GOLD!

I crossed the finish line!! My Knitting Olympics project is complete. I must say, the Waldron Island hat was a learning experience, I learned that double pointed needles are not so bad and that I'm not a big fan of making bobbles.

My brand new Clover Yarn Cutter is my gold medal, no silly donut hole for me.

Waldron Island Hat in action:


The deadline really helped me stay focused, as I have tendency to jump from project to project (don't all knitters?). The pattern was fun, aside from the bobbles, did I mention that I've decided that I don't like bobbles. They yarn is a deliciously soft alpaca and knit up nice. The sad part is, I don't like it. I like the picture, and it turned out well, but when I put it on, it does this weird, crown-like thing, I feel like the kid on the old Imperial Margarine commercials (was it imperial margarine?...the kid with the crown?... who knows, but anyway...). I finished, I got the gold, but I'm not happy with it, which means I probably won't wear it, but I like the yarn so....
I ripped it out. Two weeks of knitting back in the basket (on a side not, the pretty blue yarn was part of Jan's destashing, thanks Jan!)
Maybe I'll find a different hat to turn the nice yarn into, however right now I need to move on to some gift knitting.
Disappointing :(

frogging.....it's not easy being green

There was a minor setback to the Knitting Olympics Sunday night. I realized that I had been knitting the pattern of my hat incorrectly and consequently had been increasing every row. There was no way around it, so I ripped down to the color change. I should still be able to finish before the torch goes out, but I'm not messing around, I've traded out the dpns for my circulars, in an attempt to speed things along. Plus, this week I have my SnB, so that right there is at least two solid hours of knitting (minus the time spent to sip my coffee).
Speaking of... I did manage to finish 1 Project Linus square for the group. I think I am going to try to crochet a couple of blocks from "200 Crochet Blocks" by Jan Eaton for the next square.

Stash Enhancement

Today we went on an adventure to Allentown. We had committed to helping my future sister-in-law and her husband fix up their new house and decided to run some errands while we were headed that direction.

First Stop:
Allentown Sewing Machine Outlet: Bill diagnosed my sewing machine problem as an internal loose screw that was affecting my tension, not an operator error, as I had suspected. He fixed the problem and sent me on my way. They are so nice and helpful here it is worth the drive to do business with them. Plus they have a great selection of fabric! (which I was good about not purchasing)

Second Stop:
Tucker Yarn Co.: I had never been here before and decided that since I was in the area I would check it out. The store is not much to look at, it is in a section of Allentown which I'm told was once an upscale shopping district about 40 years ago, but now is pretty run down. The shop owners themselves probably have been there for at least 40 years. They were a cute, elderly couple, the woman needed a walker to get around. They were very helpful and the store was very large. Tucker Yarn has a wide range of yarns and other needlepoint accessories. They had everything from nice imported wools and alpacas to Lion Brand acrylics. They carried a lot of different weights and colors of each. Some of this yarn had to be in stock since the 70's, just by looking at the labels.


My purchase included: 2 skeins of Reynolds Lopi in nave to make a Sophie Bag, 3 balls of Noro Kuyeron just because the price was right, and 2 skiens of Jiffy to make another Project Linus square for the Knitting Group's Charity Project.

The journey to our next stop included witnessing an extreme display of road rage involving an individual drawing a weapon and threatening the car behind him (in broad daylight no less). But that is a story for another time.

Finally we arrived at our Third Stop: The pet store, where we purchased fish food and spoke with the Greyhound people who were there. We've been contemplating getting Miss Emma a friend lately.

We then spent the rest of the afternoon painting, and when we came home we bottled two batches of homebrew. So needless to say I didn't get much Knitting Olympics done today, I did work on one of the Project Linus squares during the drive:

Happy V-Day!

When I am in charge of dessert, here's what you get...Cupcakes. I am not the baker that Jake is, but here is my attempt at the Valentines Day dessert:
Before Baking:
After Baking: As it turns out that the Waldron Island Hat is proving to be challenging. After day one, I thought it may have been too easy to be an Olympian project, and then I got to the bobble stage. Now the challenge lies in trying to decipher what the pattern is asking me to do. Progress thus far...

Happy Valentines Day!

Knitting Olympics

And so it has begun....

I decided to throw down the gauntlet and join the rest of the online knitting community with their quest to greatness. Last night, I cast on my project for the Knitting Olympics. For the next 16 days I will be challenging my knitting ability by knitting the Waldron Island Hat, which is April 28, 2006 in the Knitting Pattern a Day Desk calendar. In the spirit of the Olympics, this pattern challenges my ability, as I have never worked with dpns before, nor cables. After some dropped stitches, I started to get a little more comfortable with all of the sticks poking around.


In other knitting news.... The HP scarf is hitting the WIP basket, it has become entirely too boring to knit, and by the time it is finished, it will no longer be scarf weather. I will probably just use it for TV knitting, as it is pretty mindless.

The Project Linus squares for the Philly Burbs SnB, are going well, I have one almost complete, with another in works.