics. I figure I've completed about 1/4 of the vest. I haven't given up yet. I really need to focus and stop being distracted by other projects such as this one. Its another pair of Newfoundland Mittens .


I'm not sure why I'm finding these a distraction. Its not like I haven't knit these before. 6 or 7 times in fact, perhaps more since I didn't document my preravelry knitting too much. I'm just not focused at all. Perhaps its because I've made a few mistakes on the colourwork. In the interest of time, Ive decided to forge ahead and fix the mistakes later with duplicate stitch. I'm pretty certain that the mistakes can be managed with that strategy. We'll see.

Olympic Update

I watched the opening ceremonies last evening. They were gorgeous and moving. My step daughter Aimee was telling me that 'a rumour' was circulating on the internet that Arnold Swartzenager would be the final torch bearer and lighting the cauldron. I knew this was wrong and I insisted there was no way a non Canadian would be bringing in the torch. In my mind, it would have to be a great Canadian - a great Canadia athlete - like Wayne Gretzky, I told her. I was beyond excited and more than a little smug to be right.

As soon as the ceremonies began, I began the knitting olympics. I cast on for my vest. A provisional cast on. Note that I didn't swatch (gasp). I decided to cast on for the largest size and immediately regreted it. It was humungous. I ripped it out and recast on 2 sizes down. I may regret this too, but hey, it'll fit someone right? Besides, I've started a Christmas box. More about that later.

My vest is argyl, knit in peices from the bottom up, with intarsia blocks of colour. What a tangled mess I had after the first hour or so. I immediately went out this morning and bought some little plastic bobbins to wind the yarn onto rather than having whole skeins tangled up. Here is how it looks so far.



So, onto the Christmas gift box idea. I've decided that throughout 2010, I will knit various small projects that appeal to me as a knitter. They will be random projects for no one in particular. Then come next Christmas, I will decide if any of these projects will be appropriate for anyone on my gift list. This probably isnt' the most efficient way of gift knitting, but I like the idea of knitting what I like. So far, I have 3 different things in the Christmas gift box. Here they are, in no particular order.

Hmmm, interesting. Until now, I didn't realize they were all for the neck. This larger shawl thingy was something that has been languishing for over a year now, I think. Its from Knitpicks Suri dream, and was an absolute nightmare to knit. Its a brushed alpaca and it was so hard keeping the stitch count straight on such a hairy yarn.
Here is a rusched cowl. I really enjoyed knitting this, and it just flew off of the needles. The yarn is Merisoft by Punta Yarns. The pattern is a freebie called Tamarind Cowl.

And finally here is a little neck kerchief made with my handspun. The pattern is from Joelle Hoverson's book Knitted Gifts. I own many knitting books. Some would say an alarming number really. I have knit 5 projects from this book! I love this book, alot. Its been in my aresnal for some time now, and I keep going back to it.

And speaking of too many knitting books, Greg gave me an Amazon gift certificate for Christmas. I bought 1 knitting book All New Homespun Knits and spinning book called Respect the Spindle. I really want to be a better spindle spinner. I think with the help of this book, I'll get the hang of it. Here is what I've done so far.
I want to share with you a little prize that I won from entering a blog contest. This little cutie was knitted by this lady. She has an etsy store too. Definitly worth checking out. Her patterns are cute.

The Knitting Olympics

The opening ceremonies are about to start...in about 20 minutes. And I will be casting on for this vest. This will be my first Olympics and I'm excited. I also like this vest. I somehow ordered two kits by mistake. Don't know how that happened. It must be the wool fumes. Wish me luck.

I am battling an injury, so I'm not sure that I'll be in peak condition, but I'm sure I'll be able to pull off a spectacular finish. Here's hoping.