Lovely new Brooklyn Tweed pattern(s)

Jared Flood has a lovely new hat, the Seasons Hat, available in the new Spring Thaw collection. I'm pretty sure someone at Fibre Space mentioned that it was in stock. Will be buying the book... and probably some Loft (if there's any left!) to make the hat.


(SO not my photo. This is Jared Flood's photo of his amazingly lovely hats.)
In less-famous crafter news, the crafters now have closet space at work.


Yep, that's right, my workplace has an Emergency Yarn Stash. Seriously. There are enough knitters/crocheters that any spare yarn will eventually find its way into a project for someone!!

Well, it's *supposed* to be a lightsaber, anyway

For the final round of Challenge Quidditch this term, the promt was as follows:

Summary: When the spell opens the portal that brings the future selves, they each come through bearing gifts. The gifts are key items to help defeat the Snarfalumps. What was it you received from your doppelganger? Remember, all items must be 25 yards or more, and must be in a Ravelry-approved craft form. You will have 21 days to craft this object. You may start crafting at the sound of the whistle, 12:00 AM PSTon March 1st. All Challenge 3 projects must be posted by March 21st at 11:59 PST.

So, here it is. I've decided that making a red one... didn't quite work. If your mind lives in the gutter, you'll see what I mean; if it doesn't, that's fine, nevermind.


The orignal pattern has a very short, rounded, stubby blade, and I wanted to make a more tapered one - but the original design is REALLY much better, and for the next one I make, I will follow the pattern exactly. And not make it at 2 in the morning, either, which will probably give beter results for the handle, which is also a bit squiffy:


Yeah. So, a way overtired baby sith made this. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

Radiance Shawl: Done!

So, as of Friday, slogging on Order Mission. It's due this coming Saturday, and since (as of Friday) I only had five rows and a cast off left, that shouldn't have been a problem, right? WRONG. that's 15% of the shawl, believe it or not! It's garter stitch, so it goes quickly - for 750+ stitch rows. The yarn/pattern really hangs on itself well because the yarn is so springy - so I've decided NOT to block it. When the cast is off and the ends are wove, that will be it.

But here it is Friday:


I'm not certain I have enough yarn left in this ball, but I bought three because it was going to be close; I figure the row before cast-off is where I'll need to joint the whole new ball. (The leftovers of that ball will be a second Ashton Shawlette, I think.)

I was really REALLY hoping to finish this this past weekend..... AND I DID!!!!


I did, in fact, run out of yarn on the second-to-last row, so I spliced in the new ball and did an EXTRA row, just so there would be two rows between the splice and the cast-off. I ended up doing a crocheted picot border (crochet co 2 st, ch5, crochet co 5st, repeat to end, end with 2 co), and it worked great, and with a bit of poking each loop with a large knitting needle, even *that* didn't need blocking. Seriously. Ready-to-wear shawl! (Also, I love the Wild Hare Galaxy yarn I used to make it. I'll be doing another Dee O'Keefe pattern out of the leftover 480 yards, and hoping to find more Wild Hare Galaxy in the future!).

(Also, I'm making another one of these eventually.)

Homestretch

So, I'm slogging away on my Radiance Shawl for my Order Mission. It's due next Saturday, and since I've only got five rows and a cast off left, that should be no problem, right? WRONG. that's 15% of the shawl, believe it or not! It's garter stitch, so it goes quickly - for 750+ stitch rows. The yarn/pattern really hangs on itself well because the yarn is so springy - so I've decided NOT to block it. When the cast is off and the ends are wove, that will be it.

But here it is in its final hours:


I'm not certain I have enough yarn left in this ball, but I bought three because it was going to be close; I figure the row before cast-off is where I'll need to joint the whole new ball. (The leftovers of that ball will be a second Ashton Shawlette, I think.)

I'm really REALLY hoping to finish this this weekend. Slytherin needs the points, and it's getting to be lovely shawl weather out there!

Muggle Studies - Surprise!

I unexpectedly did a class Tuesday morning from some yarn that one of the ladies at work gave me. "Unexpectedly", since I wasn't sure I'd actually finish in a day - but I did! Anyway, here's the little critters I turned in:

Options: 1, something In Threes - 2, something green.
Project Page: Three Shamrock Bookmarks
Yards: about 25 apiece, so 75 total (with a bit more for the four-leafed one, but call it 75 anyway lest Maths become involved)

These are made with an EYEBLEED chartreuse yarn, so they don't really photograph well if there's any light in the room. (You see the problem.) This is probably the best shot:


These are really quick, if you need something fast & green to wear on Saturday!!