August is a month off of HPKCHC... but I've broken down and proposed a silly old NEWT. We'll see if it gets approved... if not, I'll have to update some of my plans.
NEWT proposal is to do a 3 x 5 afghan with the Know Your Mushrooms pattern - I did a 3x3 afghan as an Order Mission last term... Plus a 2 x 3 'table cover' in the same pattern. I'm hoping that seamed together they'll make a nice blanket for Alex at the end of the year.
AS WELL as to make 3 large stuffies - an Azumarill, a Pikachu, and a Sudowoodo (which is really a Mandrake plant root). The first one should come out to 18" tall per pattern design. Pikachu's pattern is only 9" - but I plan on modifying the pattern dramatically to make it 18" tall... and the Sudowoodo should come out to around 14" when he's 'free' and about 12" in his pot.
My August plans are to get 9 blocks of the afghan finished, and Azumarill finished. Then in September I'd like to get 9 more blocks done along with Pikachu to the half-way point. October leaves 3 remaining blocks for the afghan along with finishing Pikachu. And November gives us time to seam the two sets of squares into their respective shapes and finish the Sudowoodo. In December I can seam the three 'objects' into a single afghan and adding a border to the blanket.
For NerdWars - I'm hoping to turn Azumarill in for the challenge Nerdology - Villians and Heroes - I can give the pokemon to the hero Ash.
The rest of the Nerdwars prompts will hopefully be fulfilled with making charity hats, I figure a couple of hats should be able to get knocked out along with the beginning of my NEWT.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
July EOM Post (ha! Not so late, this time)
Hats - I ended up making one hat for my son, and SEVEN charity hats!
Here are the five that I turned into Charms and CoMC that haven't been posted here yet.
After finding that I had miscounted some of the earlier hats... my new total is 28 charity hats out of 50... 56% of my annual goal.
Finished the Mario baby blanket.
Aran Square - number 1. Number 2 was just too much to tackle... mostly because it took me three times to get guage on this square.
Instead, I did another yarn-eating baby blanket. I held four strands together of various yarns... to get about 4000 yards used up and represent # 7 of the finished blankets completed out of the 13 in my goal.
And last, but not least... the finished top that I 'just had to make'.
Here are the five that I turned into Charms and CoMC that haven't been posted here yet.
After finding that I had miscounted some of the earlier hats... my new total is 28 charity hats out of 50... 56% of my annual goal.
Finished the Mario baby blanket.
Aran Square - number 1. Number 2 was just too much to tackle... mostly because it took me three times to get guage on this square.
Instead, I did another yarn-eating baby blanket. I held four strands together of various yarns... to get about 4000 yards used up and represent # 7 of the finished blankets completed out of the 13 in my goal.
And last, but not least... the finished top that I 'just had to make'.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Annual Goals Progress
So, my annual goals & where I am on them... I figure that since I spent a good seven weeks unable to knit; I'm doing pretty well still on some of my goals even though I'm not quite at the 50% mark and it's a little over half the year over. Some goals are going to end up being too much of a stretch possibly, but that's ok with me.
ORIGINAL GOAL - 3 clothing items for me - CURRENT PROGRESS - 50%
1. Green & cream zig zag tank completed in June
2. Green tank at 50% mark in July
-- I should be able to finish the tank by this weekend... that leaves one more. I'd like to do a simple, quick fall sweater and have a few ideas... something that only takes a couple of weeks, is my ideal - And I'm thinking $5 in Paris right now with 3/4 length sleeves might fit the bill.
ORIGINAL GOAL - 3 pairs of socks for me - CURRENT PROGRESS - 33%
1. Purple socks in June
-- Two more pairs of socks in the last five months of the year? This should be something I can work in!
ORIGINAL GOAL - 13 blankets - CURRENT PROGRESS - 45%
1. Blue/Navy/White modified log cabin baby blanket - Jan
2. Bunny Buddy Baby blanket/toy - Feb
3. Not-so-baby-sized blue/gray/white striped blanket - Mar
4. Stained Glass Windows Baby Blanket - Mar
5. Striped pastel Baby Blanket - June
6. Striped pastel Baby Blanket - July
7. Mario Blanket - about 33% mark as of July
8. Aran Sampler Blanket - about 25% mark as of July
-- This one is iffy. I'll be able (I think) finish the Mario blanket this year. I can keep working on the Aran Sampler Blanket - but I don't know if I can do enough to make a blanket. And I do have one more baby blanket pattern burning a hole in my pocket; but it'll take a little longer to make over the super simple, fast ones. And I'm getting tired of working on the super-fast ones... so I might be able to whip out a couple more blankets. Just not sure I'll hit 50.
ORIGINAL GOAL - 50 charity hats - CURRENT PROGRESS 45%
Rather than list them all out - I've got 23 hats completed, and several already shipped off... and #24 is already on the needles and I'm sure I can finish it before the end of the month, if not maybe even a 25th one as well.
-- I'm pretty sure I can meet, if not exceed this goal. Hats are my go-to carry around projects. I don't have to think. I can just grab the needles and some scrap yarn and whip one out without a lot of preparation - so it travels well when other projects don't. And I'm debating challenging myself with NerdWars to create about 30 or 40 charity hats in three months (most of which can go into classes in the cup; leaving me more time to focus on the Mario Blanket).
So, all told, not too bad of shape.
ORIGINAL GOAL - 3 clothing items for me - CURRENT PROGRESS - 50%
1. Green & cream zig zag tank completed in June
2. Green tank at 50% mark in July
-- I should be able to finish the tank by this weekend... that leaves one more. I'd like to do a simple, quick fall sweater and have a few ideas... something that only takes a couple of weeks, is my ideal - And I'm thinking $5 in Paris right now with 3/4 length sleeves might fit the bill.
ORIGINAL GOAL - 3 pairs of socks for me - CURRENT PROGRESS - 33%
1. Purple socks in June
-- Two more pairs of socks in the last five months of the year? This should be something I can work in!
ORIGINAL GOAL - 13 blankets - CURRENT PROGRESS - 45%
1. Blue/Navy/White modified log cabin baby blanket - Jan
2. Bunny Buddy Baby blanket/toy - Feb
3. Not-so-baby-sized blue/gray/white striped blanket - Mar
4. Stained Glass Windows Baby Blanket - Mar
5. Striped pastel Baby Blanket - June
6. Striped pastel Baby Blanket - July
7. Mario Blanket - about 33% mark as of July
8. Aran Sampler Blanket - about 25% mark as of July
-- This one is iffy. I'll be able (I think) finish the Mario blanket this year. I can keep working on the Aran Sampler Blanket - but I don't know if I can do enough to make a blanket. And I do have one more baby blanket pattern burning a hole in my pocket; but it'll take a little longer to make over the super simple, fast ones. And I'm getting tired of working on the super-fast ones... so I might be able to whip out a couple more blankets. Just not sure I'll hit 50.
ORIGINAL GOAL - 50 charity hats - CURRENT PROGRESS 45%
Rather than list them all out - I've got 23 hats completed, and several already shipped off... and #24 is already on the needles and I'm sure I can finish it before the end of the month, if not maybe even a 25th one as well.
-- I'm pretty sure I can meet, if not exceed this goal. Hats are my go-to carry around projects. I don't have to think. I can just grab the needles and some scrap yarn and whip one out without a lot of preparation - so it travels well when other projects don't. And I'm debating challenging myself with NerdWars to create about 30 or 40 charity hats in three months (most of which can go into classes in the cup; leaving me more time to focus on the Mario Blanket).
So, all told, not too bad of shape.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
July planning - and mid-month progress report - all-in-one
First thing finished in July was a hat that I started the evening of June 30th (was bored and didn't feel like working on the Mario blanket... odds are it will look a LOT like OTHER hats completed recently (kind of in a rut, I know).
Second Charity hat - Turned into DADA simple ribbed edge and stockinette body - fits a prompt to cover your eyes from the vision of the basilisk.... see? -- I did have fun digging for scraps... will do more like this.
Quidditch called for another hat (or... ball carrier...) you decide. More scraps.
That brings my annual total of charity hats to #21.... which is a little shy of goal. I'll probably make one more hat this month - for Charms. And then take a little break next month and focus on getting at least 20 or more completed during the next HPKCHC term (Sept - Nov).
Additionally, I finished the Mario blanket (picture in last post).
And Quidditch #2 - is another hat. For the first time in a long time though... it's for family instead of charity. My son lost his ski mask and in February had asked me to make him one. Of course, starting it at the end of February ensures that the weather would turn nice (it did)... so I procrastinated making it until this summer... it's already in the winter hat collection basket ready and waiting for it to get cold again.
I'm about half-done with my Aran Square of the month (which is actually Aprils - I am a bit behind since I haven't made any since March. Divination has a pretty easy fit where you can tie it to something seen in ashes after a Phoenix's burning day.
I'm also planning on a second Aran Square this month. It'll take a little storytelling - but this one will go into Potions, I figure the complex potion can be inspired by Prof. Snape, the Half-Blood Prince.
And then I'm nuts enough to think I can do another summer top for myself in the last 12 days of the month. Sleeveless, tank top... something pretty simple. I LOVE my tank I finished last month and got inspired to try to use up some yarn that I had stashed for making a top. I'll turn it in for History of Magic and take a photo of wearing it while walking the dog.
Second Charity hat - Turned into DADA simple ribbed edge and stockinette body - fits a prompt to cover your eyes from the vision of the basilisk.... see? -- I did have fun digging for scraps... will do more like this.
Quidditch called for another hat (or... ball carrier...) you decide. More scraps.
That brings my annual total of charity hats to #21.... which is a little shy of goal. I'll probably make one more hat this month - for Charms. And then take a little break next month and focus on getting at least 20 or more completed during the next HPKCHC term (Sept - Nov).
Additionally, I finished the Mario blanket (picture in last post).
And Quidditch #2 - is another hat. For the first time in a long time though... it's for family instead of charity. My son lost his ski mask and in February had asked me to make him one. Of course, starting it at the end of February ensures that the weather would turn nice (it did)... so I procrastinated making it until this summer... it's already in the winter hat collection basket ready and waiting for it to get cold again.
I'm about half-done with my Aran Square of the month (which is actually Aprils - I am a bit behind since I haven't made any since March. Divination has a pretty easy fit where you can tie it to something seen in ashes after a Phoenix's burning day.
I'm also planning on a second Aran Square this month. It'll take a little storytelling - but this one will go into Potions, I figure the complex potion can be inspired by Prof. Snape, the Half-Blood Prince.
And then I'm nuts enough to think I can do another summer top for myself in the last 12 days of the month. Sleeveless, tank top... something pretty simple. I LOVE my tank I finished last month and got inspired to try to use up some yarn that I had stashed for making a top. I'll turn it in for History of Magic and take a photo of wearing it while walking the dog.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
June EOM post -REALLY late
I've been having issues with Blogger and my home pc. I give up... it's not worth the battle. Just don't tell my co-workers or bosses that I'm doing this with my work pc!
Detention project - AIRL rescue blanket. - DONE
Socks! - DONE
Couple of Charity hats - DONE
Quidditch tote bag - DONE
Tank top - DONE and super-uper cute. I love this tank. When cash flow permits, I will be custom-ordering more in dark colors and making more summer tops! This was made with cotton/linen blend and I love the slightly marled yarn and the stitch texture. Just LOVE it.
Mario Mushrooms blanket (well the first part - did 9 squares for this part).... not finished before June EOM.. but finished last week. Planning to tackle another 15-square section this fall, a 6 square section at some point and seaming the whole thing together .... maybe done by next spring?
2 hour baby blanket - DONE
Adipose - skipped for this month, just not enough time.
2 blanket squares - well, one was done - but this was done for a gift blanket as opposed to one of mine (so I'm still behind in my 13 in 2013 blanket goal)...
Busy month, June was. Coming soon, my July planning post... only over half-way through the month ...
:-)
Detention project - AIRL rescue blanket. - DONE
Socks! - DONE
Couple of Charity hats - DONE
Quidditch tote bag - DONE
Tank top - DONE and super-uper cute. I love this tank. When cash flow permits, I will be custom-ordering more in dark colors and making more summer tops! This was made with cotton/linen blend and I love the slightly marled yarn and the stitch texture. Just LOVE it.
Mario Mushrooms blanket (well the first part - did 9 squares for this part).... not finished before June EOM.. but finished last week. Planning to tackle another 15-square section this fall, a 6 square section at some point and seaming the whole thing together .... maybe done by next spring?
2 hour baby blanket - DONE
Adipose - skipped for this month, just not enough time.
2 blanket squares - well, one was done - but this was done for a gift blanket as opposed to one of mine (so I'm still behind in my 13 in 2013 blanket goal)...
Busy month, June was. Coming soon, my July planning post... only over half-way through the month ...
:-)
Monday, June 24, 2013
Tank progress shot
I like the way the stripes are turning out. Of course, I totally messed up a bit and didn't use the stripe lengths originally planned... but it still is turning out cute.
Onto the straps... thinking I can have this finished and blocking in a couple of evenings.
Friday, June 21, 2013
June Mid-month progress (albeit a little late)
Detention project - AIRL rescue blanket. - DONE
Socks! Bamboo/rayon blend. Nice, soft, fit well.... simple pattern, super-fast. - DONE
Photo taken in New Jersey... can almost, but not quite, make out the Empire State Building between my toes....
Couple of Charity hats - DONE (well, a couple are done, we might fit one more in, if I find time - unlikely, but possible).
I know, I know... more brioche hats. But at least I played a little with color and went back to doing two-tone worsted weight hats a little bit and set aside the bulky weight yarn (for now).
Quidditch tote bag... the top came out too small. But I've stuck this in my utility room and it's great for storing plastic bags from shopping in. I re-use them around the house all the time, so it's actually pretty nice to have something for it. - DONE
Not as fast a project as one would have hoped. I did do it in one day. But considering that day was spent in airports, airplanes and taxi rides, I would have been happier if I could have finished it within a couple of hours instead of closer to eight hours. (should have done crochet)
ON THE NEEDLES:
Still working on my tank top... Not going very quickly as I haven't had much time devoted to it... poor thing, seriously neglected. (sorry, no photo) - About 33% done - hope to finish before end of June.
Still working on the first section of my son's Mario Mushrooms blanket. Four squares done, fifth square needs some embroidery done. Four more squares to cast-on and finish, plus seaming. - About 50% done - hope to finish mid-July.
NOT YET STARTED.... and honestly? at this point, might not get started unless this weekend holds a spectacular amount of knitting time.
2 hour baby blanket - If I can get tank top to 50% AND the fifth square finished - I might take a break and work on this... we'll see.
Adipose - it doesn't seem like it would take more than a couple of hours to whip this out... but it's on my low priority list.
2 blanket squares - I'm behind in my blanket projects... and working on this would help me out with that... but I'm not even going to try to cast it on until the end of the month - and only then assuming I get other things finished first.
Socks! Bamboo/rayon blend. Nice, soft, fit well.... simple pattern, super-fast. - DONE
Photo taken in New Jersey... can almost, but not quite, make out the Empire State Building between my toes....
Couple of Charity hats - DONE (well, a couple are done, we might fit one more in, if I find time - unlikely, but possible).
I know, I know... more brioche hats. But at least I played a little with color and went back to doing two-tone worsted weight hats a little bit and set aside the bulky weight yarn (for now).
Quidditch tote bag... the top came out too small. But I've stuck this in my utility room and it's great for storing plastic bags from shopping in. I re-use them around the house all the time, so it's actually pretty nice to have something for it. - DONE
Not as fast a project as one would have hoped. I did do it in one day. But considering that day was spent in airports, airplanes and taxi rides, I would have been happier if I could have finished it within a couple of hours instead of closer to eight hours. (should have done crochet)
ON THE NEEDLES:
Still working on my tank top... Not going very quickly as I haven't had much time devoted to it... poor thing, seriously neglected. (sorry, no photo) - About 33% done - hope to finish before end of June.
Still working on the first section of my son's Mario Mushrooms blanket. Four squares done, fifth square needs some embroidery done. Four more squares to cast-on and finish, plus seaming. - About 50% done - hope to finish mid-July.
NOT YET STARTED.... and honestly? at this point, might not get started unless this weekend holds a spectacular amount of knitting time.
2 hour baby blanket - If I can get tank top to 50% AND the fifth square finished - I might take a break and work on this... we'll see.
Adipose - it doesn't seem like it would take more than a couple of hours to whip this out... but it's on my low priority list.
2 blanket squares - I'm behind in my blanket projects... and working on this would help me out with that... but I'm not even going to try to cast it on until the end of the month - and only then assuming I get other things finished first.
Monday, June 3, 2013
June planning post
I got a dozen squares in a swap project over a year ago.... and they weren't 'quite' what I had in mind... but were lovely squares. I've been meaning to seam them up for AGES into pet blankets for the ARL.
HPKCHC -- When I don't have a WIP the First project ready to go, (and my wrists aren't in splints) the plan is to grab four of them and whip one out for Detention.
I picked up some CoSaBi yarn a couple of months ago - bamboo/rayon blend for socks! The thought is that it just might be a way to get some socks for me that I can wear year-round and not be slipper-socks. Acrylic hasn't worked in the past (well, except for great house slipper-socks). So - a pair of socks!
HPKCHC -- Charms has a 'make a person look good' option - so I'm thinking some pretty lilac hand-knit socks are just the ticket.
NerdWars -- Nerdology Challenge is to look into alternative transportation. Walking! Feet - need coverage for long walks. Still uncertain of my team tie-in I want to use for June. Might be Team Tardis, might be something with Mythology - must decide.
Charity Hats - at least one, maybe two
HPKCHC -- Divination has us staring into the Fire for finding answers to questions. Global Warming and severe storms has me worried about weather. I see cold people in the fire seaking warmth.... so warm hats for charity will help me for the vision.
NerdWars - Giving Geeks Challenge is to prepare for foul weather during fair weather. I plan to donates the hats finished this month, plus some of the earlier hats done this year to a clothing donation site. (Normally I wait until Fall - but they need to be 'delivered' now).
I picked up some lovely cotton/linen blended tonal yarn at the LYS last Saturday... LOVELY yarn. I want to support my LYS, plus I love that they take the time to think about me with their non-wool-content yarn. Since they keep me in mind, I want to recipricate by buying up the lovelies! They didn't quite have enough of the dark green for a top, but they had a really nice tan-nuetral color to go with it. I'm thinking a stripey tank.
HPKCHC -- Care Of Magical Creatures - Protect yourself from heat. Cotton/Linen yarn? Yeah - this is an easy fit.
NerdWars - Encyclopedia Challenge - has us using Birthdates as inspiration. I found out that the birth stone for June USED TO BE Agate. I found some nice agate photos - one that had a ripple stripe look (but not green, sadly) and another with a nice shade of green. I'm pretty sure I can sell the top as inspired by agate.
13in2013 is suffering - between blankets not wanting to be the size planned and seven weeks in splints... I'm planning a SUPER fast baby blanket (colors to be determined). Double Crochet - with stripes. Simple and fast.
HPKCHC -- History of Magic has us making baby items
NerdWars - Discovery Challenge - inspired by new life - need I say more?
Aran Blanket Square - at least 1 - pattern to be determined - in a shade of blue
HPKCHC -- Herbology - Craft a cushioning object to hold your pottery to protect it - strategic pic with some pottery on top should work.
Adipose! My inner Doctor Who Geek has been wanting to make one for ages. I wasn't going to do it this month, but then I saw a prompt and decided I could write up a cute little story line with the Adipose.... and how often can you tie Dr Who to Hogwarts? Not often, let me just say. But it should be fun.
HPKCHC -- Defense Against the Dark Arts - make your presentation of what you think a Boggart will look like if it doesn't have anyone looking at it (which would make it turn into the object you fear the most). Adipose are cute, little giggly things... sweet, and harmless. Well, harmless when they are removed from your body slowly... deadly in other circumstances. Kind of like how a boggart is harmless all by itself, but when you confront one - well, not so much!
NerdWars -- Flexibility Challenge - Tied to a drink - I'm thinking Adipose makes me think of my nutrition shake. Mostly white and cold (why do I think they're cold? eh) and formless.... and affects your body weight.
Totebag - I'm a sucker for bags of all sorts... and when I found out there was going to be a speed challenge for making a totebag ON THE DAY I have to get up at 5:00 AM AND SPEND THE DAY TRAVELING (but not driving) - with MUNGO knitting time! Well. Try to keep me from signing up!
HPKCHC -- Quidditch speed trials - Training Film #3 - Start June 6th - competing against other crafters and most points for the early finishers.
NerdWars -- Flexibility Challenge - Not sure I can tie it easily to a drink - but thankfully, they made the challenge optional this term (NICE!).
I'd also like to make at least 2 charity hats and 2 blanket squares - but I don't know if they will fit into Quidditch event number two or get turned into classes with another object. I'll wait to turn the others in until I know what the Scrimmage #1 event requirements are.
HPKCHC -- When I don't have a WIP the First project ready to go, (and my wrists aren't in splints) the plan is to grab four of them and whip one out for Detention.
I picked up some CoSaBi yarn a couple of months ago - bamboo/rayon blend for socks! The thought is that it just might be a way to get some socks for me that I can wear year-round and not be slipper-socks. Acrylic hasn't worked in the past (well, except for great house slipper-socks). So - a pair of socks!
HPKCHC -- Charms has a 'make a person look good' option - so I'm thinking some pretty lilac hand-knit socks are just the ticket.
NerdWars -- Nerdology Challenge is to look into alternative transportation. Walking! Feet - need coverage for long walks. Still uncertain of my team tie-in I want to use for June. Might be Team Tardis, might be something with Mythology - must decide.
Charity Hats - at least one, maybe two
HPKCHC -- Divination has us staring into the Fire for finding answers to questions. Global Warming and severe storms has me worried about weather. I see cold people in the fire seaking warmth.... so warm hats for charity will help me for the vision.
NerdWars - Giving Geeks Challenge is to prepare for foul weather during fair weather. I plan to donates the hats finished this month, plus some of the earlier hats done this year to a clothing donation site. (Normally I wait until Fall - but they need to be 'delivered' now).
I picked up some lovely cotton/linen blended tonal yarn at the LYS last Saturday... LOVELY yarn. I want to support my LYS, plus I love that they take the time to think about me with their non-wool-content yarn. Since they keep me in mind, I want to recipricate by buying up the lovelies! They didn't quite have enough of the dark green for a top, but they had a really nice tan-nuetral color to go with it. I'm thinking a stripey tank.
HPKCHC -- Care Of Magical Creatures - Protect yourself from heat. Cotton/Linen yarn? Yeah - this is an easy fit.
NerdWars - Encyclopedia Challenge - has us using Birthdates as inspiration. I found out that the birth stone for June USED TO BE Agate. I found some nice agate photos - one that had a ripple stripe look (but not green, sadly) and another with a nice shade of green. I'm pretty sure I can sell the top as inspired by agate.
13in2013 is suffering - between blankets not wanting to be the size planned and seven weeks in splints... I'm planning a SUPER fast baby blanket (colors to be determined). Double Crochet - with stripes. Simple and fast.
HPKCHC -- History of Magic has us making baby items
NerdWars - Discovery Challenge - inspired by new life - need I say more?
Aran Blanket Square - at least 1 - pattern to be determined - in a shade of blue
HPKCHC -- Herbology - Craft a cushioning object to hold your pottery to protect it - strategic pic with some pottery on top should work.
Adipose! My inner Doctor Who Geek has been wanting to make one for ages. I wasn't going to do it this month, but then I saw a prompt and decided I could write up a cute little story line with the Adipose.... and how often can you tie Dr Who to Hogwarts? Not often, let me just say. But it should be fun.
HPKCHC -- Defense Against the Dark Arts - make your presentation of what you think a Boggart will look like if it doesn't have anyone looking at it (which would make it turn into the object you fear the most). Adipose are cute, little giggly things... sweet, and harmless. Well, harmless when they are removed from your body slowly... deadly in other circumstances. Kind of like how a boggart is harmless all by itself, but when you confront one - well, not so much!
NerdWars -- Flexibility Challenge - Tied to a drink - I'm thinking Adipose makes me think of my nutrition shake. Mostly white and cold (why do I think they're cold? eh) and formless.... and affects your body weight.
Totebag - I'm a sucker for bags of all sorts... and when I found out there was going to be a speed challenge for making a totebag ON THE DAY I have to get up at 5:00 AM AND SPEND THE DAY TRAVELING (but not driving) - with MUNGO knitting time! Well. Try to keep me from signing up!
HPKCHC -- Quidditch speed trials - Training Film #3 - Start June 6th - competing against other crafters and most points for the early finishers.
NerdWars -- Flexibility Challenge - Not sure I can tie it easily to a drink - but thankfully, they made the challenge optional this term (NICE!).
I'd also like to make at least 2 charity hats and 2 blanket squares - but I don't know if they will fit into Quidditch event number two or get turned into classes with another object. I'll wait to turn the others in until I know what the Scrimmage #1 event requirements are.
May - end of month progress post
Previously posted -
2 scarves
1 crocheted necklace
1 macrame'd bracelet
6 of the 7 charity hats
Lastly:
1 more charity hat (won't picture it - looks just like the others)
Dead Fish Hat!
I used scraps of acrylic up - and it turned out adorable. I did get my 9 yr old son to wear it for about five seconds, as long as I promised to NOT take a picture of it... But it turned out cute!
And while waiting for the "GO!" moment on my Order of the Phoenix mission... I decided to go ahead and finish the Dragon I started in April. Grandson thinks it is AMAZING and HE LOVES IT... and has named it "Stuffy".... :-)
He got turned into Detention in May - and has gone home to live with grandson who is definitely going to be giving him a full life.
Lastly - I got one square finished for the Order Mission - eight more to go, plus seaming. Photos to come.
2 scarves
1 crocheted necklace
1 macrame'd bracelet
6 of the 7 charity hats
Lastly:
1 more charity hat (won't picture it - looks just like the others)
Dead Fish Hat!
I used scraps of acrylic up - and it turned out adorable. I did get my 9 yr old son to wear it for about five seconds, as long as I promised to NOT take a picture of it... But it turned out cute!
And while waiting for the "GO!" moment on my Order of the Phoenix mission... I decided to go ahead and finish the Dragon I started in April. Grandson thinks it is AMAZING and HE LOVES IT... and has named it "Stuffy".... :-)
He got turned into Detention in May - and has gone home to live with grandson who is definitely going to be giving him a full life.
Lastly - I got one square finished for the Order Mission - eight more to go, plus seaming. Photos to come.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Review - Hometown USA from Lion Brand Yarn
I've done a half-dozen hats with this yarn and it's time to give a review. Hometown USA is a super bulky yarn found at craft stores.
It's 100% acrylic... which is ideal for me and mine - due to wool allergies and being easy care.
I LOVE the colors. I LOVE the price. And I LOVE the softness of the yarn. I do. It's a reasonably priced yarn and it's a joy to work with albeit with the typical non-stretchy nature of all 100% acrylic yarns.
I'm only slightly disappointed that the skeins are a little small - only 81 yards per skein which isn't quite enough for two of my Brioche hats.
BUT, there's a caveat. I've twice come across a skein where there had been an issue. The first one simply had a single ply out of several that had broken. I just made sure that I lined up that strand and knit it with it's partners and trimmed the ever so slight little ends that poked out. No big deal. Then the second skein that had an issue had fluff plied in with the plies, broken plies, pieces of fluff just 'stuck' to the plied yarn... I thought about cutting out the three to four yards of bad yarn... but with super bulky it's a pain dealing with working in ends... instead I pulled out the loose fluff, did the best I could with broken plies within that section and just kept going. It's in a crocheted hat, with lots of double-crochet, so the issue is really not that noticeable. But if it had been in a knit stockinette section? I wouldn't have had a choice but to cut it out as it would have looked horrible. Both of these issues were not visible from the outside of the skein... and if it had just been a broken ply? I wouldn't have cared. But the second skein was pretty messed up. If I continue to use this yarn and continue to find these issues? I would probably stop buying this yarn.
In the meantime, it's the only super-bulky, 100% acrylic yarn with a smooth ply that is affordable for a lot of my charity knitting, so I'm still planning on continuing to buy it and use it for those purposes.
The sad thing was that I was looking for something just like this to make an afghan... and my son was asking for a super-soft super bulky wear-around-the-house sweater for next winter... due to the issues and the small skeins? I don't want to buy a couple of dozen skeins for a big project and risk it. So, I'm still on the search for a replacement for the Wool-ease that I can no longer use.
FYI - no one is offering me anything for this review. I have not received anything free nor been paid for offering my opinion.
It's 100% acrylic... which is ideal for me and mine - due to wool allergies and being easy care.
I LOVE the colors. I LOVE the price. And I LOVE the softness of the yarn. I do. It's a reasonably priced yarn and it's a joy to work with albeit with the typical non-stretchy nature of all 100% acrylic yarns.
I'm only slightly disappointed that the skeins are a little small - only 81 yards per skein which isn't quite enough for two of my Brioche hats.
BUT, there's a caveat. I've twice come across a skein where there had been an issue. The first one simply had a single ply out of several that had broken. I just made sure that I lined up that strand and knit it with it's partners and trimmed the ever so slight little ends that poked out. No big deal. Then the second skein that had an issue had fluff plied in with the plies, broken plies, pieces of fluff just 'stuck' to the plied yarn... I thought about cutting out the three to four yards of bad yarn... but with super bulky it's a pain dealing with working in ends... instead I pulled out the loose fluff, did the best I could with broken plies within that section and just kept going. It's in a crocheted hat, with lots of double-crochet, so the issue is really not that noticeable. But if it had been in a knit stockinette section? I wouldn't have had a choice but to cut it out as it would have looked horrible. Both of these issues were not visible from the outside of the skein... and if it had just been a broken ply? I wouldn't have cared. But the second skein was pretty messed up. If I continue to use this yarn and continue to find these issues? I would probably stop buying this yarn.
In the meantime, it's the only super-bulky, 100% acrylic yarn with a smooth ply that is affordable for a lot of my charity knitting, so I'm still planning on continuing to buy it and use it for those purposes.
The sad thing was that I was looking for something just like this to make an afghan... and my son was asking for a super-soft super bulky wear-around-the-house sweater for next winter... due to the issues and the small skeins? I don't want to buy a couple of dozen skeins for a big project and risk it. So, I'm still on the search for a replacement for the Wool-ease that I can no longer use.
FYI - no one is offering me anything for this review. I have not received anything free nor been paid for offering my opinion.
May mid-month progress
First, the two scarves - these are made with 'special' (read this as not my favorite) yarn. A simple chain stitch (not so simple due to the blankety-blank nature of said 'special' yarn).
And voila - a frilly (not my style), ruffly (not my style, but at least not SUPER ruffly) scarf.
Perfect to donate to the west coast charities that donate these to women who have been rescued from the sex slave trade or from domestic violence. Something to help them feel worthy. That's something I can get behind.
A second Crocheted necklace - also a simple chain stitch - multiple strands, knotted 'just so'. Another specialty yarn, this one not as bad as the first. I so-so like it, might give it to my niece when I get to go see her this summer... might hang onto it. I had hopes for purple... but was feeling really sick by the time I had made it to the LYS that carried this yarn... and it's a lot more pink than purple. But, it's a nice necklace.
A macrame bracelet - this didn't turn out very well. I do think macrame tied to using suede cord can make an awesome bracelet that would be very wearable. But, this one just didn't turn out very well. I ended up recycling the cord and button after I finished it, as I just wasn't pleased with the end result. It might be partly the colors, but mostly my lack of tension and not getting the end quite right. I wish I had darker colors for the suede I have. But, hey, this was ultra-discounted at a going out of business sale of an LYS, and at the time, I had no idea what I would ever make with it. I will probably try some other macrame with it in the future.
Dyeing a skein of ugly-to-me pink cotton yarn.-- not going to do this one after all. The prompt was to do something with a dark purple... and dying this yarn to purple might still be in the future. But, I didn't manage to get to the stores to buy the dye and my wrists are a little healthier now than they were at the beginning of the month... so instead I used already existing purple super bulky to create another charity hat (just like tons of other charity hats). When my wrists were just so-so, this is such a treat to do some mindless knitting. Though, I think that I'll probably start focusing in the future on doing more with worsted weight scrap-yarn... it takes longer, but those hats are fun as well (love doing the reversible) ... but for a super-quick, get it done with minimal work, this is the pattern I just keep coming back to. (for folks not aware - it's the Elizabeth Zimmerman Brioche Watch Cap pattern).
Quidditch came along while I wasn't looking and peaked my interest... the first event was non-crafting.. to just use Ravelry to clean-up or manage either queue or favorites, etc. I cleaned up my queue a ton removing things that were no longer as inspiring as they were when they were added, re-organizing my tabs as the tabs I had weren't all getting used.
And then, the 'heat training film'.... squeee. It was for charity knitting (hmmm... can't imagine why that would appeal) and either making up to five squares or five hats.... bet you can guess which of those I picked.
Two of my favorite Brioche hats, and three crocheted hats. Sometimes crochet bothers my wrist more... so I tend to avoid it. But these are powerfully fast to make (20 minutes) versus the 2 hour brioche hat pattern. So, I whipped out some more super-bulky (had to be fast, right) hats.
My target goal is 50 charity hats in 2013.... and these six last hats brings my total to 16. A little low for the year, but remember, I spent seven weeks without being able to do any crafting at all. I'm sure I'll catch up with my productivity pretty quickly.
In progress...
My dead fish hat. Doesn't look much like a fish just yet, you can see the lips and the stripes on the body... I am working on the decreases to the tail - then there are the fins and eyes to add... I'm really enjoying the whole, grab a random color from the scrap pile to throw in and might be doing more 'scrap' hats this summer.
Not started yet - Know Your Mushrooms baby blanket... need to wait until 5/26 to start it. Figure that gives me plenty of time to work on my Dead Fish Hat.
Not worked on yet - My little half-done dragon. I'll pick him up as soon as the dead fish hat is done... though it might be June before he's done-done.
And voila - a frilly (not my style), ruffly (not my style, but at least not SUPER ruffly) scarf.
Perfect to donate to the west coast charities that donate these to women who have been rescued from the sex slave trade or from domestic violence. Something to help them feel worthy. That's something I can get behind.
A second Crocheted necklace - also a simple chain stitch - multiple strands, knotted 'just so'. Another specialty yarn, this one not as bad as the first. I so-so like it, might give it to my niece when I get to go see her this summer... might hang onto it. I had hopes for purple... but was feeling really sick by the time I had made it to the LYS that carried this yarn... and it's a lot more pink than purple. But, it's a nice necklace.
A macrame bracelet - this didn't turn out very well. I do think macrame tied to using suede cord can make an awesome bracelet that would be very wearable. But, this one just didn't turn out very well. I ended up recycling the cord and button after I finished it, as I just wasn't pleased with the end result. It might be partly the colors, but mostly my lack of tension and not getting the end quite right. I wish I had darker colors for the suede I have. But, hey, this was ultra-discounted at a going out of business sale of an LYS, and at the time, I had no idea what I would ever make with it. I will probably try some other macrame with it in the future.
Dyeing a skein of ugly-to-me pink cotton yarn.-- not going to do this one after all. The prompt was to do something with a dark purple... and dying this yarn to purple might still be in the future. But, I didn't manage to get to the stores to buy the dye and my wrists are a little healthier now than they were at the beginning of the month... so instead I used already existing purple super bulky to create another charity hat (just like tons of other charity hats). When my wrists were just so-so, this is such a treat to do some mindless knitting. Though, I think that I'll probably start focusing in the future on doing more with worsted weight scrap-yarn... it takes longer, but those hats are fun as well (love doing the reversible) ... but for a super-quick, get it done with minimal work, this is the pattern I just keep coming back to. (for folks not aware - it's the Elizabeth Zimmerman Brioche Watch Cap pattern).
Quidditch came along while I wasn't looking and peaked my interest... the first event was non-crafting.. to just use Ravelry to clean-up or manage either queue or favorites, etc. I cleaned up my queue a ton removing things that were no longer as inspiring as they were when they were added, re-organizing my tabs as the tabs I had weren't all getting used.
And then, the 'heat training film'.... squeee. It was for charity knitting (hmmm... can't imagine why that would appeal) and either making up to five squares or five hats.... bet you can guess which of those I picked.
Two of my favorite Brioche hats, and three crocheted hats. Sometimes crochet bothers my wrist more... so I tend to avoid it. But these are powerfully fast to make (20 minutes) versus the 2 hour brioche hat pattern. So, I whipped out some more super-bulky (had to be fast, right) hats.
My target goal is 50 charity hats in 2013.... and these six last hats brings my total to 16. A little low for the year, but remember, I spent seven weeks without being able to do any crafting at all. I'm sure I'll catch up with my productivity pretty quickly.
In progress...
My dead fish hat. Doesn't look much like a fish just yet, you can see the lips and the stripes on the body... I am working on the decreases to the tail - then there are the fins and eyes to add... I'm really enjoying the whole, grab a random color from the scrap pile to throw in and might be doing more 'scrap' hats this summer.
Not started yet - Know Your Mushrooms baby blanket... need to wait until 5/26 to start it. Figure that gives me plenty of time to work on my Dead Fish Hat.
Not worked on yet - My little half-done dragon. I'll pick him up as soon as the dead fish hat is done... though it might be June before he's done-done.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Chain Stitch scarves
Swift and quick... and feasible (ish) with one wrist in a splint. Though, my left wrist is a little sore again today. So, I might end up wearing both splints for a couple of days.
I probably have enough of the net yarn left to make one more, but will probably save it for another sore-wrist day. These plus one I worked on a bit ago will get mailed off to an agency that donates them to women's shelters that focus on helping the abused and/or women who have been rescued from the sex trade. I'm personally not the kind to wear a frilly/ruffly scarf, but it is pretty and hopefully it'll help make a woman feel a little special when shes had too little of that in her life.
I probably have enough of the net yarn left to make one more, but will probably save it for another sore-wrist day. These plus one I worked on a bit ago will get mailed off to an agency that donates them to women's shelters that focus on helping the abused and/or women who have been rescued from the sex trade. I'm personally not the kind to wear a frilly/ruffly scarf, but it is pretty and hopefully it'll help make a woman feel a little special when shes had too little of that in her life.
Friday, May 3, 2013
May plans - abbreviated
So, my wrist is still in a splint. For at least two more weeks.
So, I'm planning on a lot of simplified/abbreviated crafting work for this month.
First, I have two scarves I plan to make with the Netted yarn that is about four inches wide. It'll take about 80 single crochet stitches and suddenly, you have a scarf. Even with a wrist brace, I think I can manage that. The first will get turned into Charms - to craft something I would not normally make - I am not into curly, ruffly things - at all. Definitely outside my comfort zome. The second will fit into History of Magic - Craft something using your not-favorite materials. That net yarn? I will NEVER buy again. I have enough left over from my first scarf to make two more (all three will then find their way to a charity) and I will NEVER work with it again. I think it qualifies.
I've been dying to make a second Crocheted necklace like the one I learned how to make in January at the Knitting Retreat. It takes ladder yarn, which means I need to make a trip to get some. But, it's super simple and once again, single crochet (and not much else) for the win! I'm hoping to give it to my niece as a gift when I go down to see her this summer. Though it's debatable. I migth keep it for myself. This one is going to get turned in for DADA - craft something you can hang on a hook. I'm picturing a turn in photo with my necklace hanging on a hook, seems pretty straight-foward.
A macrame bracelet, similar to friendship bracelets, but made with two tones (or three if I can find the third one) of suede cord. I bought it ages ago at a going out of business LYS sale... thinking that for $1 a ball, I ought to be able to figure out something to make with it. It makes great bracelets. I hadn't originally planned this one - but Herbology prompt to get to do macrame (a passion I had when I was a teenager) called to me.
Dyeing a skein of ugly-to-me pink cotton yarn. I really hate bright pink and have NO IDEA why I bought a big skein of it. But it's 100% cotton, so it should take an acid dye - I'd love to make it dark purple (my go-to-love-this-color) and a good fit for the Potions class. They prompted folks to make something that reminded them of an ingrediant in the Drawht of the Living Death potion - and I'm thinking the juice from a sophophorus bean ought to do the trick!
I'm thinking I can try to complete these small, fast projects during the next two weeks while wearing a brace without too much difficulty (and well, if they are too hard - I can always set them aside for post-splint finishing).
For one more class that I can knit in - I want to make a dead fish hat. I've wanted to make one for FOREVER. But all of my hat-wearing peep's would refuse to wear something that 'out there'. I got to chatting last fall about thinking it was too outrageous for a charity hat and got convinced that a homeless teenager just might fall in love with something like a dead fish hat. So, dead fish hat for the win! Transfiguarion is asking us to make flowers or fishes with bonus points if it's REALLY a flower or a fish and I'm pretty sure the dead fish hat will get those bonus points. Plus I've been told they are super fast and easy and are great for using up leftover yarn. Triple win.
Since I can't knit for at least two weeks - I've decided against proposing an OWL this term. Even when I do get to start knitting, I probably need to take it a little easy on myself. So, I'm looking at doing an Order Mission. Brooms (proposals) can be started next week, but the actual knitting doesn't start until a good week after my splint comes off. I promised my son a Mario blanket - the Know Your Mushrooms pattern on Ravelry. That was before I realized that BIG crocheted blankets are probably not something I'm going to be able to do with my wrist troubles. So, I'm planning on converting it to knit. And knit? This whole blanket will probably take me about 9 months. I'm thinking that what I'll do is a small section of it - say lap-blanket sized with about nine squares (with 8 weeks/ two months to complete). That will be my Order Mission. Then next fall, I will probably propose an OWL for an afghan which will be about 12 squares (with three months to do them). Then the following winter term, I will probably do three more squares in some form or another to finish the 'bulk' of the blanket. Seam them together between terms and I've got a finished blanket in the end. We'll see. Hopefully they will agree that nine squares of intarsia pattern converting a crocheted pattern to knit pattern is Mission worthy.
ETA: ooh, can't forget. Given enough time between the fish hat and the start of my order mission? I'm hoping to wrap up that little dragon for littlest grandson... it can be my WIP the first for June if I can get him 'almost done'.
So, I'm planning on a lot of simplified/abbreviated crafting work for this month.
First, I have two scarves I plan to make with the Netted yarn that is about four inches wide. It'll take about 80 single crochet stitches and suddenly, you have a scarf. Even with a wrist brace, I think I can manage that. The first will get turned into Charms - to craft something I would not normally make - I am not into curly, ruffly things - at all. Definitely outside my comfort zome. The second will fit into History of Magic - Craft something using your not-favorite materials. That net yarn? I will NEVER buy again. I have enough left over from my first scarf to make two more (all three will then find their way to a charity) and I will NEVER work with it again. I think it qualifies.
I've been dying to make a second Crocheted necklace like the one I learned how to make in January at the Knitting Retreat. It takes ladder yarn, which means I need to make a trip to get some. But, it's super simple and once again, single crochet (and not much else) for the win! I'm hoping to give it to my niece as a gift when I go down to see her this summer. Though it's debatable. I migth keep it for myself. This one is going to get turned in for DADA - craft something you can hang on a hook. I'm picturing a turn in photo with my necklace hanging on a hook, seems pretty straight-foward.
A macrame bracelet, similar to friendship bracelets, but made with two tones (or three if I can find the third one) of suede cord. I bought it ages ago at a going out of business LYS sale... thinking that for $1 a ball, I ought to be able to figure out something to make with it. It makes great bracelets. I hadn't originally planned this one - but Herbology prompt to get to do macrame (a passion I had when I was a teenager) called to me.
Dyeing a skein of ugly-to-me pink cotton yarn. I really hate bright pink and have NO IDEA why I bought a big skein of it. But it's 100% cotton, so it should take an acid dye - I'd love to make it dark purple (my go-to-love-this-color) and a good fit for the Potions class. They prompted folks to make something that reminded them of an ingrediant in the Drawht of the Living Death potion - and I'm thinking the juice from a sophophorus bean ought to do the trick!
I'm thinking I can try to complete these small, fast projects during the next two weeks while wearing a brace without too much difficulty (and well, if they are too hard - I can always set them aside for post-splint finishing).
For one more class that I can knit in - I want to make a dead fish hat. I've wanted to make one for FOREVER. But all of my hat-wearing peep's would refuse to wear something that 'out there'. I got to chatting last fall about thinking it was too outrageous for a charity hat and got convinced that a homeless teenager just might fall in love with something like a dead fish hat. So, dead fish hat for the win! Transfiguarion is asking us to make flowers or fishes with bonus points if it's REALLY a flower or a fish and I'm pretty sure the dead fish hat will get those bonus points. Plus I've been told they are super fast and easy and are great for using up leftover yarn. Triple win.
Since I can't knit for at least two weeks - I've decided against proposing an OWL this term. Even when I do get to start knitting, I probably need to take it a little easy on myself. So, I'm looking at doing an Order Mission. Brooms (proposals) can be started next week, but the actual knitting doesn't start until a good week after my splint comes off. I promised my son a Mario blanket - the Know Your Mushrooms pattern on Ravelry. That was before I realized that BIG crocheted blankets are probably not something I'm going to be able to do with my wrist troubles. So, I'm planning on converting it to knit. And knit? This whole blanket will probably take me about 9 months. I'm thinking that what I'll do is a small section of it - say lap-blanket sized with about nine squares (with 8 weeks/ two months to complete). That will be my Order Mission. Then next fall, I will probably propose an OWL for an afghan which will be about 12 squares (with three months to do them). Then the following winter term, I will probably do three more squares in some form or another to finish the 'bulk' of the blanket. Seam them together between terms and I've got a finished blanket in the end. We'll see. Hopefully they will agree that nine squares of intarsia pattern converting a crocheted pattern to knit pattern is Mission worthy.
ETA: ooh, can't forget. Given enough time between the fish hat and the start of my order mission? I'm hoping to wrap up that little dragon for littlest grandson... it can be my WIP the first for June if I can get him 'almost done'.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Almost a Dragon
This guy is going to be cuuu-te (well, that is, if you're allowed to call dragons cute).
He's missing all his limbs and his tail and his fire breath....
But this isn't too bad for having started on the first and stopping on the sixth.
He's missing all his limbs and his tail and his fire breath....
But this isn't too bad for having started on the first and stopping on the sixth.
April - so much good intentions
So... I thought I was going to make a dragon stuffie this month. I thought about making a few things this month.
But. Then I fell. Again. Like last year.
Luckily the arm is NOT broken. But I definitely tweaked my right wrist badly enough that I'm out of the crafting game this month.
It might be a good six weeks before I get to do my crafting. I might have to try to fix up a few stitch markers instead to feel like I'm still being productive.
I might try to clean my crafting space... well, my house could probably use a ton of cleaning time, but lets not go crazy.
But. Then I fell. Again. Like last year.
Luckily the arm is NOT broken. But I definitely tweaked my right wrist badly enough that I'm out of the crafting game this month.
It might be a good six weeks before I get to do my crafting. I might have to try to fix up a few stitch markers instead to feel like I'm still being productive.
I might try to clean my crafting space... well, my house could probably use a ton of cleaning time, but lets not go crazy.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
March end of month progress post
OWL - not big enough to count... but after cutting it in half, I think it will make an awesome baby blanket:
It's definitely bright and colorful even with all that black. It's almost luminescent. I had planned on making 25 squares to do a full-sized afghan.. but there was no way I was going to manage to make 25 squares with my sore wrists and I was definitely tired of the pattern by square 10. Since this isn't made to OWL requirements, this got turned in as my second detention project.
This is finished blanket #4 out of 13.
MISSION/Dissertation - Mission was turned in as a partial. Disseration is still in progress. Here's my current in-progress photo.
DETENTION
Woops... I need another picture of my sweater...
Potions - Discovery Challenge:
Baby blanket turned big (guess it's Karma for the OWL that got made small)
Divination (missed deadline for Nerdwars, ended up using something else)
DADA & Nerdology:
Charms & Encyclopedia: (2 of the squares for the Stained Glass Window afghan)
Herbology & Giving Geeks:
This little guy is Arthur the Alien, made with scraps of acrylic... I was worried he wouldn't look 'alien' enough... but my 9 yr old knew immediately that it was an alien and had weird ears. So, that works. He's been mailed off to the 600 Monsters project and I hope he brings a little comfort to someone.
Quidditch 1 & 2 & Flexible Scheduling:
And then an impromptu little project for CoMC made with scraps, a little Dust Bunny:
Not as much as I had hoped, but more than I thought was possible. So, that's all good, right? I'm still sad that I missed out on finishing yet another OWL and yet another Mission. I'm definitely going to try to shoot for ONLY an OWL next term. And probably won't do a Dissertation for NerdWars so that I can focus on finishing my OWL.
Now to start planning April!!!! Woooohooooo!
It's definitely bright and colorful even with all that black. It's almost luminescent. I had planned on making 25 squares to do a full-sized afghan.. but there was no way I was going to manage to make 25 squares with my sore wrists and I was definitely tired of the pattern by square 10. Since this isn't made to OWL requirements, this got turned in as my second detention project.
This is finished blanket #4 out of 13.
MISSION/Dissertation - Mission was turned in as a partial. Disseration is still in progress. Here's my current in-progress photo.
DETENTION
Woops... I need another picture of my sweater...
Potions - Discovery Challenge:
Baby blanket turned big (guess it's Karma for the OWL that got made small)
Divination (missed deadline for Nerdwars, ended up using something else)
DADA & Nerdology:
Charms & Encyclopedia: (2 of the squares for the Stained Glass Window afghan)
Herbology & Giving Geeks:
This little guy is Arthur the Alien, made with scraps of acrylic... I was worried he wouldn't look 'alien' enough... but my 9 yr old knew immediately that it was an alien and had weird ears. So, that works. He's been mailed off to the 600 Monsters project and I hope he brings a little comfort to someone.
Quidditch 1 & 2 & Flexible Scheduling:
And then an impromptu little project for CoMC made with scraps, a little Dust Bunny:
Not as much as I had hoped, but more than I thought was possible. So, that's all good, right? I'm still sad that I missed out on finishing yet another OWL and yet another Mission. I'm definitely going to try to shoot for ONLY an OWL next term. And probably won't do a Dissertation for NerdWars so that I can focus on finishing my OWL.
Now to start planning April!!!! Woooohooooo!
Thursday, March 21, 2013
March mid-month Progress (albeit a little late)
OWL - still down and out
MISSION - rough going. The pattern is REALLY HARD TO FOLLOW. I've frogged several sections more than a couple of times because I didn't understand the directions and have just figured out I made another mistake on a piece that I'll have to rip back and rework. We's running into trouble here... pretty sure this will be a partial turn in for HPKCHC, but am hoping to still finish it by the end of April for NerdWars.
Potions - was supposed to be a baby blanket. Turned in for NerdWars as based on properties of water.
I used a little over Four balls of Bernat Baby Blanket - which is a chenille like super bulky acrylic. The dark blue was leftover from the bunny baby blanket buddy from last month. And the other three balls were on sale at JoAnn's last month. I cast-on toooooo many stitches considering I was shooting for a baby blanket. I added an extra set of five stripes, but it's still a lot wider than long. So, we're turning it on it's side and pretending it was vertically striped. This will go over well at the homeless shelter, I'm sure. It's incredibly warm and squishy and lovely.
I really enjoyed the mindless knitting and would often pick it up when I got frustrated with my Order Mission. This is blanket #3 finished of 13 for 2013.
DADA / Nerdology (inspired by a Dr Who shirt with a rainbow) - Rainbow child's hat.
My typical 2-color brioche hat knit in the round... I used up almost all of the rainbow variegated Red Heart yarn and some Navy scraps donated by a good friend of mine. I shipped her the leftover Wool Ease Thick and Quick and Easy and she shipped me a TON of acrylic. Since these hats whip up so fast and can use bits and pieces of lots of different yarns (and I have fun pairing different yarns together, so that works) if I can't think of anything else, but want another hat... this is what I usually grab. Especially when I want to work with something other than bulky.
Quidditch Challenge 3 / Flexible Scheduling (flashback inspired) - I made two Blue Butterfly squares, seamed them... and added a crown to make a hat.
Quidditch Game 3 - A purple Bulky brioche hat for a child
I used the new Hometown USA from Lion Brand yarn that I bought at Walmart. Absolutely perfect (well, except for the Walmart part). It's affordable at almost half the price of the Wool Ease Thick and Quick. It's a good spun super-bulky yarn tht shows off the stitch well and works great for these hats. I'll be making more. I also found that Michael's is starting to carry this yarn... so I'll probably pick it up there instead.
This hat gets me to 10 Charity hats out of 50 for 2013.
Divination / Flexible Scheduling - Afghan Square - about 1/3 done
Charms / Encyclopedia (architecture inspired) - 2 Stained Glass Window squares for the failed OWL blanket - not started yet -- If I can finish these two, I'll seam them with the other 10 and turn them into detention (no points)... but then I can count the yardage towards my goal. And it'll become a baby blanket instead of a full sized afghan (but that would be blanket #4 of 13 for 2013.
Herbology / Giving Geeks - Alien - not started yet
Previously unplanned - but too cute not to do them (hope they are fast)... Dust bunnies. I'll make them for Care of Magical Creatures (to earn a badge in the Great Hall as well as the last badge I'm missing from Diagon Alley trip. They might land themselves in some Easter Baskets if they turn out half as cute as I hope they do. Plus, I'm hoping to use some stash - which will earn a third badge... yep. But, of course, time will tell. I'm trying to focus on the NerdWars projects I need to finish first so I can get those turned in before (or on) the 28th. The bunnies can be finished after the 28th.
For more undone than done. But, I'm working through my list as best as I can. I keep setting aside the mission and/or NOT actually knitting because it's just so frustrating. I'm going to focus on getting my other projects done instead and see what I can't whip out before the end of the month.
MISSION - rough going. The pattern is REALLY HARD TO FOLLOW. I've frogged several sections more than a couple of times because I didn't understand the directions and have just figured out I made another mistake on a piece that I'll have to rip back and rework. We's running into trouble here... pretty sure this will be a partial turn in for HPKCHC, but am hoping to still finish it by the end of April for NerdWars.
Potions - was supposed to be a baby blanket. Turned in for NerdWars as based on properties of water.
I used a little over Four balls of Bernat Baby Blanket - which is a chenille like super bulky acrylic. The dark blue was leftover from the bunny baby blanket buddy from last month. And the other three balls were on sale at JoAnn's last month. I cast-on toooooo many stitches considering I was shooting for a baby blanket. I added an extra set of five stripes, but it's still a lot wider than long. So, we're turning it on it's side and pretending it was vertically striped. This will go over well at the homeless shelter, I'm sure. It's incredibly warm and squishy and lovely.
I really enjoyed the mindless knitting and would often pick it up when I got frustrated with my Order Mission. This is blanket #3 finished of 13 for 2013.
DADA / Nerdology (inspired by a Dr Who shirt with a rainbow) - Rainbow child's hat.
My typical 2-color brioche hat knit in the round... I used up almost all of the rainbow variegated Red Heart yarn and some Navy scraps donated by a good friend of mine. I shipped her the leftover Wool Ease Thick and Quick and Easy and she shipped me a TON of acrylic. Since these hats whip up so fast and can use bits and pieces of lots of different yarns (and I have fun pairing different yarns together, so that works) if I can't think of anything else, but want another hat... this is what I usually grab. Especially when I want to work with something other than bulky.
Quidditch Challenge 3 / Flexible Scheduling (flashback inspired) - I made two Blue Butterfly squares, seamed them... and added a crown to make a hat.
Quidditch Game 3 - A purple Bulky brioche hat for a child
I used the new Hometown USA from Lion Brand yarn that I bought at Walmart. Absolutely perfect (well, except for the Walmart part). It's affordable at almost half the price of the Wool Ease Thick and Quick. It's a good spun super-bulky yarn tht shows off the stitch well and works great for these hats. I'll be making more. I also found that Michael's is starting to carry this yarn... so I'll probably pick it up there instead.
This hat gets me to 10 Charity hats out of 50 for 2013.
Divination / Flexible Scheduling - Afghan Square - about 1/3 done
Charms / Encyclopedia (architecture inspired) - 2 Stained Glass Window squares for the failed OWL blanket - not started yet -- If I can finish these two, I'll seam them with the other 10 and turn them into detention (no points)... but then I can count the yardage towards my goal. And it'll become a baby blanket instead of a full sized afghan (but that would be blanket #4 of 13 for 2013.
Herbology / Giving Geeks - Alien - not started yet
Previously unplanned - but too cute not to do them (hope they are fast)... Dust bunnies. I'll make them for Care of Magical Creatures (to earn a badge in the Great Hall as well as the last badge I'm missing from Diagon Alley trip. They might land themselves in some Easter Baskets if they turn out half as cute as I hope they do. Plus, I'm hoping to use some stash - which will earn a third badge... yep. But, of course, time will tell. I'm trying to focus on the NerdWars projects I need to finish first so I can get those turned in before (or on) the 28th. The bunnies can be finished after the 28th.
For more undone than done. But, I'm working through my list as best as I can. I keep setting aside the mission and/or NOT actually knitting because it's just so frustrating. I'm going to focus on getting my other projects done instead and see what I can't whip out before the end of the month.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
March Planning
I know. I know. It's already the sixth of March. I'm not very on top of things right now. And I REALLY, REALLY struggled to figure out what I wanted to make and how to fit it into the various prompts.
OWL - bombed. Dropped out. sigh. sad.
MISSION/Dissertation - in progress. Will keep tackling it. But, it's currently in time out as I'm frustrated with it. I mis-crossed a cable. Dropped just the cable stitches down about six rows. But then I ended up with a little bit of a mess. Dropped down about ten more rows. Ended up with a bigger mess. Ended up setting it aside. Pretty sure I just need to take the needles out and completely frog back to a good row and start over at this point. But it was bugging me and I was mad. So, it's in time out. I'm hoping to make a big dent in it this weekend.
DETENTION:
Turned in my finished Brown pullover -but the pic is AWEFUL. Am planning on getting a better picture this weekend! Will post it then.
CLASSES:
Potions - (craft something soothing) Baby Blanket #3 - using pattern Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Baby Blanket -- I really, really like the colors of the pattern picture and wanted to do those colors. BUT. I also wanted to use Bernat Baby Blanket yarn which didn't have enough of the color options I wanted. It's also a bit super-bulky. I was going to cast on fewer stitches. Then I ended up casting on just as many as called for. Had about 8 hours into the project before I realized just HOW SUPER BIG it was becoming. But it's super fast. It's garter stitch. And it's coming out lovely. I'm using a solid blue, a solid tan, a tan & white variegated, and a tan, white, blue variegated yarns. I'll add extra rows to get it semi-roughly-square-ish shaped as opposed to being 2 1/2 times as long as it is wide.
NW: I'm also turning this blanket into Discovery - physical property of water (well, I hope). I just have to figure out a way to tie it to beach foam; which it does remind me a little of. Then I can also tie it to Bad Wolf Bay (being all beachy looking) for Dr Who tie-in.
Divination - (craft something that blocks cold from your skin) another 12 1/2" Aran Square - Woollen Collectibles March Square - again in Blue, probably in newer Red Heart, With Love yarn.
NW: I'm using this for Flexible Scheduling - there were flashbacks in Harry Potter movies where Snape would remember his time growing up with Lily Evans. Lily has blue eyes. For team tie-in - I'm back to Dr. Who... tying to how he would talk about time being all timey-wimey in the episode Don't Blink.... and I think this square is all timey-wimey wonky.
DADA (craft something with at least two colors of the rainbow) - I'm creating a charity hat with half blue yarn and the other half all rainbow-ish.
NW: I found an awesome Dr Who shirt to use for Nerdology. It features a rainbow, a tardis, on a Navy background. I'll tie it to an episode in Dr Who where one of the gents is singing "Over the Rainbow".
Charms (practice a charm - practicing Gemini) - I'm going to try to fit in two more of the Stained Glass Afghan squares in here.
NW: Encyclopedia - represent Architecture... stained glass windows should work fine. Tie-in to the Dr Who episode where they find a Tardis in a Stained Glass window.
Herbology (craft something to overcome shyness) - Creating an Alien stuffie that I can send to 600 Monsters.
NW: Giving Geeks - is for Victim Aid groups, so this is a great opportunity to give another stuffie to 600 Monsters. For team tie-in I'll use Dr. Who's non-Aliens the Silurian's. They look very alien-like, but were the first hominids on earth. Some of them have three eyes... as does my little alien.
QUIDDITCH
- Convert stitch pattern into something else... I'd like to find a lace stitch pattern I can use to base a hat off of.
NW: Flexible Scheduling - I'll use Tardis blue and I'll tie it to the flashback on the television series Castle - The Blue Butterfly based on color. The right color choice, and I get a team tie-in and tie to the flashback and it'll fly well.
QUIDDITCH TWO
- Hat - a hat, any kind of hat. Will have to see what prompts are left for the Hat Study Hall and fit this in there.
OWL - bombed. Dropped out. sigh. sad.
MISSION/Dissertation - in progress. Will keep tackling it. But, it's currently in time out as I'm frustrated with it. I mis-crossed a cable. Dropped just the cable stitches down about six rows. But then I ended up with a little bit of a mess. Dropped down about ten more rows. Ended up with a bigger mess. Ended up setting it aside. Pretty sure I just need to take the needles out and completely frog back to a good row and start over at this point. But it was bugging me and I was mad. So, it's in time out. I'm hoping to make a big dent in it this weekend.
DETENTION:
Turned in my finished Brown pullover -but the pic is AWEFUL. Am planning on getting a better picture this weekend! Will post it then.
CLASSES:
Potions - (craft something soothing) Baby Blanket #3 - using pattern Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Baby Blanket -- I really, really like the colors of the pattern picture and wanted to do those colors. BUT. I also wanted to use Bernat Baby Blanket yarn which didn't have enough of the color options I wanted. It's also a bit super-bulky. I was going to cast on fewer stitches. Then I ended up casting on just as many as called for. Had about 8 hours into the project before I realized just HOW SUPER BIG it was becoming. But it's super fast. It's garter stitch. And it's coming out lovely. I'm using a solid blue, a solid tan, a tan & white variegated, and a tan, white, blue variegated yarns. I'll add extra rows to get it semi-roughly-square-ish shaped as opposed to being 2 1/2 times as long as it is wide.
NW: I'm also turning this blanket into Discovery - physical property of water (well, I hope). I just have to figure out a way to tie it to beach foam; which it does remind me a little of. Then I can also tie it to Bad Wolf Bay (being all beachy looking) for Dr Who tie-in.
Divination - (craft something that blocks cold from your skin) another 12 1/2" Aran Square - Woollen Collectibles March Square - again in Blue, probably in newer Red Heart, With Love yarn.
NW: I'm using this for Flexible Scheduling - there were flashbacks in Harry Potter movies where Snape would remember his time growing up with Lily Evans. Lily has blue eyes. For team tie-in - I'm back to Dr. Who... tying to how he would talk about time being all timey-wimey in the episode Don't Blink.... and I think this square is all timey-wimey wonky.
DADA (craft something with at least two colors of the rainbow) - I'm creating a charity hat with half blue yarn and the other half all rainbow-ish.
NW: I found an awesome Dr Who shirt to use for Nerdology. It features a rainbow, a tardis, on a Navy background. I'll tie it to an episode in Dr Who where one of the gents is singing "Over the Rainbow".
Charms (practice a charm - practicing Gemini) - I'm going to try to fit in two more of the Stained Glass Afghan squares in here.
NW: Encyclopedia - represent Architecture... stained glass windows should work fine. Tie-in to the Dr Who episode where they find a Tardis in a Stained Glass window.
Herbology (craft something to overcome shyness) - Creating an Alien stuffie that I can send to 600 Monsters.
NW: Giving Geeks - is for Victim Aid groups, so this is a great opportunity to give another stuffie to 600 Monsters. For team tie-in I'll use Dr. Who's non-Aliens the Silurian's. They look very alien-like, but were the first hominids on earth. Some of them have three eyes... as does my little alien.
QUIDDITCH
- Convert stitch pattern into something else... I'd like to find a lace stitch pattern I can use to base a hat off of.
NW: Flexible Scheduling - I'll use Tardis blue and I'll tie it to the flashback on the television series Castle - The Blue Butterfly based on color. The right color choice, and I get a team tie-in and tie to the flashback and it'll fly well.
QUIDDITCH TWO
- Hat - a hat, any kind of hat. Will have to see what prompts are left for the Hat Study Hall and fit this in there.
February - End of Month post
OWL
Ummm... yeah. Still stuck at the 10 completed from mid-month. Once I realized that I wouldn't be able to finish 25 of these (15 more in six weeks). I kind of crashed on it. I am hoping to still do two more and make a smaller blanket, but it probably won't be til the end of March.
MISSION
I still owe you pictures of the cardigan-in-progress. I proposed my BROOM as the Chocolate Passion Cardigan. The back was super-fast and pretty easy. The panels that go from the bottom center to the front, up the front and then curve around the neck? Not so easy. I've restarted a couple of times. Funny enough, it wasn't the short rows nor the cables that tripped me up the most (although there have been plenty of mis-crossed cables to have to fix). It's mostly been that the directions were really not very clear and have caused me a lot of heartache.
CLASSES
Flying - DONE
Baby blanket 2 done of my goal of 13 blankets in 2013.
Charms & Muggle Studies - DONE
These were hats #4 and #5 from 50 planned for 2013.
DADA - DONE
Herbology - DONE
Divination - DONE
Quidditch x 2 - Two more hats - DONE
I didn't quite get as far as I hoped on the MISSION nor the OWL (in fact, have caved and admitted OWL-failure already). But, I still got a lot done.
PLUS, I participated as a Ninja in Nerd Wars!!!! I was able to submit the OWL hat and five of my squares for the OWL to Flexible Scheduling. The Twisty screw-like cables on my Aran square for Discovery, the Bulky bright-colored scarf and hat to Encyclopedia (reminicent of a picture of a winter carnival), the blue bunny blankie for Nerdology (inviting Elmer Fudd to eat some wabbit with me). Plus I gave a charity donation to a worthy cause for Giving Geeks. Gotta love being a nerd.
Ummm... yeah. Still stuck at the 10 completed from mid-month. Once I realized that I wouldn't be able to finish 25 of these (15 more in six weeks). I kind of crashed on it. I am hoping to still do two more and make a smaller blanket, but it probably won't be til the end of March.
MISSION
I still owe you pictures of the cardigan-in-progress. I proposed my BROOM as the Chocolate Passion Cardigan. The back was super-fast and pretty easy. The panels that go from the bottom center to the front, up the front and then curve around the neck? Not so easy. I've restarted a couple of times. Funny enough, it wasn't the short rows nor the cables that tripped me up the most (although there have been plenty of mis-crossed cables to have to fix). It's mostly been that the directions were really not very clear and have caused me a lot of heartache.
CLASSES
Flying - DONE
Charms & Muggle Studies - DONE
These were hats #4 and #5 from 50 planned for 2013.
DADA - DONE
Herbology - DONE
Divination - DONE
Quidditch x 2 - Two more hats - DONE
I didn't quite get as far as I hoped on the MISSION nor the OWL (in fact, have caved and admitted OWL-failure already). But, I still got a lot done.
PLUS, I participated as a Ninja in Nerd Wars!!!! I was able to submit the OWL hat and five of my squares for the OWL to Flexible Scheduling. The Twisty screw-like cables on my Aran square for Discovery, the Bulky bright-colored scarf and hat to Encyclopedia (reminicent of a picture of a winter carnival), the blue bunny blankie for Nerdology (inviting Elmer Fudd to eat some wabbit with me). Plus I gave a charity donation to a worthy cause for Giving Geeks. Gotta love being a nerd.
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