Team Kenya overcomes the odds!

Kenyan Jr. member, K, finished her knitting well before the extinguishing of the flame in torino.

The exuberant team members stood solemnly for a playing of dual national Anthems: The Star Spangled Banner and Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu. I regret that the high notes in TSSB lead to embarrassing squeaks from the elder team member and that the concensus was that the Kenyan national anthem, even in swahili, is easier to sing and to hear non-experts sing.

WooHoo~ (I spring into the gymnast TADA! position)

Lead member of the Kenyan team has finished a Toddler Sweater and Slouchy Socks

Team Kenya is taking it to the photo finish!

I ran into a snag with my second sock; I ran out of yarn. Yes, I'm getting gauge for row and stitch but I still ran out. Go figure! While we were out getting groceries I dropped into the 'local' yarn store The Yarn Garden to get a supplemental skein. Sadly, they were out of this particular Jo Sharp Rare Comfort Infusion Mohair (long-o name) in colour 614.

We came home and I moped for a while about maybe finishing the sock in a different colour of mohair or missing the Olympic deadline. WAH! Since the laundry was well in hand I decided to search out another yarn store. Local is certainly a relative term. The Yarn Garden is about 15 miles (25 minutes on the highway) from our house and StitchDC is also 15 miles away but it may take 25-35 minutes to get there and parking can be a problem. Today I went exploring to Fiberworks. Fiberworks is 25 miles away and it took about 45 inutes to get there and less than 30 to gt back (I recognized where we were and took a shortcut). Fiberworks is more crowded with yarn than StitchDC and The Yarngarden. StitchDC is the least crowded. Fiberworks had a good selection, a variety of prices, and the owner was able to tell me exactly where to look for the Jo Sharp mohair. Yay! They had the beautiful and needed colour. I also picked up a Jo Sharp book I've been looking for and three balls of Aran Tweed.

My policy of knitting whilst watching Olympics seems to be paying off. The sock is only a few centimeters from the toe!

I am also keeping to the Knitting Olympic oath by doing the laundry, loading the dishwasher, and comforting puking children (blech!). tonight A cooked the dinner of 2 kinds of ravioli (cheese and pumpkin) is two sauces (creamy tomato and olive oil garlic) and salad. SOME people felt the need for dessert so there was left over Yum and lime popsicles.

Olympic Update: It looks like Team Kenya is finishing strong! I have finished the toddler sweater and one of the slouchy knee-high socks and the second sock is already past the heel. K is just finishing up the fish tail (and then it will need to be felted). Though she is bedridden with some sort of stomach bug, she valiantly knits between bouts of heaving.

Two more kid meals done for this week. Last night was K's dinner of barbecue brisket (crockpot cooked and pulled by hand), homemade biscuits, soy/ginger carrots, and harvest melange a la Trader Joe. For dessert she prepared chocolate walnut Yum (as opposed to the berry yum A made last week). Yum is primarily whipped cream - I don't really care for the desserts. Tonight was G's meal of turkey cheeseburgers, salad, roasted potatoes, and leftover ice cream from last week.

Last night was G's dinner. He chose homemade sausage pizza, salad, and fruit salad. He made the dough in the mixer but I put everything else together because he's been having intestinal issues for the last few days.

Tonight was A's dinner. She made grilled chicken enchiladas (I grilled the chicken and YES it was freezing outside today), steamed carrots, and Berry Yum (whipped cream and fresh blackberries in a chocolate cookie crust). The yum was nice except that my piece was riddled with cookie crumbs and I really dislike that texture. Blech! The blackberries were very tasty.

Tomorrow I'm back in charge of the meals. I'm planning a stew for dinner. My microwave suddenly died today and I am realizing how I use it for almost every meal in some capacity or another.

Tonight K made dinner.

She made the shopping list, plucked the items from the grocery shelves, and cooked the whole thing herself. Indeed, she made up the entree recipe! She served: Sliced french bread with olive oil for dipping, salad with homemade peppercorn dressing, and spagghetti with calimari in a tomato sauce. She chose ice cream for dessert.

I think she did a great job and I am very proud of her!

Announcing a new member to TEAM KENYA: K. - 13 year old K. is knitting a series of fish to be felted and a fluffy stuffed rabbit. She cast on the first fish on Sunday because she was in bed during the opening ceremonies (as telecast in this area).

BTW, does it annoy anyone else the way that the NBC stations pretend that they are covering live Olympic action when Italy is about 6 hours ahead of the Eastern USA. Blah!

I have finished knitting my Rumplestiltskin toddler sweater. I'll block it tomorrow and try it on a toddler but It looks awfully small. Perhaps too small for even the thin 21 month old I will use as a model.

Knitting Olympics

I have cast on for the Knitting Olympics as organized by Yarn Harlot. In the strategy of Venezuela and Ethiopia I am entering these Winter Games as the Kenyan Team. I have, of course, missed the official deadline for signing up but that is (vague wave) not necessary for the experience. Efforts to engage other knitters in the family have failed.

I have cast on a Toddler Sweater.

I have been knitting. For Christmas I made 24 tiny sweaters as ornaments to be given as presents, 4 tychus Hats, a Boing hat and then I frogged it. I made a hat from Sally Melville's Purl book. I also made (but not for Christmas) a Mosaic Scarf from MAGKnits (sorry browser acting up) and an Irish Hiking scarf from Hello Yarn which was my first excursion into cables. I then tried a cabled sweater but I've had to frog it 3 times and I'm giving it a break.