Malabrigo March Madness, NATCROMO, COM...Oh My!

Need I say more? Well, OK, maybe I do. March is a busy, busy month! It's National (and International on Ravelry) Crochet Month (NATCROMO/ITCROMO). It's also our 2nd annual Village Hopelessly Overcommitted Cast On Mania (COM). And it's Malabrigo March Madness (MMM). btw, it isn't a coincidence that COM is the same month as MMM. ;)

First, Malabrigo! Yep, I'm going backwards. *warning: shameless self promotion ahead* ...cause I need votes! I am a new Malabrigo Junkie. I've had this heavenly yarn in my stash for about a year, but never done anything with it other than occasionally take it out and pet it. And I wasn't really that in love with the worsted I had...the color YES, but the feel, no. So when MMM came around this year, I thought what better way to get me off my butt and try it. I'd always heard how soft it was but wasn't really seeing it myself...in the skein. Then I started using it! OMB! (That's Oh My Bob! for any non-Ravelers out there.) It really is amazingly soft and keeps getting softer the more I work with it! I am now officially in LOVE!

So what better way to show my new found love, than with a song! ...and an entry into the 2010 Show Your Devotion Contest. So here is my first ever attempt at 1) a video and 2) singing in public...so to speak. If you're on Ravelry, check out the Contest thread in the Malabrigo Junkies group and vote for me! ;) Voting ends the 31st...I think.



Now, onto NATCROMO! This year for NATCROMO, I got to be a little more active in the Ravelry Party than last year, but still not as much as 2008. Nonetheless, I was still crocheting and actively promoting crochet to others. I have worked on several things...

a dress for Thing 1's Ariel doll. She picked out the pattern (from the 80's!) and color. It just needs snaps and a little ribbon:



a scarf that will end up as a gift before too long (you'll have to wait to find out who for). It's taken a while to find out what pattern this Plymouth Baby Alpaca Lace wanted to be, but this is it! It's the Alpine Frost Scarf (Rav pattern link) by Amy O'Neill Houck from Interweave Crochet, Winter 2008.



And then I've also been working on a couple of new designs too! ...but I can't show you those right now. ;)

And finally COM! Crazy thing to do! The idea is to cast on/start something new everyday of the month. Sounds a lot easier to do than it is. I couldn't keep up last year either and then ended up with a TON of projects that are either still WIPs or I've finally frogged. This year, I've tried to be smarter about it. I have never planned to try to cast on something every day...just wanted to allow myself the freedom to start something new with no guilt. All the things I've done for NATCROMO have been included as well as a few knitted things...

Like this Faberge Neck Warmer (Rav pattern link) by Nina Machlin Dayton (that is also for MMM) from the gorgeous Malabrigo worsted I was given in a swap last year:



(I'm about halfway through this neck warmer now...need to take a new pic!)

And this Cable Band Bag (Rav pattern link) by Jennifer Jones using the GORGEOUS merino/alpaca Pistachio and Chocolate handspun yarn from my Danish friend, Lykkefanten.



Clearly, they're all still WIPs, but ones with a greater chance at becoming FO's than the COMs from last year. :D

And all this while dealing with colds in our house that took all but one of us out for 2 weeks! ACK! Anyway, I hope you all have had a better and more productive month. But it's still been fun!

And as always...Happy Crafting! :D

2010 Ravelympics

OK, I know I owe you a follow up post on the Pinewood Derby, but I got distracted by the 2010 Ravelympics! So I'll post about it next time.

Anyway, the 2010 Ravelympics, which coincides with the 2010 Winter Olympics, is almost over. The closing ceremonies will begin before too long and I'm proud to say I accomplished most of my goal for these games. I did not plan on competing as many projects as the 2008 games...nor did I intend to compete in WIPs Dancing (I'm already sick of my WIPs, which is why they're still WIPs). Instead, I planned to try to use up as much old stash as I could. And with the crazy month I've had, I'm very happy with my performance.

The games started with a Team Hopelessly Overcommitted Everlasting Synchronized Bag Jump...using Knitty's Everlasting Bagstopper pattern, we had a mass team cast-on during the opening ceremonies. That I know of, there were 12 team members ready to go on this...though it looks like only 9 managed a start (at least according to our tags). But it was great fun nonetheless! It seems fitting that the bag I cast-on for the start of the games was the last thing I finished at the close of the games.



I somehow managed to make this bag 4 rows shorter in the lace section than my previous bag. Not sure how I did that as I carefully measured both bags. Oh well! This can be the bread or produce bag. :D And how could I not be happy with a bag that finished gold in the Bag Jump and Stash Compulsory Dance?

I also competed in Junior Olympics, Mittens Moguls and Stash Compulsory Dance with my Chocolate Dipped Blueberry Mittens for Thing 2.



Just before the games started, I finished a matching pair for Thing 1...Mixed Berry Mitts. (Clearly, I shouldn't name projects when hungry.)



Now if only I could have finished both pairs of mittens in time for the 5" of snow we had the day before starting them! LOL Oh well! There's enough growing room in them to wear again next year.

Then I had 4 projects compete in Charity Curling, Single Skein Speed Skate and Stash Compulsory Dance (noticing a theme here?).




I think it's pretty interesting to see the differences in these squares. They're all using the same pattern, same yarn, same dyelot, but very different effects. I had hoped to finish 2 more (and thus using up all of this yarn I had), but other things kept getting in the way and besides, my hands were hurting at that point. But I will finish those other 2 squares and then find a good home for them. The original charity I had planned on donating them to is no longer accepting squares, but I've been given information about several others that would be happy to have them. I'll let you know where they go when they're all done. And I think I'll be making more squares for charity as well this year. It's for a great cause and uses up stash to boot! :D

Then there was a new event for these games...Aerial Unwind. I have to say, this may have been my favorite event! I had 4 projects medal here as well, but that also means I have 4 fewer WIPs! :D For this I frogged my Bamboo Scarf (loved the yarn and the pattern, just not together), my Luscious Lace Scarf (couldn't get the pattern to look right with my yarn), my Hand Spring Mitts (again, loved the yarn and the pattern, just not together...wished I'd had another skein of the yarn to hold double for it), and finally, my first attempt at a sweater for me...my Hey, Mom! OK, that last one was hard. I really liked the pattern and the yarn and the two together, but it's been so long since I've worked on it, I couldn't figure out where I was. I had also been having problems with adjusting the pattern to in the round without having big sections of stockinette at the center front as the pattern indicated. Rest assured, I'll try this one again!









So, all in all, I'm very happy with my performance in the games this year! :D And Malabrigo March Madness, our Village Hopelessly Overcommitted Cast-On Mania, and National Crochet Month all start tomorrow! It's going to be a fun fun month! :D

Happy Crafting! :D