Monday, January 30, 2006

eye of the tiger

(Indulge my inner '80's child for a moment and insert forte syncopated synthesizer notes here)

Rising up, back on the street
Took my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a knitter and her will to survive. . . eye of the tiger
Kiri Shawl
Knit Picks Shimmer in Happy Dance
Size 7 Addi Turbos, 24 "
Final dimensions: 60" by 30"
Successful attempt: 1/20/06- 1/30/06
Modifications: 11 repeats of Chart 2 instead of 12

After all the tribulation, I feel absolutely giddy to be ending the saga of Kiri on a high note! Watching that awkward, jumbled mass metamorphose into a delicate shawl during blocking was amazing. I am absolutely hooked!! More lace is definitely on the horizon. The only thing I'm not too thrilled about is the yellow pooling, but I suppose it adds some interesting character. I haven't much to complain about, though, as this was a one skein (read: $5!!) knit. Even better, this qualifies as another 3-fer KAL deal: What's Your Skein?, It's NOT a gift! and Show Your FO! Overall, I would say that I'm pretty pleased with Kiri and am even more pleased to finally be done with this shawl. She even gets a thumbs-up Fonzie "Aaayyy!"
By nature, I'm not a very competitive person, but having tasted the agony of defeat several times, finally finishing Kiri was especially sweet. Now, board games with my family however, are an entirely different issue. Bring it on, baby! Pictionary at our home is cut-throat, dog-eat-dog insanity. Once that sand hourglass runs out, boom, it's over. In the blink of an eye, you're being heckled by the masses, with tomatoes being pelted at your pathetic attempt of a drawing. Those "all-play" cards are the worst, with both teams going for the kill simultaneously, no holds barred.

This past Christmas, the six of us played, with The Mercenary and Fredo on my team. (Darn straight I made sure to pick the resident artist for my team! Cut-throat, remember?) Anyway, one of those notorious all-play cards came up and The Mercenary and Mom decided to tackle the beast head-to-head. Determined, they steeled themselves for the challenge as the hourglass was inverted. The Mercenary begin scribbling furiously. . . Fredo and I peered over her shoulder to see unmistakable pictures of flags. "Canada!" I yelled. "Japan!" Fredo chimed in. As Mexico and the UK joined the picture, it became clear that individual nations were not the intended answer. With The Mercenary gesturing wildly and circling all the flags, my train of thought turned. "Global!" I screamed. Nodding yes, yes so vehemently that I thought her head might break off, I tried again. "International?!" More maniacal head nodding. Then the unavoidable and desperate stream-of-consciousness spewage as the sand trickled faster. . . "Worldwide, transatlantic, Meridian line, equator!" Eyeing the last grains of sand, the Mercenary drew two distinct pictures separated by a plus sign, in one last desperate attempt. It was clear that the second picture was a tree. But the first? My face contorted as I took my best guess at the crude depiction before me as the hourglass stopped. . . . Ass-tree?! The Mercenary started laughing so hard I feared she might pee her pants, but Fredo and I had the last laugh when she finally managed to yell out, "Country!!"

Pretty offensive and crude, I know. I'm sorry if I offended anybody. Trust me, we're pretty straight-laced girls and it never occurs to us to even think that word, much less use it, which was made it all the funnier at the moment. And hey, if you're going to play Pictionary, you play to win!! Eye of the Tiger, baby!

And finally, I've been working on a little something in this pretty little number gifted to me by the lovely Allison over at Perknitious. I've been saving it for something special and I think I may have finally found the perfect knit for it. Keep your fingers crossed for me. . . I hope to have pictures to share by next week!

53 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kiri is stunning! The colors are lovely and the pooling is just a little character.
Fortunately for my monitor I had swallowed my orange juice before I got to the end of your post. Too funny!!
Karen
http://nothingbutknit.blog-city.com/

Jenn said...

Kiri looks beautiful! I can't believe you got all that out of one hank - awesome ghetto knitter style! :)
I hear ya on the competitive family board game time. We're just a wee bit manical here ourselves. Just a wee bit.....
Can't wait to see what you're cooking up next!

Jo said...

Your shawl is gorgeous - I'm even more impressed that you got this done with two little ones around. I have the repetive projects for when Willow is awake and the difficult ones for when she is sleeping.

amylovie said...

Ack! You know I will be signing Eye of the Tiger all day now!

Your shawl is stunning. Way to persevere.

Amy

Catherine Kerth said...

Kiri is beautiful! Amy and I were at knitting group last thursday and we were talking about shawls and how fast you finished your kiri after you had so much trouble with it... i love the colors, and i like the yellow pooling....you guys are hardcore pictionary players! ass-tree :)

Sonya said...

Oooh, Chris, Kiri turned out beautifully! Lace is such an amazing knit. And only 1 skein! I'm using 30 on my FLAK sweater for Kevin. Your pictionary story is hysterical. Whatever works, baby!

I used to work in an office and we occassionally had office pictionary parties. One time the office manager was supposed to be drawing and he just sat looking perplexed while we all yelled at him to draw something. Finally the time ran out and he yelled, "What the heck are whore devores?!" WHAT? The word he had was hor d'oeuvres. What an idiot. ;o)

Mamma said...

I'm drooling over Kiri. That knit just might be in my future. It looks amazing.

People like you are the reason I don't play board games ;)

Can't wait to see what you're doing next.

Karen said...

Kiri is done!!! I knew you could do it! She is beautiful - and truely a one skein wonder. I'm so proud of you for sticking with it. Woo hoo. Loved your Pictionary story - you always know how to start my day off with a laugh!!

rincaro said...

Wow! I might have to do that one now! And I think the little yellow parts do look lovely!

Jennifer said...

Kiri is gorgeous!!! I like the yellow pooling. It definitely gives the shawl character and beauty.

I am still laughing over your family Pictionary story. I see my own family in that memory of yours.

Lynda said...

Kiri is soooo pretty! Well done - you're a lace knitter!

LOL at your pictionary story- we had the all play word "position..." who knew two stick figures could "make whoopee", and in such interesting contortions!

Alison said...

Gorgeous! You are well on your way to being addicted to lace. It really is beautiful.

Kim said...

It turned out great--I like the pooling :) I can't wait to see what you choose next.

Acornbud said...

Amazing! Your choice of yarn and project came out terrifice! How did you end up blocking it? Do you have those wires?

Anna said...

Your Kiri is GORGEOUS!!! Absolutely beautiful!!!

Olga said...

Oh, the shawl is so, so beautiful! And you are so super-cute in those pictures! I don't think I've ever seen a more pleased look on anyone's face. :-)

I'm with Talitha, I would have guessed United Nations. Good thing you don't have me on your team. But I do kick ass at Taboo and Trivial Pursuit!

Agnes said...

I've also played Pictionary with my co-workers before ... things can get pretty wild! LOL!
Your Kiri is BEAUTIFUL! I think the yellow "pooling" gives some punch to the shawl. Is it for yourself or a gift?

Jen said...

YAY for Kiri! Glad to see that you've finished, and it's lovely! Now I have to dig out my lonely single skein of shimmer... I didn't think you could get a whole shawl out of one skein. thanks for the idea!

msubulldog said...

Kiri is so fabulous! You did a wonderful job perservering through the setbacks and the color is just delicious. :)
Our family is pretty board game competitive, too, but that story just cracked me up! I laughed until I had tears in my eyes--and at the same time (in my competitive nature) I thought, "Oh, how clever! Ha,ha,ha! I will never say the word "country" again without thinking of you. :)

Laura said...

Wow! I love the Kiri! I didn't realize that you could make such a nice-sized shawl from just one skein of laceweight. Cool!

Hilarious story about Pictionary. My dad would draw these tiny little cramped pictures that his teammates practically needed a microscope to see. Also, he would add tons of needless detail, considering that the timer is short (e.g., side mirrors on a car). This for some reason was totally hilarious to my mom and sisters and me. So, no more Pictionary with Dad.

Danielle said...

Beautiful shawl!!! And I'm very impressed that it only took 10 days, previous attempts not included. I loved the Pictionary story too. That sounds like something my family would do :)

If you like word games too, try Quiddler, and for the complete opposite of a word game, Set (both from www.setgames.com). Quite fun, both of them!

Jillio said...

woooooooooooooooooooooooooow. kiri. looks like i'm going to have to rescue the laceweight from the corner...
we used to have morning runs to the rocky story movie soundtrack...i have an especially special (redundant, i know) place in my heart for the instrumental track entitled "war." and when we had special sunday judo practices at shobukan, we'd have to practice doing ippon seionagi over and over to the eye of the tiger.
haha...country. it took me a while to figure out how ass + tree = country. i get it, i geeeeet it. play to win, dude! hah!
great post, as usual.
thanks for the smiles and hugs :) much appreciated.

Anonymous said...

Kiri came out so great!! fantastic job!!

Amanda

amandazen said...

Ooops I am the last anonymous comment.

Amanda

Terby said...

Gorgeous! I love your Kiri. I want to knit that, but the lace and I are not getting along. (I don't have the attention span for it). Your story - cracked me up. Awesome.

Casey said...

Your shawl is so pretty! That's awesome that it was only 1 $5 skein! I'm making my 1st foray into lace (well, real lace with laceweight yarn) and so far so good but it's costing me more that $5. Your story was so funny! I laughed out loud at work.

Anonymous said...

Love the pointy edges on your kiri. It's really pretty and one skein? I've got to go check your previous posts to see what yarn you used.

Bitterknitter said...

Gorgeous Kiri! If I were you, I'd wear it EVERYWHERE with pride until the sting of all that tinking you did goes away!

Anonymous said...

Your Kiri is absolutely gorgeous! The knitting looks so intricate, what an amazing job. The colors still remind me of rainbow sherbert - yum!

Love the pictionary story! As always your posts bring lots of smiles and laughs!

Sayward said...

Congratulations!!!!!

It's beautiful... worth the tinking woes and struggles, like climbing to the top of a mountain. I feel inspired to try some more advanced lace-work, but I know I'll lose count somewhere, I know I will!

Oh, that Pictionary story is too funny!

Jenn said...

Kiri is So! Pretty! You're putting lace ideas in my head. Stop it! And it was one skein! And you covered three KALs at one time! I'm impressed! :)

Anonymous said...

Beautiful Kiri!! I'm tackling lace for the first time for the Olympics...prepare to hear some really BAD language!!

Heather said...

I love your knack for storytelling, you always have me cracking up!

Kiri is really beautiful, I can't believe the yarn was only $5! I need some projects like that. I haven't tried a lace project yet but it sounds fun.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful shawl! Congrats on the finished project! :)

Allison said...

Ooh, can't wait to see what you do with the yarn, especially considering how beautiful Kiri turned out to be!
By the way, I have some pretty great Pictionary memories, too. Like Grandma (GRANDMA!) drawing a pooping cow for the action "pat". It's such a great game :)

yahaira said...

your kiri is gorgeous! I think the yellow gives it a little oomph you know? you knit it so fast too! great job!

SAM said...

It is incredible! I am so proud of you tackling something new! Way to go!

Debi said...

Bitten by the lace bug, hmmm? Your Kiri is stunning and it looks so lovely on you! I love how the yarn pooled!

I never use *that* word either but that was pretty resourceful of your sis...but if you can't tell front from back, I think it's time to lay off the Brazillian's for a while!:-P Ass tree indeed! Too funny!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful!
And I'm singin' along with you! Sometimes I feel just like Rocky when I'm knitting (do I? where did that come from? but I suppose it's true, I just gotta win! When it's me versus a knitting pattern: I GOTTA WIN!!!)

*karen said...

I like it...

jennifer said...

i can so hear the intro to that song as i look at kiri - what a beautiful job you did!

e said...

I have to say that your fearless blog singing has encouraged me to come out of hiding and post a comment. Your shawl is beautiful :) and awesome! Perhaps one day you'll find me singing '80s classics at my blog—if that happens, it'll be in homage to you!

knittinmom said...

Okay, as I already said, your Kiri is gorgeous. I finally had enough time to sit down and read the rest of your post, and oh. my. god. Bill had to ask why I was doubled over laughing, and then I had to read it to him. We were interrupted by a little freak-out when Sydney walked in with a plastic produce bag over her head (yikes!), but he found it quite amusing, too (he particularly liked the "ass-tree" guess).

Unknown said...

IT is so pretty!! You did a great job!

Sandee said...

Kiri is a beauty!

Dina said...

Yea, you did it! She's a beauty!

Pictionary, huh? I've played with you cut-throat types and I'll break your pencils!

Eye of the Tiger reminded me of someone I knew in high school ... he used to play that song while "cruising for chicks."

Ragan said...

WOW!!!!!!! One word says it all!!!

stricken madchen said...

Beautiful! I love it! I have that yarn too and am amazed that it only took 1 skein. (socks or kiri for me?) I think the yellow pooling adds some fun to it. ;-) By the way, how is school going this semester? Are you taking classes?
Michelle

lexa said...

That is absolutely beautiful!!! Can't complain about the price, either! I haven't done any "real" lace knitting, but as I look at all the gorgeous beauties on other blogs I think I may have to give it a try!

jennie said...

gorgeous... truly gorgeous. and the yellow pooling adds a nice depth and interest to the shawl. I think it looks great!

Cathy said...

Hi Chris,

I just wanted to pop over and say hi and make sure you are ok - it's been a while. I'm thinking of you!
Cath

Anonymous said...

That is a beautiful shawl!! You did an amazing job.

Mimi said...

Congratulations on your beautiful shawl. The cost is certainly very gratifying.;) I love to make things that looks fabulous and didn't have to cost much.