And the winner is…
According to Random.org, the special (sur)prize goes to number three, all the way out to Katrina in Portland! Swing by her blog to check out her amazing seamstressing (seamstery? seamery?) skills.
The lesson in all of this is: give people longer to enter contests, and maybe wait to make sure people are reading before actually throwing prizes around! 
I’m not sorry though–the end result was too cute not to give away!
Katrina, your package will be on its way early next week. Thanks, you three lovely and creative ladies, for entering!
Mini-Contest #1
One of my goals for this blog was to have a contest, and possibly make it a regular feature! Since I was feeling crafty (in a non-knitterly-way) this afternoon and whipped up a special little prize, I think it’s about time to give something away. We’ll consider this a test contest: the prize is small, and my readers are still relatively few, but let’s give it a go!
Hint: the (sur)prize is recycled, yarny, has just a touch of vintage flair, and was hastily hand-made by me. This shiny, bleary photo probably doesn’t tantalize you much at all–but it gives you an idea of the colors coming your way if you win!
To enter our little contest, leave a comment here with your name, the address of your site/blog, and a little description of your most recent woolly (or otherwise creative) endeavor. A winner will be selected randomly on Friday afternoon.
Good luck!
Closing Ceremonies
Well, today is the last day of the Ravelympics! I crossed the finish line for three of my four projects, but I’m disappointed to report that I made very little progress on the socks. (All of the below links are Ravelry links; sorry if you’re not a raveler– you oughta be!) Here’s the final rundown:
Izzy’s Green Monster Mask was a success, although far from perfect.
Izzy's best monster impression. See how the bolts are a little wonky?
But I learned a lot from it. It was my first time playing with short-row shaping on anything other than socks (which I still don’t quite understand perfectly…), my first time really designing something, and my first time improvising using i-cord for embellishment instead of for function. He wears it all the time, so I think it’s a ‘medal-winner’.
The next one was those damn Leafy Greens Socks. I’m just not speedy on socks! Size 0 needles plus very fine yarn plus a deadline just doesn’t work for me–obviously:
I’m putting off working on it ’cause I’m about to turn the heel, and that requires more attention than stockinette-in-the-round movie-knitting. But once I start my sweater, it’ll be my easy and transportable knitting, so they’ll come along before too much longer.
Third project was the baby sweater for my friend Leslie. It turned out so well that I kind of want to keep it and make a baby to put it in it. Easy-breezy knit, and quick, too. Only took a few days, and the results are rather stunning. I picked up the buttons at my LYS and finishing was a breeze (no seaming!). See how lovely? And this is before blocking!
All sweater pictures are thanks to Michael Thurber Photography. Gotta love a guy who’ll work for beer!
The last project is my favorite. I had some subtly striping fiber from Cosymakes that I spun into really pretty worsted-weight-ish yarn. I almost didn’t want to knit with it, it was so lovely. 
But the final product was worth it! I started out with the intention to knit some Buttonback Mitts out of it, but about 1/2 an inch in, I realized I might not have enough yarn for all that. When I got to the thumb gussets, I knew it for sure–and by that point I wasn’t following the pattern anyway, so I just abandoned it altogether and made some basic mitts. I increased randomly over a couple of inches for the thumb gussets. I weirdly picked up some extra stitches in the gap for the thumbs, and then decreased down so the thumbs wouldn’t be huge. And I did my best to make the thumb colors shift the same as the rest of the work by cutting my yarn a few rows after setting the thumb stitches aside, knitting the thumb, and then moving back to the main body. Worked like a charm–don’t they look great? 
I can’t tell you how soft, squishy, and warm they are. Bright and happy, too. I intended to give this pair to my grandfather but they’re so wonderful (and hold such a special place in my heart, being the first knitted piece made out of my handspun) that I might have to keep them. We’ll see. 
So I kind of failed in one place, but I really succeeded in several others! How are your Ravelympics projects coming along? The official finish line is tonight at 11:59 (your local time, I believe), so you’ve got time left! When I woke up this morning, I groggily (and insanely) thought for a moment that I might spend all day in my chair frantically knitting, trying to finish the pair of socks. Ha! I hope you enjoy the rest of your olympic knitting, if you’re still working on it, and have some lovely finished projects to wear or give away.
Last night I decided I was finished with my ravelympic endeavors, so when I came home I did whatever I wanted instead of automatically knitting away on my designated projects. I worked for a while on my wheel, spinning up that Night at the Opera top that I was originally going to use for the mitts. It was really nice to just do whatever I felt like doing!
Today is Dye Day! I’ll try to update later with some bright and shiny dyed roving. And I’m henna-ing my hair too!
Things to Do Before I Knit A Sweater
Today I made a big decision. I am going to finish up a few things I’ve got goin’ on right now, and then goddamn it, I’m knitting myself a sweater.
Here are the things I have to finish before I can knit a sweater. The bold items are Ravelympics projects that have to be done by Sunday at midnight.
- Handspun mitts for my grandpa. These are the “Night at the Opera” mitts which wound up actually being Subtly Striping Mitts, since I decided to use some colorful roving from Cosymakes instead of the Night at the Opera roving I’d originally planned. My grandpa wants fingerless mitts, so I’m hoping these colors will be more masculine than the opera would have been. I’m about half way through the first mitt and hope to finish it today and get started on the second. At least the spinning’s done; that took me most of yesterday.
- Leafy greens socks for me. About to turn the heel of the first sock. If I don’t finish these for Ravelympics, which I’ve come to accept might be the case, I may just let them be purse knitting and work on them at the same time as the sweater.
- Four pairs of baby booties for my friend Renee to give as gifts. I have one bootie done. Lots to go there, obviously, but they’re quick so it should only take me a few days to a week.
- Second mitt to a yellow pair for one of my mom’s clients. She’s a very sick little girl with a birthday in March who happens to love yellow. I’ve already finished the first, but i often get second sock syndrome with mitts.
Once I finish those things, it’s on to the sweater! I have a few choices/ideas:
Owls
Thoughts? Which do you like? Have you seen/tried any other fabulous sweater patterns I should know about?
I’m about 80% certain it’s gonna be “Owls.” I’m thinking I’ll do it in Cascade Eco Wool, which my LYS just started carrying. I’m nervous and excited; I know a sweater will really be a challenge for my very poor finishing skills. Also, I’m getting ready to knit a sweater just in time for Lincoln to turn all hot and sweaty; who knows, maybe it’ll take me so long to knit a sweater that it won’t be done till fall anyway!
Ravelympics Update
I’m getting’ nervous here, folks. I haven’t updated about my Ravelympics projects because I’ve just been so damn busy knitting them. I’m not nearly as far as I’d like to be by this point. I’m maybe half way?
We’re over half way through the games, though! And I’ve yet to actually watch any of the Olympic events. (I usually watch silly fantasy shows while I knit, like “Legend of the Seeker” or “Stargate: SG1.” My latest show is “Merlin,” which is keeping me sufficiently entertained while not requiring me to actually look at the screen! Thanks, Hulu!)
So, wanna see my progress so far? I’ve finished Izzy’s Monster Mask! but I don’t have any completed pictures of it yet. The moment it was off the needles, he snatched it and has barely taken it off since. When he’s not biking around town as Frankenstein, he wears it as a hat or scrunched like a cowl around his neck. So even though I’m not entirely pleased with the appearance, it’s definitely highly functional. I should have switched to the dark brown yarn earlier in the process; it kind of looks like Frankenstein has a Mohawk! And the i-cord “bolts” kind of stick up at funky angles when the mask is being worn, although they look great when it’s laying flat. So that’s Project #1—not perfect, but complete!
Project #2 was the Leafy Greens Socks. I was supposed to take a trip to Chicago last week and they were going to be my travel knitting. But I got sick and wound up having to stay home, which actually somehow resulted in less knitting time than I’d planned. So I’m in the process of turning the heel on the first sock. Yikes! Also, I figured out pretty early on that the pattern I had in my head was NOT going to work. The pattern I was adjusting/improvising from was worked back and forth and I could only figure out how to reverse the knit stitches to purls and vice-versa… Then switching the order of the stitches to reverse every other row was just suicide. So I ripped back and haphazardly picked my stitches back up just after the toe, and went for plain ol’ stockinette. I may add some detail work/lace/something to the top half, or around the cuff. I forgot how long plain stockinette socks take on size 0s… Even with my new Addi Turbos, they seem to be going pretty slow.
Project #3, as of today, is also complete. My Little Thailand baby sweater is a complete success. It was a lovely pattern to knit—almost as wonderful as the squishy, beautiful, bright yarn Cosy sent me to knit it with. I couldn’t have expected it to turn out more perfectly. My first sweater experience was painless
Little Thailand Sweater (please disregard the poor webcam shot!)
.
Project #4: I haven’t started in on the handspun mitts yet—haven’t even gotten to the spinning, actually. I’m not sure I have enough roving to of a single colorway to do the mitts, now that the wool has come in the mail. So I’m thinking of dyeing my own (my acid dyes just came in the mail last week), but that will add a whole new step to the process. Tomorrow is a studio day, so I’ll figure it out a little better then. I’m thinking I’ll go ahead and spin up the “night at the opera” roving and see how many yards I come up with. At the very least it will get me back in the spinning groove after over a week away from the wheel.
That’s the update for the crazy Ravelympics knitting this week! Once all of the projects are completed, or the Olympics are over (whichever comes first!), I’ll update with pictures of them all. So hopefully this weekend you’ll see some honest-to-god proof of the finished products!
Today I got my first 250 business cards in the mail! I had them printed up with lines on the back to put colorway/project names, weights, yardage, etc., and care instructions on the back. Pretty exciting.
How are your Ravelympics projects going? I hope someone out there is a Ravelympian with me!
Happy woolling around!
First Skein Butterflies
This is my first “real” skein of yarn. By “real” I mean I think it actually turned out well. It is something that I’m proud of. I have three or so other skeins from earlier spinning attempts, but they are rough, bulky, puffy, and a bit funny-looking. But this skein–this is a nice, soft, balanced two-ply made of a blend of merino wool and silk. Yes, folks, I spun with silk in my first week as a spinner! It’s a pretty rosy-pink-red that has yet to be named–I’m thinking something with “butterfly.” I wish my webcam (or my regular camera, for that matter) was even a little bit good at capturing color; these pictures aren’t so accurate. I’m itching to knit with some of my handspun, but I think it will probably have to wait until after Ravelympics–I’m pretty booked up!
One of the not-so-great skeins is a two-ply of bright lime green and dark brown; it is destined to belong to my sister in some knitted form, as it is a colorway appropriately named “Elphaba,” after the wicked witch of the west in the musical Wicked, which she loves. This is the baby skein, but I have a bigger one of probably 50 or so bulky yards. Project ideas, anyone?
Ravelympics 2010: The Plan
It’s nearly that time of year again: The Olympic games start this Friday, and that means it’s Ravelympics too! I haven’t cared this much about the Olympics in quite some time; I don’t plan to actually watch very many any of the games, but I do intend to celebrate them–with lots and lots of knitting!
I’ve narrowed my projects down to four. Four! Four completed, ends-woven-in, photographed-and-posted, not-for-the-faint-of-heart projects in only 17 days. That means I have a teeny bit over four days for each project…and I’ll be out of town for three of those days. Those will be sock days. Each project presents a distinct challenge, so these will be 17 very growth-filled days.
I’m a member of Team Manic Purl, an off-shoot of the Manic Purl Podcast. So all of my projects will be tagged with the “teammanicpurl2010″ project tag, but will also be entered in one or more individual events.
Ready for the goals? Here are my projects ideas. (I have project pages all created for them on Ravelry and everything.)
First, a MONSTER MASK! Israel asked for a face mask to wear while biking around town (he’s decided not to drive a car at all for the month of February). At first I was just going to follow some plain-vanilla balaclava pattern I found for free online, but then I found a few creative patterns that sparked my imagination. Izzy was thinking along the same lines, because he then suggested that I make him a Frankenstein mask. A quick trip to the LYS for some Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted in olive green and dark brown, and we’re ready to go! I’ve never really made up my own pattern before, and I plan to adopt characteristics and ideas from a couple of different patterns I’ve found along the way. The mask will be entered in the Designer Dance event (for designing the pattern from scratch, but not to be published), and the Hat Half Pipe, for being a head-covering.
Second, I’m making myself my very first pair of handknit socks. I made Israel two pairs for Christmas and he never wears regular socks anymore–just switches back and forth between the two handmade pairs! So it’s my turn. I got some Spud and Chloe Fine in a pretty green color but I couldn’t figure out a good pattern, so I’m making up my own. I found a leafy stitch pattern in the Vogue Knitting stitch-a-day calendar, and I’m knitting the socks toe-up a la Wendy Johnson. The socks come second ’cause I’m traveling to Chicago on the 16th and I’ll have to have some good plane-knitting. They will be entered in the Designer Dance as well, and in Sock Hockey.
Third, my very first sweater! My friend Leslie is having a baby in the fall, and by that time she’ll live in Thailand, just in time for the rainy season. Her wee one will need to keep warm, so I’m knitting a sweater from Cosy‘s Baby Beau pattern (Ravelry link). Cosy was kind enough to put together a lovely sweater kit for me with her own handspun yarn, and I expect I’ll find that in the mail shortly, but I’m doing this project third to give some extra mail time if necessary. It will be entered in the Junior event (for being a kid/baby item) and in the Sweaterboard Event.
Cosy's Baby Beau Sweater
And my last project is quite possibly the most challenging: I’m attempting to complete a finished project from wool to wearable. I bought some Blue-faced Leicester top from granolasuit on etsy. It’s hand-dyed, combed sheep’s wool that I’ll spin on my lovely new Ladybug spinning wheel.
BFL top in "Night at the Opera" colorway from Granolasuit.
I’m aiming for some worsted-weight, two-ply, fairly even yarn. Then I’ll knit it up in another Cosyknits pattern, her ButtonBack Mitts. Her patterns nearly all work well for handspun yarn, but I think these will look especially cute with my brightly-colored, “Night at the Opera” colorway handspun.
Cosy's ButtonBack Mitts
So do you think I can do it? It’s a steep challenge, even for me–but it’s nothing like, say, winning the gold in skiing or something. I’ll let you know how it goes, but I’m really hoping I can make it!
Any other Ravelympic Athletes out there? What’re you working on during the games?
The Spinning Begins
My spinning wheel came on Friday! I just barely had enough time to put it together and try to spin a little bit before work, and of course all night at work I was just itching to get back home and get going. After work, I stayed up spinning until nearly 3 in the morning. 
So far my yarn is looking pretty silly. It’s thick-thin, loopy, kinky in some places and fluffy-loose in others. The plying job is terribly shoddy; I don’t quite understand the technique entirely yet and I haven’t gotten my lazy kate yet. 
This is one little corner of my newly-designed studio area: my yarn books, my first two bobbins of handspun, and a jar of yarn scraps.
The first pile of roving I spun up came with my drop spindle kit, and the color isn’t my favorite, kind of a forest green-teal-grey colorway. Then I worked on some hand-dyed orangey-yellow “sunshine on snow” falkland top from cozymakes, one of my favorite etsy sellers. The wool was beautiful to work with and I loved the colors so much, but my spinning isn’t so great yet so I’m a little disappointed that I “wasted” such pretty wool so early in my practicing.
The wheel I got is from Schacht Spindle Company in Colorado (I tried to buy as local as possible), and I purchased it online from The Loopy Ewe. I’m absolutely thrilled with both my wheel (a model called the Ladybug, designed specifically for newish spinners) and the service I got from The Loopy Ewe. I even got a $50 credit to the store for my purchase, free shipping, and quick e-mail support for my questions.
I’m proud of myself and determined it’ll only get better from here! Tonight I’m even signing up for a scholarship to SOAR, the yearly spinning retreat in Wisconsin in October!
recent knits
i’ve been knitting pretty much constantly since about september, so there’s lots of updating to do! the best way to see everything is on ravelry, but since not everyone in the world is a raveler (why!?), i’ll post a few pictures here, too.
first (ravelry project page link) you see night sky wristers (ravelry link) made for my friend kandy boots as a late christmas gift. i used several different kinds/colors/weights of handspun yarn for these. two were purchased from handspunanddyedtoo on etsy. the purple was a gift from missreb (ravelry profile link) for the winter solstice swap, and i love it so much that i ordered two more skeins from her! and the big, puffy white stuff is my own very first try at handspinning! it turned out ridiculous–too tight and twiny in some places and big and fluffy in others, but it looks really nice in this project. i love these wristers; they are one of my favorite projects in a while.
next are the felted clogs (ravelry link) i made for israel for his birthday. the felting took a while in my coin-operate washer, but they are worth it, i think. they are out of brown sheep, one of my favorite yarns, which happens to be from nebraska!
next, also from brown sheep, is a mustache cowl (ravelry link). i made my boss’ three kids each a mustache cowl for christmas and they turned out beautifully.
the peat green hat (ravelry link) is a valentine’s day gift. my co-worker jake wanted a hat for his girlfriend, so i made it for him for just the cost of the yarn. the pattern, which i’ve done twice now, is soooo quick to knit, but the yarn is expensive. as always, knitty patterns are the best.
and finally, my first attempt at spinning! i liked spinning on my new drop spindles so much that i went and bought myself a spinning wheel online! the roving and spindles are both from maine woods yarn.
more updates to come!
