A Ravellenicking Good Time

The past couple weeks have been eaten with Camp Auntie Kim, the Olympics, and the Ravellenics.  It's going to be impossible for me to catch up on everything at this point, so here's a quick little post.

Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures of CAK this year, which was spent at the Christy Cottage.  A big thanks to Carol for hosting both us and my friend Sara's family.  Kids played together with kids, which took the pressure off the adults having to be the source of entertainment.  Here's a picture of Kidlet #1 and Kidlet #3 on the last day, courtesy of Carol.

I came home from CAK and the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics were the following day.  My favorite part was the Queen and James Bond, hands down.  It was good to see her with a sense of humor, even though she really didn't smile during the rest of the evening.  The lighting of the torch was pretty fantastic, too.

The best news of all:  Jordyn winning the gold medal with her teammates on Tuesday!  What an emotional roller coaster the past week has been.  I can't even imagine what Jordyn has gone through, not qualifying for the all-around finals and then coming out to compete so strong on Tuesday in the team finals.  That girl has more poise and inner strength in her pinky finger than I have in all of me.  Everyone who knows Jordyn personally has also been on the emotional roller coaster.  A big congratulations to Team USA and a huge hug for Jordyn!  Can't wait to watch her compete on the floor exercise Tuesday.  Hopefully she'll be bringing home two medals.  And I'm REALLY looking forward to her welcome home party!  We have been proud of her for a long time and are even more proud of her now! 

Of all the photos that came out of the press last week, this one is my favorite.

 Let's see.  What else?  Well, I've got a not-so-little Ravellenics team.  Team Michigan has  55 Ravthletes, 11 of whom have already reached the Finish Line on one or more projects!  In addition to watching the Olympics, I've been spending the past week chatting in our forums and answering questions as best I can.  Last night we had a Team Michigan Meet-up, and while only five of our team members attended, it was a lot of fun.  I've also had fun giving out some prizes.  This year, I decided to do three groups of prizes.  Fun Michigan-themed prizes have been awarded just for chatting in the forums.

 

I've also gotten quite a few donations of yarn to be given away at the end of the games for those Team Members who cross the Finish Line.  Finally, the official Ravellenic Games 2012 pin will be awarded to the Team Michigan Member who accrues the most medals!

My Ravellenics project is coming along pretty well.  The pattern is Manic Panic.  It's the companion cowl to the Mini Mania Scarf, designed by Sarah Core.  The cowl is still in the test knitting phase but the pattern should be released soon.  I cast on the medium size, which is 445 stitches and should be torso length.  I'm changing yarns every three rounds.  So far I've used 17 minis, and the cowl will take somewhere between 35 and 40 minis, so I'm a little behind where I wanted to be.  Hopefully I can catch up this weekend and get some extra minis knit so I don't have to worry about not finishing.

 What have you been up to during these Ravellenic Games?  What are your favorite Olympic events to watch?