Saturday, February 11, 2006

Opening Ceremonies

Last night was our Olympic Opening Ceremony party at Nancy's. She really committed to the Turin Olympic spirit, and prepared many yummy Turin delicacies. She also, through the connections in high places, and managed to bring the Shroud of Turin right here to Seattle. You can see it in the background between Nancy and our friend Jamie in the picture below:

That's Nancy on the left, then Jamie, then Nancy's son Mitchell (he's not knitting, but we let him hang out anyway). Check out the concentration on the faces of the athletes. Jamie is making the Waving Lace socks from an IK a couple of years ago, despite the fact that she has never made socks, or lace, or used DPNs before. Nancy is hard at work on her Embossed Leaves socks, having resolved her gauge issues.

Also in attendance, Nancy's neighbor Dorothy, who is making a sweater from Mountain Colors yarn (I didn't catch which one). Dorothy is soldiering on despite gauge issues. Her swatch is dead on 4/inch, but at the end of the night, the stockinette portion above the ribbing appeared to be 5/inch. Stay tuned as this story develops.

In the picture below we have Avril, working on a UFO scarf, clearing her knitting slate so that she, too, can embark on socks. Note how I overcame my normally crappy photography skills to include the television, with the Olympic rings, in the background (and Nancy's dog, Truman).

The night was rife with drama. Jamie had to cast on 3 times before she was happy with it, and then we had to carefully undo 2 rows because she had reversed knitting directions. Dorothy's gauge issues remain unresolved. I managed to drop a stitch on the very first cable row. Recovery involved carefully picking up through 5 rows of twisted stitches and re-cabling. Nancy and Avril are off to a smooth start, but can their luck hold as the events continue?

I knit more after we returned home, and got in several rows today as well. Here's a (blurry, of course) picture of my current progress. Those of you who know my normally free-wheeling ways, note the use of stitch markers as I attempt to stay on target.

3 Comments:

Blogger Rebecca Mongrain said...

OK Where have I been? When did you start a blog and when did Chloe get a sibling? So cute! I'm adding you to my bloglines. I hope you are doing well!

5:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Melinda. It was great to cast on with y'all under the watchful eye of the Shroud. Nancy was so fortunate to procure it for the event. My sweater is in Mountain Colors 4/8's in Wilderness. I have about 6 inches of the back done now and the gauge is working out better. With blocking (the swatch was blocked) I think I'm good. Stay tuned.

I was impressed with Nancy and Jamie with their fine sock yarns and tiny dpns. maybe I will try a sock next. Your vest is looking good.

9:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello! I'm a long lost friend of Dorothy's. We re-discovered each other (after many years!) the day the Knitting Olympics started - she in Seattle, me in Maryland - and found that we had both would be participating in the Knitting Olympics!

I love your opening night descriptions, Melinda.

Great to 'see' you, Dorothy!

10:00 AM  

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