"Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either." ~ Elizabeth Zimmerman

6/24/12

A Pair of Green Mitts

My goodness but it's been a busy week for me. Must be summer. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed about this blog post because it's been so long since I posted and there's so much I wanted to say. Warning, it's gonna be a long one.

The first thing I want to write about is my finished mitts. It's been awhile since I've finished something. It feels good.


Green Fingerless Mitts for Knit Wits

Pattern: Jeffs Mitts by Lorraine Ehrlinger
Size: Mens large

Yarn: Pacific by Cascade Yarns in Dark Army Green
Content: 60% Acrylic, 40% Superwash Merino, Worsted weight

Needles: Addi Turbo Circular size 5.

Cast on: June 1, 2012
Completed: June 22, 2012

Comments: I've done this pattern a couple times before. It's become my go to pattern for plain mens mitts. Admittedly, I did some pattern adjustments on the thumb gusset, but I'm not going to go into them because I just did personal little anal things. The pattern is fine the way it is.

I used the leftover yarn from daughter's February Lady Sweater. I still have enough yarn left to make another pair of mitts. So I will do that.

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Fathers Day was a good day. We took the new car and drove the Selkirk Loop which goes over into Washington, up into Canada, east, then back down into Idaho. It was a beautiful drive! I enjoyed it very much. I took a few pics.

This is along the Kootenay Lake facing north. It's a very beautiful lake surrounded by tall mountains.



Kootenay Lake again, facing southwest. There was something about that tree. I needed a pic of it.



Here's one of a green valley on the south end of the lake, near Creston, BC, Canada. This valley was so unbelievably green. Very soothing to the eyes.



On our way home we stopped for dinner at a restaurant in Ponderay, ID called Sweet Lou's. Never been there before. We were hungry as we were passing through town. We chose it because they were advertising a Fathers Day dinner special. I am so glad we did. I had one of the best meals ever. It was SO good. There were two specials. I had the first one which was a tri-tip steak smothered in bourbon barbecue sauce. It was so tender it melted in my mouth and the flavor was heavenly. The steak was accompanied by some fabulous horseradish mashed potatoes and steamed zucchini. My mouth was so happy while eating that meal.

Ruth and Sweet Hubby had the other special, Salmon. They were raving about how good it was too. Sweet Hubby ordered dessert afterward, Huckleberry Cobbler-with 3 spoons. I could only squeeze in 2 bites, but they were wonderful. The service was very good too. I can't wait for an opportunity to go there again.

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If you are involved with Ravelry, you may have heard the big news about what happened this past week. The United States Olympic Committee sent Casey, the owner, a cease and desist letter over the Ravelympics.

The Ravelympics started in 2008. Participants pick projects to knit/crochet during the Olympic games. Usually something challenging is picked. Then participants work on the project while watching the Olympics on tv. If they accomplish their challenge, Casey gives them a 'medal' which is just an avatar. No one makes any money at this. It's organized by volunteer Ravelry members and it's just a good time and an opportunity to honor our athletes during the games. Kind of like the biggest knitalong in the world (or crochetalong if you will). This year there will be over 7500 participants.

The C&D wouldn't have been that big of a deal except the USOC chose to insult Ravelry's members in the letter.

"We believe using the name “Ravelympics” for a competition that involves an afghan marathon, scarf hockey and sweater triathlon, among others, tends to denigrate the true nature of the Olympic Games. In a sense, it is disrespectful to our country’s finest athletes and fails to recognize or appreciate their hard work."

Denigrate?? Disrespectful to our athletes? Uhh..wut???? Ravelry has over 2 million members. We did not take this lying down. It wasn't very long and the subject was all over Facebook, trending on Twitter, and news agencies were picking up the story. In the end, the USOC issued an apology for the insult. However, the C&D still stands. What they really want is for the name to be changed. They claim 'Ravelympics violates their trademark. Casey's lawyer is working on it.

If you want to learn more about this, there's a good article about it here: Ravelympics

I'd been thinking about joining this year but hadn't made up my mind quite yet. The actions of the USOC gave me just the push I needed. I'm ornery that way. So I joined a team and I will be participating in this years Ravelympics, or whatever it will be named. I've joined Team Good Without God. I've chosen a project that will be challenging to me and I think represents the spirit of the games.

Remember when I was making Anne Hanson's Honeybee Stole and the tragic ending to it? Well, I have yarn and I am ready to take this project on again. It will be my Ravelympics challenge. This is the yarn I've chosen for it.



It's a big cone of Jaggerspun Superlamb laceweight. It's way prettier in real life than in that pic. It's a light brown heather with gold in it. Very honeyish, in my opinion.

I've been working every day on the Butterfly shawl. I need to get it done before the Olympics start. That gives me until July 26. I hope to have it done long before then! I've also started another Muppet Skin Shawl in greens for kip knitting.

I did a bit of beading last week too. I worked on the bead embroidery picture that I'm making for sis-in-law Elizabeth. Progress is slow. I will get it done eventually.

Last night we found out how Cable would fare with a coyote. She whupped it's arse and there's not a scratch on her. The coyote realized pretty quickly it was in over it's head and took off. Cable chased it a little bit, then came running back, very proud of herself. I would prefer she not get into these kinds of scuffles, but it's nice to know she can hold her own when there is one. Hopefully all the coyotes know to stay away from this house now.

Well, that's it for now. I hope to post more often this week. We'll see what happens.

Live long and prosper. \\//

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