Knitting Olympics update 2

I'm at row 96 out of 152 (including the bind off row). I have 56 rows left. I'm aiming to complete a little over 9 rows per day. That way, all I have left to do on Sunday is block it. Now, this goal may be a little far fetched considering the length of the rows I have now... and that they're only going to get longer.

Luckily, this evening, I'm aiming to complete about 14 rows. I'm just at the point where I have 6 rows plain knitting, followed by two pattern rows, followed by 6 more rows plain knitting. Hopefully I can power through it.



It seems that this house gets almost no natural light. However, there's a window right next to the refrigerator. White background + natural light = halfway decent pictures. It works nicely for lace, in any case.

Knitting Olympics update

I had a false start on my Knitting Olympics project. There are seven charts and, as I began the second one, I discovered that I had borked... something. I was short a double yarn over somewhere back, 7 stitches short at the end of the row. And I couldn't fix it.

I spent some time being angry at my knitting and then I started over. And did more counting. I'm now on the fourth chart, row 56 of 152 rows (and bind off) with no major errors. What was really annoying was that I had to cast on twice. Casting on 10 stitches on size 6 needles is a pain! But I did it! Twice. grr.



Am I on track to finish by the closing ceremonies? I have no idea. I have a very busy week at work, so I'm maybe not getting in as much knitting time as I could. And then I'm teaching a knitting class on Saturday, for which I need to prepare materials.

Oh, didn't I mention? I'm now teaching knitting classes at the Dancing Ewe. I had my first class ever last week and it was great. This week's class: a basic hat. I'm really looking forward to it!

I'm ready!

Ready for the Olympics to start, so I can cast on for the Knitting Olympics.

I've got all my supplies ready and waiting.


I've got the pattern. Rose of England from the Second Book of Modern Lace Knitting, as seen here knit by Cookie A.


I've got the yarn. Baruffa Cashwool purchased years ago at Acorn Street in Seattle.


I've got the needles, two sets! Ancient dpns, and my addi lace needles, size 6.


Let's go!

FO: Laminaria

It's done! Yippee!!

FO: Laminaria by Elizabeth Freeman
Yarn: Blackberry Ridge Silky Merino in Samarkand Blue
Needles: Size 5 addi lace needles
Cast on: May 18, 2009
Cast off: February 9, 2010

I have loved this pattern since I first saw it. And I love the pattern; it's gorgeous. And Blackberry Ridge's Silky Merino is one of my favorite lace yarns I've used (this is my third shawl with it so far). But for all that, I really didn't love knitting this shawl. With this shawl, I wanted the product. And there are a lot of stitch maneuvers that require a lot of concentration. So I found bits of it fiddly, which is why it had such a prolonged period of hibernation. But, gosh, the end product is gorgeous.

For some reason, the yarn color is impossible to photograph. It's a lovely teal-ish blue. The photo on the vendor website is pretty good, but imagine it slightly iridescent.

This is the second shawl I've knit with this yarn, in this color. And it was a close thing. I had only yards left after binding off.


And the preblocked shawl didn't look altogether that very large. But it was quite bumpy.



Then I gave it a good soaking in my tiny bathroom sink:


I found blocking to be a bit challenging. I had trouble figuring out exactly what shape the shawl wanted to be. Eventually, I settled on this shape, but I'm not 100% sure it was the best option.


Off the blocking board and onto the fence!


Details:



So that's lovely (if I do say so myself). On to the next. Can I knit a circular shawl in 17 days? Or at least use up 1400 yards of laceweight on size 6 needles? We will find out! Knitting Olympics, here I come!

Weekending!

It's after 5pm on Friday, so that means it's the weekend. Yahoo!

Yesterday, after work, I ran down to the Dancing Ewe, because they're having a sale! 25% off everything. And there's this vest that I want to knit. And I didn't have yarn for it. But I do now. 6 hanks of Cascade 220 in Forest Green.


The vest, though, is a couple projects down the line. At the moment, I'm working on my alpaca pullover and my Laminaria shawl. I finished the body of the alpaca pullover last week.


Brown on beige. Very dull photo. But the yarn is Oh. So. Soft. I'm taking a little break from it for now. I'll start the sleeves... later. At the moment, I've picked up some steam on Laminaria. I'm halfway through the first edging chart, and thrilled that I'm done with all the 3-into-9 increases! I'm hoping to finish Laminaria before next Friday. I think I should be able to accomplish that.

On Monday, the cable company is coming by, and we're getting TV. We haven't had tv since we moved at the end of October. I don't mind not having it, but I really wanted to watch the Olypmpics. So we're getting it. And I've decided to play the Knitting Olympics. I'm not really a team player, so it's just a private challenge. My goal?
Knit the Rose of England design from the Second Book of Modern Lace Knitting. I'm thinking size 5 needles and see how far I get until I run out of yarn. That's the plan, anyway. Quite an undertaking for two weeks. Eeee!