Knit Quest

Favorite Thing Friday: Olympics

(If you're wondering what the heck the pictures have to do with the Olympics, the answer is nothing. The pictures are of family fun day at the zoo yesterday, since I didn't have any Olympic photos to share)

21 days until the Summer Olympics begin. I can't quite explain the appeal of the Olympics for me. If asked to watch any of the featured sports individually, I would deem them boring and wonder why people spent time watching when they could be out doing. But every two years I can not be dragged away from the TV. Sports I've never even heard of become mesmerizing, sports I actually like are looked up and added to my calendar so I don't miss them. Last time I made Hubby Tivo all the main coverage. All of it! It's addicting and inspiring and I can't wait.

I think part of the appeal is remembering my childhood dreams of Olympic glory and at the same time having the ability as an adult to truly appreciate the skill and dedication it takes to make it to the games. I love seeing what kind of weirdness the opening ceremonies will display, cheering for my country, and getting a glimpse of a place and it's people that I've never visited. I'm sure all the hot guys in swim suits have nothing to do with it.

At my age, I felt pretty secure in thinking that any plans for a gold medal were safely behind me, and then two things happened. First Dara Torres made the swimming team at 41, making me proud and insecure all at the same time. Second I joined Ravelympics.

The idea is to cast on a challenging project with the opening ceremonies and complete it before the flame goes out. I still think my chances of a medal are pretty slim, but I'm going to have a great time competing. I've entered the Sweater Sprint and will be attempting the Urban Aran Cardigan in BMFA Woobu.  If you are interesting in signing up consider joining me on Team Blue Moon! You can enter any event or events just knit with BMFA  yarn.

Still Obsessed

After ripping back approximately 2500 stitches and re-knitting them, I'm up to the last buttonhole.  I spaced my button holes out a little further then the pattern suggested (3" instead of 2 1/2") since I'm on the tall side. I've finished all the increases called for, but I really hate, super hate, when the armholes are too snug so I'm adding a few more rounds (and the last buttonhole)  without increases before putting the sleeves on holders.

I'm using the increases I learned from Cat Bordhi at sock camp. You knit up to the marker and then knit through the purl bump two stitches below the stitch you just knit, knit the marked stitch, then knit through the purl bump below the next stitch, knit the next stitch and keep on going.  If you have "New Pathways for Sock Knitters" Cat gives a much better explanation.

How ever you do them, I think they add a nice detail. The only thing bad about them is, there's no fudging. The increases are clearly visible so it should help you to get them right, unless you're like me and you feel the need to add one on the wrong side.  Which, as I mentioned above, leads to frogging. Hard to do a 7 stitch repeat with an extra stitch.

Another downer is I can not for the life of me get a true picture of this sweater. The colors are so much more blended in person. No one color stands out. They melt together into a harmonious whole. Beautiful. Addicting. Perfect with jeans. I love it.

It's a whole nother story with the photos. The colors look separate and garish.  All I see is the purple.  If I saw this sweater on someone else's blog I wouldn't care for it. So come over and take a look at the real thing, or find the yarn, but don't let my poor photography skills turn you off this gorgeous color. (STR Lunasea if you forgot).

Back to the increases. Just in case the visual from the increases wasn't enough to remind me when to increase (pattern says every other row) I gave myself a hint. I placed one white maker, the rest are pink, in the first set of increases on the increase side. In other words, if the first pair of stitch markers I came to had the white one I should increase, if not don't increase. Simple. Ok, I still managed to screw it up, but maybe the idea will help you.

The only other project I've touched the last few days is a second test scarf.

I wanted to double check the corrections made to the pattern after the test knitting. So far so good. Details will have to wait. The evening breeze on the patio, a beer, and my sweater are calling.

Favorite Thing Friday: Pancakes

Breakfast is a big thing around here. In fact we eat it for dinner a couple time a month. Today we had breakfast for breakfast, and busted out some sour cream pancakes, sausage, and fresh local strawberries and raspberries. Yummmmm...

The pancakes are a Barefoot Contessa recipe (get it here) and are some of the best I've had. The instructions call for bananas, but since no one but me likes them I leave em out. They are quick to make and the sour cream makes them light and a little tangy.  It's a great way to use up that last bit of sour cream that always seems to be left.

I was too busy eating to remember to take a picture, so I'll leave you with a shot of my finished scarf.

Thanks to ColorPlay Fibers and Everyday Autumn for helping me test knit. You guys rock!

Happy Friday!

Looking for Help

This is Pacific Diamond. Unblocked and unfinished, but soon it will be finished and my next pattern for sale.  As you can see it's lace and while not a difficult pattern to knit, writing it all out, with out mistakes, it a bit of a challenge.

Here's where you come in. I'm hoping to find a couple of you who have a bit of extra time this week, like lace knitting, and are willing to help out for the small payment of the pattern for free. I'll send you the pattern and you agree to knit the border and at least a couple inches of the main repeat, then send me feedback and corrections on the pattern. All in the next week.

If you're interested leave me a comment or email sam@roshak.com .

Lookie, Lookie, Lookie

I couldn't possible be more excited, unless I'd gotten the yarn on sale or it came with chocolate. I even got gauge. Exactly. The first time. Not even fudging it.Perfect Gauge!

What is it? Swatch for February Lady Sweater. Knit last night at Hancock and dinner at Palomino (the Rosemary Lime Cooler was amazing). Knit with BMFA STR in Lunasea.

No more time to talk. I'm on the last 6 inches of scarf and I have to finish it before starting the sweater. I may start gibbering or twitching if I don't cast on soon.

2498 Yards

I don't fall off the wagon, I jump.

This is what I brought back from today's trip to Churchmouse Yarns & Teas on Bainbridge Island.

Other then the sock blank I haven't bought any yarn since camp in April. Let's all pause for a little pat on the back. (.........) My ability to resist was a combination of already having enough yarn to start my own shop (maybe two) and anticipating going to Rhinebeck in October. I was on the knit from your stash bandwagon. Notice the was.

Here we have one of four skeins of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Heavyweight, in Lunasea. I love the colors of this yarn and I'm hoping it will be subtle enough variegation for the February Lady Sweater. I'm really not sure how it will work up in the lace, but I decided I didn't care. If it doesn't work for that sweater there will be another one, or maybe I'll just loop it around myself and wear it that way. It's mine, I found it, and I'm not giving it up.

Next up, the last 3 skeins of Malabrigo Kettle Dyed in Damask Rose. The color almost perfectly matches my favorite backyard bush and the yarn is exactly what I was thinking of for a vest pattern I have swimming around in my head. 

The green at the top is Manos Silk Blend destined for Hew.

Here's me and Chandria grinning over our purchases at at the shop.

If you ever get a chance to visit the shop, do it. The staff is friendly and helpful, the selection in fantastic, and the shop is gorgeous. There's even really good ice cream next door. A few other shots of the store...

Socks that Rock, Kiogu, Buttons

Plucky Knitter, Habu Textiles, the Shop

Honestly it's amazing that's all I bought. I think I need another pat on the back.

Freedom

I wrote this post yesterday and then didn't publish it because I was afraid of sounding preachy and offending people. After thinking it over I decided that what better day to exercise my freedom of speech then today.

Tomorrow is the day Americans celebrate the birth of our country and what it was founded for. Freedom. Normally, for me, the 4th of July is all about the parties, watermelon, and fireworks.  This year the kids are going to my mom and dads for the celebration and as I was packing them up this morning I was thinking about how I'd be free for 3 whole days. Free to eat when I want, get up when I want, and do what I'd like to do with out interruption.  I love my kids and I wouldn't give them up for anything in the world, but my personal freedom is still very important to me.

This lead me to the thought that freedom isn't much different wether your talking about free time from your kids or the freedoms established by the laws of your country. It's a balance of having the ability to make your own choices while still living harmoniously with others.

Freedom does not mean you aren't responsible for your choices or can do things to hurt other people. That is of course where we get into all the trouble. Who decides what's harmful to others and what do we do to enforce the decision. I'm not a political person and I certainly don't have the answers to solve the worlds problems, but as we celebrate our independence I wanted to encourage people to really think about what being free really means.

I believe that I'm adult and responsible enough to decide what's best for me and my family. I think you are too. If you want to smoke pot, not eat meat, have a same sex marriage, or go to church everyday why in the world should that bother me. I don't have to do them too.

I believe freedom means staying true to your own values and being tolerant of people with different ones. You don't have to be friends with everyone, agree with everyone, or even like them. You should be polite and consider other points of view even if you don't agree. I do think if people were respectful no matter the difference of opinion, lifestyle, color, or religion it would go a long way toward peace. Hateful behavior only makes others feel justified in their own hate, it won't change their opinion.

As a race we have been so wrong about so many things that we believed to be solid unshakeable fact. The world is so not flat, we can to build a flying machine, the sun does not go round the earth, and carbohydrates may not be so bad after all. Who knows what we'll be wrong about next (I'm hoping we discover amazing health benefits of ice cream). In any case I find it hard to understand how people can be so convinced that they are absolutely right and no way the other guys is, when the evidence is we are all probably wrong.  The only thing I'm completely convinced about is that we don't know as much as we think we do.

I use my freedom to choose to live a life of tolerance and moderation because that is what I believe and that's what works for me. Use yours how ever you see fit. That's what is for.

Happy 4th of July!

Plurk

My feeds are finally back in order after being destroyed by the what I'm calling the merge disaster of 08. So I've been spending some time trying to catch up with all my online buddies and knitting news. Along the way I discovered Everyday Autumns post about Plurk and the Plurkette Hencircle. I signed up for them both.

It's possible I'm the last person to discover Plurk, but now I have and it's fun. Do you Plurk? If not check it out, and if so you can find me as knitquest. I even figured out how to add the cool widget to my sidebar so you can see what I'm plurking there too.

I owe a farmgirl post for the Hencircle, but the kids just left for nana and papa's for the 3 day weekend and for the first time in I don't know how long I have the entire house to myself for 5 hours. 5 hours!! I can't decide if I want to knit and watch a movie, dust off the sewing machine, or mop the floor and just sit around watching it stay clean for longer then 5 minutes.  In any case I'm off to revel in the quiet and aloneness.

Maybe I'll make some progress on this..

Have you seen this?

(obviously borrowed from KnitPicks)

It's a sock blank. You order the bare fabric (made of two strands knit together), dye it any way you like, and then kit up two pairs of identical socks. Too cool. That's a whole lot of fun for $11.99. Mine is on the way along with some books (they are having a 40% off sale).

What about this?

It's the February Lady sweater by Flint Knits. I love it!! As soon as I saw it I wanted to drop everything else and start knitting. I ran to my stash and started hunting. No. No. No. Um maybe, no. Oh, I forgot about that, but no. Too solid. Too variegated. Too bulky. Grrr...

I've had the pattern sitting on my desk for two weeks now and I'm trying so hard to resist. I have yarn and pattern ready to go for at least 10 other sweaters. I have something close to a dozen projects on the needles (I'm afraid to actually count). I do not need to buy more yarn or start another project (hey, self are you listening).

Then I saw Irishgirlies version in STR heavyweight and started having palpitations. I thought OMG I have that yarn. It must be fate or karma or something that I knit that sweater. After another dash to stash I discover I have a faulty memory and two skeins of STR Ravenscroft in mediumweight, not heavyweight. Apparently my karma is not so great.

Now I'm left trying to decide if I should knit it with the yarn I got to make one of the other sweaters that isn't exactly what I was thinking of for this sweater(woobu, silky wool, cashsoft), order some STR in Oregon Red Clover Honey, or show some self control and common sense and finish one of the nine million other projects on tap.

Speaking of self control.

My favorite summer treat is now in snack size (coffee almond crunch). Now they aren't quite so guilt inducing and consequently I have much less will power to resist them.

Favorite Thing Friday: Lists

Yes, I said lists. I keep them for everything. All the usual lists: to do, grocery, phone, and emergencies. Some less common: books I've read, movies to watch, places to visit, recipies to try, music to download, and gifts to make. A few knitting ones: stitches I'd like to try, patterns I've knit, pattern's I want to knit, needles I have, what's in the stash, and the "I want it" yarn list. It's clearly genetic. My mom makes lists, my cousin makes lists, and now even my kids make lists.

The three of us sat down together and figured out we had about 10 weeks of summer and that isn't a lot of time to do all the summer activities we'd like. So each of the kids wrote down their top 10 things to do this summer.

Bug's list

1. Play video games for one entire day.
2. Ride around the neighborhood on my bike with Dad.
3. Have a sleepover.
4. Do job. (He means photography for a friends newsletter)
5. Hike.
6. Go to the zoo.
7. Go to the beach.
8. Star gaze.
9. Learn about the Olympics.
10. Make a book.

Billy's list

1. Ride around the neighborhood. (she also means on her bike with Dad)
2. Go to the library.
3. Have a picnic.
4. Go the the potter place. (it's one of those paint places)
5. Go to the zoo.
6. Take a Hike.
7. Make a scrapbook.
8. Play at the beach.
9. Make Rice Krispie treats.
10. Learn to do cartwheels.

 

We agreed to shoot for one activity a week from each list. By the end of the summer we will have done them all and no complaining about what we missed because they got to choose.

Tuesday we checked off library. As is typical Bug picked out so many chapter books he couldn't carry them all. Geronimo Stilton, Magic School Bus, Deltora, Star Wars, and a Justice League comic. Billy got a couple chapter books (stuff about dragons and unicorns) and loaded up on craft books (origami, clay, bug crafts). We even found audiobooks for each of us. So much,even I could hardly carry it all. We've been reading through all the craft books and post-it flagging all the projects she'd like to try.

One book in particular was a real find, the Kids Natural History Book. It does a great job of explaining what natural history is about and has a lot of fun projects to illustrate what they are talking about. We made a Billy timeline.

Wednesday we decided to take a hike and look for "nature" so we could start pressing things for the scrapbooks. We ran across a lot of flowers, a dragonfly, a couple of ladybugs, a bumblebee, some butterflies, and flocks of crows.

We also ran into a policeman mid trail who told us there had been 3 bear sightings in that area a little earlier in the day. I thanked him, and we turned around. On the way back to the car we collected some daisies for an experiment.

Take any white flower and place it in water with food coloring added. After a couple days you have some very interesting flowers. Can you see the red? The kids love checking to see how much they have changed.

What's on your list for the summer?