Band O' Bugs

Day 2 of training, no sign of stiffness or soreness in our knitters hands or wrists. That is great news, but even better...a band of bugs is nearly finished, see?

All of the ladybugs behinds are done on this swatch. The picture is still not showing the right color purple, but by the time training is done I may have the color correct. Later I will figure out how many ladybugs the sweater has compared to the swatch, but math at this time of night is risky.

I also finished the mittens, so I'm feeling pretty smug tonight. Anybody who needs their mittens to match exactly may not like them, but I prefer fraternal mittens to identical ones, mainly because I hate to waste time and yarn looking for the perfect repeat. I really like them, they are cool and stripey, and also warm and cozy. I test drove them home from work...Literally.

Training - Day 1

I've officially started "the swatch". It doesn't look like I have completed very much, only about 1/2". This could take quite a bit longer than anticipated.....

You can kind of see that there is a bit of pattern going on. OK, maybe you can't, but I know it's there! The colors are a little off, that one skein is purple. Are you noticing the tiny needles? I feel like I'm knitting with toothpicks. I really love this yarn. When the website comes up, scroll down to the Baby Ull. It feels wonderfully soft, and almost makes the tiny needles seem not so bad. (But ask me again in 2 weeks) The glass of wine that is barely visible has nothing to do with the lack of progress.

I did work on the mittens most of the day. A call center workplace does have it's up side when call volume is low. I have both mittens done except for the thumbs. They will be finished tomorrow. I would have posted a picture, but I did not have my camera at work, and didn't want to bring the mittens home unfinished.

I have no idea if working on the swatch at my desk tomorrow will work well. I do have a stash of dark chocolate in my desk drawer, so that might help.

Let the training begin!

Yipee! The Olympic yarn has arrived! Here it is, looking so unhappy in it's mailing packaging....
Before it could be unpacked, I decided I had better undecorate from Christmas. I know, I know, it's already Jan 28th and I should have done this long ago but I didn't. So I think I have set a new record for "Fastest Undecorating" for our house. The tree still is vertical, but taking it down, sticking it in the box, and dragging it down the stairs isn't my job. After my son wakes up from his nap I'll help him carry the stuff to the basement, but until then...PLAYTIME.

Here is the yarn freed from the packaging and frolicking on the top of the desk, next to the additional needles I realized I needed to do the swatch (hat). Why I didn't remember to get double points when picking up the Addi's, I do not know.



And because the yarn did not get to my house before I left for stitching with the Knitters with Altitude, here's a picture of the mittens. I know it doesn't look like I did very much on them this morning, but I really did. If I would have been paying attention while I was casting on for them I would have realized I had grabbed the wrong needle size and would not have needed to rip the 3" I had finished on the cuff out. So now I am back on track with that. I'm really liking the striping type thing that is happening on these. The real mitten is a little darker.

I am now of two minds. Do I finish the mittens which I want done before I leave for Chicago, or do I cast on the swatch?

Thursday's Ramblings

A few random thoughts for today:
1. I'd like to see if there are any other Colorado knitters that would like to get together for an Olympic Closing Ceremony Party. The location will depend on how many people express interest and where they live. I think we might need to find an appropriate place in Castle Rock, since that's kind of in the middle of the Springs and Denver. Right now it's up in the air, but a friendly yarn store or coffee shop there might be good.

2. Why does the spell checker want to substitute "janitor's" for "knitters"? And "flogging" for "blogging"?

3. Why didn't I notice, until just this morning, that the pattern I chose for my Olympic event did not say US size 2 and 2 1/2 needles, which are tiny enough, but 2 and 2 1/2 MM, which are size US size 0 and 1? Someone shoot me. Oh well, since I didn't have those sizes I was forced to go to my LYS and buy 2 new pairs of Addis. The theory is that I will be able to knit faster (the packaging says it will) with them. We shall see.

While at the LYS, I picked up some yarn for a kitty bed ala Cat Bordhi (the dark red), yarn for a pair of easy mittens, and unbelievably another Dale baby pattern. Most of you will recognize this as "the Tink's sweaters". Why I think I will be able to make that sweater error-free the first time through when Stephanie can't is a mystery. Notice the tiny little needles.

4. The retreat WW commented on was a blast. Our knitting group rented out a great B&B near Twin Lakes, CO for a few days and had a wonderful time. We knit, ate, enjoyed the scenery and each others company. The skill level of the knitters was from one person who had never picked up a needle all the way thru people who have knitted for a very long time. We even had a spinner there. (pictures and more to follow later)

5. Someone said knitter's almost always have a cat. I have two, plus their best dog friend, Mira. Here they are. The pretty girl with the dog is my daughter Megan. The black and white cat is Leo. The other one is Libby.

Jumping In

Well, I'm jumping into the deep end feet first and hoping that it all works out. I have been inspired by our beloved Yarn Harlot to enter the internet community of Knitters. Thank you, Stephanie for inspiring me to step way out of my comfort zone and write this, and to stretch not only my knitting knowledge but also to stretch my mind in general.

I will admit to not knowing much about the mechanics of blogging, but I figure that's why God invented teenage sons who, for a price to be determined later, will help their computer challenged Mom. I quickly learned "links" and "posting". I just have to remember that the computer stuff has a language of it's own, just like knitting.

I am starting this for a couple of reasons, but right now mainly to keep track of my event for the Knitting Olympics. I was going to put the cool link button on here, but I can't figure out how yet (Matt will have to help later). My project is the Dale Ladybug Hat and sweater. I know it's crazy, I have examined the idea after the initial moment of committing to it. But I still feel that doing my best to achieve such a feat will have it's own rewards. I hope.

Here's where I try to insert a picture, after I scan the thing. Wish me luck.

WooHoo! Ok, now we're cooking! Man, that was cool. I know, I know, some of you are thinking I'm way too excited about something so easy. What can I say? I'm easily amused.

So, back to the project... The hat will be the swatch ala EZ. I was originally going to make it in the smallest size to improve my chances of actually finishing, but realized that the 12 month size would be a better idea so that a baby could wear it more than once before growing out of it. See, I'm thinking ahead, aren't you proud of me?

The training materials are in the mail, the provisions of wine, chocolate, and coffee are laid in. When I get to the steeks I have a feeling that I will need a lot more chocolate.

I have a trip planned for that time, but I am actually considering shelling out extra bucks to fly instead of driving by myself across the Great Plains, thus saving me 20 hours each way of training and event time. This is because while I can knit while driving, I can only do single color easy stuff, and no way would this qualify as a good idea.