WIP Wednesday: Trellis and Vine Sweater

I thought that after eagerly finishing socks and mittens I would be on a roll to clear out more works-in-progress projects.  I was determined to finish stuff, and when I came down from my knitter's high of finished socks, I diligently turned to a sweater-in-progress.  My interest in that lasted only about a day.

Then I cast on a new Honey Cowl.

I cast on 240 stitches, very very carefully joined in the round, and started knitting. About six rows in I finally admitted that I had twisted my join.  I had tried to be so careful, but the cowl will have to be ripped out. 1500 wasted stitches. Obviously not tragic, but I'm taking it as a subtle nudge from the knitting gods: "go back to your WIPs".

Okay, done.  Back to my sweater project. 

This is the Trellis and Vine sweater by Carol Feller from an old Interweave Knits issue (Fall 2009, to be exact).  This sweater and I have already been through a lot of ripping and re-knitting. In August I ripped and re-knit about 5-6 inches of the body, and that finished sleeve you see?  Well, that's the second time I knit it. I think I've finally got all the issues fixed now, and with only half a sleeve left, this one is almost wrapped up.

Maybe a finished sweater will earn me new project blessings?  

Visit Tami's for more WIP Wednesdays!  And see you on Friday with mittens!

OppAtt Socks

All week I've been planning to post mittens today.  The mittens have been finished for days, and while I may not be doing back flips over them, they are very nice mittens.  Nice, but at least for today, neglected.

Instead....SOCKS!!

Pattern:  OppAtt by Jeannie Cartmel
Ravelry Project Page
Yarn:  Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! in Lubber Grasshopper
Needles: 2.5mm
Cast on: Oct 2
Bind off: Oct 18

I finished grafting the toes and weaving in ends during a conference call this morning.  Even though the second sock had been going rather quickly, I didn't expect to finish the pair until this weekend.  I was so excited to wrap them up this morning that the mittens had to take a backseat.

Happy things:

1. I finished a pair of socks in 16 days.  That's huge for me.  The last time I knit a pair of socks in two weeks was probably 2010.  These were a nice reminder of a time when I used to get super excited about knitting socks.  I doubt I'll jump right back to busting out 10 pairs a year, but still, it's always nice to remember the good old days.
2. The finished socks are all one color.  Even after the scale confirmed I was being ridiculous about envisioning socks with half the foot in different yarn, I was still convinced I would need to use different yarn for the toes.  Nope. Finished socks, plenty of yarn.
3. I really never liked the first socks I knit with this yarn, and I hate waste.  Those socks in my drawer were a constant annoyance, and yet if you're a product knitter like yours truly, ripping out perfectly good finished socks is not easy to force yourself to do.  But I did it.  I have way better socks to show for that perseverance. 

Pattern notes:  Very little to say about the pattern.  It's free, clearly written, and straightforward.  I haven't had patience lately for complicated patterns, so this fit my mood pretty well.  There was enough going on to keep things interesting but nothing that required much thought.  The pattern is another one that's been in my Ravelry queue for years.  I'm loving clearing some of these out of there. Almost as satisfying as knitting down stash. Now that the socks are finished, I realize there are a few things I don't love about the design.  Like the way the cables merge together on the side into a tree trunk looking thing.

Or that narrow strip of reverse stockinette on part of the heel flap.  But, whatever.  Teeny tiny quibbles not worth wasting energy on.  Instead, I'm smiling just thinking about finished socks.  Buttery soft finished socks in luscious yarn.

Visit Tami's for more FO Friday!

Cured

It turns out that the cure for my personal problems with startitis is posting a pile of half-knit projects to this blog.  One minute all I wanted was to find new projects to start, but the second my last post went public, a light switch flipped somewhere in my head. Now I want to finish stuff.  Finish all the knitting!

With my new found determination, I forced myself to confront what I believed to be impending doom for my sock project.  I was sure I was running short of yarn, knew I didn't want half the foot in a different color, and was starting to warm up to the idea of just ripping the first sock and putting this project out of its misery.

I really should have weighed the sock and remaining yarn before freaking out.  The scale changed everything.

The first sock (about 2 inches away from starting the toe): 33 grams.

The yarn still left on the this first skein: 13 grams.
The second skein of yarn: 34 grams.

Well, hell, that's not so bad. I still expect to need different yarn for the toes, but I can live with that.  I decided to put the first sock aside and start the second so I can get both socks to the same place before dividing up that remaining 13 grams of yarn.  I expected slow knitting and slogging through little by little. In fact, the whole idea of my finish-by-the-end-of-the-month goal seemed ridiculously optimistic.

I was wrong.  Really wrong. I cast on the second sock Monday afternoon.  It's, uh, going pretty well.

Two days = three-quarters of a sock.  I can't explain that at all.  All I know is that I can't put the sock down. Must. Finish. Socks.

The important lesson for the day--blogging keeps my knitting on track.  It would be good for me to remember this lesson.  But right now I'm going back to my sock.  I've been getting twitchy if I'm away from it for too long.

Visit Tami's for more WIP Wednesday!

Fickle

I got a flu shot last week so I'm apparently safe from the flu for the next year, but what I really need someone to invent is a cure for startitis (come on brilliant medical researchers, the knitters of the world need YOU).  I've got a wicked case.

One day I was happily knitting away on my new sock project, and then BAM, I hit the gusset decreases (my least favorite part of socks), and everything fell apart.  In two days time, I cast on three new projects.

In my defense, I did finish one of them the same day.

Pattern:  Calorimetry. Yarn is some of my handspun (Ravelry linky)

I'm not thrilled with it. It's a little big, the fit is awkward, and I'm fairly certain I will never use it.  It's probably only a day or so away from disappearing into a drawer for years.

Despite the finished headband, my flurry of new projects is still not a good trend.  Yesterday, I cast on a new cowl in the morning. I was unhappy about it almost instantly.

Yarn is a recent handspun skein.

Those few rows have already been ripped, the yarn is back in the closet, and last night, I started new mittens instead. Less than 12 hours later and already decent progress.

Also knit in some recent handspun.

Speedy project to be sure, and believe it or not, but that is actually an adult-size mitten.  Unfortunately, I'm not exactly in love with this project either.  I put it aside before starting the thumb and went back to the original sock.

I managed to finish the gusset decreases, but I'm getting more and more concerned that I'm going to run out of yarn. The skeins from the ripped socks definitely looked small but I figured the leftovers I started the project with would make up the difference, and the plan was to stop knitting before the toe so that if I'm short on yarn, I can knit the toes in a different color.  I'm worried now that I won't even get that far. Impending yarn shortage and the possibility of socks with half the instep in different yarn makes me want to bury this project away and forget about it.  Forever.

So I've worked on four different projects in as many days, and I'm disgruntled with all of them for one reason or another.  I'm seriously considering forgetting them all for the night and cruising Ravelry for patterns because clearly if you hate all your projects, the only solution is to start MORE.

The practical side of me will probably win out and I'll go back to the socks or mittens.  Especially since I just remembered all the other languishing projects.

Uh, ops?  Not feeling proud of myself at the moment....maybe some finished mittens will help that?

Finished Object Friday: Brainless Socks

Trying to get back in the swing of the whole blogging thing.  This time with yarn!

Pattern:  Brainless by Yarnissima
Yarn:  Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Mediumweight
Needles: 2.5mm

Not the best project to rejuvenate the blog though.  There's very little to say.  The most exciting thing about this project is that I used up yarn I bought in 2009.  That's probably only exciting to me, huh? I'm determined to knit up some of my older stash yarn. But I've been determined for a few years.  Still, progress is progress, and there is one less skein in the sock yarn drawer now.  Not much else to say about this project. They're socks.  I knit them.  The end.

Moving on.

It's October (although I'm not sure Mother Nature got the memo) which usually means that I'm in full "knit down the all the WIPs" mode. I do really really want to finish up the half-knit projects lingering in the knitting drawers, but I suspect this year will not be as productive as last year.  After finishing the Brainless socks, I did not pick up other socks that are half done.  Or one of the sweaters stuffed in project bags.  Instead, I cast on a new sock.

I can't even claim to be using up stash with this project.  Although I'm not using new yarn either. I started the sock with a small ball of leftover yarn from these.

I really never liked these socks and the yarn is just way too yummy to waste on socks that didn't leave the sock drawer all year.  I've been thinking I should rip them out for months.  Yesterday I finally did.  It's amazing how fast a finished sock can turn into a heap of curls.

Even more amazing is what a little water will do.

I'm off to soak the second skein and wind up the first so I can continue on with my new project.

Visit Tami's for more FO Friday!

Ragnar Colorado

Sorry knitters, no yarn or knitting to be seen here today.  Today is about running in Colorado.  Indulge me.  

After using most of my 2012 vacation time to travel to running and triathlon events, I made Mike promise that we would take a non-sporting event vacation in 2013.  Early in the year, we were just starting to plan a week-long trip to England when a friend invited us to join his Ragnar Colorado relay team.   I was dying to do a Ragnar event so I completely went back on what I said, the England trip was cut down to a long weekend, and now instead of having visited Scotland, I can say I've been running in the mountains in Colorado at 3:30am.

I admit that it's entirely possible I need to rethink my priorities.  Maybe.

For those unfamiliar, Ragnar is a 200 mile team running event.  Teams consist of 6-12 members, and the team runs the 200 miles relay style.  So it goes something like: runner 1 leaves starting line and runs to an exchange point (anywhere from about 3-10 miles away).  The rest of the team scrambles to vans and drives to the exchange so that runner 1 can pass a “baton” (but really slap bracelet) to runner 2 who heads out for his or her mileage.  The team then heads to the next exchange.  Rinse, repeat. About 34 more times.  Everyone runs at least 3 relay legs (teams with fewer members run more often or longer distances) and the event is continuous, which means nighttime running.  So Ragnar Colorado = running in the mountains at crazy high altitude sometimes in pitch black darkness and spending 24-36 cramped hours in a van.  

And yes, something about that screamed “OMG, YES, WE HAVE TO DO THIS. SO. MUCH. FUN”.

The only problem was that my 2013 running sort of went like this:

• Winter/Spring:  Ongoing foot tendonitis problems and not running. In my head: Whatever, Ragnar is going to be awesome! 
• June: Strained left ankle and in a cast for 2 weeks.  Uh, not good, but come on, I'll be healed up, trained, ready to kick ass at Ragnar by September.
• July: Ankle still painful so still no running.  Hmm, starting to get concerned about Ragnar, but team captain switched me the to shortest run mileage position on the team so of course I'll be fine to pull off just 3 3-mile runs.
• August: Still not running.  Well, crap.   

With my ankle refusing to heal, I forked over lots of yarn money and had several dry needling treatments at a physical therapist in late August and finally started to see some improvement.  Too little too late though.  The reality was I arrived in Colorado without having run in 3 months and with still painful foot and ankle tendonitis. I didn't care.  I was determined to have my Ragnar experience.  My motto for the weekend:  tape that foot to oblivion and gut it out.

Mike and I flew into Denver on Thursday evening, and early Friday morning (Sept 6) we arrived at Copper Mountain Resort in Breckenridge.  Having never been west of Chicago, I was getting my first good look at gorgeous Colorado mountain scenery.

Our first runner went off at 8:30am.  Because of the way the team is divided, the whole team doesn’t have to be at every exchange and my van consisted of runners 7-12.  We still headed out to the first few exchange points to cheer on the rest of the team, but there was a lot of waiting around for us this first day.  I was runner #11 and finally laced up my running shoes for my first run sometime around 7pm.  It was dusk when I headed out for my 3.6 mile run, so I was suited up with headlamp and reflective gear.

A good look, yes?

I headed out full of energy.  I was running again. Wheeee!  In a Ragnar relay. Yay!  In Colorado. Amazing!  In the mountains at like 9K feet elevation.  SHIT. I. CAN’T. BREATHE.  Less than half a mile in and I was gasping for air.  And I mean seriously gasping.  My first thought had been “damn, I really am out of shape” but it quickly dawned on me that elevation was probably catching up to this East Coast flatlander.  I slowed my pace and took deep breaths and got into a decent rhythm by mile 2, which was good because by that time, dusk had turned to pitch black.  

I found Mike amidst a sea of reflective vests and blinky lights, handed over the bracelet, and sent him on his way.  His first run was short too, and the next several hours were spent hunting up food and trying to get a little rest on a gym floor at an exchange point before my van was back on and we starting driving to exchanges again.  This second rotation was tough.  Everyone stayed positive but I know I was hungry, tired, and starting to get cranky.  We all got lazier about getting out of the van to cheer each other on, and the whole event seemed to be turning from something fun to something we were just trying to survive.

My second run was sometime around 3:30am.  It was a short 2.6 miles on a bike path along a river.  I’m sure it was beautiful but it was pitch black so pretty much impossible to appreciate the scenery.  Physically, this run felt better than the first, but I'm so out of running shape that nothing was coming easy.  I consciously noted the uniqueness of what I was doing and tried to enjoy the peace and soak up the experience.   With a throbbing ankle, I pushed up a small hill at the end excited to hand off to Mike, but when I jogged through the exchange and shouted for him, no answer.  The small crowd at the exchange let out a collective “awwww…”.  Well that was anticlimactic.  Mike came trotting over a few minutes later, and I sent him on on his way.

With Mike's second run finished, our van went on “break” again.  We all got a little sleep, and I took my time changing and cleaning up at the next major exchange point where we would meet up with the other half of the team.  I felt better in fresh clothes and with brushed teeth, but I was weary of the whole Ragnar thing by this point.  Really, this is what I chose over more time in London?  My ankle was aching, my calves were full of knots, and I was not really looking forward to climbing back into the van or grinding out another 3 miles.

Daylight helped with that.  A lot.

Once the sun was fully up and we were back on the road, I got a second wind.  So much more to see and appreciate in daylight.  

My last run was beautiful.  It was along a valley between the mountains and I could finally enjoy the scenery surrounding me as I ran.  These last few miles were the toughest though.  My left foot and ankle were throbbing, and I’m pretty sure I had a golf ball lodged in my right calf so I took it easy running a slower pace on the flats and walking up the hills.  With the whole team cheering at the last exchange, I soared in and handed off the bracelet to Mike for the last time.  

Mike had a tough 8 mile trail run for his last leg, which finished at the Snowmass resort in Aspen.  The team met him at the top of a ski slope and everyone ran down together to the finish line at the bottom.  I was hobbling a little by this point and had to focus to keep my footing down the hill, but I managed to stay upright long enough to cross the finish.

 And with that, the Ragnar journey came to an end.  A few hours later….BEST. SHOWER. EVER.

Final thoughts on Ragnar?  Amazing but exhausting.  A complete blast sometimes but really tedious at others.  During the event, I said I thought I would be one and done with Ragnar (I think I had been awake for about 36 hours at that point).  But when Mike and I got home and starting looking through the pictures everyone posted, every second of the hungry, cranky, cramped minutes seemed worth it.  Yes, I was in crap running shape and running injured, but the experience was still pretty awesome.  I had to bail on a lot of events this year because of my injury issues, and I'm so grateful my body held together enough to let me participate in Ragnar.  I doubt another Ragnar event is my near future, but I think I would definitely do it again one day if the opportunity comes up.  For now, resting my foot and ankle and getting it fully healed is priority #1.

Big plans for 2014. Big. Huge. And I need two healthy feet.  Maybe I'll take up knitting in the meantime.

I'm Baaaack

Knitting projects are languishing, spinning is not happening, and this blog has obviously fallen by the wayside for months. So yeah, 2013 crafting could definitely be going somewhat better. Along with several other corners of my life. Clutter is slowly taking over my house, home improvement projects keep getting put off, and it seems every spare minute is spent in the kitchen or grocery store as my already ridiculously restrictive diet recently crossed into a whole new dimension of crazy.

Some people spring clean, but fall has always been the season to jump-start me into action. All it took was a walk with my dogs a few mornings ago when the temps were blissfully in the 50s instead of the 80s, and I started to get inspired to get stuff DONE. But where to begin the blog catch up? With the piles of handspun from Tour de Fleece in July? The top I finished months ago? The handspun laceweight sweater I started last month? Nope. I'm going to start slowly and keep things simple. That roughly translates to: I’m going to post the project that is currently within arm’s reach of the computer.

Pattern:  Brainless by Yarnissima

Just some humble socks I started earlier this month, but with sportweight yarn, these babies are flying.  It helps that the socks accompanied me on 2 long plane flights and almost 2 straight days in a van driving around mountains in Colorado.  People do a lot of weird things for fun.  Mike and I decided it would be a good idea to fly to Denver so that we could then get up at 5am and drive up to Breckenridge with 1 friend and 9 strangers in order to spend the next 30 hours doing a relay run for 200 miles to Aspen (aka Ragnar Colorado).

So you can probably guess what the next blog post will be about.  Hint:  lots of pictures but no yarn.