Knitting Olympics 2010

Last night, the German pair bobbled a lift in their free skate program.  The announcer, watching the woman awkwardly slip down her partner's torso, breathed "Hoo boy!" into the microphone, and then was silent. 

That describes my Olympic knitting.  Hoo boy.  I've never done a knit-in-the-round-join-sleeves-to-yoke construction before.  My inexperience in this competition is showing.  The pattern calls for a 29" circ.  Got that.  I am struggling even before I attach the 85 stitches of the second sleeve.  My performance last night, like several freestyle skiers, was RNS (run not scored). 

I, of course, did not have a 36" #7 Clover circ.  Other PFK (prior frogged knits) taught me the lesson of subbing different makes of needles in the same size.  One cuff of this same sweater was frogged because #7 Clover is not equal to a #7 Lantern Moon dpn. 

(How does one define experience?  Experience is recognizing the same mistake when you make it again.)

I acquired the necessary equipment, and am ready to continue the competition this evening.  

I am watching the Olympics in silence each evening.  Occasionally, I moan in sympathetic pain when someone falls.  I scornfully deride some of the easier, and some of the harder scoring inconsistencies that blaze up onto the screen.  

Two generations into political correctness, where everyone gets a medal, Olympic games are capturing the world's attention with competitions that reward only the top three contenders.  I admire the athletes who throw themselves into this fire.  This commentator captures this anti-zeitgeist perfectly.

Must end with picture.  The view from our lunch table several weeks ago: 

Comments

[Carole]

I've been enjoying the Olympics a lot these last few days, even if I'm not competing in the knitting Olympics.

[Lorette]

I'm not doing an official Knitting Olympics project, just working on stuff I already have going. I agree with you, doing one of those "whole sweater on one long needle" feels pretty awkward. I can see the beauty of it, but still like sweaters in pieces for the portability. Once you get those sleeves attached, the whole mess becomes a knit-at-home project.

[Caroline M]

The only skating I've been watching is the speed skating, they all look cloned until they take their hoods off and become real people again. My total fave is snowboard cross,the men's has finished and the women's qualifiers has just this minute finished (quarter finals next). I might even get up at silly o'clock for the final.

I use any needles to hand, I've been known to use three dpns in one size and one in another because I'm too idle to hunt up a full set. Blocking cures all ills...

Sorry, got to go watch mad boarders.

[--Deb]

As usual, I'm watching just about everything--I'm an Olympics junkie!

[Anne]

Bet it all works out in the end tho. :)

Wow - I can't believe you were slumming it like that. (Bet Whistler wishes they had all that snow, huh?)

[sarah]

I'm watching the Olympics as best I can, trying to finish work at 1500 to see the BBC coverage. I wanted to see the Biathlon... but it seems no one else did. On the other hand, Alexandre Bilodeau stopped my breath and my spinning (I'm in the Ravelympics 'Fleece to FO'). I want to do that so much I ache. My mind hurt, it tried so hard to imagine me doing that.

Same thing happens sometimes when I'm driving. On a perfect day on the perfect road (A82, I dream of you), I know that if I found the right thought, if that cloud were an inch to the right, the sun an hour higher in the sky, the car and I would not be travelling along the ground, we would be flying. I can't find the switch to make it happen, no matter how hard I look in my head. But I will always, always look. I might find it one day :-)

[margene]

Experience grows, but never allows perfection...much like a Olympic hopefully. You are the best is the world and you can still fall on your ass. The Olympics make for great knitting time as they are more entertaining than much of whats on TV.

[thea]

we're watching all the skaters -- and whatever they pop in between them. It's been fun - and until someone gets hurt, the wipeouts do keep it interesting... Shows you can still fall down, even if you're the best (kind of what Margene said) good to remember sometimes!

[Hillary]

I totally agree and I'm really enjoying the Olympics. Eveyone always says that it's such an honor to be nominated or participating in this or that but at the Olympics you get the feeling that some of these athletes really mean it. Many of them come and pour their hearts into their competition knowing they have nearly no shot at placing at all. But every once and a while one of the top players fall and it's amazing.

Just like they keep saying when a really young athlete competes for the first time, it's all about the experience. Savoring the moment and learning for next time.

[Marcia]

Great article. You'd love the postcard that arrived from Utah the other day with a picture of the 5-year old atop Sundance. On the back, the statement that she had skied all the way down by herself. I wonder what Olympic sport we'll be watching that one do in 2022? (Probably Snowboard Cross!)

[JessaLu]

You go! I can't wait to see your finished sweater. :o)

[pat]

Are all the stitches on one needle yet? Go go go go... you can do it :-)

[Diane]

We watched two hours of curling yesterday and finally figured some of it out. The snowboard cross has been the best so far. Not much knitting gets done when that's on the tube.

[gayle]

I miss television for Olympics viewing. (But not for any other reason...)
The rows will seem endless when you first join all those sweater pieces into one unit, but it will get better.
Experience is always so much better in retrospect.

[Guinifer]

I love how she gasped before he made the "Hoo boy." comment.

So do you think the inconsistencies carried beyond the figure skating?