bag 'n' trash -- home of monster yarn

DONE!!!!

the saga began on a cold february day, day one of the knitting olympics.  i was ready, i was excited.  I WAS DETERMINED!!!

i should have known better.  allegations of drug use sullied my reputation.  i prayed for miracles.  and then i just gave up.  i wasn't going to finish.

it was a disappointing day.

a couple of months later though, i was given the ok by the host, to join the knitting world cup.  the GOOOAAAAALLLLLL was to finish the scarf by the end of the final. 

the fans were great.  so supportive.  but even the roar of the crowd didn't help.

nor did the power of prayer.

by the end of the tour de france, i still wasn't finished.

but i am now...

i have a lot to say about this horror show that was this project.  but this post is long enough.  i'll tell you about it next time.

I'm a Winner

yes i am.  because i got a gold medal at cara's olympic closing ceremonies party (you know the one -- the one with the topless barbie).  and if i have a medal, it must be true. 

as you've all heard already, the party was great.  there was good food, fun conversation, and beer (and topless barbies).  but it was also educational.  here's a couple of things that i learned.

1.  grumperina knits really tiny thing.  really she does!  we all ooh and aahh about how beautiful her work is and how prolific she is, but the real truth is that her shawls ... they're doll shawls.  we know, because we saw one.  her socks?  tiny little baby socks.  really.  the hats?  fit on my thumb.  craziness.  this of course takes nothing away from her exquisite work.  it just gives one pause.

2.  carole's husband dale is a trooper.  he's nice, and funny, and comfortable among 30,000 women who talk about yarn.  plus, he brings the beer and the bottle opener.  do not invite carole without dale.  carole's nice and all, but she doesn't bring the beer.

3.  there is WAY more drama in blogland than i could ever imagine.  where have i been?  do i not read the right blogs?  has my habit of skimming long posts come back to bite me in the ass?  WHY DON'T I KNOW MORE?!   eh.  i'm so out of the loop.

4.  all drawings and contests are fixed.  i did not win one prize on sunday.  and i'm bitter about it.

Citius, Altius, Fortius

"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle. The  essential  thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well."

one more day, and i'm not going to finish.  and that's ok.  i was distracted (i made a pair of house socks, and worked on some needlepoint).  there were times when i doubted i could continue, but continue i did.  i fought through the disgust, the incessant frogging, the knots in the skanks when pulling the strands apart.

i have 4 more sections to do, and then see all of those little strands?  i-cord.  thousands and thousands of feet of i-cord.  i'll finish.  but not by tomorrow.

**************************************************************************************
i made a button.  like bode, the expectations were high, but i fell short.  if you fell short, but had a good time anyway, feel free to help yourself.

It'll Take a Miracle

claudia wants pictures.  she wants proof that this thing is the mess that i say it is.   well let's start with what i like about it. 

the first fair-isle section.  i did it once, frogged it in it's entirety then frogged it several times more as i kept messing it up -- not enough stitches, wrong color combo, looked ugly -- you name it.  it took 2 days.  i've made blankets in 2 days, so you can understand my frustration at my lack of progress.  but it is pretty. (the ridge in the middle is a folding line). 

here's what the whole thing looks like so far.

do you honestly think that blocking will help? 

Does Not Bode Well

like bode miller who has one last chance today to get a medal, i am feeling the pressure.  it feels like i spent the whole entire weekend knitting this stupid scarf.  and i'm no where close to finished.  and can i just say?  i hate how it's turning out.  it looks shoddy.  i can't imagine that it'll ever look nicely finished.  but i will carry on. 

1. because i'm not a quitter (well i am, but i try not to be)
2. because the yarn cost me $80
3. what the hell else am i going to do with 45,641 tiny little skeins of needlepoint yarn.

i'll have pictures soon.  i've lost the will to even take progress pics.

**************************************************************************************

on a totally different note -- colleen celebrated a birthday the other day

go wish her a belated happy birthday!

Doping

i'm THIS close to being disqualified for being a dope.  yesterday i knitted up the first fair-isle section of the scarf (78 stitches on size 2 needles for 8 inches using approximately 18 different colors of 1 strand of needlepoint yarn).  so very pretty, but oh so wrong.  like competing in the biathalon, but instead of shooting the target, i shot my own foot (not another competitor, mr. vice president, BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE TRULY WRONG) or skied in the wrong direction while spectators screamed "turn around!!!!"  yes, the worse part about it, is that it felt wrong from the beginning.  but i blindly carried on.  dope.

i didn't bother taking a picture of my "unprogress."  hopefully i can make up some time today. 

Welcome To The Dark Side

today j turns 40.  i'm not all that sure how he feels about this milestone, since he's not much of a talker.  i've asked, but he's the strong, silent type and usually just replies "eh, fine" when i ask.  no change in the normal routine today (other than pie for dessert -- j loves apple pie), but this weekend there will be a celebration with his family.  and since he's the youngest in the area (he has a younger brother who lives in VA) there will be mocking.  and that's always fun.  happy birthday love. 

and now for olympic progress. 

it doesn't really look like much.  i haven't made much progress it seems, but it's not a portable project so i think i'll work on this mostly on the weekends.  right now, i'm obsessing about a blemish in the orange section where i knit one stitch using only one strand so i've got this loop hanging on the rev st st side.  i'm contemplating ripping and redoing that section.

that's all.  not very exciting.

UPDATE: i decided to frog everything through the orange bit to fix that loop that was driving me bonkers, only to notice that i had cast on 52 instead of 51 stitches for those sections, so i frogged some more.  it's really for the best  -- i would have bugged the shit out of me.

Olympic Progress

the opening ceremonies at doyle's were a lot of fun.  the team boston organizers had done a marvelous job with the buttons and the torch and the organizing.  they've won the gold medal in my book.  i don't know how many boston area knitters were there, but we did fill up two long tables and caused enough of a raucus to change the image of knitters for doyle's patrons forever.  unfortunately i have no pictures, but i'm sure there will be pictures surfacing soon enough.

because of the nature of my project, with all of the little tiny skanks of yarn, i ended up not starting with the lighting of the olympic flame, but rather the evening chatting and finishing up my latest commuter project:  a neckwarmer made with 2 skeins of noro kujaku in a tiny cabled rib pattern.

however, on day one, i got straight to work.

i organized the little skanks by color, and put them into labeled baggies.

then i got to knitting.

i'm not in love yet.  i'm not sure i even want to go out on a second date, but we'll see.

Opening Ceremonies

the opening ceremonies are scheduled to begin in a matter of minutes.  and i'm getting ready.  i've added carole's flame button to my side bar there...

and i've added a link to yahoo sports turin 2006 webpage (here i have it in italian, and french, too).  there's a nifty little tv schedule.  (because i need to know when the biathlon is televised  and don't forget the curling.)

finally, it's time to announce the winner of my olympic event poll.

so the color on color scarf it is. i'm psyched.  because this was the project i was hoping for.  those of you who voted for charlotte's web.  you know i don't think this is ever going to happen.  i'm sorry.  for those of you who voted for the mess in my head...thanks for your faith in me.  the mess in my head is called just that , because well it's a mess.  but the mess will get made some day. 

so i've got my materials together.  i may need to purchase a needle or two (this pattern calls for 3 32in size 8 circular needles.  i have to reread the pattern to see if that's really necessary.)  i need to organize the tiny little skanks.  but even if i can't cast on tonight (i'll be at doyle's and well, i don't drink and knit), i'll get on the stick early tomorrow morning.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Olympic Poll

i fucked up on the poll in my previous post and none of your responses were recorded (except that from what i can tell 48 of you voted. i just can't tell how.)

here's a new poll.  i tested this one.  sorry.

Poll: Olympic Event

UFO Smackdown: Three down!

so my goal before the start of the olympics was to clear out my UFO basket.  mission accomplished.  (i haven't finished mariah, but she hasn't been languishing in UFO hell for very long).  here's FO number 3. 

i started this project almost 2 years ago.  the bag pattern is from the crochet insert of IK Spring 2004.  i used the totally wrong type of yarn (lionbrand homespun -- although i did get gauge) and added stripes.  it's far from perfect, but i like how it turned out.  it'll make a decent project bag.  i like the pocket.

so now i'm ready ... except i haven't selected an "event" yet.  here are the candidates:

1.  charlotte's web:  i purchased the pattern and yarn before i was even a blogger.  it was the project in vogue at the time and i jumped on the bandwagon without considering that i wasn't all that excited about the project (although i did fall in love with the idea of knitting with 5 different variegated colorways of koigu).  i've tried to knit this thing on several occasions and have failed.  i've even "practiced" the pattern on larger needles with worsted weight scraps to see if my hands can get the hang of it, and i always fuck it up.   the challenge here:  not giving up yet again and the time constraints.  although i knit on the train, this is not a commuter project so i'd really only have 1+ hours a night to work on it (not counting weekends).

2.  color on color scarf from scarfstyle:  i love this pattern and i purchased the "kit" of yarn last year and just have never got around to making it.  the pattern isn't difficult but i don't think this is much of a commuter pattern (although more so than the web).

 

3.  another afghan from my head: inspired by denyse* schmidt's beautiful quilts, i've been messing around with an idea for an afghan for our bedroom.  predominantly off-white with small squares of variegated color (yes again!).  i have some of the yarn picked up, but need to find a suitable off-white yarn and still need to do a little swatching.  oh, and do some sketching.  it's a big project (done on big needles though) and of course totally not portable.  here are some of the yarns.

so which one should i do?

*if you can't figure out how to pronounce my name just remember that maryse rhymes with denyse.  see?