Still Sizzling

It matches our coffee table!

Yarn: Sirino Yarn from Great Adirondack Yarn Company. 50% silk, 50% merino. 100% softness and shine! 675 yds per skein.

Pattern: Sizzle by Knit and Tonic. I was showing my Mom the Sizzle I made for myself and she absolutely loved it. I decided I would make one for her. I'm going to make a few changes... perhaps knit it in the round because I hate to purl, add a picot edging instead of the seed stitch and probably raise the neckline a bit. After all, she is my Mom, she doesn't need to be showing her girls to the world! :)

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I'm plugging away on the pink and brown yarn even though the Olympics are over. I have a portion of the back done. So not that hot really. I only medaled in one category, but it really gave me a good idea of what I could do in 18 days. By the way, did I tell you that I decided not to do the shrug after all? After all that knitting of swatches, I decided that I probably wouldn't get the use out of a shrug that I would get out of a sweater. So instead I'm making a shawl collar cardigan from the same Needful Yarns pattern booklet. I'd link it, but I guess Needful Yarns has gone out of business and I can't find any photos anywhere.

The Medal Stand

It's cuter than Shawn Johnson, almost as fast as Michael Phelps and is winning more than Misty Mays and Carrie Walsh. It's a EZ Baby Surprise Jacket. I used EZ's pattern with help from Dawn Adcock. Her notes really helped to demystify the process. This was really fun to knit.

The yarn is Cascade 220 which I got at 20% off - oh yeah baby! Actually I was a little annoyed to have to buy yarn for this. I have a ton of stash yarn. I had planned to use some homespun that was in my stash (my mom bought it for me years ago). However, as part of the Ravelympics team for a LYS, I got a 20% discount on the yarn for one project. When I explained what I was doing and asked if I could use the discount at a different time, they were very prickly. They only wanted me to use the discount on this particular project. I also picked up a circular needle at the same time. They asked me if I was going to use this particular needle on my Ravelympics project. I said I didn't know because I needed to see if I got gauge. Since I wasn't sure I was going to use that needle, I didn't get the discount. Ergh. That's probably why I don't shop at that store very often.

I have enough yarn left over in the green and yellow to make a matching hat (with maybe enough brown to do a cute accent on it) and maybe socks.

This one will be sent off to Warm Woolies as soon as the hat and socks are done. I did try this on both girls and completely fell in love with it on. I was amazed to see that on a 4 year old, it becomes a super sweet short sleeved sweater. I am going to experiment with more stitches across the back and see if it comes out right for her. I'm determined to use stash yarn on this.

I also finished my Sizzle from Knit and Tonic. Despite the horrible picture, I love it. I'm going to have Adam take some nice photos on Saturday, but I wanted to get this up. I've already bought more yarn for another one of these for a gift.

The Olympic Saga Continues...

*Warning: Not so cute kid story ahead*

I woke up early Saturday morning to Lily saying, "I go potty Momma." Fantastic. What more (other than 2 more hours sleep) could a mom ask for? A not quite 2 1/2 year old that gets out of bed and goes potty by herself is pretty spectacular. Well... almost.

I walked downstairs (some could argue sleepwalked) to make a pot of coffee. I found that all of my knitting notions were strewn across the living room floor. There were 2 inch pins used to make stitch markers everywhere. Lily had glass beads still clutched in her hot little hands. Tape measures strung out like drunken Christmas lights, basically it looked like a frat party had happened in my knitting bag.

It wasn't until I walked upstairs to the bathroom that I realized that there was poop smeared all over the floor. Fantastic. Lily had pooped in her Pull-Up (night-time safety device) and had tried to take care of the situation herself. So I washed the floor, the toilet and the little potty.

I went back downstairs to flop on the loveseat (no couch, long story) with my hot cup of coffee when I realized that there was poop smeared on my WHITE loveseat. Now the loveseat is not new - we got it secondhand and I've been trying to keep it covered by a thin throw. However, it's all we've got at this point. To make matters worse, she also managed to smear poop on my yarn. Yep, the yarn for the shrug that I struggled with all day the day before.

The yarn is washed and is drying in the windowsill.

It's a sign. I cast on for my backup project. A Baby Surprise Jacket with Cascade 220. Pictures coming soon.

On Your Mark, Get Set, Cast On....

Katia Tundra - 197 yds, worsted weight, 50% wool-40% acrylic-10% viscose

I got up this morning at 6:00 am in order to cast on for the Ravelympics at 7:00am which is the offical start of the Olympic Games in Beijing. I was a little annoyed to find out that our local NBC affiliate isn't actually airing the opening ceremonies until 8pm Central time. Ugh, we're a whole 12 hours behind. It annoys me that I can find out who won individual events before they are aired.

Anyway, I cast on.

I checked gauge.

I ripped out.

I cast on with a different needle size.

I went to work.

I stopped by the LYS (not my normal one but one that's hosting a team). I check gauge.

I ripped out.

I bought new smaller needles

I cast on with said needles.

I checked gauge. I'm much closer.... I'm going to do another inch and see if I'm distorting the fabric while I measure. I'm hoping another inch will make a difference.

Oh well, every Olympian has to work hard to get the gold. Everyone has trials to overcome. My trial just happens to be swatching.

I love this feeling!

It's the feeling you get when you can almost taste a finished object. This is drying today and by tonight I should be able to seam it and just start the neck and arm edging. I am meeting a group to knit tonight so it should be done shortly. The jury is out on whether it will fit or not, but I'm thinking positive.

The really good news is that I should be done in time to start the Ravelympics projects I have planned. I'm being overly ambitious and listing 3 projects I would like to get done - a wip that just needs sleeves, a shrug and a baby surprise sweater (for donation to Warm Woolies). Starting at 7am central time on Friday I'm going to be a knitting machine!