I've been back from Vancouver for about a week now, and I wish my stay there would have been longer! Knowing I'll be back a year from now for the Olympics is pretty exciting, though. The city certainly has Olympic Fever, and being at the test event for figure skating only amplified that. Team Canada certainly showed they're a force to be reckoned with, winning three silvers and one gold medal. I've never been to an event quite like the ladies' long program, though. Yu Na Kim is like a rockstar in her native Korea, and there were so many people there cheering her on that it really electrified the atmosphere in the arena. My friends and I pride ourselves on our cheering skills, but even we haven't matched the volume of that crowd. Knowing what skating has gone through in North America, combined with the tough economic times everyone is going through, it was exciting to see so many people attending a skating event.

My friends and I did our fair share of sightseeing, in addition to spending hours on end roaming the PNE. I don't think I could ever get tired of being around mountains and water, and Vancouver seems to posess an open, laid back vibe that I think is missing in a lot of big cities. I am by no means a photographer, and my pictures are taken on a little Kodak digital point and shoot, but I did get some shots that I liked.


This is a shot from Queen Elizabeth Gardens, which was down the street from the friend's house where we stayed for a few days. Thanks again, Meg and Augie!


View from the back parking lot of the PNE


From the Seawall around Stanley Park


A shot from Granville Island, where I wish I had and endless supply of money and luggage room to bring home the goodies from the Public Market.

So that's Vancouver in a pretty tiny nutshell. Great city and great skating, to say the least. I can't wait to go back next year for the Games!

Also I'm hoping I won't go as long between posts next time, as I'm going to my first stop of Stars on Ice next weekend, so I'm sure I'll have plenty to say about that.

First post!

I signed up for this blog forever and a day ago, I think, but this is the first I've gotten around to posting. Not that I have anything particularly thrilling to share with the world, but maybe someone will find my ramblings interesting!

The name of this blog (and yes I realize that knitten' should be spelled with an 'i' in place of the 'e', but I thought it looked more symmetrical with the e) stems from the title of a musical I dreamed up during a long shift back in my days of retail. The musical, 'Knitten the Mitten' was to be Michigan themed, and each song would have a Michigan place name incorporated. "Dancing in Lansing", "I've Got a Thing for Ishpeming", and my personal favorite, "I'm Blue for Au Gres". Mind you, I have no musical back round at all, so mostly we just came up with place names and other words that would rhyme and went from there. Hey, I never said I wasn't a nerd.

The subject of this blog was originally going to be Michigan-centric, but I figured I'd expand and make it about anything and everything. I spend a lot of time in Canada and a lot of time attending various figure skating events (usually the reason why I'm going to Canada), so I'm sure you'll see a lot of mention of those two things. In fact, in two weeks I will be heading west to Vancouver for the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, which will serve at the test event for the upcoming Winter Olympics in 2010. I can't wait! I went to Vancouver last January and loved it, so I'm looking forward to going back, getting some good sushi, seeing some good skating, and taking a ton of pictures.

If you've stumbled across this little corner of the Internets, I hope you'll come back. I hope to be posting a little more frequently, especially once I have something besides a giant car repair bill on my mind. Don't you love when reality just sneaks up on you?