Yes, We Did!

Amazing night, wasn't it? Sorry I've been absent for so long - I don't think I've ever gone over a month without a post before. This whole having a job thing really puts a crimp in my lifestyle :-) I spent most Saturdays doing some phone calling and doorknocking and Sundays with football, so I just haven't had a lot of time for blogging. They both paid off, though. We have a new President, and it's the one I wanted and I'm in first place in my fantasy football league. Yay and yay! I also was sick for a little while, but I'm feeling tip top now, so let's get back into the swing of things!

I have a ton of things to blog about, but let's go with the knitting this time, since this is supposed to be a knitting block. I finished up a couple more thing for the Knitters for Obama project:



A pair of socks from Woolease, and a matching hat:



The sock pattern was my own - one I cobbled together from a couple of other sources and measurements of Bill's feet. The hat is Ellen's Knit Hat and I really liked it a lot. If you're looking for a basic worsted weight hat pattern, I can recommend this one.

I was the collection point for the delivery of KFO goodies to the Minnesota Assistance Council for Vets. This is a great organization that does a lot of good stuff for our vets here in Minnesota, so if you're looking for a good organization to get involved with, I can't recommend them highly enough. I got a stack of hats:



scarves:



and washclothes and soap:



I had three big bags full of stuff to deliver, which was so much fun. They handed out a few of the items this week and it looks like the guys really enjoyed their new warm woolies!



I also finished up a pair of socks for myself:



Project Name: Froot Loop Socks
Pattern Source: Knitty, Spring 2008
Yarn: Chestnut Bay Fibers Galloping Colors in the Vikings colorway
Yarn Source: Chestnut Bay Fibers
Date Started: 8/30/08
Date Completed: 10/08 (I can't remember when I actually finished them)

Comments: I made these socks as part of a knitalong on the footballalong group on Ravelry. The colors are really beautiful and I can't capture them on my camera - it's a very true Vikings purple. The yarn is very soft and lovely, but it is a bit thin. I liked the pattern a lot. It's easy to memorize, but still interesting to knit. I think it would work better with a solid color and the darkest purples do swallow the texture, but I still like how it turned out. I liked the striped pooling of the colors and the variations kept the knitting interesting.

Update

Now that it's officially fall, I'm keeping busy, but most of it is not really good blog material. It's election season, so I've been doing some volunteer work for the DFL and watching hours of political/news coverage. The debate was really fun to watch and I can't wait to see the VP debate this week. Most of my readers are progressives like me, so do what you can to make sure things change this time!

It's football season too. The Vikings have been pretty disappointing, but thank goodness they won last week or else I'd really be depressed. You feel like such a chump when you dump so much money into season tickets and then the games suck. My fantasy football teams are doing pretty well. I'm in first place in the league I care the most about, the one I've been in for the last 10 years that my brother is also in.

The new television season has started too. I haven't seen anything new yet, but it's good to see some old favorites return. With the writer's strike last year, it's been a while for some of these shows, and I'm happy to see them. I'll do my usual fall tv post in about a month or so.

With all that extra tv watching, I have been doing some knitting. I finished up the first of my Vikings Froot Loop socks:



The yarn (Chestnut Bay Fibers) is a little thinner than I'd like, so I hope these don't wear out too quickly. I didn't want to mess around with changing the numbers in the pattern, so the gauge isn't as firm as I'd normally like. They do fit very nicely though.

I'm also knitting one more pair of socks for the Knitters for Obama drive.



I'm using Woolease for this pair and am almost up to the toe right now on this first one. I'm starting to collect stuff for the Minnesota group now, so I should be able to finish up the pair in time for my delivery to the Veteran's group.

And finally I'm doing a knitalong on the Elsebeth Lavold Ravelry group. I decided to make the Borghild sweater in a Silky Tweed I had in my stash:



I love this yarn. Soft and silky and also just gorgeous. It's gray and cloudy today, so I couldn't get a good shot of it without the flash and the flash overexposed it, so hopefully next time. But it's a lovely green with flecks of orange.

FO

Actually, I have two FOs! Exciting, huh?



Project Name: Mr. Greenjeans
Pattern Source: Knitty, Fall 2007
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Peru in Thraven Colorway
Yarn Source: Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth
Date Started: 5/25/08
Date Completed: 9/7/08

Comments: This sweater didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. I definitely think the top half is too big and the bottom half is about right. I should have adjusted the pattern and knit a smaller size on top. Or really, I should have started the cabled rib earlier so it start right under my bustline, like the pattern shows, instead of at my waist. I may try throwing it in the wash and see if I can shrink it down a little bit.

The pattern was pretty clear and easy to follow, although I did have trouble at the very beginning. The number of cast on stitches and the number of stitches in the set up row didn't seem to be the same, so I just adjusted on the back. I did adjust the measurements a little bit. I knit more of the cabled rib portion because I didn't want the sweater to fall right at my widest part and I wanted it to be more in balance with the top stockinette portion. I think if I had started the cable rib earlier, I wouldn't have had to lengthen it. I have short arms, so I didn't change the length on those, but they end up being regular long sleeves on me instead of bracelet length as shown on the pattern.

I had plenty of yarn left over, even with the longer length. The yarn has a very nice, soft feel although the alpaca is a little itchy to my very sensitive skin.I wore a tank top underneath and it wasn't too uncomfortable. I originally sewed a pretty pewter toned button on, but I didn't like how it looked like it was pulling, so I sewed the buttonhole shut and I'm going to use this brooch to fasten it closed.

Here's the back view:



and



Project Name: Veteran's Socks/Obama Socks
Pattern Source: I sort of mixed the Knit to Fit Ankle or Calf Socks pattern by Nancy Lindberg, the Ragg Hiker pattern from 2-at-a-time Socks, and my own random choices to create the pattern
Yarn: Plymouth Encore
Yarn Source: Knittin From the Heart
Date Started: 8/12/08
Date Completed: 9/12/08

Comments: These were knit for the Knitters for Obama group. They are being donated to a Homeless Veterans shelter here in Minnesota. I really love this color of Encore - it's a beautiful chocolate brown with flecks of blue. Hopefully they will keep some veteran's feet really warm this winter. If you are interested in knitting some worsted weight men's socks, I'd be happy to send you my final pattern.

Mid-Day Post!!

Hey, look at me! Blogging in the middle of the day, just like old times. Things have turned weird in the sleepy town of St. Paul. Things may get dicey with the last day of the convention today, so I was able to leave work early and get out of Dodge. Well, sort of, since I live in St. Paul too.

The other plus side of having the convention in town is that I got to go to a taping of The Daily Show on Tuesday. It was really fun to see how a show like that is put together and see Jon Stewart interacting with the staff and how much he gets into even the taped bits. It was really great. I had to stand in line for about 4 hours beforehand, but it was worth it.

Afterwards, a big protest with about 2,000 people was right outside of the theater. They kept us in the theater for about 10 - 15 minutes and then if we wanted to leave, we could go out the back door and take the risk ourselves of something happening. I figured it would be best to get out while I could, so I did. It's weird to see so many cops all around downtown St. Paul. Cops in riot gear, cops on bikes, cops on horse. I was parked on the other side of the crowd, so I headed around to circle around and be able to get in front of them. There was a big group of police officers strapping on gas masks and then rushing right at me, but luckily I got through and got to the car and out. One of my friends who left after I did ended up getting maced and the biggest clash between the police and protesters happened right in front of the parking ramp my brother used, so I was glad we left when we did.

While I was waiting in line, I finished up the first of the socks I'm knitting for the Knitters for Obama group:



I cancelled my sock club membership and joined a new one - the Artsygal Sock Club. Here's the July selection:



I love this yarn! It's a merino superwash and is super soft. The red semi-solid is really beautiful too. I think it'll be great for some sort of textured pattern.

The August selection was a bit different:



This one is a mix of bamboo, merino and nylon. The colors are a little more subdued than I'm usually attracted to, but I do like the pretty sheen of the bamboo with the softness of the merino.