There she sits.

Undone.

…but I am okay with it…

It was a whole number of things that contributed to the fact that the sweater is not done – and won’t be done by the time I leave for Vancouver.  The snow was both a blessing and a curse.  It gave me five days to sit in the house (with occasional “snow shoveling” breaks), watch movies, and work on her.  But, when I ran out of the main color of yarn for the collar and the top colorwork section, it also prevented me from going to the yarn shop to pick up another ball.  And time constraints prevent me from going there now and spending another day working on it…

The knitting was a joy – but the finishing is not.  I have attempted to seam her up three times – shoulders and sleeves into armholes – and each time, I am not happy with the results.  So, I ripped back.  I think I need to do one of two things:  rip back to the point where I made the first mistake (stockinette and all) and just start over from there – OR steek about 2 more inches so that the armholes have more space and don’t bunch up like a trash bag.  It’s a drop shoulder construction, so that automatically changes things – it’s hard to get it to lay right on my shoulders.

So, maybe I ran out of steam as well as running out of yarn.  Maybe we both need a little break from each other.  Maybe she needs a vacation too.

Yeah, I am a little disappointed, but I also realize that it is not the end of the world, nor the end of the sweater.  I don’t want to do a shoddy job in finishing – cutting corners and leaving out parts of the chart – just to have it finished before the trip.

There you have it.  I am at peace about it.  It does help knowing that at least one part of my goal was completed with Kris’s sweater turning out so well – much better than I expected. And I will just finish this one sometime in the future…

–

Did you watch the Opening Ceremonies?  I was just amazed.  It was so beautiful and so well-done.  I loved the tributes to each part of the country and the cultures therein, and I thought the tragic death of the Georgian athlete was handled well during the ceremony (although the media really needs to stop showing the accident footage).

I know many of you were watching and casting on for your Olympics/Ravelympics projects.

Which part was your favorite?  I almost have too many to name – but the First Nations’ welcome, the orcas, the fiddlers, and the Rocky Mountain aerialists come to mind.  It was beautiful!  YAY CANADA

…Can’t wait to get up there and join the festivities!

See you on the flip side!!

So, this was not the update I was planning to give.  But, sometimes, things don’t go as planned.

This is proof that the unexpected does happen… and it happened to me this time around.

I have knit several patterns in translation – primarily Norwegian and German – and I know that English pattern writers, specifically North Americans, tend to “coddle” their knitters with step-by-step instructions.  Countries with a long-standing knitting traditions tend to assume that their knitters know what to do since they have been knitting since they were in diapers…

Well, I am North American and didn’t learn to knit in diapers, but I am pretty intuitive… and I totally missed the three little words amongst all the others that said “continue in stockinette”.  So, I went along on my merry way with the established rib pattern – 4 inches in, to be exact.  Once I realized the folly of my ways, I just took a deep breath and knew what I had to do.

Instead of ripping back the WHOLE body and losing many hours/days of work, I decided to surgically repair and just rip back that section.  I saw Stacy Shutterhoney do it last year – with cables, no less! – so I just bit the bullet and ran my lifeline and rip rip ripped it.  Thanks for the inspiration (and the courage), Stacy!

Maybe I am delusional, but I feel like this is still under control… and I feel like I might still be able to finish this baby in the next week before I leave.

Here’s a progress photo *before* I realized the mistake…

So, body has a few more inches, including some colorwork rows, and then the steeking, and then the sewing shoulders together and picking up for the mock turtleneck.  Doable, right?  Right?  *sigh*

Luckily, there are multiple feet of snow on the ground outside, so I am not really going anywhere for the next while… we’ll see what I can do today!

:: knitting sleeve two of my Olympic sweater whilst studying Spanish with Rosetta Stone ::

(Hello operator?)

Great progress on both fronts.

Sleeve has doubled in length since this photo taken yesterday morning (and I have a callus on my finger to prove it) but I like the placement of the official patch here on the sleeve.

13 days till Vancouver.

… Almost there …

More details on the sweater, the trip plans, and Spanish studies to come ~

So many inches of stockinette for the body and the sleeves – when I finally reached the colorwork portion, it felt like a celebration!  Of course, the colorwork is *also* stockinette, but it’s about the introduction of that new color into the mix that just brings the excitement level to a pinnacle!

I had a little trouble with the color combinations on this sweater – I originally planned the navy main color with the ivory accent with a turquoise.  However, my local yarn shop could not order the turquoise as it was now discontinued (::sad face::) but I put on a positive spin and decided to go with this blue/green color for my other accent color.

Now that it is working up, I am very happy with my choice.  I think it evokes a mood that I wanted with this sweater ~ wintery, classic with a modern touch, and memorable.  Although I haven’t been to Vancouver yet, it somehow seems like these colors will really “work” there – the deep blue with the blue green, reminiscent of the ocean and the nearby mountains. 

23 days till the Opening Ceremonies for the Winter Olympics!

…and 25 days before my plane lands in Vancouver, so just as long to get this sweater off the needles! … it looks plausible!  I am going to try my hardest!

 If you are starting to get excited about the games too, it would be great to see you in the Vancouver 2010 Olympics Ravelry group!   We are chatting about meetups in Vancouver, athlete news, as well as what you are planning to work on while watching games and competitions… it’s a grand ol’ time and it would be lovely to see you there!

…If he is smiling, then I am smiling…

Olympic Sweater Success!

Pattern:  Dale of Norway Liberec 2009
Yarn: Reynolds Whiskey in natural and navy
Needles: Size US 1, 2, 3
Started May 2009 / Completed December 2009

I finished seaming at 10:35pm on New Year’s Eve – about 1.5 hours shy of my “deadline” of the new year.  I did not count the initial blocking into my deadline, so I blocked over night and let it sit out for the morning and got photos this afternoon.  (If I had finished this one day before, I could have had snow pictures, but it melted pretty quick!)

Aside from the Olympics knitting, this is the fourth year that I have made an annual “my man” sweater – with Christmas, his birthday, and our anniversary falling within two weeks of each other, it seems like a good time to make a big project like this.  By far, this is the biggest project of all!

Probably the biggest undertaking of my knitting career – but what a great sense of accomplishment!  There are only a few very minor things that I am not happy with (the raglan decreases are pulling across the chest, even after a good blocking…)  but I am thrilled with the fit and overall look of the sweater.

The yarn was a decent substitute, as my yarn shop did not have the colors of the Dale yarn that I wanted for this sweater.  I used Reynolds Whiskey.  It seems to be a good sturdy yarn that will last awhile.  Kris wears his clothes pretty hard, so this will be a good test!

…and I think he may actually wear it without me asking him too!

Countdown to Vancouver Olympics – 41 days!

(in other words, 41 days to finish MY Olympic sweater!)