and knitting

One World, One Knitting Dream

The Opening Ceremonies started just a few minutes ago (photo above is from a dress rehearsal) and around the world, knitters are casting on for this year's Knitting Olympics, hosted by Ravelry.

I really enjoyed participating in the 2006 Knitting Olympics, but as with the real games, I'll be watching from the sidelines this year. We won't talk about my miserable last place finish on Team First Sweater. It will be so fun to sit back and watch people compete. There had better be some exciting montage sequences with stirring scores!

Cue "Fanfare for the Common Man", because project #33 is finished!

Cue "Fanfare for the Common Man"...

So, is there a prize for what surely must be last place in the Knitting Olympics? Yes, the so-called performance enhancing sweater is FINALLY FINISHED!!!

Despite the lengthy delay, I'm quite pleased with myself for taking this project on. It was a lot of fun to come up with a design and then execute it with the expert guidance of Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top.

Next time I do a top-down sweater, I'll go a little easier on the raglan increases. I was nervous about making it too small, so I ended up with a bit too much bulk under the arms. Despite this minor issue, the sweater is still cute (if I do say so myself), comfortable and very warm.

I'm not sure what else to say, other than WOO HOO!

The Project: Performance Enhancing Sweater for Team First Sweater - My own "design", using instructions in Knitting from the Top
The Yarn: Rowan Classic Cashsoft DK in black purchased from Cucumberpatch UK
The Needles: 2.75 and 3.75mm
Started: February 12 2006
Finished: November 2 2006

an awesome Olympics

"The results don't always match the preparation in this sport."

So yeah, like some other people, I won't get a gold medal this year. The Knitting Olympics were a fun idea, and I've made quite a bit of progress with my sweater, but I've never been very good at meeting arbitrary deadlines. It probably would have ended differently if I had chosen a more suitable project.

I've still had an awesome Olympics. My tiara is on, and I'm knitting a few more inches today while eagerly anticipating tonight's broadcast of the closing ceremonies (though I'm a bit concerned about the reports of thousands of clown noses). See you in Vancouver!

Technorati tag: knitting olympics

Knitting Police find nothing in doping raid

KNITTING BLOGOSPHERE (AKP) -- Knitting authorities searching for banned substances found no evidence of doping in an overnight raid on the residence of Team First Sweater's And Knitting at The Knitting Olympic Games.

While the knit police were searching the residences early Sunday morning, the International Knitting Olympic Committee also conducted unannounced, out-of-competition drug tests on one Team Sweater athlete.

"We were concerned something might be going on with And Knitting after we found empty bottles near knitting needles and swatches'' authorities said. A spokesman said later Sunday morning that "...at the moment, nothing of significance has emerged, as the bottles appeared to have contained only performance dehancing substances like prosecco and beer, and that no one had been placed under investigation".

"I am very angry,'' said And Knitting's Amy. "While I admit to knitting while drinking in the past, I've never consumed performance enhancing substances like some other knitters whose names I'll leave unsaid. Right now, if you want to cheat, you can. You do what all those guys do".

The Knitting Olympics feature the most rigorous drug testing in competitive knitting history. Earlier in the week, a suspiciously productive knitlete was expelled from the Olympics after testing positive for an illegal stimulant.

Various and Sundry Links - February 19 2006

- Woo hoo -- Shani Davis! Confidential to Chad Hedrick: You are a dick.

- The Knitting Olympics Drinking Game with commentary

- Halloween on Ice [via]

- Why can't we see all of the Olympics on the Web? [via]

- Important publishing news

- Kathy's Beauty Nook

- passenger’s asses fitting into my personal space like a pornographic jig-saw puzzle - Letter from Continental Airlines Seat 29E

- food landscape [via]

- Another way to get your required daily allowance of Guinness

- Beautiful paintings of an abandoned shopping mall

- Here I Am Taking My Own Picture - Angry Knitter makes it to the New York Times

- You decide: "Midwest Heroes" or "Political Pawns"?

knitting olympics

project #33: performance enhancing sweater

Amy decides to 'suck up' pain for Knitting Olympics

SAN BLOGOSPHERE, Interweb (Reuters) -- And Knitting's Amy raced through the pain barrier in Wednesday's Team First Sweater event.

Discharged from her angsty ways only the previous day, the 33-year-old American knitter returned to the comfortable sofa where she failed so agonisingly in Sunday's training run.

Remarkably, she's finished 11 raglan increases and is just a few inches adrift of her personal progress best.

"The only thing that would have stopped me was if I physically couldn't do it," Amy told reporters. "Pain was something that I was going to take, no matter what. It was just a matter of whether my body could physically withstand the forces of my knitting."

Amy had no regrets, falling back on her inner strength to confound medical experts and ignore the complaints from a bruised ego and aching wrist.

The Project: Performance Enhancing Sweater for Team First Sweater (my own "design", using instructions in Knitting from the Top)
The Yarn: Rowan Classic Cashsoft DK in black purchased from Cucumberpatch UK
The Needles: 2.75 and 3.75mm
Started: February 12 2006

Various and Sundry Links - February 15 2006

- For the seafood lover in you - Santino goes to Red Lobster

- Go Onodera!

- Full motion speed skating stamps

- A belated Valenswine's Day to you

- Anna Wintour is lovin' it

- Budgie Voted Young Cross-Stitcher of the Year [via]

- We grew up in a world where our classrooms were filled with Jennifers and Stephanies and Amys...

- Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other

- For now, my critics can eat it. I heart Johnny Weir!

- Tim Gunn is a hot, fashionable Yoda [via]

- It was an atypical heart attack. He had no pain, Rove said.

- Bid on the gown that Nick designed for Brenda Strong

knitting olympics

and knitting's Amy may drop out of Knitting Olympics

And Knitting's Amy listened to her body, and it told her no.

Amy, 33, said she was "a little stiff" when she took to the needles, which she attributed to having spent too many hours at work on her laptop prior to the start of the Knitting Olympics' opening ceremony. And if her sore wrist continues to hamper her as much as it did yesterday, when she was driven to the verge of tears before cutting short her first Olympics knitting session, Amy said she would consider withdrawing from the Knitting Olympics.

"Dropping out is not something I want to do, but I have to listen to what my feelings are," Amy - a relative newcomer to the world of knitting - said after botching two cast on attempts. The only stitch she performed cleanly was a k3 p2 rib.

"That's what's so frustrating about having an injury," she added. "It's not something that just goes away.

"Physically, if I'm not able to knit, I would give my spot up."

(I'm mostly being silly, but we'll see how this week goes.)

knitting olympics

Pre-Olympics Status Report

It seemed like a good idea to do a quick status update on my current knitting projects before the hoopla of the Knitting Olympics begins.

My nemesis, the frilled sweater from Rebecca, is now in the finishing stages. This was one of the first knitting projects I started. So nearly two years later, it is good to finally be so close to completing it. I've also picked up the chevron scarf once again. This project hasn't received the attention it deserves, but I'm sure I'll be able to wrap it up once the Olympics knitting frenzy is over.

In Knitting Olympics news, I'm still finalizing my sweater pattern. I may have to ceremoniously cast on one stitch tonight, and then really work at it tomorrow.

knitting olympics