There and There and Back Again.

I made it to DFW Fiber Fest last Sunday, and delivered all my donations, plus a donations form with photos of all the items (the ones left previously and the ones that I carried) on the back.  The volunteer who accepted my bag grinned hugely when he saw it, as it makes their work very much easier!  I had time on Saturday while traveling, and in the evening, to make two more blanket pieces out of scraps:

Yes, the one on the left looks a bit wonky, but it measured evenly.

The class I took was on Dragon Boat Decorations and I am fascinated and we all started making many with different designs and colours and I think if they'd let us we would have been there until the event closed.  Mine are the three in the lower lefthand corner:

I finished with a volunteer shift for closing, packing away yarnbombing items and helping vendors pack and move out of the vendor hall.

Then I flew out to San Diego and spent three days at a conference, which was small but meant for learning and networking:

Back to Dallas, since it's very difficult to get flights across the country unless you live in New York or Washington, DC, and then home the next day.  While at the conference and traveling to Dallas I knit a hat, and then I made another one:

In a sense I knit three hats, because the one on the left came out too tight on the first go, so I knit it again with an additional repeat's worth of stitches, and this is a better size.  Both are destined for sale in a holiday crafts show in November, and if they don't sell they are going to charity.

I've read two books, one finishing "The Time Machine" which was an assignment in my class on the origins of science fiction, and the other "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" which was written for young adults but I found it very interesting.  When I recorded them I saw my last books read were finished in June, so it's been a gap of time when I didn't have the mojo, it seems.  I did reading but mostly magazines, and also books on cybersecurity and the like while I participated in a drafting workshop related to the CISSP exam.

I got home just ahead of Tropical Storm/Cyclone Ophelia, which gave us a very windy and wet Friday evening and most of Saturday.  She departed just in time for my parents and me to go to the season opener for the North Carolina Symphony, which was just marvellous.

Now it's almost time for Yom Kippur, the most solemn of Jewish observances, a day of reflection and repentance.  In addition to the thoughts at the top of this post, I wish to share the following, which my best friend shared to me.  The Vidui is a recital we make several times in the next 24 hours, and the one used in services is an acknowledgement of failings, both individually and collectively.  This one is the other side, an acknowledgement of accomplishments, and a reminder of what to continute to do:

To all who observe, may you have an easy fast and be written for a healthy and happy 5784.

A Flock of Sheep.

The Board of DFW Fiber Fest do so much to create an event every year, a place for fiber people of all kinds to come together every year to revel in what we love.  I decided to make something to thank them, and created some sheep soaps with a relaxing green tea and cucumber fragrance.  I tried to do a decorative colouring but it looked accidental, and not in a good way, so I rebatched the soap (it's melt-and-pour, so that's easy) and ended up with a flock of green sheep with faint gold sparkle:

In case somebody has concerns about scent or other sensitivities, I included two goat-patterned soaps made with a goats-milk base and no added colour or scent.

Just in time, I finished the blanket:

It is 50"x63" - just enough!

Also, this morning, with a bit of yarn chicken, I finished another scarf:

The one on the left finished this morning; the other a few days ago.

Sorry it's so blurry - literally inches!

I have a few more things to report, but I am running short of time before services and departing.  L'Shana Tovah to all who celebrate the new year 5784 - may you be written for a sweet and happy year.

Finished the border, started another.

The blanket I began in June is closing on finished - but unfortunately, not as quickly as I hoped.  I finished the border this week, and grafted the beginning to end, and measured:

According to the Warm Up, America! website, an adult blanket is supposed to be 49"x63".  After the border was added (five and a half skeins of Bernat Super Value Stripes, I'm glad I bought the extra one), it measures 44 inches by roughly 60 inches:

I recognize that the WUA size is based upon 49 blocks measuring 7"x9" put into a seven-by-seven grid.  However, it seems better to me to come as close to their required measurements as possible.  Quick math shows mine is three inches short in length and five inches short in width - not a discrepancy than can be easily hidden when adding a quick crocheted border, which had been my plan.

So instead of simply adding a border and done, I am adding inches.  I picked up from the back so there would be echoing bands that appear to be slip-stitch on the front of the blanket.

And the blanket is back to being a big wad of knitting.

I plan to add eight rows (four ridges) of garter stitch all around, since that works out to about one inch.  Then I will bind off the short sides and add more on each of the long sides, then do a crocheted border around the whole thing to make it tidy and finished.  That should be the required size, or close enough if my guesses about the purples multi yarn quantity are correct.

I did take time to make another of the Bernat Alize Blanket-EZ Stripes scarves this afternoon:

I wanted to see I could accomplish it in an hour.  Once again it took about two hours and would have taken less had there not been some extraordinary tangles where the yarn had gone through loops of itself.  I was tempted to take a photo but was too focused on figuring out how to un-do it without having to cut - and I managed. 

This means my hope of doing one of the DFW Fiber Fest do-along patterns by next weekend have gone to nil.  I will try to have one or both done for next year.  And I'll need to do them quickly, as they might issue new patterns for next year - they've done a few in the past.

Yarn Chicken - Won!

In knitting or crocheting, when we're nearing the end of our yarn and have to finish something, and we're not sure we'll make it before the yarn runs out, we call it "yarn chicken".  I made it with the Simple Crescent Shawl:

Yarn is some ancient Berroco Topaz, about two balls.

Yes, ends need to be woven in.  I plan to do that, and the ends from last week, later, once the purples-and-pinks blanket is finished.  The additional yarn for it arrived, and I made sure to finish the shawl before I got back to it, but I've just finished the second colour repeat from the new skein.

Not too much else to report this week.  I have been gathering and organizing things for a community tag sale next Saturday morning.  Yes, there will be yarn included.  Also some pattern books.  Plus just about every window covering left by the previous owner, none of which are to my taste.  I'm keeping the livingroom rods as those are undistinguished but replaced the curtains and sheers.  I took down another set of rods and the finials are too big for the space and they scraped the walls.  That room is getting painted anyway, so the painter can repair things and I am getting rods that will fit.

I found out that the article I wrote in July was accepted for publication, and one of my weekend tasks is to make some small revisions to it.  I was also granted a co-byline for an article that I proofread and for which I provided a few suggestions, which was very kind of the original co-authors.

In the next two weeks I want to finish this blanket, and then the crochet do-along for DFW Fiber Fest.  I won't be there for the meet-up, but it will be fun to try to finish since I am starting so late.  I plan to use some yarn I purchased last year.  I crochet fast, shall report if I accomplish this goal.