Perfect Timing

Or maybe not...seeing as it's finished, just in time to be set aside for hot weather knitting.

I recently put the finishing touches on my last sweater for the season. It involved button try-outs...and these are the winners.

Here they are all sewn on. Curious to see what I knit? Head over here and see.

Much Better

There is now a much better photo of that cabled cardigan over on the finished objects blog :) The buttons aren't quite affixed yet - but my designated criteria for completed was to have all knitting completed - I have a hard time pre-selecting buttons and prefer to drag any finished object into the yarn store to compare how different buttons look on the finished item. I plan on sewing the buttons by the weekend...hopefully the weather will stay cool so it can be worn before being packed away for the hot season!

Medalist?

So...the closing ceremony happened last Sunday....

...but I've been seriously behind and haven't had the time to write up the full details of my Olympic Knitting....
I am happy to say that I did finish - and before the closing ceremonies too! Though I didn't get quite as much done as I wanted (meaning I was hoping to finish off some other WIPs if there was time once the cardigan was done) :) Full details and photos (though it looks like I'm going to have to retake a whole bunch of them due to poor lighting) over here.

Getting Close....

My cat likes to keep track of my knitting and ensuring that it doesn't go anywhere....I had to wrestle the sleeves from her to throw them in the sink:

Witness, the Olympic Sweater in the sink with a splash of Soak Aquae. Apparently I need a larger sink because I couldn't get the whole sweater submerged...but I was too lazy to give the kitchen sink a good scrubbing....and the bathtub seemed like overkill.

With notes and measuring tape in hand, I blocked the body out to size...

And then I tackled the sleeves. And if you're thinking "boy, those sleeves sure look long"! Well...now you know why I don't knit too many sweaters for my husband ;)

Seaming is reserved for Sunday, as all the pieces need to be properly dry before hand...we'll see how long I wait before starting as finishing has never been my favorite part of sweater knitting...which would be why I opt for seamless as much as possible ;)

Fronts Moving Through!

When last we checked in, I had a back finished...I am still a bit further along than what I'm showing....but I'm thinking this might wind up being a close finish anyway due to some more false starts and some seriously lost knitting time due to a run in with a bunch of roller coasters followed by a drug induced stupor (hello dramamine)

Knit in about a day, I finished off the right front...

A day later, I had the left front done....and after several different trials, I had the shoulders seamed...and sure enough, if this doesn't bloom and stretch as I expect it to, it will make a great cardigan for me ;)

Progress Check

Cast on during opening ceremony on Friday, February 12.

I'm sad to report there were several false starts - the first of which was casting on and completing the ribbing on the Wrong Sized Needles. *sigh*. So back it went, ripped right back out and started over with correct needles...even remembered to switch to appropriate needle size once ribbing was complete - the saving grace? Big yarn and a minimal amount of knitting at hem.

Next false start: Pattern error in row 1! That's right folks, pattern error and no published errata. I thought for sure I was going bonkers, but I counted the number of stitches accounted for in the pattern, and sure enough, not all stitches cast on were accounted for - was able to figure it all out based on subsequent rows....

3 days later and here we are:

The back is finished :) I sure hope the gauge swatch does not lie, because I need this to stretch and widen before I do all the assembly.

The Right Front has now been cast on...with a repeat of the comedy of errors that started the back *sigh*

17 days.

In case you weren't paying attention, the 2010 Olympics started last week....as did the Knitting Olympics :) Last winter olympics, I finished off a sweater, then tore it back and finished it again... I'm hoping for somewhat less drama this time around :) (if you're curious about the whole thing, check out February 2006 in the archives)

The plan of attack for this Olympics? A cabled cardigan for my husband from this book:

Men's Knits: 20 New Classics. Unfortunately, I haven't a photo of the sweater in question -but if all goes well, you'll see it soon enough as it comes off the needles :) I did some preparation for the event by winding the yarn and swatching. Including washing and drying the swatch in question - I've been surprised with several sweaters where they grew incredibly during the washing that I really should know better by now...

All the yarn was wound onto the same ball.....I sure hope it's enough! Stay tuned for updates :)