The games have begun!

8 August 2008

The 2008 Summer Olympics started today with the Opening Ceremonies at 8 p.m. Beijing time. That’s 7 a.m. in St. Louis, my official start time for the Ravelympics 2008. More than five thousand (5,651 to be exact) knitters and crocheters have signed up, taking on the challenge of completing a project of their choice during the Olympics.

I set my alarm for 6:15 and was up, morning routines completed and caffeinated by 7:00. At exactly that moment I turned on the Today Show (it appears the Opening Ceremonies won’t come to my tv before this evening) and heard the Olympic Anthem. I cast on 32 stitches for Square 51 (called “Faggoting and Fancy Lace”) of the Learn-to-Knit Afghan and within 15 minutes had knit two rows, unraveled both and cast on again. By 8:00 I had completed one pattern set of eight 8 rows, though I’d had had to unknit and reknit a few rows to get there. This reminded me of why I’d put down the lace section of this project on more than one occasion.

I stopped to walk the dogs and post here, but I’m jazzed to get back to it. I’m fully confident I’ll complete the lace section of the afghan by the end of the Olympics.

I took some pictures of some of the squares I’ve made over the past 2.5 years of working on this afghan. I’m going to share, but first let me remind you that some of these squares were knit years ago, before my technique improved.