Knitting Olympics

I really like watching the Olympics, winter or summer. (This is surprising when you consider that before I learned to ski, my only sport was foosball.) Last night's opening ceremonies also ushered in the Knitting Olympics here. (There is a very organized KO run by the Yarn Harlot but I didn't sign up for that one; this one is just mine.) I'm going to knit during every Olympic-watching session to finish this shawl-collared stole, and I think I have to do some calculating to make that possible.

First, about the stole. It will be 11-12 inches wide after it's blocked, and around 72 inches long.  Gorgeous pattern, eh? I see a couple of cables that didn't cross, dammit, but a little bit of trickery with a needle and yarn on the back will camoflauge that. Once the length is finished I will pick up stitches along the middle to make a shawl collar. The yarn is a beautiful hand dyed aran wool from Fleece Artist in Nova Scotia - very subtle color variations and a soft hand.

It is not a fast knit, with all those cables and bobbles to work. Each repeat is 24 rows, and while I did not keep close track last night, I would say I knitted through most of the ceremony - 4 hours - and completed perhaps 37 rows. And then I ripped 12 of them out. That's right. Ripped them out. I lost a stitch somewhere and it just wasn't working, so I went back to a bobble row, where it's easy to keep track of the pattern. 

Warning, math ahead:

24 rows is approximately 3.5 inches. 
Goal: 72 inches
Completed: ~41 inches
Remaining knitting: 31 inches
31 inches, divided by 3.5 inches as my repeat unit, and rounded up for the sake of sanity, is 9 more repeats, or 216 rows.

Ok. So. If I knit 24 rows for 9 Olympic evenings, the length will be finished. That will leave 7 more nights to pick up and knit the collar. One of those nights is dh's birthday. I think I can do it, but it will take some doing. Now that I've publicly committed to it, I have to!