Ravelympics Update: Day 5

Day 5: Continued Seam Shaping

I finished all but the last five rounds of the seam shaping this evening.  The cardigan is now officially to big to try to stuff into my light tent to photograph, so unfortunately the quality of my images will probably decrease unless I find my way to some natural light.  I should be able to finish up the repeats tomorrow and start the knitting equivalent of the cliffs of insanity.

(52 rows completed)

Ravelympics Update: Day 4

Day 4: Shaping Stockinette Slog

 Was able to do 4 more repeats of the 4 row shaping decreases.  I think I have around 6 inches of cardigan now.  Also, saw some really neat events of the actual Olympics.  The Men's Snowboard Cross was insane!  I think I'm going to start looking out for more snowboarding stuff to watch. 

(41 rows completed)

Ravelympics 2010 - I have a heck of a challenge ahead of me...

Well, it's a little less ahead of me than when I originally planned to do this blog post.  I was supposed to do one on Friday before I started my first Ravelympics Project!  What are the Ravelympics?  They are basically a knitting/crocheting version of the traditional Olympics, complete with teams, events and medals.  The event runs for the length of the Winter Olympics this year, so from Feb. 12th  9pm EST to March 1st 3am EST. I am knitting the Team Never Not Knitting which is one of my favorite knitting podcasts out there. 

The whole point of the Ravelympics is to challenge yourself, so I decided to make myself a cardigan, the Bountiful Bohus Cardigan to be exact.  Since, I'm not exactly a small person, I knew this would be a real challenge for me.  Then again, I've never made any kind of sweater before either, so, this project is a double whammy. 

I'm really enjoying the knitting thus far and even attended a Opening Ceremony Cast On Party on Friday night with my new group of fiber buddies.  Here are a few pictures of my progress over the last three days.

Day 1: Opening Ceremony

I didn't get much done during the opening ceremony other than cast on the 336 stitches (ugh) and work three rounds of the cuff repeat.  Then again, I was yacking with friends and stuffing my face while watching the ceremony, so one shouldn't be surprised.
(3 rows completed)

Day 2: Cuff Central

By the end of day two I had completed all but the last repeat of the cuff.  There is a bit of cabling in the cuff and I'm not all that fast with that so I think that's why it was taking me forever. 
 (16 rows completed)

Day 3: Seam Shaping Begins

Finished the last repeat of the cuff pattern and did the first repeat of the 4 row seam shaping decreases.
(25 rows completed)

From now on, I hope to post an update every day (as I had originally planned).  Wish me luck!

Instant Gratification, or Close Enough Anyway

So, after working on a a lace scarf yesterday at the WEBS Superbowl Sunday Event and somehow managing to both lose and pick up a stitch in two different places, my scheduled knitting this evening was chock full of lose.   I decided to put down the lace, which is only partially fixed (8 more rows of ripping to go) and make something out of the beautiful new skein of Malabrigo Rasta I bought while in Northampton.  You can see a picture of the original skein here on my project 365 blog.  Now it was a small amount of yarn, only 90 yards, so I couldn't do anything huge, but actually that suited my fancy. 

I found a great pattern called The Instant Gratification Scarf and thought.... OK!  So I cast on around 6pm and I was binding off the last stitches at 9pm.  Pretty cool huh?  I just love the colors and can't wait to wear it out.   The evening has been very gratifying if I do say so myself.  Now that I've actually accomplished something, I'm all ready to tackle all that ripping out tomorrow.  Wish me luck!

Valentines aplenty!

These are two different valentines cards mom and I made today.  We had lots of fun, but still need to work on getting our creative juices flowing.  As usual, we spent a lot of time figuring out how to make things both match and balance on the card.  Overall, I think we did pretty well though.  

 

Light Tent Shenanigans

The past few days I have found some time to set up an play with the light tent setup I got for Christmas this year.  I had found this handy kit up on Amazon and it included a light tent, a set of two lights, a tabletop tripod and 4 different colored backdrops and threw it up on my wish list.

Now, I know what you are thinking... what's so special about having a light tent?  Well, it basically gives you a small environment that you are in complete control of.  For example, you know when you see those commercials on tv or see things for sale online and they seem to be just floating on a set of one color?  Well, that is called an infinity set and this setup allows you create that backdrop for small items like Brian's minis or my yarn and knitted projects.  I though this would be a great way for me to document my yarn habit as well as anything else small that gets my attention.  And with my penchant for macro photography, I think the tent will get a fair bit of use. 

If you want to see some of the recent photographs I've taken with the aid of the light tent including one of the lovely skein of yarn in the above photo, check out the following links to my Project 365 Blog - My Year Through the Lens:

• 2/1/2010 - Chromed Space Marine in Black Infinity
• 2/2/2010 - Because Phil is wrong and spring is just around the corner
• 2/3/2010 - Madelainetosh Yarn is is just so scrumptious

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Little Things That Make My Day

So, there's no Ten on Tuesday subject this week and I kind of missed last week's entirely... so I thought I would do my own in an effort to pick up the blogging pace.  Here are 10 Little Things Can That Make My Day:

1) Starting a new project - Whether it be knitting, crocheting, stamping or whatever.  There is just something exciting about starting something new.

2) An attentive purring cat - Molly is NOT a lap cat, so whenever she chooses to lavish attention on me, it's a good day.

3) A beautiful sunrise/sunset - I don't know what it is, but whenever I see a particularly pretty sunrise or sunset, it seems to alter my mood for the better.

4) A surprise visit from the iced coffee fairy - You know who you are and I am always grateful.

5) Comments left on my blogs - Hint, hint... :D

6) When that awesome smell in the hallway when I come home is actually coming from our apartment - I am so fortunate I have a hubbie who can cook and is not afraid to try new things in the kitchen.  Brian's Peanut Chicken and Heavy Kodo Stew from the MMO Cookbook are my favorites.

7) Checking things off of my to do list - Sad I know, but I get a thrill when everything is done.

8) Getting a new achievement in World of Warcraft - Yes, this is a bit specific, but when you haven't played in a few weeks and then your computer croaks, you realize just how happy you got about silly things like these.

9) Chocolate - Enough said.

10) Having someone favorite one of my projects on Ravelry - It's a nice little pat on the back, usually from a complete stranger, but it's nice to see that people like my work.