Beijing Winter Paralympics 2022 Days 3-7

Back for another fun para winter olympics sport, one which able-bodied people can play as well, but not in the Olympics! Sledge Hockey or what is now called Para Ice Hockey because "sledge" means different things in different languages. 

Para Ice Hockey had its roots in Sweden when 2 men with physical disabilities modified a simple kids sled to allow them to continue to play hockey. They added 2 skate blades and lifted the sled so that a puck could slide underneath it. There wasn't a lot of competitive interest until the early 1970s when other European countries started forming teams. If you can believe it, Great Britain formed their team in 1981, one year before Canada!

Unlike able-bodied hockey, teams can be mixed-gender. Players sit in the sled and propel themselves around with two short sticks. There's a blade on one end of each and metal teeth on the other end to help players move around the rink. The other modification for Para Ice Hockey is the bench must be level to the ice. Usually there's a short step onto the ice in able-bodied hockey. Also, the bench has ice on the floor instead of a rubber mat so players can move around. The bench must be larger as well. 

Most of the rules are the same as ice hockey, with one special penalty. If you charge at someone with the front end of your sled, that is a penalty, called "Teeing". Equipment is basically the same, although you don't technically need to wear protective gear on your lower limbs. Goalies don't necessarily have to have leg pads either, it depends on their preference. 

I mentioned that able-bodied people can play as well, and it's true! There are leagues around that allow you to play if you're able-bodied. There may be some restrictions for competitions, but if you aren't interested in regular hockey or have trouble skating, this might be a fun sport to try. There are leagues in our area since I've heard people mention playing. I know my knees start to get a bit sore now sometimes when I play, so maybe it's something to consider as I get older. 

This year, the bronze medal game was played by China and Korea and Canada and the US played in the gold medal game. Unlike the men's able-bodied team, the para teams made the medal rounds! 

I hope you enjoyed the summary and sorry it took me so long to get it posted. 

Onto the dragons! As I mentioned, I doubt I'm finishing all 12 dragons, but I did manage another 2, and one needed a lot of work! Days 3 and 4 started here:

and a finish for Day 3:

Drake # 7 by StitchItPicasso

stitched 1 over 1 on 20ct Fairyland opalescent aida by Silkweaver

with Diligence by Jodyri

followed a few days later(!) by a finish on Day 4:

Drake #11 by StitchItPicasso

stitched 1 over 1 on 20ct Fairyland opalescent aida by Silkweaver

with Jodyri Viennese Waltz

That last one took a while! I only finished it last night and kept wanting to have 2 done for the next post, but it kept going and going. I'm not sure if I'll get another 2 done before the end of the games, but I'll keep plugging away. I do have a new bag to keep these in, from @jasminecustombags on Instagram. She makes some beautiful ones!

I hope you've all been keeping well and getting lots of stitching in!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

Beijing Winter Paralympics Days 1-2

 A lot of the first Paralympic events have been related to skiing, so I'll start off talking about how skiing is different in the Paralympics. For alpine skiing, there are 2 events, slalom and giant slalom. The categories of athletes are divided into spinal injury, Cerebral Palsy, amputation, blindness/visual impairment and Les Autres (dwarfism, multiple sclerosis, congenital malformations, etc.) These categories are then subdivided based on levels of ability. 

A lot of different countries have been able to medal in these events, with the most decorated Paralympic alpine skier named Gerd Schönfelder. He has 22 medals!

And onto the stitching. If you recall, Rachel and I are trying to complete our 12 dragons from the Summer Paralympics. The first dragon I worked on was this one:

Drake #9 by StitchItPicasso

stitched 1 over 1 on 20ct Fairyland opalescent aida by Silkweaver

with Blue Morpho Butterfly by Jodyri Designs

and it took a couple nights, but I managed to finish it here:

Drake #9 by StitchItPicasso

stitched 1 over 1 on 20ct Fairyland opalescent aida by Silkweaver

with Blue Morpho Butterfly by Jodyri Designs

and the second dragon I worked on started here:

Drake #2 by StitchItPicasso

stitched 1 over 1 on 20ct Fairyland opalescent aida by Silkweaver

with Jodyri Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath

and I finished it last night:

Drake #2 by StitchItPicasso

stitched 1 over 1 on 20ct Fairyland opalescent aida by Silkweaver

with Jodyri Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath

I'm not 100% sure I'll get them all completed, especially with starting 2 new projects during the Paralympics for Mischievous March, but we'll see how it goes. At least they will progress, even if they don't get finished. 

It's a good start though, so I'll take it! I hope you're all able to watch some of the Paralympics and enjoying stitching. 

Happy stitching and stay well!

Tiffstitch

2021 Tokyo Paralympics Stitching Challenge Start #1

Well hello there! Anyone surprised Rachel and I decided to extend the starts through the Paralympics? :) I do have to blame thank Kate for the suggestion though, I don't know if I would have thought of more starts without her comment. Rachel had already been considering it though; when I emailed her she already something picked out to start. Once Rachel showed me what she thought she'd be stitching, I had to start the same projects, so we're SAL'ing 12 of the 13 new starts!

I thought I'd open with a little background on the Paralympics. They were first held in the summer in 1960 in Rome, Italy. Initially, only athletes in wheelchairs competed, but in 1976 they opened the games to people with other disabilities and the number of athletes quadrupled from 400 to 1600 competing. The Paralympics didn't used to be held in the same city as the Olympics. That changed in 1988 and now they're always held in the same city 2 weeks after the completion of the Olympic Games. 

For today's start, it will be one of these:

I think it's fairly obvious since I managed a decent start on this one:

Drake #9 by StitchItPicasso

stitched 1 over 1 on 20ct Fairyland opalescent aida by Silkweaver

with Blue Morpho Butterfly by Jodyri Designs

I'm still debating if I'm going to stitch these all to live on the fabric together or if they'll be individual. I had some idea of doing monthly colours, so this is January, sort of icy blue, dark for the short nights, etc. I'll have to decide placement for tomorrow's since I didn't finish this one, but I do love it so far!

I hope you're all staying well. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch