The Torch Approaches the Stadium

It's KO day - Knitting Olympics. We're supposed to wait until 2pm local time to cast on, so I have about 3 hrs and 45 min to wait. I'm nearly ready, too. Actually, I'm ready enough to cast on, but I still could rip out the swatch and get all the colors ready to knit.

I had such trouble getting gauge, but finally I washed the gauge strip and, hey presto, I got gauge. The swatch bloomed sideways! A fair amount, too. So I have 2 sets of US7 dpns and I'm ready. I'm still waiting for the extra black to show up, but I have 2 cuffs I can do before I'll need that. I used the "navy" (read, medium blue) and orange for the swatch and it looked awful together. I had been wondering about using "navy" with all the other colors in a rainbow mitten, and I was right, at least in my opinion. So I made a quick order to Shelridge and they're sending a skein of black. That will be better, I hope.

I also got my Bohus kits on Wednesday!!! I'm so excited about that! It only took 6 days to get here from Sweden. Boy, does that put the USPS in a bad light. It can take that long for a letter to get from California to Oregon. As I knew, the kits are in Swedish. Wonderful Ullis has already translated the hat pattern for me. I emailed the directions to her and she had the translation done by the next morning! Wow!! It was a real experience typing Swedish with all the diacritical marks (at least, I think that's what they're called), the å, the ö and ä and such. I'm no great typist, but that can really slow you down a lot!

I have all the little hanks of yarn from the 2 Bohus kits wound up into balls. I actually did it by hand. I felt I needed to treat the yarn with deference. It has been decades since I wound yarn by hand, probably back to childhood. There's enough of the light grey background for the mittens so I can swatch and not feel too nervous. They suggest size 2mm - US0 and size 2.5mm - no US equivalent. Luckily, in my "I have to have all needle sizes" craziness, I have size 2.5mm in dpns and in at least 2 vintage, metal-cable circulars! Of course, I have the US0 in dpn and circular. Thank God, I've made socks. I'm accustomed to tiny needles and working in the round. I've started a swatch in the light grey and size 0 and the stitches are tiny! It's slow going and I'm glad that I changed to plan B - the Rainbow Mittens. I have a decent chance of finishing at least one and maybe even both. The Bohus? I'd be gibbering, weeping in frustration and about 2" above the cuff when they douse the torch.

So the countdown begins. I have an appointment with my physical therapist at 1pm, so I'll be sitting in her waiting room, casting on, as soon as the appointment is done. I've laid in stocks of the required Olympic drugs: tea for caffeine, ale for alcohol, and chocolate for, well, chocolate. I'm ready to knit. Wish me luck. 10, 9, 8, 7 ...