Mile 4 Muffin Stop-Iknitarod Update

Took my knitting with me to watch the Iditarod Start in Anchorage at my friend's house, where she's hosted the Mile 4 Muffin Stop for may years. I posted some pictures at my blog, and there's a picture of me standing to the right of Karen Ramstead on the cover of the sports section of the ADN. I'm the lady in the red jacket, wearing a skhoop, holding a camera and, of course, her knitting bag. I'm such a geek.

I'll be posting another update about my knitting soon on my blog, as I have some good news. My copy of Elizabeth Zimmermann's book "Knittting Workshop" arrived in the mail on Saturday.

But now, I must do a little spring cleaning and then get a little exercise in, before getting either blogging or knitting done.

Another Challenge...

So, how many of us are going through Olympic withdrawal?

Diana, the Iknitarod sounds like fun - mush, you huskies!  I see the rules are to start March 6, with the start of the race in Anchorage, and then finish when they do - about 10 days to 2 weeks out.  At least, with this one, if one can't keep up with the leader, one can always tag along with the red lantern musher.

Since I knit one argyle sock during the regular Olympics, I was thinking about knitting the mate during the Paralympics, which closes on March 21.  That's about the same time frame as the Iknitarod.  I'm going to keep posting here, and invite you all to do so, as well.

Here's a toast to more challenges!

Another Athletic Knit-along

For those of you who enjoyed the Olympic Challenge, I've found another challenge that may interest my fellow Alaskan's. An Initarod. The group is on Ravelry and I'm planning on knitting my first Elizabeth Zimmermann project, the Baby Surprise Jacket (BSJ) for my son's guitar teacher's new baby girl. Heading over to Titlewave to see if I can find a used copy of her book, Knitting Workshop, so I not only have her pattern but learn some important sweater knitting skills.

Gold Medal Now Online

Here's a link to Yarn Harlots site with information about the medal, etc.

Whew! Just Made it.

My hands are toast! Two hats and two socks in two weeks. I can barely move my fingers.

Olympic Sock

Phew!  This sock was a photo finish!
I knit like crazy during the hockey game (intense!), sewed the instep to the gusset,

then knit down to the toe during the closing ceremony,

"kitchener stitched" the toe, and finished sewing the back seam as the flame went out. 

 

Knitting one argyle sock was a good challenge and a doable goal for me for this Knitting Olympics.  I'm looking forward to finishing the other sock soon, and wearing them in public.

Olympic Sweater

Here it is....
My Olympic Eastlake sweater! Can't believe I finished in time.

Pattern: Eastlake by Norah Gaughan **Errata available!!**

Yarn: Dream in Color, Classy - Happy Forest

Needles: US 5 & US 7

Mods: Knit in round up past the eyelet row. The neckband extension of the front is a bit funky & far from perfect. If I were to knit this pattern again, I'd use short rows for the sleeve caps & redesign the top to omit the neckbands.

Can't wait to wear this out & about!

~ArcticKnitter

Project Two!

Completed project two! This is one of those teapots that sits in its own cup, and it needed a cozy to keep my tea warm. This is supposed to be a pumpkin, and is kind of close. . .

Congratulations to everyone who participated!

Official End Time, Please?

Firstly, what official end time for us here in alaska time zone?
sometime today, I know......
So , I had a bit of a false start, knitted a few inches and saw i was not where i thought i was in the chart, and so i waited until i could see KathyM, Master Knitting Instructor, to put me back on track.
I have hope that i can get within a few inches a done, depending on time left.

Either way I will post picture at the end.

kat

Regrouping to finish the Argyle Sock

Congratulations to Choc and Kathy on achieving your Knitting Olympic goals!

I've realized that the last time I did this, I had a lot more time at my disposal.  I feel like I've  tripped while skating, but am regrouping and heading towards the finish line, anyway.

So, having gotten my pesky WORK out of the way, that's been getting in the way of knitting, I'm concentrating on just one sock.  I've finished the leg, and am knitting the argyle part of the instep.

My goal is to get that done today - maybe by the end of the afternoon.  Then this evening, I plan to work on the heel, then on to the rest of the sock.  I think there's hope!

How are the rest of you doing?

Shawl progress

I finished knitting the final row and bound off all 375 stitches about 90 minutes ago. The shawl soaked for a while and then I spread it on some beach towels on the rug downstairs. I'll take pictures tomorrow and then see if I can find someone to help me post evidence of the completed shawl. How are the rest of your projects coming?

Olympic Project Finished!

Here is my Blocks baby blanket, completed! I enjoyed trying out the new stitches. This is usually something I can knit almost with my eyes closed, but not this time. I REALLY like the Norwegian purl stitch! I did the single crochet bind off, which looks a bit like the Old Norwegian cast on. And, it's finished just in time. The baby is due in 2 weeks.

Maybe I'll try to get that pair of sox finished as well. . .

One Hat Done-Other So Close (updated)

Working hard on the duplicate stitch for the second, but all this knitting has aggravated my carpal tunnels. (Dramatic Olympic Sympathy Music in background) Will she be able to finish? Is she an Olympic Champion? Can she complete her Olympic Challenge? (cut to commercial)


Done with number two! Icing the wrist and back to the socks tomorrow.

Knitting is a Medal event!

A quick reminder to all Team Alaska Knitters - if you want to receive a digital medal from the Stephanie Pearl McPhee (aka "The Yarn Harlot") at the end of the Olympics to put on your blog or website, please take a moment to fill out the form at her website.  You'll also be able to see who else is signed up, world-wide.

Sock Progress!

My life has been busy, this past week, so this is my first post.  I had declared that I would knit just one argyle sock, but I'm so used to knitting two at a time that I went ahead and prepared for two.  I'm using Dale Baby Ull in five colors. The pattern I'm using is by Connie Mallette, from the TKGA website.

 

As the opening ceremonies began (well done, eh?), I wound bobbins, then cast on, and knit the top ribbing - one color, easy!  On the other hand setting the first pattern row is always hard for me, as it requires lots of counting, but I only had to frog and reknit one row on one sock.  I didn't have as much time to knit over this past week as I'd hoped, but have made more progress over the weekend, while watching NBC's Olympic coverage in the evening.

I've learned how to change yarns without leaving holes (I only have one to fix later).  However, keeping the gauge of the single color stitches the same as the other segments is challenging.  I'll just keep at it until I finish this race!

Progress

I have just finished knitting the 154th, and supposed final row, of the Charlotte's Web shawl. I have concerns about how big it will be after blocking so I have chosen a 6th color and will knit 32 more rows. There is not enough yarn left from all of the colors to make the fringe in all 5 colors, so I won't be doing the fringe. Now I have to figure out a different edging.

I have enjoyed looking at the pictures that have been posted on the blog, seeing the progress the rest of you are making.

Olympic Diversion: For a Worthy Cause

Last night, my children's school had it's 4th annual Art Night Fundraiser for Malawi Children's Village. We have been able to raise enough money in to help build a new wing on one of the schools and, even more important, a girls bathroom, so that girls can get an education. Without one, the girls were too embarrassed to travel far from their home.

Every year I knit a few things for the auction, and manage to raise a little money for Malawi. I had a Peruvian Hat sell at the auction for $40.00, a few years ago and then got to watch the little boy who'd won it, wear it nearly every day.






This year, I decided to make a pair of felted mittens for the auction, but I was drawing a blank on what else to donate.






Then I saw Lindsey Vonn wearing the cutest hat while getting her Gold Medal. "Hey, I can do that hat!", I thought. This was on Thursday, though and the auction was Friday. Checked on Ravelry to see if anyone else had the same idea and posted the pattern. Nope. Not yet. I started examining the hat more closely from the picture and felt confident enough to go ahead and figure it out.

So Friday morning, while the kids and I got ready , I made a poster for the auction with Lindsey wearing the hat and stating that I would knit the hat over the weekend and have it ready for them by Monday am, and then placed it on one of the bidding tables at school.

I continued to check Ravelry for a pattern, which would save me a lot of time and one finally popped up for me to use by BelgianWaffleKnits. Hooray!

Even better news. The winning bid: $72.00 And, even better news, another parent offered to match the winning bid and have me knit another one. So, I'm raising $144.00 for Malawi Children's Village. Wow! Glad these are pretty easy hats to knit. Just hope I get them the right size for the two little down skiing girls, who idolize Lindsey Vonn and have dreams of being Olympic DH Stars themselves.

Got to get back to work!

Working, working

Hello fellow Olympic knitters. Kathy from Valley SOCK here.

I'm working on this simple baby blanket as my challenge. Since it's not really difficult, I upped the ante by trying the Old Norwegian cast on, and am doing the Norwegian purl (those old Norwegians sure liked lots of twists and turns!). You can find both by Googling.

Look at the row of knit stitches between the stockinette and reverse stockinette blocks on the lower right - see how the row of stitches is loose and sloppy? Those in the know say that comes from going from a knit to a purl when you pick - too much yarn used, and it slips back into the knit stitch. Now look at the same sequence in the section above - the stitches are neater and tighter! Must be because the Norwegian purl twists a bit - not enough to create a twisted stitch, but enough to tighten up the stitches. I may become a convert! Thanks to Shawnalee for showing me the stitch.

I've got one problem, though. Can't knit AND watch ice skating at the same time. I've got to hurry or I'll never finish at this rate!

The Qualify Round....

Monday Night..
chilling out in a snow
bank!!! Poised to
JUMP!




Sunday Nights
progress!

The Olympics is going fast! Knitting for me has been sparse.. off and on. I have tried to make the most of it. The opening ceremonies we're awesome. I was not able to watch at 6:30 as I was at my weekly knitting group (FridayNightKnit at theGrounds) .. we had a valentine knitting evening. But once home (11:00pm) I sat down to my DVR and started my "Casting On". Finally after 3 mis-starts... I was on a roll... when my yarn jump out of my lap and rolled across the floor. My puppy posed to jump, was in the "fetch" mod and pounced on the yarn..and after 45 minutes of untangling my yarn... (sigh) I went to bed. After this trail run, sunday evening I sat down in front of a roaring fire and relaxed. I started my cast on for the 4th time.....and skated across the finish line in record time... (after the 3rd time you finally get it... casting on 2 socks at once is Rocket Science). Of course I did all this under the playful eye of my pooch .. who was ready to pounce on any stray misfire! Monday night I finished the ribbing and started the pattern. Hoorah....

Happy Knitting
Linda

my Olympic Goal

I have decided to complete a three-cable scarf.
It needs 14 inches added to it to make it 40inches and finished.


I also need to add skein & 1/2 to a huge-ish shawl to be ready to move to the next step, it is long boring sets of St st, so endurance is a key here.