Knitting Olympics Training

Posted on February 12, 2010 by Heather

It looks like I will be going with Hey Teach for my Knitting Olympics/Ravlympics.  I’ve registered using the Yarn Harlot’s form here and I’ve set up my Ravelry project page here (registration required to see).  I even swatched the project yesterday.

Hey Teach Swatch

My swatch is not a thing of beauty.  I started out with 26 stitch cast on, aiming to measure for a gauge of 17 stitches for 4 inches.  I did manage to get that with US9 needles. So, I figured, since that went so well I would give the lace pattern a try just to see how it looked with the yarn.  That ment I needed to to do increases to get to the right number of stitches, which is why the swatch flairs out at the top.

Overall, I am happy with the drape of the yarn for the given gauge, and with how the lace pattern looks.  Now it is a matter of waiting until this evening to cast on (assuming I don’t go to sleep early).  In the meantime, I’ll work on Sewing Seeds and try to get my Francie sock done.

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Love and Some Roasted Chestnuts

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Heather

Last night was stitching night at my LNS.  Actually, it isn’t very local to me with no car, but the lovely Erica and her friend Barb take pity on me and come out of their way to pick me up.  Stitching night is like a little bit of balm for my soul.  I get to spend a few hours in a needlework shop with no one rushing me.  I get to talk to people about things like fabric choices and colours, and why I like one thread better than another and no one thinks I’m weird.  And, there is no Baby Man crawling all over me. 🙂

I hope Erica and Barb, and everyone at stitching night, know how much I appreciate them.

So, what did I get done last night?  Not too much.  I’m still pretty tired, so I’m not working very quickly. (I did get nine hours of sleep last night! Yay!!!)  With what I did last night, and some work this morning, I have the border around the Love panel of Sewing Seeds nearly done.

Sewing Seeds - February 11th

I also picked out some thread to replace the one I didn’t like for my version of La-D-Da’s Roses are Red.  The part of GAST Old Hickory will now be played by Crescent Colours Roasted Chestnut.

Roses are Red with Crescent Colours

I’m still debating what project I will be working on for the Knitting Olympics/Ravlympics.  My two possibilities right now are Hey Teach from the Summer 2008 Knitty, using Knit One Crochet Too’s 2nd Time Cotton in colourway English Heather or Crafty Diversion’s Carmen Bolero using Vanna’s Choice in colour Dusty Purple.  I may just give them a miss entirely.  I think at this point it depends on if I get any more sleep.  But, with the Olympics starting tomorrow (!), I need to decide and at least swatch a little bit.  Anyone care to share their opinion?

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Sweater, Snowman and a Pond

Posted on February 8, 2010 by Heather

Bliss! I had about nine hours of sleep last night: to bed at 9:30 and up at 6:30 (because the husband had an early appointment), with only one small cry from Baby Man.  He slept until 8 and didn’t want much of a nap today.  Hopefully tonight goes well too, but I’m not expecting it.  I think it is better for me to go to sleep early and expect to be woken up at 3am than for me to go to sleep at my regular time and expect to sleep through to 7am.

In my sleep-addled state (can you die from lack of sleep?), I did manage to get a few things done.  First, I finally seamed up the Baby Kimono (from one of the Mason-Dixon knitting books) on Sunday morning.  I think it turned out quite nicely, even if I didn’t do the best job seaming.  It was knit using Bernat Cottontots in colourway Wonder Dreams.  I used some white Berocco Touché to seam it because the Cottontots isn’t piled very tightly.

Baby Kimono

I also finished up the Kris Knits January Dishcloth KAL.  It is a cute snowman on a very large dishcloth.  We have decided it will become a Baby Man Wiping Cloth, since we go through so many paper towels trying to keep him clean.  It knit it using Sugar’n Cream in colour Light Teal.

Kris Knits January KAL

And I have even found a wee bit of time to cross stitch.  I’ve been working on Chatelaine’s Egypt Garden for the Long Jump category for The Wagon’s Stitching Olympics.  The scoring for that category is based on the number of complete 10×10 squares that have been finished.  And, with all the work I’ve done, I still haven’t finished a single square!

Egypt Garden

Happily, the Tacky Box for Beads that I ordered arrived in the mail today. That means I can tackle the beading shortly.  Tonight, though, I think I will work on Sewing Seeds, since that needs some attention.

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Finished Heather and a Single Sock

Posted on February 5, 2010 by Heather

Baby Man is not sleeping.  In fact, we were up at 4:30 this morning.  The stress of dealing with a 2-year old on little sleep combined with all the nights I’ve spent sleeping on the floor has lead to a very, very sore back for me.  At this point I am running on fumes and back medication.

I have managed to finish one of my Francie socks.  I only did 1 1/2 repeats of the leg pattern because I prefer short-legged socks and because the yarn I am using, Crystal Palace’s Panda cotton, doesn’t have a lot of yardage.  (Once the sock was done, I saw that I had a enough left over that I probably could have done at least another 1/2 of a repeat, but I’d rather I have extra at the end then not enough.)  The foot shaping on these socks are is really cool. It is a lot like the shaping on the socks I finished last month, but with the addition of ribbing and a little  better transition into the toe.  This is, by far, the most comfortable sock I knit so far.  I can’t wait to have a completed pair.  In fact, I’ve already got started on the second sock! Yay me!

A Single Francie Sock

I’ve decided to take part in the 2010 Ravelympics and knit Crafty Diversion’s Carmen Bolero.  (FYI: Anne is offering a cupon code for the Ravelympics.  Use code CDRavelympics2010 when buying any pattern on this page and get 20% off.  I’m thinking about the Eleanor Roosevelt hat and Lillian cardigan.)  Of course, this will cut into any time I planned to spend stitching for The Wagon’s Stitching Olympics.  But, honestly, I have no chance of winning that, as much as I would love 20 skeins of Dinky Dyes. 🙂  However, it is entirely possibly that I could finish knitting a hooded cardigan in a couple of weeks.  (Yes, I do live in a dream world.)

And speaking of stitching, I have managed to cross something off of my WIP list: Heather by Serendipity Designs.  It was not a pleasure to stitch as it is full of French knots and partial backstitching  on Aida.  I know that I should have changed the fabric that came in the kit, but I didn’t bother and I paid for it.  Nonetheless, the finished piece is lovely.  I think I will probably end up making it into a bag if I ever get up enough energy to pull out the sewing machine.  (The fabric is plain ivory Aida.  The weird colouring is a shadow.  It is dreadfully dull here today, so the picture looks awful.)

Heather by Serendipity Designs

I also wanted to mention that Pauline of A Stitching Frenzy is having another giveaway.  This time she is offering a copy of Jill Oxton’s Cross Stitch & Bead Weaving.  There are some really pretty projects in this issue.  I had actually thought about getting a copy of this issue, but never got around to it.  (The best of intentions around here don’t amount to much when not getting sleep.)  Head over to her blog to enter.

And I just came across this new Chatelaine design: Midi Online 2 – Rajasthan Lotus Temple Pond. It would be an understatement to say that I want to stitch this design.  Time to save my pennies.  The chart isn’t released until May 1st, so I have some time.

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February 2010 Goals

Posted on February 1, 2010 by Heather

So far, February is off to a much better start than January.  Baby Man slept through the night again last night (a wee bit of crying at midnight, but he was back to sleep right away), and he even took off his pants and diaper and sat on his potty.  He didn’t pee, but since he did all of that without my prompting I’m very impressed.

Anyway, enough about the toilet habits of my 2-year old.  I would like to say thank you for the encouragement and kind words I’ve gotten over the past couple of days.  I appreciate it very much.  It is always nice to be reminded that I’m not the only person in the world going through this, and that is soon shall pass. 🙂

So, February goals.  It is a short month, and The Wagon is having the Stitching Olympics again, which means I will be focusing on my project for that.  With that in mind, my goals are:

  • Finish Francie socks (I’m aiming for a pair a month right now, I think)
  • work on my husband’s socks
  • work on Egypt Garden for the Stitching Olympics
  • work on Sewing Seeds
  • seam up that baby jacket I had finished for my dad’s co-worker
  • repair my Enchanted Dreamer pillow which Baby Man tore the beads off of
  • chart border for Kitchen Blessings

I think that is pretty good.

In other areas of my life, I’ve made a few promises to myself that I’m not yet ready to share in case I fail miserably.  And believe me, there is plenty of temptation.  I do want to write more, and get back to eating better.  Beyond that, I am just not sure.

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January Goal Review and SALSuffit

Posted on January 31, 2010 by Heather

January, we hardly knew ye.  You started out cold and a little mean (a handful of baby sick, thanks), you warmed up a little in the middle and got better.  Now, at the end, the weather is cold and windy.  Snow is beginning to fall again, and we are reminded that it is a good time to be indoors working on accomplishing our goals.

Non-crafting-wise, I didn’t do so well this month.  I had one great week back on my eating plan, and then when things got bad with Baby Man not sleeping, everything went downhill.  I also did well for a few days working on writing exercises, but that was also put aside when things got rough.  I think that I have learned something important this month: while it is important to be true to myself and not just become “Baby Man’s Mom”, I also need to realize that until he is older, he is my major priority even if it seems like he is growing up.  I’ve also learned that writing takes a lot more energy and mental power than cross stitch or knitting.

So, that brings me to my January goals.  They were:

  • crochet Planet June’s Sea Turtle for Baby Man’s birthday
  • make significant progress on socks for my husband
  • make significant progress on the wedding gift
  • clean out Baby Man’s closet and toy box
  • Establish a weekly writing practice

Let’s see… I did finish the sea turtle and I cleaned out Baby Man’s toy box and closet.  I didn’t get to the cedar chest in his closet, but that is a whole different project.  I tried writing, and I will get back to it.  As for the socks and the wedding gift… well, no.  I haven’t been knitting on the socks because they are being made with wool yarn, which causes me to feel ill and since I haven’t been feeling well I thought it was a good idea to leave them be.  As for the wedding gift, I just forgot about it. 🙂

I did accomplish a lot though, considering the small amounts of sleep I have been working with.  There was the Sea Turtle, and the Groundhog, the Pyroclastic Socks, and the crocheted Swiffer cover (which is fabulous!).  I made some really good progress on Kitchen Blessing and Sewing Seeds and on my Francie Socks.  And I kept up with the Kris Knits KAL, even though it seems Kris herself has fallen behind.

And, I did get around to my SALSuffit for this month.  I spent the afternoon framing two pieces that have been waiting for my attention for months.

Black Hatter by Sue Hillis Designs

Halloween Fairy by Mirabilia

As for my February goals, I need to think about them a little bit.  The Wagon is holding the Stitching Olympics again, and I plan to work on Egypt Garden for them.  And of course I will continue on with Sewing Seeds.  I’ll post what I decide tomorrow.

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Progress on Love

Posted on January 30, 2010 by Heather

We’ve had a small victory here: Baby Man has slept through the night for the last two nights! Yay!  I’m not fooling myself into thinking that things are back to normal yet, but this is a good start.  And this means Mommy has had some sleep, which means that I have felt like stitching.

After a walk yesterday I managed to get in a bunch of time on Sewing Seeds.  Baby Man has tired out, and just wanted to play with his cars and trains.  I’m certainly not going to complain about that.

Sewing Seeds

Sewing Seeds

The heart in the middle is so very pretty!  A picture doesn’t do it justice at all.

Sewing Seeds Heart Close-Up

Sewing Seeds Heart Close-Up

If you are taking part in the SAL on the TW board, please post your progress pictures.  I will be doing a draw for a small prize tomorrow evening.

Thank you, also, for the comments on Roses are Red.  I really do like the fabric choice, so I think I will look for a darker brown GAST or similar thread the next time I get to my LNS.  I would really like to make this design work on this fabric.

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