Major Knitter

Olympic Expectations, Disappointments and Realizations

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Imagine if you will, an athlete who has spent his or her entire life training for a two week period; for the chance to stand on that platform for one brief moment in time; to be known as a champion.  

Now imagine if you will, that same athlete, doing the proper preparation, training, planning, only to suffer an injury just before the moment of glory.  

What to do?  Do you press on and create more damage to your body or do you walk away knowing that you did your best and try to readjust to a normal life - not that of a champion athlete, but of a normal everyday athlete?  

That's the question I've been wrestling with these past few days.  Tomorrow night is the last night of the Ravelympics and Knitting Olympics.  How will it end?

Is That Genetic?

Do you remember that day in science class when you learned that curling your tongue was a genetic trait and everyone started sticking their tongues out at each other to test the theory?  It appears Wilma has inherited that gene.

OK - it's a slightly different version, but it's still cute as can be.

In knitting news, there is no knitting news.  As one might guess, knitting all day long on the flight home from Seattle proved to be too much for my achy breaky body.  I'm taking some time off to let it rest and recover. 

Gray on Gray

Two steps forward, one step back.  That's the way these socks panned out.  As I mentioned yesterday, I knit this pair the entire day on Saturday and loosened up incredibly the more I knit.  The second sock turned out so much larger than the first that I thought I had picked up a different needle.  The problem is that I only had one needle - so it really was knit on the same size.  I just loosened up that much!  So, after finishing the second sock, I went back and ripped out the first sock.  I managed to re-knit the leg of that first sock and am now 75% done with this pair of socks.  

I'll see how much yarn is available for this sock... but I might go back and rip out the toe of the one sock and lengthen it just a smidgen.  I could probably add about 1/4 to 1/2 inch in length with that little bit of yarn remaining.  

Secundogeniture is a growing boy.  He needs all the extra foot room he can get. 

Attack of the Bright Shiny Objects

BF and I spent Friday night and Saturday morning with our dear friend Angel who drove up to Seattle from Portland to see us.  We had breakfast Saturday morning and then walked around downtown Seattle, Pike's Place and headed toward the outdoor sculpture garden when suddenly things looked familiar.

"Hey.  There's a knitting store right over here!" I exclaimed, recognizing the street where Lorette and I parked the other day to go to So Much Yarn.

Showing BF and Angel how important I was, I immediately got us buzzed through the security gate and we were on our way to the secret yarn shop.  They were impressed I tell you - very impressed.  Nothing's too difficult for my loved ones!  Angel mentioned at breakfast that her orange Almost Argyle socks that I made a few years back are almost worn out.  I didn't guarantee anything, but she did pick out some lovely green multi-toned Ty-Dy Socks yarn in color 1556.  

Also, since we were doing a lot of walking around Seattle, I decided to cast on for some gray/black socks for Secundogeniture with 4% cashmere (because he asked for cashmere socks and I said NO that I wasn't going to knit cashmere socks for an 11-year-old because it was too expensive) but this yarn was affordable and it only had 4% cashmere.  I spent the last two days knitting his Lana Grossa Meilenweit 50 Seta/Cashmere for my little guy. 

By the time I got home to Westport last night I had 75% finished on the socks... only to discover that I knit entirely too much in one day and loosened up considerably over the course of time.  It was such a difference that it looked like I knit these socks on different sized needles.  I didn't.  Both socks were knit on US 1s (the same needle in fact).  I ripped out the first sock and began re-knitting it - much looser this time.  I hope to have it finished tomorrow.

Oh.  Am I supposed to be knitting my Olympic knitting project?  Are you keeping tabs?  I really cannot resist a bright shiny object, can I?

This Saturday Sky is for the Birds

I had a wonderful time in Seattle.  I saw many friends.  I did lots of sightseeing; yarn crawling; knitting; eating; sightseeing; and relaxing.  I also saw this adorable bird house tree outside a house near Taste of India where I had lunch with Lorette.

This is Seattle in February folks.  Check out that azure sky!  It was perfect weather for our visit and we enjoyed temps in the mid-high 50s.  Unbelievable.   

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

I'm working.  I'm knitting.  I'm training.  I'm competing.  Despite knitting for hours and hours each day, I have only managed to accomplish a few inches of knitting on the Faery Ring cabled bodice.  The 268 sts knit up slowly - in fact, the busiest row of the cable bodice (where every column is cabled!) takes a whopping 27 minutes to complete.  No wonder it grows so slowly.  But after nearly a week of knitting I'm nearly done with the bodice.  I'm beginning to think I might be a contender for finishing this before the end of the Olympics.  The cabled bodice is surely the slowest part of this sweater, right?

 

Look at that.  See, I told you I was making progress.  Oh... who is that with me?  Why it's Lorette of course.  We spent the day together yesterday and she gave me a lovely tour of Seattle.  We went to So Much Yarn where I purchased some camouflage sock yarn, a Namaste wallet/clutch, and some Turbo Addis.  Then we went to the Seattle Art Museum and saw a spectacular  Alexander Calder exhibit.  

After the exhibit, we decided to get some Indian food for lunch and found a delicious restaurant - Taste of India - that was the perfect place to share stories of our midwest roots (North Dakota and Iowa) and share some general laughter over knitting, life, and good food.  With full bellies, we made one last LYS run to a spectacular store that calls to knitters, weavers, dyers, and crafters of many shapes and sizes - Weaving Works.  I picked up some more sock yarn and even some pink and blue yarn for baby booties for gifts.  It was hard to decide which yarn to buy as everything was so tempting!

It was a fabulous day.  Lorette and I have been virtual friends for nearly six years and today we got to finally meet each other in person.  It felt like I was hanging out with a dear friend - not someone who I was really meeting for the very first time. In fact, I was!  I love how our knitting community works that way. 

Thanks Lorette for a great day and your wonderful hospitality!

Wonderful Wool & Linen Wash

Lynn brought me the most wonderful gift earlier this month.  I forgot to share it with you.

It's wonderful woolly soap for washing hand knits from Handcrafted Soaps.  Lynn says it's the best.

This bar of soap is not for your hands.  It's for your hand knits.

And here's the liquid Wool & Linen Wash.  

How wonderful is that?  I can't wait to do my washing!  Thanks Lynn.

 

Wilma is a Would-Be-Westminster Contender

If you're not tuned in to watch the Olympics this week, there is always the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

My friend Judy went this week and photographed all sorts of lovely animals.  She even sent me a picture of this beautiful bulldog.  

This is a top dog for the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.  She's cute.  She's adorable.  But what's she got that Wilma doesn't got?  OK, maybe I should let the pictures speak for themselves. 

 

Oh Snowy Day!

What a surprise!  More snow fell in Connecticut last night.  It looks like the unofficial measurement is approx 4 inches.  It's light and fluffy and is the kind of snow that makes everything look so pretty.

Here's the fluffy white in the backyard frocking the trees.

And here's a view of the front yard with a typical New England stone wall and lots of tall oaks, maples and beech trees.

It's funny that we're getting all the snow and cold and Vancouver is not.  I've been knitting and watching the Olympic coverage diligently (and in three days have managed to knit a whopping 4 inches on my Faery Ring).  I will admit to being very disappointed in the news coverage on NBC.  Unless it's a timed race with a very clear gold, silver, bronze winner, I can't figure out how well competitors are doing in the judged events.  There's a blatant lack of commentary which is leaving me wondering how the ice skaters are standing up to the rest.  I miss the days of commentary by experts like Cathy Rigby (for gymnastics) or as Rebecca reminded me - of the Wide World of Sports.  With so little explanation of how the athletes are doing by the commentators and where they stand in the judging upon completion of their event, I can only surmise that the (non)-commentators don't really understand the scoring system either.  

  

My Happy Valentine

I love Valentine's Day... but not the Hallmark version.  I like sharing my love for BF quietly together at home.  

I cooked a homemade meal, made entirely in my Dutch Ovens

• Roast Chicken (Julia Child's recipe)
• Sweet potatoes and onions
• Roasted zucchini
• Corn Bread (this time I used Trader Joe's mix - delicious!)

•   Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp for dessert

BF got me a new 14" Deep Dutch Oven for Valentine's Day.  It's exactly what I wanted and was so surprised that BF knew that.  He's always listening and is always in tune with what I really want.  I'm so lucky!  So these recipes were practiced at home and might be used on an upcoming campout soon.

But speaking of amazing Valentine's Day Gifts... check out what knitters everywhere did for orphans across the nation by clicking on Gale's post about Red Scarf Distribution Day.  I think I see Lisa's Palindrome Scarf and my Mistake Rib Scarf (OK - they're probably someone else's scarves, but it's nice to pretend you see your own scarf being well loved and well received).  This was such a great project.  Thanks Gale and Norma for being our Valentine and encouraging us all to support such a worthy cause.  I should probably start thinking about next year's scarf.  

I hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's Day - however you celebrate it.