by about day three i’d mastered the yarn-splitting problem, and my hands stopped cramping up holding the narrow-gauge needles.

day five i started to figure out how to find and repair mistakes without having to unknit rows and rows at a time.

by day six or seven the mechanics of the pattern started to finally make sense.

according to my calculations i need 84″ of lace to finish the project. each iteration of the pattern measures just under 3″, which means that i need to complete two repetitions of the pattern per day to complete the project by the time the olympic flame goes out next sunday. (since i’m working two strands of lace side-by-side it really means i only have to do the pattern once, but i knit each row twice. it’s faster and less tedious this way).

working on a deadline like this is making me a little obsessive. i’m starting to find myself plotting when i can grab an extra few minutes to knit throughout the day. i knit in the booth during the show every night, making mistakes in the dim light and having to rip it out later, i knit feverishly in front of late night sitcoms when i get home from work until each day’s quota has been met. all other projects and most chores have been put off until the beginning of march.