Let The Games Begin

I may have had a slow start, but I'm catching up. Last night I missed the opening ceremonies of the Olympics because I was out having dinner and drinks with my sorority alumni group. I almost didn't go, but I'm glad I did. I don't have many opportunities for Girls' Night Out, and it was much needed, and a lot of fun. I had thought I'd watch the opening ceremonies (I taped them) and cast on when I got home, but it was midnight, and I thought better of it.

When I woke up I watched the tape, but due to some confusion on my part, I watched the second and third hours, and apparently it went long because the recording stopped before the ceremony was over, and I didn't see the lighting of the cauldron (my favorite part). Boo.

At any rate, I cast on, and after one false start, got moving. However, I had an Olympics experience not unlike Tanya Harding when I discovered I had crappy equipment in the middle of the event. (However, none of my competetors have been done bodily harm, as far as I know. Really, we're only competing against our own selves, and I promise I haven't tried to break my own kneecaps.) The dpns I purchased were bamboo, and the tips not well shaped, and they were splitting and catching my yarn. I asked the judges if I could start over, but they said it wasn't necessary, however, I could replace the faulty needles with better ones before continuing. I headed out to Knitorious and purchased some Crystal Palace dpns to replace the off-brand ChiaGoo(?) needles.

Upon my return, I continued on, much more smoothly this time, and have now completed the top of my hat while watching the ongoing coverage:
This was the easy part, however. The qualifying round. Now I have to figure out what to do next. The short program will be the color-work I plan to do next, and the long program will be dealing with unknown yarn needs. I'll have to play it by ear. But, that's the challenge and the whole reason I decided to take on this project at this time.