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