I’m Knitting As Fast As I Can

I almost gave up on trying to finish the Olympic sweater last night, but cooler heads prevailed.  The Syracuse v. Villanova game was on TV (34,616 fans inside The Dome — madness!) so I grabbed a tapestry needle and hunkered down in front of the tube.

The game had the correct outcome, and so did the sweater.  Yay, Orange; yay sweater!

I waited ’til today to weave in all the yarn ends since I went to Park City and thought it would be appropriate to finish the sweater in the shadow of the ski jumping venue from the 2002 Winter Olympics.

All that remains is to finally attach the buttons during the Closing Ceremonies. But I’m torn between the two finalists.

Which button gets the gold and which comes in second??

Two weeks ago, I got swept up in the excitement of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies and impulsively started a new sweater, thinking it would be a perfect Knitting Olympics project.

I envisioned myself proudly wearing my new cardigan while I watched the Closing Ceremonies.

Wrong.

This seemingly straightforward project has kicked my arse.   If I had a nickle for every time I reknit the sleeve cap . . . well, you know what I mean.

Now here I am, one day before the end of the Olympics and I’m just blocking the pieces:

Will it be done by tomorrow?  No.  Well, I guess that depends on how I choose to define “done.”  I think I’ll be able to get all the pieces sewn.  And I might also be able to knit the neckband.  But, it will surely be button-less since I have no appropriate buttons and no time to buy any.

So, what do you think?  Do I make it onto the podium with a button-less cardigan?

I tend to vascillate between knitting and spinning in cycles.  The cycles may seem random to the casual observer, but I think they’re actually a function of stash accumulation.  When the yarn starts to pile up, I break out the sticks.  When the fiber supply can’t be contained, I head for the wheel(s).

This weekend I spun some superwash top I bought at the Great Basin Fiber Arts Fair many years ago.  Aren’t the colors spectacular:

I Navajo plied the singles and got about 200 yards of a dense, chunky weight yarn.

I’m thinking it would make a good bag, maybe with cables.

Spinning the top gave me some room to store my latest fiber acquisition–some lovely carded thrums I got from Spinderella:

I love spinning Lynn’s fibers. They always make such interesting yarn. And, if they weren’t already reasonably priced, she’s running a Valentine special if you’re a member of her Ravelry group.
Oh, dear, somebody stop me from buying more!