32 Weeks Down, 8 To Go...

and maybe another week after that... I have been known to go a little 'past due'... sigh...

Anyhoo-32 weeks and I feel like I'm starting to gain the real poundage now, and the achy hips that go with that, but I try not to dwell on it, you know, because I'm such a positive, non-skeptical, looks at life through rose colored glasses type o'gal (pause to let my sister stop choking on her coffee...) I am trying to remember to remind myself (why is it that never works?!) that 'this too, shall pass...'

Major time swallowers and life distractions like forming Team BSA to compete in the Ravelympics have left me with little time to notice such trifling aches and pains. Fun stuff, those Ravelympics. I have 2 FOs to my name, and am nearing completion on 3 more! We'll see what the weekend brings time-wise; there are other things to do too (gasp!) like put up the new bookshelves (yay! for new bookshelves!) clearing the accumulated book mess from non-shelf areas... and planning another week of homeschooling- we're heading back to the beginning and will be comparing and contrasting creation stories from different cultures next week and then it's off to Ancient Egypt, along with some basic reading, writing, and arithmetic... Oh, and did I mention that soccer practice started? Um, yeah, that means I'll be leaving my house with all 6 kids in tow 5 out of 5 weekdays each week from now until the end of October, and yes, the baby is due somewhere in there (Oct. 10th-15th) so it will get interesting...

Here's a sneak peak at my next Ravelympics 2008 project-

and a candid peak at the growing child-

Have a great weekend!
Happy knitting-
ali

Team BSA- Group Photo

Here they are folks: Team BSA, taking a moment in between stitches to pose for a group shot-


The feverish knitting has begun, as well as some silly time sucking activities like making home movies, designing shirts, mugs, and certificates of achievement- some of us might be having a little too much fun...

I decided to start with a smart little Baby Hoodie, in a very boy-ish color combo of my favorite Dyed Cotton, for our up-and-coming wee one. Yay! I finally knit something for the baby!

Team BSA

Event: Baby Dressage

Pattern: Baby Hoodie

Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton

Needles: US 7 & US 8

Cast-on: 8.8.08 around 7:30 am

Finished: 8.12.08 around 11:45 am

Despite casting on fairly early (though it was 1/2 hour past official start time, 7am here was whatever time opening ceremonies were there...) I had a very distracted Friday. I did manage to finish the back by late afternoon, cast on the front and then started tidying up the place for a little opening night knitting fun. As I had secretly feared, there was much chatting, lively laughter, silly antics, and very little knitting accomplished... not to mention little time for sleeping that night, ehem, (trying to remember the last time the blonde knitter left my home before midnight... hmmm, there might have been one time...)

Saturday saw more napping than knitting- um, it may just be me, but staying up that late seems to be a bit harder in my 30's than it was in my 20's, or say, like when I was 17...

Sunday was busy, and I can't even remember Monday, so it must've been busy too... it took me until Tuesday just before lunch to finally weave in my last end and get my pic posted at the finish line.

Next up for me was this hat, a future pattern, hence the sneak peak pic-

Team BSA

Event: Designer Discus

Pattern: my own

Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Dyed

Needles: US 6

Cast-on:

A fun and quick knit, in a lovely lightweight yarn, with so many possible color combinations!

Gotta love hats for that quick (if not instant) gratification aspect- this took and afternoon and evening, and about an hour the next morning- it could totally be a one day hat, if cast on earlier and maybe without all that peripheral stuff like feeding people and cleaning up after them (and yourself.) Easily a weekend project for those less obsessive...

On to some more Baby Dressage and a couple attempts at WIPs Wrestling! Go, Team BSA!!

Happy knitting-

ali

Team BSA Needs You!

So I stumbled upon a Ravelry project that was for the upcoming Ravelympics, followed the link to the thread... and caught serious Ravelympics fever. I instant messaged my sister, who said she and I and our mom should join up... and wouldn't it be fun if we had our own team? Well, a pm (personal message) and a few moments later and we did- Team BSA, otherwise known as teamblueskyalpacas, was formed. We contacted a couple knitting friends and BSA sample knitters, posted a little plug on the High Fiber group (for Blue Sky Alpacas lovers) and the Shepherd's Choice group (LYS group) and recruited a couple more team members, and now it's your turn to join the club, hop on the Ravelympics mania bandwagon, and knit with us- FOR PRIZES!!

Team BSA is kicking things up a notch, has devised a point system, and Blue Sky Alpacas is donating yarn to offer for prizes!!
Gold Medal Winner will receive 10 skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas Sport Weight (100% baby alpaca)- your choice color!!
Silver Medal Winner will receive 5 skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk (50% alpaca, 50% silk)- your choice color!!
Bronze Medal Winner will receive 5 skeins of either Dyed Cotton or the new Skinny Dyed (both 100% organically grown cotton)- again in your choice color!!
I am super excited about this!! A big shout-out “Thank You!!” to Linda at Blue Sky Alpacas!! Nothing like a little prize incentive to spur on the knitting, eh?!

Point system is as follows:
Ravelympics2008 Team BSA – Creatively Competitive Point System
• 10 pts per completed project (new projects only)
• 5 pts per completed WIP

Degree of Difficulty Ratings
• -2 for bulky or super bulky weight yarn usage or gauge knit
• +2 for lace weight yarn usage or gauge knit
• +1 for 2 color knitting
• +2 for 3 colors
• +3 for 4 colors
• +4 for 5 colors
• Etc… (+1 for every extra color…)
• +4 for adult size sweater
• -1 for short, cap, or no sleeves (tanks); any size
• +5 for baby blanket or afghan 30” x 30”, or larger
• -2 for washcloths, baby or child hats, baby socks or booties
• -1 for adult hats
• -1 for knit or crocheted toys smaller than 8” in length or diameter
• +2 for original designs, or modifying a pattern significantly- per judges’ discretion… (example: adding 3”, or more, in length, adding cables, complex stitch pattern, colorwork, etc…)
• +1 for intarsia
• +2 for entrelac
• +1 for felting
Think of it like gymnastics, diving, or figure skating- you have the whole ‘degree of difficulty’ rating making some jumps or dives worth more than others…

I’ll be going keeping tabs on the projects that get tagged “teamblueskyalpaca” and entering all of the pertinent point details into the handy dandy spreadsheet my fabulous DH hleped me put together, and hopefully find some time to post some stats along the way… I’ll be posting info on the Team BSA thread and the High Fiber group, as well as here, time and pregnancy permitting... Projects are still being added and occasionally dropped, so the final possible points won’t be tallied until the 8th, and then the actual points earned will be tallied as we go along…
If you’ve got a project planned using BSA yarns or patterns, or if you’re a BSA devotee, tag your project teamblueskyalpaca and join the team!! Let’s see what we can knit!!

Happy knitting-
ali

ETA: If this gets way too complicated, or if there is excessive nit-picking and whining over point details, well, it’ll all be up to the judge’s discretion… and, um, that would be me, as this was all my crazy idea… so let’s just have fun with it all, eh?

If you're not on Ravelry yet, what are you waiting for? They're cruising through their waiting list, sign up now (right this instant) and you'll be raveling in no time...