Ravelympics Update, and a little cross stitch

On February 12th I cast on a project for the Ravelmpics - insane knitting olympics madness. The Olympics began, and I plowed through, changing from 1 color to 3, handing my knitting over to a master for a fix of a skipped stitch 13 rows below (thanks Cassandra!), and changing out a broken circular for a spare. I had houseguests for two full weekends, a medical crisis, and chose eyeglasses (believe me, it's stressful!) and I am just now picking up my knitting again. I'm not done. It was a difficult goal for me if I had had nothing to do for two weeks. If I was on vacation for the full two weeks and did nothing but knit, I'm not sure I would have finished. I do like the pattern, but I've never done stripes before and that a little confusion. I am making the 6 month old size, but I think it's more likely going to fit a 2 year old. Time will tell. Here is a photo how my progress so far.

Now, I'm also supposed to be working on my big cross stitch project, Soul of the Rose. I belong to this other site, 2010 Weekly Stitch A Long, where people keep track of their main project and post updates. I've made some progress, added that long dark blue stripe, and the sort of green to the right of it. Hopefully now I'll at least work on it every week a bit.

Busy Sunday

Oops. I think I went a bit overboard. I meant to roast some chicken breasts and veggies, but I ended up with 2 roasting pans full of veggies. See what happens when you're busy watching Superbowl commercials?

Roasting Vegetables - 375 degrees, potatoes, sweet potatoes, sweet tomatoes, red pepper, carrots, parsnips, onion, salt, black pepper, basil, rosemary, thyme, garlic powder (didn't have any real garlic). I had intended to roast chicken breasts, but I wasn't really sure how to cook them roasted since they're boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I think I'll end up subbing the parmesan salmon recipe I use a lot.

I've been knitting a lot lately - working on a lace scarf that's slowly growing, starting a new lace scarf, and finally, starting on my first sweater. It's the Top-Down Raglan Cardigan by Laura Chau. Two of my knitting group friends made this sweater last fall and I've been gathering my nerve to start. I only have 12 rows so far, but I'm still figuring out how the pattern is written. I am using Caron Simply Soft in Charcoal Gray Heather. I bought 7 skeins, and I know that's overkill but I don't want to run out, and you can always find a use for Simply Soft.

Speaking of Simply Soft, for the Ravelympics I'm going to use that yarn in Orchid to make the Little Sister's Dress for my friend's daughter. Her 1st birthday is in June and I want to make sure I have something ready. This dress has been on my list since I first learned to knit and I think it's something I can manage to knit during the Olympics. I know for most knitters this wouldn't be a challenge, but I am very slow!

I've been reading a lot too, the Uglies series. I'm on book #2 Pretties. It's a fast read.

I also post weekly updates on my big cross stitch project, Soul of the Rose, on the 2010 Weekly SAL blog. Go over and check it out!

2010 Stitching Project - Soul of the Rose

For the past two weeks I've been thinking a lot about all the projects I have going - cross stitch, knitting, home improvement, gardening, self improvement, etc. I start lots of things, and I even talk myself out of starting a lot more than I have started. I'd like to chip away at the projects that are laying around, but you know starting a new project is more fun! I've decided I can start one new cross stitch this year, and I'm going to use it as my stitch-a-long project to post updates on every week. That means I have to actually work on it every week. Even if it's just 10 minutes. I think I can do that.

Making excellent progress so far - I finished the stitching on 2 santa ornaments from the same pattern and I even put the away the remaining lengths of floss. Now I just need to do the finishing on these - find the backing fabric, stitch them up and stuff them. This time I'll be ready with an extra finished ornament for a swap or a gift. Yay! This is the same pattern I used for a swap last year and I wanted one for myself.

I bought a kit from the Dimensions Gold collection called Soul of the Rose, a Waterhouse painting January 19, 2009. I had wanted this kit for ages, and I even bought the mat and gold frame to go with it, so I was all set. But did I start it last year? No. Did I even sort out the floss in the kit so I was ready? No.

Today I managed to sort out two of the four bundles of floss. This is a very well put together kit, but it still takes time to pull the threads out and put them in groups.

I love packages!

And there's one waiting for me at home right now!!! I put a UPS alert on an cross stitch order I placed, and I just got an email that it's there! UPS does not always leave packages. Last time they delivered to me they actually never delivered my package. A neighbor tried to sign for it, then changed his mind, and UPS told me they could not do any more attempts. I had to find out where the commercial warehouse was and walk 1.5 miles to get there (it was that or take three buses that would take over an hour).

This time when I placed my order I forgot to change my shipping information to my work address, but it's HERE!

Nearly There...

Only one more day until I can order the "Soul of the Rose" cross stitch kit from Herrschners. I have been wanting this kit since this time last year. At the start of the year I told myself that if I set up goals and meet them, I can reward myself with things I want but don't need, like this cross stitch kit. I just have to bring my lunch to work tomorrow and eat it and I'm set. Hooray!