Knitting Olympics Training Continues

Swatching some less common cast ons and bind offs, in preparation for Olympic Speed Swatching next week.

(Left column, dark teal)

Twisted German paired with JSSBO, stockinette to left and ribbing to right.

Small picot CO and BO.

Large picot CO and BO.

I-cord CO and BO.

(Right column, bright green)

Crochet CO and traditional BO.  If I used a crochet hook to do the BO, not only would they look the same, but perhaps I could call it “different”.

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Next time I work on this, I’ll try a few versions of tubular cast on — there are at least 2 or 3.  Then, when it comes time for the Games,  I’ll need to make full-sized swatches which also include the less-common decrease techniques called for in the Level III instructions, and have Very Even Edge Stitches.

In the meantime, I’m also working on other stuff.

Red Heart "Soft", colorway "embers"

Embroidered after Christmas break with school letter logo

Elizabeth Zimmermann "Icelandic Hat", at smaller gauge

Quick Crocheted Chenille Cap

She wants you to see her first-ever hook-crocheted chain!

My First Magazine Pattern came yesterday!

The “change of life” is. . . interesting.  Yesterday was the 99th Day since my last menses and. . . surprise!  I’m feeling moderately awful, and — perhaps worst — met a new-to-our-church knitter yesterday and probably didn’t make as good a first impression as I would have liked.  Sigh.  But this news is too good not to share:  the spring issue of Cast On showed up in my mailbox yesterday with my first-ever published-in-a-magazine pattern inside!!!

The envelope

That's MK-friend Leslie's vest on the Cover!

Love their "At a Glance" table of contents

There it is -- my vest -- on page 37

My designer blurb

Rejoice with me,

blog friends!!!

In “Training” for Knitting Olympics

The Winter Olympic Games are set to begin at 6 p.m. PST on 12 February, 2010, and Ravelry is hosting a parallel event for the online knitting/crochet/spinning community which they’re calling the Ravelympics.  (Logo designed by zzwhitejd, moderator of Ravelympics group.)

I’ve joined up with the TKGA team, and plan to cast-on along with all the other “athletes” when the Olympic torch is lit — in my own time zone that will be at 7 p.m. on Friday, the 12th.

My team event:  Single Skein Speedskating, for which I plan to start and finish the first group of my Master Knitter Level III swatches.

I may also enter individual events (being on a team is not required for any event).  Maybe a hat in the Hat Halfpipe and/or the Cable Cross-Country events.  Or a new design for Designer Original Dance (sample only), Designer Pattern Skeleton (instructions only), or Designer Biathlon (both).  Or a cat bed in the Bobsled event.  Or a throw pillow for DS “teen-genius” dorm room in the Platter Lift.  Maybe something for Charity Curling.  Lots of possibilities — mustn’t overwhelm myself!  Event-projects can be added at any time before the Games end.

“Training”, i.e. swatching, is allowed before event-time, so I’ve been looking up some references for the techniques required in the first swatches and giving some of them a mini-try.  Currently, that’s pairing unusual cast-ons and bind-offs of my choice; one pair must be tubular.   I find Master Knitter work satisfying!

Snowed In . . . with Yarn

And what did I and my 2 DDs do while we were snowed in for almost a week?  Crochet!

I had 2 library books at home, and we worked from those and from Lion Brand online amigurumi patterns.  The books are Creative Crochet Lace by Myra Wood, and The Crochet Workbook by Sylvia Cosh and James Walters.

Cherry's chain

Cherry learned to “finger crochet”, and produced this L O N G chain (which the cat finds irresistible!)

Kathy's amigurumi toys

Kathy and I did exercises from The Crochet Workbook.

Kathy's swatches

< – - She used her new crochet skills to produce a Fortune Cookie-shaped cat toy and blue “Love Bird”, both from Lion Brand free patterns.

Here are her practice swatches. – - >

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And here are mine.

Turning chains: count as stitches vs don't count as stitches

Single-crochet and double-crochet as CO chains, instead of slip stitches

Step increases at the ends of rows

Ripples

2-color Spiral -- finally figured this one out myself

Bumps, bobbles, loops, and knots

Uneven rows that compensate for one another

2-color partial rows

Built up the ripples to get a level row, then added spikes and round-the-post and crab stitches

Snow on Snow on Snow

Three storms in one week!  10.5″ + 9″ + 2 or more feet of snow; currently chest-high in our yard.  And now the snow has turned to rain — ugh!  Gonna compact the snow, making it too heavy to shovel, gonna freeze on the roads and walks, and gonna flood down at lower elevations (like Sedona, Oak Creek, even down to Phoenix). Thought I’d try to give you a bit of the flavor of it through images.  Witness the gradual burying of our gas grill!  (“Before” shots are above the “after” shots from similar vantage points.)

sun after storm #1 - back yard

sun after storm #2 - driveway and front yard (north)

Storm 2 - front yard (south)

Storm 3 - back yard

Storm 3 - Jim shoveling driveway

Storm 3 - front yard (south)

Old Norwegain / Twisted German Cast-On videos

edited to add the multiple versions of this demonstration

This is a classic example of the non-uniformity of knitting terminology.  Techniques spread from knitter to knitter, but names may change.  It may make you nuts when researching something, but it’s not a bad thing in itself.  Here we have 3 videos, each knitter gets the same cast-on result, but each manipulates her thumb in a slightly different way.  One movement may be easier for you than another, but all will get you the same stretchy cast-on with the extra twist (and little bump) in the bottom strand.

(1) Knitting Daily and the “Old Norwegian” cast-on.     (originally posted here:  http://www.knittingdaily.com/blogs/daily/archive/2010/01/20/crazy-for-cast-ons.aspx#video1)

(2) Knitwitch and the “Twisted German” cast-on.  (This is what I usually call it, but not exactly how I usually do it.) 

(3) Lucy Neatby and the “German Twisted” cast-on.  Her thumb technique is closest to the way I learned it. 

Plus a little pic of kitty, for fun.

Chloe

Christmas Cactus blooms!

Milk Cap is in the Mail — Hurray!

I am so glad to be done with this — not that the knitting or writing was arduous, but the Monday deadline was really wearing on me.  I actually *like* the cap.

(Um, yes, that's me.)

And it’s a pretty good match to one of my favorite jackets.

But I don’t know if they’ll let me have it back. . . .

I plan to ask! 

Top view, blocking on dinner plate.

Side view of blocking arrangement, moved from bathroom into sunlight for photo.

Yarn is “1/2 N 1/2″

by Kollage Yarns.

50% milk (!)

50% wool

l would categorize it as sportweight.

Needles US 6 (4 mm)

168 sts

Back to Fair Isle Sampler Scarf, plus Kollage Kap

3 sets of "Korean stripes" in Sampler Scarf

Here’s where we stand with the Sampler Scarf!

Stripe Set 1:  neutral is KnitPicks “Bare” handdyed with (decaf) black tea, then colors are KnitPicks Palette C843 “Garnet Heather”, Jamieson & Smith shade 1283 “Pink Mist”, Reynolds Gleneagles fingering shade 3412 orange, J&S 58 “Dark Green”, J&S 26 lt. green.

Set 2:  neutral is J&S shade FC43 (“Fawn”), then 3 shades of KP Palette:  C821 “Blue Note Heather”, 6886 “Petal”, C843 “Garnet Heather”, and J&S 73 “Orange”.

Set 3:  neutral is J&S 202, then KP “Bare” home-dyed with sumac blossoms (yellow), J&S 93 “red”, J&S 131 “violet”, J&S 21 “navy”, J&S FC11.

Set 4:  My current plan is to use J&S FC17 for the next neutral.

Then perhaps on to some non-stripe 2-color patterning.

This is all meanwhile the Kollage “1/2 N 1/2″ Kap proceeds toward 18 Jan. deadline.  The pattern is mostly written up — I’ll probably change some details of notation — and the model is progressing nicely (faster now that holidays are done and family are back at their respective schools).

Cap with smocking-stitch brim in Kollage Yarns "1/2 N 1/2"

I’ve also cast on another charity cap. This is my first experience with Lion Brand “Vanna’s Choice” yarn.  It feels pretty good while knitting, spongy, but a bit firm knit on #8’s (5 mm needles).

And the hat/scarf set in Noro “Silver Thaw” inches along.  It isn’t needed until *next* November.

The other recreational fiber-medium I’ve been dabbling in is Freeform Crochet.

one side

other side

Either side could end up being the “front”. . . .

Sometimes I have an idea to add onto it, sometimes I don’t.

In her book, Creative Crochet Lace, which I recently borrowed via interlibrary loan, author Myra Wood calls this “Doodle Lace”.  (BTW, interlibray loan is a great free service!  If your library offers this, take advantage!)

Berroco Embellishment Videos

2 nice videos on adding sewn-on fabric or crochet “ribbons” and beads to finished knit garments.

 

Here are the original Berroco pages:  (1) fabric ribbons; (2) crochet “ribbons” and beads