Knitting, both personal and the Worldwide Back to Back Challenge

So after a year of socks and more socks, I finally decided to try something different. I purchased a great, EASY book of patterns for sweaters thinking I'd like to try making some for the girls to start. However, budgeting for sweater-amounts of yarn has proven difficult, since we have orthodontics ongoing and an upcoming job changeover (from weekly pay to monthly!).

Part of my desire to knit again, despite summer weather (I'm normally only a cool-season knitter) is the wonderful birthday present that I received from my parents! Mom and Dad, this lovely set is what your birthday money purchased, amongst other things :).

Options Knitting Needle Set, by KnitPicks
I ONLY knit on circular needles now and just love them! They are much easier to transport, and this set can actually be set up as flexible straight needles if you wish.

So there I was, with brand new needles, sorted and organized and just aching for something to knit, when I was given quite a few balls of baby yarn in a soft pink colour. So yesterday I google free online baby sweater patterns, and found this one. Here is an image of it:

Claire was all excited and asked me who I was knitting the sweater for. There's a mom at our church who is expecting, and I think she assumed it would be for her baby should it arrive as a girl :). Not knowing how quickly this would be finished, however, I startled Claire by telling her, "It's for YOUR baby!". That gives me a minimum of10 to 15 years to complete it :).

On the other hand ... REAL knitters do this:

Every year there is a world-wide competition called the "Back to Back Challenge". Teams from many countries compete, as a team, to make a sweater. The hitch? They start with a sheep! Yes, the teams are timed from sheep shearing, to spinning, to knitting, to final bind-off and sweater construction. The wool is spun "in the grease" (i.e. the lanolin not yet removed). I believe the team from Japan has won for the past few years, but THIS year, the world-wide competition was won by the TORONTO SPIDERS! The Spiders are a relatively young team, and this is a huge accomplishment for them. Their time? From a woolly sheep to completed sweater? 6 hours and 18 seconds!!!

Obviously, they will not be calling me any time soon to knit with them :).