I’m DONE!
Alright, ALL RIGHT! I have a few ends to weave in but I plan on doing that as a symbolic closing ceremony thing. You know, for the DRAMA and all.
Lemme tell you, I actually don’t need the drama. A word of advice, my fellow knitters. If you fuck up your Olympic knitting the night before a major road trip, with only two days to go in the competition, and you’re pretty sure if you don’t finish tonight they won’t get done, and you’re thinking the misstep is big enough that you may have to rip out a WHOLE FREAKING MITTEN to fix the mistake – well – DON’T CALL ANN. She won’t help you. She will LAUGH at you. (Cue the creepy Carrie music. Piper Laurie in her witch costume. “Ann’s gonna laugh at you. Ann’s gonna laugh at you!” Yeah. I was throwing knives in my mind.) Bethe will be helpful. (Oh my! Check out Bethe’s banner! TOO FUNNY!) Kathleen and Peggy, a little bit, but they were under Ann’s influence. The thing to remember is that you’re ON YOUR OWN when it comes to Olympic Knitting. It’s just you and the yarn, baby. Just you and the yarn.
The problem was those freaking thumbs. I’ve never picked up stitches off of waste yarn before and the row before the waste yarn was super easy, but the yarn above the waste yarn? Where were the loops? I don’t get it. To clarify – I did stick the needle into the loops before I removed the waste yarn, but there seemed to be TWO loops, whereas in the row below there was ONE clear loop to stick the needle in. At the top, where there seemed to be two, well, they weren’t even loops! In the end I totally fudged the damn thing and it looks okay. Think Sasha Cohen falling twice but still getting the silver. That’s how it looks. Good enough. There was a moment though that I had ripped back to redo it because I didn’t like the gapping hole I was getting and I ended up losing what I thought were the stitches and I panicked and didn’t think I was going to get them back and I thought I might have to RIP OUT THE MITTEN down to the waste stitch mark. But I sat back, despite seven taunting phone calls from Ann, and persevered. I summoned up my Olympic strength. I thought about all I had been working towards. I thought about my family – the pain and humiliation if I couldn’t pull through. I thought about these kids and how excited they were when I cast on! I thought about my teamates: Team Philly. Team New Jersey. Team Boston. I knew what I HAD to do.
Doesn’t it look like I’m flipping somebody off? That’s because I am.
If I hated the yarn, Dale Falk, before, I REALLY hate it now. It’s splitty. Splitty doesn’t work when you’re trying to pick up stitches and there’s yarn behind and yarn in front and more strands than should be there and one color is so bright it gives you a headache while the other color is so dark it gives you a headache. I did like the pattern. I really, really did. I love the way the pirates turned out and I love my name and I love the year and I love that I reversed the yarns. They fit, although they’re still a little snug. I have to say I think I prefer gusset mittens to straight out thumb mittens. But it’s all good and I’m finished.
What is the sound of two thumbs clapping?
In order to celebrate my Olympic Achievements, G took off today and we’re ROAD TRIPPING!!!!
We’re throwing a PARTAY! Beantown style! WHOOHOO! I’m so excited to see all my Team Boston peeps and I’m hoping they’ll be plenty of pictures to share. I’m bringing the camera, but that doesn’t always work out and I’ll be hosting but someone will remember the camera, right? We’ll be back sometime Monday, and I don’t know if I’ll have Internet but whatever you’re doing this Olympic weekend, I hope it’s fun and you have friends around and you accomplish what you set out to do – even if that’s just learning your limitations. SO IMPORTANT in this life. Everyone’s got them. We need to embrace them.
Knit ON fellow knathletes. KNIT ON!
L, C
PS – Can I just second Lauren’s account of the Olympic Commentators? I’d like to tell you what I think Dick Button needs, but this is a family site. WOW that man is bitter. And HELLO? Skaters? I remember when Olympic Figure Skating was fun! Surya Bonaly anyone? It was everything I could do to STAY AWAKE. No one can get through a program without falling and yet they all seem like drones out there. Doing the same thing and the same music and Y A W N…. And I will agree with Buttonhead for a second and say if I see one more chick bring her foot up to her head and glide around…well…I’m going to be honest and say I was hoping someone would trip and the blade would actually go INTO her head. Not so deep as to do damage. A little superficial wound – but with BLOOD on the ice. You know. To spice things up. 😉
The mittens look great. Your family, friends and teams will look up to you for rising to the thumb challenge.
(I slip a needle into each stitch as I pull out the waste yarn – that way, I’m sure that I got the stitches.)
Have safe trips this weekend! 🙂
I am so happy for you! They look FABULOUS!
Dick Button needs some happy pills (or something) I have never heard so much criticism come out of one person.
I agree, blood on the ice would have been a nice interruption to liven things up.
Oh my god, Surya Bonaly. How could we forget her? Those were the good old days. Congratulations on finishing your Olympic knitting. The mittens look superb!
Your mittens are beautiful. I agree about the thumb gusset vs. the straight thumb, though. I like gussets before for knitting and wearing. And Buttonhead? That’s too funny! I’ve mostly been thinking that he’s been living up to his first name. If you know what I mean.
They need some kind of figure skating/hockey cross – team figure skating with contact maybe? Sow Cow this! The mittens look great – I love the thumbs saluting – made my morning giggle. It’ll be nice to have you in the area this weekend!!
yeah! fabulous! best thumbs ever. have fun this weekend!
congratulations on finishing your mittens. did you get a gold medal? i agree with you on buttonhead. his comment about the Suisse skater made me itch.
Yay mittens! Yay Cara! Woot woot! Thanks for the link to Bethe’s banner – hee hee.
Those look kick-ass! Really, you did a great job even if it was a pain in the ass. I just made a cool Gold Medal button for Stephanie and I hope she uses it! Have a great weekend.
Congratulations! May you have plenty of cold weather to wear them in.
The mittens look awesome! Congratulations.
I’ve had a problem with Dick Button ever since he introduced the questionable word, “athleticism.” Say what?
mittens that rock!
i am jealous you are finished. they look great! i’m about done with first pirate head on the second mitt. i had the hardest time with the first thumb…i am hoping the second won’t be as wonky. or will be exactly as wonky. either way.
Those mittens rock! Congratulations. I agree that the skating was a snooze-fest. And Dick Button needs to retire.
Katerina Witt had a great Op-Ed piece in the NY Times the other day basically saying that the new rules make it difficult for the skaters to inject any passion or fun into their performance and man she is so right.
I’m with everyone on the Dick Button issue…
Gorgeous mittens, they so rock!
Congratulations! The mittens are amazing!
Congratulations on the podium stand, Cara. The mittens are fabulous.
Buttonhead needs to retire. He’s just a curmudgeon now, bent on having no fun and playing a broken record to boot.
Oh, I know exactly what you mean about the mitten thumb. The mittens I knit had the same kind of deal and for the life of me I couldn’t get those top stitches picked up. I pretty much fudged too. And no one even notices! 🙂 What kind of friends are these? Laughing at you in the face of a serious knitting crisis? You could have called me. I couldn’t have helped, but I would have sympathized. Have a great road trip and a wonderful weekend. Congrats on the mitten!
Congratulations!
I’ll be sure to tune in for the closing ceremony.
don’t you recognize the power of my genius? that by laughing at you, I spurred you on to conquer Mt. Olympus?? that if I had sympathized, the whole evening would have dissolved into tears and acrimony? that you don’t get gold through tears and acrimony??
now go blow your nose you big crybaby.
Congrats on finishing your Olympic knitting! I’m glad it wasn’t just me who noticed Dick Button was exceedingly bitter (and extremely US biased). I have to say it was probably the worst ice skating event I have seen in years–no one really had a spark out there. It’s water under the bridge now, I guess. Have a great weekend 🙂
those mittens are awesome. and the personalization factor makes them even more so!
dick button pretty much ruined my viewing. i was very close to muting the tv, but then i would miss the music. miss the music? ok maybe not so much, the stuff was on the sleepy side!
You called Ann for help!? You really, really should know better. No wonder she laughed her ass off. You did better than Sasha and you deserve GOLD! I agree with you whole heartedly about the Olympic Games in general. Skating was a disaster all the way around. I couldn’t watch…it was pathetic and Dick may be a button head but I do believe what he said was true in many cases (when I did watch). I’ll be happy to see Sunday come so there will be something worth watch on TV again. (Not that I watch-much.)
Have a fun road trip. Enjoy the party!! It will be fun to see how many of you will be on the podium with the GOLD!
Your mittens are very lovely, worth the headaches! Congrats on your gold medal!
Did you hear Dick Button mention last night that he didn’t like how one skater had her skates tied? “It just ruins the whole aesthetic,” he said. I can respect that he won back to back gold medals (almost sixty years ago) but let’s see HIM go out and skate.
You know what?? I had that same problem too when trying to knit with live stitches that only span a couple of stitches. It’s hard to describe but I think you did a great job. How do you provisionally cast on 2 stitches and expect to have 2 loops to pick up the stitches. I couldn’t figure it out myself and I fudged.
BTW, is that girl holding a ball of yarn instead of a basketball? That’s funny and cute!!!
The mittens look really great btw.
Hi, blogless lurker here. I really enjoy your blog. Congrats on the funky mittens. You’ve almost inspired me to give colorwork another try. And, may I say that for excitement and blood on the ice, nothing beats the short-track speed skating! But, exciting competition slows down the knitting, so there’s a trade-off.
I thought about Surya last night too. Remember the flips that girl did?
In Dick Button’s defense, I think he might actually be getting senile. At first I thought he was just turning into a cantakerous old man but after he made the lace comment last night I switched over to senile. Yes, she should have tucked her laces in, but Dick, it’s the Olympics. She’s got bigger fish to fry.
For some reason, the upper side of the thumb is harder. I picked up backside strands instead of stitches myself, and had to go back and straighten things out. With you on the gussets!
Congrats, gold-medal winner! Just make sure you have your laces tucked in–don’t want the judges taking off style points!
The mittens look wonderful, Cara!! I love the reverse colors. Have fun wearing them out in the super cold wind today!
I’m with you on DB – what a mean guy…think he may be a bit too old to do this? How long has he been commentating anyway??
Yay!!! Now you can move on to another project in yarn you LIKE!!
They are so cute, though, I hope you get to enjoy wearing them!
Oh My Oh My – I might just have to quote your Button comments – you’ve summarized the new judging system in a nutshell – everyone is doing the same elements, half of which are not very pretty 😉
I’m so with you on the DB issue – what a dork……I’d like to lace his shoestrings…..
The mittens are Great! Enjoy your gold!
Your mittens are lovely, and I’m so delighted you persevered without Ann’s dubious assistance.
My nine-year-old son has been willing to watch figure skating at the Olympics. Why? Because they all crash, and it’s really cool when those girls fall on their butts.
Wow, they look great!!
To be fair, according to Ann, after she laughed at you, you cursed her cast on … (not that I’m defending her, because well, the Olympics are no laughing matter, but well, you get my point, right?) *lol*
Those are the coolest mitts I’ve seen in ages! They look fantastic. And, as always, I adore your narrative about the whole process. Have a great time in Boston!
beeeuuuutiful! lovely mittens. can’t wait to see pictures of you rocking them out! Enjoy your trip to Beantown!
They look great. I am learning the joys of picking up stitches off waste yarn in color work myself. Yuck. But the mittens look awesome!
Gee, I thought DB had reined it in a bit this Olympics :o)–he’s usually an ABC guy–on loan to NBC for Torino. Watch him at the World’s in March or the US Championships next year. Geez, he’ll talk through an entire performance. At least in this Olympics we’ve been able to watch portions of each performance with no commentary. Unfortunately that is not true in the other events DB covers. I swear, Peggy Fleming (she is commentator for ABC, too) is gonna pop him one day. I gotta agree with him on one thing though–those horrendous catch foot things. Could we please limit them to one per skater? It could just be me, but I think they are just vulgar at times. Especially after you’ve seen like 4 per skater–give it a rest.
The long program was sadly a let down after the short. And the entire competition sorely missed Michelle Kwan, imo. She’s maintained her artistry even in the face of the new rules. Too bad she was injured. I fear we’ll never see her compete again. Sad as she is the best female skater this country has ever produced–maybe the best ever period.
Love the mittens, btw!
Oh, I thought he was AWFUL! I wanted him to have to get out there so we could critique his disappointing sorry self. And when he liked someone, he was kinda lecherous about it. Ew. I just kept picturing a nasty old leering man in a bad suit, that’s what he sounded like.
Cool mittens. Congratulations! You deserve a medal!
P.S. I love those mittens – and they did sound like a personal challenge for you, so the hard parts were appropriate, right?
Maybe they figured all the spice went into the costume design…no, that was all the bad taste.
I want to know why they didn’t let Viktor Petrenko be a commentator. He was there, he’s more entertaining than Dick Button. Oh well, it’s over.
Um, the Cara mitten looks happy to see us…ahem…
Seriously, though – the mittens are really gorgeous and I am just super bummed that I won’t get to spend some time with you this weekend. Sad, sad girl…
BTW – Are you going to MD S&W this year?
All the skating commentators were malignant. Did you hear what they said about the Japanese skater (the one that didn’t win Gold) after her flawless short program? That she didn’t have natural ability! WTF?? That girl was flying. Excellent. Anyone who can make it that far in competition at the very least has natural ability. Isn’t just making it that far an incredible achievement?
The mittens rock!!!!
Your mittens are absolutely wonderful. The colors are great!
Way to go! Its the gold for you baby!! They look grrrreat!
GOLD STAR, GOLD STAR
do a dance!
Congrats on finishing on time! The mittens are great.
fabulous mittens – equal parts cuteness and menace. congratulations on a gold medal knit. i see you’re reading kavalier and clay (did i spell those right) – killer book – how are you liking it so far?
Your mittens are really fabulous. Even if you never wear them, you could display them in a trophy case with your Olympic medal.
And thank you for invoking Surya Bonaly. What I cannot BELIEVE about Olympic figure skating is that while the commentators blather away, they seem to have no sense of history of the sport: the farthest back most references went were the Salt Lake City Olympics. A casual observer who hadn’t followed the sport might have thought, from the coverage, that these were Slutskaya’s first Olympics rather than her third.
So I confess I like Dick Button: he brings an opinion and a point of view, while the others, it seems to me, just rave emptily. I learned a whole new way of looking at the pairs’ death spiral when he complained about most women sticking out their “fannies” on the way down.
Go Car, go Cara – those mittens ROCK!
I had the same problems with the thumb for my mittens. I just found this today and it does a great job of showing what to do.
http://www.sweaterscapes.com/glove-pattern.htm
Dude, thanks for throwing such an awesome party!
Congrats! and I really like the new format!
WooHooo!! Congrats on your mittens! They are really, really great!
The mittens are SO cool!