Knitting slump

I've been in a little bit of a knitting slump these past few days. You're probably thinking that a couple days doesn't really qualify as a slump, but I don't really know what to call it. Up until this weekend, I had been working away happily at my Talia vest. And then disaster struck. Hanatarou, my naughty white and black cat, decided to pee on the bag holding my precious knitting (I think he was mad that I gave him a bath). Luckily, all was not lost! Thanks to the plastic bag holding my yarn, and the plastic sheet covers that I put my pattern in, most of the knitting survived unscathed. Only a little bit of the bottom edge of the vest was soiled. I have a feeling that the bag is a total write off though -- I've washed it a few times, and soaked it in special enzyme solution, but I'm not sure if it's salvageable. It was only this cheap black bag that I got at Old Navy, but still.

I put my knitting onto a holder and washed the bottom edge, and I think that did the trick. Problem is, I just don't want to work on it anymore. It's as if just looking at it makes me angry right now. I was contemplating starting a new project to help me get over things, but I feel guilty at the same time. I mean, I've got a perfectly good project waiting to be finished, so why start something else? Plus I'm wrestling with just what to make. I could start my Curvy sweater, or start a baby sweater for a friend due in February (though this one is a tough call too because Jamie doesn't think the yarn I have slated for it is quite gender neutral). Or maybe some toys? I just don't know. Should I just bite the bullet, and truck on with Talia?

What do you do to get yourselves out of knitting slumps?

Matching hat

I made a little hat to go with the Tulips sweater. It's the same pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, but I just used the leftover yarn from my sweater kit, and incorporated the same colour changes.

I had a debate with friends about what colour to make the I-cord. Since I don't know the gender of the baby, I wanted to keep it mostly gender neutral. I had a choice between the peach, and a mustard yellow. I liked the pop of the peach, but was worried that it might seem too girl-ish if the baby turned out to be a boy. But then my friends pointed out that a) I already have peach on the sweater, and b) what would the baby care anyway?

And Adrienne, no worries about not posting. Life is busy, and there are other priorities above blogging. I'm sure everyone has posting droughts.

Tulips II

My cousin in Hong Kong is expecting, so I originally was going to take my time and knit some things up for her and ship them over. Then my mom pointed out that her father was coming to Toronto to visit, so why don't I save myself the shipping cost and give it to him. Great idea mom! Only drawback is that I originally had until December to get my knitting done, and now I have until mid-October. Eek! So what's a girl do to when she doesn't know if it's going to be a girl or boy, and she's finding herself in crunch time? Go with something she knows she can do.


And so, my second Tulips kit got knitted up, and will be winging its way to Hong Kong via Uncle Ronald's luggage. I think I'm going to make a little matching hat with the yarn that I've got left over from the kit. Even though I think Tulips is supposed to be for a girl, I think the colours are sufficiently gender neutral that it'll be okay even if it turns out to be a boy.

This time around, I used that trick of weaving in the ends as I went (thanks, Adrienne), so finishing was such a breeze! I think I did a better job of doing the sleeves this time than the first time I made it. The photo is pre-blocking, so there's some curling happening, but the cute little sweater is pinned out and drying as I type this entry.

I just love this pattern!! Even though it was my second time knitting it, I still had a good time!

Decided what to make

Well, I decided what to make to go with the baby sweater. I ended up settling on a hat. I took the pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, so it was a really super fast knit.

The photo is quite terrible - my apologies. Again, taking photos in the middle of the night proves to be a bad idea. I made the i-cord a bit too long. Hopefully it turns out okay.

I also blocked the cotton scarf I finished.

The cotton was soft to start with, but somehow feels even softer after blocking. Super nice stuff.

Just made it

With the closing ceremonies set for about 7 hours from now, I managed to get that leaf patterned scarf done. There was a real push on it the past two days, and there may come a day when I feel that I want to make a REALLY long scarf and add a 4th skein of yarn to it, but I like the way it looks right now. It's not blocked yet, so some people might argue that it's not completely finished, but it's off the needles, so I will consider it finished for the purposes of the Ravelympics.

I'll endeavor to take a better picture of it after it's all blocked.

Congrats to all the fantastic athletes, organizers, volunteers, staff, EVERYONE for making these 2008 Summer Olympics one for the ages! Watched some awesome sports, and got knitting done to boot. What could be better than that? (^_~)

Thanks, Ravelry

What, you may ask, is in this compact package for me?

Thanks to the Ravelympics, I 'met' the fantastic Roxanne, proprietress of Zen Yarn Garden. We are both working hard for the Ravelry Team Canada. She was showing off some lovely blue sock yarn that she dyed for one of her events, and I couldn't help but commenting on it, what with blue being my favourite-est colour in the world. And so, she mentioned that she'd be happy to do a custom order for me if I wanted some of it. After cruising her website, I fell in love with the Curvy sweater, and told her that I loved the sweater, but not the pink. And so, she offered to make me a custom kit out of the lovely blue yarn, dubbed Azure.

And so...

MY KIT ARRIVED TODAY!! Can you believe it? Barely 3 days since we messaged back and forth about it! Thanks so much, Roxanne!!

And in other knitting news, I am desperately trying to finish my leaf-pattern scarf before the closing ceremonies finish. I'm not sure if I'm going to make it, but boy have I made loads of progress on this project that I definitely wouldn't have otherwise.

Yet again, Ravelry proves to be quite the enabler of my addiction...

[NOTE: To answer Marie's question to my previous post, BSJ stands for Baby Surprise Jacket. It is so dubbed because, as you knit it, it resembles nothing like a sweater, but at the end you do a little creative folding, and presto! You have a jacket! Surprise!!]

Approaching the finish line!

Hooray for the Olympics! Hooray for lots of late night TV for me to knit by!



Finished my EZ BSJ. The pattern is a little tricky to decipher if you're going from the one re-printed in Knitting Workshop, but with some help from all you lovely people, I've finished it! And so, I've completed my first item for the Ravelympics!

I have just less than one skein of that yarn left (only had to dip into it to sew up the edges and sew on the buttons), but I'm not sure what to make with it. I'm a little worried that it's a bit too scratchy to make a good hat or booties. Any opinions?

EDIT: Received my medal for this item, so I thought I'd post it here.

And I just wanted to say that Ravelry is doing an awesome job co-ordinating the over 5000 Raveletes.