Giochi Olympici, giorno numero tre

Since the games are in Italy, I decided a little Italian was in order. ;-)

I've been knitting furiously away at Blanche-Neige, and here she is as of this afternoon:

(Apologies for the curly-ness of the fabric -- it's tricky to hold it down with one hand while aiming the camera with the other!) Although I did not knit as much as I wanted to over the weekend, the sweater is coming along relatively quickly, and I absolutely love the yarn despite the fact that the wool is giving me a weird dry spot on my left index finger. My one complaint about this pattern is that the chart really isn't very accurate on the wrong side rows, but fortunately the seed stitch pattern is straightforward enough that I was able to figure it out. For anyone else who might be contemplating the pattern, I wouldn't let this deter you; I would advise you, however, that because there are no border stitches, when you do the decreases you will move in on the pattern, so you'll need to keep track of how many stitches at the beginning of the row you won't be doing. I kept track with a sticky note covering the corresponding number of stitches on the right side of the chart (just remember that in the middle of the row, you'll still be knitting those stitches -- if that makes any sense).

Now that I've gotten comfortable with the pattern and relatively satisfied with my pace, I'm of course beginning to freak out that I'll run out of yarn. I did calculate my yarndage, and according to what the pattern calls for I should have enough, but I think I've learned this thing about myself as a knitter: if there's not something to worry about, and if I'm too complacent, the knitting won't get done. It'll just go into the UFO pile and I'll forget it's there. Right now I'm in the "Cont. in patt. until work measures x inches" part of the back, and I'm quickly approaching the end of my second ball of yarn. That leaves nine more balls, plus a fraction of one left from my swatching. Fingers crossed!

Tomorrow I am cooking J a delicious dinner for Valentine's Day. Depending on my progress tonight, I may even put my knitting down afterwards and give him some attention (poor guy felt a little ignored this weekend when I started, I think). Either way, I'm planning on bringing B-N to B&N (hehe) on Wednesday night. I say we call it "Sit 'n Knit," since we're not using that other term right now.

Finally, to all the Olympic Knitters out there: Forza!