The Knitting Olympics Begin Soon

I have been trying to figure out how to get this little button onto my sidebar, and don't think I'm having much success. I'm guessing just from my limited experience, that it'll wind up with the text. I'll see soon. It's supposed to link to http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/olympics2006.html so we'll see if that happens, too. If not, just copy & paste to your internet browser to see what it's all about (but then come back). Or, sign up yourself! :-) At this point, the knitters participating in the Knitting Olympics outnumber the regular Olympic athletes.

I have committed to knit a sweater for my son's girlfriend as my Olympic challenge, and the yarn is on its way. I swatched a couple of weeks ago, and will be using a strand of Misti Alpaca carried along with a strand of Harrisville Knitting yarn. Absolutely yummy. I went through my circular needles yesterday and located everything that needed to go into the bag. I've finished training by knitting myself a similar pattern, and at the moment I'm just cooling down for a bit by knitting the Tina Shawl. Which brings me to my point: WHAT WAS I THINKING?????

On February 1, I started a KAL with some friends from the local shop where I go to Knit Night on Tuesdays. See http://www.nwhandspunyarns.com for the shop in downtown Bellingham. Great place. Lots of friends there. Getting back to the KAL, when D2 & I talked about knitting this, we decided to invite the other Knit Nighters to join in the fun. Now there are seven of us working on this pattern, with different yarns & colors. I'm on the third pattern repeat now and love it. It'll be hard to put that down to begin the sweater, but it is going to happen. As I've said to everybody at KN, this KAL is not a race. But I am concerned that the Tina will be calling to me, as sparks fly from my needles during the Olympic challenge, begging for just another row, just another pattern repeat. (And you know that knitting lace is addicting. . . to see the pattern emerge from a tangle of yarn that resembles, well, an egg carton, is truly amazing.)

Wish me luck.