Five days to go

Will I make it?

The back and the two fronts are done and blocking.

And I am half way up the sleeves.

I think I can! I think I can! I think I can!

First medal

I just had to make this.

I had to stop my Olympic sweater and knitted this hat:

This is the hat that the US atheletes wore on the opening night. It was designed by Ralph Lauren and sold for $69. Well, they were sold out within minutes after the ceremony.

No sweat for us knitters. One knitter charted the pattern and posted it on Ravelry for free. Need I say more.

It looks a little dorky, but I just had to make it.
Now back to the project...

Day Four

Moving right along.

I finished the back of my Ravelympics Intentions! yesterday:

This is really fun knitting. It is eating yarn like crazy though. I used more than two skeins (370 yards) already for the back. Good thing I have another skein coming from the dyer (Have You Any Wool).

Now on the the fronts. This is where the real challenge begins. I am alternating skeins throughout the project. I was going to knit both fronts at the same time but juggling four skeins at once might not be a great idea. One at a time.

On to day four.

A sweater worthy of the Olympics!

How many days does it take to knit a sweater?

I hope 17 days. As long as the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

I am taking up a challenge organized by the knitting communiy Ravelry called Ravelympics. It is simply a knitting olympics. You pick a pattern. You cast on as the Games open and you finish before the flames go out.

Sounds like a piece of cake, right?


But this is the Olympics. You don't do something simple. You challenge yourself. You go that extra mile. You push harder.

So I am attempting to knit a sweater in 17 days.


Here is the pattern:

It's called Gathering Intentions by Fiona Ellis in her book Inspired Cabled Knits.

I am knitting it with Have You Any Wool Lux Worsted yarn in colorway lone star. You can swatch to get gauge before the event started.

I got gauge on size 7 needles. Perfect.

But this is the Olympics. You just don't follow the set pattern. You challenge yourself. You go that extra mile!

So I am making some moderations to the pattern. First I am making it into a cardigan. With a zipper.

Then I added two inches ribbing to give it a finished look.

I am also mirroring the side cables.

So far so good. Here is how far I got on day two:

285 yards knitted. Moving right along.

Back to the needles now. Cheer me on!

Storm of the century

Fifty inches of snow.


Let the pictures do the talking.

This is the most Washington DC has got in recorded history.

It snowed more this winter in Washington than in Michigan!

The federal government was closed for four days -- that was a record too. We spent the four days shoveling, and shoveling, and shoveling.

Finally, clean.

I had enough snow to last another century! But we are expecting "another system" next Monday!

It's very pretty, I must say...

But I'd rather not see another flake for a good long while...

valentine's is just around the corner

And I am ready!


Or at least my sweater is.


Proudly present my Valentine's Cassidy:

Yes!
My first sweater of the year. Madelinetosh Tosk DK. Six skein. Colorway is Tart. On size 8 needles. The pattern is Chic Knits Cassidy. It is a hoodie but I didn't have enough yarn so I knitted a collar instead. I took the collar pattern from another Chic Knits pattern -- Twist Cardigan. It matches perfectly and I am very happy with it.

I like Tosh DK a lot. It was originally classified as a worsted weight yarn and I knitted it as such. It felt a little loose. I am glad it got reclassified as a DK. I think it knits up much better as a light worsted/DK at 5 -5.5 stitches per inch.

Now I am inspired to finish my Twist, which has been languishing in hybernation for over a year.

A new year's resolution

Or not.

January is almost over and I have yet to come up with a new year's resolution or two.

But then again, why bother?

This year I am going to take a new approach. I read earlier that for the first time in a long time the number one new year resolution for Americans for this year is not to lose weight but to save money. Well, I am doing okay in the weight department and I am financially responsible, I believe.

My Achilles' heels, as we well know, is yarn.

My name is Aporanee and I am a yarnaholic.


There. I said it.

I have more yarn than I can knit in my lifetime. Worse, I cannot stop buying more.

However, this year I am determined to do something about it. No I am not going to stop buying yarn. That is a hopeless cause. It will never happen.

Since I joined the "stashdown" effort in the Yarn Snob group on Ravelry last year I have been looking at my stash differently. It is not that I have way too much yarn. I have way too much yarn that I will never knit. It just sits there. It doesn't call out to me. It doesn't inspire me. It just sits.

Those yarns need to go. And they have been going. I have been selling them on Ravelry at cut rate prices. I couldn't care less. Somebody else wants them. Somebody will enjoy them all the more because they are getting a good deal and I am getting rid of them.


I am stashing down. And it is working. I have been sorting out yarn and setting aside those I will keep. A lot I will try to sell. A lot I will give away. Like this:

And this:

They are going to Interim House knitting group in Philadelphia. A short-term facility that treat women with drug and alcohol problems. They have a great knitting program. Read about their knitting program here. Boxes of yarns are going their way.

Now that's the yarn. Then there is a second problem

I keep casting on a new project. A bad case of startitis shall we say.

Here is the solution. I have been looking at my work in progress (WIPs) and sorting them. Those that are more than half done are set aside for serious consideration. Do I still want this? I look at them again and again. If for two weeks they still don't inspir me they will be set aside for the frog pond and the yarns reclaimed. I have no problem frogging at all. Rip, rip, rip. Those that I still like will get knitted. One by one. As I cast on a new project I will work on a WIP at the same time.

So far so good. I finished a blanket for my stepdaughter that was meant to be her Christmas present.

And I have not even cast on a new project, as I have two pairs of socks I need to finish within the next two weeks. I am swatching though.

Next to finish up is my Cassidy cardigan. This also was meant to be a Christmas cardigan. It will now be a Valentine cardigan. It will be done. I have the back, fronts and the sleeves done and blocked. I will now put the pieces together and do the band and collar. I don't have enough yarn for the hood so it will have a collar instead.

Then I will cast on.

Looking forward

Oh what a year it was.

I think it is fair to say that 2009 was one of the most interesting years of my life. It was a very sad year but it was also a very happy year.

In May I said a final goodbye to my late husband Bill. He is now a part of the Eternal Reef.

The concrete ball containing his ashes and those of his mother was placed in the Chesapeake Bay as a part of an artificial reef. It is a man-made habitat of all sorts of ocean life out there.

Bill was an avid diver. He will be happy there.

A final resting place. At last. Goodbye, Bill.

There is no more sadness. There is no more pain and misery. Whenever I think of him now I remember the happy times we had together.

For the whole year I felt a chapter of my life was drawing to a close. The final curtain was drawn November 30th when we said goodbye to Runty.

Runty was diagnosed with stomach cancer earlier this year. He was responding so well to chemotherapy until November when the disease took over his body and there was nothing more we could do for him. It was a very sad goodbye but I felt I was doing right by him. After all, we had 17 years together and he had brought nothing but pure joy into my life.

And now Runty has crossed the Rainbow Bridge. He and Bill are together now.

That chapter of my life has finally drawn to a close.

I have no regrets. I wouldn't have asked for anything else. It was worth the ride.

And it was also in 2009 when I entered a new chapter of my life. A new beginning brought on by a man named Carl Vercio.

I am so happy. I learned the hard way that there was happiness to be had, that you could love, and be loved again if you would open your heart to it. I am glad I did. A happiness named Carl.

I am looking forward to our future together. I am ready!

Happy New Year

To you and yours.

Aporanee and Carl

My angel

Runty.

Runty

Mommy loves you.


We said goodbye to Runty yesterday. The cancer won. But he is not hurting anymore. He is my angel now. It's been 17 good years and I will have lots of memories to remember him by.

My first Wollmeise

And a first Clapotis too.


Finally, I found out what the craze is all about Wollmeise yarn.


It is as nice and they say. And more. At over 500yards each 150-grams skein you have plenty for a variety of projects. I knitted my Clapotis scarf with five and a half increases and 20 straight sections. A tiny bit left over.

This will be a Christmas present for Carl's daughter Michelle. One down, two to go.

It needs blocking but at least it's done.

How many days until Christmas? Yikes!!

My Facts and Figures

A good way to stash down!


This is the start of a sweater that Penny Sanford, the owner of the Yarn Barn, my LYS in Burke, VA, disigned. It is a customized sweater designed to fit your "facts and figures." We started with taking our measurements and from a favorite sweater that fits and go from there. We are using eight accent colors of about 100 yards each and two main color of 300 yards each. It is knitted cuff-to-cuff and can be a cardigan, pullover, v-neck or crew-neck.. Whatever you like. It is made for you by you!


This is what I got so far:

It is a fun knit and fast too. Tonight we meet for the second part. Stay tuned.

They say lace knitting is addictive

Now I know why.

This is the beginning of the Swallowtail Shawl. Malabrigo sock yarn Persia colorway.

It could be a start of a new love affair...

Still seeing red

And a bit of blue, too.

The Cassidy cardigan is moving right along. I finished the two front pieces.

I can't seem to get the color. It is a much nicer, deeper red. I will try to take it outdoors today weather permitting. Anyway, on to the sleeves now. I love this yarn. The Madelinetosh and Dream in Color are now my two most favorite yarns.

Another not-quite-so-red sweater I am working on is the Urban Aran Cardigan for my sister. I am knitting this in Dream in Color Chinatown Apple. The pattern calls for a bulky yarn -- 15 stitches per four inch. I am knitting it in DIC worsted at 18 stitches. I am making size large to get a medium. It will need some serious blocking but I think this will work. DIC blocks out beautifully.

Here is the front

The back looks equally interesting!

Maybe I can try a reversible cardigan.

Another red project is my holiday vest. Trudging along slowly.

Just the lower part of the front left.

On Sunday I took a class from Nancy Bush at one of my LYS -- Nature's Yarn. It was an introduction to Estonian lace knitting. We made this little sampler.

I learned how to make the nupps -- that's the little bobble-like thingie that makes up the lily of the valley pattern. And lace cast-on and off. Really neat. It took away my fear of lace knitting. I think it's time to tackle the Swallowtail Shawl.

As if I don't have enough projects at hand, right?

I'm seeing red

And loving it.

All of a sudden I see red everywhere.

My Tart Cassidy is moving right along. I finished the back.

The color came out way to purply. It is a gorgeous, deep, rich red. This is the first time I work with MadelineTosh yarn and I am loving it. And the red. In fact I love the Tart so much that I got it in sock weight.

And in lace weight.

Now that is the most true of the colorway.
And that's not the only red I acquired. I got a skein of Have You Any Wool Lux Sport in Rage.

That's merino-cashmere-nylon. This is going to be Morgan. In fact I want to make one in the dark blue Traveler yarn I got from the Sanguine Gryphon for Carl as well.

Another merino-cashmere I got was from Squoosh Fiber Arts. True Love merino-cashmere in worsted weight.

I am debating whether I should make this into a Dream in Color shrug or a textured shawl.

But I haven't forgotten my blues. Here are two skeins of Sundara sock yarn that I got from a fellow Raveler.

Tosh sock in Stovepipe.

And to top it off, an alpaca roving from the Sanguine Gryphon.

That's it! I have exhausted the yarn budget for this year. Now knit, knit, knit. Spin, spin, spin. So much stash in I have to work at stash out!

Wednesday update

I have been pretty productive lately.

I finished Julie's Central Park Hoodie. I am very happy with it and hope she will too. I was able to sew the zipper in myself! A major accomplishment.

It was not that difficult as I was afraid. The finished object is very, very nice.

I have about 1,400 yards of yarn left over. The pattern called for 2,900 yards. Search me. There is enough yarn left for a hoodie for me.

I also finished my handspun Lavalette. Another pride and joy.

Needs blocking.

I finally decided on a pattern for my Madelinetosh Tart knitalong. Cassidy. I have had this pattern for all ages. I might put in a zipper instead of buttons too!

Despite the fact that the actual picture is a landscape orientation, blogger brought it in portrait! Oh well, you get the idea. The actual color is more intense than in the picture. Everybody is raving about this yarn and now that I am knitting it I understand why.. It has a very soft hand and is knitting up beautifully. I am alternating two skeins to prevent pooling even though the colors seem consistent throughout.

Another Dream in Color project is in the pipeline. Rogue hoodie for Pom. in Chinatown Apple. Think I will have yarn left over from this project too. Hmm, something wrong with my math here...