Knitting Olympics: will she have the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat??
I know you've been waiting breathlessly to find out how the knitting olympics turned out. Well, wait no more! All the highs (and lows) revealed below. I wish i had Jimmy Roberts to narrate my Chevrolet Olympic Moment...
When you last left me, I was chugging away at the pattern, making steady, if a bit slow (hey, im a beginner) progress. Unfortunately, school had intervened. Here is where I was at the beginning of February break (some weird new england vacation thing, don't ask). I was feeling confident. Confident enough to stop knitting for a few days. Then, I realized it was halfway through February break, and I needed to plan extensively for the next few weeks, when I would be taking full control of my classes. This was my life for the rest of February break. That, and lots of stress.
Another thing that interrupted my life was my birthday. Clearly I was in no shape to knit. Silly me though, I thought I'd try. As I'm sure many have learned before me, knitting and wine do not mix. My birthday ambition turned into days of ripping out and painstakingly putting 110 stitches back on the needles, numerous times. No pictures of this. Was not in a picture taking mood.
Soon though, all was (mostly) right again in my knitting, and I picked it back up the night before closing ceremonies. Jenny, Katelyn, and I were supposed to go out that night and celebrate my birthday, but Jenny smartly fell down the stairs drunk the night before and fractured her foot. No problem for me though, a calmer night meant more knitting time. Here they are engrossed in sex and the city (note jenny's pained expression and her foot. also note that at this point we only thought her ankle was sprained. she went to the hospital two days later when her toes turned purple, and learned it was a fractured foot. she now has a cast.) That picture makes the night look fairly boring but really it was more like this and this. Much progress was made on the hat, enough so that I felt I could put it down and concentrate on wine. I (smartly) thought that switching to double pointed needles for the first time when I was in this state would be a bad move. Here I am modeling the progress at the end of the night. Completely confident I could finish the next night during the closing ceremonies.
Unfortunately....
I forgot that the closing ceremonies were the night before I took over my two classes. Most of the day/night was spent finalizing my plans for the next day. When I picked up my knitting, it was time to switch to double pointed needles. UGH. i hated them. pretty much still do, but now I am better than I was. I totally fucked up the decreases at the top, and also ran out of time before I had to go to bed.
I BODE'D THE KNITTING OLYMPICS.
High hopes, sad failure.
I had a picture of how close I got (like 4 rows damnit!), but it seems to have disappeared.
Yesterday, I picked up the failed Olympic project, and finished it. A photo shoot followed. Some highlights:
Here I am intentionally not showing you my face or hair, as both were a mess.
Unfortunately, I can't take a clear picture sometimes. My hands are too shaky.
You will notice that my top swirl looks nothing like Grumperina's top swirl. That's the fault of my double pointed needle screw ups.
Here's another blurry picture, but I like the blurry with the swirly effect.
Not blocked yet, kind of lumpy, but damnit, its done.
Some of you with very acute eyesight will notice holes besides the decrease screw-ups. I direct you to the designer's original hats to show you that THOSE holes aren't my screw-ups, thats just how the hat works.
Ok, thats enough out of me. Even though I didn't win a gold medal, I DID finish the hat, which now officially makes me an INTERMEDIATE level knitter. WOOOOO! I only ever made it to advanced beginner's in gymnastics and figure skating, so this is a new high for me.
When you last left me, I was chugging away at the pattern, making steady, if a bit slow (hey, im a beginner) progress. Unfortunately, school had intervened. Here is where I was at the beginning of February break (some weird new england vacation thing, don't ask). I was feeling confident. Confident enough to stop knitting for a few days. Then, I realized it was halfway through February break, and I needed to plan extensively for the next few weeks, when I would be taking full control of my classes. This was my life for the rest of February break. That, and lots of stress.
Another thing that interrupted my life was my birthday. Clearly I was in no shape to knit. Silly me though, I thought I'd try. As I'm sure many have learned before me, knitting and wine do not mix. My birthday ambition turned into days of ripping out and painstakingly putting 110 stitches back on the needles, numerous times. No pictures of this. Was not in a picture taking mood.
Soon though, all was (mostly) right again in my knitting, and I picked it back up the night before closing ceremonies. Jenny, Katelyn, and I were supposed to go out that night and celebrate my birthday, but Jenny smartly fell down the stairs drunk the night before and fractured her foot. No problem for me though, a calmer night meant more knitting time. Here they are engrossed in sex and the city (note jenny's pained expression and her foot. also note that at this point we only thought her ankle was sprained. she went to the hospital two days later when her toes turned purple, and learned it was a fractured foot. she now has a cast.) That picture makes the night look fairly boring but really it was more like this and this. Much progress was made on the hat, enough so that I felt I could put it down and concentrate on wine. I (smartly) thought that switching to double pointed needles for the first time when I was in this state would be a bad move. Here I am modeling the progress at the end of the night. Completely confident I could finish the next night during the closing ceremonies.
Unfortunately....
I forgot that the closing ceremonies were the night before I took over my two classes. Most of the day/night was spent finalizing my plans for the next day. When I picked up my knitting, it was time to switch to double pointed needles. UGH. i hated them. pretty much still do, but now I am better than I was. I totally fucked up the decreases at the top, and also ran out of time before I had to go to bed.
I BODE'D THE KNITTING OLYMPICS.
High hopes, sad failure.
I had a picture of how close I got (like 4 rows damnit!), but it seems to have disappeared.
Yesterday, I picked up the failed Olympic project, and finished it. A photo shoot followed. Some highlights:
Here I am intentionally not showing you my face or hair, as both were a mess.
Unfortunately, I can't take a clear picture sometimes. My hands are too shaky.
You will notice that my top swirl looks nothing like Grumperina's top swirl. That's the fault of my double pointed needle screw ups.
Here's another blurry picture, but I like the blurry with the swirly effect.
Not blocked yet, kind of lumpy, but damnit, its done.
Some of you with very acute eyesight will notice holes besides the decrease screw-ups. I direct you to the designer's original hats to show you that THOSE holes aren't my screw-ups, thats just how the hat works.
Ok, thats enough out of me. Even though I didn't win a gold medal, I DID finish the hat, which now officially makes me an INTERMEDIATE level knitter. WOOOOO! I only ever made it to advanced beginner's in gymnastics and figure skating, so this is a new high for me.