Ravelympics 2010 - I have a heck of a challenge ahead of me...

Well, it's a little less ahead of me than when I originally planned to do this blog post.  I was supposed to do one on Friday before I started my first Ravelympics Project!  What are the Ravelympics?  They are basically a knitting/crocheting version of the traditional Olympics, complete with teams, events and medals.  The event runs for the length of the Winter Olympics this year, so from Feb. 12th  9pm EST to March 1st 3am EST. I am knitting the Team Never Not Knitting which is one of my favorite knitting podcasts out there. 

The whole point of the Ravelympics is to challenge yourself, so I decided to make myself a cardigan, the Bountiful Bohus Cardigan to be exact.  Since, I'm not exactly a small person, I knew this would be a real challenge for me.  Then again, I've never made any kind of sweater before either, so, this project is a double whammy. 

I'm really enjoying the knitting thus far and even attended a Opening Ceremony Cast On Party on Friday night with my new group of fiber buddies.  Here are a few pictures of my progress over the last three days.

Day 1: Opening Ceremony

I didn't get much done during the opening ceremony other than cast on the 336 stitches (ugh) and work three rounds of the cuff repeat.  Then again, I was yacking with friends and stuffing my face while watching the ceremony, so one shouldn't be surprised.
(3 rows completed)

Day 2: Cuff Central

By the end of day two I had completed all but the last repeat of the cuff.  There is a bit of cabling in the cuff and I'm not all that fast with that so I think that's why it was taking me forever. 
 (16 rows completed)

Day 3: Seam Shaping Begins

Finished the last repeat of the cuff pattern and did the first repeat of the 4 row seam shaping decreases.
(25 rows completed)

From now on, I hope to post an update every day (as I had originally planned).  Wish me luck!

If you are a fan of watersports.... beware!

Darth Coco called me up on Saturday morning with a clear plan in mind. We would meet behind the Concord Visitor Center at 1pm, rent a canoe and paddle our way from the south bridge to the north bridge about 1.5 miles down the river. After that, we would head to Cambridge for a late lunch at a trattoria named Gran Gusto (which has phenomenal food by the way). The plan had merit and it was good, so we set off with high hopes for our perfectly planned day.


After the slathering on sun screen, bathroom break and asking the local patriot in the visitor's center for directions, we walked down Main St. to the South Bridge Boat House. They rent canoes, kayaks (both single and double) and even off river cruises. However, traveling by canoe was not meant to be. All the canoes were taken by a group of boy scouts who arrived just before us (grrr). Rather than admit defeat, we decided to wait for one...


That didn't last long. We caved after about 15 minutes and rented two single kayaks instead. Patience is not exactly one of our best traits when we're together. We started down the river, trying to get used to the rhythm of paddling which neither of us had done probably in years. I believe we started off on the Sudbury river although I'm sure it turned into the Concord River at some point and maybe even the Assabet depending on how far we went. I know we went under several bridges, both for traffic and foot only.


The river, while busy with other small watercraft, was serene and we both felt we could have easily settled in and taken a nap. The other great thing was that despite how much we paddled and how far we went from the boathouse, we set the pace and I honestly could have continued on for quite a bit before feeling I needed to turn around. talk about a nice way to enjoy a beautiful day and get some good exercise!


So, Darth Coco and I have decided that we really enjoy kayaking. I probably drove her insane by constantly saying how awesome the trip was and how we so need to go again and SOON! So, consider yourselves warned! We will be on the waterways of Concord again. Will you be prepared if you happen to meet us there?

A Red Sox Filled Week

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to actually go to two Red Sox games in one week! One was our Red Sox night for work which I went to with Darth Coco for her birthday. I'll post more about that night later, but for now I'm going to focus on the second game we went to. The evening started off well, we had dinner at the Boston Beer Works (very good, btw) though there was a very long line.















We were very fortunate in the game we went to because we were able to see Jim Rice's number get retired. That was pretty cool.


































I just love close seats! It allows me to play paparazzi so easily...




























And I HAD to have a piece of fried dough.... I got a Fenway frank (or 3) when I went to the game against the Orioles, so I decided fried things were appropriate for this evening.















Let's just say that the night got a little tense... The Sox were ahead and then the A's slowly started catching up... GGRRRR!!! It's like we were just waving at them as they rounded the bases. So very frustrating after an early lead. Below is a little example of the tension getting the best of people.





















So, after a long (long, long, long, long, long, long game) the Sox lost in the 11th at around 11:30pm. /cry Oh well, you can't win them all... it was a very good night despite the loss. We kind of ran the gambit of the emotional spectrum during the game: elation, anxiety, sadness and hope. Another added bonus was that we both had Charlie cards, which make it much faster to get on the T. Thank you so much Mr. Charlie Card, you saved our lives... or at least let us get a few more minutes of sleep.