Life and Ravelympics

Ok, I need to write this Ravelympics post. I've been wanting to write it for a while but just never got around to it.

As is often the case this time of year, I'm feeling myself becoming more and more depressed with every new day I have to wake up. Bleh. I cannot wait for Spring to be here.

It doesn't help that I keep getting bad news on top of more bad news. I'm seeing a doctor tomorrow to see what kind of tests I need to do to figure out while I am still unpregnant and while I should be happy that I may finally get some answers, I'm not. I'm angry at the world for being broken and I get so freaking jealous of all the women around me who can get pregnant just by looking at their partner, I feel like I should spend the rest of my life home so I don't have to hear about it and face the fact that it may never happen for me.

We also finally figured out the source of my boyfriend's back problem: a big ass hernia. Seriously, the doctor even wrote "très grosse hernie" (very big hernia) on his test results. He'll be seeing a neurosurgeon at the beginning of March to figure out what to do next.

The one little light in that tunnel: our upcoming trip to Berlin (and possibly Coppenhaguen). Because there HAS to be some good things in my life, right?

Another good thing: The Ravelympics. I do want to write about it. Sorry about the whiny ramblings above, but sometimes you need to get things out and I really don't have anyone to talk about these things.

Ok. Ravelympics. Who's in?

I did the crazy thing of signing up for two teams and two projects. Problem is: I'm still undecided on one of them.

One thing is for sure: I'll be knitting the Potpourri mittens for Team Canada (Events: Mittens Moguls and Nordic Colorwork Combined).

I will be using this:



I had already started these mittens a while ago, but quickly realized they would be too small. I'll make them again with 2.75 mm needles and it should do the trick.

My second project will be for Team Tufty (Sock Knitters Anonymous' team) and it will be a Sock hockey project of course. I'm just not sure which pattern I want to knit. Here are my choices so far:

1. Firestarter, by Yarnissima.

I would be using this:



I've been wanting to knit with it since I got it. But I've never tried a toe-up sock before and I'm already not sure I'll have time to do both mittens and socks. Maybe I should go with a good old cuff-down sock?

2. Fall Fire socks by Lucia Tedesco.

I don't have a pic of the yarn, but you can see pictures here. I've had this yarn and pattern for a while so I think it's about time I make the socks. But again, this is a toe-up pattern...

3. Barber Pole socks, by Veronik Avery

I'd be using this:



That one is cuff-down and I'd be using yarn I've had in my stash for a long long time! Plus, I'd be knitting from one of my pattern book, which is something I really need to do. I mentionned a while ago that I didn't want to buy a new sock book until I've knit at least one pattern from each of my sock books. Well it turns out Cookie A is coming up with a new book, so I need to get going!

Though now that I think about it, I've already knit two patterns from Steppin Out (the booklet that has the Barber Pole pattern). So it's a moot point.

What are YOU planning to knit for the Ravelympics?

Summer!

You know summer is close when Skeins her Way is having her Summer knitting goals contest!

I now consider it a tradition to list my summer knitting goals (even though I've never actually managed to reach all my goals). Anyways, here you go. This summer, I want to knit:

1. The Ishbel shawl, of course.





I'm pretty sure I'm going to use the above yarn (wool from unknown origin, that I got for free when Véronik destashed. Woohoo!)

2. Parrotfish/Pomatomus hat. I actually cast on for it this afternoon, using a skein of Lorna's Lace that I got during a round of Secret Pal. This is going to go to my aunt who'll be undergoing chemotherapy treatments this summer.

3. I'd really like to finish at least one of my UFOs/current WIPs. Believe it or not, I only have three things (not counting the hat) on the needles right now: Cardigan for Merry, Kiri Shawl and the Montego Bay scarf. I'd like to finish one. My money is on the scarf.

4. A pair of socks. I haven't decided on the pattern yet. Froot Loop, perhaps. Or a Nancy Bush pattern? Or Spring Cable? We'll see.

That's it for goals!

In other news, I realized that we can now organize our queue on Ravelry. How long have we been able to do that? I've been using tags for a while so I could just search "socks" when I only want my queued sock patterns, but now we have TABS! How cool! I have almost 300 items in my queue, so I need organization!



See? I now even have a tab for "things I want to knit soon" (Ishbel and Parrotfish are in it). Very practical. Ravelry is the best!

Ps/The Phlox socks are currently blocking! Pics soon!

Hat trick!

Is there anything more fun than starting the new year with a challenge? I'm not taking any resolution this year, but I am participating in the HAT TRICK challenge with members of the Puck this! group on Ravelry.

The goal is to do a hat trick, i.e. to knit three hats, during the month of January. Details here. I was already planning on knitting hats to destash this winter so this is the perfect challenge for me.

I started tonight by casting on for Madge (too bad the Habs lost while I was knitting) and I'm confident I'll finish it during the next couple of days. It's a pretty quick knit. Pictures coming up soon!

Day 26 of 30

Did you know that...


... there's a group on Ravelry called Almost Knitty, with patterns that have been rejected by Knitty? Just because it's been rejected doesn't mean it's not a good pattern (I found a cute hat on there).

... you can add reactions to your blog posts in blogger (similar to what we have in the Ravelry forums). At the bottom on my post, you can see "funny", "interesting" and "boring" and you can click on it and a (1) will appear.

... I ended up knitting THIRTY rows yesterday. Go me!

I did it!

I managed to knit two pairs of socks during the Olympics! Scroll down to my last post for the first pair.

For the second pair, I had first planned on making the Lace cuffed socks, by Veronik Avery. But I ended up disliking it in the purple yarn so I changed patterns.

I chose another pattern from the Steppin' Out booklet, the Lace and Diamond Socks, by Mona Schmidt. I finished them this morning.



I love them! I used some Regia yarn that I had in my stash. I shortened the cuff a little (I did 4 lace repeats instead of 6).

I have knit 4 pairs of socks this summer, which means I only have one more pair to knit before I can buy more sock yarn. I don't feel like knitting socks right now though. I'm feeling the urge to work on some old projects. I've picked my woven cables scarf back up this afternoon and I've been working on it. I want to finish it before winter comes, you know...

According to my widget, I'll be in a plane in exactly 9 days 22 hours 6 minutes and 23 seconds. I can't wait!

I'm on a diet!

I got the last skein of sock yarn from the Lotus Knits punk rock sock club!



It's inspired by the Green Day album Dookie. I LOVE IT! It even comes with a little Dookie stitch marker. Cute. The picture doesn't do it justice, let me tell you.

Now that I'm not waiting for any more sock yarn, I guess I can officially begin my little sock yarn diet. When I signed up for the sock club, I told myself I wouldn't buy any more sock yarn until I've knit at least five pairs. Well I've knit one so far, so I have four more to go. I guess it's not really a diet since I only have 4 skeins to lose! ;) But I'm such a slow knitter that it could take a while until I'm done with them.

I'm still working on the SOS08 socks. I've been playing with the pattern a bit so I could knit it cuff down, with my 2.25 mm needles (my needles of choice for socks). I think I finally found a way to make it work and I'm now at the heel. I forgot to take a WIP pic though.

As you can probably guess, I haven't been knitting much. All I think about right now is my trip. I even have a little countdown widget on my desktop. As I'm writing this, I still have 35 days, 5 hours, 4 minutes and 41 seconds until my plane takes off ;)

I have seen the IK Fall preview and I gotta say I'm a little disappointed. There aren't that many projects that I like, and I miss all the Montreal designers! But I like the Knotty or Knice socks, the Fresco Fair isle mittens and I LOVE the Zigzag beanie.

Is anyone entering the Ravelry knitolympics? I'm thinking about it, I'm just not sure which event I want to try!

New camera! New IK!

I got a new camera! Woohoo! I LOVE it! I've been playing with it quite a bit, but I haven't taken any good knitting-related pics yet so I don't have anything to post. But it's great. It's a Canon Power Shot A720 IS.

I'm almost done with my plain vanilla socks, so I should have a pic to show soon.

In other knitting news, the preview for the summer 2008 issue of is up! I gotta say I'm pretty disappointed in this issue. It's just not my style. But if there are any IK-designers reading this, don't feel bad, it's definitely a case of "it's not you, it's me". People are raving about the issue on Ravelry.

There is one pattern that made my heart beat a little faster though. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was love. Yes, I am totally talking about the Apres Surf Hoodie. IN LOVE I AM. It's beautiful. I want one.

And just like that, it became item #148 in my Ravelry queue. It will probably get made sometime in 2026...

On spinning and free patterns

I know I still haven't posted about the spinning class. I was hoping I would have good pics of some great yarn I made, but nope, almost a week after the class, I still suck! But the good news is that I don't suck as bad as I did last Saturday!

I realized that spinning is like anything else: some people are talented and "get it" right away. Apparently I'm not one of those people.

I may sound bitter but I'm not. It will take practice and I'm ok with that, though I'm usually a quick learner so not getting it right away is quite frustrating.

That being said, I *did* take pictures of my first yarn and the last one I made (which is already a lot better. I'm making progress). Unfortunately, my batteries died and we the "charged batteries" box in our house is empty. So pics will have to wait. The good news is that I have found a project for my first yarn: A stuffed sheep! My yarn actually looks a bit like the Ozark.

Oh and I don't want anyone to think I didn't enjoy the spinning class. I did! It was lots of fun and the instructor is super nice!

Now let's talk about free patterns. I'm sure most of you know that Magknits is gone. Many of the free patterns are available on Ravelry though. I also found out on Ravelry that some of the free patterns that used to be offered free on the Knitting Daily site are gone. That includes Kate Gilbert's super cute Peapod Baby set. I panicked at first because I looked into my pdf patterns and I didn't see it. BUT I printed it a long time ago so at least I have a copy. I love that pattern. Anyways, I'm not going to get into the reason for the disappearance of the free patterns (I only know it has something to do with contracts - I don't blame the designers at all). There's a long thread about it on the Ravelry forums.

But the whole thing really made me realize that I can't count on the free patterns I like to be there forever. So I'm going through my Ravelry queue (all 140 items) and I'm trying to save all the free patterns that I may want to knit someday. I suggest you all do the same, you never know. I would hate it if there was a pattern I really wanted to knit and found out it's not available at all anymore!

Now, the not-so-fun part...

I finished all the knitting part of Isabella. Now, my favourite part (or not): finishing! I have a very busy weekend ahead of me so I may not finish it in the next few days, but I'll try not to let it drag for months (like that blue cardigan thing that I may never seam and let it acquire urban legend myth-like fame). Pictures of Isabella will come for the weekly wip report on Sunday, whether it's finished or not (most likely, it won't be).

Also, Do asked me how long it took for me to get my Ravelry invite. I don't remember exactly when I signed up, but it must have taken at least a month (maybe 6 weeks) to get an invite. But it's totally worth it so go and sign up now if you haven't already! Oh and you mentionned inspiration? I suggest Craftster for that (and there are crochet and sewing sections that I'm sure you'll love too).

More inspiration? This cardigan. I'm in love.

Yesssss!!!!!

I finally got my Ravelry invite! It was SO worth the wait, I think I'll spend all night on it. I can't believe what a fantastic site these girls have created.

I just joined and I'm still feeling the place. My username there is, ta-da: Caroline! Not original, I know, but I like to use my real first name and it wasn't taken.

Oh and I know I haven't done a weekly wip report on Sunday, sorry about that. Both my boyfriend and I usually work on Sundays but it was Quebec Day so we had it off (and we have the next one off too because of Canada Day, how cool is that!) and we spent the whole day outside and at night I was too tired to write anything coherent. I'll make sure I do one next week. But if you really want an update, I can tell you that I finished the first Roza sock and started the second one, and I've made progress on the left front of Isabella.

In knitting news, the fall preview of Knitscene is online. I'm not crazy about any of the pattern though it's difficult to tell because the pics are so small. I guess I'll have to go to the yarn store to check the magazine out.

Oh and if you don't subscribe to Knitting Daily, you should (it's free)! They recently gave away the pattern for Tomato, a cute top available in Amy R. Singer's book No Sheep for You.