Tuesday, July 11, 2006

a whole lota blockin goin' on

What's this? Could it be? Why, yes. Yes, it is. A finished and blocking Orangina!!!

The ribbing took no time at all, which was a real bonus because I was afraid it would never end. I also had the good fortune of being at the ribbed section for the last couple knitting get togethers during which I concentrated pretty much on Orangina. In fact, if you take a peak at the photo from the Knit Salon that Theresa took, you can see Orangina in her final moments on the needles. I bound off that night. Then took some time over the weekend to properly seam everything. I am actually really excited to show you all my side seams. I am very proud of them. And B's comment when I tried it on for the first time? - It fits you really nice, but the neck needs some blocking. Ha! It's just a matter of time before he has needles in his hands, too. He already knows the lingo.

With Orangina done, I felt as if I had nothing to do - forget about the two secret projects currently on my needles, the two not-so-secret projects in the planning stages, the languishing Cable 8 and then, who could forget, Forest Floor. I felt empty. I was also inspired by a certain conversation Knitzalot and I had on Saturday about Noro and the blooming effects of Kureyon. Having recently witnessed for the first time the wonder that is a "sturdy" wool after a good wash, I was itching to pull out the Kureyon in my stash. I have 6 balls of #40, which is pretty close to enough for a sweater. I looked at the Noro pattern books online, I looked through some books and then I started through the pdfs I have stored on my computer. That's when I realized Dibs on Ribs would be perfect.

Wha't funny, is that I know this pattern from when the Yarn Harlot knit it up. So, I had never really paid attention to the fact that it calls for freakin Kureyon to begin with!!! And the best part? It calls for 7 balls in my size...hence the swatch above. I know that it is still the middle of summer, but I am officially working on 2 wool sweaters. I think with this one, I'm just going to start knitting, since I may not even get into the 7th ball anyway (I usually use way less yarn than what the pattern calls for). And if I need to get one more, no big deal, it's Noro. Who would see a dye lot change in that sweater?

(P.S. Jenny seems to think that a gauge swatch drying on the carpet looks a lot like her plush toys. Despite the 4 two-inch stick pins, she popped her nose under the swatch and started to pull it away for a play. Fortunately, I got to her in time and I am happy to report that her eye sight is still intact. This is probably one of those reasons I shouldn't be allowed to have children.)

4 comments:

knitzalot said...

I was just thinking about doing Dibs on Ribs today! I won't tackle it until the winter though. I love that colorway.

Chris said...

Congrats on Orangina!! Looking forward to seeing those stellar side seams. :)

Anonymous said...

You know I have ONE inch of ribbing left on Orangina and I can't finish it. I do one or two rounds and I want to jab the needles into my temples.

Yours looks great, maybe if I may your picture my desktop it will push me to finish mine.

Probably not, though.

The Stitchin' Sheep said...

I'm so excited to see what you have done with that yarn I sent. I've got some in a different color, and watching you knit Orangina has really made me want to use it, but there's no point with my still growing belly. I'll have to wait another year to year-and-a-half till I'm back to normal before knitting something with it.

Just out of curiosity, how many balls did you use for this project?