Well, no gold medal here! I was sooooo close - about 400 stitches left when the flame went out. I did learn a lot from this project. After a good night's sleep, I will make an attempt to share my results.

Decisions, decisions. I've been testing various related heels known as
Strong Heel
No Pickup Gusset Heel (Laurie Bolland)
Tongue River Non-stop Heel
and I don't think these are the heel for this sock. I think the sock will look best with white heels and toes to tie in with the white top, so a flap heel or a short-row heel would be the thing. This brings us back to the first heel I tested. The "Niantic heel" turns out to be a short row heel with gussets. The white part could be the short row section, and the little heel flap and gussets would disappear into the main body of the sock.

I am knitting with Sisu yarn, which I previously have sucessfully knit on 2mm needles with a 72 stitch cast on. Just in case it might be a little loose, I'll put in some ribbing down the back a la Nancy Bush (Knitting on the Road).

This should look something like this:

(Got it! "No fill" comes out black, white comes out white. On white paper in Word, you cannot see the difference!)

We watched the opening ceremony, waiting for the flame to be lit. Hans was envisioning three thousand knitters around the world all poised with their needles ready to cast on as the flame leapt up. I was tinking a heel sample that wasn't working out. Our Norwegian commentators liked the pulsating heart (for passion) best, but Hans and I liked the ski-jumper. Both figures were formed by dancers in various colored garments, moving around the floor of the stadium.

The weekend in the mountains was a success, and one heel (Niantic) is tested. It fits well, and is still a candidate.

I also have a chart ready - which should be a good one to learn Festive Knitting on.


The black squares should, of course, be white. On the original picture they are, so I don't know what has happened here! I haven't managed to get the loop in his tail, but I think the overall effect is fairly recognizable! Comments and suggestions would be welcome.

I have signed up for the 2006 Knitting Olympics and joined Team Wales via the Frapper map. (Too late to get my name on the Roster, unfortunately!)

Since half the fun will be talking progress, here should be a good place to do this.

Until the flame is lit, we are limited to training and getting in shape. Here in Norway, my project is a self-designed sock with a new-to-me heel. If two socks are to be completed by the time the flame goes out, I had better start choosing that heel NOW. That means I will be in hard training for the next few days!

Candidates so far:
Strong Heel
Auto Heel
Boomerang Heel from Regia
Short Row Heel with gussets
Niantic Heel
Stepped Heel

Hans and I are invited to the mountains for the weekend - what better time to start experimenting than while all the pure Norwegians (and the Dane, if he is along again this year) are out skiing.

Team Wales has a set of really cool buttons - I hope to figure out soon how to place one here.