A Little Yarn On The Side

Bob:  The torch has been lit, and the 2010 Ravelympics have officially begun! Ron: Right you are, Bob!  We're joining the action at the end of the first full day of competition.  Now Ms. Sutton got a delayed start--do you have more on that Bob? Bob: Informed sources tell us that Ms. Sutton spent much of last night at a pre-Valentine's Day dinner party with friends, and her cast-on was delayed almost 12 hours.  It's too early to tell how much of an impact those lost hours will make, but it was a gutsy--if not actually a smart--move on Ms. Sutton's part. Ron:  I see Ms. Sutton has chosen the cable cast on, rather than the more traditional long-tail method.  A good strategic move, do you think? Bob:   I do, Ron.  Ms. Sutton has often struggled with running short of yarn on the long-tail cast on, and after a 12-hour delayed start, she can't afford many more delays.  Ron:  I see Ms. Sutton is altering the pattern during cast on-...

Bob:  With just hours to go before the torch-lighting for the 2010 Ravelympics, we take a look at some of the last-minute preparations being done by one of the contestants.  Ms. Sutton, thank you for taking time to talk with us this morning.  Tell us, what sorts of things are you doing today?   Toni:  Well, Bob, first I did a little dusting. Bob:  Now I notice you're chosen to use Endust at this point.  Are you mostly a spray-polish duster? Toni:  Well, generally I'm a "this-is-a-big-freakin'-waste-of-time" sort of duster, but I thought the house might be a bit frightening two weeks from now. Bob: I see.  I notice you've been accumulating a few things today.  Can you tell us about them? Toni: Certainly, Bob.  First there's some hand lotion --always a necessity for any type of knitting marathon, especially here in the drier climates.  And of course a large supply of coffee   to help me keep my focus. Bob:...

Ron:  With less than 24 hours until the 2010 Ravelympics kickoff, we're here with one of the contestants .  Ms. Sutton, what you can tell us about this year's competition? Toni:  Well Ron, to date there are more than 8300 knitters from around the world signed up and ready to compete.  Some will be competing on multiple events--such as perhaps the Scarf Super-G as well as Sock Hockey--while some of us are tackling a single, larger project. Ron:  So participants have 16 days to complete their events.  That's a lot of pressure for what many of us would consider a grandmotherly-sort of sport. Toni:  Don't let the stereotypes fool you.  Anyone who has ever witnessed the carnage at a 50%-off sale of cashmere yarn can tell you, knitting is not for the timid. Ron:  You're signed up for the Sweaterboard Cross and the Stash Compulsory Dance, which--let me get this straight--is an ENTIRE sweater made from stash yarn within 16 days.  Is...

Ravelympics (and, I suppose, the Olympics) kick off Friday at 7:00 PM in my time zone.  And I will be out having dinner with friends.  I know--where's my dedication?  Where's my team spirit?  Obviously, I may not be cut out to be a professional "knitlete"  (You've heard of poetic license, right?  This is blog license--I can make up any words or terms on my knitting blog that I want, provided they have something to do with knitting.  This is one of the perks of ignoring reality) as I have no intention of changing plans.  But I do promise to cast on the moment we get home. I am getting ready, though.  I have lined up audio books, movies, we have lots of spaghetti sauce in the freezer, and the ingredients for white chocolate martinis are in the refrigerator (which won't really help the knitting but WILL make attempting to knit a sweater in 16 days seem less crazy).  Just under 2 days until the kickoff.....maybe I should be doing stretche...

One of the things that I hoped the "100 Projects" project would do is to force entice me into finishing some of the sewing and knitting WIPS laying around.  I mean, let's face it--the idea of starting and finishing 100 projects in 365 days is a bit crazy....even for me.  While it seems to have had no impact on the knitting WIPS, this weekend I did finish I apologize for the rather bad picture--I didn't realize it was that bad until I had already thrown the jacket into the washing machine.  I'm about 50% happy with it.  The thing is supposed to have shoulder pads, but I have really broad shoulders for a woman, so that part looks fine without them, but the sleeves are unbelievably long--and not in a way that would be fixed by shoulder pads.  In stocking feet, I am 5' 8" tall.  I don't have short arms.  In fact, I have rather long arms.  So, what Amazon tribe are the psychos at the pattern company using for models??????? Not that I'm not thrille...

Make sure one is actually WEARING the wrist pin cushion before jabbing the pins at one's wrist.....

which Theo thinks is quite disgraceful. I did finish the front of the cowl-neck sweater and I think I moved the neckline up far enough so that the world will have to continue to wonder whether my belly button is an "innie" or an "outie." The sleeves have been started, so I'm hoping to finish it before the Ravelympics start on Friday.  Of course, I'm hoping to finish a whole dang sweater in 17 days, so I am hardly one to be trusted on such things. I was really hoping to finish this fleece jacket today but since this project had been started more than a year ago, there was a good hour devoted to finding all the various pieces and parts.  I think my original plan was to do some sort of decorative stitching on this somewhere, but now I'm almost wondering about some sort of embroidery? It's going to be a bit dull otherwise, don't you think?