2.26.2006

A Loser Is Me

I ran out of yarn, so I can't finish the sleeve or the collar of Aimee. I would have been done, but unfortunately the LYS at school doesn't have the yarn I need. I have to wait until Thursday to get it. I'll have a new sweater for the weekend, though. Pictures when I finish.

2.24.2006

Burnout

At this point, I'm just working on the sweater because I'm sick of it and I want to be done. I don't even care about the medals. I'm still plugging away on the first sleeve, even though I've shortened it by 2". I'm really nervous that I'm going to run out of yarn, and I'm fairly sure the LYS doesn't carry this yarn. (The LYS at home does, but I won't be there until Thursday.)

Gah. Back to work.

ETA: I finally finished the sleeve. I'm blocking it while I reward myself with a shower and a nap. I have 1 day, 22 hours, and 14 minutes to finish the second sleeve, sew it all together, and do the collar. At this point, I'm more worried about running out of yarn than being able to finish in time.

2.22.2006

Getting There


This is exactly how much sunlight my apartment gets. The front is on the right and the back is on the left.


This picture lets you see how textured it is. The lace parts form little hills. This is after this part has been blocked 4 times. I'm going to steam block it at some point, I think, to see if that helps any.

2.20.2006

Finally

As I type this, 65% of the Knitting Olympics have elapsed. I've finally finished the front part of the sweater. I just have the two sleeves, weaving in ends, seaming, and the collar. I guess I should mention that this will be my first time seaming set-in sleeves. And I'm doing it in a lace pattern, no less. Gah.

I'm a little nervous.

Pictures tomorrow.

2.17.2006

Project Runway: Chicks with Sticks

I'm way behind. I'm supposed to have the front finished tomorrow, according to my schedule, but I'm not even at the armhole shaping yet.

As I work, I've been watching a lot of TV. I'm getting into Project Runway, which is a very apropos show for this event. As a knitter, it astonishes me that they can complete an entire outfit, from design to runway, in just two or three days. Here I am, not even sure if I can complete a sweater in 17 days.

Gah. I've pulled too many late-nighters already this week. Time for bed.

2.14.2006

Ô Mon Aimée



I took a much-needed break from homework today to finish the back. I still need to knit 5.25" on the front in order to stay on schedule, so we'll see how that goes.

Overall, though, I'm feeling pretty good about this project.

ETA: I knit about 4.5" on the front, which, really...not too shabby, considering I barely knit anything yesterday. I'm only .75" behind schedule. Unfortunately, tomorrow I have a full day of schoolwork scheduled (yet another paper, although this one is less despair-inducing). Fortunately, I have a four-day weekend during which I'm going to relax, knit, and see my sweetheart of a dog.



Owie

My progress today is restricted to 3 rows. 3 damn rows. I needed to knit around 4" to stay on schedule, but there's no way that's happening. My back hurts too much to knit. That's just as well, anyway, because I have a paper due at 10:30am which I need to finish.

I'm hoping that taking a break will reduce some of the pain, so I'll be able to knit like a fiend tomorrow. I'll need to do nearly 10" to stay on track. Luckily Tuesdays provide me with a lot of television accompaniment, and not so much in the schoolwork department.

I'm going home on Thursday, and I hope to take a picture of my mom's progress (she's knitting two Baby Einstein Jackets [from Sally Melville's The Knit Stitch] for my cousin's twins).

2.13.2006

Now This is Just Getting Gratuitous

Every time I finish a block of knitting, I take a picture.


(The splotches are from where I sprayed it).

I thought this picture was important, though, to show that my underarm sections are not as wing-like as others. In the Craftster KAL, people had been worried that there would be too much fabric, and it would be bunchy. Mine looks normal, except for that waist. I'll have to borrow a corset from work in order to wear it.

I've been blocking (misting and pinning) this thing every single time I put it down. The lace pattern refuses to lay flat, so I'm going to have to beat it into submission. The good part is that the body grows a little bit every time I block it. I'm up to 13.5" from the fold line to the sleeve shaping. Definitely a good thing, although it'll be tricky to make sure the front part grows as much as the back has.

Tomorrow I'll need to knit 4.25" in order to stay on schedule. I also need to write my paper tomorrow. Oops.

2.12.2006

I've Got to Admit, It's Getting Better

Getting better all the time.

(It can't get no worse!)



Yesterday I knit more after I posted, and today I knit a bunch (although not before doing some homework--I'm a good girl). I'm up to 15.5" on the back piece, meaning I've got most of my knitting for tomorrow done. I have so much more schoolwork to do tomorrow (a book, a film, and start two papers), so who knows how much time I'll actually have for knitting.

I've been contemplating waking up early to knit. Is that sad?

2.10.2006

What have I done

I can't knit an entire sweater on US5s and US7s. Jeez. I knit for 7.5 hours, and I have 5.75" to show for it.

I calculated that I need to finish the back and front in four days each, and each of the sleeves in 3 days. That'll leave 2 days for blocking and seaming, with 1 day in case of emergencies. That means 5.25" per day on the back and front.

That's barely what I did today, and I didn't even have to go to class or do any sort of work.

This is insane. I feel like I've set myself up for failure.


Looks like crap, right? Like nothing.


A little better.

My one saving grace will be the fact that the top quarter of the sweater is knit in the lace pattern. I cover more space with less rows in the lace, meaning I'll get more done.

Already I've hit a couple snags, coming up one stitch short (I fudged that one and I can't even tell). Also, the needle has slipped out of the work a couple times. I hate using metal needles for laceweight, but I didn't want to spend money on new needles.

2.07.2006

2.5 more days

...Until the Knitting Olympics start. I had bought some LB Microspun in colors to knit a tiny Chicago flag for a button for Team Chicago, but I've been so inundated with schoolwork that I haven't had time. Instead, I just took a button from someone else's website (Franklin, who will be designing the button for people who finish, whose website I found via the KO Athletes page). It took me seriously 10 minutes to realize that's a needle. I thought it was a surfboard, which is a little odd for Chicago, but whatever.

Anyway, this is such a bad time for me. Why couldn't the Olympics have happened when I was on break? I have multiple films to watch, multiple books to read, and multiple papers to write, all just in the next week. And then it gets even more hellish from there. Gah.

2.04.2006

Odessa & The Plan

band name!



It's almost too small for me to wear. I didn't swatch, since Grumperina said on her blog that the hat stretched. I used needles one size smaller than recommended, but I figured it wouldn't make that much of a difference. I might do this hat again with another pattern repeat or two. The yarn is gorgeous and the buttons are awesome.

I tried to get a picture of me wearing it, but I couldn't get it to work out and I got frustrated and gave up.

Pattern: Odessa from Magknits, designed by Grumperina
Yarn: Rowan Cashsoft DK in Thunder
Needles: US5 DPNs - aluminum

Now for The Plan. Here's what I want to/should do in terms of knitting over the next few months:
  1. Finish the DNA scarf I started. This must be finished before the Olympics start.
  2. Knitting Olympics. Aimée (name Frenchicized courtesy of yours truly). Enough said.
  3. Demi from Rowan Vintage Style.
  4. Cashmere lace blouse from Loop-d-Loop. Except not in cashmere, cause I'm cheap. And also I don't deserve nice things. I'm thinking of getting KnitPicks sock yarn so I can dye it myself. That would be cheap. And badass.
  5. ETA: I also want to finish my Butterfly sometime within the next century.
And then sometime I should really finish up my Sesame.

My mom heard about the Knitting Olympics somehow, and wants to make two Baby Einstein Jackets from Sally Melville's The Knit Stitch.

2.01.2006

The City of the Day is...

Odessa, Ukraine.



Grumperina's pattern

I'm using the recommended Cashsoft DK because I had it lying around. I'm using US5 DPNs (instead of the US4 and US6) because I had them lying around. This is an impulse hat, seeing as how the pattern just went live today. I was going to use some really cute beads, but they're too small. Instead, I have an embellishment idea, but I'm going to keep quiet about it in case it fails. Which it inevitably will. But at least I will save myself some embarrassment.

Reason number 2 why Odessa is the city of the day: We watched Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin in one of my film classes. I feel a little more erudite having seen it, especially the oft-homaged Odessa stairs sequence.

I like how my grey hat reflects the black and white nature of the film.

Lame, eh? That's the best comparison I could come up with. My hat is soft and easy--overall, comforting. The film is disquieting, and the montage sequences require me to pay attention. Yeah, there's nothing.

I love everything about this yarn--the feel, the color, the shine--except it PILLS as I knit with it. I'm glad I'm making it into a hat, and not a garment that would experience a lot of friction, like a sweater might.

I'm hoping to have this finished by Friday.