Knitting at the Brier

Just a short word. Knitting at the Brier (national men's curling championship) is not progressing as quickly as I had thought. Guess what, it's harder to watch 4 games on the ice in the arena, up close and personal, then it is to watch one game on TV. Who Knew?! This is only my second time at a big event. The first was the Scotties (national women's championship) when my daughter was playing so obviously then I was watching only one game at a time, very, very intently. Right now she's curling at an event in Korea. Curl and see the world!

This morning I'm taking time off to write to you but back on the bus to the arena very soon for the afternoon and evening games. The curling starts at 9:30am and goes to 10:30pm with a couple of hours between games. A very full day, Whew, I'm glad I'm not out there trying to curl.

When I came I had this much done on my Shawl Collar Cardigan.

Now I have progresse this far.

Not bad considering I'm spending most of my time saying "Wow, how did he make that shot!" I don't think this is going to improve my curling game but it sure is exciting to watch these teams battling it out.
-Deb

Knitting in the cold

Today I am in a flap. I'm going to be sitting in an arena watching curling for the next 10 days. Yes, this is a holiday! I've looked through my sock drawer and I have 9 pairs of wool socks, check. Turtlenecks, not 10 but good enough, check. Flannel lined jeans, check.

But what am I going to knit with fingerless mittles and my coat on? I have 2 sweaters to finish up. I was going to start something new but ... these 2 sweaters want to get done so that's my first priority.

This Shawl Collared Cardigan needs quite a bit of work.  It's pretty straight forward going now but with the panels of broken rib it does take some attention so I might end up working on the sleeves first. If I miss a round or two between decreases, well so be it.

Then I have the sleeves of the Lattice Pullover to work on. I'm wondering how I can knit sleeves with my coat on. Since I am short, the sleeves on my coat are longish so double pointed needles poke into my cuffs. I've tried it and it doesn't work for me. I'm not a huge fan of the magic loop method. My 40cm long circulars won't last long. So I'm thinking I'll work with 2 circular needles instead. None of my stitches will go astray that way when I have to stuff the whole sweater into my backpack along with a blanket (wait, the sweater will be a bit of a blanket, bonus!), my lunch, a book, a thermos of tea, geez is it all going to fit? Do I need a larger backpack? I just wish I was gone already!
-Deb