Post-Olympic Wrap Up

Thank you all so much for the nice comments you left about my Olympic Socks. I think it was my most commented post yet! I enjoyed hearing all of the visualizations you were having . . . .confetti and fan-fare, Olympic podiums and the national anthem. I was most inspired by Sonya, who said "I'm digging Julie Mancuso's tiara and I think it's something we knitters should consider adopting". I agree with that idea 100%!!! All of us "crazy knitter" with our tiaras and pointy sticks!! With that in mind, I sat for my post-Olympic photo shoot yesterday.

Two At Once, Toe-Up Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Parade in Checkers
Cast On: February 11, 2006
Completed: February 25, 2006

The Post-Olympic recap will now be scored using the old ISU 6.0 scoring system.

Pattern: 3.5 While I am ultimately happy with the finished socks and found the pattern easy to follow, it was not my favorite. I dislike the funny toe. The afterthought heel was fairly easy to do, but trying on the sock while knitting was hindered by the fact that the heel was not yet there. It also needed strategic pick up of extra stitches to avoid holes. Oh yeah, and I found an error in the pattern too. I should probably tell Knit Picks about it, huh?

Yarn: 5.4 The yarn is a great bargain for the price, and makes a thick warm pair of socks. I did find it a bit splitty, but it wasn't too bad. I loved the colors and the way the pattern turned out.

Socks on Two Circs: 6.0 Yeah, baby!!! I LOVED knitting my socks on two circular needles. I will be doing a lot of this in the future!!

Inox Needles: 6.0 I tried these needles for the first time because the LYS didn't have Addis in the size I needed. I was kind of skeptical, but these things were awesome. The join never gave me a single problem. The tips were nice and sharp. And they only cost $6 each!!! I spent less for the pair than it would have cost me for one Addi!

Toe-Up Socks: 5.6 The thing I liked most about toe-up socks was the freedom to knit the cuff as long as possible. With cuff down, I find myself unsure of how long I can make the cuff without running out of yarn in the foot. (I guess that's because I'm still a beginner sock knitter??)

Two at Once Socks: 2.7 It did get easier in the Long Program (when I reached the cuff), but I just wasn't fond of knitting them both at once. Although I appreciated being able to see if my stripes were lining up properly. I guess I will do two at once again, but not any time soon.

Olympic Experience: 5.8 I'm really glad I joined, because I would have thrown in the towel a lot sooner on the two at once thing had I not had my Olympic Oath to uphold. However, the pressure I put on myself to get these things knit was not always enjoyable, nor was the feeling that I shouldn't be working on any other project besides this one. But I have to say, the pride I felt when I actually accomplished the socks was the best. I picked this project expecting it would be too hard for me, but I would use it as a learning experience. So earning my gold medal is a huge boost to my knitterly confidence.

At 4:39 this afternoon . . .

I struck

GOLD!

More details later . . . .I'm off to celebrate!!

I'm a terrible person!

I really am. Really. I confess. I think it's all this Olympic Knitting pressure. See, I haven't exactly been taking care of the house. I know, I have high standards of cleanliness, but no cleaning has gotten done around here lately. I decided to give the house a quick once over today - you know, the kind where if someone came over for coffee they would think the house is clean . . . as long as the lights are dim and they didn't look under or behind anything. It had gotten really bad. I mean, I actually found SmartFood crumbs on the living room floor!!!! YES, NOT CRUMB . . . BUT CRUMBS . . . PLURAL!!!! One was near the couch and the other was under the coffee table. Hey now, I hear you . . . stop laughing at me. That's not very nice, I though you were my friends. Anyway, I also washed the kitchen floor with the Clorox Readymop instead of my bucket of ammonia water . . . AND I didn't empty the vacuum bag. Yes sir, I put the vacuum AWAY with a FULL BAG!!!! Oh the horror. We are living in squalor in a pig sty. It's a good thing this Olympic stuff is over next week.

As if that isn't bad enough, my next confession is even worse. It's really, really bad. You see, when I click on a feed in Bloglines, and the person has blogged about how they just finished their Olympic project . . . . I curse in my head. I actually call them names. Isn't that mean???? I know, but I just can't help it. Damn, we're all supposed to be one big, supportive, happy family. "You can do it" and MWAH and all that. I am a poor competitor. I should be struck down by the Knitting Gods for my selfish behavior. I'm ashamed . . . I'm very ashamed.

Don't worry, karma has gotten me back. I didn't get much knitting done today. I knit a bit of a swatch for the Sunrise Circle Jacket this morning while waiting at the lab for my ever so fun, quarterly blood draw. (I didn't bring the cylinders of hell socks because I couldn't see juggling the yarn around in the waiting room). Karma got it's revenge in the form of a vein that did not want to bleed for the nice lady with the needle. She had to probe it around quite a bit - ouch!!! My arm is still sore, which is not so good when you've got Olympic knitting to do. I know, serves me right.

The ribbing is looking quiet good now though. There just isn't enough of it. I knit and knit and knit and then knit some more . . . and I swear these damn things are not growing!!!! It's the karma again, isn't it.

****UPDATE***** I forgot to mention, when my mom and I watch a skating competition and someone we don't like is skating, we quietly chant "Fall fall fall". They usually do. It worked at the 1995 Worlds men's competition. Terrible, huh? Don't worry, I won't be doing it tonight. I like them all this year!!

Flying Fingers

No, silly, I'm not referring to my knitting. I mean Flying Fingers Yarn Shop!!! I can not gush enough about my experience with this shop.

It all started when the Spring IK arrived. You know, the one with the Sunrise Circle Jacket in it. Then, Laura mentioned the KAL that was forming for this project. Well, I just couldn't resist.

As I began to research the Karabella Soft Tweed called for in this pattern, I found out it was ON SALE at Flying Fingers. By 3:30 pm on Monday I had placed my order.

By Monday evening, I started to worry that perhaps I should have ordered one more ball. So I went back to the web-site, clicked the "contact us" button, and asked if it was too late to add one more ball to the order. First thing Tuesday morning I had an e-mail from Elise telling me that while they usually ship the same day (!!!), my order had not been shipped yet due to the holiday. She gave me instructions on how to add one more ball to my current order and promised she would make it happen.

Now mind you, this was YESTERDAY. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw a box on the front porch today with Flying Fingers tape on it.

That's right, my Cranberry Karabella Soft Tweed arrived today!! Elise also included a nice postcard with a hand written thank you note and a sample ball of Hopyard Spinnery's Roxanne's Mohair, which they will be carrying soon. (I'm going to need to check that Mohair out!!)

The only problem now is that I have to fight the urge to put aside my tubes of torture Olympic Socks and swatch my new yarn!!! I know, be strong . . . wait until Monday . . . .

For her pleasure????

I've just stared the ribbing portion of my Olympic Socks. The ribs are NOT pleasurable!!!

It looks pretty crappy, but since I'm only two rows in I am hopeful it will look a little better once I get a few inches done. However, I don't like the sloppy look that the purl stitches have at each color change, and since the ribbing runs up the entire leg there will be quite a few color changes before I'm done. I could just continue in stockinette stitch for the leg, but I think I'll give the ribs a chance. I'm not crazy about the toe portion of these socks either. As a learning tool, this pattern is extremely well written and easy to follow, but I don't think the finished socks will be among my favorites.

I also have a question for those of you who are experienced in knitting with self-striping yarn. As I began these socks, the yarn was perfectly matched. The colors changed at the same point on both socks. Somewhere along the way, I seem to be getting more and more thrown off. The second sock changes color about a row earlier than the first. I'm assuming it's my knitting . . . maybe my knitting is looser on the second sock and it's sucking up a bit more yarn? Or maybe this normal for self striping yarn, they are close but not exact? I'm sure it's me, not the yarn. Either way, it's not noticeable to the naked eye . . . so far.

My Olympic Plan . . . knit as many more inches as I can through Friday. And that's how long the socks will be (It's not cheating . . . the pattern says to knit until they are as long as you want them . . . not that you couldn't do that with ANY sock pattern!!). Then, knit the two afterthought heels on Saturday and Sunday morning. If all goes well . . . GOLD!!!!!