Odessa # 2 finished, Glad Ragg socks started.

Odessa # 2 finished...

Odessa by Grumperina, Magknits February 2006
Started: Feb 26, 2006
Finished: Mar 1, 2006
Brooks Farm Four Play yarn, 50% silk 50% merino-- colorway #SW 038
Addi 16" US 5 (3.75mm)
Used 58gm of yarn, incl. pattern modifications (see below)... second hat's worth left in the skein.





Another Odessa, another dollar :) This is the second 2nd knit I've done from Grumperina, the previous pair being 2 pair of Jaywalkers (and the 1st Odessa done when the pattern went live last month.) It was my, "unwind and knit in the glow of stumbling during the Knitting Olympics," project.

My 1st hat is too small for my gigantic head, so I added a repeat to this pattern and also knit it in a heavier yarn. (My 1st was knit in calmer, which was a smaller gauge than the suggested yarn which I'm sure didn't help... but really, its my head size that did it in.) This one's nice and comfy for me, isn't too conforming (which makes the pumpkin look even larger), and I love the Brooks Farm Four Play. It felt a little-little sticky/dry knitting up, but I've also never knit with silk before so perhaps this is normal. Not a complaint, just a note. The yarn has a wonderful shine to it; not shiny like the stock pics on Brooks Farm's site, just a little bit of the light bouncing off of it.

In addition to adding a repeat (120 CO instead of 110), I noticed that the 1st YO looked larger than the subsequent ones (and emphasized by the fact it is at the largest point of my head, stretching out even more...) so I knit the starting k3, p2 rounds for 1.5" and then knit "k3, p1, *k4 p1*, k1" so when the pattern started the next round, the YO would "rest" on a knit stitch and not a purl one. I don't know if its really that noticeable or not, but the mod isn't and doesn't detract from the pattern imo.

I think the variegated yarn looks pretty cool, the pattern goes at a right angle in a fun way. I also opted for no beads this time since the beads I'd need would be way too big, I think. If I have enough yarn left over from the red Four Play I brought home from stitches (I'm planning gauntlets), maybe I'll take a trip to the bead store and make another hat :)

So of course I had to start another project...



Glad Ragg Socks from Yahoo Groups Six Sox Knitalong, Feb/Mar 2006 pattern
Started: Mar 1, 2006
Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, endlot
8/0 "spring mix" beads from Baubles and Beads in Berkeley (five times fast!)
US 2 dpns for leg (will use US 1's for foot)

Apologies for crappy pic. You can't really see the lace anyway, and the beads do get a bit lost... next pic I'll use an insert to stretch it out a bit more. Its a fun pattern, even though I get a little irked at working the beads around to the front of the sock (they want to stay in the back and I haven't mastered exactly how to knit them on the subsequent rounds and not ahve to coax them back to sit on the purl bumps yet. YET!)

I'd forgotten how fun knitting on dpns can be. I covered quite a bit of ground already, I think.

Not enough to stop me from doing this though:


Socks That Rock, Carbon colorway-- mediumweight

All of the talk about the Rockin' Socks club from Blue Moon Fiber Arts has me hemming and hawing about joining. I don't know... its a huge outlay for something that'll be a "surprise!", not a "deal" (I'm a rabid bargain hunter by nature)... I balled this up for a quick pair of socks (I'm thinking 2 socks on 2 circs, 2x2 baby cable rib from Sensational Knitted Socks) to help me decide. I'd *have* to order the year since you get the free skein (trying to justify it into a deal-- my nature said the scorpion) but, ergh. That's a lot of sock yarn.

Speaking of a lot of sock yarn, I fulfilled a promise I made to myself about cleaning up and consolidating the stash after the kolympics. I took everything out, photog'd it (so I know what's in the black hole bin), and... there's too much. I've got to get rid of some of it, I've got to stop the madness.



(If you're truly interested in the mess that is my stash, I've organized my flickr album and one of the sets is my "stash set." Not for the faint of heart, and not the best pics either... mainly just an exercise to shame me into using some of this beautiful stuff.)

I figured, what better way for me to "try out" this whole "finish line knitting" idea I had during the kolympics than two birds-one stone it... I devised my own pseudo yarn diet. Its not a yarn diet per se, its a goal I'm setting for myself to keep my knitting on track. Sometimes chains are a good thing... :)

Starting now and until either a) The TKGA Knit and Crochet Show in Oakland on April 20, or b) I finish the below projects, I will not buy any yarn or yarn related products. I think it'll be "a"! :)

Projects:

4) "regular" projects, including things like pairs of adult sized socks, adult sized mittens/gauntlets, scarves.
4) "small" projects, including things like hats (hehe, I'm counting odessa towards the 4!), pairs of baby socks, or toys from the absolutely rockstar latest score of mine-- Unusual Toys for You to Knit and Enjoy by Jess Hutchison.
1) Sweater. Either Trellis from knitty, or Starsky from knitty, or Heirloom Baby Aran from IK Spring 2004...
1) Finishing of the Rib and Cable Sweater for my Knitting Olympics project

Part of the reason I'm making myself commit to this is I've already bought the yarn for Starsky from Knit Picks (Sierra in Cranberry) and an additional 14 balls of Wool of the Andes to knit JessHutch toys. I got an amazing order of Fleece Artist yesterday (Kasula-- for shawls I have no intention as of yet to knit). I am waiting on some molassesing yarn orders to arrive that equal out to another 32 balls of yarn (16 pairs of socks worth). And I already can't close the lid on my bin!

Another part is that having a goal, a pathway to knitting makes me feel pretty good. Picking out projects, the anticipation of finishing one and starting another feels comforting. I looked at the bin and felt almost lost, like there were too many choices and I couldn't make any-- which is pretty silly :)

So, there you go. I'm going to try and knit the Socks That Rock up by the end of this weekend, and make my decision then. I'm already leaning a heavy "no" on joining the club, and if I decide I'll have to bargain with myself again (forgo TKGA's market?)... Tough decision!

And I've got a huge box of yarn I need to swap, sell, trade, give away... later later. More sock knitting now (I missed knitting socks SO much!) :)

Veni, vidi, not so vici. Or, how I earned no medals from the knitting olympics, and am elated about it.

Let me start, I failed in my goal of knitting my sweater for my spawn. Failed in the sense, I will not have a shiny gold button on my blog, failed in the sense I wanted to have it completed by a certain date, and in the sense the world is watching and I picked my nose on television.

Kinda :)



I finished all of the pieces, and tripped in not seaming them by the time the flame went out. I'll do a full "finished" entry when I've got tha frankenstein's monster stitched up.

So, why am I so giddy about this?

Well, guess it depends on your definition of what "this" is. (Insert Uncle Bill joke here.) If "this" was my attempt at solidarity with thousands of knitters and finish up my project, then no-- I'm not giddy. I'm bummed I can't brag about finishing, I'm bummed I still have no completed sweater for my oompaloompa, I'm bummed I let "team knittyboard" have a failing member on its bobsled team. If "this" was my attempt to snag a snazzy gold button for the blog, then eh-- I know there will be some snarky "I went to the Knitting Olympics and all I got was this UFO" button popping its way thru the knitting blogosphere soon enuf that I'll snag.

But if this is ...

1) Something I never thought I could accomplish... I *will* finish this sweater, and it will look freaking awesome. I will brag to complete strangers about my handiwork when they compliment baby bear's swanky sweater. I will announce it on my blog with more words and more description (and maybe even more pictures) than should be allowed, because I do tend to drone on and on. I've wanted to knit this sweater ever since I learned to knit (back then I thought I'd never be able to, and here I am almost done in a span of 2 weeks!), and I have accomplished something great in doing so.

2) Something that has broken my irrational fear of seaming, sweaters... I may not have finished in time, but never again will I dismiss a pattern simply cos its not written in the round or covers more than 10% of a body's skin at one time. I can knit things in pieces, I can knit things that aren't meant to be stuffed in shoes or stuffed full of my head.

3) Something that has broken me from my self-imposed view that I can *only* knit small things, that I am incapable of concentrating on one item for only one week before I drop it like last week's milkman... I love knitting socks and small things. But watching myself knit this sweater has shown me that I don't have to cram a project into a week for it to be satisfying (let alone eventually completed.) This bigger project has made me feel even more proud as its a "big thing," as if my pride in my own craftsmanship is exponentially linked to the size of the project. (I have big feet, so I'm usually sporting big pride anyways!)

4) Something that has taught me about goals in knitting... Knitting wasn't always a "leisure art," as Ms. Bush enunciates in "Knitting Vintage Socks." It was a craft, something done for work and something utilitarian. I have approached knitting a my leisurely pasttime (muah victorian, eh!), with no sort of *rhyme or reason.* I think now, having collected all of these skills, it is time for me to look at knitting in a different light. I still will knit for pleasure, but I can and should place goals before me in doing so. I felt a jolt, a thrill in having a "finish line" to sprint towards, a reason to just push one more row. I've felt sparks of this before, when knitting for someone else-- the anticipation of finishing and passing off a gift to someone. But this was different, this desire of a goal. I *wanted* to finish my sweater for the knitting olympics, I really did (even though I was overconfident and lazy in the beginning.) I learned that setting a goal for myself in knitting doesn't diminish the pleasure I derive from knitting, but enhances my drive to finish. And goals don't even necessarily have to be a complete-by date, but a ... I'm going to try this new thing goal, I'm going out of my comfort zone and I will finish to make myself even better than I was when I started goal, I'm going to make knitterly-promises to myself that I will keep and I will be proud of keeping types of goals.

5) Something that has taught me I am far more capable than I think I am... I may not have finished, but wow was I up to the challenge. I am so proud of myself for rising to the challenge, for taking on a mantle that was heavy that became lighter with wear.

So if it was all of those things, then I'm giddy. Cos I took *all* of that away from the knitting olympics, and more.

*****

So, you wanna know what happened, eh? (If you've still stuck around for joy this long!)

I could put in lots of outside reasons why I failed. (And I will! :) ... sick household, rain keeping me outside and away from knitting, general housework and personal obligations that had to be met, etc.) But they're not really the reason.

Up til Sunday, I was absolutely confident I'd be sporting gold. I had finished all of the knitting (hehe, now I need to learn that seaming is knitting!) and I "just" had the finishing to do. No problem. I even took the kiddo out in the rain to the farmer's market, the grocery, the bakery etc because I was so confident I could whip the seaming up in no time, or at least by the start of the closing ceremonies at 7pm pacstandard time.

Teaching myself how to "truly" seam took much longer and took many more trials and errors than I thought it would. I shudder to think how poorly I had seamed earlier attempts at sweaters for billygoat... because I learned finally how to seam and my god they were right! The seam disappears into the knitting! It was probably around 5pm when the heavens opened and the choir burst out... and about 5:30pm when rosemary's baby decided that that was enough knitting for one day. Usually, kiddo's right-- set it down and its mommy/baby time. But doesn't a 2 year old grasp the enormity of the situation, the KNITTING OLYMPICS??! Doesn't a baby brain pick up on all of those clacking needles round the globe, and how much mommy wanted to be a part of that?

All of the parents know what that answer is.

So, without attention baby hellraiser decides to take everything from its place and throw it to the floor. I think I should have hosted the finishing in a hotel room, at least everything would have been bolted down there. After everything under 3 ft has been ceremoniously crashed to the floor, it was time to run pellmell down the hallway, hands waiving frantically and body swishing to the lack of parental attention being doled out... barely avoiding all of the land hazards and booby traps.

It was the toilet that did baby and the kolympics in...

Running, running...
(insert, feeling bad at this point that baby has decided to act out like this for attention... starting to make major mistakes in seaming... a few grunts and exasperated groans directed at the inanimate sweater...)

::clunk::

That hollow sound. The pause before crying. Then all of my world zeroed.

Readers digest: Baby did a penguin slide in the bathroom (whose door shouldn't have been open in the first place), bit the inside lip and was just... so sad. Still amped from trying to get *my* attention, cut lip, and those heartbreaker baby tears. And I forgot about the olympics.

Not forgot as in, "forget it!" but forgot in, "knitting is supposed to be fun, and its not been in trying to get this finished for me or baby bear (the recipient!)... so its time to retire gracefully from the competition, lay back, make sure baby's not too broken, and relax." I had this thought, went with it, and felt my entire body relax all in a moment's breath... I didn't realize how amped *I* was in trying to finish, and how good it felt to let go.

Aftermath... baby's FINE. Dozed off in my arms, happy as a clam whose mommy clam dropped out of the kolympics at the last moment to snuggle and watch Madagascar. (again.)

I put the seaming away for the moment, knowing I want to devote blocks of time to it but don't want to have to do it all in one sitting... I have only the underarms to finish, but I do want them to be perfect so I'm waiting for the block of time to do so. (Uh, yeah... the time it took me to go on and on about this would have been perfect!)

I also needed a little "comfort knitting" to wind down... something on the needles, in my hands-- so I started Odessa again in Brooks Farm Four Play.



We're still having overcast weather, so the pic isn't great. There's a wonderful shine to the yarn (the silk) that doesn't show up, and I think it'll end up looking great and hopefully fitting. I mentioned earlier that I was going to unknit Odessa since it seemed to have "extra" fabric making me look like a pinhead (cos I added length that wasn't in the pattern), but I realize its not that. And not just that I am a pinhead. I am a Brobdingnagian pinhead, and the extra fabric is a result of the hat trying to escape up off of it. Its true!

I also have been thinking more and more about "goals in knitting" as inspired by the knitting olympics, and made a few promises to myself, cleaned up the stash, found some new projects to knit... Next post, I promise. This is almost too long even for me! :)

Odessa pic, Knit Picks' Merino Style in Dusk and Knitty Shimmer Shrug

Sun's out but I still can't manage to take a pic of Odessa that I like. I love the swirl on top and can't really get it myself; may have to enlist someone to take a picture of the top of my head :) The color's much more accurate here than under the flouros in my last pic...

Also, the Merino Style from Knit Picks arrived, dusk color... for the "Cable and Rib Sweater with Hood" by Debbie Bliss that I'm planning on tackling for my part in the Knitting Olympics. Behind it is Shimmer (shrug) from Knitty, knit in Cascade Pima Tencel on US 6 (cornflower blue, #1353). I had to take it off the needles and put it on waste yarn; I only have one pair of Addis in #6 and they've been called in for Olympic duty. It is pretty, and I will finish it once the weather takes a brighter turn.

Odessa finished!

Odessa finished...

Odessa by Grumperina, published in Feb 05 MagKnits
Started: Feb 1, 2006
Finished: Feb 2, 2006
Rowan Calmer, Coffeebean... one ball (with leftovers)
Addi 3.0mm & 3.75mm -- 40cm

This is a pattern I'd definitely look to if I were to make a little special last minute gift for someone. It's quick to knit (easy to memorize the pattern), unique, shiny (anybody but me and the raccoons love shiny?) and just catches your eye.

I knit mine in Calmer since that's what I had in the stash... knit to 5.75"-6" before decreases as I have a big head and often-cold ears. I love Calmer and it was a pleasure to knit this hat in it... it may be a good chemo cap pattern (without beads, I assume) and I had a bit of the ball left over-- no worries about running out like Shedir *pdf!* (which I think I may knit in the very-near future, perhaps as my cable "practice" for the Knitting Olympics?)

Meanwhile, back on the farm... I may try and take a natural light pic tomorrow as this one isn't really doing it for me and the flash ones make the yarn look brighter than it is.

Frailty, thy name is odessa.

I'm usually not a several wip kinda gal, mostly cos the projects I knit are so small that they'll be finished before the urge to start another has receded. However, the new February MagKnits is out and like everyone else who has and will see it, Odessa's caught my eye.

So, even though I spent way too long pondering beads today (and ended up using the generic beads I bought for my diy stitch markers, discovering they're the perfect size-- "e" ticket, jo!) I managed to cast on and get a good deal banged out so far. I did get a bit paranoid that the cap wouldn't fit my brontosaurus head and threw some waste yarn in to try it on about 2" in... it'll be fine. I hope :)

I strung the beads with a little help from Clara's article over on Knitter's Review, making my own very very thin bead threader out of superfine wire I had purchased with the beads but hadn't used before. Very neat, and I "shopped from the stash" for everything, making me extremely pleased with myself and able to justify my ignoring of my lonely pair of River Rapids socks begging for their gusset decreases.

Started: February 1, 2006
Odessa by Grumperina (published by MagKnits)
Rowan Calmer in coffeebean
Addi 3.0mm (US 2.5) & 3.75mm (US 5) -- 40 cm (16")



(the woman doth protest too much, metinks.)