Knitting Progress, or Not
I knit a little on the fronts of the Olympic top today while at the allergist. I’m at a point where I’m decreasing on both armholes and increasing at center front/lapel, so the knitting requires more focus than I have available most of the time. The photo I took on February 20 is just slightly shorter than where I sit today, unfortunately. Thank goodness that mistakes in knitting don’t require buying new fabric as can happen in sewing!

So of course I needed another, somewhat focus-free, project. The obvious choice was my pink/purple socks (the ones where I unreeled the ball of yarn through the parking lot and lobby of the pharmacy). However, I can’t find those socks-in-progress right now. I’m sure they got buried when we were tidying up the house for our company this weekend.

My socks for tomorrow’s classes are at the right spot for my demos, so I don’t want to go further on those. So of course I cast on something new. Of course.

I cast on merely 63 stitches for the back of the bulky (Aspen) yarn sweater. The one I got yarn for this weekend at Threadbear. And I’ve knit about 2.5 inches on the back of that sweater already. During times when I couldn’t do thinking knitting. Gotta love it.

I’m telling you, I know that a bulky sweater is not always flattering and is nearly always more costly than a similar sweater in thinner yarn. But I’d tried on the sample garment at the shop so I knew it looked good on me. And with the 20% off sale, and it being a pretty small size (requiring less yarn), the price was in the realm of possibility. I had been scheming to do the sweater and the sale was reason enough to jump in.

The yarn almost never splits. I’m using size 11 Denise circular needles but going back and forth as if they were two straight needles. The needles are plastic and have a pretty good point on them for how fat the needle is, and yet I’m having virtually no splitting trouble. This is a wonderful rest from the shiny but splitty Cotton Twist in my Olympic top.

I’m SO loving how fast this sweater knits up. I’ve done 11 rows and it’s more than 2 inches. I adore the color, it’s what makeup companies call “raspberry” in blusher colors. Soft purple-pink, a soft sort of magenta. Lovely!!!

No Show
Oh, I tried to go to The Lion King at Wharton Center for the Performing Arts tonight… but they had already sold out every single ticket. I often go to shows alone on the night of a performance, because typically it’s possible to get one single ticket somewhere even the last night. Not this show. Sigh… it’s the last week (of six) so I just plain missed out. It went so fast!

Mellow and Sleepy
I had a day with almost no headache so I’m in a better mood but I am ready to go to sleep at 10:15pm. That’s at least 3 hours earlier than usual for me.

For those who participated in the Knitting Olympics but did not earn a gold medal, I present to you a gold star. It seems that an earnest effort is honorably rewarded by a gold star, right?

If you wish to use the star button on your own site, please feel free, but please save it to your own server, OK?

In looking back, I almost did not sign up for the Knitting Olympics because I knew it would be hard to free up enough personal knitting time to finish a challenging project. I lucked out because we went on vacation for 6 of the 16 days which made it possible to make an earnest attempt. I’m very glad I gave it the old college try.

I am sure I could have finished by the deadline… if I had been able to analyze what had gone wrong. I was unable to reconcile the difference between my knitting versus the printed pattern specifications. Apparently I’m an optimist, because I have only made four tops in my knitting career, and all four I accomplished thanks to the encouragement and advice of knitting friends as I proceeded.

Saturday I could tell I was in trouble, and I did ask for advice Sunday (without having the whole picture in front of me, so the answer was an educated guess at that point). I still am not sure what is wrong but now I have a plan for how I’ll make it work. Remember, I found one knitter who did make this item and she did not mention anything about this hiccup in her experience. There are no errata listed for the pattern on the XRX website. I think it’s just inexperience at making tops/sweaters that is keeping me back. And it’s just a delay, because I’m clear I’ll finish now.

I’m glad I did it. I met some great people, and I challenged myself to do something (with pretty but challenging yarn) where the fun was not in the knitting process itself. I have a mostly-finished project. And I was part of a worldwide knitting party of sorts. All worthwhile.

My friends, “wear” your star in good health!