The Neverending Tablecloth

OWL Progress - heading into the homestretch now, as the finished product has less than a month to... well, become a finished product. Here's where I was at my last turn-in (end of February). From where I stopped before (several years ago!!), I did an additional 40 rows:


The little silver arrow in the photo shows where I started - and the forty new rows to the right. Just 32 rows left to finish this. I am REALLY looking forward to having it finished up!!


Just 32 rows... sigh... I'd better get cracking!

All the Way to Eleven

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!!

OWL Progress

So, over the weekend, I was able to get everything up through Row Six finished. (I have to do through Row 13 and the corners to be at 50%.) Here's how they looked about halfway through Row Five:


I then decided that no, I really really wanted to do the sun-through-window color & intensity gradation starting with palest in the upper left to darkest around the bottom and right borders. So, I needed to put in for approval to add more colors to my project (but otherwise not change the actual design or product.

Basically, I'm adding bright-bright yellow, orange and green, pastel peach and pink, and dark red and purple.


Here's one block up with Row Twelve started (thirteen will be dusky pink outside it). I think at least the pastel blocks are going to look phenomenal; I'm hoping the rest do, as well!!



Fingers crossed!!

This term, I'm trying Transfiguration.

Well, new term, new OWL attempt. I'm going for Transfiguration this time, and making a Stained Glass Window Afghan. I made my swatch (which, I guess, is now a Pillow Top) from leftover last-OWL yarn.


The yarn intended for this OWL survived the flood, mostly by virtue of having been tied tightly into plastic bags to keep it from getting separated and lost in the house until May 1.


These are the colors I chose, although some others may get added (same company yarn, same weight, just darker) to give a light-through-window effect. It might work, it might not, we'll see.



That's through Row 4, about to start the first bit of surface crochet. (Once that's done, the "blocks" look like tiny yarn shuriken.) I need to get past Row 13 for my 50% mark, so I've got to get hopping!

March/End-of-Term Wrap-Up

I got a LOT finished this term:



Seriously. That's a LOT. As a result, I got two awards:



And here's the list for March (so I can find it later:
1. Potions, Yuccalike (Hat Trick #1), turned in post 20, marked complete 33, March 7;
2. CoMC, Adam's Toothless, turned in post 92, marked complete 111, March 8;
3. Headmistress's Challenge, post 125, tallied post ____, March 8;
4. Arithmancy, DNA Cup Cozie, turned in post 142, marked complete post 155, March 12;
5. Charms, Coeurs et Fleurs Snood, turned in post 115, marked complete 135, March 12;
6. Muggle Studies, Three Shamrock Bookmarks, turned in post 222, marked complete post 230, March 13;
7. Detention, Emergency Detention Shamrock Coaster, turned in post 200, marked complete post 6, March 13;
8. Order Mission, Radiance Shawl, turned in post 1613, accepted 1614, March 19;
9. Challenge Quidditch #3, Little Sith Saber, turned in 3171, accepted post ____, March 20;
10. Quidditch #4, Hexagon Boot Slippers for Him, turned in post 3370, scored post ____, March 26;
11. Quidditch #5, Hexagon Boot Slippers for Me, turned in post 3370, scored post ____, March 26;
12. DADA, Flat-Bottomed Ball Bag, turned in post 376, marked complete post _____, March 30;
13-20. Quidditch #6-13, Bunny Nugget Army of DOOOOOOOOM, turned in post 3464, scored post ______, March 30;
21. Quidditch #14, Freezer Pop Cozy, turned in post 3465, scored post ____, March 30;
22. OWL, Tree Skirt Invisibility Cloak, Final Exam turned in 367, accepted post _____, March 31;
23. Quidditch #15, Freezer Pop Cozy II, turned in post _____, scored post ____, March 31;

Defense Against the Dark Arts - OWL Exam Success!

So, last week was a horrid combo of lots of work, lots and LOTS of pollen, and trying desperately to Not Fail my DADA OWL exam. I have survived, and the blog will be back to regular M-F updates for the foreseeable future (ie, until the end of next term at the end of July.) Here it is, finished, the Tree Skirt of DOOOOOOM.

OWL - Defense Against the Dark Arts, Option 2 - Tree Skirt Invisibility Cloak
Proposal submitted post 409, pre-approved post 580, approved post 865
50% OWL - turned in post 564, accepted post 676

100% OWL - turned in post 367!

Hello, dear Examiners!

IT IS FINISHED! Originally, I was hoping we'd have a nice snowy winter with storms well into march so I could hide in a snowbank near some bushes and blend in. Oh well, not the case, and not really the weather at all for a nice, heavy cloak - but here it is!!


Completed DADA OWL in Tree Skirt Form


Completed DADA OWL in full-circle cloak form (neck to knee proof)


Completed DADA OWL rendering me completely invisible

I expect to officially use it mostly in Tree Skirt form, more or less. It will go well with my white-with-synchronized-lights Christmas tree this year!

Whee! Done!!!

Can't sleep, must crochet!

Argh.



So, the big blocks actually needed to be a LOT bigger to make everything work properly, and I might actually be one short of those. So much for being at the "just seam everything together" point.

GAH.

I WILL NOT FAIL THIS OWL!!

50% of an O.W.L.

So, I did make my 50% mark (and then some, actually!) on my Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. Since I'm still trying to catch up on blogposts, here's my turn-in post from Wednesday....

Name: CraftyGryphon
House: Slytherin, Sixth Year
Project Page: Tree Skirt Invisibility Cloak
Proposal Post: submitted post 409
Tags: sqwin12 dadaowl defenseagainstthedarkartsowl owlwinter2012
Yards (so far): 3,215.5 (isn't as bad as I thought it might be at this point.)

Hello, Examiners! I made it!!

Proposed 50% Mark: Halfsies!! There are 36 edge squares, 12 big trapezoids, 24 inner trapezoids, and then all the center stuff. The total area of actual crochet (last column, below) is approximately 63 square feet; half is about 31.5 square feet. The 50% point falls about just under 1/4 of the way through the 12" block section, so 1/4 of the 12" blocks (i.e., 3 blocks) plus 24 6" inner blocks plus the 18" of clusters should get me over the 50% mark.

What I've actually got done: 36 edge squares, 12 big trapezoids, 24 inner trapezoids, and all the center stuff. Which is all the component parts, yay! And yet... there is still more to do! I've actually got to join everything together, and math being what it is, it appears I will need to make an additional four small trapezoids for the bottom row. (I evidently calculated a nice pie-wedge opening, instead of the actual "hey, this needs to be straight-closed down the front" that actually happened.)

Here's everything finished thus far, sort of spread out. On a king-sized bed. Except for the 34 outer-edge trapezoids that are dumped in the middle.


The stuff dumped in the middle.


An earlier progress photo to show that there's actually a hole in the center of the thing, which was entirely covered by trapezoids in the other two shots:


Getting it all together and hanging properly AND lying flat is really turning into a challenge. I'm not using any sort of pattern, just making it up as I go, and it's a bit trickier than expected. I'm getting pretty good at figuring out how to crochet pretty strange shapes on the fly, although there's been a LOT of ripping back to get things to work. Whee?

I think I've got a good shot at actually finishing this thing. It's eating up an AMAZING amount of yarn - half a bongo bag so far - and it's going to make a really pretty tree skirt/cloak. But mostly tree skirt, which will be wonderful with my electric-white fake Christmas tree!!

February Wrap-Up

Okay, some of these you haven't seen yet (because I was sick), but they'll show up over the next week. Especially the Invasion Pending.



1. Muggle Studies - Gerald the Groundhog, turned in post 32, marked complete 74, February 2
2. Care of Magical Creatures - TARDIS Dishcloth, turned in Post 82, marked complete post 157, February 6
3. Astronomy - Little Redskins Fan, turned in post 73, marked complete post 85, February 7
4. Charms - Hearts' Illusion Mitts, turned in post 110, marked complete in posts 184 and 193, February 9
5. History of Magic - Sybil's Slytherin Scarf, turned in post 80, marked complete 96, February 13
6. Quidditch - Be My Dishcloth, turned in post 2174, accepted post 2539, February 13
7. Detention - One Fish, Two Fish, turned in 287, marked complete post 309, February 14 (Badge awarded!)
8. Challenge Quidditch #2 - TKGA Level One Hat, turned in post 2224, accepted post 2540, February 14
9. Herbology - Gryphon Hat, turned in post 180, marked complete post 219, February 17
10. Hogsmeade Weekend, Owl Post Assistance - Highly-Visible Owl Cup Cozie, turned in post 167, marked complete post 204, February 19
10-1/2. Hogsmeade Weekend, Shrieking Shack - Got the "I'm More Terrifying than Tom Riddle!" badge for this story
11. BBC Scarfgate Scarf of Doom - not Hogwarts-related, just for fun, February 28
12. Regular Quidditch - Item #3, Entrelac Hat for Me, post 2709, tallied post _____, February 28
13. 50% OWL - Tree Skirt Invisibility Cloak, turned in post 564, accepted post ____, February 28

March classes drop tomorrow (of course), and, per the picture above, I've got a Bunny Nugget Army preparing to launch!!

January Wrap-Up

Time for the January Wrap-Up! Woohoo!! I did actually get a lot finished in January. According to the list, in fact, I finished 9 things!



1. Detention - Holy Hand Grenade of Albuquerque, turned in post #166, accepted post #265, January 1

2. Defense Against the Dark Arts - Trick Hat (Hat Trick #1), turned in post 14, marked complete post 61, January 1

3. OWL - Defense Against the Dark Arts, Option 2 - Tree Skirt Invisibility Cloak, submitted post 409, pre-approved post 580, approved post 865, January 1

4. BROOM - Department: Central Command, Mission: #12 Grimmauld Place - Radience Shawl, submitted post 94, approved post 108, January 3
5. Arithmancy - Honeycomb Hat (Hat Trick #2), turned in post #137, accepted post #176, January 6

6. Muggle Studies - Lobster Trap Scarf, turned in post 319, marked complete 366, January 17

7. Potions - Ruffly Boa, turned in post 524, marked complete post #542, January 17

8. Challenge Quidditch #1 - Time Capsule Cozy, turned in post #1031, January 18

9. Care of Magical Creatures - Slytherin Broomstick, turned in (jointly with PeterRabbitFan) post 392, marked complete post 511, January 20

10. Quidditch 1 of 15 - Blue Feza Entrelac Hat for spouse, turned in post 1561, in queue as of January 23, 2009, submitted January 23

11. Transfiguraton - Ashton Shawlette, turned in post 225, marked complete post #303, January 26

... and started, but not finished yet:
12. Quidditch 2 of 15 - Bunny Nugget, in favorites as of October 22, 2009
13. Quidditch 3 of 15 - Bunny Nugget, in favorites as of October 22, 2009
14. Quidditch 4 of 15 - Bunny Nugget, in favorites as of October 22, 2009
15. Quidditch 5 of 15 - Wisp, in queue as of April 14, 2011
16. Quidditch 6 of 15 - Entrelac Hat for me, in queue as of January 23, 2009

OWL: Defense Against The Dark Arts

So, I turned in my OWL proposal. After totally failing to figure out a new-to-me Transfiguration skill that would work with my proposed project, and wanting to save Potions until later (since I don't really need it for either NEWT), I decided to go with Defense Against the Dark Arts, Option Two: Make an Invisibility Cloak. Since I was already planning to make a Tree Skirt/Cloak, it was probably the best fit for the project anyway. I still had a BUNCH of yarn:


... but opted for steel crochet hooks. I also bought an amazingly lovely Brittany size J my last trip to Nature's Yarns (just last Tuesday) - and I've already lost in in the house!


I had to re-do my swatch, to make it easier to see - and also because I figured if I started with 9 central stitches, went to sc-chx9 in the 2nd row, then I could start the dc clusters 2-2-2-3 on the sides, and the trapezoid would form nicely on its own. See?


I also did a swatch for the central portion - which I hadn't done before. Looking at the original tree skirt, in some cases, rounds were made bigger by the simple expedient of adding more stitches to a cluster - and it works!




See? 3dc cluster, 4dc cluster, 3dc cluster
does actually make the outer row not stretch funny!
I had pre-approval from the Assistant Examiner by Tuesday evening, and just had to wait for final approval to get started! Woohoo!!

I really need to pass my OWL exam next term...

Preparation for the Potions Transfiguration OWL (a snap decision if ever there was one) has begun. The idea: a Tree Skirt based on one that Anthropologie is selling. Granny squares, and lots and lots of color. Mine's gonna be a little bit bigger, though.

As in "might double as a cloak if I do it correctly". To be fair, they actually offer two: one in lots of colors and Granny Squares, and one in a nice off-white with lots and lots of stitches (a sampler skirt, really).

I've got my design (more or less):


I've got my first swatch attempt:

6" at the bottom

6" tall

7" at the top

There will have to be another swatch attempt, because this one doesn't quite give me the angles I need.

I've got a LOT of yarn. Mostly white and off-white, but with some Dazzleaire yellow, pink, blue, peach and green put in for Teh Pretty. Or possibly to put in for all of it - I'm not quite sure how all the colors will go in just yet. Pretty much decide-as-I-go, I think!! I also got a spiffy new Addi crochet hook. (Actually, I got two... but one already broke. WTF?)




As soon as the OWL thread goes up in January, I'll be putting my proposal in. And starting, immediately. Because I really, REALLY need to pass an owl one of these years!

The almost-nightmare of Not Enough Yarn!

OMG, the internet is back! The internet is back!! We've been cut off since last Wednesday, and if I hadn't spent part of the prior Monday making up a bunch of posts for automatic drop (yeah, I do that sometimes), the blog would've been a lot quieter. As I learned yesterday, posting from my phone just isn't gonna cut it! So... let's see. What have I been up to? Finished five more classes (turning them in today while I still have a connection!), got my Rogue hoodie about halfway up the hood (hoping to finish the hood today, so I can bang out the sleeves early next week). Got the OWL up to 68%, and discovered that I didn't have NEARLY enough yarn.

PANIC! PANIC! PANIC! PANIC! PANIC! PANIC!
Thankfully, Yarnmarket.com exists, and they had exactly three balls (what I figured I'd need) left in the colorway I needed, so I ordered it with Super-Fast shipping (it's an OWL, and I was panicking!). And it got here!

I then proceeded to not touch my OWL for five days, in favor of my BROOM (the hoodie), doing the finishing on my classes, and trying to decide if I'm really going to have time to do Fire Task #3. I don't *have* to do it, since to get my Silver Serpent First Class, I just have to do Quidditch once, and I've done five of the six events. I may also let Detention go. It all depends on getting the BROOM done ASAP, and working like a demon to finish the OWL on schedule. Because that's a LOT of points for the House if I can get those done - but ALL THE POINTS would be really nice. We'll see.

October is DONE.

October Wrap-Up:
1. Transfiguration - Acorn, Large, turned in post 24, marked complete post 66, October 4;
2. Care of Magical Creatures - Zombieproof Hat, turned in post 102, marked complete post 157, October 4;
3. Defense Against the Dark Arts, Neckwarmer!, turned in post 79, marked complete post 242, October 4;
4. Ancient Runes, Holastafur Hotpad, turned in post 42, marked complete post 46, October 5;
5. Muggle Studies, Glittery Faux-Lei, turned in post 127, marked complete post 129, October 10;
6. DETENTION - Nancy Shawl, started April 2011; turned in post 206, marked complete post 208, October 12;
7. Quidditch - Fire Task #2, Mantle of the Phoenix, turned in post 3283, marked complete post 3303, October 12;
8. Quidditch, Yule Ball event #2 - Dances - The Chudley Cannonball; The Tarapoto Tree-Skimmers Tango, post 3809, scored post ???, October 20;
9. Potions, Swiffer Cover!, turned in post 464, marked complete post 530, October 25;
10. 50% OWL (Evenstar Shawl), turned in post 373, marked complete post 377, October 27;
11. Arithmancy, Fractal Hot Pad, turned in post 345, marked complete post 376.



... and November promises to be even crazier. Whee!!

50% Astronomy OWL!

First, hello to Natasha at Unplanned Peacock -I'll definitely be bugging you about getting more Kitty yarn! I just love it!

Now, to the Serious Stuff, aka OWL progress, I'm at 50% (actually 50-and-a-scooch%), obtained yesterday at lunch. I thought I still had one more row to go, so this is 3/4 of the way through Row 34 of Chart 3 - and the 50% mark (according to the Spreadsheet of Evenstar) is tucked inside Row 33. So I made it! This is going to be a very large, very fluffy, very light shawl:


I ended up pulling the thing completely off the needles, and running a perle cotton lifeline through row 34, making sure it was long enough to actually allow me to see how big the shawl is, and what the stitch patterns look like now. (My last lifeline, at row 25, was way too short, so the whole shawl kinda bunched up uncomfortably in places, and I was worried it would start to felt before too much longer.)


There's another forty or so rows until the edging starts, and I'm hoping to get that done this week, since I'd really like November to be All-Edging, All The Time. I've already decided that Catkin is my Yule Ball #3 project, and I will make ALL my classes fit the things I need to make for Christmas (several washcloth/facepoof sets, four more glass cozies, swiffer covers, knitted ornaments). In November, my sit-in-my-chair project will be this OWL (which will be getting beaded at that point, and will no longer travel well), the carryaround will be my BROOM plus one other project for class, and hopefully by Thanksgiving weekend I'll be in good shape to turn everything in first thing on the 29th.


Because otherwise, there's not going to be a lot of sleeping at the end of the month.

Oh, did I mention I'm also doing NaNoWriMo again, too?

O.W.L. Progress!

So, I'm chugging along on the Evenstar Shawl. Here it is at the end of Chart 1, right before I dropped in the second lifeline.


I'm into the second ball of yarn now - I did the yarn-bracelet thing again to keep the very end of the ball from tangling - especially since it's mohair. The bracelet thing really does work well!


After a commute from hell with an extra four hours of knitting, followed by a weekend of almost no knittng, I'm just about at 16% done, which just plain isn't far enough along at this point. I have to have well over 50% done at the end of October to even have a chance at getting this thing finished on schedule! I'm hoping to get in a LOT of knitting on it this week. I got a row done on the way to work, and will hopefully get a couple more done at lunch. If I could be at 25% at the end of the week, I'd feel a lot better about things! Here's where I am now, and you can see how far back the lifeline from above is. (I'm going to be pulling that lifeline and replacing it in another 8 rows, before the really strange stuff starts happening on the chart.)


According to the Master Chart of Evenstar Shawldom, being done with Row 33 of Chart 2 puts me closer to 18% than 17% (by a row). (Turns out I miscalculated on the 16% previously; I was only at 13% after the Commute From Hell.) My goal is to be well into Chart 3 by the end of September, preferably past the "repeat these four rows six times" part. I think the Headmistress is there on hers NOW - but she got a month head start, so I know I'm never going to catch up to her. I get to see progress photos quite a bit on the Evenstar-along ("Stargazing with the Centaurs") thread, which is cool - and gives me hope. And lets me know what each stage looks like, too - that's super helpful!!

New Term Starts Tomorrow!!

First, I got sorted into Slytherin for my Fifth Year. Yay!!

Second, I'm a Middle Snake in the Black Adder Nest again - More Yay!!

Third, I was going to be somewhat sane with my crafting this term, really I was. I picked a complicated OWL, figured out I'd make a sweater for my BROOM, and do the minimum classes and quidditch. And then THIS got posted:

Gather round all ye Snakes, Slytherin Quest has a little twist this term. In honor of our Slytherin Spring 2011 Victory and to insure we retain the House Cup, Professor Snape extends an invitation to all members of Slytherin House to join the [Super-Secret Society, Name Withheld for Secretness].

Our location upon this cruise ship is secret kept, but is accessible to all of Slytherin House.

Please sign up via [Super-Secret Location] by September 30th if you wish to craft for a Slytherin Order of the Serpent Medallion.

I'm not signing up to CRAFT ALL THE THINGS, but I'm probably going to try to do so anyway. I see a lot of tiny projects in my future!!

Fourth, let us say a fond farewell to the projects that will be fodder for Detention later in the term, upon which I will no longer have time to work due to OWL, BROOM, Quidditch, Headmistress's Challenge, and six-to-eight classes a month. First is my Dobby's Sunset Birch Leaf Shawl, which is probably a day or two out from being finished, so I may be able to pull off detention credit early.




Then, there's my Nancy & Judy shawl that only uses the Nancy pattern. I've made it to the second to last color change (FINALLY). The third-to-last change took 12 rows, so this one should take about ten, then there should be about five of pattern (or to a logical stopping point) then a garter-stitch edge.


I've actually done really well in August with getting projects I've started Off The List. Three shawls finished in August alone - that's pretty darned good for me!!

O.W.L. Prep

It's almost time to submit my OWL proposal, so it was time to get all the stuff I'll need to knit the Evenstar Shawl together. Here are my eight balls of silver-shot twilight-blue mohair (Luna), four packs of iridescent beads (which should be well over 3,000), needles, steel crochet hooks, and the pattern.


This is a better photo of the actual color of the yarn; evidently, my iPhone camera isn't quite so into the whole "getting color correction working when faced with a BRIGHT ORANGE background".


You can even see the little bits of silver all through it. My proposal is mostly written - I have to add a few more things about how the lace elements actually represent Venus and lots of little stars even before the twinkly yarn and beads come into the picture - and I'm pretty sure it'll get approved. Mostly since the same shawl was approved for Astronomy last term at least twice, and at least one person (Hi, Headmistress!) is making it NEWT-worthy. I could probably put it in as a NEWT, too, except I'm not NEWT-qualified (not enough OWLs), and I really need Astronomy for the NEWTs I will have in the future. So, um, OWL for now.