Disqualified

I admit I am done. I have tried to compete to the best of my ability and I have to say I just can't do it this Olympics. This past weekend did me in. The swim meet was four days, and I had to work two sessions a day. Which means there was not time for knitting. I knew this all ahead of time but thought in my knitting dream world that I could still knit a sweater/coat in 17 days. When I got home later in the evenings I was too tired to look at my project.

I have to say that the scratchy wool yarn isn't calling to me as I had hoped it would. I love the color but the scratchiness of the yarn doesn't make it that fun to work with. When you are tired you need some beautiful silk, or smooth cotton to ease your fatigue. I also have to admit I have been having unfaithful thoughts. Not about my happy marriage but about my project. I usually have about three projects on my needles. One for my car, one for home, and well just one for what ever. I always thought that I could just knit one project at a time, and I believe I usually do but now I want to desperately start something new. It almost feels like a sickness. I think it is because I forbid myself from knitting anything else but this Noro Sweater/coat.

I have another big, big swim meet looming before me this weekend. My oldest son will be swimming with the best of the best in the State of Florida this weekend in Orlando. I just can't think about taking the Noro project with me. So, I have officially withdrawn from the knitting Olympics. I am looking forward to making another ruffle scarf. It will be very portable and smooth to the touch. Don't worry Noro Sweater you will still get finished, just not in 17 days.

Olympic Update #4

Things are not looking good here at the Knitting Olympics. I have 10 inches of the two fronts completed, but that is all the progress I have made. My youngest son has been ill this week. First he started off with the cold that was running through my household. The cold progressed on Monday to fevers and double ear infections. Monday after work I spent hours in the Doctors office rubbing a cute 12 year olds back because he felt miserable. Tuesday evening came a return of the fever which led me to believe that ear infections were not our only issue. Yesterday afternoon was back to the Doctor, to x-ray and back again to the Doctors office. Yup, you guessed it beginning pneumonia. So he is resting at home again today. No swimming for my boy this weekend. I will be working at meet that my child isn't even in. So much for knitting, but that is okay. Knitting is about fun not necessarily speed. I am still trying but have realized my dream of a gold metal is long gone.

Olympic Update #3

Before I let you know about my Knitting Olympics I thought I would give you a little view of Max. This is his winter spot in our media room. In the evenings Max will open up the door with his nose and curl up in this old chair. When I can't find him, he is often right here all by himself. He blends in just perfectly with the colors on the chair. He looks so snugly that I just can't resist getting right down by his face and kissing him all over. He never comes in here in the summer, so it must be the cozy place he needs for this time of year.

Here is the back of my Noro sweater/coat. All 30 inches of it. I love, love, love the chocolate color. I do think that it is a bit scratchy as wool can be. This is why I felt it had to be more of a coat, so it is not next to my skin.

Not blocked of course. Who has time for that?

I took this in the sun, yes we have sun but a big high of 48 today. The sun washes the color out but you get a general idea of the stitch pattern. I have casted on both fronts and have made a tiny bit of progress on them. I need more knitting time and less everybody bothering me time. Is that even possible with work, and a family?

Olympic Update #2

Here at the Morgan house the Knitting Olympics is in full swing. I have 24 inches completed on the back of the Noro sweater/coat which is somewhere around 260 plus yards. I have 6 more inches before I begin to cast off for the neck and shoulder seams. The only problem is I am now on the seed stitch part of the pattern. If you know anything about seed stitch it takes an eternity to do. I do not knit European style which is when you hold the yarn in your left hand. It is much faster then the Continental style which is the only way I can knit.

I understand that I have many more days to go, but next weekend my youngest son is in the Florida Jr. Olympics Swim Meet. He has qualified in seven events but can only swim 6. The wonderful thing is that it is at our home pool. The horrible thing is that it is at our home pool, which means I have to work all seven sessions of the meet. That cuts down my knitting time drastically as I will only be home a short time between prelims and finals. Didn't he think about my knitting needs while he has been training so hard? I better get back to knitting so I can put a big dent into this project before work, kids, school, and swim meets get into the way.

Note to self: Be sure and stretch every once in a while, all athletes can get injured if they are not careful, including knitting athletes. Second note to self: Knitting burns 80 calories an hour so I almost feel like I am exercising at the same time I am knitting.

Oh No A Cold!

I have little time to post. Can you believe in this crucial time I have a cold? I got it yesterday and felt not up to speed. I ended up just making through when the Canadian team made it into the stadium before I had to go to bed. Today I ran errands and then was so tired I took a two hour nap. I don't nap. Period. Do you have an idea how far behind this puts me? I did get 7 inches knit on the back of my sweater, but it is bulky weight so we all know that isn't a whole lot. Yuck!!!! Double Yuck!!!!! I have to get going or my dreams of Olympic Gold will just be that dreams.

I'm Ready!!!

Everyone in the knitting world knows Stephanie Pearl-McPhee of Yarnharlot.com fame. She is the Queen of knitting bloggers with a following of thousands and thousands of people. Four years ago the Yarn Harlot introduced the knitting world to the Knitting Olympics. The idea was to pick a challenging project, cast on during the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics and try to finish before or during the closing ceremonies. Four years ago I did not participate but this year I am going to give it a try.
I have decided to knit this beautiful, yummy chocolate yarn into a sweater in the same pattern as my lovely Noro coat. I have been looking and looking for a nice bulky weight cardigan pattern and I just haven't been able to find one I like. This is a wool blend out of Silver Moon Farm in Petersburgh NY. I bought this on my wonderful trip to Rhinebeck with my sister Claudia this year. I am really excited to cast on this evening as I watch as much of the Olympics as I can. This sweater/coat should not be all that challenging but I do have two major three day swim meets with my sons the next two weekends so that will be the challenging part, just finding time to knit. I have also made a promise to myself that I can not knit another project during the Olympics.



So that means I will be unable to finish this beautiful silk ruffle scarf, that I am almost done with. This scarf is made of short rows, which I usually avoid like the plague, but these are very simple. I casted on 22 stitches on size 9 needles. I knit across one row. Then the fun begins. Your knit the first 8 stitches of the next row, turn your work and knit back to the beginning of the row. Knit the first 6 stitches of the row, turn and knit those stitches again, now you are at the begining of the row. Then Knit the first 4 stitches, turn and knit them again. After you have completed this cycle you knit across all 22 stitches and repeat for the other side. I have about 300 yards of this beautiful, hand dyed silk yarn. This was my project at the swim meet last weekend. It is very portable and very, very fun to knit. This was a free pattern so I feel I can share it.



The ruffles don't occur right away, but when they do you will be amazed. A friend of mine made it in a wool blend on size 10 needles casting on 20 stitches. It was a much denser fabric and ruffled more. It turned out really lovely. This is a perfect project for new and old (not age) knitters alike.

Max are you ready for some serious knitting time?

Interesting

Sorry about the turned picture, where is that new camera anyway!

Nothing makes me happier than knitting, knitting books, knitting magazines, knitting videos and of course shoes. Some days just looking at yarn in my stash is the only thing that gets me through the day. I love yarn. I love to see that colors and feel the unbelievable textures. I love the smell of yarn and I have to say I embarrass myself in yarn stores smelling every skein of yarn I can. Today I thought that I would buy myself a treat for my weekend in Orlando for a swim meet with my son. I bought Crazy Aunt Purl's Home Is Where The Wine Is. I love Laurie Perry and her blog CrazyAuntPurl. She has me in stitches, literally. I can't wait to dive into this book and laugh, and laugh, which at a swim meet might look a bit odd. I also purchased The Knitter's Book of Wool by Clara Parkes. I have a deep fascination with all yarn producing animals. This book looks fascinating. I am also looking forward to the release of Sheepgal's upcoming book. When I got home from the store I looked on my front porch and another present to me, from me, had arrived. Knitting Daily series 200 and 400. 300 was unavailable. Now I can watch more knitting as I knit or work on my loom. This was turning out to be a fantastic day.
I am sure you caught the ,"was" part of that sentence.

I finished my drop stitch shawl. It is so beautiful and silver. The texture is so smooth. I can really see this as a special occasion shawl. I was finishing the very last pieces of fringe when my buddy Joy came over for a bit of knitting help. Joy is new to knitting and has taken it on like wild fire. While she was here our other friend Amy came by with her daughters. While we were all chatting and I was fixing a knitting problem for Joy something very interesting happened. Amy knocked over my glass of water and some of it got on my shawl. Usually that would not ever be an issue but what that small bit of water did to the shawl is amazing.

If you can see the top right of the photo above the fringe in of normal diameter, the fringe on the bottom has puffed up and lost the integrity of the yarn. This yarn in water completely changes the shape, and drape, and it puffs up like a crazy noodle on steroids. It isn't shinny anymore just puffy, almost with a net like appearance.

I tried to get a better picture, but of course I don't know how to use my new camera yet so this is the best I've got. The yarn on the right, normal diameter, the yarn on the left, water influenced yarn on steroids.

Some of the water got on the knitted part of the shawl. I don't think it is enough to make a difference, but the fringe had to be removed. I could be really upset as this has been a major project of mine for several weeks, but I'm not. This is the way it is with knitting. The process can be more important than the end product. I find it fascinating that this yarn changed so much. I looked on the label and it did have the "no washing" picture on it. I learned a valuable lesson here, no washing really means no water at all, period. Can you imagine if I had this shawl on and it started raining? I would look like Cinderella after the stroke of midnight, changing back into my rags.

Camera

My husband bought me this wonderful camera for Christmas. I am very excited to be able to take action shots of my sons swimming. Now I just have to learn how to use it. I have to admit that I am a bit scared of it. They say in the directions that all you have to do is point and shoot. I can't imaging that it is that easy. It comes with this a lens for up close and one for far away, I'll admit that I have no idea how to use them. I currently use a Sony Cyber-shot. I like that it doesn't take a lot of know-how to use, but I am constantly making excuses for my photos especially on this blog. When I take my Sony to swim meets I usually get my kids swimming underwater, so all you see are splashes of water. The timing is off on it even when I put it into the continuous picture taking mode. Wish me luck with the new camera, I am going to try it out this weekend while at a swim meet for my youngest son.

Yes a pathetic picture of my blueberry pie. It was yummy even if I did not take a great photo of it. Do you see why I might need to learn how to use a better camera?