Monday, March 01, 2010

Closing Ceremony

The Olympics are over: the torch has been extinguished. For several weeks, I have been working on my Olympic Knitting Goals. Like the last Olympics, my project gave me focus. Unlike the last one, I worked on more than one thing. So let's see what happened, shall we?

Project 1: Bulky Scarf

I am thrilled to report that I finished the scarf. I had already made a matching hat, so I am now officially warm and cozy in the cold. I finished this project first on account of the weather (and to get the garter stitch over with), and so far it has come in handy a couple of times.



Project 2: Pink Sweater

This project was done mainly while I was waiting in long lines at Disney two years ago. So while I was knitting, I wasn't at my most conscious. When I started to put the pieces together, that much was obvious.

But with a little help from the sewing machine and scissors....

.... I got everything fitting together. And in the end, I love this sweater. I can visualize wearing it a lot. It's warm and comfortable and cute:

When she took that picture, Kim asked me if that was my real smile.

Project 3: Wimple
See photo from last blog entry, then imagine 4 more rounds. Class got postponed. Motivation also got postponed, even though this project was on my list for the Olympics.

I have never claimed that anything about my personality had actual championship qualities.

Project 4: Kevin's Sweater
Although it was actually a day after the Closing Ceremonies, I am a flexible, motivated athlete and worked on this sweater last night. I therefore met my goal: I have the sleeves and the body long enough to join. When I have a few spare hours, I plan to put it all together. I have to admit that I'm pretty excited about getting this far. In the back of my mind, I have wanted to finish this sweater in 2010. I think I can do that now.

Here is a boring picture of the sleeves.


The sweater body is around here somewhere. (I "organized my projects" over the weekend.) Anyway, showing you a picture of the body along with the sleeves would not change the enthrallmentlessness of this picture.

Project 5: Taiyo Sweater

This was kind of a cheater project. I put it in so I could have something new and fresh to start, and have the excuse that I had to do it because it was part of the Knitting Olympics.

My goal was simply to start the sweater. I did that--and actually finished the back.

*****

This goal-setting stuff apparently works. So let's have another few goals for the next blog entry. Three projects is a great number to create that athletic focus:

(1) Join Kevin's blue sweater and begin knitting up the shoulders (but added, secret goal is to finish entire sweater).
(2) Get the wimple done past the lace.
(3) Finish Taiyo sweater.

Let the goals begin!