Saturday, I got to go to the Uniquites Fiber Festival. Got there early, peered in the doors a lot while waiting for the opening bell...
... then headed directly to the Wild Hare Fiber Studio area, where I scored a total win: GALAXY! The WHFS Galaxy is both sparkly and springy, and it's my hands-down favorite yarn in the world. I *did* leave some for other people, because that's only fair, but I was only able to get one wee skein last year, so I went a bit nuts this time around.
Once I got home, I started to wind it up. And since I had the ball winder up, and was on kind of a winding jag, I hunted down all the other unwound skeins in the house...
... I'm about halfway done with it all. Then: THE KNITTING!
Yeah, so, not only was I TWO BALLS of yarn short to actually finish a pair of socks, I was also dramatically short on time.
This is sock #1, which is about 2.5 balls of yarn into the project. (I had four balls of Kroy; I need six, apparently. Thankfully the SECOND A.C. Moore I hit today had it, phew!)
Will finish, they'll be lovely, but OMB second sock syndrome will be trying to strike me down!
Um. I have five days left to finish a pair of gigantic kilt hose, and (at the same time!) have eleven days left to finish my intarsia sweater. Good thing I'm having trouble sleeping (I guess)....
In the meantime, I'm going to attempt to share a video with you.
In theory, that's pretty pinwheels I planted in my yard yesterday in a fit of "NOT KNITTING". (In practice, I bet I haven't quite figured out this embedding thing yet.)
Make iPod cozies! Regular ones don't fit my Otterbox-clad ancient iPods, so Something Must Be Done. Which basically involved "hm, cast about this many on, then pick up from the other side, then knit about this much, then make an edging, HEY IT WORKED!"
To wit:
The cover on the covered iPod
See?
Yes, that's "Music for You and your Cat"
Also known as "Muggle Studies Homework for March".
So... um... really, I have been crafting in 2013. There was the bit with the cartooning, too, and the getting-a-new-thingie-for-the-house thing, and the leaving-my-job-because-the-building-was-killing-me thing. But crafting, too.
January:
February:
See? Actual crafting! Um, details on some of the projects to follow. Assuming, of course, that I just don't hide under the sofa until 2014...
So in addition to working on cartoon for Katsucon (it's over, some sold, yay), I've been lead on one section of the Super-Secret Project, which has now been revealed to be Hogsmeade Weekend at HPKCHC.
I'm lead Postal Facilitator at the Owl Post! The event takes place Friday Feb 22 (today!) through the 24th, 2013. The Owl Post is located in the Hufflepuff Den, and if you're a Ravelry member, please go take a look, I had a blast writing everything up. And making icons, because I like making icons.
And because I want a record where I can find them... here they all are!
So, remember my OWL proposal? It was for an actual h-t-g Argyle sweater with intarsia and everything. The swatch looked thus:
See that swatch there with its five measly bobbins?
The sweater goes all the way to ELEVEN.
I got almost all the way through the first row of diamonds on the front panel. You can tell that on the left side of the two photos below. About when I was almost all the way through those diamonds? I realized my side-shaping was supposed to go over EIGHT inches, not FOUR.
*headdesk*
So I got to frog ELEVEN BOBBINS worth of intarsia.
Yeah. It sucked a LOT. I was trying to go back to the row of the second decrease, but the bobbins weren't behaving, the few reknits I did looked wonky... so I went back to the very first row of the thing.
SIGH.
At least putting the diamonds back IN is going really well, since I really, really understand the structure of the intarsia diamonds now!!
For Quidditch Challenge the First for this month, we had to make something that would keep the sun out of our eyes. Since I'm slowly (well, okay, not that slowly) turning into a night owl, what came to mind possibly wasn't what the coaches were thinking we'd make:
Hooray, I nap-tested it in bright daylight (or as bright as it gets in my house).
And for the eighth and final class this month, I did Muggle Studies. I chose - Option: Explain what the promise is, how you've broken it, and what action you are taking now. I decided to finish a shawl I'd started with some amazing yarn I'd picked up at the TKGA convention this summer.
The promise: Make a pretty shawl for my Mom for her birthday. How it was broken: Mom's birthday was, um, earlier. Before this shawl was completed.
Screenshot of Original Project Page for Proof of Not-Finished-ness
How I'm fixing it: The shawl stalled horribly when there was some sort of counting error happened in the last bump. And it was bad enough that I couldn't figure out how to fix it.
So I frogged it.
And now I'm reknitting it back, and will give it to Mom. It's just a little late!
drapes beautifully over shoulders
almost a five-foot wingspan!
pretty shadows
I have to thank the Hogwarts professors for the idea of this class. Without it, this shawl might never have happened, and I just *love* the way it turned out!
Yes, the Crazy got me again, and I decided to try a potions OWL. Now I've learned that an OWL has to be something I really REALLY want, so this time, I'm doing a very particular sweater. Here's the proposal:
Hello, Professors! This is CraftyGryphon of Gryffindor House. I would like to sit for my O.W.L. Examination in Potions this term. I will be taking Option 1: Create something using multiple strands of yarn or fiber in the same object. The intent of this exam is to demonstrate an ability to work with color and value. Knitters, this is an opportunity to go wild with stranded designs, double knitting, intarsia, etc.
I propose to make an Argyle Sweater. I was given a drop-dead lovely one for Christmas this year - and it was much too small. I still want the sweater, though (and go figure, it’s fashion, so of course it’s been discontinued - not that it would matter, it was never made in my size to begin with!). So, I need to knit one for myself!
Of course, I don’t’ actually have a pattern. I have a schematic, so once I had gauge (see below), I was able to figure out exactly what I was knitting. Since the sweater is fairly wide across, there will be a total of five diamonds across, front and back. I will also be doing some subtle waist shaping, as knitting straight leads to boxy, and “boxy” does not flatter my figure at all. I want an argyle motif on each sleeve, as well.
Photograph(s) of the yarn(s) and any unusual needles or materials involved. Materials List: 3.5 balls off white, 3 balls black and 7 balls red of Paton’s Classic Wool 2 balls Vanna’s Choice in Silver Size 7 bamboo needles Yarn needle
Schematic
Two or three sentences describing the planned crafting sequence and analyzing any areas of potential difficulty or new skills needed.
I’m going to be knitting the front and the back pieces of the sweater separately, checking sizing for each against my master schematic as I go, making sure the level of my diamonds match up, that the shaping matches up, etc. Once the front and back pieces are properly completed, I’ll block them, then do all the duplicate stitch. Then I’ll seam them and weave in the ends. Then I’ll do the set-in sleeves, top down, INSETTING AS I GO. (Yes, *with* Intarsia!) I’ve found this is the best way to (a) make sure the short rows are placed so the shoulder cap fits me and (b) I have no idea how this is actually going to work with intarsia. That’s part of the adventure, yes? Then the sleeves will be blocked, the duplicate stitches added to them, and all the ends woven in. Then the whole sweater will be blocked once again, just to be sure. And then I will FINALLY have my Christmas sweater, wooo!
The difficulty is (a) this sweater involves four panesl of intarsia in three different colors (four if you count the duplicate stitch), which I’ve done exactly once before; (b) it is almost all-over duplicate stitch with SPARKLY YARN, even once the actual knitting is finished; and (c) this is NOT a small sweater. I am not a small girl; this is going to be fitted to me, which is commercially somewhere between 2X and 3X. That’s a lot of stockinette - and did I mention it’s INTARSIA? Plus, my OWL completion rate has been dismal - of the seven I have attempted, I’ve only managed to finish three, so I’m trying to make a proposal that I actually have a CHANCE of finishing in three months. No More Dead OWLs!
Photograph of your swatch(es).
I have one swatch, which shows the basic Argyle diamond that is the basis of the design, complete with the duplicate stitch across it. I have blocked it, and used the resulting gauge to make my schematic. I used the swatch to try different things with the silver yarn; one strand on the bottom of the white diamond, and two strands looped on the top. On the black diamond are two strands parallel, which gives the best result, so that's what I'll be using for the sweater. There's also a photo of the swatch in progress, so you can see that it really truly is intarsia, and not stranded.
I really think this project is OWL-worthy given the time available and my skill set, Professors. Just in case you were worried that I'd have too much time, I carefully delayed my proposal until last minute. (Um. Really... it's not that life got squirrelly on me again or anything.) Thanks for your consideration!!
For Muggle Studies this month, we needed to discover a muggle Wrock (Wizard Rock) band. Since I already had one on my iPod (okay, okay, several), it was pretty easy. What wasn't so easy was finding one I liked with a logo - any logo at all! Ended up creating my own.
Here's the turn-in post:
Gosh, Professors, how did you know there was a Mudbloods reunion concert last night?? Like THE Mudbloods?
They have so many songs I love, but my favorite is t his one: Freedom is Only a Hippogryff Away
Lyrics:
Well, hippogriffs come flying in the morning
And leave me here alone.
And if I wait here long enough to meet them
I know my day is done.
And when they take me flying in the sky,
I'll be singing hallelujahs out loud!
I'll lift my arms and feel the wind a' blowin'
I'll laugh aloud and raise my wand.
(Chorus)
And with a little bit of love,
With a little bit of life,
With a little bit of sunshine?
You know that I'll be gone!
When I reach my destination shore,
My cave out by the sea?
I'll sit all day by my fire drinking whisky
'Til I know my name is clean.
(Chorus)
And with a little bit of love,
With a little bit of life,
With a little bit of sunshine?
You know that I'll be gone!
And, of course, here's the (OMG I HAVE A MUDBLOODS BUTTON!!!) button I got!
Seriously, it's like this menacing "M" staring at you from a pool of blood, but that's just the "B" turned on its side. Eee!
I hadn't seen the opening act, Dragonclaw, before - I think they're new, but they were really good. More hard wrock than The Mudbloods, who are really more indie-wrock, don't you think? Anyway, eventually they came on - even Adam was back with the band, which was SOOOOO cool. They sang everything off their albums, and some of the special stuff they'd done with The Harry Potters, and a couple of covers. (Is there a wrock band out there that DOESN'T cover ALLCAPS's "Lumos Flies"?) Seriously, it was so much fun that I didn't even mind that you hadn't enclosed a return ticket home - that's what brooms are for, right? I was so happy I probably could've flown home WITHOUT the broom, anyway!
So, instead of knitting, I've been using most of this week to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.
And, just so you know, I'm evidently "growing up" at the end of next week.
So far, the things under consideration, in no particular order, are:
Writer (short stories, novels, nonfiction)
Cartoonist (strip or page)
Designer (cross-stitch, knitting, crochet and stained glass)
Artist (stained glass, painting)
Musician (new age)
Worst case, I go back to pushing paper in an office somewhere - which isn't really a "worst" at all. And if I end up procrastinating the heck out of whatever it is I choose to do, I should wind up with a clean, organized house, cleaned out garage, organized yarn stash, and all the furniture in the house build, rearranged and finished.
Why now? Because I finally figured out that I'm getting a chance to *actually pursue* my dreams. If you get a chance like this, grab it with both hands! Even if you crash and burn, you'll have tried!
Didn't do much knitting last week (and didn't post at all) due to being one of the 1.28 million Americans that had the flu.
Here's the Hexipuff Tally from last week, though...
Wheee!!
The second part of my Hermionie Badge for January was my first class. The prompt for Divination was really cool - the professors do a great job of putting down a cool little scene for each class - but one of the options was "cat", so I stopped there.
This is my very first Hexipuff, which is a Siamese Cat (sorta, but you get the idea).
Basically, you knit up a little two-sided hexagon and fill it with stuffing. Jess, has this great process photo on her blog Make & Do Girl, which really explains it well:
This is Jess's photo from this post, which gives you a good window into that which is Hexipuff Mania.
(While going through her blog, I also found this photo, which makes me even more determined to get to the Lion Brand store in NYC at some point. And to keep reading Jess's blog.)
I also, whilst looking at all the amazing Hexipuff/Beekeeper things out there, found a tiny Slytherin snake chart (and a Hufflepuff badger) here on BirdHeartsBear's blog. And oooo! There's a Gryffindor lion, a Ravenclaw eagle and a Snitch chart here!! Hooray!!
So, new year, new term at Hogwarts/HPKCHC (which means regular blog updates again)! I'm a Gryffidor this term (a B-1... guess starting again as a firstie wasn't allowed), and Gryffidor is all about the Badges. The first one up is a Hermione Badge (collecting three of these lets you trade in for a previous train badge you might have missed... um, Gryffindor also has a Crazy Train, with an Engine badge, a Caboose badge, and badges for each month. Hermione badges are not redeemable for Engines or Cabooses.). To get it, you have to finish and turn in a detention project *and* your first class. This was my detention project: the Shadowbox Mitts I dreamt up during the Woolly Thoughs class I attended in October.
Here they are with the pieces all stitched together:
And here's the number of ends that needed to be woven in:
Yeah, that was a little hairy. And may or may not be *completely* finished just yet... but enough so that they're wearable, which is why I'm wearing them today.
I am a craftaholic. While this blog is allegedly just about knitting (to join the zillions of other knitblogs out there), other crafts may sneak in from time to time.
They have so many songs I love, but my favorite is t his one: Freedom is Only a Hippogryff Away
Seriously, it's like this menacing "M" staring at you from a pool of blood, but that's just the "B" turned on its side. Eee!
Wheee!!
