Personal Best

Ha! The knitting gods did not smite me down for my arrogant prediction that I'd finish early.

Total length (unblocked) - 65"

I used up both balls (that was the point).

I'm liking the ploofiness of it right now so I probably won't block it.

Great pattern; only downside was that I had to watch what I was doing which meant missing much of the Olympic action. However, thanks to the NBC announcers (wildly Americentric though they may be) I heard all of the highlights and had some warning when to look up.

It was a tad anti-climactic to bind-off by myself during a Seinfeld repeat. But it was authentic.

And now George is cuddled around my neck while I veg out with a romantic comedy.

Despite the scarf's weightlessness, it feels like a gold medal.

I'll call him George*

I'm at the wonderful point in Wisp where I can wear it while knitting. If I could stay off the computer for 2 seconds I might actually have a shot at finishing it tonight.

Short post tonight. I'll leave you with a couple of photos, unrelated to the post's topic.

Our super-awesome new spoon rest.
Bought in Portland, ME on a weekend getaway.

Enjoying the chilly weekend in Portland.

*Qiviut/Silk: I shall hug him and squeeze him and call him George.

Home Stretch

I'm going to go ahead and shock knitters reading this: I think I'll probably finish my Wisp early! Yes, I realize the deep jink-potential in that statement. I'm embracing it in fact. I know I should know better than to make such a hubristic pronouncement (I am an avid reader of the Yarn Harlot after all). Oh well!

Good luck to all the other knitting olympians out there who have been staying up too late and contemplating calling in sick to work.

Last Olympic Appearance

While working the first few rows of Wisp during the opening ceremonies, I had a flashback to my last olympic project. It's both humbling and amusing to remember that at the time (2006), a pair of mittens was chosen as a challenging enough project for the endeavor. Looking back, I wouldn't exactly say that such a basic mitten pattern was that difficult for me. But because I'd never done socks, mittens, or gloves at that point nor did I have much of a record of finishing any project in a short time-frame, the idea of completing something in a new category under a deadline was enough to challenge me.

This year's project also doesn't strike me as particularly challenging, to be honest. But knowing how my work schedule has been these last few weeks, I think completing ANYTHING beyond a hat will be difficult. The primary challenge was, of course, finally using the qiviut. Second to that is working with lace-weight yarn. And third, finishing on time.

Current stats: 13.75" (35 cm). Satisfying squishiness and bunniness. A few set-backs when I k3tog by accident (it's tough to tell sometimes because the previous row's yo-k2tog make for 2 seemingly-overlapped stitches on the next row. And the tinking that resulted from those couple of hiccups was enough to convince me that I'd better get my act together - undoing this yarn is obnoxious. Tonight: Pairs free skate!

Wispy

What does it say about me that my first post in five months is because of the knitting olympics?

Actually, that line of thinking might not be too productive to spend any time on.

For now, this is just a placeholder until I get around to waxing poetic about my chosen project: Cheryl Niamath's Wisp using the infamous Qiviut yarn that Passionknitly gave me in 2006. I'd say the biggest challenge for me in this project is not so much the pattern, but the prospect of just using this yarn after being paralyzed by indecision for so long.

Happy knitting! And good luck to all the athletes.