But first, let's learn a bit about diving. I've never attempted any kind of high diving, and am a little afraid of the higher dives. I jumped off the 3m board once when I was taking swimming lessons at a big pool, but mostly just stepped off, not bounced or twisted or anything complicated. And I'm satisfied to never do that again. DH actually went off a high platform when he was a kid at the Olympic facility in Montreal. He wasn't supposed to go up to the highest platform, but he did. And survived the jump, but was regretting it as soon as he leaped off the edge.
I love watching the events in the Olympics. The skill and precision it takes to synchronize your dive with a teammate, plus just entering the water so cleanly to make barely a splash after a complicated dive? Incredible to see. China has overwhelmingly dominated this sport in the last few decades, in both men's and women's events. Great Britain took home gold this Olympics for men's synchronized 10m though, so it might still be anyone's event. I feel like the Chinese athletes dominate more in the women's events, but that could be because I tend to watch these more carefully since there's often Canadians competing in the women's events. Not only Canadian, but from Quebec, which is right nearby.
The history of diving in the Olympics goes all the way back over 100 years ago to 1904 and had "fancy" diving and plunge diving, meaning someone would just do a dive and try and get as far down into the pool as possible. In 1908 they changed that out for springboard, because the plunge wasn't all that interesting. Women's diving was added in 1912, although not until 1920 did they also use the springboard. I'm thinking of women's bathing costumes back then and wondering how they managed!
Although apparently women's bathing suits were undergoing a significant change around then, so it might not have been too bad, that's nice to see. I was thinking of them struggling in those dresses after diving, which would not have been easy.
Enough anticipation for my start now? Here's what it will look like eventually:
And my very small start:
Winter Feast by Mill Hill
stitched as charted with kit threads and fabric
Lots of colour changes in this one, but it's still a pretty small kit, so it shouldn't take too long to finish once I get back to it. This might make a good gift for my birdwatching parents. They put out tons of bird feeders in their backyard because they back onto some woods and get many different types of birds. They also put out oriole and hummingbird feeders and almost always have orioles.
I hope you've all been staying well and stay tuned for tomorrow when I add a new one to my ridiculous amount of full coverage WIPs. :)
Happy Stitching!
Tiffstitch
We've watched some of the diving and the dives are amazing! I love your little kit and have it in my stash.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I'm behind on reading blogs so haven't been commenting much, but I have enjoyed what I've seen of your Olympic starts so far.
Thank you! And somehow I'm not surprised you have this one in your stash. I bet you have almost all the Mill Hills I have. :)
DeleteThe diving is a must watch being British and having great athletes like Matt and Tom. I thought your photo was a fashion shoot to begin with - I can't imagine diving in those dresses. Great stitching start
ReplyDeleteI know! I hope they had appropriate costumes. When I was reading about it, it seemed like it would have been so difficult to actually swim in those things.
DeleteI hope they took their shoes off before going near the pool too!
ReplyDeleteSweet little birdhouse.
Indeed! Thank you.
DeleteI'm not a strong swimmer, and too chicken to jump in even from the edge of the pool! Those professional divers boggle my mind.
ReplyDeleteLovely new start! Mill Hill kits are always fun.
Thank you! I used to be a strong swimmer, but not any more.
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