Rav Games 2014

There certainly wasn't as much mainstream public hoopla about these Olympic style fiber games as there was before the London games but there was drama on Ravelry behind the scenes. I won't go into it, because frankly, I stopped reading all the comments and opinions when the dislike button numbers far exceeded the other buttons combined on what seemed like every post.

Ha-Lo Kitty

I love Hello Kitty.  Not in a creepy, you-are-over-40-and-shouldn't-be-wearing-a-Hello-Kitty-headband kind of way but more that I'm glad I have a little girl so I can indulge in one of my favorite nostalgic icons from my youth kind of way.  When Bit was small(er) she used pronounce it Ha (with a slight pause) Lo Kitty (slight emphasis on Lo).  

Loopy Weekend

Directions first.  Editorial second.  How to make a Fruit Loopy Scarf

What I did here:

Short-Tail Long-Tail Cast On Instructions

The long tail cast on is one of my favorites.  It's quick, easy and works for most projects.  However, I always have a too much yarn left or worse, not enough.  Usually that's not a problem unless I'm casting on over 200 stitches and run out of tail at around 180.  Sort of like what happened when I first cast on the Miami Beach Shawl.  So I set out to find and alternative and here it is.  


Awhile ago, I downloaded instructions linked to pattern on Ravelry by Betty Balcomb on how to do a Short-Tail Long-Tail Cast On.  The directions have since disappeared from Rav so here's a quick recap of how to do it.

• From the same skein (or one each from two identical skeins), take the two ends of yarn and tie them in a slip knot with about a five inch tail on both.
• Insert your needle in the loop created by the slip knot.
• Proceed with a Long Tail Cast On (see below).
• When you get the desired number of stitches, break the yarn from the end you won't be knitting from.
• Smile because you had just the right amount of yarn.

As for the loop from the slip knot, I just treat it as the first cast on stitch but you could cast on one more and pull that out at the end.  That's all there is to a Short-Tail Long-Tail Cast On.


By the way, here are some links to great sites to learn how to do the traditional Long Tail Cast On.

• KnittingHelp.com (video)
• Knitty.com (text/pics)
• KnitPicks.com (video)

Little Bit giving me her typical pose

right before her ballet recital.

Miami Beach or Bust!

With the failure of the Damson still fresh in the frog pond, I have fearlessly casted on another lace shawl.  This one is the Miami Beach Shawl and I'm working it with Dashing Dachs Dach Sox yarn, in a colorway appropriately named Jellyfish.  The top picture is the one most true to color.

I'm only 1/2 way through the first lace repeat but I can already tell I'll love it!

I used Betty Balcomb's Short-Tail Long-Tail Cast On from a "pattern" she distributed last year.  I'd post the link to it but it's been pulled off of Ravely and every other site I can find.  It's pretty easy to do and I don't know if you can copy-write a cast-on so tomorrow when I have more time.  I'll post how I do a long tail cast on without having to guess how much yarn to pull.  

If Not Knitting...

then spend hours on Ravelry organizing.

Since it's a slow day at work and I can't organize my stash from here, I decided to clean up my Ravelry stash and queue.  I'm the type of person that needs a list, a plan, an organized way of tackling a problem or situation.  Of course, that only applies to my online life.  In real life, I'm unorganized, running in circles and constantly trying to keep too many balls in the air.  So while I'm trapped here at work, I figured I'd do my best to get some control over one of the few things I have control over, my knitting.

First up, move the items in my queue that actually have a chance of getting made to the top of the list and create tabs so I can easily find them.  Secondly, link said projects to yarn I currently have listed on my stash page.  This part is a little dicey since most of the yarn I intend to ever use isn't on there but I figure I will go back and refine this part at some point in the far far away future.  Finally, I organized my projects page, so I can look at my final efforts and reaffirm that it is always worth it in the end.  I even created a "me" tab so I could quickly see some of what I've kept for myself.

Better get back to it, only 6 more hours of work left.

Crochet Basket

The other day I was organizing my craft closet and found tons of unused crochet hooks and needles. I also found a bunch of yarn, completely unidentifiable in amount, fabric or specific color. So, I found this neat little pattern on Ravelry.com for making little crochet baskets. It's by Bernat and the free pattern can be found here.

I'm just now finishing attaching the base to the sides and realize it needs to be "stiffened" by starch or "fabric stiffener". Of course, I don't have any here. So, I looked online and found numerous recipes for making your own fabric stiffener. It looks like the best option is to use the real stuff so I'll have to save saying it's completely done until I get a trip to Michaels.

Here's a picture of it unstarched but with some DVD's holding it's shape. It turned out pretty good.