Posted on by Bonne Marie

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

saffron2.jpg

Apparently, this is as close as I get to intarsia.
WHwat? There is no intarsia in this garment?
Exactly.

Still, I love Variety in me knits. What this little Saffron cardi (from Rowan Mag #25) is loaded with is Texture. Lots of Twizzle…

Just a little moving Purl Stitch makes the wavy gravy bulby thing you see above. I am thrilled by this. It amuses me over and over. Even when I’ve missed a couple of moves because of stitch shifting on the wrong side of the piece, it hasn’t bugged me too much because then I get to flip it over and see the beauty on the front. Hypnotic! I love staring at it.

Speaking of staring – anybody keeping up with the saga of the Olympic Italian Ice Dancers Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio?

Now, I must tell you, my most entertaining O-moments so far have been in the Half-pipe and other Snow Boarding events – and contrary to the rest of my family, I usually don’t watch many ice capades.

But baby, I’m hooked! Between the incredible Fantasy Outfits that go farther than ANYTHING you’ve ever seen during a Ballroom competiton (remember these skaters are going FAST – slippage cuppage b**bage?) and the drama what is there NOT to love? I missed the Sunday round of Passion that occurred when Ms. Fusar Poli and Mr. Margaglio unfortunately fell (as did 2 other couples – makes you wonder maybe that ice needs a zamboni pass or two) then Stared Each Other Down for long seconds before leaving the ice.

It made my head swim to see them behind the scenes in the locker room last night – FROSTY! And then they skated together! Now one partner flings the other around and around at high speeds with sharp blades on the slickest of surfaces – people ANYTHING could happen. I’d be so outta there.

But no – they carried on – dressed to the nines – and were almost MORE dramatic at the end when she knelt on the ice in front of him and then they embraced. YOWSA!

Sheer Madness

beyond the word Impeccable only leaves you with: Fierce

22 Replies to “Tuesday, February 21, 2006”

  1. The ice dancing soap opera had me hooked too. No wonder they call her the diva of the ice! I couldn’t take my eyes off of them!! Fierce is the word!

  6. I too was complete enthralled with all the DRAMA!

    And they did just what I would have predicted. All that chill led to hot, hotter, hottest on the ice!

    So much fun! Oh, and your knitting is super fun. Love all that texture! Who needs Intarsia?

  7. I just *knew* you were watching the ice dancers as soon as I saw the word “twizzle”.
    I’m lovin’ your stitch pattern unfold. It’s beauteous.
    Loved watching the ice dancing drama unfold, and best of all, my local skaters GOT THE SILVER!

  8. All I can say is that HE must be making up for really bad karma in a previous life to now be saddled with HER. Sheesh, what an insufferable prima donna with a wicked evil eye. You bet I was watching every minute! Even put down my olympic knitting project to give them my full attention.

    Your current knitting is compelling indeed, and I can see why that purl pattern has you spellbound.

  11. “Twizzle”…hehe. I GOTTA use that word!

    I’m with you on the texture…sometimes a little purl stitch here or there makes ALL the difference. Better than intarsia, bay-bee!

  12. I haven’t been watching the Olympics – I don’t watch TV at all – but looking at the stills of the ice skaters is kind of entertaining. I know it’s all very graceful and beautiful in motion, but in the stills they usually look like they’re in pain, and on the verge of falling over.

    Saffron’s looking lovely, by the way. :)

  13. We watched last night too. My goodness, As the World Turns…

    Did you see the glorified pasties the one skater was wearing? I’ll bet teenage boys around the world have suddenly developed an interest in Ice Dancing.

    Twizzle ka-shizzle!

  14. What a beautiful pattern! It’s almost Moorish… and the little touch of lace at the cuff (it’s a sleeve, right?) is terribly elegant.

  17. I was glued. It was better than any fictional tv drama, that’s fer shure. And I’m glued to watching the progress on this sweater, it’s beautiful.

  19. Nay! This is a For Real Skating Turn…

    Found on one of my favorite sites, Television Without Pity: “Twizzle” – Type of travelling turn performed primarily in ice dance, but showing up more and more in freeskating footwork sequences under the new system. The rotation shouldn’t stop (well, not until the twizzle is over), it’s not “checked” like isolated turns are.

    If you look at a skater’s foot and can sort of see the turn stopping for a split second about every half-rotation, they’re checking their twizzles and that’s incorrect. At the same time, twizzles shouldn’t stay in one spot like a spin, either, they have to cover some ice.

    There’s eight different twizzles (based on which foot you’re on, whether you’re going forwards or backwards, and which edge you’re on), and you have to combine different types of them to get higher levels of difficulty.

    Like, doing the exact same twizzle twice in a row doesn’t get you many points, but doing one travelling forwards and turning to the outside on your right foot followed immediately by another one travelling backwards to the inside on your left gets you a ton, as long as it’s done well.

    Teams that are decent at twizzles if you want to see some good ones: Domnina/Shabalin, Belbin/Agosto, Delobel/Schoenfelder.”

    …posted by EatShootLeave

  20. I have knitted up Saffron — do check the shaping if they flatter. Mine doesn’t work too well for me and I’m tempted to rip it all out. :(

  21. *giggle* Twizzle. I just love that you described it as twizzle.

    This year, I enjoyed the ice dancing the most. The drama between that pair was just icing on the cake! So amusing.

    Twizzle. Can I quote you on that in my podcast?

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