Ravellenic Games Recap

I really did mean to keep up-to-date on posting during the Ravellenic Games, but we know what they say about good intentions.  I had two projects to work on during the games, and I managed to complete one.

I worked on the Autumn Vines Beret (RAV) first, and finished it in decent time.  I would have finished it earlier if I had really committed to the process, but there were some nights I just didn’t feel like knitting, which that will get me every time.  This was a fun pattern to knit, and one I actually think I’d be interested in doing again, perhaps with the yarn suggested in the pattern because I love the color (they had it at Stitches West 2012 and it was fabulous).

My second project was the Citron shawl.  I started it the morning after finishing the beret, but I only had a little more than a week to get it done.  I actually managed to get a good deal of it done on a trip down to San Diego to take the Academy of Certified Archivists exam.  My dad drove me, so I was able to sit in the passenger seat and knit, knit, knit.  Of course, the problem with a shawl is always the fact that it gets bigger and bigger the further you get, and I had decided from the outset to knit 7 sections rather than the called for 5 sections (I wanted to make sure I got every color of the progression into the shawl).  I got to the 7th section on Saturday, August 11.  I thought I was good to go, but then I discovered that I had read the instructions incorrectly, and that instead of having until midnight of the 12th, I only had until 4 pm my time.  I kind of gave up then.  I even put my knitting down and didn’t pick it back up for almost 2 weeks.

Maybe it’s a good thing that I put it down.  When I picked it up again, I decided to see if I could get an extra section out of my yarn.  With worry that I might run out, I knit an 8th section and started on the ruffle.  Amazingly enough I got to the end and still have a little bit of yarn left.  Now the shawl is cast off and just in need to a wash and block.  Now where did I put those T-pins….?

End of the week

After I finished the Rivendell socks, I was a bit listless over what to knit next.  I had bought some Mountain Lace in a nice navy blue that I want to make Aeolian out of, but the idea just wasn’t getting me excited.  I kept thinking I wanted to knit something out of some of my handspun.  I hadn’t done that in some time.  There’s something really nice about knitting with yarn that you’ve spun yourself.

I had managed to get my hands of some Spunky Ecelectic Corripaca before Amy ran out of it several months ago.  The colorway I chose was Estuary, which was a pretty mix of green, brown, and natural.  I spun it up as a 2-ply lacewight getting approximately 509 yds out of the 4 oz.

I thought with the brown and greens the perfect pattern would be Laminaria.  So, I cast it on last Thursday.  I’ve gotten through the star chart and have completed the first repeat of the blossom chart.  So far, I love the way the colors are stripping up.  I think with the edging it will really look seaweedy.

I should also say thanks to BigAlice and Sandy for their comments on my last post.  Since they’ve given me permission to whinge, here it is, in all its silly glory….

First off, I’m an introvert; being around people can be tiring, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like to be social.  Things in my life got a lot better when I accepted the fact that I am an introvert, that I’ll never be an extrovert, and I learned what I needed to do for myself.  However, knowing and accepting don’t always help when I go through periods of profound loneliness.  I lament that I don’t have many close friends; I pity myself for not being invited out to do things.  It leaves me feeling like there’s a hole in my gut for a few days, then it passes.  I have to remember that I probably don’t present myself as someone who is interested in going out and doing things, and frankly, I’m not sure how to even give that impression.  I don’t know how to make instant friends with people, and I have only a slim number of lasting friendships.

I’m not looking for a pity party, but just explaining where my head was earlier this week.  I’m hoping maybe by putting some of it into words I’ll get a better grasp on what it is that bothers me.

Now, on a lighter note… YARN!