Black Olive Is: In The Loop

Denim is The Whole Grain Alcohol of The Yarn Planet

I wasn't kidding when I said there has been knitting.

What you see above are the back, left front and half of the right front pieces.

But peeps, how come no one mentioned the Dangers of The Denim? Seriously, I knew it would be similar to knitting with cotton and I was trucking along with caution -- taking breaks every hour or so and not really knitting for more than two hours each day. However, something came over me this weekend -- I think it might've been an out-of-season urge to hibernate, combined with crappy weather -- and I became a woman possesed. I maniacally knit on this thing for a good SIX HOURS.

Yes. SIX. On DENIM.

Things seemed fine -- no noticeable pain or discomfort -- so I just chugged along obliviously. But, the next day...the NEXT day, people...ooh, I paid the price. My elbow was completely sore, and every teeny muscle in my arm ached as if I'd worked it out to epic proportions after a long period of not working out at all (this scenario is actually not completely out of the question in my case as it applies to my entire body, but this is a knitting blog so I won't go there).

Sunday was spent cursing the denim and going through some strange knitting withdrawal.

I was not a happy Olive. Nope. Not happy at all.

Today I still feel some elbow soreness, but only when I actually apply pressure -- the rest of the arm is just a bit stiff -- so I took a baby step and began my Sockapalooza socks with the fabulous Sundara Yarn.

In any case, I've done this with cotton in the past and it did result in an achy arm the next day, but typically I notice some achiness as I'm knitting and I can judge when enough-is-enough. This...this was like...

WHOLE GRAIN ALCOHOL.

Don't pretend you don't know of what I speak. Just like the insidious process of whole grain alcohol -- where you drink and drink and feel nothing, only to stand up and fall over, completely bypassing the feel-good part of drinking and falling head first to the massively ill part (which most of us try our best to avoid) -- Denim is The Whole Grain Alcohol of The Yarn Planet.

Be forewarned people, this denim, it's not for the faint of heart.

Here are my progress shots. Take them in peeps, because there won't be any for at least another week. Like the Whole Grain, it's best to establish some distance before going back.

Left Front

Left Front Detail

Left Front Moss Stitch Border Detail

Back

Right Front In Progress

The Denim and Its Rough and Sexy Ways

The Denim...it's a workout!

Seriously, people, after knitting on this thing for about an hour, my arms feel as if I've just finshed an upper body routine.

Either I'm really out of shape, or it's the denim.

Ok, I AM out of shape, but still! This denim is rough!

The thing is, I love the feel of it. I love the color. I love the pattern (you can't beat Miss Hargreaves, can you?). So, my solution? Work an hour, stop, do some Yoga stretches, surf the net and repeat.

I can only endure this for about three hours at the most. And, if I go that long, my wrists start to hurt with that scary twinge that screams CARPAL TUNNEL! Then, everything else gets sore and I know I won't feel like or be able to pick it up the next day.

Given the situation, I was at least able to get this far along:

I am now up to the start of the armhole shaping.

During Bomber Break Days, as I affectionately call them, I knit a bit on Elizabeth I. She seems to be coming along nicely:

If I were a bit more practical, I'd be focusing on this baby right now, since I have a greater chance of getting more use out of her than the Bomber jacket. BUT, for some reason, I'm craving the denim and its rough and sexy ways. What's a girl to do?

And so I persist. :-)

The Infamous Ott-Lite and More Sock Goodness...

The Grumperina strikes again!

Last Saturday, Miss Kathy and I headed over to Fabric Place. She was searching for sewing-related stuffs and I was, well, "browsing."

Anyway, so in the process of chatting, the subject of lighting came up and I asked her about the infamous Ott-Lite. She'd mentioned it before, other people raved about it, and I wanted one. So, imagine my delight -- or, rather, hysteria -- at finding the entire line of Ott Stuffs at Fabric Place!

Of course, Miss Kathy had already researched the benefits of one type of Ott over the other, so it was pretty easy to choose the perfect one for my needs (you gotta love that about her!).

What you see above is the start of the back of the Bomber jacket from Rowan People in Rowan Denim "Nashville."

I photographed it at night, under The Ott. What do you guys think about the quality?

I ask, because it's been very hard for me to get up early enough to photograph stuff for the blog. It would make my life SO MUCH EASIER, and my posting so much more FREQUENT, if I could find an alternate solution. The Ott may be it. We'll see.

Anyway, so far, I'm digging the pattern. Big needles (size 5 Addis), simple repeat and the feeling like I'm an artist because my hands are left with blue stains from the denim dye. Hehe. It reminds me of painting class and I feel all creative and crap. ;-)

So, in addition to being my shopping resource, Miss Kathy is a very sneaky, very sweet friend. Remember these socks? The ones she posted about a couple of weeks ago? The ones I read about and lusted after?

Well, it turns out, they were for ME!

See?

I don't know how she did it, but these babies fit as well as anything I've knit for myself -- possibly better!

Also in my birthday package was a "ShaggyMac" screen protector and a nice tin of my favorite peppermint tea. Now, the ShaggyMac was something I just briefly mentioned I wanted, like A MILLION MONTHS AGO. The fact she remembered was very cool indeed.

See? That is the beauty of The Grumperina. Just the right amount of Grumpy to amuse but mostly just a very sweet friend.

Knitting on the socks continues, as does knitting on yet another new project started last week. More pics to follow...