The Ravellenic Games, that is.
As in Ravelry, the world’s most incredible database of all things yarn and fiber. The idea is to knit, crochet, weave or spin your way through the Olympics. You cannot (or rather could not, as the time is in the past) start your project until the opening ceremony in Rio, and must have it finished by the closing ceremony.
This is my first year as a “Ravthelete,” having never heard of Ravelry before 2015. I’ve entered the Sock-Putt by trying to make a pair of tube socks with a twist. The twist is, well, literally, a twist in the 3×3 rib, a brightly colored foot, and little bobbles on the cuff. The photo on the right shows what the socks are supposed to look like once finished. The pattern is from the book Happy Feet by Cathy Carron, which I first found on Knitting Daily TV. (My yarn and colors of choice are shown in the picture above.)
The local yarn shop, fibre space, hosted a Ravellenics kick-off cast-on party last night. It was a bit of a bust. NBC didn’t start airing anything until 7:30 (when the official cast-on time was 7:15), and when NBC did begin, it was all that pre-ceremony crap of boring interviews and lengthy commercials. I have no idea if the ceremonies even started by 9:00 pm, when the store closed and the party was supposed to end. I left early, having fed the meter for only 1½ hours.
It’s just as well I left. By that time I’d cast on, knit the first row, only to rip everything out—twice. Apparently I needed to concentrate. When I got home, I tried again and spent the rest of the evening working on the cuff. Yep, this is all the further I got.
Now I’m not sure if I’ll be able to complete two of these socks in a little over two weeks. The needles are really tiny (US size 2), and when I bought them, I didn’t think about their length. As it turns out, they’re so short, I’ve had trouble keeping all the stitches on the needles. I alleviated some of the problem by switching from using just four needles to using all five. And those bobbles? Man, they are a bitch!
But let’s end on a happy note. The lovely wooden yarn bowl was a birthday gift from my best friend. She was quite surprised that I knew what it was. Perhaps next time I’ll turn it around so you can see where the yarn threads through.
Stream of Conscience 
I was coveting your yarn bowl as soon as the page loaded. I love the socks, but what a PITA! I would say they’ll be extra worth it in the end, but already saw your follow-up post about the wool issue. 😦 Oh, well, by the time the winter games roll around, you’ll be able to choose a better “event” and be more prepared for it! 🙂