February 13, 2006
I Am Pleased To Present...
The completed Ombre.
Project Details:
Pattern: Ombre Blanket from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Plymouth Alpaca 3-Ply Sport
Needles: US #11 Addi Turbo 40"
Modifications/Thoughts: No modifications, except I substituted the Plymouth alpaca for the Blue Sky Alpaca specified in the pattern. This project took forever (as I'm sure most of you know). And really, for the most part, I've been pretty diligent with working on it. It has no business being in a book called Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, even if it is in the "More than 8 Hours" section (I started this project in late October). I'm going to have to think long and hard before I make another throw, but I know my mom really loves this blanket and will take wonderful care of it. She's already snuggled under it and thinks it's wonderful. Really, there's nothing better than having a hand knit gift loved and appreciated. So, in the end, it was all worth it.
Posted by Stephanie at 8:26 AM | Comments (48)December 30, 2005
Makin' Progress
While the weather, and as a result Travis' mood, sucks, I've been making significant progress on my knitting and I'm feeling kinda smug about it. I hesitate to say as much because the knitting gods are easily angered and if they think I'm cocky, things will go right into the toilet. So, let's just say I'm pleasantly surprised at the progress I'm making on my 2 outstanding projects.
First up is the long-standing Ombre. Ombre is looking quite lovely, as she now has eight completed stripes.
For those of you playing along at home, that's 8 down, 3 to go. Personally, I couldn't be happier about that because while I obviously love my mom and am pleased with how the blanket is turning out, I'm really tired of this project. There really should be a warning label on all blanket patterns - "Warning. Make really sure you love this pattern and are willing to dedicate months of your life and a bit of your sanity to it before you begin." And by the way, Joelle Hoverson wasn't kidding around when she said this pattern would take over 8 hours. Ya think? While I was aware it would be a long term commitment, I didn't realize it was going to be a 3 month commitment. Anywho, I'm almost done and can hopefully get at least one more stripe done this weekend. If the gods are on my side, maybe one and a half.
Next up are the Sport Rib Socks. I finished the first one yesterday by grafting my very first ever toe. I had a bit of a problem yesterday because I got all of the decreases done and tried the sock on. Apparently I was under the impression my foot had grown 2 inches between the last pair of socks and these because the toe was 2 inches too long. Hello? So, I ripped out the toe and back a couple of inches into the foot and started over. I briefly considered taking a picture and then decided my stupidity really didn't need to be documented to that extent. You're just gonna have to trust me - it was stupid. However, despite my brief lapse, the first sock is finished.
This weekend we're headed to my in-laws for Christmas with them and my mother-in-law wants to learn to knit socks. We should have a grand time with that. I hope to work on Ombre as much as possible and let's all keep our fingers crossed for another completed stripe. Oh, for any of you who have Loop-d-Loop, what do you think of the Corrugated Rib Hat? I can't really find a picture online (except for one posted in a comment on Claudia's Blog) and I'm thinking I might want to make it. I'd have to order the book, so I'd love your opinions on it before I go and do that.
Here's a picture of the sunrise on my way to work this morning.
Have a wonderful weekend and Happy New Year. See you in 2006!
December 5, 2005
43,000
You know you're in for a lovely day when you wake up and the weatherman describes the weather as "bitter cold." No good can come from getting out of bed on a day like that. But, without work I could not buy yarn, so out of bed was my only choice. And I'm at work, and haven't frozen to death, so maybe it won't be as bad as I imagine.
Oh wait, it's worse. I have four rows before I finish the sixth stipe on Ombre. And I am freaking out about how close Christmas is - twenty days thank you very much. So, I did a little calculating and it is ugly. I'm warning you.
11 stripes total
6 stipes completed (we're just going with the fact that I can get those 4 rows done today)
5 stripes remaining
40 rows per stripe
200 rows left to knit
215 stitches per row
43,000 stitches left to knit
20 days until Christmas
To complete Ombre in time for Christmas I must knit 10 rows per day.
It takes 20 minutes to knit one row
That's 3.33 hours of knitting time a day. Some days I have that much, some days I do not.
This calculation does not take into account the time I need to spend on Thrum or the time to finish Ronnie. It cannot be done while holding down a full time job! I just can't do it and go to work every day, decorate my house, cut down a tree, decorate said tree, put lights up outside, go to Travis' Christmas party, buy gifts, wrap gifts, eat, sleep...
So, I need your help. No, I'm not asking you to finish my knitting. I'm asking for your advice. What should I do? As I see it, I have a couple of options.
1) Work on everything and believe in my heart that I can get it done;
2) Work on everything knowing that I won't get Ombre finished and wrap it up on the needles and finish it after Christmas;
3) Stop working on Thrum and give them to my MIL for her birthday in February (or just when I get them done) and buy her something extra special for Christmas; or
4) Run away to a tropical island and pretend that Christmas doesn't exist.
I have to tell ya, option 4 is looking mighty good right now, especially with this "bitter cold" below zero wind chill. But, seriously, what do you all think I should do?
Posted by Stephanie at 9:03 AM | Comments (20)November 21, 2005
Ombre Update
Ombre, while still a long way from finished, is starting to take shape. I finished the 4th stripe and made decent progress on the 5th last night. So, as promised, here's a peak.
And for those of you who are interested, here's a look at the stitches on the front and the back.
I'd love to finish the 5th and make good progress on the 6th stripe over the holiday weekend. Knitting time on this will be a bit limited on Thanksgiving because the recipient will be hanging out at my house all day, but that will be a good time to work on Ronnie.
Friday was a good day for sky pictures. This is the sunset from my office. You just don't get colors like this every day.
Have a great Monday.
Posted by Stephanie at 8:32 AM | Comments (17)November 2, 2005
Crappy Pictures
The Ombre Blanket is progressing nicely. I should be able to finish it up before Christmas (I'm still keeping my fingers crossed just to be safe), but I'm going to have to step it up a bit - I need to complete more than one color a week to get it done. I'm about half way into the second color and I think there are 11 color changes. On the needle front - I tried a Susan Bates Quicksilver and it was worse than the Addi Turbo, so I'm just staying with the Addi. It seems as though I'm maybe getting used to it or my knitting has loosened up a bit because it isn't bothering me as much as it was. Who knows.
So, on to the crappy pictures part of this post. I'm working on figuring out a way to get decent pictures when it's just barely light when I leave for work and dark when I get home. However, I haven't worked it out yet, so you're going to have to suffer through some poor quality pictures of the blanket.
The color change is very subtle because you use 2 strands of sport weight held together. The solid is 2 strands of the same color and then you switch out one strand for the next lighter color which gives you the subtle color change.
And the pattern is interesting. It is a knit 1, slip 1 on the right side and a knit on the wrong side. That gives you a nice thick fabric that I imagine will trap warm air and make the blanket very snuggly.
Have a great day.
Posted by Stephanie at 9:58 AM | Comments (13)October 27, 2005
Needle Question
It's amazing that when I actually dedicate some time to a project how quickly it progresses. I've been working on Ronnie a little bit every day - it is now my exclusive commuting knitting, which translates to about 2 1/2 hours of knitting a day (including lunch knitting). I'm almost to the armhole shaping, which means the end of the front is in sight. So, the result of all this knitting is that I'm not stressed about finishing Ronnie by Christmas.
The Ombre Blanket is another matter. I've been working on it at home every night this week and I like the yarn and the pattern is quite simple, but genius. The needles, however, are causing me problems. I have an addi turbo that I used for a baby blanket awhile ago, it's the only size 11 needle I have and despite the extremely blunt tip, I thought it would work just fine with the 2 strands of sportweight alpaca. I. thought. wrong. This is not the needle for this project. The stitches do not slide on the needle. The stitches aren't tight (at all), but it really seems like they are. I don't know what to try. I've considered Bryspun, but the longest they're available in is 29". That's a little short for this project. I'm currently considering a Boye - long length and pointy tip and maybe the material is different enough to make a difference. I've never used a Boye circular, but Grumperina likes them so they must be good. I had the local yarn store order me one and I'm hoping it comes tomorrow, but Monday is more likely. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I think once I get the needle thing figured out, this will be a project easily finished by Christmas.
Be careful of Wendy, she seems all nice and helpful, but she's dealing crack on the side. Have you seen her mittens? Crack. Seriously. Or maybe it's just that I'm weak, but I had to order a mitten kit. At those prices I just couldn't resist. I'm telling myself it will be practice before I start on Butterfly, but I could just be crazy. I guess only time will tell.
Have a great day.
Posted by Stephanie at 9:33 AM | Comments (12)
