Knitting Olympics---The Results

My knitting olympics was not as successful as I had hoped. I had hoped to knit a pair of socks for my younger sister, as well as finish three WIPs (works in progress)---a sweater-tunic for my oldest grandniece and two Adult Surprise Jackets for myself, one in Noro Silk Garden Worsted, the other in Dream in Color Classy in the Dusky Aurora colorway.

By the closing ceremony, the socks (Wendy Johnson's Nanner Socks) were two-thirds to three-quarters finished. The legs were only about three inches long, which means I knit 10 inches worth of two socks. (To put that into terms non-sock-knitters can readily understand, if I'd been knitting a strip one inch wide, it would have been 44 1/2 inches long by the closing ceremonies.) I have worked on these socks, off and on, since. When I asked my sister over the weekend how long she wanted the leg of the socks, she said she preferred knee socks. So, I still have a few inches to go.

As for the WIPs, I never touched my grandniece's sweater-tunic, which still needs sleeves and a neckband. I also never worked on the Noro Adult Surprise Jacket (a.k.a. the Coat of Many Colors). I need to pick up the buttons I ordered before I can knit the next row---the row with the buttonholes---and I still have not been to my LYS (local yarn store) to pick them up. (Recall, gentle readers, that my LYS is about 25 miles from my house and about the same distance from work, and it closes at 4 pm---a couple hours before I leave work.)

I did, however, add five inches to the other Adult Surprise Jacket, shown here at its pre-Olympics length. (Back to the hypothetical one-inch strip. If I'd been knitting it instead, I would have increased its length by more than 200 inches.) I left the much lighter colored skein of yarn in the jacket, and knit about five more inches---almost two more skeins of yarn. The two skeins after the light one are darker, but not quite as dark as the first three skeins. I'll post a photo of the jacket when it is finished. I am six rows from the part where I pick up and knit the placket, which requires that I know the size of the buttons so that I can properly size the buttonholes. A visit to my LYS is a must this week, and since this is spring break, I will go Friday and join the ladies who knit (and lunch) there. Hopefully, I won't be so busy catching up on all the news that I forget to pick up the buttons!

I have been enjoying my time off this week. So far, I haven't graded a single paper. Grading is the main reason why I didn't make more knitting progress during the Olympics. I only knit during the figure skating and speed skating, and I graded during all the other events.

While I didn't get as much knitting done during the Olympics as I hoped, I did get the better part of a pair of socks knit and made significant progress on one of my jackets. And I didn't fall behind on the ever-present grading. Not medal worthy, perhaps, but nothing to sneeze at, either.

Susannah