Cold Sheep

Ravelry, if you've never been, is a great place for community, conversation, and- of course- yarn. Several of my favorite discussion boards share patterns and host swaps, but as it is January, a popular one is the Cold Sheep (and Friends) group.

Now, you may ask, what is a cold sheep? Basically, it's a crafter's term for not buying any yarn. Every once in a great while (for some of us, more frequently), crafters realize that they have purchased more yarn then they could ever use up in their lives-- this is called SABLE (stash acquired beyond life expectancy). The Cold Sheep group exists to motivate crafters to knit and crochet and spin and weave their yarn into useful/beautiful/warm items.

The group runs little challenges throughout the year- some with prizes, some without- to help its members to think outside the box when working with their stash. My favorite is the You Can Do It! CSAL, which tracks participant's yardage output over a period of time- in this case, three months. For every 1000 yards you use up, you earn an entry into their prize drawing. I find that the motivation from getting a prize entry can help me finish languishing projects.

Who doesn't love motivational sheep?

Another group that is helpful for "stashing down" is the KnitPicks (and more!) Stashdown group. Similarly structured to the Cold Sheep group, challenges to use up yarn and motivate crafters to have manageable stashes abound. This year, they are doing 2 big challenges- a "no yarn" tiara and a "weight loss" tiara. I joined in on the "weight loss" one, because moving 6000g out of my stash would be amazing-- and it also allows for some freedom in purchasing new yarn if needed. Of course, the crowns are virtual, but in addition to the larger, year-long challenge, various group members have smaller, shorter challenges that may have real-world prizes.

One of the group mods made these images. <3

As it is January, and many people make resolutions, these groups could be useful for crafters. I am finding them useful for me, as I am taking this year to reorder my stash and put it into a more manageable, useable space. Avoiding aimless purchases is the first part, using the yarn is the second.

Ravelry wins Again!

My go-to place for yarn advice is Ravelry. I have two or three groups that I participate in more actively, and those are usually the places where I seek advice.

Over Easter weekend, I was working on a lace-weight stole. It was a free-style event, so to speak, as I was adding bits from favorite patterns together. As I worked on it, getting comfortable with the flow of stitches, I started to see a problem. The first section is really not jiving with the second section, in regards to tension. Being the type of crafter that I am, I ignored it and kept crocheting. My mom made a comment about taking it apart and starting again. I ignored her too. We came home from my parents Sunday evening, and this particular project took a back seat.

Fast-forward to 3 weeks later, when I post a picture of this poor neglected stole over in the Crochet Shoulder Wrappers forum. I just wanted to know what to do, and frogging was looking like the only option. Luckily, a fellow Raveler saved my stole from that fate and suggested changing hook sizes! I breathed a sigh of relief.

The end of the school year has put me in a crafting rut, and even such a simple thought as changing hooks was escaping me. I am extremely grateful to the Ravelry community for helping crafters like me adjust their perspective and try again.

Changing hook sizes was extremely successful, and my shawl has been pulled out of the dog house.

A Pile

A pile of WIPs, that is. And it looks something like this:

Are four things too many?

The pink is my Stephanie's Wrap, pulled out of hibernation. The cream is a knitted piece that makes me want to throw everything. The granny in the front is the beginnings of a Rectangular Sampler Blanket, part of a CAL that just finished over at Underground Crafter's blog. Last is my wedding ripple, and I am convinced that it will be finished by August.

It will be pretty when done, but I still dislike the rows upon rows of knitting

I'm listening to The Fellowship of the Ring still, mainly because I can listen and don't need to focus too much on learning the story, since I've known the story since 6th grade or so. I'm nearly finished, so Two Towers will be up next. Also, I love the voice of the narrator, which I am convinced can make or break an audio book.

In more yarn related news, I properly stated my June Goals in the Cold Sheep group on Ravelry.

1. Finish knitting poncho-- commissioned item, on section 8 of 20
2. Make Calorimetry for a friend
3. Finish rectangular sampler blanket from stash yarn
4. Use up at least 6 skeins on wedding ripple to be about halfway done-- not sure if I have enough yarn for this…
5. Get to third section of Stephanie’s Wrap
6. Make at least 3 dishcloths & 2 coaster sets from cotton that is hanging out.
7. Buy no new yarn, unless to finish any of the above projects.

So far, only 5 days into June, and I'm doing pretty good. I'm on section 10 of the knitted poncho, finished & gifted the Rectangular Sampler (pics on Friday), hooked 2 new dishcloths-- ready to make more!- and nearly used up 2 skeins for the Wedding Ripple. 

Linking with Tami & Ginny for the Wednesday Link-ups!

A Finally Finished Citron

After over a year of knitting (Well, mostly hibernating), I'm pleased to share my finished Citron shawl. I've always loved the simplicity of the pattern, and had a tendency to get jealous of all the other bloggers that I would stumble across who had the patience to finish one of these.

My sister was not thrilled to be used as a model

Late in 2011 when I found out about a great sale on bare lace weight yarn (Sanguine Gryphon, which I think has now split into 2 different companies), I knew I had the yarn for this pattern. I dyed it myself with McCormick food coloring and vinegar (blogged about here) and cast on early in 2012.

She kept adjusting it.

After getting about 3 sections in, the rows started to be too long for my lack of patience, and my berry Citron went into hibernation. I was compelled to bring it back out after the 10 minutes a day "challenge" on the Cold Sheep board on Ravelry. The idea is that if you spend at least 10 minutes a day on one of "those" projects that drive you insane, or whatever, then eventually it will get properly finished.

I thought it popped with the color of her sweater

My original plan had been to use up the entire 800 yard skein of yarn. However, with my patience still on edge, and after realizing that the original pattern was a fine size with only 5 sections and a ruffle, I just stopped. I did end up using about 510 yards of the yarn... so now I need to find something else to make with it. I think a over-dye may be in order.

I had this 'around', and it just happened to work REALLY well

I'm still working out the kinks with my new camera

I'm wearing it with a make-shift shawl pin-- a hair stick poked through a crocheted flower from Barbara at Made in K-town. (She has the pattern for free on her blog)

Linking with Tami's FO Friday, after a few weeks of quiet.

Same Song, Second Verse

June's nearly over, and I'm evaluating my progress  of stash bashing so far.

• Finished the wedding ripple- yarn purchased before January 1st, but bought with a purpose, so never really languished in stash. 
• Finished 20 -12" blocks using patterns from the BAMCAL- yarn purchased with purpose.
• Half dozen dishcloths- some using stash, some using newly purchased yarn--oops
• Finished Mezza-Juliana- gift yarn- yay!
• Finished Pretty in Pink Juliana- upcycled yarn from stash
• Finished Eva in Lace- upcycled yarn from stash
• Finished Divine Hat- yarn from stash
• Finished Claret Cowl- upcycled yarn from stash
• many more scarves/cowls!

As I'm going through my Ravelry projects page, I'm realizing that I've finished more than I originally thought, even though I don't feel like my stash is decreasing (probably because it hasn't quite yet)

WIP Juliana Re-mix

This week, I really don't have any huge stash-bashing progress, other than the 6 months of progress so far this year. But room for improvement is good! The Juliana Re-mix above is using yarn that I purchased mid-March, as a celebration for finishing my fieldwork for the semester. I'm trying to finish it so I will be able to move back to more 'official' stash bashing. 

Since the spring semester finishes for me today, I'll definitely have more time to work on bashing my stash again! 

Check out Tricia @ Crunchy Catholic Momma- she's been kind enough to host this stash bash for us!

Holiday Stashdown Challenge: Week 7

Marie was stuck for a prompt this week...But she has released them! This week, we're looking at scrap yarn/one skein gift ideas.

And I just realized that this set I just finished is a good example of a one skein gift.
It is a basic hat/fingerless mitt set, with a flower for embellishment. I did the hat first, and then worked the mitts from both ends of the yarn so I would use up all the yarn- and it was nearly exact! One skein of this yarn made both the hat and mitts!

This is the pink colorway from Lion Brand Tweed Stripes. I did not have a pink that matched as well with this one, so I just added the rose to the hat and called it good. The rose is from the May Roses pattern from Lucy @ Attic24, and I love it! I have a handful in my desk drawer, waiting to become something.

Another great scrap/one skein project are these Ripple Lace Fingerless Gloves. I have the smallest hands imaginable, so making gloves using this pattern doesn't take much yarn/time at all. I was testing out some of my birthday yarn using the pattern last night, and I still need to show them to Mom and Sis for approval. The pattern is so simple and pretty, and I think they would look very cool in the Tweed Stripes yarn. Another great thing about this pattern is the instructions allow you to create a pair in any size or length you desire. I can see several pairs of these in my future.

I'm racking my brain, trying to come up with more pattern suggestions, but can't think of anything off the top of my head. I crochet loads more than I knit, so anything that I can think of is going to be small and stripe-y (for crochet). But I do know that there are a number of knitting patterns (scarves and the like) that use only one skein of yarn, or have alterations in the pattern to adjust for more or less yarn. I LOVE using Ravelry's pattern search, because I can narrow down patterns by yardage and weight of yarn-- very handy!

I hope this was helpful and not too ramble-y. I've got a lot going on this week- I just finished taking my first final exam, and turned in one of 2 final papers. The second final paper will be turned in this afternoon, and my other final is on Thursday.

The bachelorette party was this past weekend, and I leave for Detroit Friday afternoon, and my best friend gets married on Saturday!

Bachelorette Party

Tea Tuesday: Lady Grey

I don't have as cool of a story for TT today.
Twinings Lady Grey Tea is, from what I recall people telling me, a lighter version of Earl Grey. According to the label "This delicious black tea has a light and gentle citrus flavour that is both relaxing and refreshing. Lady Grey is perfect in the morning with breakfast or for afternoon tea."
I'm not really drinking it with a meal- rather, I enjoy my tea after breakfast while I do a spot of crocheting. This particular Lady Grey was not purchased by me. I participate in a few swaps through the internet, in particular, swaps through the crafting social network Ravelry. A group that I am a part of spends a few months reading a Harry Potter books (we're on POA right now) and at the end, we swap with a partner that we had been 'stalking' throughout the read-a-long. My partner for the last book sent me a lovely assortment of teas, which I am taking my time to enjoy.
So, Lady Grey: I'm not as fond of it as I am of Earl Grey (I love the bergamot in Earl). But I do enjoy the citrus-y flavor. And it's not as weak as some of the green teas that have little to no flavor at all (at least in my opinion).
That's all folks! Join me next week for the next installment!