GOLD and 4000 Hits

How about that gold medal? Isn't that great?

As of this moment, Sandpiper Knits has had 4000 hits from the time I began using StatCounter to count hits. Wow. Welcome.

Olympians Gold

There is it -- finished. I sewed the buttons on Friday evening, and wore it Saturday morning. If I could change it, I might alter the fit of the shoulders a little -- they are a tad large, but overall, it is wearable.

That's my Knitting Olympics project completed ON TIME (with around 48 hours to spare). It is also the answer to my knitting New Year's Resolution, which was to knit a garment that required gauge calculations.

YIPPEE. Happy dance.

Summary of Project

This project was done in response to the Yarn Harlot's knitting Olympics. Citius, Altius, Fortius. I chose this project as a challenge because my Knitting New Year's resolution was to knit a project with GAUGE.

Pattern source: Mountain Colors Simply Seamless VestNeedles: US size 7; turbo circular needles.

Yarn: Cascase 220, color 4006 -- a purple/burgandy/not really brown color. I bought six skiens. I have one left untouched and I knit a large swatch prior to starting.

Notes: I did not use the yarn stated in the pattern -- Mountain colors wool quarters, doubled. That yarn gave a gauge of 4 stitches / inch on size US 8 needles. My yarn and my knitting produced a gauge of 4.5 stitches per inch on US 7. I could have gone up a needle size, but I liked the fabric at this size. So I altered the pattern to match my gauge. It was supposed to be a challenge, right?

Knitting Dates: February 10 - February 22 (knitting). Finished on February 24 (buttons sewn on).

Vest Knitting is Done!

Hey! Take a look at the sidebar. Percentage of vest knitted = 100%!!!! Yippee!!!!!!

I don't have a picture, but the knitting is done, the ends are woven into place, the vest has been washed and is currently blocking in our bedroom, pinned to the floor.

I don't have photos because I blocked it at 1:00 in the morning. Who needs sleep?

DONE. Done. Done. Done.

Now I just have to go buy buttons, and sew them on.

And then the moment of truth. The point of all these gauge calculations. Will it fit?

Vest Update

I'm coming into the final lap on this challenge called the knitting Olympics. The vest is close to a reality. Last night I "seamed" the first shoulder seam as per directions, using a "double bind-off." Have I mentioned how slippery the turbo needles are? They are fine in normal circumstances -- fast when doing regular knit stitch. In this case, though, I was fussing at them. DH is trying to watch the Olympics (or sleep -- can't remember which one), and I'm doing the double bind off -- circular turbos and a third, aluminum needle. When I was close to the end, I stopped and warned the stitches -- in my best "MOM" voice -- to stay on the needle. They promptly, and without regard to my demands, slipped off the needles. Argh.

Anyway, bind off done, and I'm working on the right front of the vest. I've finished almost 30 rows, which is almost 5 inches. The right front is nine inches from the "arm hole" division, so four more inches, and then the final four finished inches, another double bind off, and its done -- except for weaving in a few ends, washing, blocking, sewing on yet to be purchased buttons, and picking off the occasional dog hair.

DH asked what kind of buttons I was going to use. Answer -- I'll put any kind of buttons on this baby as long as they are on by the time the torch is extinguished. Really nice, special, order off the internet buttons can be considered at a later date -- as an alteration to a finished article of clothing. This week she gets what Jo Ann Fabrics has in stock.

The color is so DIFFICULT to photograph. It's multilayered -- not brown, not burgandy, more purple than anything else. I've included this up-close and personal view of the knitting, not because the color is right, but so that you can see the variation in color this yarn has.

And hopefully all uneveness of stitches will be eliminated by blocking (she says, optimistically)

Go...

So, I'm off and knitting. So far, three days down and almost three inches of knitting. I'll have to pick up speed if I have any hopes of finishing by the closing ceremonies. Lots of work this weekend, though, and not much time to knit.

I have a rate of 1 row per 10 minutes, a row gauge of 6 rows/inch, so that's one inch/hour (of course, I calculated -- this is the Olympics). I'm going to figure out how much I have to get down in order to finish, becuase right now I'm thinking, "Was I even in my right mind to think I could knit a vest in 16 days?"

Here's a picture of the progress so far, although the color is WAY off.

On Your Marks...Get Set...

Are we ready? Let's see...

• Needles? Check -- Turbos (of course), size US7, 24 inch circular.
• Yarn? Check -- Cascade wool, six skiens, wound by my support team (S, G and J) and me. The younger members of the team love the ball winder -- fun machine. For some reason, G (older son), really has the nack for holding the yarn exactly in the right position. J (younger son) just likes to play with the machine, and S (dh) is the expert swift. Six skeins wound and ready to go.
• Pattern? Check -- Mountain Colors Simple Vest
• Gauge? Check -- recommended gauge is 4 stitches/inch on size 8 needles. My gauge after swatching? 4.5 stitches per inch on size 7 needles. I thought about going up to size 8 needles, but I like the look of the fabric on the size 7. So, I have recalcuated all of the stitch counts based on my gauge. I measured the size of a vest I own and like, and have calculated stitches to yield a vest this size. Only problem? I've never done anything like this before. It's supposed to be a challenge, right? Well, it will be.