Underestimation
Finding the time to blog lately has been difficult. But only because of good things so I can't complain. Last Saturday I did this:
After three months we have finally managed to move all of HWJF's stuff to NJ. There was actually very little in that Uhaul. Only the things that were too big to fit in his car. It was unload in 15 min. max when we arrived in NJ. And if you heard about the weather in this part of the world last weekend, you know that we arrived none too soon. As we were unloading it was beginning to snow. Next morning we awoke to a raging storm that dumped about 18 inches. Good thing I had planned to head to work from NJ on Monday anyway! Of course when I got to NYC, this is what I had to walk through:
Not fun at all.
Since HWJF didn't have to go to work because of the weather, Sunday was spent indoors watching movies and just relaxing in general. And of course there was some serious knitting to be done. Which brings me to...
Olympic Update
Seems that there was a bit of underestimation in the air last weekend. Everyone underestimated how much snow would actually fall, and I underestimated the time it would take to knit my Olympic project. Of course I hadn't planned on getting snowed in for a day, but it certainly helped. And thanks to comments left by Beth and Katy, I get a gold medal!
Fair Isle Headband
Pattern: Telemark headband from Bea Ellis Knitwear
Yarn: Peer Gynt wool and some cotton (included in kit)
Amount: 2 balls of wool and 1 ball for the cotton lining
Needles: Size 2 and 4 Addi Turbos
Dates:Feb. 10-13, 2006
This was so much fun to knit! (Thanks for the present Sami!) I wasn't particularly fond of working with the cotton yarn for the lining because it was so slick and splitty, but the results were well worth it. The cotton yarn starts and ends the project so that it can be folded over and sewn together to create a "no-itch" lining. Here it is before seaming:
The directions were easy to follow and the chart would have been easier to follow if I had been smart enough to bring my magnetic board with me. It might also have helped if I had reversed the colors as that would have matched the chart better. Overall I really like how it worked out. I hope to get a modeled shot to share sometime this weekend.
So I obviously have a lot of time left before the games are over. And this underestimation situation has really opened my eyes. It seems to be a theme with me in several areas of my life. So in the spirit of challenge I've decided to add this to the mix:
It's the "Snowflake Bag" from Vogue Knitting's book Bags & Backpacks. I'm doing it in contrasting colors of Lamb's Pride worsted. I didn't want to do the fair isle in the flat, so I've altered the pattern so that it can be made in the round, with just a seam at the bottom and (probably) for the handles. After one false start (just call me Captain Math Impaired), I'm on my way. I've already added two major screw-ups design elements to the pattern, but I think it will work out ok.
I'm also thinking about felting it. Any thoughts on what that might do to the fair isle work? Would I be totally destroying it or will it be really cool? I'm thinking about donating the finished object to the silent auction at the upcoming MLA meeting, so I want it to be good!
Speaking of which, I leave for Memphis, TN for a week next Tuesday. If anyone has been in or lives in that area and can recommend a "must see" yarn shop, do let me know! I'll be staying at the Peabody downtown so I'm hoping public transport will be cheap and available.
And in the interest of full disclosure, I cast on for a pair of Jaywalkers in the lag time between finishing something else and waiting for the Olympics to start. Here's how they look now:
I think they might be too big for me. I'm using Trekking XXL and a size two needle. This may end up being plane knitting, but it may also have to be frogged to be redone with a size one needle. I'll keep you posted.
And just because I can, I leave you with a couple of sky pictures I recently took in my travels. Both happen to be in the Princeton area of NJ. More to come as I continue to play with my new camera:
