And the answer is....

Handball. Olympic coverage can be found here.

In Canada we call it Team Handball, to differentiate it from a game that's played with 2 people on a squash court.

But in Europe, the birthplace of the game, they just call it Handball.

It's a wicked game. Vicious, fast, and scary. It's kind of like water polo on a court.

I played primarily goalie, but have also played out.

Our Canadian team has to qualify (via World Championships) to make it to the Olympics, and in my memory we never have.

From former handball player to mother, knitter, and sometime pharmacist.

Man how life changes!

Every 4 years

I will pretty much watch any Olympic event. Dressage, water polo (it's vicious! I love it), gymnastics, trap shooting, fencing. Whatever. I will watch it.

I find my Love and I start throwing around vocabulary that we don't normally use in our house. We become experts of obscure sports (at least self-proclaimed experts) and use our new found knowledge in such ways as:

"I sure hope our men's lightweight eights can make it to the finals without having to go to the repechage."

"It sucks that our guy lost out in the epee"

"Guo and Mingxia are unbeatable in this event"

I am watching as much as I can, while participating in my Scarf Stroke event. I am almost thru my first ball of yarn. I only have 2 balls of this Handmaiden Samira silk, so when it's gone, I'm done. My lovely friend J. picked this up for me on her trip to Toronto.


The pattern is working well with the yarn, and the end result will be a gorgeous silk scarf.

As a competing Ravelete, I think of the possibility I had long ago to become an actual Olympic Athlete. Yes, it's true, I did at one time have aspirations of playing on a national team. I played on a provincial team in this event, and hoped to one day make the national team. My sister played on the national team for a few years. To be honest, our Canadian team never qualifies to participate in this Olympic event. But, it was still the closest I ever came to being an acclaimed athlete.

Any guesses on the sport?? (and I'll give you a hint - it was NOT basketball)

And We're Off...

...Like a herd of turtles!

The Ravelympics start today. I'll be trying to catch some Olympic coverage while packing for a little holiday in the mountains with the Princess and the Dude. It's been a while since we all went away together and I'm looking forward to the pool, some easy hikes (I am seven months pregnant so nothing crazy for me), ice cream, a zoo and hopefully a woodfire or two. (That reminds me that I have to pack some marshmallows...)

During the pre-game, I managed to finish up these socks. They were a delightful knit and I'm amazed by the fact that you can wear them inside out and they look equally as good.

Note the Twizzlers and M&Ms on the left, Gumdrops on the right. Lovely! The colour isn't something I would have bought for myself but I think it's starting to grow on me.

I also started this Rocketry sweater. I've never used Dream in Color Classy before and I think I might be in love. The colours are variegated in a very subtle way and the yarn has a springiness to it that I really like. The pattern is simple and I think the finished sweater will be incredibly cute.

I'm hoping that the 4 hour drive will afford me some time to work on my Ravelympic project. I'll be designing and knitting a pair of Men's socks and then in my free time, I hope to crank out an Umbilical Cord hat or two. Good luck to all competitors! I hope we follow in true Olympic spirit: Citius, Altius, Fortius which means Swifter, Higher, Stronger. Perhaps as knitters we should adopt the following : Obesa cantavit. The Fat Lady has Sung.

Little Reminders

My Stink is turning two in a couple days.

Two.

Maybe if I keep saying it, it'll actually sink in.

I'm not sad, like I thought I'd be, knowing that he's my last.

I'm thankful that we've made it. It's been, in short, a journey. I could think about the hard times he had as a baby or I can choose to think about what that baby has become.

A charmer.

A fiercely independent soul.

A mama's boy.

A little brother.

A ray of sunshine.

A stubborn, strong-willed, determined little man. (let me emphasize strong-willed).

And a little reminder of things that are gone. Those blue eyes of his are exactly the same as his great grandma's and his Popa's.

He's also a little reminder of why I knit - because nothing is as cute as a little one in his mom's hand-knits.

He's one of my three reminders of all that's important in life.

Love you my baby.

If I Could Save Time in a Bottle

Oh, there never seems to be enough time

To do the things you want to do

Once you find them.....

This little balad sums up my weekend quite nicely. Summer weekends are always so busy and a long weekend seems more hectic than the rest. The Dude and I spent much of last week preparing to paint the main floor of our house. Taping and washing, moving and rearranging to achieve maximum painting efficiency. The prep work took a very long time and the painting took longer. No wonder people hire this sort of thing out.

On Friday night, we had some respite in the form of Spamalot. I had bought tickets months ago and the date happened to coincide with our painting project. I have to say that we laughed out loud (That's lol for you, T.) and overall had a fun time doing something we don't have enough time for now that we're parents.

Saturday, the Princess and I got the heck out of Dodge and took a holiday at my parent's house. This is something I don't do enough of, either. To have someone scoop up your child and play with her and occupy her while you get a chance to catch your breath is priceless. And I didn't have to cook or do dishes or wash clothes or anything! Just visit and enjoy being someone's daughter.

Sunday, we returned to the castle where the Dude had just wrapped up his second day of painting. Good man, my Dude. My house looks great and the colours I picked please both myself and my spouse. That's all that matters. We're still in the process of reassembling our lives and I have a feeling that could take a few days since time is short and we have a lot of crap.

Today is Heritage Day and in Edmonton, that means a big festival where local communities and cultural groups get together to serve their own special cuisines and perform music and dance for a large and appreciative audience. I look forward to this event all year. Not only is the food amazing, but I always see people I know who are happy to give you a little extra Pad Thai or an extra perogy. The Princess danced to the music and we ate our way through most of the civilized world.

So a busy weekend packed with fun and travel but not a lot of knitting. I have made some progress on the STR socks. I have one and a half socks to show for my limited efforts.

Note the new paint colour in the background. Hopefully I'll have enough time to finish them before the Ravelympics start on Friday.

I've looked around enough to know

That you're the one I want to go through time with.

(Excerpts from "Time In a Bottle" by Jim Croce. I'm pretty sure he wasn't referring to knitting but you never know.)