It's gold! IT'S GOLD!!!

by Alice Twain

Silvia Elisa Costa from Sesto San Giovanni (Milano, Italy) won gold for the Italy team by completing this very morning her first vest project. An excellent result for this almost novice knitter (she picked up the needles for the first time about one year ago). Costa (not related to the eight years old flower girl by the same name and also coming from Sesto San Giovanni who performed her duty last night on the figure skating ice rink, as seen on RAI 2) has thus gotten her first success in Olympic Knitting, a discipline just recently introduced in the Winter Olympic, but which we hope will become a staple event for both Winter and Summer Olympics. We sincerely hope that this will just be the first in a long series of knitting successes.

How do you feel now Silvia?

Oh, I am glad. Thrilled, actually! I had the perception that I could make it right from the start, but anything can happen during a knitting event.

You actually even picked a quite easy program.

Yes, that's true, but you see: there was a psycological problem I felt with knitting large garments (that means anything bigger than a pair of socks) and there was the time issue, after all I am a working girl. Luckily, the time issue was settled by a bad bout of insomnia which hit me during the first week and also by the stack of DVDs I just bought as special gift to myself. That helped a lot, but I still felt intimidated by the sheer size of the knitted parts. Plus, there were a few brand new things to me, like picking up all those stitches for the borders and sewing.

You also found a few obstacles in the last part of the knitting.

Yes, that's right, although they didn't really slow me down much. I had this accident when I crushed my right thumb in the drying rack while opening it up to use it as fixing surface. it was painful but not as bad as I thought at first: my nail didn't even blacken. And my granny tried twice to disrupt my fixing, changing the position of the inished vest and, after it got to the level of dryiness I wanted it, placing it astride a hot radiator to make it thoroughly dry dry as paper I would say, while I wasn't watching.
Luckinly I was fast enough to catch up with her both times, but it still astonishes me how she keeps doing such things. She ruined thus one great crocheted shrug in the past, and that one I wasn't able to salvage and I will have to frog and reknit it, and now this. What really makes me angry is that she was even a knitter years ago, but she still has no respect for my work. it makes me MAD.

And now...?

You mean, what are my plans? First I will enjoy my gold chocolate medal, which I bought last Saturday in Turin. I have already resumed to knit my lacy scarf-stole, which I expect to finish tonight or, in the wirst case, by the week-end, and I have one pair of socks to finish for my neighbor. But my plans include yet another vest, this time a cardigan vest with a different neckline, in green but using the same yarn: I have seen a lovely green at the market and I will buy it tomorrow morning, likely, and I aim at muy first sweater with sleeves, my version of AntiCraft's Curse Your Boyfriend, which in my case will become "Curse Your EX Boyfriend (and Glad he is EX)"; I already have the yarn for it. Plus I have just received by mail a lovely gift from California, some soy silk yarn, and I will have to think about what to make with it.

So, more knitting in store, eh!

Yes: lots more. But now, if you excuse me, I have some checked proofs to go through. But first I would like to thank all the friends that supported me through this wonderful, exciting trip, and Yarn Harlot who organized the Hnitting event at the Winter Olyumpics. And my family, obviously. Except my granny. And the other memers of the Team Italy.