It's getting a little crazy up in here...

Oh good grief, there is another event to tell you about.  The Mad Dash is starting!  The Dash (as I like to call it) is hosted by the Stash Knit Down Group on Ravelry.  The goal is to process (i.e., knit, crochet, spin, or weave) 12,000 yards of yarn, either individually or as part of a team, between February 15th and March 31st.  I have been assigned to Team Mad Hatters (because, while I may not always have all of my marbles, I'm not mad enough to think I can do 12,000 yards on my own!) and I have pledged to contribute at least 3,000 yards (approx. 1.7 miles) to the effort.  The great thing about the Dash is that it does not require any specific project, it is purely about the yardage.  Therefore, it overlaps with all of the other events I'm participating in.  Thank goodness.  

Speaking of events, I owe you all an update on my Ravellenic progress.  But before we do that, I have other news...I have earned my 30-day cold sheeping badge!

(The image was designed by, and is used with the kind permission of, K.K. Batts.)

While we're obviously not in ticker tape parade territory, I am quite proud of this accomplishment.  (Sadly, it was much harder than you might think.)  In this past month, I have definitely learned more about my yarn spending habits, what emotional triggers drive me to want new yarn to make it all better, and where I run into trouble with substitute shopping.  (For example, I went on a bit of a button buying binge after a particularly challenging week at work.  While I did truly need buttons, let us just say that now I truly don't need any more for a while.)  All in all, I feel that I'm starting to have a better and more satisfying relationship with my craft, particularly as I continue to focus on my WIPs and see them one by one moving toward completion.  As much as I have loved knitting to this point, I am pleasantly surprised to find my enjoyment of it deepening still further.  Who could have guessed?  So I think we can say that, so far, the cold sheeping/stash appreciation experiment is a success. 

Okay, now for the update.  I promised you finished objects and here they are:

The buttons on the black cardigan make me deliriously happy.  Here is a close up of one:

In addition to the above, I've finished the knitting part of the Thunderstorm Swirl.  It still needs to be seamed.  I actually ran out of the super-special hand-painted commercial yarn I was using (I was maybe 20 yards short.  Aaarrrrrgh!) so I ended up modifying the pattern.  I won't know whether or not the changes will work until I finish seaming, but that just makes it that much more exciting, right? 

I have also finished the sleeves on the Mink Cardigan, which is great of course, but I'm finding that it is turning into quite the high maintenance project.  First, as previously mentioned, it suggested to me that it might want to have pockets.  Sure, why not? I thought.  Pockets will be great.  Then it told me in no uncertain terms that it needed a wide cabled trim along the front pieces and the collar.  Okay, I said.  If you insist.  Now that it knows I am a push over, it is starting to mumble about needing a hood, too.  I'm trying to explain to it that we are on a deadline and there are other cardigans that need attention.  I even put it on time out while I moved on to the Thunderstorm Swirl.  But I am only fooling myself.  We all know that if it wants a hood, it's going to get a hood.  Meanwhile, the Ravellenic countdown clock is mocking me.  Seven and a half days left to sew up the Swirl, finish two more cardigans, spin the camel/silk fiber, and get that other Swirl frogged.  Thank goodness it is a three-day weekend!

All right, time for me to get back to work.  Next weekend is the Stitches West fiber arts convention in Santa Clara.*  I've signed up for four classes to learn new skills for using up that stash, so I look forward to giving you a full report.  Have a great week!


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*http://www.knittinguniverse.com/WEST

WIP Dancing As Fast As I Can

Yesterday marked the start of the 2014 Ravellenic Games.  The Ravellenic Games are a very large* international KAL occurring every couple of years with absolutely no affiliation with a certain other large international event that occurs every couple of years.**  Unlike that other event, the Ravellenic Games are not a competition, but rather are an opportunity to challenge yourself while enjoying the online companionship of other like-minded fiber enthusiasts.  We participate in teams (I am a proud member of Team Stashdown 2014) and can enter any of a number of events based on a specific activity or theme.  Everyone who completes an event receives a "medal," i.e., a badge to place on their Ravelry project page.

This year, my main event is "WIP Dancing."  WIP Dancing encompasses any project that was started prior to the beginning of the Games that is finished during the Games.  My plan is to finish all five of the cardigans mentioned in my January 24, 2014 post before the Games end on February 23rd.  If that does not sound ambitious enough, I also have two other Events on my list: 

1.  Aerial Unwind

The goal of the Aerial Unwind is to frog an abandoned project.  Sometimes when a project is not working out and is not salvageable, we knitters go into denial and leave the project on the needles indefinitely rather than frogging it and reclaiming the yarn for a more noble (or at least more successful) purpose.   Those of us in that boat find motivation and encouragement in the Aerial Unwind.

Here is my Aerial Unwind entry:

It was my first attempt at making a Swirl.  Much like the story about the Precious, I was using handspun, kept running out of yarn and having to spin more, and then found out after trying on Swirls that I was making an unflattering shape for me.  My hesitation in frogging it is that it is made from three different yarns that were alternated, so the potential for tangling is rather great.  In fact, when I announced it as an Aerial Unwind entry on Ravelry, I received multiple messages of sympathy for the daunting task ahead.  Regardless, it must be done as the particular handspun yarn I used is very special to me and absolutely must be used for something else.

2.  Flying Camel Spin

The Flying Camel Spin is simply the event for spinners.  Any spun yarn started and completed during the Games qualifies.  While my original intention was to simply focus on my knitting for the Games, when I saw the name of the event, I couldn't resist.  Why?  Because I have the perfect fiber for it (which will serve as my featured stash item):

How could someone with a pound of 50% baby camel/50% silk in their stash not enter this event?  I mean really.  I don't have to spin the whole pound to medal, just one skein.  So, depending on how things go with the WIP Dancing, I think it is doable. 

While I'm not ready to report on my WIP Dancing progress, let us just say for now that things are looking good.  Loyal readers who have expressed a strong desire to see more finished projects may find themselves a little happier with me over the next week or so ;).  With that, back to knitting!





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*At last count, there were 7,232 participants
**Here is some background in this article and this one.

So much knitting, so little time

Wow, so January happened.  How about that?  Maybe I shouldn't have blinked.

One of the things I love about the fiber arts community, and the Ravelry community in particular, is that we know how to keep ourselves busy with fiber stuff.  Things are really hopping this first quarter 2014.  I've mentioned the Spin A LOT (aka "Spin something big") challenge (I'm down to 3 lbs. of Shetland left!), which is hosted by the Spin Your Stash Ravelry group, as well as the "New-to-You" knit-along ("KAL") for the ESK Yarnathon.  This weekend marks the beginning of a KAL I've been really looking forward to, hosted by the Cold Sheep and Friends Ravelry group.  It's called "Shrine of the Precious," and the challenge is to pick that precious item from your stash that you have avoided using because it is so special that it must only be used for that phenomenal, perfect, transcendent project that you haven't quite thought of yet, but are sure you will think of someday (but once you think of it you probably still won't make it because you're sure you'll mess it up).  Yep, that's the one.  And it provides a perfect segue into the still unnamed segment* in which I feature an item from my stash...

Meet the Precious

There are definitely a few candidates in the stash pile, but hands down the one that rises to the top is my handspun yak/merino/silk yarn.

Yak has become extremely popular in the fiber arts community because it is almost as fine as cashmere, but usually a lot less expensive.  This particular yak blend, which came from Ashland Bay, is a dream to spin.  Sometimes when you are dealing with blends of different fibers it can be challenging to spin smoothly, but this stuff is like butter.  Early last year, when I was in the beginnings of my Swirl obsession, I decided I would use this yarn to make a Swirl.  Well...I thought spinning it was wonderful, but knitting with it?  Best Yarn Ever.  The Swirl ultimately did not work out.  I had spun a bunch of the yarn, but Swirls are yarn eaters and I ran out of already spun yarn.  I still had some fiber, so I tried spinning up more yarn, but it came out at a different gauge and when I added it to the Swirl in progress, it was way too bulky.  The Swirl was turning into a complete mess.  Also, in the interim, I had the opportunity to try on a few different styles of Swirls (they are various shapes) and discovered that the pattern I had picked was not particularly flattering on me.  So I decided to frog the Swirl (and went on to make other Swirls in other shapes with other fibers).  Anyway, of course, I decided to get more of the yak fiber blend because I was clearly enjoying it so much.  And I discovered a horrible thing:  Ashland Bay discontinued the fiber blend!  Yes, they still do a yak/silk blend and a yak/merino blend, but no more perfectly blended, life changing, yak/merino/silk blend.  Waaaaaaaaaaaa!  I bought up as much as I could still find lingering in various vendors' stocks, but it was not enough.  It could never be enough....

Obviously, I would never be able to use this yarn without the help of a support group.  Yarn is not meant to remain balled up in the stash, metaphorically guarded by barbed wire fencing and vicious dogs.  Yarn is meant to be converted into finished objects that are used and treasured.  So, with the virtual hand holding of my cold sheeping friends, I have bravely decided this yarn will be transformed into a hoodie so I can wear it all the time and it will feel like my favorite yarn is giving me a hug.

The Shrine of the Precious challenge runs through March 31st, so expect progress reports as things, well, progress.

Checking In

If you were paying close attention, you realized that participating in the Shrine of the Precious challenge means I need to cast on yet another new project, so, speaking of progress--perhaps we do indeed need to speak a bit about progress!

Since I last typed at you, the modified Grand Plage Cardigan has been moving right along:
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It will have two buttons in the front.  I've placed locking stitch markers to show where they will be.  And it will have long sleeves.  As you know my history with sleeves, now is the time to place your bets as to when this will actually be finished.  (But don't tell me your guesses, you might hurt my feelings, lol.  If you say "by St. Patrick's Day," I will know you are picking on me.) 

I have also made progress on the Mink Cardigan. 

It is not yet sewn together, but is temporarily held together by locking stitch markers for trying on/photographing purposes.  It will also have long sleeves, and it has told me that it now wants side pockets.  Sometimes you just have to give the garment what it wants.

So, we are pretty much in a situation where most of my cardigan WIPs need sleeves to move forward.  It's going to be a fun month.  I am not discouraged!

WIPs cont.:  Roll in the Tanks

Lest you become too impressed by my cardigan progress, I give you the next installment of the WIP Parade--tanks/sleeveless tops in progress.  I do not yet have Ravelry pages up for these as they are way way down on the priority list as compared to the cardigans, but I expect they will get more of my attention as we get closer to spring.

This one is furthest along:

This is the completed back.  The front will have a V-neck.  The yarn is a merino/silk/cashmere blend.**  The yarn is so fine that I am holding it double to make this top and it is still pretty lightweight.

This is the beginning of the back of a tank:

I primarily started this one because I wanted to try out the stitch pattern (found in Barbara G. Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns) but wanted to do something more than a swatch. Here is a close up of the stitch pattern, which is a mock cable combined with a twisted rib:

The yarn is made from 85% recycled cotton and 15% recycled cashmere.  Once the tank is finished, it will be wonderful to wear in summer.

Here is another beginning of a back:

I started this to try out the yarn.  It is a merino wool blend that includes milk protein, among other things.  I have milk protein fiber, but haven't actually tried spinning it yet.  Because the yarn is from a blend, I cannot really tell what properties the milk protein adds to the mix, but the yarn is nice and soft.  It is also thick, so this will definitely be a top for cooler weather.

I think that's it for now---I've got a hoodie to cast on.  Until next time...***

                        
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*"Stash Dive"?  "The Treasure Chest"?  "Yarn and/or Fiber of the Week"?  "Stash Flash"?  Maybe I need to have a naming contest.
**Most of the yarns I am using in my WIPs (including this one) are commercial yarns, i.e., not spun by me.  You may correctly assume that if a yarn in question is my handspun, I will most certainly tell you. 
*** ...when hopefully there will be some sleeve progress to show off??