Tag Archives: olympics

The Olympics Are Coming!

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Opening Ceremonies are on Friday, and I’m not even a little bit prepared!I’ve participated in the Ravellenic Games for at least as long as I’ve been running this blog (and I think once or twice before that).  So, this isn’t like it’s my first rodeo.

Usually by this point, I’ve got a plan, or at least have a bunch of yarn ordered.  Last time, I made a nice gray cardigan, and the time before that I designed one of my very first sweaters with a pretty clever slipped-stitch yoke (if I say so myself).  This year, I have no idea what I’m going to do!

If you’re not familiar with the Ravellenic Games, a quick overview:Every time the Olympics are held, thousands of knitters across the world all cast on at once (usually, during the opening ceremony- though this year it’ll be 3:00 in the morning in Washington when the opening ceremony starts, so I think I’ll wait until a little later in the day to cast on), and spend the next two weeks watching athletes do athletic things and knitting away as fast as they can.  Knitters can organize themselves into teams, compete in different “events” (Sweater Skeleton,  Bag Biathlon, etc.) and spend the Olympics challenging their knitting skills.

It’s a fun way to crank out some quick knitting!

But this year I’ve completely dropped the ball!  The Opening Ceremony is on Friday, and I don’t have any idea of what I want to do!  I don’t really even have time to order yarn!

I know I’ve got some fancy-pants lace yarn, but a big lace shawl might be a little too much for a two-week project.  Or I could try to plow through some of my WIPS- I keep meaning to work on that Papaya sweater, but that seems a bit like cheating, since it’s already a quarter of the way done.  Or I could go to my LYS and see if they have any inspirational yarn in stock.

What’s a forgetful Olympic knitter to do?

Are you participating in the Ravellenic Games?   What are you making?

Olympics: Across the finish line!

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I did it! Woo!

That last sleeve almost killed me, but I made it across the finish line with time to spare for blocking.

And, I love it!  This might be my new favorite sweater.  (It’s the Campside Cardi by Alicia Plummer, knit in Knit Picks’ Wool of the Andes Sport in Cobblestone, if you forgot.)IMG_3052(Yes, I am indeed a dork, and still haven’t figured out how to pose for a non-ridiculous photo of myself.)

It fits like a glove, and I even managed to get the sleeves the right length, which never happens! If you’re looking for a simple-yet-cute sweater, I definitely recommend this pattern.  IMG_3071Whenever I do a speed-knit project like this, I always think “Why can’t I always work like this?”  I’d be able to make two dozen sweaters ever year! Ha!

How did your Olympics go?  Did you finish your Ravellenic Games projects?

Olympics: The Final Leg

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I’m in the final stretch of the marathon, the last straightaway of the 400 meter dash, the last push toward the wall in the 1500 meter freestyle.

Except I’m knitting, not doing any sort of actual physical sport.  (I am breaking a sweat, however.  But that’s more due to the fact that we don’t have air conditioning and I have a big wool sweater on my lap than any great athletic exertion.)

I’ve still got 3/4 of a sleeve left.  And blocking.IMG_3018This sweater feels like it’s taking forever, which is crazy, since I’ve only been working on it for two weeks.

It’s funny, I zoomed through the body of the sweater, which was the biggest part of the project- all that stockinette and all those eyelets.  It was fun, easy, uncomplicated.  But now that I’m doing the sleeves, it feels a bit like pulling teeth.  I don’t know why, it’s just plain old knitting in the round with a handful of decrease rows.  Nothing difficult.

It took me two whole days to finish the right sleeve!  Two days!  Hopefully it won’t take me two more to finish the left.

And now, here I am procrastinating on my sleeve by writing this post (which was only supposed to be about three sentences long).

Enough faffing around.  I’d better buckle down and finish up.  The closing ceremony is on Sunday, after all!

How are your Olympics going?

And have you watched any synchronized swimming?!  It’s amazing!

Olympics- In the thick of it

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It’s Wednesday.  The Olympics end on Sunday.  I still have 2 arms to knit (OK, 1 and 7/8ths) on this sweater.

IMG_2986Will I make it?

I will need to knit with the speed of Katie Ledecky (assuming she knits as well as she swims), and harness the concentration of Simone Biles.

And I must be as pure of heart as the Olympic flame.  (OK, that doesn’t really make sense… I think I must be suffering from Ravellenic Games Madness, a very real and actual disease.)

I’ve gotten through the majority of the knitting- the body’s done, and I’ve bound off the collar/button band combo (have I ever mentioned how tiresome the sewn bind-off is… I wish I didn’t love the finished results so much).  Sleeves are always a pain, but there are only two of them.IMG_2996So, I should be off.  Only four days to go (three, if I hope to block this bad boy).  How’s your Ravellenic knitting going?

On Your Mark!

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Get set! Go!

It’s Ravellenic Games Time!

I’m excited, and I’m not at all prepared!  Wheee!  Let’s see how this goes!  I just decided the pattern I’m going to use- Ollie helped me choose.IMG_0542We picked out the Campside Cardi from Alicia Plummer.

IMG_8528_medium2[1]Cute, right?  I love the shape of the sweater.  It looks so comfy and versitile.  And look at the back:IMG_8540_medium2[1]I love the modern twist on lace; it’s an ombre of eyelets.  Genius!  It should be light and lovely, and it should be a nice and easy knit.  Interesting enough, but not distracting.  Perfect car knitting for our upcoming road trip.

I’m going to be using some of my stash yarn- Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Sport in Cobblestone.  I’ve got 10 skeins, which should be enough.IMG_0531I’ve got another two days to prepare and make my swatch.  That should be plenty.  Right?

Are you knitting something for the Olympics?  Let’s knit together!

And, don’t forget to sign up for the new Fair Isle pattern giveaway!

Ravellenic Games 2016

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It’s almost here!  The most exciting biennial, world-wide athletic competition known to man!

No, silly, not the Olympic games.

Rio-2016-Olympic-Logo-Vector-Graphic[1](Although I am excited to see some synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics.)

No, I’m talking about the Ravellenic Games!

Rav-GamesThis’ll be my second time participating.  Last time (Winter 2014), I made a sweater.  It was pretty great (the sweater, not this photo).  I actually still wear it quite a bit.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

(If you’re considering taking part, join the Ravellenic Games group on Ravelry.  It’s essentially a big, friendly knit-a-long where everyone casts on at the same time (7:15 Rio time on the 5th), when the Olympic games start.  Then, you see how much you can get done before the end of the games, two weeks later.  There are a lot of rules and teams and stuff, but I plan on ignoring most of that, because I’m a rebel. Ha.)

Last time, I planned out my project weeks ahead of time, maybe even months.  This time I’m flying by the seat of my pants.  Looking at the list of “Events,” I’m thinking I might participate in the Sock-Put, the Sweater Triathalon, or the WIP Wrestling (I’ve got a stack of half-finished projects that need to be finished).  Maybe I’ll do Garment Polo- I’ve been thinking about making a cabled skirt (because apparently I want everything I wear to be cabled).

We’re going on a road trip during the Olympics, so I’ll have lots of time to knit, but I also don’t want my project to be too fiddly (I get carsick if I spend too much time looking at my knitting).  I’m thinking something with a lot of stockinette or garter stitch.

Any suggestions?  Do you think you’ll be taking part in the Ravellenic Games?  What events will you be joining?

Accross the Finish Line

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Phew!  The Olympics are over, and the Ravellenic Games are finished!  I don’t know if you took part, but I had a really great time.  And I knit like a Norwegian cross-country skier (in other words- really, really quickly).

My sweater came together without too much trouble.  I did have a little issue during the first weekend of the games, when I had a little math issue (compounded by the fact that I – overachiever that I am – was trying to finish an entire sweater in a week) that forced me to re-knit my sleeves a couple times.  (Apparently my arms are not 12 inches long and pointy.  Who knew?)  But, other than that, I skated through this project at a nice little clip.

Anyway, here’s my final product in all it’s glory!  (Please ignore the slightly awkward poses.  I can make a sweater in two weeks, but I’m damned if I can take a decent photograph.  It’s a curse.)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI blocked the sleeves slightly too much, so they’re a smidge long, but that’s OK.  I have long monkey arms, so it’s sometimes a treat to have too-long sleeves.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI love how the slip-stitch color-work panels turned out.  (And they were crazy easy to do!  I’ll post instructions soon.  Maybe Wednesday, if I have time.)

The sweater was worked in KnitPicks’ Wool of the Andes, and the colors were:

  • Sapphire Heather (body)
  • Bluebird (darker contrast blue)
  • Clarity (pale contrast blue)
  • Papaya Heather (orange)
  • Fairy Tale (fuchsia)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERADespite the dorky pictures, I’m quite pleased how this project turned out.

Did you participate in the Ravellenics?  What did you make?

Inspiration: Parade of Knitwear

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I don’t know about you, but I was glued to the TV on Friday night, eagerly awaiting the awesome (or the semi-awesome, as it often ends up) that is the Olympic Opening Ceremony.  Especially since this is the Winter Games, I was expecting some excellent knitwear.  I was less than happy, therefore, when a disturbing amount of Gore-Tex came out on the athletes.

But, nevertheless, there were a few points of light in a darkness of polar fleece and weatherproof jackets.

Slovakia went all-in on a heart-motif for their hats and scarves.2014 Winter Olympic Games - Opening Ceremony

Kyrgyzstan wore red-and-white scarves with a very cool curlicue motif.2014+Winter+Olympic+Games+Opening+Ceremony+_ksK8nJ2t5kl[1]

Andorra went all-out with (pardon my French) bitchin’ color work sweaters.OLY-2014-OPENING-CEREMONY-DELEGATION

And, well… This happened.1391805399020-USP-Olympics--Opening-Ceremony39[1]

It’s a knitting blog, so I have to include us in this post, after all.  But, let’s just not talk about them ever again.  Embarrassing and tacky, to say the least.  Not good, USA.  Not good at all.

Another awesome knitting moment happened during the Men’s Slopestyle (which, if you haven’t seen it yet, you need to watch it.  It’s super cool).  Check it out:1654697_10152558586959918_501735966_o

See that?  It’s Antti Koskinen, the coach from Finland.  Apparently the whole Finnish team are passing around the scarf, so that everyone who wants to will get a chance to work on it.  I can’t imagine a cooler project, or a better way to calm your nerves when you’re at the Olympics!

Olympic Knitting and Social Media for Dummies

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When I first started this blog, one of the first things I did was get a Twitter account, and link it to the blog.  Then I immediately forgot about it.  My poor Twitter page has been sitting all alone and neglected for almost a whole year.

But no more!  I’m determined to learn about Twitter!

1249827-twitter-logo[1]You’d think that Twitter would be easy enough for someone raised on computers to figure out, but it’s rather more complicated than I expected.  Retweets, @’s, hashtags…  This might be the first time that I truly felt like an old Luddite.

But I will persevere!  And tweet about my Ravellenic Games sweater.  Twitter seems like the perfect venue to give you updates on my sweater progress.  Doesn’t it?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASo, if you tweet, follow me @on_the_needles.  Or, if you don’t have an account of your own, you can look at my tweets here.

Get Ready! It’s the Olympics!

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Apparently, I have a sports blog now.  (Go Seahawks, by the way!)

Are you excited about the Olympics?  I know I am.  So much knitwear (at least in the parade of nations), so many sequins (at least in the Ice Dancing), and so much Argyle (thank you Norwegian Curling Team).

norway-curling-team-olympics-red-checkered-pants-21351780812d806d_largeI am so excited about the Olympics, I’m going to be participating in the Ravellenic Games this year, in the Sweaterboard Cross event.

Ravellenics2014banner.3What the heck does that mean?

Basically, a whole bunch of ladies (and gents) over on Ravelry get together (virtually) every time the Olympics roll around.  They cast on a project during the opening ceremony, and try to have their projects off their needles by the end of the closing ceremony, two weeks later.   It’s all about pushing yourself, trying new things, and finish something awesome while watching people do awesome sports things that you totally could do to, if you really felt like it.

My Olympics project will be a nice cozy wool pullover with a slip stitch/color work yoke and cuffs.  My goal is to design, knit, and write up a pattern for the sweater by the end of the Olympics, which will definitely be a stretch.  But that’s the whole point of the Ravellenic Games!  To try something new, something that you didn’t think you could do.

Get ready to cast on on Friday!

Are you going to take part in the games?  What do you think your project will be?