Sunday, February 26, 2006

Okay, Olympicspam as promised.

Before you scroll down, I want to know that Team CoW is full of enormous dorks. "Nay," you say, "I'm sure you are no dorkier than I." Well, you would be right. By the very fact that you're reading this, you're probably an enormous dork too. But, one never knows about these things, now does one? Ha-ha!

Anyhow, after a 17 hour day of nearly constant knitting on Friday and determination through Saturday evening and Sunday Morning, I finished the Olympic Cardigan! Done, daddy, done.

First, some pics of the pattern. And yes, I'm a gamer-geek too. Four of us CoWs also play D&D together.
:/ I think it's upside-down. bother.
Well, the geekitude is easy to see anyhow.














See the little picture of me wearing my sweater? A Jess original. The second one displays a most lovely beer stain to go with the coffee stain from previously. I think I got all the food groups over the course of the Olympics: beer, wine, chocolate, fried things, and pizza.








This is Dorian Grey and the unfinished sweater. Sounds like a bizarre and creepy sort of children's book, no?









Yeah, the IOC came out to Becky's house to give me my medal. They figured, why fly her out to Torino? Sure, she's got a groovy sweater to keep her warm, but best if we just take her picture at her friends' house. (No, english majors & minors of the world, that was supposed to be plural possessive. Neener.)
Unfortunately, they only let me have the medal for the picture, but that's okay. I have my sweater which I'm going to wear every day for a week now.



And I could totally make a hat out of the extra yarn - like such:





...or not.







Work that yarn! Uh-huh!

This is my very sexy friend, Becky knitting on her Mystery Shawl #2. You should have seen her dressed for the Mardi Gras party.
Wooooooooo!












So, there's what she's got done. She didn't manage to finish for the gold, but she'll definitely finish for February. I can't wait to see it. I'm doing the MS2 in a Knitpick's pallete, "Mist"
Hers is in...I don't remember what yarn.


golly, I have good-looking friends. I'm just sayin'.




I didn't manage pictures of all the CoWs, but whatcha gonna do?
Well now that the Olympics are over, I know that I'm going to work on finishing some projects I've already got started this year and some from last year. My MS2 is on the list as are the husband!socks. Speaking of Husband, he needs his lunch for tomorrow and I need to make sure I have coffee for the morning.

Go me! I win.
I win!
I not only finished my sweater, but am wearing it as we speak. It wants for a bit more blocking, but dangit, for a first cardigan, it's not bad. I don't have pictures right very now (they're in my camera still), but I will post them as sooooon as I get home.

Go me!

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

I've had a rotten day, knitwise and otherwise. There's been ripping out, backing up, and breaking of plates.
Well, one plate, and that was an accident. I still ate the steak, mostly out of spite.
(me) "You wanna fall?? You like it there on the floor?? Let's see how you like Hydrochloric Acid! Ha!"
(steak) flop.

Don't worry. I know enough about microorganisms to know how to cook a steak what fell on the floor. Not that it's something I do often, mind. More about my craptastic day on my LJ possibly tomorrow if I can't get to it tonight.

Anyhow, knitting.
I told Becky that I was going to go home, crawl in bed, and feel fat, lazy, and unaccomplished. She begged to differ:
"No, you're going to go home, crawl in bed, and feel svelt, sexy, and like you kicked butt."

Dang, I hate it when she does that.

I had to rip out a section of the Left front and redo it so that the neck matched the right front. For reference, compare with previous pictures of the finished L. front. I must have either been drinking or frelling insane or both when I read the pattern. I was supposed to do 7" or 11 1/2 pattern repeats, but instead I did 7 1/2 pattern repeats. So that side was a low-necked sweatah (Go on home, Loretta).


Fixed now.


That ickle scrap of knitting you see in the pictures there, that's sleeve #1. I briefly considered two sleeves at once, but decided it would be too heavy.
Just the sleeves and make-up to go. Whatcha think, stst buttonband with a facing like the bottom edge? Mebbe.


BTW, I did my best to find a clean place to photograph my knitting, but ended up throwing a blanket over the pile of clean laundry on the couch. In fact, one or more of the lumps in the pictures may be my underthings rolled up into balls like I do.

Monday, February 20, 2006

Olympic progress!
Here are some pics of the cardigan:

Note the coffee stains on the pattern in the picture on the Left. As of this posting, I'm up to the armhole on the Right front.
Go me!

don't look at the ticker don't look at the ticker don't look at the ticker

Speaking of tickers, I want to find one for projects started vs. projects finished. Whee!
No more coffee for me...
Gah! I forgot the camera!
No pictures today, but I have been making quite a bit of progress. I just hope it's *enough* progress to be able to finish by closing ceremonies. I've decided to forego buttons, not necessarily for time constraints, but rather because I think I will like it better that way. My ultimate goal is to be able to wear it during closing ceremonies.
So, Olympic progress. I've got the back, the left front done, and I should finish the right front today (hopefully).
I've got some knitting time planned into the day as well as some go to the fabric store time. I want to pick up some jump rings for stitch markers and some fat quarters. Me and the gals have decided to do a mutual admiration and encouragement thing to help us finish projects. We each put something in the presents box and when we finish something, we can take something out. That's what the fat quarters are for and I also want to get some yummy good coffee. Y'know, things we wouldn't normally buy for ourselves.

Now for coffee.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Picspam!!

**Edit**
Blog button!
Image hosting by Photobucket

I promised pictures, and I deliver!

Casting On















Go Team CoW!
Moo-moo!











































Cardigan, Day One















Cardigan, Day Two















And the children giving us the "Oh, we're not neglected at all by our Olympically knitting mommies!" look. The brown-headed dog-eared one on the left is mine and the two toe-headed monkeys belong to Becky

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Bob: We've seen a lot of hard work on the part of Team CoW in the uphill Cardigan event.
Phil: Sure have, Bob, and some setbacks as well.
Bob: But in spite of those setbacks, Jess is doing well. Her stitches are even and we've only seen one or two minor mistakes, but nothing that detracts from the garment.
Phil: She's purled where she should have knitted a couple times and that has certainly cost her some time, but nothing a crochet hook can't handle in short order.
Bob: Well, Phil, the fabric seems to be working up nicely, nothing fancy, but the point here is that she's challenging herself.
Phil: That's right, Bob. She's fallen short of her goal of finishing the back of the sweater, but at only five pattern repeats to go, she will really pick up speed tomorrow. Let's just hope that the time she's going to spend writing out the pattern is worth it.
Bob: It'll be much better than ending up with something that doesn't fit - or worse. The real question is whether or not she's going to work with center pull skeins as they come or continue balling the yarn.
Phil: As long as she keeps her hands moisturized and her wrist braces on at night, we aren't going to see any injuries for her during these 2006 Knitting Olympics.
Bob: We certainly wish her the best...
...And now on to some of the lace events where we've seen some fantastic "yo-n'tog" maneuvers...

Streeeetch!

I've done the armhole shaping for the back of the sweater and I'm knitting up to the shoulder now. I have about 50 rows, give or take until I'm done with the back. Then come the two front pieces, then the arms. I am so making this up as I go along. Well, not really, I have the handy-dandy knitting patterns book to go by, so it's not all that bad, but what with it being my first cardigan, Gods only know how it's going to turn out. I'm only just now on the 2nd ball of yarn and it seems like what I have is what there is. I hope it's enough. Maybe I can tesser the yarn.
My goal for today is to finish the back. Like I said, it's 50 rows (more or less) of about 69 stitches, but I think I can do that. I've already got the chicken for dinner ready to go, so I only have to stick it in and watch the time. I will have to clear the table and make sides, but that ain't no thang.

Well I won't back down, no I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down
-Tom Petty

Monday, February 13, 2006

A real update

Okay, so, knitting Olympics. I haven't worked any today on the sweater, but for three days of work, I've got about eleven inches of knitting - go me! This is a cardigan, and I'm working on the back, so I'm really booking along pretty well. No pictures just yet, you'll have to wait.
Anyhow, I've put down the Husband Socks and the Mystery Shawl #2 for now so's I can work on the Olympic Knitting.
But today is a quilting day. We've got the Ostara quilt to finish and time running out. And, speaking of Ostara, CoW still has to come up with ten prizes for Bardic Olympics. Gaaah! I still don't know what I'm going to make!
Then there's Kell's cloak, Jim's shirt, and the multitude of other projects on my UFO list.
**Edit**
We got a hair further on the Ostara Quilt and will be working on it Wednesday.

Well, go on, dammit!

So, I've decided to create a needlework blog. I don't know why, just 'cause. Maybe so that I can have more options for the way in which I present information. Perhaps I will update in a bit, but right now I want to fiddle around with the blog format what with being used to LJ.