Ravelympics: The Final Day

Ah, the last day of the Ravelympics. I can't believe how quickly it's gone by! Inspired by CheaPet's lovely dishcloths on her blog (hookandwool.blogspot.com), I decided to do a couple dishcloths for my final entry. I wanted something with an easily-memorized pattern so that I could take the project with me without dragging a big ol' book along, and while in the shower came up with these two illusion-knit patterns. They are amazingly easy--if you can knit and purl, you can make these. I'll write out the instructions at the bottom of this post. In theory I *could* squeeze in one more quick-and-easy project, but I'm content with the six & think I will work on McGonagall today. I really do want to get her finished up.

We had a very nice visit with Dad yesterday. Took a leisurely tour of the four models at our Stanton community, and I'm surprised at how different our three tastes are. Ralph likes a kitchen that is open to the living room, whereas I prefer at least a short wall separating the two rooms so if I'm making dinner for company, they aren't staring at the dirty pots & pans. Dad likes a large living room & smaller master bedroom; Ralph wants a big master bedroom. I hate having the master walk-in closet being in the bathroom; neither Dad nor Ralph minded it at all.

We lucked out on the weather, too. It rained pretty hard off & on all day, but never when we were actually outside. We'd go into a model, look out the window & see pouring rain, then when we were ready to go to the next one, the weather was clear again. It wasn't too cold, either; a bit chilly, yes, although definitely tolerable without a coat.

For lunch we went to Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner restaurant & we all ate fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and creamy chicken noodle soup. Ralph had boysenberry pie as his first course & Dad took a slice home. I skipped pie since we all had big chocolate cupcakes from the model tour. The meals were big enough for us to take home leftovers for dinner.



So back to the dishcloths. You may be wondering how illusion knitting works. The principle is really quite simple. The patterns are a combination of stockinette & garter stitch. The stockinette lies flat whereas the garter is raised. When you look at the piece from an angle, the garter blocks your view of the stockinette and the pattern is visible. All odd-numbered rows are plain knit stitches, the even-numbered are a combination of knit & purl to give you the garter sections. Whatever you do on the even-numbered rows for color A, you do the opposite for color B. So if color A is knit 4, purl 7, knit 12 you would purl 4, knit 7, purl 12 on color B. And that's all there is to it.

OK, on to the patterns. You'll need worsted weight yarn in two contrasting colors & appropriately-sized needles. I used Plymouth Encore Worsted with US7 needles. You can make these larger or smaller by changing the width of the stripes & casting on appropriately. The vertical stripes are 8 stitches across, the diagonal ones are 4.

VERTICAL STRIPES DISHCLOTH (approx 6-3/4" square)
Color A: Forest green
Color B: Sand

Using Color B, cast on 32 stitches.
Row 1, Color A: Knit
Row 2, Color A: (K8, P8) twice
Row 3, Color B: Knit
Row 4, Color B: (P8, K8) twice

Repeat rows 1-4 until dishcloth is roughly square, ending with a Row 2. Bind off in Color B. Block if desired.

DIAGONAL STRIPES DISHCLOTH (approx. 7-1/4" square; this pattern is easier than it looks in the instructions--trust me on this one. Basically you are moving the stripes over by one stitch every time you switch back to Color A.)
Color A: Sand
Color B: Deep mauve

Using Color B, cast on 36 stitches.
Row 1, Color A: Knit
Row 2, Color A: K4, (P4, K4) to end
Row 3, Color B: Knit
Row 4, Color B: P4, (K4, P4) to end
Row 5, Color A: Knit
Row 6, Color A: P1, (K4, P4) to last 3 stitches, K3
Row 7, Color B: Knit
Row 8, Color B: K1, (P4, K4) to last 3 stitches, P3
(OK, I think you know to alternate colors & knit the odd rows at this point, so I'm going to skip them)
Row 10, Color A: P2, (K4, P4) to last 2 stitches, K2
Row 12, Color B: K2, (P4, K4) to last 2 stitches, P2
Row 14, Color A: P3, (K4, P4) to last stitch, K1
Row 16, Color B: K3, (P4, K4) to last stitch, K1
Row 18, Color A: As row 4
Row 20, Color B: As row 2
Row 22, Color A: As row 8
Row 24, Color B: As row 6
Row 26, Color A: As row 12
Row 28, Color B: As row 10
Row 30, Color A: As row 16
Row 32, Color B: As row 14

Repeat rows 1-32 until roughly square, ending with an even-numbered row in Color A. Bind off in Color B. Block if desired.

Ravelympics are winding down

We're coming to the end of the Ravelympics; tomorrow is the last day. I can't decide whether I should stop now with five finished projects under my belt (including the trio of catnip bunnies in today's photo), or try to squeeze in one more. I know that if I work at it I can make a pair of wristwarmers in a weekend, but if I don't get them done due to oh, you know, having a life. . . well, I'd be quite disappointed in myself.

I was able to save the Crazyfoot yarn, woo hoo! It only took 2-1/2 hours to untangle all of it, and it was completely undamaged. I did wash it, and was a bit dismayed by how much it bled. Not surprised by that, mind you; any red-based yarn is likely to bleed the first few times you wash it, in my experience. But the water was roughly the color of cinnamon tea after the wash.

It's raining like crazy this morning. Figures--our new community in Stanton is having their grand opening today. Ralph, Dad & I are going to check it out around 11:30 and then have lunch together. Hopefully it won't be pouring quite so hard when we go.

Bad dog! Bad, bad dog!

Sigh. This is what happens when an unsupervised dog finds an unsupervised skein of yarn. Yes, that is indeed my gorgeous former-skein of Crazyfoot. It doesn't appear to actually be damaged, and I *think* I can untangle it. . .

In other news, I'm almost done with the scarf for the Ravelympics, and in a flash of irrationality have decided to do yet another project. I'm making some cat toys for the pet event. I will consider the event complete when I have three of them done, although they are so quick & easy that I might make more. I finished one already, and am ready to stuff the second. I'll post a pic when I've got the three done.

And the crowd are going wild!

Start date: 2/13. Completion date: 2/21. US 7 needles, Plymouth Encore Worsted in deep brown, light brown, brownstone, white, and dark mauve. Ladies and gents, I present to you: HERMIONE GRAINGER

She's growing fast

By the time I get one picture posted, it's already outdated, LOL! Here's Hermione where I left off last night: 66 rows. She is currently at 77 rows & now has a nose. I'm hoping to have this project off the needles by the end of the weekend, although we're going out Sunday afternoon (tickets to see The Trocks, woo hoo!) so I can't guarantee it will happen.

another quick post

And another Ravelympics project completed; my WIPs-Dancing entry, the orangutan, is finished a mere 2-1/2 years from when I started it. It feels very strange to know that he's not sitting in the stash of yarns, fibers, and patterns waiting to be worked on.

In other news, the books I won from Chea Pet arrived yesterday, hooray! One is "Home Knits" by Suss Cousins, and the other is "Felt" by Robyn Steel-Stickland. I've thumbed through them both several times already, and am getting some project ideas from them. I haven't done much felting before--just a couple little cat toys which have long since disappeared--but I feel rather inspired by the book.

Hermione update: I have more than 60 rows done. She's got complete eyes now, and I'm about mid-way down the cheek. Updated photo pending.

Very brief post

Just wanted to post a quick Ravelry update. I am almost halfway done with Hermione; the photo is at 50 rows & I've done 4 more this morning. That leaves 57 to go. I got a little bit done on the orangutan--the paw pad & thumb are completed & sewn together; two fingers ready to be sewn on, and one more finger ready to be seamed. I've also done about 4" on the scarf. Gotta go get ready for work now.

Oh, yes, now that makes sense

This jpeg is the "medal" I received for completing an object for the Skele-gurumi event in the Ravelympics. Of course, everyone who completes an event gets one, but what the heck.

It looks like I won't be having as much knitting time as I anticipated. Between non-knitting tasks (such as posting on my blog, ha ha) & giving my hands a break, I've barely gotten anything done on Hermione. I'm only 21 rows in. Plus I still have my orangutan to finish. So with knitting time at a premium & doubts about whether I'll have enough time to finish both items, of course I did the only logical thing: I cast on another project to enter into the Ravelympics. Well, it makes sense really. Hermione is too much of a tight-focus project to take along when I go out, and the orangutan has so many little fiddly bits plus a pattern book that he takes up a lot of space, therefore I needed a mindless-knitting project for waiting in line, etc. I'm making a Trellis Lace scarf with the Glacier Teal Twizzle I had left from another project. It fits in my purse & is such an easy pattern that I don't need to carry a pattern book with me.



Ralph & I went to see "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" today. It was all right; our age group is obviously not the target audience, however I enjoyed it. The story line had a few plot holes in it, which I suspect are probably due to cutting the story down from the original book. Just might read the book to find out. After the movie I *finally* got my hair cut; it was looking way too shaggy.

And that's about it, really. Going to go back to knitting soon as I'd like to get a few more rows done on Hermione.

What the cussword was NBC *thinking*????

I am so completely & utterly disgusted with NBC that I could spit. We're in the same time zone as Vancouver, so why did NBC wait until NINE O'CLOCK to start showing the opening ceremonies? Instead we were "treated" to three hours of mini-biographies of a few athletes, most of which went along the lines of "So-and-so began (insert sport here) at the age of 5." You know, I would expect an Olympic athlete to have started up in his/her sport around that age; now, if they'd only been skiing or whatever for three years--that would be newsworthy. This was alternated with repeated slow-motion replays of the tragic & fatal luge accident. Absolutely NO reason for that.

As for the Ravelympics--my my my! I spent a long time last night (over 3 hours) chatting online w/fellow Ravelers all jumping with excitement waiting for the start. The posts were flying so fast & thick that for a while I would finish one page, click to the next, and there would be two more pages added to the end of the line. Whew! It was a lot of fun though.

And after weeks of anticipation, I finally got to cast on for Hermione last night! In fact, I got to cast on for Hermione eight times last night! Yes, you read that right--eight times, which incidentally equals the number of times I frogged her last night (boy, that sounds dirty, LOL!) Five times were for messed up cast-on (ran out of tail before getting all 80 stitches on, or ending up with a 15" tail). Twice was for actual errors in the knitting, and once was because I realized the colors I had chosen were NOT going to work. I ended up setting her aside & casting on for my Skele-gurumi project, which I finished up this morning:



Isn't he cute? I didn't do the head quite right--it's off center, which made my seam off-center as well--but I think it gives him a certain charm. He's actually entered in two events, the Skele-gurumi and the Holiday Ski Jump since he's going to be a Christmas gift. He's also the FIRST completed project for Team Knitted Toys, thankyewverymuch.

After I finished the hammerhead shark, Ralph & I headed out to the yarn store to buy yet another batch of yarn for Hermione since the color scheme just wasn't working. We also went to the bookstore where I picked up three paperbacks. Once home again & after a quick lunch, I cast on for Hermione for the ninth and tenth times. I had given it a lot of thought last night, and have flipped the chart so I'm working from the top of the head down instead of from the neck up. This meant I only had to deal with six bobbins in the first couple rows, as opposed to the fourteen (!!) that the "proper" first row uses. I also managed to reverse the direction of the rows so she's going to be facing left instead of right, which is not a big deal IMHO. I've worked 11 rows so far and am really liking the color scheme. The original chart calls for white, light grey, dark grey, black, and mauve. I've replaced the greys and black with a greyish tan, light brown, and dark brown.

Leftover honey mustard pork loin & green bean casserole for dinner tonight. Don't be impressed by my cooking skills--the pork came pre-seasoned. All I had to do was open the package, put the meat in a pan, and toss it into the hot oven for 45 minutes.

Ravelympics 2010 starts today!

Less than 12 hours until the Ravelympics begin. I was hoping to have the McGonagall square finished before the opening ceremonies, but with 37 rows left to complete at an average of 4 rows an hour I just don't see that happening. Still, it was intended only for practice and I can always finish it in March. I can hardly wait to cast on for Hermione! I think I'll use a larger needle size, though. The US5s I'm using on McGonagall are a wee bit too small, I think.

I haven't decided for sure what I'm going to make with my new Crazyfoot yarn. It's too pretty for socks--I want the project to be seen--and I don't want to make yet another pair of wristwarmers. I was thinking maybe a small beaded bag, if I can find a nice pattern. I do have one pattern on hand, however the first step is to string 600 beads onto the yarn. Yikes! That's just a bit much.

Took the day off work today. I thought Ralph had the day off, too, but alas he's got Monday off. Sigh. Oh, well, it's an opportunity to get some errands done such as getting a haircut, picking up the dog's meds, stuff like that.



Exciting (to me) things are happening at work, too. We've completed two land purchases, one of which already has the models built on it. One is in Stanton with a total of 36 lots (this is the one with the models), the other is in Rancho Etiwanda with 79 lots. Our Grand Opening for the Stanton complex is in two weeks, although there was a "soft" opening last Saturday. I can't remember the last time we actually bought land--maybe 4 years ago? And there's more--we have a new hire in our office! Yes, a genuine new hire, not a transfer from another office/department. Very, very exciting indeed.

Well, that's about it for now. Expect nothing but knitting news for the next 17 days as the Ravelympics progress :-)

It's my lucky day!

Three wonderful things about today: My Crazyfoot yarn arrived, I'm halfway done with the McGonagall square, and I won a knitting book on CheaPet's blog giveaway!!!

Revving up for the Ravelympics

Wow! Less than a week to go until the Ravelympics. I bought the rest of the yarn I needed yesterday, including enough to work on a practice piece for the intarsia event. As you can see, I'm doing the Professor McGonagall chart. The practice piece has turned out to be an even better idea than I thought it would; I've already learned some things that will make my "real" piece go more smoothly. For example, you can never have too many bobbins made up in advance; weave in the ends frequently so they don't tangle with the bobbins; and even if one color takes up a very large area, use a bobbin rather than the full skein.

I also learned that a pattern holder with place marker is vital for these charts. The craft store I went to didn't have any so we improvised. We bought a magnetic dry-erase board and a magnetic place-bar. Unfortunately I didn't like the place-bar at all; it was too short, plus it magnifies which makes it hard to focus on the prior row to make sure everything is lining up properly. Luckily, though, we former Faire Folk are a creative lot. I used the place-bar to hold the pattern to the page, cut a strip off the plastic packaging it had been in, and used the two magnets that came with the board to hold the strip on the pattern, thus marking the row quite well. This morning Ralph took a red Sharpie & ran it along the edge of the strip, making it even easier to track the row.



Had kind of an interesting thought at work the other day. I was wearing one of my Utilikilts, which are actually designed for men, and one of Ralph's shirts since we needed to do laundry. About halfway through the day, I realized that *technically* I was cross-dressing. :-) It amused me very much--and also the co-workers to whom I pointed it out.

Gosh. I always think I'm going to have a lot to write about, and of course I can never remember anything interesting when I'm here at the computer. Oh, well, guess I'll start another load of laundry & get back to knitting.