The Knitting Olympics asks knitters to challenge themselves with a project that will stretch their limits and test their mettle as a knitter. Or cause a repetitive stress injury, whichever might come first.

I chose Tonk’s Snow Peacock for my project because I knew that long rows in natural colored yarn was a recipe for a project that stalled out and dragged on if left to my own devices. I don’t normally knit anything in natural colored yarn because I am 1. very pale and 2. very clumsy and the combination makes me look like a ghostly ragamuffin. However, the recipient of this shawl requested a warm white shawl since it will be her wedding veil. I’m all too happy to comply if it means that I get to play a role in outfitting a lovely person as she legally defines her relationship with the man she loves in front of all their friends and family.

So far things are moving fairly smoothly, I cast on as the torch was lit in Vancouver last Friday evening and have knit varying amounts every day since then. I’ve had a few upsets, including discovering that the garage needed to be totally rearranged due to a leaky roof. I’m just a few hundred stitches shy of halfway done so I’m feeling quite confident that I will be able to finish the knitting–if not the blocking and photographing–of the project before the Olympic torch is extinguished on the 28th.

*yes, 51,000. That’s a lot of stitches. Every stitch is full of love and good wishes for the couple, that they may be as strong and happy a couple as my husband and I are.