Ravelympics: Day 1

Okay, it's not the end of the day yet, but I can't help wanting to blog! The Ravelympics 2008 officially started at 5am PDT, and I was up and knitting by 6. I am working on Washcloth #3, which uses the Tiny Cables Washcloth pattern by Nanette Blanchard, in a bright blue Sugar'n Cream cotton. This project qualifies for several events: Home Stuff Hammer Throw, Gift Knits Pentathalon, and the Cable Steeplechase. The pattern is pretty and very easy to memorize, and probably looks a little more complicated than it really is. The yarn, however, is very hard on my hands. I've found I can't really knit for more than 30-40 minutes at a time, which is probably just as well, as I've got other stuff to do. The last time I knit washcloths was over a year ago, and I don't remember it being this bad. I was pregnant at the time, though, so maybe being uncomfortable all over made my hands hurting seem negligible.

I hope to finish the washcloth today, let's see what I can do!

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3pm: I did it! One FO for Team Resolutions 2008! Finished at just before 3pm, knit in 4 sessions of about 30-40 minutes each. I even wove in the ends!

8:55pm: edited to add my awards! Woot!

little projects

I knit a super quick project for E recently: fruit cuffs. These are just 2x2 ribbed tubes, about 3" long, knit in kitchen cotton. They are for him to wear when he eats messy fruit, like watermelon. My hope is that all the juice that would normally run down his arms onto his shirt will get on the fruit cuffs, which I can then throw in the wash. So far he likes wearing them, but he's also been extraordinarily careful when it comes to eating fruit lately, too.

I just have one active project on the needles right now, a hat for either E or L. The pattern is Nottingham, by Melissa Mall, and I'm using an old skein of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Superwash Worsted that I got from my grandmother's stash (not am I only busting my own stash, but my grandmother's, too!) I am knitting the smallest size; E's head measured 19", and the pattern says it's a stretchy hat. But if it's too small for him, L can wear it. The pattern is easy but tedious. Lots (and lots and lots) of tiny cables, and I haven't figured out how to do them without a cable needle. Fie on me for sure! I am halfway through the cable pattern, though, so it's doable with a cable needle, just, well, tedious.