Ravelympics Medals

Well I am nearing the end of my Ravelry Knitting Olympics. I was on 2 different teams. Team WIPS2010 with 2 projects for WPIS Dancing. Sadly I will not medal in this event with either project.

However For Team Tardis I have medaled in 4 events with a total of 5 projects!

I have 3 entries in this event for frogging old projects.


The first is an old unknown garter stitch thing. I have no idea what it was supposed to be so it clearly had to get frogged.

The second project to frog was my Brown Dragon Shawl. After I discovered I was twisting stitches in one section and knit the same row twice elsewhere it was clear I had to start over. I frogged it without remorse and decided I need to find a better way to keep the pattern in front of me when I restart this project.



Last was Growler Cozy Rev 2. The bottom section did not felt at all so I had to rip it back and try to pick up from fulled stitches.







Another event I entered was Flying Camel Spin. I had a bunch of roving from our sheep Brownie from 2006. This was her last fleece and I really wanted to spin it all up. I managed to get most of it done, 470 yards worth for my entry.





The final 2 events I entered were the Designer Pattern Skeleton and the Felting freestyle with my modified Growler Cozy Pattern.

I managed to get them done in just 2 days!






Here is the pattern:
Growler Cozy Pattern - Sized to fit a US Standard 64 ounce glass growler.

I used a very soft 24 WPI 2 ply that felts well and size 10 or 6mm needles. You need a circular or 2 and some DPNs and a tapestry needle.

My swatch started out as a stockinette swatch with a 2 stitch garter stitch border. Un-fulled it was 6 inches top to bottom and 30 stitches or 6.5 inches between borders. The swatch was 7 inches in total height

After fulling 4 inches high 4 3/4 inches wide between borders. If your yarn fulls differently then you may need to adjust the number of stitches for your growler cozy.

CO 28 stitches

P first row then continue in stockinette until it measures 3.5 inches long

K1 Kfb (Knit in front and back) to end
P
K
P
* K1 then Kfb * Repeat between * to end. You should have 82 stitches
P
K
Continue alternating P and K rows until this section is 3.5 inches long.
Set up to do a P row but instead
Cable Cast on 30-31 more stitches
Place Marker, join and the knit in the round

Continue to knit in the round until the body is 11-11.5 inches long or so.

Base
Rnd 1 K2tog around
Rnd 2 Knit
Rnd 3 Knit
Rnd 4 and all further rounds
K2tog K1

Just keep doing that all around switching to double points as required and moving the marker as required or remove marker entirely until you have 4 or 5 stitches left.

Thread the yarn through the last 4 or 5 stitches and weave in all the ends.

Make 2 I-Cord strings each about 15 inches long leaving a 10 inch tail on the cast off end.

Using a tapestry needle take the long tail and pull the I-Cord through the top edge of the cozy. It's easiest to do this before felting but it can be done later. Take care not to cut the yarns. Sew the end back to the I-Cord using the tail end of yarn. Doing it this way means you can replace the cord when it gets worn or breaks.

Full the fabric until it fits the growler. Stretch over a growler while wet and pin the top together with a safety pen.

Once it has dried you can use the ties to tie up the top.

Winter Solstice

Farms mark the year by the solar calendar.

The solstice, the traditional mid winter festival when the sun starts to return. For us too the solstice is turn-around time. The days when the sun seems to stand still are our time to do a yearly reflection on the past year. We evaluate the goals accomplished and plans for next year.

Chores are delivering food and water to the critters. I spend my mornings watching fluffy sheep get fat and play in the snow. They make sheep nests in the bedding pack for warmth. I watch the breeding ram to be sure he is doing his job. The current one in with my control group of ewes may be a candidate for baatwurst. He seems to be butting the ewes more than he is breeding them. The ewes will get another ram in January so they should get pregnant. We'll know when they lamb who the daddy is and if Kai failed to breed ewes he's sausage.

Chickens are all hunkered down, snug in the coop but in jail and they are not happy so I take hay and chicken treats to them and talk to them when I gather the eggs. Chickens are actually quite social and like to be talked to so I cluck at them and pet a few friendly ones.

The dogs also make their own nests in the hay and the old dog snuggles in between warm sheep when it gets cold. The horses frisk in the snow in the warm sun but stand huddled neighing for breakfast when it's cold. I have a lot more time in winter so I am doing some hobby things that never get worked on in summer: knitting, spinning, doing a puzzle, reading. Winter is a time of reflection, more thinking and planning than doing on a farm. It's a good balance.

I hope you all have an enjoyable winter solstice.

North Fork Fiber Guild

With the loom assembled the next step was to tie it up and get it ready for warping. Margaret, Monica and Elena all helped me learn how to tie everything up and set it up for weaving. Here they are doing their spinning, naalbinding and knitting after we got the loom tied up.

We set it up for a balanced twill and tabby just to play with initially.

Here I am testing out the treadles to see if I can reach them all easily.