Catching Up Post Ravelympics

Wow! Has it really been that long since I've posted???? I guess between vacation and the Ravelympics I got totally carried away! :D Well, the Ravelympics are over now :( and I had soooo much fun! Guess this will be a picture heavy post just to get updated! LOL

For the Ravelympics, I entered 36 projects total. I completed 24 of those during the games and of the ones I didn’t complete, 4 were alternates anyway and the rest are at least farther along than they would have been otherwise. There were only 2 new projects that I didn’t get to at all. And I earned a medal for all 6 of the events I entered. I'm quite pleased with how I did. :D

And just before vacation (right at the start of the games), I received the yarn I won from Knit It Up's Name the Skein contest. Thanks to my wonderful husband, who came up with the winning name "Taffy", I received this...
I think the knitting Gods must really want me to make socks cause this is the second skein of sock yarn I've won in the last month! LOL So I'm working on it. I cast on Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Basic Sock just before the games (pre-game warmup) and I'm now working on them in the car after school while waiting to pick up my son. I'm just about an inch away from turning the heel now. So far so good, I think...

And just to catch up completely, here are the projects I completed during the Ravelympics and just before:

Kid's Nap Sacks (checked off the Summer goals list!!!):

Fairy Tale Finger Puppets; My second pair of socks...this pair is for my daughter to coordinate with her twin brother who recieved the first pair; My Nutcracker Scarf:

Hostile Bunni and his Evil Minions for my oldest; a Doughboy for my Hubby as a joke (I got a little carried away and stuffed his hat too...I shouldn't have.); Mintley, the Cafe au Lait Miniature Thread Bear. (I over-dyed the ecru thread with coffee.):

The kids Buddy Bags (working on writing up a pattern for the Star Wars Finger Puppets...more on that later):





My In Bloom Bag (photo of the outside of bag is pre-seaming); and the Draft Stopper for my oldest:

The other 10 were Fantasy Knits and were only done in my head. LOL

That catches us up a bit. I'll talk more about the Death Star Buddy Bag and the wonderful friends I made during the games next time. And about some other GREAT news regarding the CLF Patch! :D

Until next time...Happy Crafting!

I Won! I Won! I Won!

I've entered soooo many blog contests this year, I guess it was bound to happen. I was having a rather frustrating week. Then I logged into Ravelry and got a really great surprise. Waiting in my inbox was a message from Cinders of Cinders Knits and a subject line of You Won! I got soooo excited and was jumping up and down screaming for a while. The prize was a skein of BFL machine washable sock yarn custom dyed to your choice.

I won yarn!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!! (OK, I still jump up and down everytime I think about it.) Now, the hard part was deciding what to ask for. I've never made adult sized socks or used actual sock yarn....yet. I know I rambled for awhile in my reply to her. But she helped me sort it out and it will be something similar (not exact as it's hand dyed) to this...

The second I saw this photo she sent me (and gave me permission to use here), I knew this was it! I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this! So, of course, now I'm even more excited! Thank You Thank You Thank You Ruth!!!! :D You should check out her Etsy shop and she's got more great pics of yarn she's doing on her blog too.

Now I need your help! As I said, I've yet to make adult sized socks. Don't worry, I'm still planning on making the socks from the poll earlier, but they will have to wait until after the Ravelympics. Although, it's realllly hard not to cast on for those right now! Anyway, what I need is help deciding what pattern to use this realllly gorgeous yarn on. I haven't got a clue! So either leave me a comment here or find me on Ravelry and let me know what you think I should make with this.

And, OK, I did win a pattern naming contest earlier this year. Fiona Kelly had a pattern for a felted lion that needed a name, and the second I saw it, the name just came to me...Marlion. It's a cross between lion (cause it's a lion) and Bob Marley. The colors in the mane just made me think of it. I don't know why. But it seemed perfect. And Fiona liked it too! So he was named Marlion and I won a copy of the pattern. Yay! You can see or buy it here or through Ravelry. Thanks again Fiona! :D

Oh, and did I mention you should check out Cinders Knits. ;)

Happy Crafting!