The Olympics and Knitting

So….the Olympics start tomorrow.  Technically.  There are some events tonight, but the actual time of the Opening Ceremonies is 10:00 AM on February 7th.

I love the Olympics.  I have for years.  My favorite part is the human interest stories, but I love it all.  In 2008, my love for the Olympics took on a new twist.  I decided to join the Knitting Olympics.  I chose a project that would be a huge challenge and I had 17 days to knit it.  I cast on during the opening ceremonies and had it finished by the time I watched the closing ceremonies.

I had a beautiful black cashmere shawl, knit with 1,800 yards of laceweight yarn.

Then, in 2010, I stepped it up a notch.  I decided to knit a Dale of Norway sweater for My Hero in 16 days.  I never went to bed before 3 AM.  One day, I had to rip out an entire days worth of black stockinette because I’d put the stitches for the zipper steek in the wrong place.  I even hauled a sewing machine along to Florida, just to do the steeks on the sweater.

I never did put the patch on it.  I finished on time, and My Hero wears it a lot!

When I started thinking about what I wanted to knit during Sochi 2014, I decided to knit myself a sweater.  I wound the yarn and did a test swatch. Then I started digging through my WIP drawer.  A WIP is a Work In Process.  I have lots of them.  I found about 10 unfinished cardigans.  I decided to see if I can finish three cardigans in 16 days.  I haven’t decided for sure which ones they will be.  I have the first one chosen, but it demands its own post, so more on that later.

I really feel like I’m in the best knitting shape of my life.  I’ve trained for years!!!  I’ve participated in the Olympics twice.  I’m disciplined.  I knit every single day!

But today I’m faced with a game ending injury!  (Have you figured out by now that this is very tongue in cheek???)  I did something to my right hand.  It feels like a tore a muscle in the palm of my hand, leading to my pinkie finger.  It’s so painful, I can’t knit.  (This part is really true!!!)  I’m trying to rest it, because tomorrow, it’s game on!

Good thing I’m not too old to participate in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.

Family Photo……

Well, we have one family photo, but its not what I was imagining, so we will keep trying.

While I’m waiting, I knit. Gee!!! There’s a surprise. I started a new Dale of Norway sweater for My Hero. I won’t knit it in 16 days like I did the last one though. It probably won’t be his favorite either because the colors aren’t traditional Dale.

Gotta go! Evidently there is stuff to do here in not-sunny California. Actually, the weather was gorgeous yesterday. I’m not complaining.

Teeny Tiny Knitting

Way back in April, I announced that I was doing a secret project for a baby that was due in June.  I finally get to blog it.

Introducing Fana by Dale of Norway.

The yarn is Dale of Norway Baby Ull.  I love this yarn!!!  It was knit on size 1 needles.  Yes, you read that right.  Size ONE!  And it was a blast to knit.

Both the body and both sleeves were knit in the round and steeked.  The photo above is the sleeves.  Here’s a shot of the sewing before I started cutting.

I’ve become a big advocate of steeking.  Once you’ve done it once, you can see all sorts of places that it would be easy to use!

And….since many people want to know what the inside of a stranded garment looks like, this one’s for you!

I finished the sweater a couple months ago, but of course I waited til the night before the shower to learn how to do the looped buttonholes.  I started at the bottom and by the time I got to the top loop, they were looking pretty good.

Special thanks goes out to my friend Mary Scott Huff for all of her advice!  My stranded, steeking, and finishing skills improved greatly with this project because of her help!

Also, if you’d like to see photos of the darling little boy that will be wearing this sweater, take a look at Heather’s blog.  He’s a precious baby and his parents waited a long time for him.  It was so much fun knitting something special for a sweet baby and a mom who is a fabulous knitter and an all around great person.  (Her husband isn’t too shabby either!)

And now it’s back to my “to do” list.  Writing a blog post was on the list so I get to cross one thing off!!!