Knitty Couture

Whew! What a tough 17 days!

We had a wonderful closing ceremony. Thank you, everyone, for coming out and joining in the celebrations!

During the planning of the Olympics, we had decided on two points: 1) Everyone would get a medal regardless of how far along they were on their project, and 2) the “medal” had to be a token worth keeping.

These pin cushion medals were perfect. They were cute, functional (great for T-pins), and incorporated the Oriental theme from Olympics 2008.  We found the pattern instructions here.

I must say, there was a bit of time and commitment into making them. What was assumed to be a short afternoon of sewing, stuffing, etc. turned into a five day curse-fest. In the end, however, as we gazed upon these cute little things, it became obvious it was all well worth the effort. We’re so glad everyone loved their medals.

If you’ve not received yours, be sure to stop by. For those of you out of state, be sure to email me your pics and address. I will include the pics in the post!

There was a quite an array of projects. While some chose to do garments, others did lace, and even some designed their own pieces. It was all very impressive and truly inspiring!

The criteria:

Gold medalists are those who completely finished their pieces. Blocked, seamed, ends woven in, everything.

Silver medalists are those who are near completion, but have yet to seam their pieces or just have a few more rows to go. Almost there.

Bronze medalists are those who casted on. Yup. Just casting on will get you a bronze.

Gold medalists: Joelle made an adorable cardigan for her little girl, Lael. Lourdes designed a puppy sweater for her friend, Chris. Cathy knitted a warm scarf to wear when she goes riding on her horse (we’re jealous). Heather, the lace expert, knitted a beautiful lace shawl (we’re also jealous). Lenora designed a gorgeous cable cape/poncho. She incorporated arm openings at the sides so that, we assume, she can keep on knitting.

Janine completed the lace section, actually all the squares, from B. Walker’s Learn to Knit Afghan.

Sandy knitted a heavenly alpaca/angora hat from Anne-Maj Ling’s Two-End Knitting. By the way, this book is well worth getting. Two-end knitting is a very intriguing technique and creates incredible textural pieces.

Eileen is holding five bronzes when in actuality, she should be holding gold. She knitted up Neaty by Rowan. Her beautiful cardigan is knitted up, using two hues of Cocoon greys. Oh, and she finished the cardigan in the first week of the Olympics and even had time to finish and wear the blue sweater she has on. Some people would call it a sickness, knitting so damn fast, but we’ll just call her a speed demon.

Silver medalists: Brenda and Siri were bumped up to silver because they helped make the pin cushions. And no matter what anyone says, I deny running a sweat shop, though I will admit to being pretty demanding. Are bathroom breaks really necessary? I kid, I kid!

Sarah is knitting up a baby surprise jacket in teddy bear colors for her soon-to-be-born. Congratulations! Mary Ellen is finishing up Capri, another Rowan piece, in Calmer and in a beautiful deep purple .

Where are my Bronze medalists? Please come by to pick up your cushion. You’re still a winner!

Alicia is one of our Bronze medalists. Initially intending to make a sweater, she opted instead on making a skirt for salsa dancing (Sexy!). The skirt is knitted up in a beautiful red and, get this, Alicia has incorporated a large spider motif on the side. We can’t wait to see it!

Lourdes, upon seeing the bronze medals, opted to demote herself by giving up the gold for the bronze. We were all shocked at first, but then again, who can blame her? Bronze is pretty too!

Overall, the closing ceremony and the day, in general, as most Sundays are, was a blast! It’s truly wonderful to look across the room and see everyone enjoying themselves and each other’s company. It’s during moments like these when I am most thankful for the yarn shop and its purpose. Sometimes, it almost feels like a dream.

Thank you to everyone for participating and making Knitty Couture’s first Knitting Olympics a fun and wonderful success!

Now, for me……. I took home a silver. I tried so hard, I promise! Didn’t I mention the five-day pin-cushion making curse-fest?

By Sunday morning, I knew I wasn’t getting gold. The hubby was feeling neglected, the pattern revisions were frustrating, disappointment was on the rise. I had ripped the sleeves for the fourth time and hadn’t join the shoulders nor picked up for the collar. I’m so sorry, Team Knitting Camp!

I did, however, managed to finish by Sunday afternoon and so here it is!

This cable sweater is knitted in Rowan kidsilk haze, one stranded. The idea for this sweater had been floating around in my mind for years, and I’m glad to finally give it some attention. The body was knitted in the round on US1 and had a simple combination of 4-stitch cables, purls, and twisted stitches.

The set-in sleeves, initially meant to be elbow-length, were knitted separately and seamed. To facilitate the ease of seaming, I threaded bright yarn through the body and sleeve selvedge stitches. Stitches were picked up and worked for the collar. I wanted a large collar with ease on the backside so that the sweater could be worn over button-downs.

Can you believe some people thought I was going to wear this just plain, with just a bra?! I’m no hussy!

Future modifications will be to lengthen the sleeves as intended, include more repeats since the resulting garment was a bit stretched (I had measured a favorite sweater for desired width and even included a bit more for ease), and lengthen the body (I found that the despite the generous given length, the garment tended to ride up and look mighty short.

Maybe I should get the gold for longest, freakin’ blog post ever.