Opening Ceremony: Knitting Olympics

I decided to knit socks for the Yarn Olympics, as finishing socks is usually difficult for me. I'm using Knit Picks kettle dyed Essential, and actually bought a sock pattern, Sleepy Hollow, because Yarn Harlot lured me into it. A heel with no stitches to pick up? I am all over that. I love the leaf patterned leg, too. I get to use my circular sock needle for the first time, a HiyaHiya bamboo beauty, size 2mm. It's a trifecta of fun with stash usage, tool usage, and pattern! Yeeha!

I made it through the ribbing and one pattern repeat on sock one while watching the opening ceremonies.

I might have knit faster if Khi and I hadn't decided to play a drinking game. We took a drink every time Bob Costas said something smarmy, stupid, or obvious. I had finished a bottle before the athletes' entrance was 1/3 over... I was taking small sips; Khi was on his second drink. I think I finished 3 drinks before Bob starting pausing to watch the drama. It was a good opening ceremony!

Chemo hats, ahoy!

Last year, I heard about group looking for hand knit items for breast cancer patient care baskets. I ended up knitting at least half a dozen hats for them.

Today I received an e-mail from a PharmD student who is coordinating breast cancer care baskets this year. She wrote to ask if I would knit more hats, and included the recommendation from last year's coordinator: "...there's a COP staff person who knitted most of the hats last year...she just pounded them out!!"

Heheh. OK, so after submitting a couple hats, I agreed to take their bag of leftover balls and knit a bunch of hats in about a week. I really enjoyed it!

I used the super easy, super flexible Pi Topper chemo cap by Corey Laflamme (http://www.elann.com/ShowFreePattern.asp?Id=182024). It's a great pattern, using just one ball of nubby cotton Elann Esprit. I knit the cap as written, then in seed and other stitch variations, and rounded out my litter by knitting a black cap with stripes from the leftover yards from the other caps.

I offered to do a half-dozen caps this year - quick, satisfying breaks from Percy and my flock of shawls. I think I did a WW prayer shawl last year, but the caps are quicker and I think maybe more useful to more people - and there's no way I'm giving Percy up to anyone.

Dog vs. Percy (with cute puppy photo)

The Percy shawl is my primary project right now. I have tried casting on a sock, or something easy, but Percy calls to me.

Today, however, Percy called to me from a heap in the middle of my living room. I found my ball of Harmony first. "Hmmm... I didn't leave that ball of yarn there OH-MY-GOD-WHERE'S-PERCY!?"

Percy was, thankfully, still attached to the ball, and mostly still on the needles. Mostly.

There was no question as to who snatched Percy from my knitting basket. I currently have three dogs in my house, but only new foster puppy Clyde has not heard the shriek that comes from seeing a ball of cashmere in a slobbery puppy mouth (that of O'Malley or Calloway, I think it was).

Clyde is one of four "toolbox pups" from Harlan County. He was found stuffed in a plastic toolbox with three siblings and his mother in front of the shelter. One pup didn't survive, but Clyde, George, Moose and their momma made it to Minnesota. Momma is a spaniel of some sort, red & white with a sprinkling of spots, but much too thin. Moose was the runt, with her coloring and a wide white blaze down his nose with a red spot in the middle - too cute! Clyde and George have the build and markings of Bernese Mountain dogs, according to Khi. I suppose they could be beagles, but we've seen big furries from Harlan before, so there is some large fluffy daddy making it with the ladies.

We brought Clyde home Friday night. He is a sturdy pup, with lovely grey-green eyes. He is sweet, lusciously soft, and awfully endearing (except for his sleep habits - he doesn't like to sleep alone at night and isn't afraid to say so).

After two days with us, he has decided he is at home. Comfortable enough to tease Harley (who has 25 pounds on him but is too soft-hearted to snap), to chew crayons, books, and the doggy bed basket (typical toddler), and to eat the big dog food and completely ignore his special puppy food. He may already know his name, or just the baby voice we all use when we talk to him.

He will learn the rules - like leaving my yarn alone. I will learn to put my projects in a safe place. In the meantime, I was able to tink less than half a row of Percy and get my stitches back in order, and added a dozen more rows. All is well!

Percy-cution

Percy is a bit of a brat. Just when I think I have him figured out, he pulls the wool over my eyes. Last night, despite preparedness, focus, and confidence, I could not for the life of me make row 0 follow row 31.

I puzzled and puzzed 'til my puzzler was sore, and finally ended up pulling my life line out (eek!), tinking back to row 27, and trying to start row 0 from there. Nope. I reread the pattern. No help. I counted squares and symbols. Nothin'.

After much knitting, tinking, gnashing of teeth and so on, I took a pen and drew the row 0 symbols above row 31. Even this took a few attempts - I had apparently lost my ability to count in the struggle - but finally, I had scribbled, inky proof that row 0 would flow from row 31...

At 11:45pm. Doubledagnabit.

I had to reknit the 4 rows I tinked, and knit row 0. Had to. It would have been wrong to drop beautiful (if tinky) Percy in the middle of a row, with yards of rewound cobweb on my lovely ball of Harmony yarn. I wanted, needed a fresh start when I came back today.

Shortly before 1am, row 0 had been knit onto row 31. I believe somewhere an angel got her wings, or at least kicked some imp's ass for me. Maybe I should take her lead, and dump Percy in the basket of unknittables 'til he improves his attitude.

Or maybe just keep knitting. Aha! That'll show 'im.

Percy-vering

I finished the first repeat of Chart B last night. After a day of no shawl knitting. I made a couple mistakes right away, and found I'd knit less than two rows forward when I had to tink two rows back to found a mislaid stitch. I found it, and two missed (or slippery) YOs.

Dagnabit.

After getting past that point, though, the rows flew by. I rethreaded my lifeline on row 31. Tonight I start rows 0-27, which I will probably need to repeat at least 3 times. The inches accumulate slowly when knitting with cobweb yarn on 0s!

I'm less needy for yarn, with many yards of Harmony left to knit, but I may cast on an easy project - perhaps a pair of gloves, since my cabled sangria Knit Picks Andean Silk gloves are starting to show some wear. I keep finding silky bats in the ends of the fingertips. Much nicer than wooly pills, I guess, but after a while I find myself getting too fidgety and I have to pull them out. Maybe if I kept all a' them, I could spin them into something new! Heheh. :)

Pictures: Silk on Wires and more Percy

I finally took photos tonight.

My recycled silk Dandy neckerchief is on my Fleet Farm blocking wires. I don't have a spray bottle, so I haven't really blocked it, but it is being stretched. The garter edge is not wired, only the sides, and I haven't figured out how to hold my blocking wires down. Maybe on my old cutting board? The wires, 4 feet of 1/8" stainless steel, are a bit thick but seem to be working well.

The Percy shawl is a really rewarding knit.

It's so light and lovely. The Harmony yarn color changes are subtle and slow - it's like knitting a sunrise, the color change is so gradual. Didn't make much progress tonight, but look forward to getting through the first repeat (of several, no doubt) of chart B.

Mercy, Percy!

I have been knitting like a fiend on the Percy shawl. Made it through chart A eight times, threaded a lifeline through the last row of purls, took a deep breath, and started chart B...

And had to tink row 2. I forgot the even rows were patterned, not just purled, and had made it happily 3/4 through row 2 before I realized what I was doing. Then I read the chart backwards on row 2, because on chart A it didn't really matter. After thinking about what I was trying to do, I figured it out and made a cheat sheet for the k2tog/ssk and p2tog/ssp, depending on if I'm on the right or left center of the shawl. I highlighted every 2dec either orange or yellow to make the chart even easier to read.

I've had a few scares, when I ran out of stitches or had too many and couldn't see why. I had to tink a couple rows more than once because I lost a stitch among the k2tog, YO bit, and wasn't far along enough to see the pattern. It's gotten a bit easier/quicker, but I still refer to my cheat sheet and make sure I'm thinking and watching what's happening.

I'm on row 24 of Chart B; with the fine, fine yarn and teeny, tiny needles I'm using, I will get to do several repeats!