Ravellenic Games

So as you know, the Olympics are a little under a week away (yay!) and that means it is also time for the Ravellenic Games! This is a contest on Ravelry where teams compete in many various events. Each person is urged to expand their own personal limits in the spirit of the games.

I am participating in Baby Dressage and am going to make an Aran Cabled Jumper by Eileen Casey, I'm also going to make a Crocodile Stitch baby afghan which will be my own pattern. That will be for the Afghan Marathon as well as Baby Dressage events.

Finally, I'm going to attempt to finish the ugly afghan. Do you remember the ugly afghan?

I've been working on this since 2005. Yes. This blanket is 7 years in the making. My son has finally fallen in love with it, so when I finish it, It will be his. More likely, it will be a throw for our couch because it is SO thick and warm. 

It is made mostly with Red Heart Super Saver held three strands thick and dc across.  Fast and such a yarn burner!

Wish me luck as I train in the next week :)

Tyrannosaurus and Volga Viking Hat/Beard

I've had the tyrannosaurus pattern for a long time, but it was one of the first patterns I wrote and it was not as clear and organized (and pretty ^_^) as my patterns now. SO I revamped it! Check out the new pictures that includes the new picot stitch option for the spine.

So fun! I love making these little guys and my kids love them. You can get your hands on the new pattern on Etsy here or on Ravelry here. The pattern is being tested as well so any kinks will be thoroughly worked out!

Another upcoming pattern and hat for the shop is this:

The picture is of the ever-elusive Mr. Bowrene and the hat is the Volga Viking Hat!  The pattern is being tested by 5 wonderful geniuses and it will be ready within a week or so.  Once that is all done, the hat is being shipped to my baby brother. He has promised me that it will live a good life with him :)

Tour de Fleece Team Kromski 2012!

So as you may or may not know, the Tour de France is going on this month. On Ravelry, I participate in a tribute to the Tour called the Tour de Fleece. Yep. Spinning time! The goal is to spin every day of the tour and I have done pretty well so far. Since June 30th, I have spun 610 yards of laceweight singles from the Black and White mill ends I got from the Sheep Shed Studio. They are really lovely and easy to spin. They have a pretty long staple length and the fibers separate very smoothly. The black is a little courser than the white, so together, they make a beautiful yarn.

I just finished the first bobbin during my morning spinning session. To make the singles "stick" and not untwist, I kept them on the niddy noddy (my PVC homemade one) and dunked them in hot hot hot water in the bathtub. I sort of slapped it in the water, still on the niddy noddy, several times. Then I took it off the niddy noddy, being careful to keep it in a big loop and moved it back and forth between cold water in the sink and hot water in the bathtub. Finally, I squeezed the yarn out and thwacked* it against the bathtub wall pretty fiercely. 

*Thwack: v. to take a large wet loop of yarn and whack it hard against something so that it makes a thwacking sound

I am going to spin about 200 more tonight. You see, this is not just my typical "spinning for the heck of it." I have a PLAN!

I am going to use this yarn for the "Winter's Thaw" shawl by Hedgehog Fibers