In 1988 I was 5 years old. I watched figure skating on TV with my parents while my mom explained the Battle of the Brians and Kurt Browning trying a quad. So began my love of this sport (as a spectator anyway). In 1993 I watched on TV as Canadians finished 1 and 2 in men's and 1st in pairs. At the time I told myself that one day I would be there when a Canadian stood a top the podium at Worlds. I did that in 2001.

When Vancouver was awarded the games in 2003 I was ecstatic. I believed that I would actually get the chance to see figure skating live at the Olympics. I looked forward to it. 2010 seemed so far away. Well it turns out that 2010 really was far away because in the intervening years I have had 4 different jobs, graduated from university, started a career and gotten engaged. Life is not the same as it was in 2003 (in such a good way). So when the lottery for tickets started I hemmed and hawed and in the end, didn't try for tickets. I told myself it didn't matter. I kept telling myself it didn't matter and got increasingly irritated and cynical about the Olympics.

Not all that long ago, I began to really realize how much I really did want to see the skating. I mean, I imagined such a thing as a little 5 year old. With a bit of patience and persistence (who knew Wollmeise stalking skills were transferable) I was able to get tickets, and tonight, attended the men's short program.

I wasn't sure it could possibly live up to the dreams of a five year old me but you know what, it really did. The skating was, for the most part, top notch and the atmosphere incredible. I was just about giddy the whole time and could scarcely believe I was there.

I brought my Ravelympics project of course. Progress continues.

Ravelympics: Day 3 of Competition

Megknitficent is definitely the underdog in the Sweaterboard Cross competition. She competed in 2008 but got only a third of the way through before giving up completely. With that in mind, some expected that she would attempt an easier project this year. In a risky move, she instead decided to attempt a fair isle vest. If she is successful, it will be a first for her but it's a long shot. We spoke to her recently about her chances.

"I definitely didn't perform as well as I had hoped in 2008 but to be honest, I was coming off of a challenging few months and my heart just wasn't in it. This year I have focus and committment and I'm here to win gold for Canada."

In this third day of competition she seems to be on track. She has started the bust shaping and it seems to be going well. We must remember though that she has set herself a demanding schedule so we'll have to wait and see how the competition shapes up as we get further into the Games.

I Have a Podcast!

This is something I've wanted to do for a while so I made it one of my 2010 goals. And what better time to start than at the very start of the New Year.

So I am pleased to announce that the premiere episode of It's Spelled P.U.R.L is now available on libsyn and ITunes.

Download it here. You can also search for it on ITunes.

2009 in review

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Went to a big knitting convention, got engaged, knit a wedding veil, not in that order
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don’t think I made any
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
my friend Shannon had a boy in May
4. Did anyone close to you die? No, thankfully
5. What countries did you visit?
Just the USA, I went to Seattle a couple times, Portland, Vermont and Massachussetts, with a brief and unexpected visit to Washington DC
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? a husband
7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
March 20th
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
well getting engaged wasn’t an accomplishment exactly so I’ll say knitting my wedding veil
9. What was your biggest failure?
I prefer to think of them as learning experiences ;)
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I had the flu for the first time in years, that wasn’t so fun but otherwise no
11. What was the best thing you bought?
my wedding dress!
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Augie, my family
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Over the past few years I have made a concerted effort not to let the behavior of others affect me in a negative way
14. Where did most of your money go?
the wedding
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
the wedding, Sock Summit
16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
none
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? – happier, so much happier
b) thinner or fatter? - I wouldn’t say fatter but I put on a few pounds
c) richer or poorer? – the same I think
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
knit, spun, spent time with friends
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
being stressed
20. How did you spend Christmas?
With my family and Augie.
21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
yes, again and again every day
22. What was your favorite TV program?
Mayday
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No. Hate is a wasted emotion
24. What was the best book you read?
none stand out. I reread the Anne of Green Gables series though
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
nothing comes to mind
26. What did you want and get?
a fiance!
27. What did you want and not get?
nothing stands out
28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 26 and I had dinner with Augie
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
can’t imagine a more satisfying year
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
I need to do laundry chic
32. What kept you sane?
knitting, Augie, Ravelry (not necessarily in that order)
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
no one
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
the healthcare debate
35. Who did you miss?
I miss my cat Desi now that she doesn’t live with me
36. Who was the best new person you met?
all the knitting people at Sock Summit
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
the importance of prioritizing both time and money
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
none

Finished!

I can hardly believe it. After several months of work I have finished my wedding veil. Not just the knitting of it either. At the start of Sunday I had 20 repeats to go. My plan was to knit 10 on Sunday and 10 on Monday but when I finished the 10 on Sunday I just couldn't stop. I was so close. I even grafted the edges together very late Sunday night because I didn't want to put it down.

I blocked it yesterday. I actually had to go out and buy some more of those interlocking mats because I didn't have quite enough. I used 9 of them altogether and it took up the whole thing. It took up a huge part of our living room. You couldn't walk from the kitched to the dining room or living room without tiptoeing around it. So for dinner we passed things to each other through the kitchen and ate in the yarn room. Luckily cobweb weight dries really fast and I was able to unpin it by bedtime.

I don't have the greatest pics yet because of the light but this will do for now.


Specs:
Pattern: Spanish Peacock Shawl from Gathering of Lace by Meg Swansen.
Edging Pattern: Classic Beaded Edging from Barbara Walker's 2nd Treasury
Yarn: Baruffa Cashwool approximately 1.25 skeins. Had I chosen a less involved edging it would have taken a single skein.

Thoughts:
This project was by far the biggest undertaking in my knitting so far. I've had projects that have taken even longer to finish but they spent a lot of time hibernating. Other than a few weeks off here and there I worked on this pretty steadily. It was absolutely worth every minute and I love it.

The Spanish Peacock pattern is really not difficult. The key is figuring out where to move the start of the round so that the rows line up. I have more details on this on my projects page on Ravelry.

Finish Line

As of this writing, there are a mere 10 repeats of edging left on the veil. That is a mere 120 rows. That may not sound like almost done but that is a 120 rows down from 1920. So very close.

This week I talked some of my knitting group friends into knitting rows on it. It seemed only fitting to have these people, who have seen this project from the start, get a few stitches in. No plain stockinette for them either. There are no plain rows on the edging pattern so they all knit lace. Many thanks guys.

I will probably finish it tomorrow and then need to face the challenge of blocking it. I can't say I'm really looking forward to that task but I bought blocking wires a while back in anticipation of the task.

Veil Update: December 13

I've found my veil knitting mojo and have actually gotten a lot of work done on it in the last few days. I am down to 57 repeats of the edging pattern, down from over 160. I spread it out today to see the progress. I apologize for the crappiness of the picture but it's the best I could do with its size and the lack of good light. I'm really happy with it though and I'm looking forward to seeing it all blocked.

Hopefully this burst of motivation lasts until I finish and block it. Blocking it will no doubt be another endeavor.