What event is this?

I had to break out my calculator today. Apparently my math is rustier than I thought, because I had figured out the short rows for my Tiger pants and the repeats for my Hippie Tunic all wrong. Apparently I was planning on knitting dresses for Zeke and I, instead of pants and a tunic. I had 78 rounds for Zekes pants instead of 35 (forgot to divide in half for front and back and allow for short rows in back), and I had 31 repeats of the lace pattern instead of 31 rounds in the lace pattern for the Hippie Tunic.

I discovered all this when figuring out how much knitting I need to do each day to finish on time. With my incorrect numbers, the task seemed very daunting. Now that I have everything worked out right (hopefully), it seems much more manageable.

I'm nearly finished with my first pair of baby socks!

I think the next pair I'll knit a little bigger, as these are a little short for my big footed baby. Have I mentioned before their shoe sizes? At 37 months, Jackson wears a toddler 10. At 19 months, Nicholas wears a toddler 6 (he has very thick ankles). I have no idea what size Zeke is, but I figure he's on par, since his feet are quite long. These socks will work for him for a little while, but not too long.


I had to rip back a few rows on these to reposition the short rows. Can you see how beautiful the Malabrigo stitches are? They're so uniform and smooth... I love it.

I'm about 10% done with the Hippie Tunic. I need to knit aproximately 15 rounds a day to finish before the Olympics are over. So far, I'm on track.

I love the pattern. It reminds me of a crochet afgan my mother once made. I think that's how I associate it so well with "hippie." I do keep thinking I should have knit it in hemp...

Keep watching, I hope to have my first FO tomorrow!

Opening Ceremonies

I watched the beginning and ending of Opening Ceremonies last night. It was spectacular! I saw the 2008 drummers (that's two-thousand eight musicians/artists) with the syncronized drumming. I loved the colors - the gold and red together. I may have to look for some yarns in a similar colorway. Anyway they were all together, perfectly syncronized. Their drumsticks and drums lit up as well. It was REALLY cool.
I cast on for Tiger Pants and for Hippie Tunic. Pictures are forthcoming - a friend borrowed my camera for a wedding. Anyway, casting on for Tiger Pants was hell - my figures were off. The directions say you need an even number of stitches, but I found I needed stitches divisible by 4 for the 2x2 ribbing. I ripped it out 3 times before i finally got it right. I'm now past the ribbing and the first set of short rows, and it's looking good! I have no doubt that it will be finished in time.
The Hippie Tunic didn't give me quite as much trouble, except that I cast on a little tight and the first row is a lace pattern row. I had a hard time with the ssks and k2togs. That I also had to rip back about 70 stitches on. I believe that when you first start a project, it is important to start it right to build a good foundation for what is to come. I insist on fixing small problems that I would probably let slide later in my knitting.
I'm going shopping later for needles for the baby socks. I have to decide if I want to Magic Loop them or use DPNs for size 3s. Any preferences? Maybe bamboo?
Oh yes. I went to AuneGirl's for the Opening Ceremony for the knitting olympics. It was a great party! HiLite had some music selected, and she and AuneGirl had a torch ceremony all planned out. I made some Sweet Taffy Apple Tartlets for everyone.

Training and qualifiers

The knitting olymics are fast approaching, set to coincide with the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Cast on is at 7:00 am CST on Friday, August 8th, same time as opening ceremonies.
I will be competing at the Ravelympics on Ravelry.com with Team Tardis (is my Doctor Who fanatacism showing?).
My events include: Sock Put, Sweater Sprint, and Baby Dressage.I plan to knit four projects in ten days. The "This Tiger Pants" for baby Zeke, two pairs of baby socks in red/orange and green, and a tunic style sweater for me.
So far, I have wound my Malabrigo for This into a ball. I still have to swatch for This and for my tunic, and learn magic loop for the socks.