Well I Tried

It was all going so well too!

Sadly, my Ravellinic cardigan came up short. There was a schedule and goals were set that were attainable. Unfortunately life got in the way.

On Sunday we met for brunch, the closing ceremonies, and casting off. We ate a ton and cheered each other's accomplishments. How lovely to sit knitting with the same friends with whom I cast on during the opening ceremonies. How lucky I am to be able to tell them freely that the reason i couldn't finish is that I spent most of last week very ill. My anxiety order flared up big time. My job went south and my hormones went crazy. Whether any of these things was the cause or the effect of any other, the result was the same. I spent much of last week a nervous mess. Knitting is so often the thing that calms me down. You know it's bad when you're too sick to pick up the needles. Oh well. I could still make it to brunch. Being with friends is one of the things I trust when I'm down. As I told a fellow knitter, I know I can be with these people as I am - act like a goof or not say anything at all. It will always be OK.

Onward. Feeling a little better today. The neckband is the only thing left to do on my lovely cardigan. FO pictures are forthcoming!

The beginnings of brunch. The coffee is on, waffles are being made and the potatoes are in the oven!

Looking Possible

Picture it with another sleeve and a button band. It is starting to look doable.

Ravellinic Update

The body is done and one button band. That leaves most of a button band and two sleeves. Well, that's not impossible and this is a long weekend after all. Unfortunately I kept hitting a wall with my button band cast-off this morning. I've done it three times and can't get it to look nice. So I have taken a break for photos and blogging.
The other problem is that I find myself becoming bored of watching the games. I only really like the speed skating and today is all hockey and curling. I think I'll take a walk, pick up some groceries and rent some DVDs from The Film Buff. Today (and maybe tomorrow) will become movie knitting. Guess I'll need to stay away from subtitles!

To Rip Or Not To Rip

My Olympic sweater  is coming along nicely. I don't know if I'll medal or not, but the knitting is fun and fast. Currently the body is about 75% complete. I suspect the sleeves will slow me down a bit. Experience tells me that I am not quick at the designer's method of cap shaping.
I'll try to get a photo or two up here.

In the meantime, you may recall the Traveling Woman shawl I cast on on Boxing Day? It was finished quite a while back but I haven't posted it here because I'm not sure about it. Having worn it several times now, I can definitely say that I don't like it. My gauge is sloppy, the edge rolls awkwardly and I especially hate the long spindly tails created by increasing on both the wrong and right sides of the garment. (This is also my least favourite element of Color Affection).I want to rip the whole thing out and use the beautiful Sweet Georgia yarn on a different pattern. I'm leaning toward another Leaf and Flower. However, The Daughter has expressed a liking for the shawl "as is" and has requested i give it to her rather than rip it. What to do? I'm just not happy leaving inferior work out there but if she likes it?
I'll let the question stew while I charge ahead toward my 2014 gold medal.

My Efforts Will Be Olympian

The 2014 Games have begun. I spent Friday evening, as I have done for every Olympics since 2006, watching the opening ceremonies with knitters. I really committed to making a full project for the Ravellinics this time around. I chose Andi Satterlund's Hetty cardigan. It really is a realistic goal. I've knitted two of this designer's patterns before and one of those in the same yarn, Cascade 220. I'm familiar with her construction techniques. It is an open work lace on 4.5mm needles so it should knit up quick, right? Unfortunately, a grave error in gauge calculation meant I had to rip out all my work yesterday and I didn't get a chance to restart until this morning. That leaves me two days behind already. Drats!
I'll keep you posted.