Ravelympics Finish Line!

Otherwise known as, "The Crazypants Ideas Just Keep Coming."

Pattern: Ivy League Vest by Eunny Jang
Yarn: Knit Pick Palette in the Violets colorway taken directly from here.
Needles: US 1 and 3
Modifications: I made a rounded neckline by starting the shaping about 1.5" after the armholes. I didn't take exact notes, but I did something like: round 1: decrease 4 each end (k4tog and ssssk), round 2: decrease 3 each end (k3tog, sssk), round 3: decrease 2 each end (k2tog, ssk), decreasing 2 each end every other row until the shoulder stitch count matched the back. I also added about 4 inches of length.

Soaking up the sun

So, the steeks weren't that scary. I did a machine steek, lining up a "leg" of the foot of my sewing machine with the two center steek stitches and zigzagged away on each side. I just cut everything without allowing myself to think about it first and it all worked out in the end. Right after, when the edges started unraveling I had a panic moment, but they stopped unraveling at the machine stitches, which is what counts. Either way, don't try to do this with Palette unreinforced. Though it's wool, it's pretty slippery.

I think I mentioned that I've had a lot of time off work lately. I doubt that I would have been able to finish without the extra time. I have to say, when I was knitting this, I wasn't in love with it. I was worried about the fit, and the corrugated ribbing was taking forever, and it turns out that I don't like to knit under a deadline. I was really ready to be done with it, and had to buckle down to get through the edgings, but now that it's done, I couldn't be happier. Blocking lace is the most tranformative knitting moment, but I have to say that blocking colorwork runs a close second. The fit on this is really great, but it should be noted that the corroguated ribbing does not stretch like regular ribbing. In fact, it doesn't really stretch at all.

I don't think that this will get much wear for the rest of the season - things are beginning to warm up (though you might not guess it from the 15" of snow I had to tramp through to get these shots). This is incredibly clear when you walk into some of the superheated classrooms I've been in lately. Today's classroom was at least 80F. But I'm so pleased with my work that I might just hang the vest up on a wall to look at. It's so pretty!

Blobby

This is where I was yesterday in the early evening. Yes, it looks remarkably like a fair isle blob, but it should be a sweater by the end of the week! My progress has been fast because I've not been getting many working days lately. Between Mid-Winter Break and snow days, it's been a bit sparse around here. Today it is snowing again. Well, it's coming down as snow, but it's hitting the ground more like rain, which means there's a solid two inches of slush on the ground.

I'm getting excited to finish the vest, but I'm dreaming of swirly flower printed skirts and flats.... That, and employing someone whose sole job is to make me bento boxes for lunch daily.

The Progress Shot

Thar she goes!

Lots of knitting happening lately because of this thing they have introduced since I was in public school - Mid-Winter Break. I have to say though that the 3x1 corrugated ribbing was incredibly tedious. I knit Continental, and am not at all used to purling with my right hand. It seems so wasteful, that motion - throwing the yarn to the front of the needle, inserting the needle and purling the stitch, then throwing the yarn to the back again. I ended up purling with my left and knitting with my right, since this motion, while still wasteful, is at least do-able for me. Still, the ribbing took me three days and the rest of it (more than doubling the length) has taken a day and a half.

The colors are turning out more winter-y than I had hoped, but I'm still pretty excited about it!

Celebration!

Have I ever said how much I love the Olympics? I do. I love them. I feel that the Olympics are all about bring nations together, to root for the underdog, to rejoice in accomplishments, even if everyone isn't a "winner." To me, a gold medal is less important than the story, and let me tell you, every single one of those athletes has a story. I'm so excited for the Winter Olympics, because I'm going to be around to see them. For the last few summer Olympics, I've been in places where I have not had access to a TV and so I've had to live on newspaper accounts, which, given the physical nature of sports in general, is no substitute.

So, this is also my first Knitting Olympics. I'm entered in the Nordic Colorwork Combined for Team Michigan over on Ravelry. My project? Eunny Jang's Ivy League Vest.

Of course, I can't just knit the pattern the way that it is written. It needs to be longer, for one. And I don't really like the V-neck. I find that a V-neck in a striped pattern tends to pull the stripes upward at the point of the neck whether or not you're the busty type (Take a look at the finished projects over on Rav. You'll see what I mean.) I don't really like this look, so I'm going to try change it to a U-neck shaping, much like my Double Time Vest. This is a little scary because I'm going to try steeking for the first time (the name says it all: EEK!), and it could be complicated. I'm using Knit Pick Palette for this, mostly because I found this super helpful chart for choosing colorways. The original colors are lovely, but do not fit in with my wardrobe. The only change I had to make is to change from Black to Asphalt, since Black was backordered. I'm looking forward to casting on tonight!

And, on a slightly different note, let me say Happy Blogiversary to me! Three years and counting! What better way to celebrate than to cast on for a project I've been thinking about for months?