As you may have noticed I was really quiet this past Sunday. The Silent Sunday post that wasn't! Please excuse the lack of post, I was busy racing with the clock and the closing ceremonies for the 2016 Olympic Games!
In the real world, the Olympics are (supposed to be) about testing your best against every one else's best athletes. Just being there is a huge honor for each of the participants.
In the Ravelry world, the dates that those games run, give knitters, crocheters, weavers...any crafter that uses yarn really...the opportunity to compete against themselves and the clock! The Ravellenics run from opening ceremony to closing ceremony and crafters around the world can compete in events from Afghan Marathons to WIPS Wrestling and all kinds of others in between.
I cast on for a Shawl Sailing medal and by the skin of my teeth I made it.
It was not without a few trials along the way though.
The past few Ravellenics Colourmart has offered special sets of yarn for the competition. Last time around there was even a competition just for the people using those sets, you had to use all of the colors in the pack to qualify. I knit a very plain shawl that year, palest blue through midnight blue.
(I love that I can re-capture my pictures from Ravelry when I can't find them on my hard drive!.)
This year when I saw one of the lace weight packs I knew what it was meant to be. I had been strolling through the internet looking at other peoples pictures of things and came across one of a very large thunderstorm over the ocean. This storm was positioned just right, you could see all the different layers of clouds, from fluffy white ones on top with a hint of yellow sunshine to the deep dark ones at the bottom that were pounding the waves with rain. I really wish I had book marked the picture so I could link you to it, but I didn't.
I ordered the pack of 2/30 merino laceweight and plotted and planned until it came. (Between other things of course, you might have noticed that patterns were published, one in Knotions and the Hugs and Stardust Loops and Hats on Ravelry so I am sure that in there somewhere were the tech edits, photo shoots etc.)
The day before the games began I cleared my needles, well mostly, you know there is always some other knitting going on, so that I would be ready for the games to begin. Without many things on the needles to keep my hands occupied I charted out a whole different interpretation of the design, and a third, and there might even be the starts of another one on my computer. (I use excel for charting, in case you were wondering, so it is very easy to keep opening more and more tabs on the same document and then save them all under "Shawl" so they are ready to go.)
When the time was right, I cast on and knit a bit.
And hated it.
So I did what any knitter on a deadline would do.
I cut the thread, picked out new needles and cast on again.
Nope, still didn't like it.
By the third time I was doing this I decided to go back to my original interpretation and promptly cast on, and knit the wrong number of rows between increases.
All in all an entire free day of knitting was lost, but I did finally get it cast on, and if you follow me on Instagram you got to see in process pictures
as they were happening.
She is blocked and ready to model now, but......
You know I said something about A Different Style in the heading...this would be the style I was talking about!
It is a very shocking shade of purple ( I say seriously purple, she says perfectly purple!)
I am not sure that purple hair goes with a thunderstorm shawl!
In other knitting news, did you see that Knotions has not one but two knit alongs going on right now? I am a sucker for a knit along and just might cast on for one. Nana's Cottage I think, not because I don't like Inis, I really do, but that would just be far to hot to knit on right now! But once the weather changes, don't you think it would make a great blanket for watching movies under on the sofa?
For Nana's Cottage I am going to have to find some yarn that goes with very purple hair!
~M
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