July 14, 2004
Be Afraid; Be Very Afraid...
A warning to anyone who plans to come within fifty feet of me between now and the end of August, including Feralites, Guild members, family members, and even complete strangers: I am starting to show signs of Olympic Fever, including a certain single-mindedness relative to anything Olympics-related, a general distractedness relative to anything not Olympics-related, and an explosive, unpredictable temper. Yes, indeed, Olympic Fever is like PMS on steroids—not pretty.
I don’t know what it is about the Olympics but they make me c-r-a-z-y. Do I watch any of the sports during the “off” years? Nope, except maybe occasionally gymnastics and men’s figure skating. But when the Olympics come around—Summer Olympics, Winter Olympics, I don’t care—you will find me with my nose glued to the TV for the trials and for the real thing. And The Mysterious K will testify, hand over her heart, that I become insanely rabid. Eons ago, when we were just getting to know each other, we played a perfectly harmless game of something—cribbage, rummy, Scrabble, I don’t remember (but not Monopoly, though, because we all know that that game has caused more divorce than all incidents of infidelity ever, combined. I think it even caused my mother to throw an ashtray at my father once, and we were not a violence-prone family.). TMK won the game…and I threw her out of the house. Literally. I sent her home. I was irrationally mean, cruel, rude, spiteful. I didn’t know why I did it, she certainly didn’t know why I did it—and couldn’t believe it was happening, even as the door slammed behind her—but after some discussion, and some soul searching on my part, we determined it was our first encounter as a couple with Olympic Fever. The Americans had lost some now-pointless competition that afternoon and I was still residually twitchy from the loss, and poor, unsuspecting TMK caught the full brunt of my disappointment.
We survived that day, obviously, and the incident has become One of the Stories We Tell At Parties but I think, to this day, TMK is still a little guarded and jumpy around me when she knows the Olympics are around the corner. This time, for the first time, however, we add knitting to the mix; maybe I won’t be quite so pissy…or maybe this time I’ll just be better-armed.
(For the record, TMK is not completely immune to Olympic Fever. Get her in front of the TV when the luge races are on, and she gets a little bit of that same deranged look in her eyes. She will deny it to her grave, but I know, I know the truth.)
Knitting Knews
Decision #1: I have abandoned the periwinkle alpaca and settled on a beautiful new yarn for the Scarf for A Very Special Person, Jaeger Matchmaker Merino* in a unique, rich, medium rose, rosier than the picture shows. Not a color I would wear, but still beautiful, a joy to knit with, and perfect for The Very Special Person.
Decision #2: Because of what Dear Reader Melanie said about one edge having a scallop and the other not if I knit straight from top to bottom—which the scarf designer herself had mentioned at a recent presentation at the Guild and I had just forgotten—I decided it would, indeed, be best if I started from the middle and knit in both directions. I also decided to use Robbyn’s suggestion that, to avoid the squashed-slug, conjoined-acorn effect in the middle of the scarf, I insert a little stockinette instead. I’m doing a minimal amount of stockinette, .5" in each direction, and this seems to be working just fine. Thank you everyone for your input and suggestions! They really helped!
Lastly, and for no reason except perhaps to bring a smile to someone's face, a picture of a sunflower from the dye garden. This small but determined thing only grew 4' tall in a row of 9' and 10' giants. Happy, happy summer to all my Dear Readers!
*This is the same yarn I used early in my knitting days when I learned one of my cruelest knitting lessons: Not all yarn is good for socks. I used double-stranded Jaeger Merino to knit a pair of socks, wore the socks twice, and both of the heels developed holes.
well, i'm a year-round 'sports junkie' but the olympics are definitely special- i've been ruined since the '96 games though as atlanta is my 'hometown' so i had parents there willing to watch my poor pathetic abandoned children while i actually got to attend many events- needless to say i am counting the days until athens and enjoying the preliminaries shown now-
i always think i will produce something really spectacular off my needles when the olympics roll around as i know i will sit glued to the tv, but even garter stitch scarves have a way of not getting made because i feel i must leap up and down cheering on my favorites- even garter stitch isn't forgiving after being hurled about for days!
the rose alpaca is, for lack of a better word, yummy - it should make for very cheerful knitting!!
stay happy-
Posted by: barb in texas on July 14, 2004 10:57 AMI'm so glad to know that I am not alone....maybe there is a 12 step program to help us deal with Olympic Fever
Posted by: Allison on July 14, 2004 11:35 AMYou are a brave woman. You place deep rose Merino on the ground with knitting needles and managed to get a picture before it all started to frolic across the yard. I am in awe. I personally would have been frolicking right along with that oh so happy looking wool.
Have a great day!!
Posted by: Stalker Angie on July 14, 2004 11:36 AMStalkerAngie and Barb--The rose yarn is even more beautiful than the picture shows. There isn't even a hint of pink or a hint of red; it's pure anadulterated rose, with a lovely merino sheen. It's not knitting up as soft as the Lorna's Laces but I think, in the long run, it will make a warmer scarf--or at least as warm as anything with that many holes in it can be! :-)
StalkerAngie and Allison--it's nice to have some Olympics kindred spirits. To this day, I still remember how my heart stood still when Greg Louganis dove. In fact, that may have been the beginning of my problems...
Posted by: Ryan on July 14, 2004 01:45 PMFor me, it was watching Dan Jansen skate for years and never reach gold. I cried in 94 when he got gold AND set a new world record for the 1000 meter. My parents looked at me like I was retarded. hehe
Posted by: Stalker Angie on July 14, 2004 02:20 PMYep, Angie, bawled like a frickin' baby when Dan Jansen won the gold. Oh, drat; I'm misting up even just thinking about it. Gee, thanks. :-)
With regards to bawling and sports, but not the Olympics, per se, I also cried my baby blues out one year watching the Ironman Triathlon when the last person across the line was a man who had towed his disabled son behind him for the water part, towed him behind for the bicycling part, and pushed his son in front for the running part. And they did it, the whole entire, grueling thing. Oh. My. Gawd. I think I went through half a box of Kleenex.
Posted by: Ryan on July 14, 2004 02:38 PMi hear the beginning of the olympic fanfare music (even in commercials) and reach for a hanky- i can bellow and wail my way through 2 weeks of events without even trying then-
oh, i'd forgotten about that triathalon and the man who accompanied his son- i managed to sniffle my way through that too- and do you remember when they later interviewed the son and he said his one wish was to be able to someday be as supportive of his father?
excuse me now, i must go and sniffle my way through the remainder of my day!!
Posted by: barb in texas on July 14, 2004 03:56 PMI get misty whenever I see great acts of courage or tremendous amounts of human sorrow. Olympics, for me, is alot of hanky time. I try not to get caught up in it too much or else I am lost for days.
and if its early morning and the Today show has had a sob piece on some woman who saved a guy's life on the ferry wreck in NYC you'll know that I am sitting at work with tears in my eyes even hours later just thinking about it.
Posted by: anj on July 14, 2004 09:18 PMThat's a LOT of knittin' time. Cool.
Posted by: Rachael on July 15, 2004 02:47 AMAnyone who knows me will tell you I am not in the least a "sporty dyke." Try "marshmallow dyke". :) However, the olympics are just so different! I was interested you mentioned mens figure skating only. Not a fan of women's or pairs? The figure skating has always been my absolute fav...followed closely by luge and gymnastics. :) L
Posted by: Lisa in Oregon on July 15, 2004 07:35 AMLisa, with regard to male/female skating, I say, why watch someone do a triple-jump when you can watch someone do a quadruple? And when all the pieces come together for a male skater--the right music, the right costume, the right moves, the fast footwork--oo la la! Besides, I have the same objection to the female skater's routines as I do to the floor exercises in gymnastics: It's a sport! The women are athletes! For what earthly reason do they have to include all those dorky feminine dance moves? Why can't they just go out and do routines like the strong, able athletes they are and leave the too-skimpy costumes and overly-feminine, demeaning stuff out? I'm surprised female track stars and female basketball players don't have to stop in the middle of the track or the basketball court and do some floofy little dance routines...
Anj, I'm sending you a mental hanky. :-)
Posted by: Ryan on July 15, 2004 09:24 AMOh MY! Our normally gentle blogmistress has indeed been bitten by the Olympic bug! Note her tone as she describes women's skating....can't you just see her waving her arms about, hear her voice rising? I can....300 miles away.... ;) L
Posted by: Lisa in Oregon on July 15, 2004 10:55 AMLisa, can't say I didn't warn ya'! ;-)
Posted by: Ryan on July 15, 2004 04:06 PMryan- *snort! floofy little dance numbers my patootie. perfect response, but I have to agree with you. the way this country lowers women's sports is pathetic. losing the women's national soccer team was a blow. the fact that our women basketball teams cannot attract spectators is ridiculous! my alma mater has very strong women and men's bball and they play each other for midnite madness and the women always win... talk about athletic prowess.
but i'm still snorting over the floofy dance numbers. i have several serious woman athletes I would like to see do that *giggle
Posted by: anj on July 15, 2004 04:52 PMI'm a complete Olympic junkie. When they were in Nagano I was attending classes at 9am having had approx. 3 hours sleep because I'd stayed up all night watching live curling... *curling*! I don't care about curling! Except during the Olympics... the CBC here in Canada is great about doing almost around the clock coverage, with most of it live, even when the time difference makes it insane. I'm just glad Greece is so much nearer, so I won't have to completely disrupt my sleep schedule for 3 weeks! Though my work will be severely curtailed.
Sadly, of course, Canda usually does relatively poorly at the Olympics, and it's much worse in the Summer Games. I don't expect we'll have many medals this time, but I still love watching the events, even if there aren't Canadians in the final. (That said, watch out for our rowing teams!)
Posted by: Aven on July 18, 2004 07:48 AM