and they're off...

FIRST TEAM KNITTING IN PUBLIC UPDATE WILL HAPPEN TOMORROW

Obviously, I'm so excited. Taken from the Radio Times:

In 1984 it was Torvill and Dean; in Calgary it was dear old Eddie the Eagle; and four years ago it was that brilliant women's curling team from Ayrshire who made curling into a source of unlikely national pride as they brushed their way to a gold medal. Tonight sees the colourful opening ceremony; tomorrow the games begin in earnest.

Ok, so they're talking about the "sporting" winter olympics (I refuse to call it "real", the knitting olympics has more people taking part, after all), but my knitter's re-write was too, too geeky to paste up here.

I have been thinking though, and may have (brace yourself) a negative comment to make about the whole olympic experience. I remember round christmas I found myself looking ever so slightly grudgingly at my knitting bag. Only a bit, only a few times, and only round the very end of it all.

I was doing so many presents (my brother, mum and dad all have their birthdays running up to Xmas) it was starting to become more chore than hobby. I know I wasn't the only one; many bloggers and communities discussed "knitters block" or general burn-out during the first few weeks of January. Personally, I blamed the idea of knitting-to-deadline. You couldn't leave something and go and play with that new idea you've just had. Gift-klnitting was oodles of fun and everything, don't get me wrong, but ever so slightly constraining. I vowed I'd be kinder on my hobby next time and factor in more knitting "playtime" for myself.

So why are we doing it all again? Or is olympian knitting different from the gift bonanza of december? I think there is one key difference. For all that we're tagging on a sports event the knitting olympics are a slightly exclusive thing, something to share with our peculiar community of online fiber arts, working challengers and patterns that connect us to knitters and we knit for and celebrate knitting itself (as opposed to all the verity of other things that go on in December). Knitting Olympics as a festival of knitting? Maybe that's why its so popular.

But will we all suffer post olympic burn out? We shall see.

Right, 6pm it is then, off to turn on BBC2 and wait for the torch to be lit. Can't cast on though, I'm at home (and so not in public), damnit. Maybe I'll go sit on the front step. Or maybe I'll get on with my cardi. It might go against the sporting approach of single minded discipline (no pain no gain), but I'm keeping the right to choose.

FIRST TEAM KNITTING IN PUBLIC UPDATE WILL HAPPEN TOMORROW!

Pomatomus

I admit it, I caved. I started another project. One of the socks I was planning for the olympics. And I did this terrible deed without first finishing the chunky cardi. In my defence, I had three days away from home with loads of sitting in buses and simply not enough space in my bag to carry a half knit chunky cardi.

However, I have more than enough "unassembled socks" around, so I've just promoted one of these to the place left by Pomatomus. Starting this sock early has helped me gage my sock knitting speed though, to think through the plausability of my Olympian plan. I guess it counts as "training". I've decided my "handicap" will be that I can only knit in public. Because this allows me to have a "home" project, I have the possibility of finishing the cardi soon, which is good because it's all coming together and feeling yummy and I want to wrap myself in it.

I'm loving the Pomatomus pattern, it is a bit of a challenge but not an confusing one, it has logic and rhythem to it once you get going. I'm not entirely convinced its the best pattern for my insistance to adapt every dpn project to magic-loop, but I'm hoping any of these issues will go with blocking. The Angel sockyarn is great to work with too - for all the issues we all may be having with Angel at the moment, they do good sock yarn. I'm using "pine" which looks a sort of teal at first, but shimmers with silvers, blues and even golds depending on the light. The colours look especially pretty on the gold and silver of my addi turbos. The fish-scale quality of the yarn was what made me put it with Pomatomus; when last Knitty came out that pattern immediately put me in mind of mermaids.

I also went to the knitting group at the British Library for the first time today, seeing as I was free from teaching for once. So nice! Lovely people, will definitely go again. Plus, Sir Roger Penrose sat behind me. He wasn't knitting, just sitting in the canteen, but I'm sure if he did knit it would be amazing.

picture

Felt I was due a picture. This shows the colours and fair-isle design changes I've made to the SnB Nation cardigan. When not playing with this huge chunky wool, I've been round the other end of the ply's, swatching for my olympic socks. Think I'm sorted for that, but itching to start now. The cardi is the most unportable project ever and I'm finding it hard to fill my bus-time with reading.

olympic poliferation

Welcome to team knitting in public. Anyone wanna join in?

EDIT: take the button if you want (or make your own) and I'll keep and eye on the blogs of anyone who comments to do a bit of "commentary" once the games commence.

minty

I have VERY exciting news but it has to be a secret (a pattern of mine has been accepted somewhere...) so for now all I'll cheer about is that my second parcel to the lady I'm Secret Pal-ing was yet another success. I've made her next gift, which is a needle case, my first sewing machine project since childhood, compleated with a set of Lantern Moon 4mms, but I should hold off actually posting it for now.

Also, in her thank you email she said she was going for a job in science outreach - we have so much in common! I really hope I can meet her when I go to New York next year. Don't know if she'd want to meet me though, that's the odd thing about Secret Pal, you know loads about the person you are spoiling but the other side of the relationship is compleately anonymous. Its like when you look out of windows at night (when one side is a window and the other has turned into a mirror by unequal lighting).

Been playing with my fairy-easy faire isle and chosen the yarn, going for a pale blue to match the "forrest green" as the MC, which is making the whole thing look quite minty. I'm still deciding whether to use the fair isle pattern in SnB Nation, or use one based on the lovely books my Secret Pal sent me. Mmm... its such a chunky gage, don't think it could take anything too complex.

Oh and darn it, where's the new AntiCraft I had it in my diary and everthing.