Olympic let-down

OK, so now that I don't have Tubey to knit on anymore I'm at something of a loss. I cast on last night (I know, I can't believe that I'm not taking at least a few days off!) for a Kitty Pi out of some pink and purple wool I got at the stash swap (thanks Lolly!). My kitties will be super happy, especially if I put their beds in front of the heating vents. It feels great to be knitting on big needles with big yarn. Pictures at some point - at this rate, after I'm done! (this goes much quicker than Tubey did!)

I have been doing some blog surfing to find some other fabulous Olympic Tubeys - check out KT's Tubey lessons, Jennifer's rainbow version, Rachel's pink and brown color combo (that I love!), nona's solid color version (with striped sleeves), claymaven's amazing version with a cabled body (instead of the ribbed version), and Jessie and Missy both have lovely solid color versions. Go Tubey Olympians!

As some have already posted, the Capital area knitbloggers (or 16 of us at least) had a fabulous knitting and yarn swapping night over the weekend. Fidget Ann and Pixiestikz Heather co-hosted the event, and I think it was a success all around. There was So. Much. Yarn. It was awesome.

Have you ever seen such happy knitters?

And of course there was all of the knitting - projects to ooh and ahh over, yarn to fondle, Jaywalkers all over the place (Cara, what have you done?), and lots of appreciation when I tried on Tubey to check the length. (A little too much appreciation, actually - I felt like a rock star undeserving of all of the hype - you know, a knitting Milli Vanilli.) We found out what happens when you (or Isel, actually) tries on a sock with a dpn toe (impressive, but probably wouldn't fit very well in your shoes). The conversations were fun, too - there were enough folks that there were usually at least three different conversations going on at a given time, but then something interesting would be said into one of those random silences and everyone would start paying attention.
Everytime I meet knitbloggers I reflect a little on just how random it is - the fact that I picked up (and loved) the hobby of knitting, then I chose to chronicle it on the internet for random strangers to read, then I decide to go to parties and festivals with people who are kind of strangers and familiar at the same time. And time after time they impress me. Knitters are an awesome bunch. Seriously - we rule.

You know what else I did over the weekend? Sunday morning, in true Olympic spirit, I tried a new sport.

Yes, I am curling

The National Capital Curling Club was hosting an open house - and over 1200 people tried the sport over the weekend! Not quite a Knitting Olympics, but damn impressive. We got there before they opened on Sunday morning, and it was a good thing - by the time we were done there was a huge line.
It's much, much harder than it looks, especially when they give you the slippery thing for one shoe. It's really slippery. (Duh, it's ice, but it was still kind of a surprise.) I didn't really get much more than a "taste" but I'm definitely up for going again sometime.

More later, with pictures of things other than Tubey!

Golden Tubey!

Pattern: Tubey from Knitty
Yarn: Maple Creek Farms Fine Wools 100% Alpaca in colorways Power and Strawberry Smoothie, purchased at Rhinebeck 2005 (knitting from stash!)
Needles: Denise 5's and 6's, Crystal Palace Bamboo dpns and circular size 6
Started: February 10, 2006 during the Opening Ceremonies
Finished: February 26, 2006 (down to the wire!)

Comments: Love the fit, love the neckline, love the yarn. More photos: front and back.
I'm still having trouble believing that it's done. I got off to a bit of a slow start, not finishing the sleeves/shrug until last Monday and knitting the entire body this week. I am a complete Olympics addict (thanks, Mom!), and spent a lot of time on the couch knitting both weeks. I also had my meetup group and another knitting nite party this week (at Fidget Ann's) which helped tons.

Of course, I had tons of help while working on this sweater. The fur babies helped tons:

And Dan was a big help, too. He went to the grocery store by himself to buy me a dessert to take to an office party (because I couldn't possibly spare the time), brought me Tylenol when my hands were hurting, and was a great cheerleader.

I had lots of other exciting, creative stuff to say about this sweater, but I'm kinda Tubey-ed out right now. In fact, I might be knitted out for a few days. I'm not sure what my next project will be either...

Snargle Mom Update

My mother is a knathlete, too. She's quite computer savvy (AOL quilting forum guru), and very crafty, too (primarily quilt with some crochet thrown in). She (and my dad) both read the Yarn Harlot on a regular basis, and she threw her hat in the ring for the KO, making her third knitted project ever. After an initial setback (and some ripping), here's her progress as of Day 4:

She's knitting the Lacy Ribbed Scarf from The Portable Crafter (Knitting), using size 6 needles and Lana Borgosesia Mohair yarn.

Go Mom!

Must. Knit.

No time to blog - too busy knitting!

This Tubey is going to be a nailbiter... Picked up stitches and started the body tonight. Details later (if I'm not too busy knitting!)...

Jaywalkers

Pattern: Jaywalker socks from Magknits by the fabulous Grumperina

Yarn: Socks That Rock in the Blarney Stone colorway

Needles: Addi turbo 1's

Started: Approximately Jan 1, 2006

Finished: Feb 9, 2006

Comments: This pair of socks was knit on 9 plane flights and in a total of 6 states, and the photo above was in a 7th state (from where we went snowboarding today). I have a massive post coming to help trace their journey, but that will wait, and the contest ends in just two days. These socks fit quite closely (although I'm glad that I went down to the smaller size) and the fabric is stiffer than the pair that I knitted on 2's (socks done; photo yet to come). They're getting more comfortable as I wear them. I think it's safe to say that they'll become standards in the hand knit sock drawer!

Olympic Progress

Thanks to everyone for your input on the color choice - it was actually the opposite of what I was leaning towards! But I've decided that all of you can't be wrong, and will proceed with the variegated shrug/sleeves and solid body - with a few stripes thrown in for fun.

I cast on at the beginning of the Arrested Development season finale (hopefully not series finale - c'mon ABC or Showtime!) - which was coincidentally also the beginning of the Opening Ceremony coverage. By the time the flame was lit around 11:30 I had made some progress:

On Saturday I got a bit distracted by a house project (getting our 2nd bedroom ready for a new coat of paint) but did manage to get a few more inches in - no picture though. I thought I'd done good work until I surfed around a few blogs and found some excellent progress (like Mac or Jennifer), so now I'm extra motivated!
[For those bloggers participating in the Knitting Olympics Drinking Game, this is Number 2 - although I don't like to think of myself as whining, but merely stating facts. Please drink now. You can thank me later - or just buy the next round.]

Here's what we look like tonight:

Thanks to Cleo for being the model/reference for scale. Sidebar: the pink plaid blanket that she's on was a Christmas gift and has proven to be the equivalent of Cleo crack. She's on it at absolutely every possible opportunity.

And I am now a proud member of Team Knit in Public, after an unplanned vehicle malfunction led to an unplanned trip to Pep Boys, followed by an unplanned taxi ride. Anyway, here's the photographic proof:

More progress updates to come! Bob Costa is standing by.

Olympic Warmup

I'm back from my whirlwind trip! Everything went well, and I've even got photos and an FO to show for it - but more on that later. I need some time to put together the entry - let's try for this weekend, shall we?

In the meantime, I'm very excited for the Opening Ceremonies and casting on my Tubey tomorrow! I'm planning to join the KnitAlong, which has a button, too:

I've done the swatching, figured out the needle size and am almost ready to go. After a few measuring sessions yesterday, during which my cross-back width ranged from 14" (making me the size of an 8-year-old) to 24" (which correlates with the 54" chest measurement, which is nowhere close), we finally settled on 20.5". I'll be making the Medium size, which is what I figured I'd be making before I started measuring!

There's only one decision left to make. I'm using two yarns - 100% alpaca, bought at Rhinebeck from Maple Creek Farm.

One is for the body, the other for the shrug and sleeves, but I still haven't quite decided which color will be which. I will have a stripe of the other color through the sleeves like in the original pattern.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Goal for the Olympics - frequent posting to document progress!

P.S. ETA - I just found out that the final four hours of Arrested Development will be shown tomorrow night from 8-10 as a 2-hour season finale. Opposite the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics. Gee, you can tell that Fox really loves this show, can't you? I'll definitely be watching one and taping the other... not sure which!