Today I decided to participate in the
Knitting Olympics and
Ravelympics. I've committed to knitting a pair of socks between the lighting of the Olympic flame and finishing before the flame is extinguished in 17 days. For those who don't realize how insane this is for me, consider that I have 2 kids who demand attention and occasional feeding. I've been working on a sweater for Boy Monkey for more than a year and it still needs a sleeve and a half. The last time I made socks it took me 5 months. So, yeah, I'm crazy.
The socks I am knitting are
Skew (Rav link) from
Knitty, Winter 2009. The pattern was just released this week. Never before have I knit a project so soon after it was published. And this one is going to be a viral knit for sure. The construction is unique. I can't wait to see how it actually works.
I chose my yarn after the kids went to bed tonight, no earlier than 9pm. Already I am so far behind. There was no swatching and I've never used this yarn (
Unwind Yarns (a Canadian company, how appropriate)
Shiraz in Wicked Raspberry) before; a recipe for disaster, as most knitters know. I only had to cast on twice before I got it right and have been happily knitting along for a couple of hours when I realize that I totally screwed up. I missed the instruction to repeat two rows 8 more times, increasing the toe to 48 stitches. I only had 16 stitches when I moved to the next section. So now I have to rip it back and start all over again. Here's what it looked like before frogging. Notice it's just about an inch high, but it represents a couple hours of knitting.
Here it is post frogging. What a sad little pile of yarn.
And now I start again. I'm having a hard time imagining I'll be able to finish these socks in little more than 2 weeks, but I'm going to do my best, even if that means SweetiePetitie cries in the Jumperoo for hours on end and BoyMonkey spends all day in front of the TV. (Just kidding, honey! Really!)
The fit is only OK. They are tight across my high instep and are tough to get over my heel. But overall I really like them. Knitting something with such interesting construction is always fun.
My Olympic Skew socks are coming along. I'm starting up the leg of the first sock and they're turning out pretty well so far. They might be a little tight across my high instep, but I think they'll fit okay. I briefly considered ripping back and trying to make the instep a little looser, but decided that given the construction of these socks, it wasn't worth the hassle or the risk. Knowing me, I'd totally screw them up.
There is still at least a vague chance I'll finish the socks on time (if I ever close the computer and get knitting, that is). One sock is coming close to being completed and we are less than halfway through the Olympics. I haven't knit this much or this obsessively since before SweetiePetitie was born!
There has been some other knitting recently. I made this cute pilot hat for my step-brother and his wife who are expecting a baby soon. It's a little small on SweetiePetitie, but it's good enough for documenting how it came out. I liked it so much that I started another out of leftover STR for her. It's rather sad that the baby of a knitter has no handknit hats that fit at the moment. It's a situation that must be remedied promptly! Well, in a week or so after I finish my Ravelympic socks!
In totally unrelated news, BoyMonkey lost his first tooth a few weeks ago. We haven't managed to take a picture of "the window in his mouth," as he says. He was the first in his class to have a loose tooth. He was so excited when it finally fell out and the tooth fairy left him a dollar. SweetiePetitie is pulling to a stand and cruising around the furniture. It won't be too long before she's walking, but I'd like to delay that for a bit, if possible. She's only 10 months old! Shall we end with a bit of brotherly love and sisterly rejection?
