Knitting Olympics: Day One Report

Announcer speaking in hushed golf-tournament tone: We're here at Chez VATERGrrl, where the curtain has fallen on the first day of the Knitting Olympics, and newly risen on the start of day two. You may recall that our Olympian had initially challenged herself to knit one sock during the next sixteen days, and had only half-ironically declared herself a knitting "paraylmpian", took on a greater challenge when she read that the Yarn Harlot's friend Lene was joining in the Olympics with the goal of knitting one stitch a day and telling rheumatoid arthritis wha-fo. So, VG -- may I call you VG?

VG: Sure, why the hell not. All of my friends do. Well, my closest friends call me -- oh, no, not telling that!

Announcer: So, VG, can you update us on your statistics? Are you currently on the leaderboard?

VG: I'm certain I'm not standing atop any group leaderboards, but I'm happy with the progress I made during the opening ceremony and the first day of competition.

Announcer: Set up the event for us, please. What challenge have you taken upon yourself, and what are your tools of choice?

VG: I'm aiming to knit two socks in the sixteen days of the Olympics. Specifically, I'm trying to knit two toe-up socks with two size one circs -- Inox, teflon-coated. The yarn is KnitPicks Parade in Checkers, superwash wool with nylon. My pattern is "Wendy's generic toe-up socks" from the incoparable Wendy of WendyKnits: wendyknits.net.

Announcer: And what in particular is the *challenge* in all of this?

VG: Wendy's pattern uses short row toes and heels, which I hadn't tried before, and the yarn has a certain tendency to split. That, and the fact that I feel I'm one of the world's slowest knitters, is my personal challenge.

Announcer: And are you being challenged?

VG: Oooh, hell yeah. Er, uh, yes. Yes, I am being challenged. I've even poked myself once already with the needles -- in the leg, not the hand, so nothing's lost there. I will say, I feel as if I should put up a small scoreboard to tally the number of times I accidentally stab myself.

Announcer: And the crowd wants to know, what was your progress yesterday, the very first day of the Knitting Olympics?

VG: As of 2PM, Eastern Standard Time, I had knitted my very first short-row toe, and it does not look like arse. Well, there's one semi-loose stitch on the right-hand side of the toe, but I'm not going to go back and fix it right now. You wouldn't be able to see it from a prancing pony, and that's the standard for these thing, or so I've heard. The entire toe thus far is about six centimeters long, perhaps a bit longer. I'm choosing to measure in centimeters because it sounds better, not because I usually use metric measurements in my regular life.

Announcer: Anything you've discovered thus far?

VG: I had a wild idea in my head to use the connecting cord of the second circular needle as a provisional cast-on, using a figure-eight cast on with both circs and then slipping half of the stitches to the cord and working the short-row toe with the "live" stitches. This can't possibly be my own "unvention", as the late and fabulous knitter Elizabeth "EZ" Zimmerman called the process of discovering something "new" in knitting. However, the unvention worked even better than I'd hoped, and I will certainly use it for the second sock.

Announcer: Well, we need to wrap this up, but is there anything else you'd like to say?

VG: I simply MUST thank my mother-in-law, who bought the yarn for me as a birthday present. Getting to pick out all of that fiber really took the sting out of getting (slightly) older. Oh, yes, and thanks to my cats, Hawthorne and Edgar, for allowing me to knit with very few interruptions. And to my husband, who understands as well as any non-knitter can how much being a Knitting Olympian means to me. Now, I have to go check the laundry.

Announcer: Well, there you have it, dear readers. It's all knitting excitement, all the time, at Chez VATERGrrl. Tune in again tomorrow to get caught up on the "oops-I-stabbed-myself-again" count and see if the sock is longer, shorter, or just about the same.






















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