Knitting Olympics - the final day!

So here we are, the morning of the last day of the 2010 Winter Olympics, and my socks don't have heels. I'm not stressing, and I'm not going to do a knitting marathon today to try to complete them by the time the flame goes out tonight. The way I look at it I'm already a winner because I tried two new techniques and liked them both. Two at a time is not as confusing as I had imagined and I'm excited that when I bind off I can wear them right away. I will finish the socks, as I really like them when I slip them on my toes! Now my goal is to finish before Easter!

Knitting Olympics, Day 11

Knitting is going much better but I am only halfway up the foot. Not panicing - yet! Monday I knitted most of the ride to and from work, and for the entire indoor soccer game last night. My goal is to get thru the heels by the flame extinguishing, any above and beyond that is icing on the cake! It is exciting to be working on both socks at once, knowing that when I reach the end it truly is the end! I'll get a picture later today.
Watched a little curling and a little skating last night before it was time to turn out the light!

Knitting Olympics, Day 10

Not much progress to report, I'm sad to say. I slept most of my bus commutes last week and just have not been as "into" these socks. I think part of the problem was the circular needle I was using - the needle part was just too short and did not fit my hands well. I dug in my box of needles (OK, so I have too many knitting needles, but this time it was a good thing!) and found a size 2 (2.75 mm) with longer needles and a reasonably long and softly flexible cable. Switched over during the hockey game (go Russia!) and I like this one much better. Hopefully I can at least make it through the heel before the Olympics are over. If I can stay awake on the bus!

Knitting Olympics, Day 6

I decided to go for two socks at a time, realizing that repeating a new technique two times in a row would be a good thing. Plus, I can knit until I run out of both balls of yarn, or, if I'm past the heel and we get to the closing ceremonies, I can end the socks at any length and say I'm done! Seriously, this is challenging, keeping two balls of yarn under control and not terribly tangled. I'm not totally fond of the wonky toe shape, but it does fit my foot - scary! I like the colorway of the yarn - it reminds me of the Olympic flame and all of the different colors of the athlete's sportswear. Below is a sort-of close-up of the stitch marker with the Olympic rings on it. My friend Saralyn sent me a set of these during the 2006 Knitting Olympics.

No knitting today. I didn't sleep well last night (congested head and ears) so my commute time was spent mainly sleeping. Maybe tomorrow.

Knitting Olympics, Day 3

Toes! I'm glad I did the second toe right after the first. This one I cast on on the try and I didn't have to refer to the directions for each increase (Left? right?). Now I'm ready to switch to one long circular needle and knit up the foot part of each!