Posted by: springviolet
Working in stranded knitting makes me feel like a rock star. The projects I’ve completed, Red Herring socks, a pair of mittens, two robot hats, and Endpaper Mitts, have all gotten some great feedback. (I do love getting knitting compliments.) I’m a little more critical of my work. My floats could stand to be a little looser and I’m not quite certain how to handle long floats, the ones that go for 6 or more stitches wide. However, I know I’m getting better with each passing project.
It took a little effort on my part to get into stranded knitting. There is no denying it looks hard. Sometimes handling one yarn is hard enough, but add a second color that’s getting carried along and worked at the same time? That’s just crazy! And what’s even crazier is seeing people working two colors at once with one yarn in each hand. English AND Continental knitting at once? WTF? I could NEVER do that.
Guess what? I can do that. And damn, am I proud of myself for working it out.
This Friday marks the start of the 2010 Knitting Olympics. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee started the Knitting Olympics in 2006. The idea was to cast on a challenging project during the opening ceremonies of that year’s Winter Olympics and work on and complete that project throughout the Olympics time period – about two weeks.
In 2006, my goal was to knit my very first adult sized sweater. I made it, just barely. Being on vacation for half the time was a huge help.
This year my project is a little weirder, having to do with cyberpunk and corsetry. I’m going to design and knit myself a cincher out of wire and electrical cables. It’s a challenge as I’ve never knit with anything other than traditional yarn before.
The past couple of years, Ravelry has hosted many Knitting Olympics topics and groups (search on Ravelympics) with icon prizes, award ceremonies and all. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be joining any official ‘teams’ there. I love Ravelry, but only have enough time to devote to the forums to which I’m already barely particpating. Instead I’ll be posting my progress here and on my personal blog.
What knitting limit do you want to stretch? Are you going to try the Knitting Olympics? Leave a comment or call and leave a message on the feedback line. I really want to know. :)
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Tags: knitting olympics, ravelympics