TDFKAL- Project #1 Completion

Well, I didn't exactly get my second hour-and-a-half sleeve done on Tuesday. Tuesday was hot and Minnesota muggy, and I'm in my 7th month of pregnancy, and our air conditioner is on the fritz- probably has something to do with being around 20 years old... it got to 80 degrees in my house and something like 180% humidity. I usually don't sweat. Tuesday, I sweat, and sat around like a sticky grump on a log, only managing to knit a measly 45 minutes in the hour before bed. Alpaca is warm, warmer than wool, and I really didn't want it on my lap anymore.

I awoke Wednesday ready to finish that 2nd sleeve. I sat down with a hot cup of freshly brewed coffee (ironic in our summer heat, I know- I need to make some iced tea...) and knit my first 15 minute stretch. Then it was out the door to run several hours' worth of errands (including picking out a new cell phone, as, sadly, my old phone- the one before the Wing, died an utter and complete death, again... enough of that, time for a new phone, a cheaper phone, I already miss my Windows though, and the touch screen, cue sad violin music...)

After that excitement I felt the need for some sitting time, and knit another 15 minutes, bringing me very near sleeve completion, and thus, project completion, when I was slightly horrified to realize I had veered off-course, forgetting to copy the slight modification I had made to the 1st sleeve. While trying on sleeve one, I was a bit unhappy with the slight frumpiness I was seeing. I have rather scrawny arms, even now, well into my 30's, and well into a summer pregnancy, and, well, I decided to reign in the sleeves just a bit by going down a needle size on the ribbed section. So there I was, merrily knitting along, and oh, on about rnd 24 out of 27 rnds of ribbing before the bind-off, I realized I was still using a size 11 needle... not wanting one frumpy sleeve opposite one just about perfect sleeve, I had no choice but to rip.

I hate ripping. I hate backtracking. I hate feeling like I've wasted my time. I also hate that feeling I get when I realize how pointless worrying about lost time is- I mean more time is lost lamenting the lost time... so I ripped, and I reknit, and I almost managed to finish with 7 skeins- I was on rnd 26 (of 27), with only 2 rnds and then the bind-off, to go, when I had to break into skein 8... and use an entire yard or two... oh well, I'm thinking that baby boy will appreciate a cute little Natural Strky Brown sweater (I have 2 more skeins in my stash!)

I sat down to knit my last few rnds after supper, wove in the last couple ends, got all my little people off to bed, and sat down with a sigh of satisfaction. Another project complete. I think I only needed 1 extra 15 minute knit-sprint-session, bringing me in at right about 9 hours and 45 minutes, and considering that I often finished whatever row/rnd I was on when my timer read 15 minutes, I would estimate this to be about a 10 hour sweater, the kind of thing one could finish in 2 or 3 days if knitting obsessively... me, I knit it in 10 days. I don't always have the time for obsessive knitting... (though some days I just take the time...)

So that makes one Cropped Cardigan and one finished, previously unfinished sock, for my TDFKAL 2008 knitting. Fun stuff. On to the Loppem!

gratuitous kid pic

Happy knitting-

ali

Oh, and this, absolutely made my day last night! That has got to be the funniest knit and accompanying story I've seen in a long, long time. Go see it, read the notes, and leave her a cute comment. Seriously. It's hilarious!

TDFKAL 2008- Progress Report 2

Thursday's progress:Friday's progress: (I also managed to finish my Retro Rib (2nd) Sock that night, slightly hindering my Cropped Cardigan sprint)Saturday's progress: This day's progress happened after spending the day rearranging furniture in the great room, many, many, times, finally settling on an arrangement that I hadn't even initially considered. It was time to quit when I started having contractions every time I was up on my feet. I began envisioning 12 weeks of bedrest, with 6 active children- not wanting to go there I decided it was time to sit and knit a little bit...Sunday's no progress: I didn't touch it on Sunday. I spent the ride to church and a portion of my afternoon swatching for my Loppem, having received my Norah Gaughan Vol 3 in the mail last week, yay! I had some BSA Worsted in an older shade of blue (a couple years old, they've since tweaked their colors a bit, as well as adding new ones...) in the stash an decided I'd try to take a stab at one of the projects I had initially planned to knit during this time... (I'm about 1 1/2" into it at the time of this writing...) After seeing Shutterhoney's loverly Loppem in brown, I'm wishing I had the cash (and time and energy) to run out and grab some more yarn... I love browns (and black)... so much that I could end up with a closet full of brown (and black) sweaters and have to make a concsious effort to add color... so blue it is.


Monday's progress: The one and a half hour sleeve! One down, one to go!

I'm loving this knit- it's got that instant gratification thing that most baby knits bring- and it's for me! Though I should be knitting some baby things... just over 12 weeks to go...

I'm hoping to get to the second sleeve tonight, and with no afterthought button bands or neck bands to speak of, and since I've been weaving in extra ends as I went- that'll be it, project completion in 9 days! And I don't even feel winded, it must be all the training I do...

Off to wind yarn for a new design project, feed some kids lunch, and probably pop some more allergy meds as I can feel my head starting to swim after stepping outside long enough to run my oldest daughter in to the clinic for some suture removal... from the smashed fingertip/nail/nailbed that she gave herself when she was supposed to be pounding in tent stakes on the 5th after moving the tent to a shadier location for the third time already that day... she had plenty of practice, so I don't know how/why that had to happen, bringing a sudden end to our holiday weekend fun for a side trip to the ER. The other 2 injuries, 2 burned 5 year old fingers and a 14 year old's sprained thumb, didn't require medical attention. For those who aren't keeping up with the math, half of my children incurred holiday injuries, 3 outta 6, pretty good, eh?

Never a dull moment, except, maybe in my sleep...

Happy knitting-

ali

TDFKAL 2008- 09 July- Stage 5

Cropped Cardigan- Watch it grow!

(Due to my late start, this is Day 3 for me, not the stage 5 it's supposed to be...)

Monday, 07 July:

*finally got started on my project, though not until well after lunch was served...

1st 15 minutes

2nd 15 minutes- total time: 30 minutes

3rd 15 minutes- total time: 45 minutes

4th 15 minutes- total time: 1 hour

5th 15 minutes- total time: 1:15

6th 15 minutes- total time: 1:30

Tuesday, 08 July:

*typical busy day for me, just trying to stay on top of running a household with 6 children and find time for important errands like buying a few groceries, signing tax papers at the accountants', and picking up some yarn for upcoming projects! Knitting didn't happen until 8 pm this day...

7th 15 minutes- total time: 1:45

8th 15 minutes- total time: 2 hours

9th 15 minutes- total time: 2:15

10th 15 minutes- total time: 2:30

11th 15 minutes- total time: 2:45

12th 15 minutes- total knitting time after 2 days: 3 hours

Wednesday, 09 July:

*woke with major sinus headache, probably due to allergies and an open window in bedroom for several hours last night... sigh... spent most of day on couch, with ice packs, waiting for pain killers and decongestants to do their thing... no daytime knitting once again, but I did make some progress after supper...

13th 15 minutes- total time: 3:15

14th 15 minutes- total time 3:30

15th 15 minutes- total time: 3:45

16th 15 minutes- total time: 4 hours

While I am trying for the sprint-knitting of this cardigan, I am also working on finishing my second Retro Rib Sock- because, how could I leave it in such a state of near completion? I have to keep sneaking in 4 rnd repeats...and then there's this basket of new yarn, for new design projects, just begging to be wound for the swatching to begin! No project monogamy for me...Happy knitting-

ali

Tour de France KAL (2008)- part 1

I was never very fast off the starting blocks...


Last year I wasn't even fast enough to get signed up, not finding out about the Tour de France KAL until a couple days into the Tour, but I made a mental note (we all know how well those stick...) and remembered to get in on time this year. I grew up with an avid cycling father, and spent years cheering on Greg Lamond and then Lance Armstrong, so this seemed like such a fun KAL to take part in. I signed up to wear a green jersey- opting to knit an entire project, start-to-finish, in knit-sprinting style. As the start grew closer, I realized that I really needed to decide on my project. My first choice was to knit myself a Calvert, but with everything else I have going on, I didn't think it would be wise to attempt a sweater in sport weight, even if the sleeves are only 3/4 length. My second choice was Loppem (from the same pattern booklet- Norah Gaughan Vol. 3) a safer bet, by far, in a worsted weight and with short sleeves to boot. I set out on a hunt for the new pattern booklet and ended up with a less than wonderful experience visiting a newer LYS for the first time- a shop I probably won't be frequenting. It was a frustrating experience, one which I am still debating explaining in greater detail... I'm all for supporting our Local Yarn Shops, seriously, I am, but it's kinda nice when our Local Yarn Shops support their customers as well... (FYI- I only went to this other shop because my favorite LYS doesn't carry Berroco. Kathy, at Shepherd's Choice, supports her customers very well, and bakes the best rhubarb pies on top of it-man, that was good, thanks again Kathy!) I am not-so-secretly relieved that they didn't have the booklet- I did not make a purchase at all on that visit...


I ended up ordering from Jimmy Bean's Wool, only to receive an e-mail shortly after placing my order informing me that they were out of stock, and would send it out as soon as they received more, supposedly in 3-5 days... I have since received notice that my order has shipped, and while I will be very happy to have the patterns for 3 of the projects that have moved into the top 3 slots in my queue (I'm also in love with Eastlake), I will not be ready to roll on any of them for the KAL.


Out of a wee bit of desperation, I have decided to knit a nice and easy Cropped Cardigan- something on my list of summer knitting goals, something I already possess not only the pattern to but also the yarn for (I also knit a trunk show sample of this sweater after it was first published, so I am already familiar with the pattern!) If it knits up super fast, I'll probably try to tackle my next pair of socks (you know, for SOS2008, kill 2 birds with one stone an all...)


Even though this will be a quick and easy knit (those could be famous last words...) I am still formulating a game plan, like any self-respecting racer would. I am off to a late start (busy weekend and all)- but jumping in today and intending to knit full-speed-ahead. My first 2 skeins of yarn were wound this morning, and I'm ready to cast on after I feed my crew some lunch and things settle down around here.


Not wanting to get swallowed up in the knit racing (I mean, I still have to feed and clothe 6 kids, they're not self-sufficient yet- we're working on it!), I will be going at this a bit Flylady-esque, employing my timer, set for 15 minute increments of knitting, which will be broken up by qualifying life necessities. My days will go something like this:

• get kids dressed and fed
• 15 minutes of knitting (while they wash breakfast dishes!)
• clean something
• 15 minutes of knitting
• supervise some math or reading
• 15 minutes of knitting
• clean something else
• 15 minutes of knitting
• computer time (a 15 minute time limit is good here too!)
• 15 minutes of knitting
• fun with kids
• 15 minutes of knitting
• feed 'em lunch
• 15 minutes of knitting (again, while kids do dishes!)
• you get the idea...

This way, I should be able to get a rather large amount of knitting time each day, while managing to NOT neglect my family, my home, and anything else that registers as important on my priorities scale. I'll try to update often... we'll see how that goes- there is still summer fun to be had, despite the miserable muggy weather that has moved in, along with high to very high pollen levels, this week, sigh...

I'd better get to it.

Happy knitting-

ali