Didn't get the gold...

but I think I should get a bronze medal for giving it one helluva try. Got the front and back of the sweater done! And the shoulder seams done. 2 sleeves yet to go, but they're short sleeves, so it's something I will get done. (these pictures don't show how pretty the color is, it's called Denim and is a lovely blue with almost invisible streaks of purple...)

I tried it on - and so far - it even fits! That's worth the gold medal just for that!

Now - as to why it's at this stage instead of finished...these are the distractions.

Right off the bat, I cast on the shawl - couldn't wait to try the pattern I got at Madrona - doing it in Kauni yarn. Nice long color changes that should get more interesting as the shawl grows.

Then I bought a book - 60 quick knits using Cascade 220. some very nice patterns in here and I just couldn't wait to start on this scarf.

Then there's the sock from class.

And the puzzle - my grandson Scott came to visit for Saturday - and he's always the priority. We watched teen-age boy movies in the afternoon (trust me - not my usual choice - but he loves them) and we worked on the puzzle in the evening. I can knit anytime, but can't always spend time with him...it was nice.

And this next picture is for Trisha (tlcstitches). We're both in the BOM class at Pacific Fabrics in Puyallup, but we've had to start taking it on different days, so we can't compare progress.



It'll be nice to fill in that hole in the middle (for those of you not taking the class - it'll be a mariner's compass.)

Now on to a post-Olympic life. (and to finish the sweater!!!)

Life Lessons

Just a really quick note as I really am working feverishly on my Olympic Knitting sweater. The back is done, the front is 1/3 done - maybe it'll be a vest?? We'll see - closing ceremonies are Sun.

BUT

What I want to write about - check your bank account often. I got home tonight to a letter from my bank telling me they'd transfered all my savings funds into my checking account to cover debit payments I'd made. Now, I keep my checks / debits in Quicken...I love it, quick, easy, accurate. And I'd just updated a couple of days ago and according to it - I had plenty of money to last till payday. I did NOT check my actual bank balance - or I would have noticed the discrepency. As soon as I read that letter, I logged on - and discovered a $450 payment that I HADN'T authorized!!!!! I was on the phone to the bank - they checked things out while I was on the phone with them and discovered that it had been drawn on the wrong account!

I still have to jump through a little hoop tomorrow to get it totally straightened out - probably paperwork to show that I know what's going on and approve of the fix or something.

But this is definitely a wake-up. Don't just trust that because you're pretty sure that your bank never makes mistakes - remember - banks are made up of humans. And they make typos and transpose digits. Check your balance more than once a month when you reconcile your checkbook.

And now - I'm off to knit...I promise to post pictures this weekend. Not only of the Olympic Sweater, but the other projects that have distracted me.

the 'confession'

Quick update - I've finished the corkscrew scarf out of my handspun. I've worked a bit on the Olympics project - pictures soon...

the confession - I've cast on 2 more projects while I'm supposed to be focused on the Olympics challenge! I can't seem to help myself...I'm beginning to wonder if I'm one of those 'process' knitters. I love starting, I love watching a new stitch take shape, I love seeing a new pattern emerging. I don't love so much the knit-knit-knitting till the end. I'm like that with quilting too. I love making the blocks. I love doing the quilting. I don't love so much putting the blocks together to make the quilt - or loading it on the frame to do the quilting.

I've noticed tendencies towards that in other parts of my life. I LOVE moving to new towns. New people, new stores, new scenes. I even actually enjoy new jobs, new skills, new co-workers, new commutes. I think that might be why I really enjoyed working food service in my younger life. I lived in a tourist area - the Black Hills of SD - so everyday was filled with new people, new questions. Since a lot of our employees were high school and college students - it was new co-workers all the time too.

I'd like to think that it's because my mind is just itching to learn, learn, learn new things. But I'm afraid what it actually means is that I have the attention span of a gnat and I'm easily bored. But I'm also easily deluded, so I'll stick with the learning new things interpretation, if that okay with everyone.

Maybe the biggest part of the whole Olympic challenge for me will be to just finish the project. Starting is always the easiest, right?

Knitting, knitting, knitting...

As usual, busy around here. Getting ready for some new classes I'm taking, held at Burien Yarn Stash out here in WA. The 3rd Sat of every month, we're going to have Sock Club, this month is a spiral sock. And in keeping with that (I guess, not sure they planned it that way) following that is the Project of the Month - a corkscrew scarf. Is this a hint they think we're twisted????

Anyway, couldn't wait on the scarf and I've actually started 2 versions of it. Tons of fun. This one pictured I'm making with my own handspun. Also making one out of Marble Chunky so there are color changes all through the scarf. I'll post that when it's done.

Signed up for YarnHarlot's Knitting Olympics on Fri morning. Spent Thurs evening picking out the pattern and most of Friday evening swatching and rejecting yarn. All beautiful yarn, but just not for this sweater. It's a cute t-shirt style sweater done in basketweave with a notched v-neck. The yarns I tried were really pretty, but the basket weave got lost in them...and I'm NOT going to do all that work of counting 3 -3 -3 - 3- 3 if it's not going to show! Finally settled on a very pretty bluish - Merideth Bay from Patternworks. I think it's going to work up nicely.

The point of the Olympics is to challenge ourselves as knitters. To try something a bit beyond what we do on a day-to-day basis. And actually - just to finish a sweater in the 2 weeks allowed would be a challenge for me (We cast on during opening ceremonies and are supposed to be finished by the time the Flame is extinquished.) But this sweater is done in pieces and sewn together afterwards. The garments I've done previously have been basically seamless - topdown sweaters, a vest that only had 2 tiny shoulder seams. So the challenge for me is going to be getting this 'together' and having it be wearable - and last more than one laundering.

So to document:

Olympic Challenge - beginning of Day 3:

More in a day or 2 (along with a little confession...)