Ravelympics

Have you heard of the Ravelympics? Well it was a wonderful little idea that someone had that exploded into a massive group of knitters and crocheters around the world all planning to cast on a new project (or pick up a long-ignored one) when the olympic torch is lit in Beijing on August 8, 2008.

At the time of typing there was 4,773 people in the goup, 2,725 people committed to finish 6,339 projects! That is amazing. The programmers at Ravelry have even been designing special features just to make tracking our group easier.

The idea is that you are competing against yourself. You pick a project that would be a challenge to complete by the end of the olympics. That's only 17 days. Then you can enter your project in the various events it qualifies for. You can also join a team.

Some of the teams are geographical, others are based on TV shows, and others are specific to the type of project you have chosen. Some have rules others dont. I have joined Team Canada. Last I checked we were the second biggest group. Go Team Canada!!!

I have chosen to make the Flutter Scarf in Sea Cloud. This is a challenge for me because I have never knit lace before or knit in yarn as small as laceweight. And I only have 17 days. Yikes! This project qualifies me for 3 events, the Scarf Stroke, the Laceweight Long Jump and the Handdyed Hurdles. I have set up my project and done some test swatches. I even got khetala to make me some custom needles and stitch markers, special just for this project.

In case that's not enough I entered two of my ignored projects into the WIPs Wrestling event. I have two little teddy bears with only heads that would really like some bodies and limbs. My Alpaca Bear was started April 2007 and my Panda Bear was started January 2008. This should be some good motivation to get them finished.

I will keep you updated on my progress...

Cali

Opera Gloves ~ Pattern Modification

Last weekend I had the urge to put down all my current projects and start something new. So I started browsing through the pattern pages on Ravelry. And I came across this: Opera Gloves. Wow!!!

My arms are pretty chubby so it was obvious I was going to need to do some modifications to the pattern. After much ripping back, consultations to my stitch libraries and searching Ravelry for tips on this pattern I finally came up with my own. I also carefully documented all my changes so that all you others with chubby arms can make these gloves without all the frogging. You can see my project here.

Lace Up Opera Gloves for Chubby Arms
~ a modified pattern by Caliope

Materials & Tools
Bulky Weight Yarn (100 grams/137 yards) I used the bulky weight wool from Unwind the Yarns
Ribbon (I am not sure yet how much, I will update when I know but I am guessing 4m per arm)
6.00mm Straight Needles
6.00mm DPNs
Stitch Holder or Scrap Yarn
2 Stitch Markers

Gauge
16 stitches and 20 rows = 4" stockinette (at least that's what mine is before blocking).

Abbreviations
m1 = make 1, I used a raised increase (knit into the bar across the back of the next stitch)
pm = place marker (yes, I actually had to look this one up)
ssk = slip next stitch knitwise, then next stitch purlwise then knit them together thru back loops

Pattern
co 25 stitches
Row 1: knit
Row 2: purl
Row 3: *yo, k2tog* repeat ** to last 2 sts, k2
Row 4: sl1, purl to end
Row 5: knit picot hem (fold cast on row behind needle, knit into each stitch on needle together )with cast on stitches
Row 6: sl1, purl to end

Eyelet Repeat
Note: all even numbered rows: sl1, purl to end, except last row!
Row 7: sl1, k1, yo, k2tog, k to last 4 sts, ssk, yo, k2
Row 9: sl1, knit to end

Row 11 - 54: Repeat rows 7 - 10, 11 more times
Row 55 - 56: Repeat row 7 & 8 only

Hand
Row 57: sl1, k2, ssk, k to last 5 sts, k2tog, k3
Row 59: sl1, k1, yo, k2tog, ssk, k to last 6 sts, k2tog, ssk, yo, k2
RIGHT HAND ONLY Row 61: sl1, k3, m1, k to last 5 sts, m1, k2tog, k3
LEFT HAND ONLY Row 61: sl1, k2, ssk, m1, k to last 4 sts, m1, k4
RIGHT HAND ONLY Row 63: sl1, k1, yo, k2tog, k3, pm, m1, k2, m1, pm, k9, ssk, yo, k2
LEFT HAND ONLY Row 63: sl1, k1, yo, k2tog, k9, pm, m1, k2, m1, pm, k3, ssk, yo, k2
Row 65: sl1, k to marker, pm, m1, k to marker, m1, pm, k to end
Row 67: sl1, k1, yo, k2tog, k to marker, pm, m1, k to marker, m1, pm, k to last 4 sts, ssl, yo, k2
Row 69: Repeat row 65
Row 71: Repeat row 67
Row 73: Repeat row 65 (you should have 34 sts with 14 between the markers)
Row 75: sl1, k1, yo, k2tog, k to marker, place 14 sts on stitch holder and remove markers, co2 stitches (backloop method), k to last 4 sts, ssk, yo, k2
Row 77: sl1, knit to end
Row 79: sl1, k1, yo, k2tog, k to last 4 sts, ssk, yo, k2
Row 81: sl 1, knit to end
Row 82: Bind off knitwise from wrong side

Thumb
Put 14 sts from stitch marker onto DPNs, pick up 2 co stitches and 1 stitch on either side of the co stitches to close up the gap, 18 stitches, put 6 stitches on each needle.
Knit 2 rounds
Do 1 round of *k1, k2tog* (12 sts)
Knit 2 rounds
Bind off purlwise

Assembly
Sew in all the ends.
Weave the ribbon into the eyelet holes, always insert the ribbon into each eyelet from the underside for consistency. You can start at either the wrist or elbow depending on where you want the bow and tails. I started at the wrist so the bows were at my elbow.

And that's it! If you find any errors please let me know so I can fix them. This is my first time typing a pattern.

This is not my original design. All credit goes to Ysolda Teague. I just resized it to fit me.

Have fun with the pattern mods,

Cali

The First Post

I have toyed with the idea of starting a blog of my very own for awhile now. I have finally given in, because, you know, I need another place to suck up my dwindling free time like I need a hole in the head.

So if you are interested in what's going on in the life of Caliope, this is the place to look. You will find musings, rantings, pictures and maybe a few pattern mods, probably no original patterns, I am not so skilled yet.

To start things off I have figured out how to make a little slideshow of my flickr album at the bottom of this page. These pictures are all craft related; some of my stash, some of projects I am working on or have finished and some of fibre-related events I have attended.

I have also included some links on the left of the screen:

• The first one is Ravelry, if you knit or crochet and you haven't heard of Ravelry go quick and click that link. Trust me, your life will never be the same again.
• The second link is for my etsy store, which I admit I really dont pay much attention to, but if I ever have an Unclaimed Finished Object (UFO = something I made and dont want for myself and can't find anyone else to give it to) I will attempt to sell it in the store.
• The third link is my yarn pusher's (khetala's) Etsy store. She has beautiful yarn, my pile of sock yarn has very quickly grown to a ridiculous size in the few short months since we met and I am still only working on my second ever pair of socks.
• The fourth link is for knit picks. If I have any money left over from my allowance after I have given most of it to khetala, I usually give the rest to them. This is THE place to buy pattern books, they have such reasonable prices. I am also in love with their harmony wood knitting needles.

Well, I should probably get back to work...

Cali