Start-itis

After the Ravellenic Games finished, and my projects were all submitted for medals, I found myself in an unusual situation.  I had nothing in progress!  That was such a shock to me that I immediately sat down with my iPad and Ravelry and a blank Notepad page and started planning.   First was the baby blanket for a co-worker due in September.  I decided on a Baby Babette in Blues & gathered yarn for that - and included my spreadsheet of random generated color choices for the rounds of that blanket. How else would a nerd proceed?  This weekend I made the first of five sections.

Then I thought of the Southern Comfort Maltese Rescue,  SCMR , where our much loved Bella and Lucky came to us from.  Their website solicits donations of money, time, and supplies.  I found their link to the Snuggles Project which has patterns for knitted and crocheted snuggle blankets for dogs and cats awaiting adoption.  Great!  I pulled a skein of bulky weight yarn from my stash for a crocheted snuggle blankie.

I  might as well get some knitting practice in, so I grabbed another bulky skein to make a knitted snuggle blanket.  

And I've been wondering what to make with that wool yarn I dyed with grape and cherry koolaid. Hmmm.  How about another knitted hat?  Sure!

WHEW!  Disaster averted!  I don't have to panic that there's no project for me to pick up & work on.  The planning and gathering yarn, hook/needle, and pattern - putting them all together in a ziploc bag inside a tote bag - that takes a lot of thought and consideration.  Now it's on to the easier part - pick up bag & GO!

The Games are Done

The Ravellenic Games have closed.  I am absolutely THRILLED with what I accomplished during the Games.  I work well on a deadline, apparently!  In addition to the scarf and basket in the last post, here is what else I did!

I knit my first hat

I posted a doggie sweater I wasn't able to finish in time for closing ceremonies - but I was able to post as a "Cast On Project" for partial credit since it was ALMOST done, but not quite. Isn't Miss Bella just a beautiful model!

And last, but not least, finished a 12-square afghan I will be donating to a community closet for clothes & stuff given to children taken from their homes by Social Services or other emergencies.  My co-worker who runs the charity was thrilled to receive it, and she promised it would go to a deserving teen girl (it's too pink for a boy!).

YAY ME!!!
Now, I only have to:
    Make a Sweater for Lucky
    Make a Baby Babette for a co-worker
    Join & border squares I received in a Ravelry Swap
    Join & border pieces of an overlarge Babette that I'm making into a separate blankie
    Get ready for the next round of Ravelry challenges
Easy Peasy!

Midway through Ravellenic Games

So, just ask Chuck (who just got out of the hospital for an infection that required IV antibiotics) how much I've been crafting lately.  Every time he sees me, I've got hook or needles in my hands, working feverishly to finish my projects for Ravelry's Ravellenic Games. 

So far:  In the WIPs Wrestling event, I finished this scarf - which I started before our cruise in Spring 2011!

I also took this ball of yarn I dyed with Koolaid - and made ...

... this yarn basket!  (Crocheted mostly while visiting Chuck in Eden's Morehead Hospital.)

AND!  I've made six of twelve 9" squares for an afghan to be donated to a co-worker who runs a clothing closet for the needy at her church - mostly for children who've been removed from their homes by Social Services - or for fire or flood. 

SO!  What's left on my Ravellenic Games To Do List?  The six remaining squares for the afghan;  I've got a knitted hat that needs another six or seven inches of knitting in the round; and I want to cast on to make a knitted doggie sweater for Bella/Lucky/Hank/Felix (pick one).  The Games end Sunday August 12th.  Watch the hook & needles fly!