Yarn-Along: Olympic Knitting. And (not much) Work in Progress

 Linking up today to the Yarn-Along over at Ginny's blog.  This is my Olympic knitting project.  I am making the yoke of a Drops cardigan.  Then when that's done (which it looks like will be before the Olympics are over at this rate) I will pick up the provisional cast-on at the chest and work the rest of the sweater downwards from there.  It makes sense to me, kind of.  I'll let you know how it progresses.  It feels really good to be working on something that's not socks.  I'm kind of suffering from sock burnout.  I'm reading Tom Clancy's last novel, Command Authority, which is as much of a page-turner as any of his other books.  Kind of ironic reading it during the Olympics, as the corruption and greed for power of a fictionalized Russian government is the theme and the setting of some of the most intense action is not too far from Sochi.  I might get around to doing a book review of it soon.

In quilting, my WIPs have slowed to a crawl.  This is how I left the last row of Celtic Solstice a couple of weeks ago.  I'm so close, but I've been concentrating on knitting and reading more.  I really have only this row to be joined and added to the body, then the borders to piece.  The more daunting task will be cleaning up my sewing area, which is trashed.  Seriously, I've been avoiding it.  Not even the need to iron clothes is enough to entice me back there.  What, ironing doesn't entice anyone?  Well, no wonder it hasn't worked for me either!

Political Tuesday: In Defense of the All-American Sweater

As a conservative Republican in a blue state, a teacher of an ancient language to middle-schoolers, and a general gadfly-about-town, I'm used to espousing unpopular opinions, so I'll venture into the political minefield today and say I think the sweaters worn by the American Olympic athletes during the opening ceremonies were perfect.  You can read a little about their all-American origin here.

Now on Ravelry and Facebook and other internet gathering-sites, the nay-sayers are loud in condemnation of the Ralph Lauren design.  Words like "fugly," "grandma," "ugly Christmas sweater" are among the kinder things being said.  Some don't like the fact that they were not hand-knit (although a lot of handwork went into the assembly, they were knit on machines).  Some dislike the fact that Ralph Lauren worked his "Polo" logo into them -- too commercial, I guess, and as we all know, the Olympic games are far above that sort of crass consumerism.

I like the sweaters because they pay homage to two American crafts: knitting, obviously, but also patchwork quilting. They both happen to be my own favorite hobbies.  Quilting, especially, exemplifies the resourcefulness and thrift of the American pioneers, and deserves a place of honor in the costumes of our finest young athletes.  Betsy Ross used some outstanding patchwork skills when she stitched the first flag. And that flag is not one of the quiet, shy, retiring flags that lets other countries do whatever they want so long as we're left alone.  Ours is a flag that wants to be noticed, that waves even prouder when there is tyranny to confront.  And we are not a nation of snobs.  Personally, I embrace the heritage of my grandparents and great-grandparents, Midwest farmers all, who valued things like finely-made clothes because they had to work so hard to earn them.

The sweaters may be a little too over-the-top for daily wear, but there is no denying that when the Olympic delegation entered the stadium waving their Star-Spangled Banner, it looked like a fireworks display had gone off.  America's champions, free, brave, breaking new boundaries of athleticism and personal achievement -- if they gush about their native country, you can be pretty sure that it's based on their genuine feelings, not because of behind-the-scenes pressure to say positive things about Vladimir Putin.

And if we want to get catty about national costumes, how about those escorts wearing the cake-decoration hats and carrying plastic barrel signs?

Snow Day and Casting On

 It's an atypical winter when we have a snowstorm like this.  Yesterday there were just a few spitting snowflakes when I left for school; by the time I got to Ridgefield there was white on the ground and the 8th graders were wired.  School districts called early release and people kept popping in to pick up their kids all morning long.

I left after my final class at 12:10 and took Secundus and a 4th grade girl home with me.  Quarta had to stay home sick and missed all the excitement.  What is normally a 20-minute commute was more than an hour of very slow-moving traffic, avoiding the highway which was blocked because of a bad accident.  We were really glad to get home safely.  It's unbelievably pretty outside.  What makes it unusual is that it has stayed far enough below freezing for the snow to still be powder and the streets are all snow-covered.

 And of course, they don't put anything on the streets to melt the snow or give traction, and there isn't a fleet of snowplows to clear the main streets.  Sometimes I miss the Midwest.  But it's even colder there.  We had a snow day today and there was some sledding and lots of snow shoveling (Steve is a bit obsessive about shoveling, but it's a useful obsession) and the girls carved a cave out of the snow pile.  I'll save those pictures for tomorrow.  However, you should realize that underneath all those inches of snow, there are daffodils growing.

 I decided to swatch in a completely different colorway, and I really like this one (the one on the right -- chocolate mint, it looks like).  Not like the refugee from the '70s that is on the left.  All the yarns are from thrifted unravelled sweaters, except for the white, which is my homespun.

So I cast on with Lucy Neatby's crocheted provisional cast-on.  321 stitches, including 4 steek stitches, at the base of the yoke, on size 5 needles.  I'm going to knit upwards through the yoke and make that  my goal for during the Olympics.  Then I will pick up the provisional cast-on and knit downwards for the body and sleeves.  I think this will work.  It should be fun trying, anyway.

Randomday - Latin Olympika

Today the kind and hardy folks at Veritas School in Newberg sponsored the Latin Olympika.  Our eager students, 30-some of them, enjoyed the day as always.  I got to be a question-reader!

There were 5 rounds, and in the 5th round we had 3 teams in our room.  There were 5 CT teams at the Intro level and 2 at the Latin 1 level.  I pretty much used up every tree theme I could.

"Lucus" (Forested pastureland) ultimately won at the Intro level.

 It was a true Olympika, with a foot race and relay, and even discus throw.  It was good to have an athletic activity to blow the cobwebs out of the brains after 5 straight brain-busting sessions.

It was a bit cold and damp outside though.

Tree-climbing was not an official athletic event, but look at how versatile Cedar Tree students are -- climbing in their dress uniforms!

Final round in the main hall; this is the finalist Latin 1 team.

Ribbons for the winners in athletic, academic, and team certamen events... here are most of Cedar Tree's contingent.

Quarta's team came in second at the Intro level.  Stop-and-go traffic all the way back to the Couve and an accident on the I5 bridge, so we are tired and ready for a relaxing evening, if possible.
It's National Quilting Day!  I plan to get a little of that in.

 

Fair Report; Monday Designs and Stash Report

I'm still basking in the glow of finishing my Ravellenic Games project yesterday; I also picked up our Fair exhibits this morning.  The Clark County Fair is over and everyone needs a few days to recover from that let-down feeling.  So fun to read all the comments, and we'll definitely enter things again... there's also a small check for winning ribbons, which is nice.  Quarta's pink applique "tea time" quilt got a blue ribbon and was much raved over by the Fair ladies.  "A keepsake item, enjoy!"  My Jack's Chain, Junior quilt only got a red ribbon: "Some areas pucker with quilting.  Kind of small for a baby."  Framed In also a red ribbon: "good idea - no points to really match. Binding needs help, many uneven places.  Miter corners a little tight."  Hmm, ya think that might be because I used many different weight scraps?  But the ladies in the "clothing" department were more generous.  My handspun Targhee yarn got a red ribbon, but then later also collected a Superintendent's Choice purple/gold ribbon. "Beautiful colors - watch for over spinning in spots."  Lady MacBeth garnered a blue ribbon and was apparently considered for Judge's Choice: "What a gorgeous piece of art!!!" And I loved the judges' comments on Nautilina, which seemed to inspire people to think about going on vacation: "Wonderful. How perfect with any color while walking the beach after a nice dinner in Mexico (I'm going in March)."  Sorry, nameless judge, but you can't borrow it!

On the design floor was this quilt from Steve's mom.  Isn't it charming?  I pinned it for her yesterday.  I love the flower prints and the different cream backgrounds.  She says people were pleased to see her again tying quilts in the activity room the last time she went.  I guess she took some time off after Steve's dad passed away.

My own design wall hasn't changed any since last week; Feathered Star still waiting for me.

Stash Report:

Fabric used this week: 0 yards
Fabric used year to date: 53.5 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Added year to date: 28 yards
Net used for 2012: 25.5 yards

Yarn used this week: 540 yards to finish Rhinebeck (total yardage for sweater 1444)
Yarn used year to date: 5850 yards
Yarn added this week: 0 yards
Yarn added year to date: 3503 yards (all handspun, not purchased)
Net used for 2012: 2347 yards

Sweater Triathlon - finish line!

It was a squeaker... but it's done, just in time for closing ceremonies if I had watched them live.  Which I didn't.  I have several hours of Olympics still tivo'd to watch and really, no time to do it in.

See, it really is done.  Except for the buttons, the reinforcing tape on the button band, and washing and blocking.  I love it.  Orange is the best color ever.  It's not my size, or I'd be tempted to keep it even though I own its twin.  Because you can never have enough orange.  It's a bit heavy to wear in August though.  I'll calculate tomorrow exactly how much yarn it used.  I spent a total of about 13 days knitting it, with not much else getting done on those days other than necessary stuff like cooking 3 meals a day and blogging.

Rhinebeck goes Ravellenic on Ravelry.

Randomday - Only the Collar Left

That's right, friends, only the collar is left of my orange Rhinebeck.  And the collar is negligible.  I can knit that up tonight and make the photo finish line before closing ceremonies.  No pictures because, well, I've been knitting all day!

I started this morning at 6:00 (9:00 EST), with some nice energetic knitting to the accompaniment of the political coverage.  I knit faster when the promise of a solid Republican victory is in the air.  And isn't it nice that Paul Ryan is considered young by all the commentators?  He's just two years younger than me, so that makes me... not old.  I finished the second sleeve midmorning, about the time I finished watching the Olympic coverage from last night.  I took a break midway through the buttonband to go pick as many plums as I could from our tree. 

There was also a break to go pick up the car from the shop in the early afternoon, and a trip to the library in mid-afternoon.  And then I made a strawberry-rhubarb pie and a blueberry-plum pie.  I also took a break for dinner and two breaks to do my two Latinstudy assignments (Caesar and Bede... Bede is in one of those dreadful papal letters, from Honorius.  The popes would have done so much better if they had stuck to the simple Latin of the Vulgate from which they all-too-seldom quote, and just dropped the pretentious efforts to impress the yokels with their erudition).

Daniel is working his way through Deep Space Nine, which he considers the quintessential Star Trek.  I finished the buttonhole band and cast on the collar through two key episodes dealing with the beginning of the Dominion war.  It's all clear sailing from here.  Yay!  I have fulfilled the Olympic code: Knit Faster, Aim Higher, Compete Stronger, and Stay Up Later watching television until you finish your sweater!  Unfortunately I have not finished my ironing, or made plum jam, or helped Daniel pack for college, or cleaned the house.  But there may be time for those things next week.

More of the random: at the Fair last week Steve and I saw a baby Barbary Lion, a species which is extinct in the wild.  It was asleep the first time we went by, but then awake right before we left the fair, and frisky.  I've never seen anything more adorable than a frisky kitten-lion trying to gnaw the head off its stuffed penguin toy.  And it was posing in people's laps, for photographs!

Recently I had an occasion where I contemplated the changes that twelve years of immersion in ancient language have made in my brain.  I was trying to explain the difference between a mystery gourd, which I think is a pumpkin, growing in our compost pile, and the watermelon which Daniel was hoping it was.  "Pumpkins have different leaves than ...." and there I paused.  Because I had to be sure the correct plural was "watermelons" and not "watermela."

In it to Win it

Forget all that "It's just an honor to be here" nonsense.  I want that Ravellenic medal!  I've worked hard and overcome a lot of setbacks, and I'm determined.  So.  After watching the Ravellenic Games live while furiously knitting on the right sleeve of Rhinebeck, I've come to some realizations about myself.  1. I'm stubborn.  2. I'm more competitive when I set myself a personal challenge than you'd think (see #1).  3. I take pride in my work and I want to see others appreciate it. 4. I honor the efforts of all participants in these games, but if baby sweaters, hexipuffs and water-bottle cozies can medal, I'm going to make darn sure my adult size sweater, knit with at least 1400 yards of my own handspun, is going to get a medal.  I will just have to be strategic.

So, like Aly Raisman making the shrewd call to drop a certain element from her floor program in the team final, I'm going to change the terms on which I will claim a medal, if necessary, after a last-minute evaluation.  From the beginning I knew that I would consider the sweater "done" even without buttons sewn on or blocking.  Now, I'm going to say that as long as I finish both sleeves, I will claim victory.  Buttonbands and collar, while they will certainly be added to the sweater before it finds its recipient this fall, are not strictly necessary elements of an adult garment.  I can claim victory without them, and I will, if necessary.  I'll be finished with the first sleeve in a few hours, and starting on the second sometime this evening.  I can DO this!  Anybody want to cook dinner for me?

Yarn-along Wednesday - Olympic Hopes

For every Olympic athlete who seizes the limelight with inspiring stories of pre-dawn practices and impossible comebacks, there are several who don't ever get a medal.  And that's okay.  You can tell the story of a person's character by how they react to -- not disaster, but a less than perfect performance.  I'm so proud of the ones who say "I'm just so happy to be here" instead of crying when they get a silver or pouting when they get a bronze (Russian gymnasts, I'm looking at you!)  Even when the announcer intones, "his Olympics are over" ... and they are, as far as NBC is concerned.  But I have to say those are the stories I enjoy the most.  I'm just sorry I don't have enough time in my life to watch more than the pre-packaged primetime coverage, taped for the next morning.

Here's where I stand on my Ravelympic Rhinebeck.  I lost almost two entire days of knitting, Saturday when I went blueberry picking, and Monday when I had a migraine.  But yesterday was quite productive.  Both right and left front yoke were completed yesterday, and I picked up stitches for the right sleeve.  Still, I'm seriously doubting that I'll be able to finish the whole thing by closing ceremonies.  That's basically three days for two sleeves and a day and a half for the collar and buttonbands.  I've never knit sleeves that fast.  But it's an honor just to be here.

I'm reading the latest #1 Ladies' Detective Agency novel - The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection.  I'm not reading it very fast because I keep trying to finish Olympic knitting, but it's just as delightful as all the others.  I'm linking up to Ginny's yarn-along today.

Blueberries have been a bit of a distraction this week also; first they had to be cleaned and picked over, then they had to be processed.  There have been many gallons -- 8? -- frozen for future use, and with the ones in the container I've made jam and syrup.  I'm trying to get to another batch of jam and a much-requested blueberry pie.  And then, just when we were preparing to drive away from church Sunday, friends come running up and saying, "Wait!  You can't go home without a zucchini!  Take two!"  They measure 11" and 12".  I like zucchini, but these are almost the size of kayaks.  I'll need to get creative to use them before people give me more! 

Steve and I are going on a date to the fair this evening; I'll be able to see the knitting and quilts without kids pulling several different directions, so it'll be fun.

Randomday in Blue

Blueberry picking today in Woodland.  We got lots!  Now to get them into the freezer.  There will have to be a break from the orange knitting, I guess.  Cleaning and freezing and maybe making jam and syrup.  Lots of blueberry pancakes in the future!  I hope we can keep them cool until we have time to process them all.  Typing this at 11:30... we have 5 gallons in the freezer so far and about that much still to do another day.  This is one of those times I'd like to have an extra fridge.

Random Olympic observations before I crash:

No matter how many times the NBC announcer says it, "three-peat" is not a word.

I thought women's gymnastics was the only sport that included eyeshadow and sparklies in the hair.  I think that's still true... but the women sprinters look very nice in lipstick and earrings.  But don't get me started on beach volleyball.  Let's just say I think it was poetic justice when they had to cover up because of the chilly British climate.

I suppose we should all be glad that China is now focusing its collectivist, machine-like energy on trying to rake in as many athletic honors as possible rather than mowing down innocent citizens with tanks.  They can have the trampoline and the synchronized diving and my personal favorite sport, table tennis.  But throwing a badminton match?  When most people didn't even know badminton was an Olympic sport?  I'd say that denigrates the true meaning of the Olympics far more than any knitter could ever do.  All Chinese badminton athletes should be immediately disqualified from competition in this and future world-class badminton events for the next 20 years.  It's just unconscionable.

Division Day

I've made lots of progress knitting over the last few days: Wednesday I spent 2 hours in the Vancouver DMV and Thursday it was about 2 hours altogether with Daniel driving to the Kelso DMV, and waiting for him to take his drive test and get his license (whoo hoo!) and driving back.  The Kelso DMV is totally the way to go.  Only about 5 minutes wait time from the time you take your number.  And Daniel is a licensed driver now!

Daniel drove the girls and me to the fair this morning... we got in with our free admission tickets for the pancake breakfast, but we'd already eaten at home.  We parked way out in the far G section and were already tired after looking at the animal exhibit (baby lion who slept in people's arms, a wallaby that hopped obligingly the lenthg of his cage, giganto pythons, a wise old tortoise) and some of the animal barns (Tertia is still terrified of cows, or any animal significantly larger than herself.  She probably doesn't remember the close encounter she had with an unruly bull as a toddler at the fair, but her subconscious sure does!)

Quarta's quilt had a blue ribbon, and my 2 quilts had red.  My 2 knitted items had blues and my yarn had a red.  Of course, it does seem that just about everything gets a ribbon.  Everyone's a winner at the fair!  Not a bad way to celebrate the summer, really.

Olympic knitting continues.  I celebrated Division Day today.  That means I completed the 15 inches of the "lower body pattern," which I affectionately think of as the waffle stitch, and divided the right front, back, and left front.  The left and right fronts are hanging out on holders or scrap yarn while I continue in plain stockinette stitch on the back.  Yay for no more ribbing, it's going to go a lot faster from here on, even though it's bulkier and harder to maneuver.

From the cast-on at the bottom edge, here are the skeins/colorways I've used so far:

145 (copper/bronze/embers) - 96 yds.
345 (flame/bronze/embers) - 98 yds.
135 (copper/flame/embers) - 118 yds.
134 (copper/flame/bronze) - 96 yds.
113 (double copper/flame) - 106 yds.  This was a little finer than the gauge I wanted so I started alternating every other row with
553 (double embers/flame) - 82 yds, and finished the waffle stitch section to divide for the 3 sections; the back started with 553 and continues with
235 (caution/flame/embers) - 108 yds., about 2 inches so far this evening.

Still to blend in on the yoke are 123, 225, 125, and 115, plus any others I might need.  I've caught up with where I wanted to be if I hadn't had to frog my first 2 days' work.  It would be nice to speed through some of these stockinette sections and actually pull ahead of my goal.  So I suppose I better sign off and actually knit, right?

WIP Wednesday - County Fair entries!

Yesterday Quarta and I headed up to the Clark Co. Fairgrounds to drop off some exhibits for this year's fair.  We've never done anything like this before, and we're so excited!  From the archives of the blog they are...

Quarta's "Tea Time" quilt... her first quilt!  She designed and appliqued and embellished most of the pictures...

My "Framed In" quilt...

Jack's Chain, Jr. edition...

Nautilina Shawl...

Rose Lace Stole (a.k.a. Lady MacBeth, but she's out on parole now!).  Note the difference between a "shawl" and a "stole."  If I had taken before pictures of the thrift store sweater the yarn came from I could have entered it into a whole different category for recycled or upcycled items...

and finally, handspun Navajo-plied Targhee wool yarn from the Tour de Fleece.  I hadn't even washed and thwacked this yet, but it was fun to contribute these and I look forward to seeing them at the fair Friday.  Get your free admission tickets for the Fred Meyer pancake breakfast at your neighborhood store; most of us skip the long line for free pancakes and head straight to the other fun.  I'm going to try to convince the girls to let me spend some quality time in the sheep barn this year.  But it will be fun to see some of our family's things on exhibit!

As far as real Works in Progress are concerned, I'm mainly all about the Ravelympics right now.

Today's picture, Rhinebeck goes Ravellenic is laid on top of my 2009 Rhinebeck by Proxy so you can see they are really 2 different sweaters!  You can also see this one is slightly larger (but not too much larger like the one I frogged Sunday) and has a slightly different blend of colors.  I like it! I'm 10 inches in, thanks to a 2-hour wait at the DMV this morning.  That's just about where I should have been at 2 inches per day if I hadn't frogged my first attempt, so it removed some of the frustration associated with long waits at the DMV.  Everybody, wish Daniel success on his driving test tomorrow... in Kelso!  (I think I'll have him drive there, and knit some more on the way... the earliest local exam time was going to conflict with his departure for college). 

I'm also linking to Ginny's Yarn-Along, but unfortunately I don't have a book.  That's because my reading has really slowed down to a crawl... does Facebook count?  (NOT!)  Online news articles? How about the Veritas Press catalog?  Variety Sudoku puzzles?  I'm blaming late nights watching the Olympics and the general busy-ness and lazyness of summer.  I read Family Circle for the recipes and celebrity gossip magazines for the inside scoop on the Cruise/Holmes divorce when I was at the eye doctor's waiting room.  Seriously, I need to mend my ways and do a book review soon!



Randomday: Olympic Cast-On

The Ravelympic, er, RAVELLENIC Games are on!  It's a total coincidence that the mass cast-on was at the same time as the Olympic Games opening ceremonies.  And that our goal is to finish whatever project we cast on by the closing ceremonies.  And that most of us are watching the Olympics at all... are we even allowed to say we watch the Olympics?

The challenge: complete Rhinebeck Goes Ravellenic before the end of closing ceremonies.  By complete: all knitting and seaming finished; buttons and blocking optional.  The materials: 22 skeins of orange superwash yarn, handspun during the Tour de Fleece, in 5 colorways: Classical Copper, Trademark Infringement Caution, Olympic Torch Flame, Bronze Age with Mycaenaean Patina, Ancient Embers.  I have about 1800 yards total of a worsted weight 3-ply.  The needles: size 6 KnitPicks Harmony tips on a 40" cable.  I went down a size because I'm generally a loose knitter and I'm trying to achieve an accurate 5 stitches/inch gauge to get the right amount of positive ease and not bagginess.

I managed about 2 inches of knitting and one skein of orange yarn (96 yards, colorway 145-copper/bronze/embers) before going to bed last night.  I'm on my second skein midway through the day (98 yards, colorway 345-flame/bronze/embers) and may finish about a skein a day.  It could happen!  When I did my 12 sweaters in 2009 challenge I used to aim for one inch of body knitting per day, which is roughly equivalent to 4 inches of sleeve knitting.  That can be hard to achieve with fingering or sport weight, but this is worsted and I think I can, I think I can.  Keep up the 2 inches per day pace, I mean.

Citius, Altius, Fortius!

Random observations: The Vatican did not field an Olympic team this year.  I don't know if they ever did, but it would make an interesting story.

My daughters had never watched Chariots of Fire, but now that they've seen Mr. Bean's version they may think it is the authentic one.

QEII as a Bond girl.  Now I've seen everything!

Olympic Preparations

The Ravelympics have been renamed the Ravellenic Games in response to claims of trademark infringement... but I'm still calling them the Ravelympics.  Or just plain Olympics, during which I'll be knitting.  I'm almost but not quite ready.  I have the yarn wound into center-pull balls, and I have a basic color progression planned for the sweater:

(The chicken sandwich on top left is Tertia's -- I was hurrying to put the yarn away before lunch!)

The sweater is Rhinebeck, from A Fine Fleece, by Lisa Lloyd.  If I had world enough and time I would knit just about every sweater in this book.  This will be the second time through for Rhinebeck, because I already have a version of this sweater for myself.  This one's for Beth, who wanted one just like it.  So, starting tomorrow, there will be lots more of the orange... of course, you've already seen the orange being spun during the Tour de Fleece.  Can I knit a sweater, start to finish, in 17 days?  Um, maybe.  Depends on how much I get distracted.

I still haven't done a swatch or selected a needle size or cleaned out my knitting bag.

Finished Color Affection

My finished shawl for June is Color Affection.  I really like this pattern by Veera Valimaki, and almost every single one of the thousands of examples on Ravelry.  I don't believe it's possible to have an ugly color combination for this shawl.  And it's big... 93 inches long, and an estimated 900 yards of yarn!  I kept my New Year's resolution not to buy any new yarn until I had knitted my stash down a little bit; the green and blue yarns are both reclaimed from thrift store sweaters (and have both featured in fair-isle sweaters I've knit in the past), and the charcoal is alpaca that I purchased at an estate sale last year (and used in my previous shawl of the 12-in-12 challenge).  I have actually worn this one already, even before the ends were sewn in. Just the thing for stylishly keeping warm when it's still in the low 60's and raining at the end of June!

The bright flowers are rose campion, and you can see a little Jupiter's beard at the right of the top photo.  We like flowers that reseed themselves, take care of themselves, and still look pretty!  In fact, our gardening philosophy could pretty much be summed up as "turn your weeds into assets."

At Starbucks last night I cast on for a new shawl, Summer Flies, and I'm still slogging along on Lady MacBeth, but no pictures of either for the yarn-along.  I've also tentatively chosen a pattern for my blue handpun Wensleydale, but I really shouldn't have more than 2 shawls going at once, don't you think?

Source: ebooknetworking.net via Katherine on Pinterest

Speaking of Jupiter, here's one of the books I'm reading while working on several epic knitting (and soon to be spinning) projects.  I highly recommend it.  Steve and I enjoy reading bedtime stories, and since we both love history, this is perfect.  The one of us least likely to fall asleep while reading (usually me, although not always... I come up with some pretty funny word substitutions when I'm sleep-reading) reads aloud to the other, and we usually make it through a chapter -- fortunately in this book, they're short.  The book is organized very nicely, with duelling timelines at the end of each chapter so you can review what the Egyptians were doing while the Assyrians were doing something else.

The most recent chapter, "Conquest and Tyranny," features Greece, Sparta vs. Athens.  In light of my recent blog posts, I was highly entertained the other night to read about the transition of the first kings in Athens (archons) into annually elected rulers.  The practice was more of an aristocracy or oligarchy than democracy, though:

"The first annual archon," Eusebius writes, "was Creon, in the year of the 24th Olympiad" -- in other words, 684 B.C. ...

In 632, though, the seams of the semi-democratic practice gaped wide open.  An Olympic champion named Cylon (he shows up in Eusebius's lists as the winner of the diaulos, or "double-race," the 400-metre foot race, in the Olympic Games eight years previously) made a bid to turn the archonship into something else.

"Cylon," Thucydides writes, "was inquiring at Delphi when he was told by the god to seize the Acropolis of Athens on the grand festival of Zeus." ...Cylon ... decided that the "grand festival of Zeus" must refer to the upcoming Olympic Games.  What more appropriate time for an Olympic victor to seize power?  And so he ... occupied the Acropolis, announcing "the intention of making himself tyrant."

...But Cylon had chosen the wrong "grand festival of Zeus."  The oracle had apparently been talking about a later festival which took place well outside the city ... Rather than rolling over, the Athenians grew indignant."
                       - The History of the Ancient World, Susan Wise Bauer, pp. 425-426

 And it continues, describing yet another power-grab that did not end well for its instigator.

Design Wall Monday and Stash Report

So, now for something completely different on the design wall.  I'm making Arrowhead blocks using the technique for Anita's Arrowheads described in Rotary Cutting Revolution.  It's a fascinating technique that requires two 8" squares of fabric, starched together and stitched in a particular way.  Then you cut them in a particular way, press, rearrange, and sew again.  Advantages: these blocks make up fairly fast, and it's fun.  Disadvantages: you end up with bias edges on the blocks, and the starch builds up on the bottom of your iron.  Looking at some of the other patterns in the book, I think this is one of the easier patterns; the others looked like too much work and fuss for me, and I would go with traditional piecing for them.  But this one is great!  I started out just making one test block, and here I am almost 30 blocks later, making a purple bed quilt.  And purple isn't even my favorite color or anything, but I really like these.  I'm just trying to use up some stash.  It's kind of cool how colors that don't go at all with purple can go with purple in a quilt.

Thinking of a name for this quilt: maybe Olympic Mountains Majesty?  Inspired by this and other photos of the lovely Olympic Mountains on the Olympic Peninsula in my home state of Washington?  (And not, of course, meaning any denigration to the U.S. athletes competing in a sporting event to be held soon, but meaning a great deal of denigration to the corporation devoted to marketing and commercializing their efforts.)

Source: google.com via Katherine on Pinterest

I have a stash report as well:
Fabric used this week: 1 yard for backing for Jack's Chain baby quilt
Fabric used year to date: 49 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Added year to date: 27 yards
Net used for 2012: 22 yards
Yarn used this week: 900 yards for a finished Color Affection
Yarn used year to date: 3406 yards
Yarn added this week: 0 yards
Yarn added year to date: 1308 yards (all handspun, not purchased)
Net used for 2012: 2098 yards

Gearing up for the Tour de Fleece starting soon... I'll be adding a lot more yarn yardage then.  And then hopefully knitting it all up in the competition formerly known as the Ravelympics.

Ravelympics: Who Wins?

The Ravelympics will have to undergo a name change: Ravelry members can vote here on a shortlist of contenders, none of which have quite the same significance or resonance as the original.  I haven't even officially chosen or signed up with a team for the Event Which Must Not Be Named, but I'll be knitting.  And I'll be calling it "Ravelympics" here on my blog even if I can't on Ravelry.  And I will be taking every opportunity between now and then to put the words "Olympics" and "Olympian" in their proper context, which I do not believe is as the exclusively trademarked property of an American corporation.  Expect to see reviews of books featuring Olympic deities, references to Mt. Olympus in classical times, and maybe some talk about the Olympic Peninsula right here in Washington State.  I think I will be okay, because this is a small blog, and because it's not making a profit.  But you never know.  Just in case, I want to be buried in my orange Rhinebeck sweater.

I despise a bully, and although I understand why Ravelry feels it must comply with the U.S. Olympic Committee's "cease and desist" letter, I think there are far deeper issues involved than copyright infringement.  Ravelry itself is a for-profit corporation, yes... but it's also a social networking platform, and its 2 million members should be viewed as private individuals with the rights to free speech and free association that all Americans enjoy.  The Ravelympics is an all-volunteer effort, run by ordinary members of Ravelry and not by its employees.  So for the USOC to dictate what private citizens can call their own hobbies and groups really does ring a lot of free speech bells for me.  And if you're not a knitter, consider what might happen if you invited a lot of friends to come to your house for a party to watch the Olympics... and you used the Facebook platform to do it.  Or your email program.  Or your cell phone.  Would the USOC go after these corporations because you used them to infringe on their copyright?  And if not, is it just because those are big corporations, and Ravelry is small (in profit, not membership)?  Then shame on the USOC, because that's the very definition of a bully.

The internet is still in its Wild West phase, and the rules are unclear.  But I don't think the legal department of a for-profit corporation that is turning a tidy profit exploiting the efforts of amateur athletes (well, they used to be anyway) to market them to TV viewers should be the one to set the rules.  This is what the term "crony capitalism" means, and it's not pretty.  Now, I know better than most that knitters are all over the map politically.  I myself am a proud conservative Republican, and I like free enterprise, and I like businesses to be able to turn a profit as long as they do it honestly (which I think they do, most of the time).  Where there's real copyright and trademark infringement, I'd like those things to be sensibly protected.  But I utterly fail to see the business sense in alienating a large group of potential customers, some of whom have been eagerly looking forward to the games.  It's like winning the trademark battle and losing the fan base that made the trademark worth something.

The ironic thing, of course, is that 5 days ago most knitters didn't think one way or the other about the USOC.  They were generally positive about the Olympics and many were looking forward to watching the games while working on a project that would be personally challenging to them.  One crazy day turned that all upside down.  Very few knitters are going to be watching with the same spirit of goodwill towards the Olympic organizers and profiteers that they might have had.  It's all left a sour taste in our mouths.  It's so very petty, like the jocks in high school who picked on the artsy kids.

The USOC has created a massive PR problem for itself, and I can't say I feel too sorry for it.  I've watched with a small amount of schadenfreude as the social media have exploded with outrage about this issue over the last few days.  For sure, when the history of social networking is written, the Ravelympics will have its own chapter. 

I'm looking forward to watching the London games and cheering on the athletes who are doing their best to be the best in the world at what they do, but I'll be muting the commercials.  Or, perhaps more to the point, I'll be giving serious thought to whether I want to support the attempt to commercialize excellence.

Randomday: Keeping Out the Damp

Some days are more random than others.

Our downstairs ceiling is leaking.

That means it's coming in from the upstairs.  This is the closet of the girls' room.  It smells really bad in there right now.

It's running all the way down the joist onto the living room beam and then wicking all the way across the beam.  Probably has been doing this for several months now.  We cannot afford a new roof at this time, but Handyman Can is on the job.  Let's hope we can get the repair made next week and it's relatively simple.  And that it stops raining!

The Shakespeare Love mug Primigenitus bought me at the Folger Shakespeare Library came with a link to an instructional video.

I took Primigenitus and Secundus to the DMV this week; Primigenitus needed to renew his learner's permit and Secundus needed to get his.  I got two whole rows of the final border on Color Affection done while waiting for their numbers to come up.

I keep checking to see how seven kittens in Pittsburgh are doing.

Star Trek had much better writing after Gene Roddenberry departed.

Thai Little Home is a really neat Thai restaurant that I hadn't been to until yesterday.  They advertise the biggest Pad Thai in town, enough to feed 4.  We might have to go back there with the family.

Also, it is really difficult to get Steve to buy shoes.  He looks, but nothing is just right.  He liked the bit in Mr. Magorian where he found the perfect shoes and bought a lifetime supply... and when the last pair wore out, it was time to go.  So far I have found out that he likes New Balance 10.5 regulars for sneakers, but they can't be in any funky colors.  And he likes Ecco for dress shoes, but when we go where they sell them, he doesn't find anything to buy.  And that he doesn't like Rockport.  And I'm not clear about Dockers and the other brand he tried on last night.

I had insomnia last night, worrying about the leaky roof, and went downstairs to listen to the drips and watch posts going live on Ravelry.  It's fascinating the list of countries I came up with: if you're in the UK you get to choose whether the UK, Scottish, English, or Welsh flag comes up on your profile.  Besides that, there were Australia, South Africa, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Singapore, India, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Hungary and earlybirds on the east coast of the U.S. and Canada.  Which brings to mind the international nature of Ravelry, and just why it is so annoying to be harassed by the U.S. Olympic Committee over the name "Ravelympics."  I've been joining in on the discussion about what to call it if they have to change the name, and suggested a move to Mt. Parnassus.  And the suggestion for the slogan "faster, bigger, prettier" was made, for which I came up with the translation "Citius, Magius, Pulchrius."  But frankly, I'm looking forward to the Tour de Fleece a little more.  And that's coming up next week, right after Primigenitus' 18th birthday.

I wonder if it will stop raining by then so I can spin outside?

Spinach Salad, and a Gaffe of Olympic Proportions

I made this recipe: Spinach and Radish Slaw with Crispy Chiles and Pepitas.  It's a bit of a production, and it makes a LOT.  I substituted red wine vinegar with a dash of sherry for the sherry wine vinegar called for.  And the only dried chiles I could find were "chiles negros" which I think had already been roasted before I stir-fried them.  The Pepitas are pumpkin seeds, which I had left over from my last batch of homemade granola.  This is a great salad, although rather soggy after the first day.  I'd make it for a potluck or cut it in half next time.

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Have you seen the Ravelry tempest in a teapot?  Seems the U.S. Olympic Committee has sent a cease-and-desist order to Ravelry claiming trademark infringement, because of the Ravelympics.  (The Ravelympics are a completely volunteer effort, in which individual crafters challenge themselves to complete a knitted or crocheted item during the duration of the sporting event the USOC thinks it is promoting).  To add insult to injury, the letter claimed knitting somehow "denigrates" the hard work and competitive spirit of the U.S. athletes (but only the U.S. athletes... I guess the international competitors aren't going to feel threatened by the sweater sprint).  Hoo boy.  They probably know, now that it's gone viral, that it was a mistake to do this.  Here's Mason-Dixon Knitting's take on it.  Although I'm not a huge fan of Stephen Colbert, I can see him having fun with this and would stand behind him, just this once.  The USOC has issued a semi-apology and suggested that knitters might like to knit items and donate them in honor of the games.  I don't think this is going to happen, at least not as the payoff the USOC seems to hint at.  They have proved themselves decidedly un-knitworthy.  Even after the second apology.

Ravelry, much as I love it, can be a rough crowd.  Rough as in "don't let your underage daughter go unsupervised here."  Some boards are as innocuous and friendly as you would expect from a knitting forum.  Some, despite vigilant moderation, are so overpopulated that threads degenerate and get locked quickly, but not too quickly for feelings to be hurt.  And some are actually set up to be a kind of verbal cage-fighting; no-holds-barred, no feelings spared, mob psychology and snark in full force.  I suspect that the denizens of the latter groups will not be called off easily.  Knitters have not been this vengeful since Madame Defarge.  I'm just as glad it's corporate America in the form of the USOC rather than political and religious conservatives they're targeting, this time.

As for me, I've (mostly) given up on the contentious groups and avoid the overpopulated ones as much as possible.  I will be knitting my Ravelympics project and calling it just that on this blog no matter whether they change the official name or not.  And somehow, I think I will be doing my part to work the words "Olympics" and "Olympian" into my blog as much as possible, but not in reference to the international summer games located in the capital city of the U.K.  Those shall remain nameless, since I wouldn't want to infringe on the rights of an American company to think it has a monopoly on the use of the word that refers to them.  Or denigrate the efforts of soulless fat cats to prove themselves pompous jerks.