Splash Pad Party 2021: What is it, and Why I’m a Sponsor

 The Splash Pad Party is a Craft Along that runs from May 28 through July 31, 2021. The eligible crafts are knitting, crocheting, spinning, and machine knitting (though machine knitting is counted at half the grams for FOs as the other crafts). There’s a sign up form on Jen Lassonde’s Ravelry group for the host of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast or her website. 

I’m a sponsor for the Splash Pad Party 2021, because I want to have even more fun with the craft-along, allow folks to get to know me a bit better, and allow more folks an introduction to my patterns. I’m getting really excited about this event. 

The projects I’m planning for the Splash Pad Party 2021 include knitting some socks, knitting a gnome or two, spinning some yarn, and making some blanket squares to hopefully finish a long standing work in progress.

If you think you might enjoy the Splash Pad Party, head on over to Jen’s website or Ravelry group and sign up on the Sign Up Form. The more the merrier, for sure!

Twisted Stitches, without and on Purpose

When I came back to knitting after my divorce in 2000, I walked into a local yarn store. I asked the male presenting clerk about the various options for knitting socks. Now, I had never knitted a pair of socks, and, I had forgotten everything except how to knit and purl. I had access to lots of knitting books at the Portland, Maine, public library about knitting and so knew that the cast on I’d been taught at 8 years old was called “long tail cast on” and that I didn’t like it.

The books had a ton of options, but I had no idea of where to go next. So, after he sold me some yarn, a pattern and two sizes of needles, I asked the clerk about a cast on other than the long tail cast on to start the socks with that didn’t leave you guessing at how much yarn to use for the tail. 

He suggested the cable cast on. I don’t remember him showing me how to do the cable cast on, but he did say it was like knitting but going between the stitches to draw through a loop to put onto the needle. I had some books at home that showed various options for how to do the cable cast on, along with a few other cast on. This was way before the days of Ravelry and YouTube. If YouTube existed, it didn’t have much in the way of being a knitting resource. Yahoo groups had email lists that you could join and email into the listservs and share information that way. Some folks had blogs, with a few static pictures to show the information, but not many.

Anyways, I looked at the books, figured out what the pictures were showing me and got started pretty well. The pictures did a good job of defining the difference between the cable cast on and the knitted cast on, so I didn’t make that mistake. I did the ribbing, and then read the heel instructions. What was that saying?!?! I figured that I would understand when I got there, and decided to trust the pattern. Not for the first time in my life when it comes to sock knitting.

I got through the heel turn and gusset pick up and down through the toe and grafting of the first toe. Then, I put the project aside for a while as one does and got to know someone special over the summer. It was quite nice and is still fun!

Then, I got to wanting to actually wear the socks, so got back to knitting them. I got to the middle of the foot. Then, my new sweetie’s sister-in-law mentioned liking to knit, so it was okay to bring over my project if I wanted to share some knitting time with her. I did, and so did. She had a strange look on her face while looking at the sock and a half I’d completed by that point. She asked to see how I did my stitches. 

I showed her a few stitches and she stopped me. I asked what was up? She replied, “You’re twisting your stitches! See how mine lie so nice and flat, and your’s have a twist to them?” 

Reader, you know what, she was right. My socks were twisting of their own accord!

I asked how to make stitches like she did. She showed me in the project she was working, and I did the same movements in the project I was doing. She was knitting English, and I was knitting Continental, so that added some fun. But, I just watched what the yarn was doing, like I had in the pictures in those books for the cast on. 

Neither one of us thought to say or ask about frogging the socks and starting over. I just changed the way I knit in the middle of the project and that’s something I recommend folks don’t do, unless they want obviously different parts. For you know what, dear reader? 

Those socks still exist and are the weirdest pair I ever made. One and half of the pair twists around my foot like it’s a fruit loop doing a pole dance, and the other half is a typical sock. But, I love them both. I just typically wear them in shoes so that they don’t twist too much and drive me batty with the textures changing and the heels ending up on top of my ankles.

So, that’s the story of the Twisted Stitches, without a purpose. Now, to move on to the Twisted Stitches, with a Purpose, part.

Sometime in the mid-2010s, I would look at the Craftsy website and look at the classes list to see if anything was worth paying for, or more likely, if they had any new classes in topics I liked. While searching for ergonomic knitting, someone was offering a class in combination knitting. Looking at the description of the class, I knew the term and techniques described would be better found t a basic level elsewhere on the Internet.

I searched for combination knitting, and found out it was using Eastern mounted purls and Western mounted knits. But, like with those twisted stitches earlier, not to be played with while in the middle of a project. So, I finished or frogged all my projects in knitting. 

Not all my projects, there were still crochet and embroidery and painting projects going, of course. I can’t have no wips! 

Then, I got to work learning how to do these stitches when desired. It eventually made lace fly, as you're able to set up for an ssk on the row or round before it happens, just by the way the yarn is wrapped around the stitch. Then, also, I learned to knit backwards through that experimentation period. And, by setting up an Eastern mounted stitch on one round, and working it as though it’s Western mounted on the next round, it results in a Twisted Stitch, on Purpose, with a lot more ease. 

In one of the first knitting books I had ever read, I’d seen a reference to this way of purling. But because of the author’s lack of understanding and judgement, she called it a ‘lazy purl’ and so that’d kept me away from doing it for a long time. It was in Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann. I love her chatty writing style and her way of talking about yarns and patterns. But, this is one point I disagree with her about. It’s a different way of purling, it is faster for continental picker style knitters, and is easier for some of us with stress or rheumatoid arthritis injuries, but lazy, not really. I know she’s not here to hear my complaint, but others who uphold her way of thinking are, and like me, need their minds opened a bit. 

Anyways, that’s how I came from Twisted Stitches without a Purpose, to Twisted Stitches with a Purpose. 

Caveats for those who decide to experiment with the way you knit that might have an impact on your knitting gauge, Finish All Your Knitting WIPS First!! It’s best to practice on a fresh project rather than an in progress project because it will change the intersection of your hands, yarn, and needles known as your gauge. On a dishrag this could be funny, on a sweater this could be anger inducing! Ask me how I know!!! Those socks weren’t my only experiment in changing how I knit mid-project. They are the only ones still existing, though. Some things just needed to be cut and trashed. Hence why I don’t use semi-precious or super expensive yarns.

Current Projects, an Update

Hi Folks!

With all the changes over at Ravelry and my own inability to use the classic version without getting a migraine quickly, I'm deciding to update projects here again. I had gotten out of the habit with the ease of Ravelry, but that's no longer an easy place to do stuff. So, here we are!

I plan to be doing these on a semi-regularly basis going forwards, every to every other week, depending on frequently I get to doing some projects.

First up this month is the first of the Hermione's Everyday Socks (link is to the Dreams in Fiber website for this free pattern). I am using Knit Picks Stroll in Pucker, a hot pink color. I adapted the pattern using Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato Heel and making them toe-up, instead of cuff down as directed in the pattern. I adapted the Sweet Tomato Heel by making it over only half the stitches, it works in this instance, but you should experiment in your own sock knitting if adjusting patterns. I didn't use a lifeline, but it would have been a good idea.

Here's a picture of one of the socks. I'm still in knitting the leg of the other sock. I need to count how many pattern repeats I did in this one to make the current one match before working the ribbing.

I also made a Beekeeper's Quilt (link is to the Tiny Owl Knits blog post about the pattern, there's a link to buy the pattern through Ravelry at the bottom of the page) motif known as a hexipuff, but since it's not stuffed, also known as a hexi-flat. Lots of knitters all over the world make these, some stuff them, and then sew them together to make coverlets of varying sizes. 

That's it so far this month. I am doing well living through the pandemic mostly. It's a good time to listen to podcasts and learn more about how my brain works. 

I hope y'all have a good crafting month.

Later,

Jen

Ravelry

On 16 June 2020, Ravelry rolled out a new look. The aesthetic is their choice to do with as they see fit. However, they also broke some of the screen reader access they had in doing so. Folks have reported seizures, migraines, vertigo, eye strain, and other symptoms from spending a bit of time on the new version.

Two days later, Ravelry released a way to access the older version of the website, but one had to go through the new version to get to the older version to do so. This still leaves out those who cannot access the site because of the broken screen reader access or other symptoms. Plus, the fact that one had to know that the access to the older version was even available.

Throughout the time since Ravelry has released their new look, they have posted two blog posts. Both posts are super cheerful and encouraging about the changes. Neither post mentions the hardship some members have in accessing the site, just a small reference to a set of users using the older version. Not that that is an indication of anything when all the former users are not able to access the site, and what does it mean anyways. Percentages were given, but percentages of what numbers, from what time and what kind of snapshot is that. Statistics are always manipulations of data.

There's been a lot of new accounts from folks logging in to see how things are to see how the code works and offer how to help adjust it for better practices to make it accessible to all users. Some new accounts are also journalists and others looking for interesting things to stir up trouble. And, a few are valid accounts of new folks actually interested in the crafts Ravelry represents. A 103% increase over a time when account sign ups were closed isn't hard to explain away.

In the past, the owners of Ravelry have been transparent and hands on with users. In the time since the change, Ravelry has only posted twice on social media outlets to share the blog posts already mentioned. This feels like ghosting from the owners.

The forums have always been open to a variety of topics. In particular forums, everyone can ask questions of the management of Ravelry and have a discussion. Since the change, the moderators of the forums in question have been locking threads and hiding posts by folks asking valid questions of the management. When that happens and folks ask more questions, those are hidden and the questioners are banned from asking questions. This is why folks with disabilities and their friends feel like the management of Ravelry is being ablest and gas lighting and demeaning us.

We just want an open discussion with the ability to fix this snafu. It can be fixed. Alt text for screen readers is not hard to add to the log in screen. A choice to log in to the old or new version at the log in screen is not a hard thing, why make folks go through the adverse reaction website to get to the better website (even if it's not the best it could be).

2018 Creative Review

Last year, I kept records on my crafting primarily in my Ravelry profile.

I processed 19,626 yards in 53 projects of knitting or crochet projects.

Some were tiny projects that were for babies of others, household items, and winter clothes, along with a bunch of socks.

* 10 pairs of socks
* 3 sweaters
* 5 blankets
* 12 hats
* 11 neck things (cowls, scarves, shawls)
* 3 pairs of mittens or fingerless mittens
* 3 baby things

What did you create last year?

Blooming Crowns

Today, I went to the launch party for the newest edition of Taproot: Bloom. It was great fun!

I made a blooming crown from flowers and supplies provided by Broadturn Farm, in Scarborough, Maine, that used to be on my commute to and from work most days. It's been a long time since I traveled there, so it was nice to think on and talk with others about flowers.

This is the crown that I made! It's sitting around my summer hat I wear to combat icky lights, which wasn't needed at the party, but it's better to be prepared.

I hope to have more fun at the next release party in a while.

To find out more about Taproot, you can find their online store here.

Until next time, enjoy your walks and have fun!

Guilds and Fairs, Oh My!

Last Saturday was the Craft Fair at the local grange building. Granges are community builders that promote togetherness and agriculture in the US. There were 2,100 communities with 160,000 members in 36 states as of 2005 in the US. The Grange is a fraternal order that was founded after the Civil War in 1867. There's usually one local to many Mainers. Anyways, the town I live in has a fairly active one, and they held a craft fair last weekend.

I bought a few items. One was to support a local cheer team, and the other was to support a painter from the area. Both are going to be for Christmas gifts this year. 

Today, I attended the Guild meeting for the Southern Maine Spinners and Weavers Guild, which meets at the Dorothy Stevens Community Center in Kennebunk, Maine. We had a great time describing what we have been learning and setting up for our holiday party next month.

I volunteered to set up the Facebook page and maintain it for a while to see how it goes. I already have a fairly low key Facebook page for this blog, and, so feel comfortable with the Facebook side of things. I also have been the Public Relations officer for various groups in the past, so am excited to be initiating this outlet for the group.

Anyways, I learned that there's the ability to add editors to pages on Facebook, so will see how that works and go from there. I'm also looking forward to finding out more about the group and how it can change through this mighty step forward.

Updated Patterns!

Hey, All!

I updated all of the patterns I have available on Ravelry. There's seven available plus one that is not available at this time.

Here's the list!

• American Girl Waistcoat
• Granny's Love Mitts
• Irish Kate Market Bag
• Melonberry Curly Mitts
• Mermaid Tail for American Girl Dolls
• Ribbed for My Pleasure Socks
• Stash Busting Scarf

I hope to get the sweater pattern written by the end of the year. I need to dig out my notes and convert them to an actual pattern. No one wants my chicken scratch to read.

Hope you have a grand time exploring the patterns!

Oh, and, Ravelry does require a free account to have a profile.

Enjoy!

Jen

Ravelry has been causing folks to experience seizures, migraines, and vertigo, among other problems, so I'm providing other options for folks to purchase my patterns through.

These patterns are also available on Etsy. I never did get that sweater into a pattern format.

January 2017 Projects

1723 yards
Center is 15 granny squares in a 3x5 grid
This was turned in for Detention, January 2017, HPKCHC on Ravelry

1756.4 yards
Ironheart Pattern, Test Knit for Tin Can Knits

Projects Update, April 2016

Finished Objects!

First up is the one with a picture that can be shared. This is the Rain On Notre Dame cowl by ImaginedLandscape on Ravelry and Instagram, Sarah Sircha elsewhere.

The shapes on the left of the bottom picture are the steeples of Notre Dame and the shapes on the right in the bottom picture are of Raindrops on window paines and also stylized Eiffel Tower shapes in the same stitch design.

I also worked on a couple of my own designs. One is a yarn cake holder that can clip to a belt or belt loop with a carbine clip, which I own way too many of those clips for a non mountain climber, they are just so darn useful! And, as a key ring can't be beat, just open the clip and slip off the keys in need. I'm going to switch the hard rings for ribbons or yarn for actually holding the keys on the clip in the next few days. 

WIPS

I'm also working on a hat test knit for dogyarns on Ravelry, Elizabeth Ravenwood elsewhere. I can't share pictures of this one yet as it has not been released, and I'm not quite done with the knitting of the hat. I have a funny story about the knitting of this project.

I went to pick up the project and my cable needle, a fancy toothpick, skewered my mound of the moon on my right hand. OWIE!!! Did that hurt. But, thankfully that is an area with thick skin and the puncture didn't bleed when I finally calmed down enough to pull the toothpick out of my hand. It was my own fault for not dulling the end of the toothpick with an nail file board, and for using the fabric of the hat to hold the needle, as either dulling the end or using a different home for the needle would have prevented the accident. Needless to say, it took a few days for my hand to be comfortable with knitting again. Even without any blood coming out, there is still a bruise in the muscle where the puncture happened.

As a friend said when I told her about learning a lesson about knitting, "Sometimes the lessons stick!" She later amended her reply to mention that she didn't intend any puns, though I was the first person to tell her I thought her reply was funny. 

Frogging Pond, or evidence of creativity in progress!

So, I've been wanting to make the Everyday Hermione Socks for a long time now, and when I saw a pair from The KnitGirls podcast, I knew it was time to start the project. Maybe I misread the directions or something, but it wasn't coming out how I wanted to have the pattern on the leg look, nor what the pictures looked like or the sock from the podcast. So, I frogged that project, and I used the yarn in a plastic canvas coaster. Who says you can't use fingering weight yarn on plastic canvas? Does it have to be heavier yarns all the time? It was fun to break the rules and do whatever for once in a long time. Then, through that I realized that there are no rules in art/crafting and that I can do whatever the hell I want to do with the supplies I've procured. So, refreshing!

I also had been participating in the Sock Madness fun that started in March and had made it into Round 2, but the project and real life just conspired to be too much at the beginning of April, so I frogged that 3/4ths of a sock and removed the beaded cuff gently, so I could reuse the beads too. This was the Rose and Thorn pattern, which is lovely, just not meant to be then. But, I got to reuse this yarn in the Hapiness Shawl I mention in the Designs on the Needles section.

Designs on the Needles

Happiness Shawl.

Like I mentioned above, I wanted to make a pair of socks out of a pretty and popular design on Ravelry, the Everyday Hermione Socks, but I frogged that project since it wasn't what I thought the actual design was going to be. That then led to me using the pattern I thought was in the socks in a shawl I'm designing as a rip off of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Square Shawl from the Knitter's Almanac. This project isn't going to be done soon as it is my passenger in rides project and I have yet to get half way through. This is my Happiness Shawl project.

The first yarn for the Happiness Shawl came from a pair of socks I talk about in the Frogging Pond section, which came from boutrosbabe on Ravelry, or Heather of Highland Handmades on the web. It is fingering weight and herSugar maple base in the I'll Make My Own Sunshine color, which just inspires happiness in me, hence the name of the pattern. The next yarns will be from the Rainbow minis kit from Cauldron's Path on Etsy that I bought many moons ago. This is Shayla's Sunrises base, and the rainbow kit, which has over 300 yards of black with a mini skein in the ROYGBIV colors. The yarn I'm debating about for the edging is the Unwind Yarn Company, Journey Sock base, in the Re-Entry colors. With the addition of the rainbow kit and black, I'm thinking this might interest folks who would like to make a project that is inspired by the solar system, with the ROYGBIV being the orbitals around the sun with black in between the sun and the different colors, and then the multi color at the end to show the complexities of space beyond our own solar system. The red in the Re-Entry yarn also makes me think of the infrared spectrum of noise in space, plus the name screams Space!

I also recycled the wave cast on from the Sock Madness Round 1 pattern, Slip Stitch Spiral, which is a recycling of Cat Bordhi's Footprints cast on, to start the project, only by doing 4 waves instead of three. Then, I worked stockinette for as long as I could with invisible increases at each corner. Then, I used the pattern I thought was in the Everyday Hermione Socks pattern, with all of the excitement on the increase rounds, like Elizabeth Zimmerman mentions in her Square Shawl instructions, not the pithy ones, but the other ones. Then, I got bored of that pattern, so I went to the next step up in difficulty, and that took some puzzling to get the corners right. I actually started using stitch markers for this pattern then. After I'm don't with this, I will add in the rainbow minis and start with a wave style pattern in lace to go from there to the end of the project.

I have some yarn with a lot of the shawl colors mixed into it. I'm thinking of using that to do something on the external edge, maybe a picot bindoff, or something.

This design is heavily inspired by colors and textures.

Yarn Cake Sacks

I'm also designing what started out as playing with yarn, and then progressed to yarn swatching, then went on to a finished object using loads of techniques. The finished objects could be baby hats, or the parts could be stopped at various steps to be a headband as well. But, I added a drawstring to make them into yarn cake holders that can clip to belts or not, and keep the cakes from imploding on themselves on a shelf. These also make good project bags, and yarn based yarn bowls. Extremely, pretty and practical. I'm just charmed by them!

They also make learning advance techniques easy because they are not very big, and I don'tknow about others, but cup cozies just don't do much for me, though they are really pretty too. Just not my cup of tea.

Anyways, hats and bags though are really useful for me, so that's what these are.  I will be sharing more pictures as the release date for the patterns approaches. 

For now, these are inspired by textures and techniques, then color, but that's my way of seeing them, your's may differ!

TaTa for Now, folks!

Ode to a Hexi-Flat

Ode to a Hexi-Flat*

By Jennifer Cragen, May 2014

Oh so sweet!
The lil' hexi-flat!

You are fleet of knitting,
Double mint thick.

Turkish cast on,
Kitchener bind off.

Born of the mind of an English woman,
Crafted by folks around the world.

Embroidery, cables, and
Texture too,
Your surface disguises.

Small investment,
Luxurious yarns involved, or humble.

Sometimes Stuffed,
Others un-Puffed.

To be made, and shared,
Fun for all,
You're made for one and all.


*A hexi-flat is an unstuffed hexipuff from the the beekeeper's quilt pattern on Ravelry by tiny owl knits.

Holy Land Moments, A Review

In their book, The One Year Holy Land Moments Devotional, Rabbi Yeschel Eckstein and Christian theologian Dr. Tremper Longman III provide a 52 week devotional that includes both Judaic and Christian thought on various passages from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and the New Testament.  The daily passages reflect on the Jewish view of the faith and history present in each part of the Bible, while also offering Christian interpretations of the same passages, in a comparison manner meant to build up both perspectives rather than tear them apart.  At the end of each week there is space for reflection and questions to answer to aid in that reflection.  Having the reflection at the end of the week gives a Jewish feel to the progress of the book as the Jewish Sabbath starts at sundown on Friday and ends at sundown on Saturday, whereas the Christian Sabbath takes place solely on Sunday, and both Sabbaths are days of reflection for our relationship with God, however we know him to be.

I liked the format of the weeks, the give and take between the perspectives, and the chance for reflection each week.  The questions were very useful for me.  There is nothing I did not like about this book.

I gave the book 5/5 stars for the reasons enumerated above.  I received my copy of this book from Tyndale for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

My Favorite Poem. Yes, I have a lot of those.

From Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising Sequence, The Grey King.

On the day of the dead, when the year too dies,
Must the youngest open the oldest hills.
Through the door of the birds where the breeze breaks
There fire shall fly from the raven boy,
And the silver eyes that see the wind,
And the Light shall have the harp of gold.
~
By the pleasant lake the Sleepers lie,
On Cadfan's Way where kestrels call,
Though grimm from the Grey King shadows fall,
Yet singing the golden harp shall guide
To break their sleep and bid them ride.
~
When light from the lost land shall return,
Six Sleepers shall ride, six Signs shall burn,
And where the midsummer tree grows tall
By Pendragon's sword the Dark shall fall.
~
Y maent yr mynyddoedd yn canu,
ac y mae'r arglwyddes yn dod.


~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, supposedly, "Y maent yr mynyddoedd yn canu, ac y mae'r arglwyddes yn dod," means something like "The mountains are singing and the lady comes." But, there's some grammar errors in there that may change the meaning, too.

Vest or Waistcoat for 18" Dolls

Because folks seem to really like the Mermaid Tail for 18" Doll pattern I posted a while ago, I decided to share my pattern for what we in the USA call a vest and what the British world calls a waistcoat for the same kinds of dolls.

Materials

Worsted weight yarn, I used acrylic and got 2 from a 3 ounce skein, about 85 grams

US size 4 or 3.5 mm knitting needle

Ravelry has been causing  folks to have seizures, migraines, vertigo, and other health problems, so I am including an alternative shopping link for folks to access my patterns through. 

My patterns are also available on Etsy, and here's the direct link to the Vest or Waistcoat for 18" Dolls Pattern. 

Chivalry, A Review

Zach Hunter wrote Chivalry to remind his generation that we are called to live a chivalrous life with others and ourselves, whether male or female, straight or homosexual, black or white, or something in between.  He used little stories to introduce each of ten principles from the code of honor by which the knights of old used to live.  He believes that his generation will be known as a generation of action, especially in the realm of social justice.

Chilvary is not "being nice" or polite or something along those lines.  It is doing the right things because they need to be done and you are there to do them.  To paraphrase Zach's thoughts, chivalry is about the internal change from self centered to open our lives to the loving guidance of our amazing, awe inspiring God.  This internal change shows itself in our behavior that is much more long lasting and higher than anything we can do on our own without God.

This book was important to me because I am trying to live the best life I can.  With the migraines and disability I have, I am focusing more on what I can do, which is things like how I approach others and God.  I cannot control the pain or the migraines or any of that stuff.  I can only do my best, which does vary day by day.  That's all we can all do.

This book would be important for you to read because it will help you think about things beyond your own circumstances in a way that may spur you to action or at least to a new way of interacting with others.  It can also open your mind to new ways of thinking about life and the things beyond this world.  So, check it out and see what you think about it.

Comments would be awesome!  I love to know what others think about books we've both read and how we are the same and different.

I gave this book 4/5 stars because it made me think differently and that was a good thing.

I received my copy of this book from the publisher, Tyndale, through the NetGalley review program for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

Time To Get Honest About .... WIPs, A Confession

I was looking at my projects list and thought I had three WIPs.  I even said I had to finish only three projects before I could cast on a brand new project.  Then, I figured out how to put Ravelry Member and Ravelry Designer buttons in my sidebar.

I saw someone had a list of their WIPs in their sidebar too.  I wanted that!

But, it would mean coming out about something.  I have more WIPs than three.  I have more than five, or seven, or ten, or even fifteen.

I have seventeen WIPS.  If you count the projects in the sidebar, you will get to nineteen.  The discrepancy is because one project is a placeholder project for four other projects as one project and one project that has yet to be started.

The Muggle Studies OWL is a placeholder for the information related to my OWL exam for the Harry Potter Knitting/Crochet House Cup group on Ravelry.  The OWL is comprised of four sweaters I'm making to enable a baby wizard to blend in with the Muggles he will most certainly encounter through out his infancy.

The other project is my OWL reward project.  Hoxton Handmade's podcast host released her first pattern on Ravelry, Black Death!  I will make it in Malabrigo Rios in purple, which I got through the For Trade/Sale section of the Yarn Stash listings in Ravelry, for less than from the regular sources (even with postage!).   Black Death is a simple triangular shawl with eyelets in rows and columns, but the pattern was devised when Hoxton had an infection so there's all sorts of references to pestilence and death in the pattern, playing with that idea.

I am going to make this project to celebrate my survival from Bacterial Meningitis.  The references to Black Death in the pattern will just make the Bacterial Meningitis be even more put in its place. I will conquer it by doing this project.  Not literally, but even doing it figuratively will give me strength and power to continue through the hard days and the horrid migraines.

I'm calling my Black Death by the name Not A Black, Black Death.  This represents not only my survival through near death experience, but also the actual color is not black, so literally not a black Black Death.

I cannot wait to cast on.  I have to so I'll just have to knit fast.  I think I can do that. ;)

Wingspan Demystified

Hi there, folks!

I have been trying to make the Wingspan pattern for a while now. I started attempting it last August, 2012, during the Ravellenic Games. I tried it while on vacation in northern Maine isolated in a cabin with little to distract me, or help me. I got helplessly confused.

I put the project aside and worked on other projects, many of them, in fact. Then, this January, 2013, I found a thread on Ravelry using the radar function where folks were sharing about the confusion of the pattern. Some advised just doing it step by step, and taking it blindly following through the first two triangles, then getting the hang of it for the rest of the triangles.

I figured I'd make one for the American Girl dolls by using 30/5, instead of 90/16 in the original pattern. The shawl came out very pretty and has a rustic beauty in Knit Picks Palette in Rose Hip. Here's a pic of it on my sofa.

The layout of the shawl also reminds me of the dragon, Smaug in Tolkien's The Hobbit. In my turn in post for Quidditch in the Harry Potter Knitting/Crochet House Cup group on Ravelry, I mentioned that the shawl was the mascot dragonette, the Hogsmeade Smaugettes for the new Hogsmeade Quidditch team. My character's aunt, the Hogsmeade librarian, believes that Smaug was misunderstood and if he'd been asked nicely that he would've given back the gold and stuff. She thinks he just had an abscessed tooth ache. Oh well, we never will know now.

I hope you enjoy this adaptation of the shawl. I have conquered the concept of the shawl and feel I can accomplish a full size one in the near future. Just have to whittle down the WIP pile first! ;)

Blanketing Newtown in Love

Hey there, Sharon of Three Irish Girls fame has started a Facebook page and Ravelry group called Knitters for Newton. She has made two unique indie dyed color ways, Love Wins and The Giving Tree. Through sales of the yarn, 20% is donation, and direct donations, she is gathering $10,000 to help those devastated by the events at Sandy Hook Elementary. She is also organizing a group blanket drive with the idea of delivering the blankets in a few months when the media's attention has faded. I plan to help by making some squares and helping with the seaming together of them. I might budget some space and money for yarn. The Love Wins is a lovely soft rainbow that would make a nice remembrance shawl. The Giving Tree is brown, green, grey, and white, the colors of Sandy Hook's school colors and mascot, the eagle. It would make a nice, sweater for K. We often ask ourselves how can I help? I'm just one person. Through a multitude of small simple acts of kindness and love, the families of Newton will know they are blanketed with love from a nation of compassionate compatriots. Hopefully, the blankets will serve as reminders that love does win that life does give. We just don't always understand why or how at the moment, or even later. Please lift the families up in your prayers, if you pray, and in your thoughts with love and kindness if you don't. Thank you for reading. Jen

Mermaid Tail for 18" Doll

 

Materials

Bernat Baby Coordinates, Funny Print used for model, 42 grams, 120 yards

US size 6 needle, 4.0 mm

Small crochet hook for seaming

Yarn needle for weaving in ends

Notes

Work flat.

The first and last stitches of each row are worked in stockinet, knit on right side rows and purl on wrong side rows.

Ravelry has been causing folks to experience seizures, migraines, and vertigo, among other problems, so I'm providing other options for folks to purchase my patterns through.

This pattern is available on Etsy with the direct link to Mermaid Tail for 18" Dolls. 

Sweaters for Twins

These projects were started during the London Olympics 2012. I watched loads of swimming, gymnastics, and track n field events while knitting these sweaters. The sweaters are destined for two little ones to wear on their way home from the hospital in late fall.

The country blue color was already in my stash, which isn't very big. I've been trying to work from stash exclusively as that helps to create space for more fun yarns. I didn't have a cream or mushroom color in stash. Oh, no! What to do but go shopping of course! Michael's Impeccable in Soft Taupe is an excellent Mushroom color and in Heather is an excellent cream color. {I'm not paid by Michael's or anything, just like their yarns.}

Back home to knit during the Olympics and the Ravellenic Games. There was a hallabaloo over Ravelry using the name Ravelympics for their imaginary points only, international, Olympics timed and themed events. The hallabaloo started with a cease and desist letter from the US Olympic Committee who said Ravelry was infringing on their right to the Olympic franchise. Anywho,  these sweaters medaled in the Baby Dressage and Sweater Triathlon events.

I'm also into Harry Potter and participate in the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup. These sweaters earned thirty points for Quidditch, which just happens to be the Ravellenic Games. I'm doing a few other projects and hope to get a few bonuses for all my hard work. 

Anyways, I just wanted to share this with all of you and hope you have a grand day or night,as the case may be.