Nonbloggable thing two

I'm about at that point where the second nonbloggable project is beginning to be both cool and a slog at the very same time. It's big enough now that I can truly admire my work, and to have some nice drape while I'm knitting. At the same time, I'm not quite halfway through the repeats, and I certainly have the stitch pattern memorized, and I'm pretty much done. Ready to move on with my life, and get on with other things. Oh well, nearly halfway done is definitely progress!

I have this desire to knit sweaters. Things that are cute. Things that are warm and cuddly and appropriate for my new/old office, where business casual is the order of the day. The job change is brilliant thus far, and I'm ecstatic to be back downtown again. There are some trade-offs, of course- my commute is longer, and if I oversleep and miss the 8:04am bus I end up not getting a seat on the train, not being able to knit, and generally being stuffed like a sardine for 45 minutes. Oh! And the commute bumps up to at least a full hour, instead of 45 minutes or so. But I'm not complaining exactly, because on the mornings when I do get up in time and make my early bus I have so much blissful knitting time. SEVEN rows of lace, at the very least, just in the morning commute. For some reason the evening commute isn't as productive, knit-wise, since I can't always get a seat or such perfect conditions in my favor. But I'm adjusting. And of course the evening commute is longer than it used to be, but since I now get on metro ahead of Metro Center (the main transfer point), the cars are blissfully uncrowded for a stop or two, so again... I am able to sit down, take a load off, and knit knit knit my way home.

Not only is the job enjoyable, my commute is actually a joy. I wish it weren't basically two hours of my day, but as long as I'm able to knit and read on the way, I can't really complain too much! In the end, that's how I'm so close to halfway done with nonbloggable thing two. I hope to finish it by the first of September (which would mean a total of about 3 weeks from start to end). And then I can block thing 1 and thing 2 simultaneously.

I went to the Mannings on Saturday last for their Annual Knit-In. It was good to check out the place, though it was a very quiet day- I'm not sure if it was entirely worth four hours of driving. The drive was pleasant, however, and I am glad I went for the first time. I also used my time productively, to plan out nonbloggable thing three- it's not an actual pattern, but a combination of stitch patterns from Nancy Bush's Estonian Lace book. I was very proud of myself for figuring out the math, all on my own with just my cell phone calculator for the trickier analysis. I can't wait to get to work on it- if nothing else, because it will be a NEW stitch pattern to memorize, and a much longer pattern repeat at that. Did I mention that I can't wait to knit sweaters? After all this lace, I'm thinking I'll do the February Lady Sweater out of my MDSW Tess Yarn, and then I'm turning my life over to Kauni:



It calls to me.

Ravelympics, let's do a one-two!

So many great one-twos in this Olympics. Americans kicking butt and taking names. I could get into that for a bit- either on the patriotic side or on the side of what do you expect, we're a big nation with lots of money. That's neither here nor there. I'm talking about a one-two punch of sweater fantastic-ness. A finished sweater back, and a significantly progressed sweater front. Who needs an Olympic gold, when I'm still acing my Sweater Sprint?

Finally, I pulled out the camera. I haven't slept in weeks, why try now. Et voila, cheri- un peu d'or ravelympique!

This is what the back looked at after day 2 of the competition (ie, last Sunday morning). I swear it's not hot pink, but I have this thing about taking photos at 1am.


This is what my sweater looks like now. Note that it needs some serious blocking- it has some significant curling issues that I know will be resolved once it's all sewn together. Also? This is a blood red. Nearly burgundy. I can't get it to show up right in photos to save my life.


And did I mention I bought some Kauni for a colorwork cardigan? It arrived. And it's stunning. I saw it in the box and giggled with glee. And then I tossed it around for a little while. It's a bit scratchy for juggling, however, so it's back in the box until I finish Ravelympics.


I also bought yarn today for my 3rd annual High Holy Day shawl. I start a shawl on/near Rosh Hashana, and work on it through the Days of Awe. The last two years I've done this, and finished the shawls by the end of October. What a lovely tradition! This year I'm going to make the Honeybee Stole, in a deep gold color. At least I hope that's the color- I'll find out when the yarn arrives. This yarn purchase is justified because although I do have a fair bit of lace weight yarn... I have NOTHING appropriate for a bee-themed shawl. Not even black, for bumblebees. I have a few other projects in the works coming up, too, and am hoping to zoom through them as quickly as possible. This year I am definitely going to do NaNoWriMo, which means I need a November free from knitting deadlines!

Ravelympics 2008

Well, I'm all signed up for the Ravelympics. I signed up for too much, though.

My main event is the Sweater Sprint. I aim to knit this ENTIRE SWEATER in 17 DAYS! I know that's normal for some people, but I'm the procrastinating queen. I have never finished a sweater that fast. In fact, I've only finished what, 3 sweaters ever? That's pretty sad, in the number of years I've been knitting.

Well, I may have knitted a ton of other stuff meanwhile. But still!

It's all in stockinette, on what will probably be size 9 needles. So not exactly a slow slog that way either. I've been knitting my rose cardigan on 5s, if that helps with perspective. And that should totally be done already, but whatevs! Who's counting.

I also have this ridiculous idea that I can finish some UFOs while making this ENTIRE sweater. Like this.


And this (1/3 done)


And a few more.

Crazy? Yes. But darn if I'm not ready to try. If nothing else, I have to knit the sweater. It's my last no kidding for frikkin real I promise commissioned knit. And I said I'd have it to her by September. Funny thing about September. That's next month!

You know what that means? I'm going to be 28. I sure ought to have finished at least 4 sweaters by then. If I can finish the rose cardigan, it will be five!

So what did I do meanwhile, while pondering finishing up UFOs and knitting this I swear it last commissioned knit? I might have bought the yarn for this. Or you can see the pattern here. Or you know, I might go crazy and chart my own. Yummy.