Kate's Perspective | |
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Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Olympic wrap-up
It went pretty fast, and if you consider that I already have 3 inches of the second one done and that I knit all the way through the heel gusset of the green one before ripping it out, I COULD have made a pair of socks these past two weeks. I guess that's the Olympic X factor-- you know you can do it, you've done it before, but can you do it under these particular circumstances with these competitors and the pressure of the international spotlight? As I knit away on Saturday night I felt compelled to finish the toe before going to bed. I felt kinship with my Olympic knitter friends, speeding towards the distant finish line. And even though I cast on sock number 2 Sunday morning with no earthly chance of finishing by midnight, I enjoyed knitting in silent, solitary companionship with 4000 of you. And to those of you who finished: YEEEEEE-HAW! Way to go! Thursday, February 23, 2006
Sorry Mario, your princess is in another castle.
 I couldn't believe my luck, and at first I thought the book must be a reprint, or one of the author's more common titles. After buying it for $34.95, I decided the shop owner was just happy to finally get this book off her inventory list. It's been there for 13 years, after all. And it turns out this title only goes for $130 or so (there's another one which goes for $250) but I'm just thrilled to have the information in my library! I'll be doing some reading tonight! Thursday, February 16, 2006
Olympic Knitter Crashes, Burns, Hits the Wall
Today I had some time in a waiting room, and I completed the gusset decreases for my Olympic socks. And then I counted the stitches on each needle...and there were too many on one side and too few on the other. In addition to the pattern centering error and the fact that the socks are too snug for my taste, this latest error took the last bit of fun out of the competition for me. I wound the yarn back into a ball, signalling my official withdrawal from the pursuit of Olympic gold. From here on out you can find me in the stands, clanging my cowbell, and knitting without pressure on something-- anything-- else. Phew. What a relief. Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Knitting Olympics - marathon or sprint?
To briefly recap, I am knitting socks. To make it challenging, I am knitting them in 16 days. My previous personal best for a pair of socks might be 10 months. Judging from the number of started socks in my knitting bag versus the number of pairs in my drawer, the time frame alone is obviously a significant challenge. In addition, I am not using dpns, as I have for every previous pair of socks, I am trying a new technique as described in Cat Bordhi's book Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles. And I checked the book out of the library, read it, and had to return it before the Knitting Olympics even started. So I am using my internalized remembrance of this new-to-me technique. So here's the problem. Okay, error, whatever you want to call it. I divided the stitches evenly on two needles, but I did not center the pattern on each needle. This is not a big deal, and would not ordinarily cost me any artistic interpretation points. But I failed to realize that I needed to shift a stitch here and there off each needle before knitting the heel flap. And I didn't realize it until I was knitting the gusset. So now one rib runs down the instep and the other one is swallowed up and gone in the heel.  < >
Do you see it? Do you care? I could rip back, but I would lose an entire night's knitting. Can I afford it? Is finished better than perfect? You can't just sit down on the ice and cry after you totally fall out of your spin, you've got to swing your arms, gather speed and put some grace into the next jump. At least that's what I'm telling myself right now. There are no second chances, but there are second socks. Monday, February 13, 2006
Olympic Cheating...I mean KNITTING
 You can see the chalk lines I sketched on as a guide. This picture actually looks very impressive-- in real life I don't think the stitches are as even, or the lines as straight. [Why I am I telling you that? This picture is looking good!] I did knit hard on Friday though:  Wait, that doesn't look like a Conwy sock! Well, my size 2 needles didn't arrive in time, so I made a quick switch over to the Denmark socks from Knitting on the Road. I'm using Fleece Artist Merino sock yarn and size 3.25 mm circs. It's going... Saturday, February 11, 2006
Olympic Update... sort of
I confess, I have been cheating on my Olympic sock. I am madly working on the Oriental Rug quilt, trying to finish it in time for my guild meeting at the end of the week. I used chalk to free-hand sketch the motifs on the quilt top. Then I free-motion quilted using the sketches as a guide. Needless to say, each motif is unique, and the whole thing is kind of primitive. I like it, but I don't think the quilt police would like it at all. I'm trying not to think about them. The good news is I'm getting more comfortable "drawing with the needle." I have a couple more laps around the quilt, and I hope to make significant progress tomorrow. I'd like to stitch the binding down at SnB on Thursday. Okay, off to knit a row or two on the socks! Thursday, February 09, 2006
Olympic Eve
Meanwhile, I've been focusing on the Oriental Rug quilt. I decided to piece the backing on this one, which I have never done before. Mostly, I wanted to use up some of the larger scraps and some pieces which weren't quite right for the front. It ended up taking a lot of time as I deliberated over placement and color-- more time than I wanted to spend on a seldom seen backing! But it's done and pin-basted and I've even begun quilting...which will take another big chunk of time. I drafted a rectangular eight-pointed star and centered it over the intersection of four blocks to echo the medallion on the rug. Then I decided to free-motion quilt the star, since the short straight lines would require too much stopping and turning otherwise. I'm not an experienced free-motion quilter, but I just jumped in. I will probably have to rip out the stitching on the first one or two because the tension isn't right. After that the tension got better but the stitches are still quite uneven in length and the short straight bits are not all that straight. I hope I get better soon! I really like to work with color and pattern in quilt blocks, and I like piecing better than quilting. If I can become a decent machine quilter, I'll be able to finish things a lot faster. I know how I want it to look, it's just a matter of logging the hours now. Wish me luck! Friday, February 03, 2006
Jackpot!
 
My order arrived from amazon.jp yesterday! I haven't had time to really absorb all the photos yet, but I had to share the thrill of this one. (Click the book cover to jump to Amazon.jp) Wonky houses! 
Stuffed cats! Remember this? 
Kaffe plaids!  The colors....  
It looked so familiar and yet I had not seen it before-- when I got to the end, the paper cover happened to be hanging off the book and I saw the name Keiko Goke on the inner cover. What serendipity-- I'd been looking for her books, but couldn't find them using the English spelling. I've only seen her work in a few places, one being Kaffe Fassett's Quilt Road, which includes her pattern for the stuffed patchwork cat I made. This tells me to keep following my nose! Thursday, February 02, 2006
Happy Groundhog Day
The snowdrops we planted last October have been coming up one by one all month, and right now we have a particularly nice crop in bloom. Inside we are busy with a new playhouse:  The more the merrier (there are 2 adults and 1 kid in there)! ...and planning Olympic knitting (this is the sock I abandoned last fall because it didn't fit over my heel-- it's to be reknitted with major modifications, a new technique, and new yarn).  Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Freeform Piecing
Here's my first attempt. 
Needs a little loosening up, methinks. Can you believe I wasn't measuring? Geez, it looks almost as good as most of my "precision" piecing. So I tried again. 
A little better. And then I finally started to get the hang of free-form piecing. 
I think I need to make some more before I try to put them together, so it's not such an obvious progression. I recommend you try it! And read Tonya's tips-- I especially appreciated the tips on how to get strong angles inside the block without putting the edges on the bias. And no, I haven't finished my sweater or my other quilt. I'll sew the second side seam tonight (I hope) and then try to figure out how to fix the really lumpy shoulder I have on the first side. Updated to add: Alex Anderson has a new quilt podcast! |
WORKS IN PROGRESS
QUILTS Big Girl Quilt Oriental Rug Christmas Scrappy Star Gridlock KNITS Cashmere Aran Afghan Lydia sweater |
