B.R.O.O.M. Disaster Averted

Hello!
Another double post to try to get in all my exciting news.

HPKCHC
I discovered today, that I was not supposed to start work on my BROOM project until September 30.  My broom consists of Spa Washcloths, based on the patterns and organic cotton yarn I got from the Liz Marino Gift Knits Club this year.  I enjoyed making them, and I knew my sisters would love them, so I proposed making 10 more.

Once the project was accepted, I cast on a new washcloth.  I planned to also turn in these washcloths for a Gryffindor challenge called a Marauders Mission, to craft something relaxing each month (it's called "Relaxicrafting.")  I have finished 3 so far, and cast on the 4th.  I was feeling so proud of myself, because I was ahead in the project, and I could tell I would have no trouble finishing all 10 by the end of November, even with more Quidditch coming up.

So I contacted the leader of my Marauders Mission Team, asking her about how to give her a photo to turn in for the Team Post, and she told me that I wasn't supposed to start the BROOM.  EEEK!  The relaxicrafting is only for stuff that you would already be making for a class.  It is not meant to add more projects, but reward you for just completing a class or a longer project, like my BROOM.  So, for it to count, I needed to find a class to turn in these 3 washcloths.

I have already finished my 6 classes for the month, so that left Herbology or History of Magic, the only 2 classes left.  The Herbology prompt asked you to do some research into the types of trees used to make wands, then craft a project that reflected something you learned, or craft a project with the Name of the tree in the project.

I looked up some photos of tree Bark on the internet, and compared them with my washcloths.  Then I chose 3 that looked similar, and checked to see if they were used in wand making.

I chose

Ash,

which was used in Cedric Diggory's wand.  I paired it with this washcloth:

Elm,

which was used to make a wand for Lucius Malfoy.  This is the matching washcloth:

And, oak,

which was used in Hagrid's wand/umbrella.

I did some research into the characteristics of each wood, and then instead of writing a description or a story (this group is really into storytelling where you put yourself into the Harry Potter world, as though you were in one of the books), I wrote 3 short poems to explain what I had learned about each type of wood.

Ash (Cedric Diggory)

 Ashwood

wands represent

sensitivity and

sacrifice; higher awareness:

Cedric.

Elm (Lucius Malfoy)

This elegant

magical

instrument,

believed to correctly

belong to just

pure-bloods, casts

dignified

error free

dexterous

world weary

spells in defense of

Lord Voldemort.

Oak (Rubeus Hagrid)

As the days warm, the

Forest King makes wood for wands;

sometimes umbrellas.

This was a totally fun class assignment.  I love the Harry Potter books and movies.  I read most of them out loud to my kids when they first came out.  But I am not the type of fan to do research into the books, or write fan fiction.  But I had so much fun learning about wand wood and wand lore.  And writing the poems was really fun, also.

I am so happy I joined this group.  It is inspiring me.

Where in the World is f1bercat?

I knit another 4 miles on the exercise bike today.  Since I could not bring a spa washcloth, and have it count for my BROOM, I brought the Better than French Vanilla Socks that I have been slowly knitting FOREVER.  

These socks are another riff on a pattern by Liz Marino.  They are going to be for my brother, so they need to be big.  He has large feet (size 13).  His feet are swollen with his poor circulation.  He can't walk anymore, but he still can FEEL, so they need to be soft.  He can't put them on so they need to be S-T-R-E-T-C-H-Y.  This pattern is a great one for stretch, and the Cascade Handpaint Heritage Sock Yarn, is perfect, too.  The pattern is easily memorizable, so they are good to bring to the Y.

Where does 4 more miles put me?

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Still on I5 in the middle of nowhere, Oregon.

But 4 miles closer to my goal of Orange, Calif.

Stay safe and well,

Yours,

f1bercat

Shaping the planet with 3 new poems and some washcloths that look like bark.

2012 Bellingham Yarn Crawl part 1

Hello!

I am in such a great mood.  I know it's Tuesday, but I was exhausted on Sunday, and busy Monday, so I had to wait until today to post the first installment of blogs about the Eastside Stitchers' 2012 Bellingham Yarn Crawl.  

Many of us were able to take part in the 2012 Puget Sound LYS Tour in May.  We had a wonderful time getting introduced to 24 LYS.  But, trying to cram all of the shops into 4 days was challenging, especially since we traveled all the way to the Canadian border as well as visiting 2 islands involving ferry trips.  Basically, we ran in and out of the shops trying to get as much of a feel as we could for what each shop carried.

It was a good introduction, though, and it made us determined to come back and visit the shops again.  This was one of the reasons I knitted like a fiend this summer, trying to use up most of the yarn I purchased in May.  Ok, I probably would have knitted that much anyway, but it did dictate a bit of WHAT I was knitting.  On that Crawl, I basically just bought what looked cool.  I love the things I made, but, I have completely organized my stash, completely, and wow, I have a lot of random skeins of yarn.  

Before:

After:

 Ok, I still need some type of bins, but at least it is all organized by fiber, size, and for sock yarn, solid/variegated.

I organized my stash, then made a list of 4 projects I really want to knit next.  I guess this will be my year of the shawl, because I chose 3 shawl/shawlettes and a mobius cowl.  The cowl is for my son, Pookie, who plans to be a physics major in college next year.

I listed the amounts and types of yarn suggested for each project and made a vow to myself that I would stick to my plan.  

I planned to use my "Costco" method of shopping.  I love Costco, which for me is a local store as it started here in Washington, but, it is very easy to come out of Costco with a load of random purchases that you don't really need.  When I shop there, I always make a list, then hold the list in front of my face so I can't see any really cool things that just want to be bought, and run from list item to list item.  I am usually pretty good at sticking to it.

Well, I can claim complete success on the Bellingham Crawl.  I bought only stuff on my list.  Now, I need to knit up all 4 projects before May and the big yarn crawl!  Or before we plan another day trip to a new part of the Puget Sound area and some other yarn stores we haven't "tasted" yet.

So where did we go?  And what did we buy?

Stop 1 

NW Handspun 
1401 Commercial St. 
Bellingham, WA 98225

We arrived in Bellingham, WA at about 11:30 am.  It was gray out, but looked like it was going to be a nice day.  Bellingham is on Puget Sound and almost to Canada.  As we got close, driving up the 5 freeway (Interstate 5), we had glimpses of the water.

We found parking in a bank lot just down the street from the store,

where we were threatened with the full body-binding curse, Petrificus Totalus.  Undismayed, we continued on to the shop where we were greeted by the sight of a yarn bombing.

 

Yep!  yarn store in the immediate vicinity.  NW Handspun is a lovely little shop. 

They had some beautiful yarns.  Everyone went gaga over the Periwinkle Sheep yarns.  They were beautiful colors, and sparkly.  Upstairs, were the sale yarns and... Spinning wheels and roving.  I actually spent about 5 minutes looking at the different wheels, then said out loud to myself, "Back away from the spinning wheels.  There is nothing for you here."  Needless to say, a wheel was NOT on my list.  But the roving was beautiful, and well, reading the spinning chat in HPKCHC and listening to the KnitmoreGirls as well as the Weasley Sisters, and just about every other podcast I love, talk about spinning... Not on my list I repeat.


However, some Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend, was on my list.  The cowl I hope to knit (Easy Mobius Cowl by Haley Waxberg) for Pookie suggested that yarn, doubled.  Pookie wants gray.  He wants it to go with a purple sweater he has.  Gray?  just gray?  Why are boys, well boys?  

I had the foresight to bring the purple sweater with me, and I found the perfect yarns. 

I chose a gray (Nickle) :

and a variegated (Abalone):

It will look mostly gray, but with just a bit of purple, pink, blue, and cream to add interest.  But still masculine.  Definitely, still masculine.

It goes well with the sweater.

Now to just knit the cowl.  But since the HPKCHC dictates my stitching life, I can't cast it on until October 1, and hope it fits a class.  Ha!

Tomorrow, I will write about the 2nd stop.

Where in the world is f1bercat?

Yes!  the Bike Ride South is back.

I made it to the Y yesterday and today.  They have remodeled the entryway, and our little Y is quite lovely now.  The recumbent bikes were in the same spot, though, and one was empty.  

I was only able to knit for 20ish minutes both days.  Can you say, "Out of shape?"  Not horribly so, but still.  Anyway adding them together I knit for 8.13 miles on one of my Spa Washcloths.  

The first 3 of these were from the Liz Marino Gift Knits Club.  She sent the organic cotton yarn and the nubby washcloth patterns. 

 I loved the idea so much, that I am making sets for my 3 sisters and my 4 sisters-in-law for Christmas.  Always thinking of how I can fit what I intend to knit into the HPKCHC, I decided to propose these washcloths as a B.R.O.O.M (Basic Request for an Official Order Mission) project.  These are formally know as Order of the Phoenix projects, and and meant to take more time than a regular class, but less time than an OWL.  I suggested that I knit 8, but the Moderator in charge, asked that I make more, as 8 was not a sufficient number to count.  She suggested 10.  Ok, I can knit 10.  I mean, I think I can, with 6 classes each month, Quidditch games, and my OWL socks to knit.  Anyway, they are perfect projects to knit while riding the bike.

So, where does that put me?

The last time I rode (and posted progress), I was at 322.93 miles.  Which put me in the middle of nowhere:


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Now that I have driven this route, down and back up, I know that I am headed into some beautiful places, but pretty empty of people.

So, 8.13 more miles brings me to 331.03 miles total, just south of Yoncalla.

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Roseburg, here I come.


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Stay safe and well.
Yours,
f1bercat
Shaping the planet with new yarn!

Wooden hooks from NW Handspun