Chupa Loop (of Yarn)

During world championship events, the U.S. players have a lot of down time. In a foreign country where the priority, when not training, is rest, hydration and relaxation, the players have hours to kill. They are pretty good at filling that time, but sometimes they come up with creative ways to pass the days. Lori Chalupny has decided she's going to learn how to knit. Nothing complicated like socks or a sweater, she's starting with a blanket. You can see above the beginning of her masterpiece which she hopes to have done by the end of the Olympics. Heather O'Reilly has also brought knitting materials to China, but was hesitant to admit to her domestic streak. O'Reilly does admits that she perhaps lacks natural knitting talent. She's yet to start knitting anything, and says that the first step was putting the yarn into a ball. Mission: Not Accomplished. In fact, Christie Rampone walked into O'Reilly's room and saw yarn everywhere. "Was there a cat in here?," she asked, as strands of yarn were draped everywhere. "I'm off to a slow start," said O'Reilly. We'll check in with the pair (well, at least Lori) to see what progress they've made.