Why October 5th is a very important day this year

I've barely made a dent since the last post (distracted by Other Things) but now I have an incentive to get it done before October 5th ...



... so I can wear it to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final in Seattle, where the Sounders will destroy the Columbus Crew to win the Cup two years in a row. MUAH. It's been over 25 years since a team accomplished back-to-back US Open Cup wins, which means no MLS side has pulled it off. Until now.

Watch this video, you will love it (maybe more with the sound turned low). It's a recap of the US Open Cup semi-final match against Chivas USA, which was beautiful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQWWVB6-nkU

You might have missed this, it was streamed online but not on TV, so it's worth watching the recap if you didn't catch it live/online. You're seeing Tukwila's Starfire stadium in the video, it's a small intimate venue where the Sounders prefer to host their US Open matches due to the advantages it gives them over opponents. They cram it to capacity and intimidate the hell out of the other side, they simply can't lose here. :)

My favorite moments:
1) Zakuani working the ball and feeding it to Jaqua for goal #1 (I could watch that all day long)
2) Jaqua/BRAINS (this refers to a match last season where Jaqua sported a bloodied head bandage after a collision, thus Zombie Jaqua was born. Looks like ZJ got a little excited about the possibility of a snack there on the pitch.)
3) Jaqua's fearless header goal to seal the win 3-1 in extra time. Look at the way he charges at the ball with the keeper and defender in his path. Fearless!!

Fredy's goal (also assisted by Zak) was sweet too, but gotta give my love to Nate Jaqua and his domination of all things US Open Cup. I hope he scores in the FINAL (October 5th!) so he'll have the most goals in the 2010 tournament -- he's tied at 5 right now.

The FINAL of course will be held at Qwest in downtown Seattle. Tuesday, October 5th, 7 PM. We will break attendance records for an US Open Cup match (easily done in Seattle) but we want them to open the upper levels, which they will only do if the lower levels sell out. WE CAN DO THIS! October 5th, tickets on sale now! Let's get Qwest rocking and make the Crew sorry they bothered to get out of bed.

Look for me and my hat. :)

Hat in progress and Electricity! and soccersoccersoccer

Right now I am working on a hat I put together using Fair Isle patts from a couple different books.



That isn't exactly rave green, but it's nice. I think the crown will have white on a green background.

I'm repeating two different patts around the hat so I made some stitch markers with #1 and #2 beads (a bead with a heart on it marks the end of the round) so I can tell at a glance which patt I'm working on.



I bought a container of number and letter beads at the dollar store for this specific purpose a couple years ago and finally had a reason to make numbered stitch markers for a project.

Moving on...

Anyone want to yarn match the Sounders "Electricity" 3rd kits? (Electricity is another word for blinding yellow.) Here's the color, modeled by Fredy Montero:


soundersfc.com

Very helpful!

OK, that was just a joke in case you couldn't tell, I have zero interest in yarn matching this color. It's a little extreme for me, but it looks wicked on the pitch don't you think? I wasn't sure what to make of it when they rolled out these 3rd kits at the beginning of the season but I'm digging them now.

Some soccer news:
I know Sounders fans read this blog because I received great comments when I wrote about translating the team colors to yarn last year. So I'll keep talking and you can leave now if you don't like soccer.

The above photo is from the Sounders vs Metapan game in El Salvador a couple weeks ago (for the CONCACAF Champions League, not an MLS game), it wasn't on network TV or basic cable so if you missed it be sure to watch this video of El Flaco's goal. It's world class and Riley deserves credit for putting the ball right where it needed to go. Hit that link and scroll down, you'll see the video ready to click on.

I know, right?!

Does the Front Office know what it's doing? YES. Brilliant work signing Fernandez. Guys, just one little thing: Fredy Montero needs to be DP #3. You know he's worth it. If we let that kid slip away I will fall apart and you don't want to see me in pieces.

This is one reason why I love the team, they published this statement on their website after the match in El Salvador:

We play for club. We play for city. We play for country. We play for our first Champions League trophy. We play for you.

They totally get it.

Now...

If you have a USL/PDL soccer team in your area please check them out. I attended some Kitsap Pumas matches this season and those kids rocked my world. They exceeded my expectations. I had been watching Pumas videos on YouTube but it's not the same thing. You miss a lot of action if you only watch the goals.

The Pumas are a top notch team in their league, but they're in the PDL (which is the 3rd tier in USL) so I wasn't sure if they'd keep me entertained. How good could they be, you know? Would this be like watching high school boys kick the ball around? NO. They were fierce, they played with heart and a passion that is missing from some MLS teams (cough). They have skills mama. No joke. Go see if your local team can match my experience with the Kitsap Pumas. The boys in PDL feed off your support. They play for the love of the beautiful game and it shows in their efforts. Allez Pumas!

If you want to follow my soccer tweets you can find me at http://www.twitter.com/rave_green - I mainly stick to joyful noises about the Sounders and the USMNT (US Mens' National Team), if I have access to Twitter while watching a match I will comment on goals or something that happens.

Komi Cap, KnitPicks Palette, and World Cup thoughts

Here we have a Komi cap knit during the World Cup, started after the USMNT went home. (If you enjoyed watching the US team then click on that link, you will love it.) I can't knit when they're playing, I'm either sitting and too nervous to do anything productive (this is how I behave when others are in the room, like I'm actually sane, hee!) or pacing around and talking/pleading/crying at the TV and rending garments (that's me all alone when others had the good sense to be asleep). I only wish Charlie Davies had been healthy, we needed him badly and I'm certain we would've won more with him on the pitch. Did you know not a single USMNT striker scored a goal in this World Cup? Charlie would've scored, just sayin.' Still super proud of our boys for winning their group, but they expected to go even further so the 2-1 loss to Ghana was heartbreaking. It's a good sign we felt disappointment instead of simply being elated to make it out of the group stage.

I was cheering on Spain in the World Cup final, partly because USA beat Spain 2-0 in the Confederations Cup last year, and it's pretty cool to know our boys can shut out the best national team in the world. Iker Casillas was in goal, which made it even sweeter. I love and respect the guy, but you want to score on the best, right? ¡Viva España! They deserved to win the World Cup, Iker deserved his Golden Glove award, I'm happy for them.

WHAT, this is a knitting blog? I mean, when I actually get around to blogging. All right, back to knitting. It's 4 years until the next World Cup, you can be thankful I don't blog about the Sounders every week. (DID YOU SEE the Nyassi -> Montero -> Levesque's head goal in the 89th minute last night? To win the game 1-0?! And Kasey Keller showed once again why he is Man of the Match FOR LIFE.)

OMG NO MORE SOCCER STOP TALKING ABOUT SOCCER




For those who enjoy seeing colorwork inside-out
(It gives me an idea of how the same patt would look as light
on dark or vice-versa, depending on your original colors)

I'm not sure who will get this. My older brother is still wearing a Scandinavian hat I made for him several years ago. When he saw me working on this Komi cap last week he asked if it was for him but it might be too small, he has a gigantic head. I know he's wearing the old hat because he actually had it on during his visit, despite the July heat. Weird brother.


I took a dozen photos of the cap draped on Rocky, adjusting and
moving the cap around, he didn't even flinch. Whatta lump.


top o' the cap
Rocky's tail makes this look like part of the photo above it, cute

The pattern is found in the 2009 revised edition of Mostly Mittens: Ethnic Knitting Designs from Russia by Charlene Schurch. Several years ago I borrowed earlier editions of this book from the library and knit some great mittens but never got around to buying the book before the 2001 edition (titled Knitting Marvelous Mittens) went out of print and the price jumped. Then sad news was passed around: the book would never see a new printing, all the original plates were lost or destroyed, everything would have to be reknit, etc. I have no idea how much of that was true, but the book is available again so it doesn't matter. Martingale & Co might do a better job of keeping it in print, but I wasn't about to let this fine collection of patterns slip through my fingers again. KnitPicks helped out with their 40% off book sale too.

I haven't looked through the two earlier editions in a few years but I think the main difference is that a couple sock patterns were dropped and some hat patterns were added. The socks caused problems for some knitters, they couldn't pull the socks over their heels thanks to the tightly knit colorwork, so maybe complaints about that had something to do with the change.

The yarn is KnitPicks Palette (100% Peruvian fingering weight wool) knit at 10 sts/in and 11 rounds/inch on size 0 needles. Each round is 204 sts, which almost put me off the pattern but I decided to go for it and it still knit up fairly quickly so it's not a big deal. Colorwork always seems to go fast and hats are small projects.

KnitPicks Palette colors used (in order of appearance), less than 50g each:

Marine Heather
Tidepool Heather
Green Tea Heather
Cream
Mist
Silver

The subtle difference between cream and mist doesn't show up in these photos, the lighting washes out the light grey (mist), but there really are three colors used in the background of the main patt.

The Green Tea Heather looks different in the skein, I don't like how it looks so yellow in the hat, I expected something bright but greener. Oh well, I should've swatched all the colors together instead of placing the skeins in a pile.

This was my first time working with Palette and I'll definitely order more. It's very affordable ($1.99 for solids, $2.19 for heathers) and has a good selection of colors. The main thing I don't like about it is the same thing I don't like about most wool yarns: it makes my wrists itch. I'm envious of people who aren't sensitive to wool. I soaked the hat with Pantene hair conditioner and it seems pretty soft now, I might be able to wear it on my head.

Another problem with Palette is how the colors display on the KnitPicks website. Unfortunately Palette color cards are no longer available so you'll have to guess based on what you can see on your monitor. If you can afford to buy a few extra balls in the color range you're aiming for then you might be happy to have some options when your order arrives. Be prepared to place another order or arrange for an exchange if the blue that looks perfect on the website is completely wrong when you have it in your hands.

What's next? Mike needs felted slippers, how very exciting! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Lovebirds Earflap hat for mom's birthday

Last month I asked mom if she wanted a reindeer hat like the US athletes wore during the opening ceremonies in Vancouver. (The pattern can be found on Ravelry, and there's a long thread in the Patterns folder where people talk about their modifications.)



Cute hat. Our model is my favorite Olympian: Johnny Spillane of the US Nordic Combined team!


Mom declined the offer, but admitted she could use an earflap hat to keep her ears warm at football games. What does she have against reindeer? Anyway, I figured an earflap hat would make a good birthday present, and it was the perfect opportunity to play around with a chart I've been wanting to use.


Of course I accidentally took a photo of the BACK of the hat, oh well (you can see the jog, it goes right down the center of the heart, between the tails -- I didn't bother to hide it because it's something you have to look for in the busy pattern)




Cascade 220, size 6 needles

The hem and earflaps were taken from the Danish Earflap Hat in Charlene Schurch's "Hats On!" book. I altered the hem slightly by using a provisional cast-on, so when it came time to attach the hem to the body I simply released the stitches and knit those together with the body stitches -- instead of picking up 120+ stitches from a cable cast-on edge. This makes the hat comfy and stretchy around the head, it's awesome. I'll be using this hem again for sure.



Schurch's earflaps are perfect, I've never added earflaps to hats before because I wasn't happy with the way they looked but this double-thickness earflap, knit much like a simplified sock heel, is exactly the way I want an earflap to look and feel. I say simplified because there's no need to wrap stitches and fuss with holes, the gaps don't show on flat earflaps the same way they do with sock heels.

The love birds are a version of something I charted up a few years ago. This photo caught my eye in a German knitting book:



Sadly, the chart is not in the book, so I charted out what could be seen and guessed on the rest. In the above photo you can see a swatch I knit up at the time with fingering weight Shetland wool.

The pattern above the birds (the crown) had to be shortened and simplified so it'd fit on a hat, eventually I'd like to use my original chart for mittens with fingering weight yarn.

original chart (mitten) // new chart (hat)

I had to rip back when I realized the stylized leaves on the side looked like big ugly blotches of green when mirrored on the hat. The leaves were changed into hearts and it looks a lot better.

Next time (if I knit this hat again) I'll shift the start of the chart so the two birds face each other at the front of the hat. Right now the tails are the center focus and the over-all effect of the repeating birds and hearts is pleasing but it'd be that much better if the beaks instead of the tails were centered above the forehead. Why can't I figure these things out before I start?!

Ravelry saves the day!

What do you do when you're knitting a sleeve and realize you won't have enough yarn to finish the second sleeve and buttonband? You buy more yarn!





I only needed two more skeins, but I lucked out and found someone on Ravelry selling twelve skeins of Knitpicks Swish DK in the right dyelot (!!!), so I offered to buy it all to get my hands on those two skeins. Now I have enough yarn to make another sweater. I love this color (and will soon have two more children of siblings to knit for) so it wasn't a tough call. It also helped that the asking price was below retail and included shipping.

I'm not sure how I ended up 2 skeins short, but I suspect my row gauge is different. I also made the body and sleeves a little longer to fit target niece better, she has a long torso and arms that outgrow sleeves before the rest of her catches up.

Tip: List the dyelot of stash yarn you have up for sale, I wouldn't have bought this yarn if the dyelot # was missing from the description. Ravelry has a field for dyelot numbers and it is conveniently displayed when people are browsing stash yarn for sale, along with the photo and yarn name.

Sailing Away cardigan, in progress

knit in one piece to the armholes, this shows the back and the bottom halves of the two fronts.


I love the tubular cast-on, it looks OK in photos (even professional photos in books don't show it off properly), but in person it's amazing.


The cables will hopefully pop more after it's blocked but this is a limp soft wool, I'm not sure how it will behave.

Sailing Away Cardigan by E.J. Slayton
source: Knitting Digest, March 1994
size: child's 6
needle: size 4
yarn: Knitpicks Swish DK, 100% superwash wool in storm (I purchased 6 skeins, I'll confirm the number used when it's done).

Note about the color: Storm is a little darker but if I manipulate the photos too much to make the color more accurate then detail is lost. It's a beautiful true blue.

I started this cardigan last year and set it aside when I realized how big it would be, but now I'm in the mood to finish it. Katie Blue Eyes will eventually grow into it.