Slightly Behind Schedule

This weekend has brought many pleasant diversions that have kept me from giving my Olympic best, at least in the knitting department. The Hubs and I celebrated the Valentine's Day weekend with a private cooking Olympics: my Mousse au Chocolat won gold in the dessert category, and the gold medal in main course extravaganza went to the Hubs and his Boeuf Bourguignon. (We completely outdid ourselves. I'm still in awe. The mousse recipe is Julia Child's; the beef recipe is a Cook's Illustrated creation.)

With all the grocery shopping/cooking/eating/then napping/afterwards cleaning happening around the house I didn't spend nearly as much time knitting as anticipated. Still, I made progress: the sweater's body is one-third done, which doesn't mean much, though. I noticed that the enormous cowl-neck is as long and almost as wide as the body: I have a lot of mindless knitting ahead of me. I also started the socks. It takes a lot of concentration to get all the slipped stitches and cables right, and I'm no longer sure this is a good travel project. It's my first time using DPNs (that's the Olympic challenge), and four needles plus the working needle, plus a cable needle...: well, it's complicated.

I'm all packed and ready to go. Sunny Rainy Florida, here I come! :)

Oh... can't leave without a photo... here's one of a recent visitor, who was climbing up my jeans:

Auf die Plätze, fertig, los!

Well, not quite. I'll have to wait till later this evening before casting on my olympic projects. Consider this warm-up.

Wait, plural? Projects? More than one? Yes, for practical reasons: my mom and stepdad are visiting from Germany, not here in Boston, where it's cold, but in sunny Florida, which is, according to my parents, just around the corner from Boston.* My parents' trip to Florida coincides with my school's spring break (seriously), so why not go on vacation for a week? 'Cause of the traveling I need a small, portable project. Socks, for instance. And since the Yarn Harlot is Super Sock Woman, I'm participating in her Knitting Olympics, knitting Slippery. One of the gals attending last weekend's knitting brunch was working on a pair, and I really loved her results. We'll see how well I fare with the pattern: Cables in every other row? Slipped stitches all over the place? Not a single plain vanilla all-knit-stitch row? I 'spose that's the olympic challenge. See, the yarn's already waiting for me:

(Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino, with Koigu Premium Merino in gray for cuff, heel, and toe.)

Since the socks were a bit of an afterthought, a plan B, so to speak, I also entered the Ravelympics with this in mind:

(Photo by Lang Yarns, published in Lang Yarns' Fatto a Mano 169, pattern #27.)

Yep, that's plan A. 16 olympic days minus 6 vacation days = 10 days. A sweater in ten days? Sort of impossible for me. But when I look at the yarn and consider the #13 needles, I'm optimistic:

I'm hoping that this puppy will knit itself. While I'm in Florida. :) Perhaps that's too optimistic.

Right, then. Y'all enjoy a great olympics opening ceremony!**

*Geographical misconceptions persist on both sides of the Atlantic. When I lived in Berlin, an American friend asked to visit me while she was traveling in Europa; she suggested we meet in Venice.
**This whole knitting business has gotten me all excited about the real olympics, and I look forward to watching some of the biathlon action. Go, Neuner!