Cross Training

The difference between a good athlete and a top athlete is that a top athlete will do the mundane things when nobody's looking. -Susan True

And now, back to your regularly-scheduled Olympic Update.

Team College Hill is continuing its quest for Olympic gold by putting in some solid knitting efforts this week, but all teammates are having difficulty maintaing the pace set last weekend. They have begun cross-training in an attempt to get other things done stave off burn-out. Theresa finished the back of Am Kamin one day ahead of schedule, after some particularly heroic rows knitted in near darkness in a crowded auditorium. Rumor has it that she used the LCD screen of her cell phone to periodically light up the knitting and maintain her pattern, but her spokesperson refused to comment. She now feels confident that she is ready to tackle the sleeve increases. After the strange and awkward maneuvers she was forced to perform on the raglan shaping of the back,
however, impartial observers and French judges alike wonder if she really has as much of a handle on her elusive - and apparently fickle - row gauge as she would like to think. Her teammates are now concerned that being ever-so-slightly ahead of schedule will make her overconfident. They note that she used nearly 2 full skeins of yarn for the back, and now needs to backtrack and wind more skeins into balls, a potentially fatal miscalculation. Theresa's cross-training consists mostly of reading about the extension of the franchise in American history, making her realize that she is actually unelected.

Katja has been cross-training by studying for her medical boards. "A detailed understanding of autoimmune thyroid disorders is really informing my approach to Ene's border," she emailed in from her remote training site. "Not only does the importance of heredity come into play, but the eyelet diamonds almost look like thyroid epithelial cells." It should be noted that this athlete was tested, and no illegal substances were found. Her teammates profess their support, as a medical license can come in handy when you're a doctor.

Leah has was so inspired by the Paul Farmer lecture that she nearly decided to abandon her knitting and save the world. Unfortunately, she had to attend a suturing workshop instead. Her skills now buoyed by the practice on pigs' feet, she feels confident she can tackle any mattress stitch that comes her way. "If I can sew an eyebrow," she rightly bragged, "I can sew a sweater." It was up to her teammates to remind her that lace shawls do not have seams.

Rachel continues on Tubey, and took time from her busy schedule to make a fabulous button for Team College Hill. It will debut tomorrow, after Theresa finishes her reading for this afternoon.

And, in closing, I would like to call your attention to the Special Knitting Olympics. With an abundance of respect for the well-respected Special Olympics, this team of new knitters wanted to create their own event that would respect their individual handicaps in the knitting world. JayJay, creator of the Special Knitting Olympics and frequent commenter on this blog, thought their goal of making visible progress on a knitting project was more compatible with the Special Olympics motto of "Skill, Sharing, Courage, and Joy" than with "Citius, Altius, Fortius." She invites all supporters to the medals ceremony on February 28th, and reminds you that this is just a prelude to the Ironcraft Triathalon.