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February 28, 2010

From Susan — My Own “Olympian”

Filed under: Updates — lv2knit @ 8:42 pm

The Olympics are wrapping up today and I feel like I have experienced them first hand.  My hubby is a cross country skier and participated in the Birkebeiner Ski Race yesterday, and he rocked it…for an old man, that is!

The Birkie is not about winning, but about doing your best.  John came in ~one minute over his best time ever (and this was his 27th Birkie!).  John will be 60 next year.   So, he beat all but one of his times since he started in his thirties.  Wow.

OK, enough about him 😉 .  I had decided NOT to participate in the Ravelympics this year, for reasons already described.  Well, I went to knitting on Thursday and two, count them TWO, of my knitting peeps had knitted up the Olympic Reindeer Hat

The hat was patterned after the ones worn by the US Olympians when they entered the Opening Ceremonies.  I had originally started it right after the Olympics started and decided it was the most annoying pattern on earth and dumped it straight away.  But after seeing the cute hats at knitting group, I thought, “Hmmm.  Could I get this done by Saturday morning so John could wear it after the Birkie?”  All I had finished so far was the lining of the foldover band.  I got home at 8 pm, had to pack, etc., etc., but stayed up knitting the ^&&***^%% thing instead.  I worked on it in the car all the way up to Hayward, WI, and did indeed get it done.  He wore it to pick up his bib on Friday night. 


Olympic Reindeer Hat, Cascade 220, US Size 6 Needles

So, here are the details:

I worked the hat using intarsia-in-the-round (suggested by Jimmy in knitting group).  Annoying.  Annoying Squared.  No.  Make that ‘Annoying Raised to the Tenth Power.’  After I knitted the hat, I went back and used duplicate stitch for the antlers…remember, time was a huge factor!…though I did knit the legs intarsia style as I went along.

John loved the hat and asked if I was going to put a flag decal on it.  I said sure, I can put it right…uh oh.  Why isn’t the knitted band centered to the reindeer motif?????  Yep.  Rookie mistake!  I noticed that the band was 4 sts off.  If I added a decal, it would be even more noticeable.  It completely bugged me. 

Had to cut it up:

The top photo does indeed show that it is now centered…after cutting, reknitting some rows, and grafting.  This project was annoying in so many ways!  But it is done, and I consider it at least worthy of a spot on the Olympic roster, if not the podium 😉 .

16 Comments »

  1. He better like the hat after all that. At least you succeeded in finishing something for the Olympics. I’m a non-medal failure.

    Comment by surly — February 28, 2010 @ 9:45 pm

  2. I love that hat. I was so focused on it while they interviewed the participants just before the opening ceremonies…. I actually became obsessed with finding a pattern. Thank Bob for Ravelry. I have it queued, thought about trying to do it during Ravelympics and decided I had to do the WIPs dancing or those things would never get done. But I will knit that hat. Under a whole lot less pressure than you had.

    Comment by 2muchfun — February 28, 2010 @ 10:00 pm

  3. I made one too and hated every minute of it. Intarsia is evil! Yours looks better.

    Comment by Becky c. — February 28, 2010 @ 10:40 pm

  4. I am completely obsessed with that hat! Yours is beautiful!

    Comment by Kristin — February 28, 2010 @ 11:10 pm

  5. The reindeer looks just like the ones on the Canadian team’s sweaters that they wore in the closing ceremonies. Great hat!

    Comment by kmkat — February 28, 2010 @ 11:38 pm

  6. Your hat looks great! I’ve been following the Olympic hat thread on Ravelry but so far, I’ve resisted making that hat. However, your hat is tempting me….I’ve done intarsia but not intarsia in the round. It does sound annoying….

    Comment by Sue — March 1, 2010 @ 9:29 am

  7. If he ever does the birkie up here near Edmonton, please let me know. It happens right outside my door literally. Less than two miles away.

    I love the hat and the Olympian quest for perfection.

    Comment by Needles — March 1, 2010 @ 10:32 am

  8. What a wonderful, beautiful and fun post. I loved reading it. Congrats on all fronts.

    Comment by Mary — March 1, 2010 @ 3:43 pm

  9. Congrats to your Berkebinerian and to you for the hat, annoying though it was. This was a fun olympics for a knitter – loved Canada’s Cowichan, or Cowichanish sweaters!

    Comment by Pam — March 1, 2010 @ 5:30 pm

  10. Your hat is great. BUT if you were to knit it again, how would you do it? I am considering knitting it flat and just seaming the damn thing. What do you think?

    Comment by Marsha — March 1, 2010 @ 9:09 pm

  11. You get a medal in Pairs Hobbies – his skiing and your knitting make a great combination.

    Comment by twinsetellen — March 2, 2010 @ 9:27 am

  12. Susan- For an “Old man” he looks pretty hip and happening. You weren’t tempted to do the fornicating deer pattern?

    Comment by Lorraine — March 2, 2010 @ 9:37 am

  13. I am so happy to hear that I’m not the only one HATING this @#(*$*(*$&#&) HAT. I’m not good at fair isle to begin with and this thing is driving me crazy. Still haven’t finished it and really don’t care…I will eventually because I HAVE TO~~~ but I am hating every ……g stitch!
    Congratulations for not only finishing the hat….but taking it apart….wtf are you crazy!!!! But I understand…I understand….

    Comment by Cathy Goldman — March 2, 2010 @ 8:23 pm

  14. The hat looks great — and so innocent! Who would have known how annoying it was to knit. . . just to look at it in all its glory! And congrats to John! Great accomplishment!

    Comment by Kym — March 3, 2010 @ 4:46 pm

  15. Go Uncle John!!!!

    Comment by Nora aka Surly's daughter — March 4, 2010 @ 10:04 am

  16. Your moose hat turned out way better than mine did. I left several rows of white out and it was still way to long and pointy, so I ended up just doing the decrease rows at the top in stripes. Now it’s going to my Dad because I know I’ll never wear it as it is.

    Comment by RuthieJ — March 5, 2010 @ 11:21 pm

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