Thrill of Victory

My 2010 Ravel*****s wound to a happy close Sunday night. Wound would seem to be the operative word, too – the niddy noddy, swift, and ball winder all got quite a workout. Despite the many temptations posed by the many attractive Olympics and Special Olympics handknits, oftimes it seemed that my Ravel*****s was all about yarn. That focus was not entirely a bad thing. On the upside, I collected four medals.

The first two medals were for frogging, or the Aerial Unwind, of two languishing UFOs, Peace Socks and Titania. The hard part was deciding to do the deed (the doing was easy enough), yet no sooner was the yarn reconditioned and reskeined than the trauma was forgotten. I felt no pangs of regret – just a vague sense of freedom.



The third, and happiest, medal was for the Flying Camel Spin. I surpassed my goal of spindling enough fingering weight yarn for socks. That not only was a Ravelympics goal, it's also a fibery resolution for this year and, indeed, for last year as well. Curiously, no sooner was the goal achieved than others beckoned. It's a milestone, not a destination.



That said, I'm inordinately pleased with the yarn. After a lot of fussing with plying techniques, one skein did end up with more of the deep rose tones and the other with more of the gold and pale pink, but the colors are decently well distributed and the skeins are very close in yardage, 249 yds and 246 yds (227 and 225 m). I'd say that's pretty good spin control.

My last Ravel*****s project, a NJ washcloth for the Platter Lift, was a spur of the moment thing, started and finished during the Olympics closing ceremony. I made one the last time. It's turning into a tradition. Which is bizarre, as I used to dislike knitted washcloths.

Discerning readers may have sensed there was more to my Ravel*****s than is mentioned here, and indeed there was a dark side. That will be addressed in due course, but for the moment, behold Ravel*****s glory.





Uh-huh, it's not that dazzling, but I'm proud of my handiwork.

Redacted 6/26/12: The Ravelry event formerly known by a name that rhymes with and supposedly infringes on the Olympics™.