I wish I could say that I was able to wear my Olympic sweater today, but the storm that rolled into the area yesterday (and is still pounding us as I type this) has prevented it from drying as quickly as I had hoped. I think I’m also a bit shell-shocked over the whole Knitting Olympic experience. I feel like I should be knitting, but my hands cringe a little whenever I consider pulling out the lace shawl I had been working on before embarking on the Olympic endeavor.

I still can’t believe I got the whole thing done in 16 days.

I’ve been trying to think of what I have gotten out of this whole insanity. I certainly learned that if I put my mind to it, I can actually get a sweater knit in 16 days. (I also learned that I am rather glad I hadn’t tried to do a lace shawl; I would have either ended up more crazier than I already am or a drunk without a shawl cause I can’t knit lace and drink at the same time.) I learned that I need to sit down and write an email to the designer about some questionable sections of the pattern, namely the stitch counts of various sections (the pattern insisted I should have an even number of stitches while I consistantly had an odd number of stitches). I learned I like Rowan Felted Tweed, which is good because I only used 5 and a half balls of it for the sweater (which is slightly worrying because according to the yardage lised in the pattern it was supposed to take me 7 balls… but I got gauge). I’ve learned that I need to get back on the ball with organizing my side bar (I hadn’t realized I still had Ribby Cardi listed as a WIP; I finished it how many months ago?).

Now I just hope the twitching ends soon.

About an hour ago I finished my Knitting Olympics sweater….

I apologize for the quality of the photos; I think all the knitting made me go a bit cross-eyed.

Here it is 10:37 pm the night before I have an 8 am lace class at Stitches, and I’m awake and blogging about it instead of trying to get to sleep. Of course, a small part of me is excited and would probably have trouble getting to sleep if I were actually laying in my bed. Then, there’s the other part of me that just reminded myself that I still need to get all my supplies for said lace class together in one place so that they all go with me when I stumble out of the apt way too early on a Sunday morning without caffiene.

Why haven’t I already gotten my supplies together, you ask? Well, I’ve been working on cataloging homework all day. I am growing rather disdainful of AACR2 (the cataloging rules libraries use for those of you not slogging your way through library school).

I know I can be anal about things, but I’m not that anal. *gah*

Because I was in class till 4 pm on Friday with errands to run afterwards, I didn’t cast on untill about 6 pm. I hope I’ve casted on the correct number of stitches. The stitches are broken down by section with stitch markers inbetween. When I add up the number of stitches in each section, they don’t equal the number listed under total number. All the other sizes are correct. I decided to go with the number listed in the actual cast on, and assume that the total number is a typo. I was a tad worried when I read ahead and realized that if I had cast on the total number I would be doing an even number of increases; with the cast on number I had to do one row beyond an even number of repeats. Thankfully, the other sizes don’t coincide with an even number of repeats either.

By Saturday, my progress had me almost completely done with the raglan increases. Sunday I finished the increases for certain and stopped just short of dividing for the sleeves. From here I have to figure out how I want to cast on the stitches that will form the under arm. Usually people think off the backwards loop cast on method when casting on in the middle of a row. I hate the backwards loop method. I always end up with extra yarn after knitting the backwards loop stitches, which then results in a hole of some sort. This time I’m considering flipping the knitting around and using the cable cast on (the stitches are supposed to be cast onto the right needle).

In other news, I’m considering changing my photo hosting. Currently, the majority of my photos are on a site hosted in Britain. I’ve only ever really run into problems when the servers then are taken down at night (in England) for maintenance, which is usually smack in the middle of when I want to upload photos. Unfortunately, to upgrade to get better services would cost something like $80 with the current exchange rate. So, I’m thinking of switching over completely to Flickr, which would put all my photos in one location. I’m just not sure if I want to transfer links to the new hosting site, or leave them archived.

I went to the yarn store Saturday and swatched, bought the needles I would need for the pattern, and still hadn’t made out my mind. The announcement of a deadline to enter, however, has caused me to jump on the bandwagon. I sent an email to Steph this afternoon announcing my intention to attempt to knit Knitting Pure & Simple’s Neck Down Shaped Cardigan #241 in Rowan Tweed in 16 days. This should be interesting since cast on is supposed to occur at 2 pm this Friday, and I’ll be in class (EAD, for those interested) until 4 pm. The prof has warned us that there will be copious note taking, and I am wondering if she’ll think I’m not taking notes if I’m casting on a sweater… *sigh* It’ll most likely have to wait until I get home. EAD also meets on Saturday, then again next Friday and Saturday. And there’s Stitches. Thankfully, I have President’s Day off from work.

Stitches West is the weekend of the 18th. I am planning on hitting the market Thursday night when they open it to students since my next opportunity isn’t until Sunday afternoon. I’m also interested in trying to meet up with anyone else out there in the blogiverse who is planning on attending; I’m free Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday after 11 am. I know Kathy from SJ will be around on Sunday as well.

Maybe it’s that I don’t like making decisions, but I’m still hemming and hawing over joining up with the 2500+ others in the Knitting Olympics. Tomorrow amongst the other things like cappucino drinking and motorcyclic shopping I will get to go to my LYS for the first time in several weeks. Because I like to torture myself, I plan on taking the pattern and yarn I’m considering as a maybe possible Olympic try. I don’t have needles that even vaguely resemble what the pattern calls for (I seem to have a drought in my needle collection when it comes to size 6 and size 7, and I certainly have neither size in a 24″ length circular needle), and I still need to swatch.

I think some part of me has decided it wants to take part; it just hasn’t convinced the rest of me yet.

In the coming weeks I will definitely need something to keep my hands busy at night after dinner because I have gone back to Weight Watchers. I went to my first meeting on Wednesday. I figure it worked last year (I lost something like 50 lbs, but gained 10 lbs back over the collective holidays), and I still have plenty to lose. Knitting keeps me from snacking.

In other knitting news, I get to take the afghan that I’m making for my mother down to Monterey on Sunday to work on while “watching” the Super Bowl… I really only tune in to see the commercials. Hopefully, I can finish it while I’m down there so it doesn’t have to come home with me again, and so my mother will stop asking why I haven’t finished it yet.

In honor of Brigid’s Feast Day and as seen on many another blog (including Grace’s Poppies, who started it), a poem…

Miniver Cheevy

Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn,
   Grew lean while he assailed the seasons
He wept that he was ever born,
   And he had reasons.

Miniver loved the days of old
   When swords were bright and steeds were prancing;
The vision of a warrior bold
   Would send him dancing.

Miniver sighed for what was not,
   And dreamed, and rested from his labors;
He dreamed of Thebes and Camelot,
   And Priam’s neighbors.

Miniver mourned the ripe renown
   That made so many a name so fragrant;
He mourned Romance, now on the town,
   And Art, a vagrant.

Miniver loved the Medici,
   Albeit he had never seen one;
He would have sinned incessantly
   Could he have been one.

Miniver cursed the commonplace
   And eyed a khaki suit with loathing:
He missed the medieval grace
   Of iron clothing.

Miniver scorned the gold he sought,
   But sore annoyed was he without it;
Miniver thought, and thought, and thought,
   And thought about it.

Miniver Cheevy, born too late,
   Scratched his head and kept on thinking;
Miniver coughed, and called it fate,
   And kept on drinking.

   — Edwin Arlington Robinson

Got home from work last night and made myself a vodka tonic before settling down in front of my wheel with some of the pin-drafted roving my in-laws gave me. I decided to try for a lace weight yarn, so I started spinning very thin singles, which proceeded to continuously break on me. It’s been awhile since I tried my hand at alpaca or lace weight, and I guess I had forgotten how short the staple is and how much twist is required. The main part of my problem was I would get a section that would become too thin, and it would snap as it was loading onto the bobbin. So, I’d go to pull out the end and get started again, and the yarn would fall apart as I gently pulled on it. Eventually, I decided that my hands were too sweaty (although I don’t know why) and I was too uptight to deal with fussy alpaca. Thankfully, my brother-in-law arrived for dinner just about then, so I had an extra excuse to put it away for the evening. I had predrafted the fiber, but I think I’m going to try again with the roving spilt in half lengthwise.

I’m still debating joining the Knitting Olypmics. Like I’ve said before I have a pattern and yarn to go with it, but I don’t have the needles so I haven’t had a chance to swatch anything. Additionaly, I’m still feeling underwhelmed about my knitting; I just don’t know if it’s in relation to the current projects I have going (which I just realized I have never updated my sidebar with… might be time for a blog spring cleaning) or knitting in general. I’d hate to sign up and realize that I just don’t want to do it… but if I could manage to finish in 16 days, I’d have a pretty purple sweater to wear. *sigh*

Let me start with Phoenix… The only family at the memorial was my aunt and uncle, my father, and myself. Then there were all the old people from the park in which my grandfather lived (apparently, in Phoenix, there are a lot of these “parks” where you have to be at least 50 to move in, and there’s a community building, and they take field trips). A few people got up to say things about my grandfather… I learned things like he introduced gambling to the park (when my father’s side of the family gets together it’s not if they’ll play poker, but when). I also learned that the lady who lived in the house behind him is going senile caues she got up and eulogized the old guy who had previously lived in my grandfather’s house instead of my grandfather. Overall, it was an okay trip… except for the 24 hours total spent driving down and back up again. *groan* Who knew sitting in a car for that long could exhaust you?

I spent a couple days trying to recover from the exhaustion so that I could go back to work and start the Spring semester. I feel like I’ve been spinning around so fast all I can do is fall down. And I wonder why I haven’t knitted in a week (and yet I’m still contemplating joining the Knitting Olympics). Maybe I’ll try my hand at spinning a little tonight; it’s not quite as involved as a lace shawl. Maybe I’ll put out one of the packs of alpaca roving my in-laws sent me for Christmas.

Of course, maybe this has something to do with my mood…

Ugh… I think it’s time to try wearing my computer reading glasses again. I know I’m a bit overdue for a eye doctor appointment as well. My tension headaches seem to be coming back. They’re kind of a circular problem — I have a little trouble seeing my computer screen so I unconsciously strain forward, which makes my neck hurt, which soon escalates into a tension headache, which in turn makes my eyes act funny, repeat from beginning.

Of course, these tension headaches always seem to coincide with something I have to do. This time around I’m driving down to Phoenix with my dad tomorrow. He’s coming up to pick me up tonight because I’m spending the night at my parents house so we can get an early start. Unfortunately, my dad’s idea of an early start for a drive like this is 6 am (and I mean car pulling out of driveway at 6 am, not waking up at 6 am). *groan* We’ll be going to my grandfather’s memorial, then returning with my grandfather’s rolltop desk.

Twelve hours down and twelve hours back… plenty of time for knitting, right? As long as I don’t get sick to my stomach from trying to read the lace chart.